When I first got to Tabuga I started to take every Wednesday as ‘Andrea Day’. On this treasured Wednesday I would clean up my house, hand wash my clothes, prepare myself a favorite meal, bake sweets, read good books, listen to music and grade homework. I haven’t taken an Andrea Day since my brother got here in December. I pay my neighbor $3 to wash my clothes, I do favors for my mom in return for her to clean up my room, I live off rice, fried eggs and fried plantains and haven’t read a book for a good while. Now, almost a whole year later I am enjoying a well-deserved Andrea Day. I just ate a spicy home-made dish of vegetable curry, swept my floor, cleaned up my America-in-a-box room and was just reading. I am about to go bake some banana bread with my mom and later, go machete some weeds on our other piece of land with my dad.

It’s amazing that even in this slow life style I can lose my own tranquility, forget to take a breath and over-work. Just like the over-achiever I have always been I want to do too much, there is so much help to be given, so much progress to help set in motion. So, even though I have a ‘to do’ list as long as the stalk of bamboo I carried to my land yesterday, I am having an Andrea Day. Ecuador has taught me patience; a different deep patience that I think is impossible to find in the states, and today I am embracing it.

I originally started this blog as an email to a good friend but figured that it’s about time that I get a little personal in this blog. With the end of my time in Tabuga just around the corner, I find myself more emotional, sentimental and thoughtful. More than once this week I have been brought to tears by the kindness of a neighbor or my family. Tears brought on my happiness and warmth are distinct from those of sadness. But, mine seem to be a strong mix. The kindness and comfort warm me and then leave me chilled with the awareness of losing this all. My Ecuadorian family is currently distraught by the immediacy of my departure. Just last night, while we were discussing the plans of building me a bamboo house, my mom let out a helpless sigh. I thought perhaps she had cut her finger or stubbed her toe, but no, it was simply an honest sigh of pre-missing me.

On January 12th, 2009 I will head up to Quito for my close of service conference. This doesn’t mean much except for a lot of paperwork, the COS connference is 3 months early. But, for me, it’s a big deal as it signifies a big move to the capital. I will spend the end of January and the first part of February preparing for the arrival of Omnibus 101 in Quio. Then, I will head to Cayambe for two months to prepare the next group of natural resource conservation volunteers with fellow volunteer Susan BC. Cayambe is where this whole adventure started for us and it’s a crazy trip heading back there now as Co-trainer. I am really excited about the opportunity to share everything I have learned and be the coach for the next group. I think my Duke Lax senior year days are really going to be helpful for this experience. Coaching is the unique act of motivating a group of people while teaching them all the skills necessary for success. Team moral is crucial and simple lackluster classes won’t do the job of creating a super charged group of volunteers ready to go off on their own and perform.

Then why do you ask am I planning on building a house in Tabuga? Well, as it turns out there is an option to extend my service. I have been working with the president in my community on a request for a health volunteer to come to Tabuga after me. The health program is on a different schedule and the volunteers arrive in late August. So, I am requesting an extension of my service back to Tabuga to work for 4 months until a health volunteer arrives August, 2009. I am currently writing up a work plan with the president of my community to see what we could get done in those 4 months. We have two really great ideas and I think the Peace Corps will grant my extension…keep your fingers crossed.

So, I have less than a month and half in Tabuga but am planning on returning after training. My experience as co-trainer is going to be an incredible opportunity to wrap up my experience as a Peace Corps volunteer and I am hoping that a few extra months in Tabuga afterwards will help me wrap up my time here. I really feel like it’s too soon to go back to the states. I am experiencing an incredible mix of sadness and appreciation. This truly has been the most amazing experience of my life in so many ways. The amount of appreciation and love I have for Tabuga and all of my friends her is immeasurable. The sadness I feel in leaving Tabuga is weird. Mostly, I feel bad for leaving and have always found in my life that being the one that leaves is easier. In leaving one finds newness, where as the ones who are left find emptiness.
My Ecua-mom stated the other day that there will never been a Gringa like me again. She started to go through a list of my qualities that she loves and will miss. I tried to explain that different doesn’t mean bad, and the new volunteer will have something else to offer. Like lost lovers, we don’t ever replace them but rather move on to something different, unique and beautiful in their own right.