What if you don’t really want the New Year? I really liked last year and I always love an excuse for a good party but, 2008 was great. I imagine 2009 will prove to be another year full of adventure and new experiences but I really got to give hats off to 2008. It was my full year in Ecuador and Tabuga specifically and 2009 marks a lot of big changes. To start out I am writing this email from Quito. I no longer live in America-in-a-box, it’s been cleaned out. I know live in a house with a washer, dryer, 3 bathrooms, a couch and a set of 5 keys just to get from the road through the various gates and doors to the inside. Today I am starting my new job in the Peace Corps office as co-trainer for omnibus 101 that arrives in late February. I don’t need a machete or rubber boots and I don’t live with rats or cockroaches. 
The picture shows 6 of the 10 baby rats that I found freshly born underneath my camping type stove when I was gone for just 3 days. Amazingly this was reassuring information because it proved that the mama rat wasn't eating my underware for the fun of it but she was really just preparing the nest for her 10 ratlings. I had thought Jason was stealing my boxes of matches and was looking everywhere for my beadazzled bikini top but just turns out that the mama rat had taken everything from hair elastics, plastic bags, an HIV/AIDs awareness CD and more to make a nice home for the babies right where I prepare food. Now, to start my day I simply need 25 cents to take the city bus to the office and a strong cup of coffee to keep me focused.
First, let’s back track and recap how this wonderful year, 2009, was brought to life. It all started in Canoa with Jason and I building our very own lawn golf set and meeting up with Akul, Ryan, Elliot and a bunch of Bolivian volunteers. The Bolivian volunteers were evacuated from Bolivia after the US Embassy was kicked out tof the country and instead of cutting their services short they decided to accept the offer and come to Ecuador. Canoa is my turf and I love giving people the Canoa initiation which mostly involves shots of la Una de la Gran Bestias which is a
mixture of scorpions, centipedes, marijuana leaves and sugar cane alcohol and dancing all night. Yard golf, renamed golf player (beach golf), proved to be a big hit and we had a bunch of Ecuadorian kids playing with us, a cute family from Cuenca even got into the fun. It was a blast. New Years is always one of those things people try to over due and make a big deal out of but the PC family did it right in Canoa. Some of my favorite moments apart from just beaching it all day included jumping over burning effigies and winning two bottles of champagne to bring in the New Year. It was also crucial to have a last horrah in Canoa before my big move to Quito. I told hundreds of people not to forget me and danced the night away.
After the party it was back to Tabuga for me. After some solid sleep, aka recuperation, I started the count down. I filled my last days in Tabuga with lots of house visits, shared meals, photo ops, tears and project planning. I have requested an extension in Tabuga from May until late August and I was working with some community members on the details of the projects we want to accomplish. Those two weeks passed by way too quickly and I soon found myself in Quito for our Close of Service conference. This was the last time all of Omnibus 97 will be together and the conference covered some really heavy stuff. Heavy meaning thinking about and planning for the future post Peace Corps service. We talked a lot about how to put our Peace Corps service on our resume and about the ups and downs of re-integration into the states. For me the experience was really valuable but also difficult. The Peace Corps is such an incredible experience and each volunteer has such a unique service, it’s hard to face that it’s ending and it was weird to realize that we all are about to go our own separate ways. Our group really is unique and wonderful and the support we all give each other has been crucial to our experiences. After COS I booked it back to Tabuga to finish cleaning out my room, have some going away meals and spend some quality time with my family and neighbours. I left pictures for everyone and a bunch of my little brother, Angel. I refused to have a big party because I don’t consider this goodbye. I am like any other coastal person heading to the big city for a few months to work. I told everyone that in August we’ll have the big party, we will dance all night and hug and I’ll probably cry. Tabuga is a special place and has a special place in my heart. It was incredibly hard to leave but I know I get to head back (whether it’s PC official or not is pending) and I am excited for a little change and for the new challenge of preparing other cool people to be great volunteers and have incredible unique PC experiences.
I am sure there will be more to come on my experiences in Quito, the big city!
The picture shows 6 of the 10 baby rats that I found freshly born underneath my camping type stove when I was gone for just 3 days. Amazingly this was reassuring information because it proved that the mama rat wasn't eating my underware for the fun of it but she was really just preparing the nest for her 10 ratlings. I had thought Jason was stealing my boxes of matches and was looking everywhere for my beadazzled bikini top but just turns out that the mama rat had taken everything from hair elastics, plastic bags, an HIV/AIDs awareness CD and more to make a nice home for the babies right where I prepare food. Now, to start my day I simply need 25 cents to take the city bus to the office and a strong cup of coffee to keep me focused.First, let’s back track and recap how this wonderful year, 2009, was brought to life. It all started in Canoa with Jason and I building our very own lawn golf set and meeting up with Akul, Ryan, Elliot and a bunch of Bolivian volunteers. The Bolivian volunteers were evacuated from Bolivia after the US Embassy was kicked out tof the country and instead of cutting their services short they decided to accept the offer and come to Ecuador. Canoa is my turf and I love giving people the Canoa initiation which mostly involves shots of la Una de la Gran Bestias which is a
mixture of scorpions, centipedes, marijuana leaves and sugar cane alcohol and dancing all night. Yard golf, renamed golf player (beach golf), proved to be a big hit and we had a bunch of Ecuadorian kids playing with us, a cute family from Cuenca even got into the fun. It was a blast. New Years is always one of those things people try to over due and make a big deal out of but the PC family did it right in Canoa. Some of my favorite moments apart from just beaching it all day included jumping over burning effigies and winning two bottles of champagne to bring in the New Year. It was also crucial to have a last horrah in Canoa before my big move to Quito. I told hundreds of people not to forget me and danced the night away.After the party it was back to Tabuga for me. After some solid sleep, aka recuperation, I started the count down. I filled my last days in Tabuga with lots of house visits, shared meals, photo ops, tears and project planning. I have requested an extension in Tabuga from May until late August and I was working with some community members on the details of the projects we want to accomplish. Those two weeks passed by way too quickly and I soon found myself in Quito for our Close of Service conference. This was the last time all of Omnibus 97 will be together and the conference covered some really heavy stuff. Heavy meaning thinking about and planning for the future post Peace Corps service. We talked a lot about how to put our Peace Corps service on our resume and about the ups and downs of re-integration into the states. For me the experience was really valuable but also difficult. The Peace Corps is such an incredible experience and each volunteer has such a unique service, it’s hard to face that it’s ending and it was weird to realize that we all are about to go our own separate ways. Our group really is unique and wonderful and the support we all give each other has been crucial to our experiences. After COS I booked it back to Tabuga to finish cleaning out my room, have some going away meals and spend some quality time with my family and neighbours. I left pictures for everyone and a bunch of my little brother, Angel. I refused to have a big party because I don’t consider this goodbye. I am like any other coastal person heading to the big city for a few months to work. I told everyone that in August we’ll have the big party, we will dance all night and hug and I’ll probably cry. Tabuga is a special place and has a special place in my heart. It was incredibly hard to leave but I know I get to head back (whether it’s PC official or not is pending) and I am excited for a little change and for the new challenge of preparing other cool people to be great volunteers and have incredible unique PC experiences.
I am sure there will be more to come on my experiences in Quito, the big city!
This picture shows Susan, Mo, Me, Jay and our host mom's and sons having our first American dinner all together in Quito!
