Tabuga - Take Two

After a few months in the sierra working as Co-trainer for the Peace Corps, I was worried I wouldn't be able to re-adjust to my life in Tabuga. As it turns out, it didn't feel like readjusting at all, it felt like coming home.

While I was in the sierra my host father along with his two brothers built me a house to live in for the remainder of my time as a Volunteer. I left them a rough sketch of a basic floor plan and 3 pounds of nails. I came back to a bamboo dream house, raised up about a meter with a little balcony and a roof made from palm leaves. There is a bedroom, a kitchen kind of area and a living room. The one part of the house that I truly designed was the window between the bedroom and the living room where I have placed my DVD player and TV. That way it rotates between the bed and the living room area where kids can often be found coloring and requesting cartoon movies like my current favorite – Kung Fu Panda. The house has the energy of a tree house mixed with modernity.

One of the high lights from these last few months was Alex and Katie's visit. It was so fun to have Alex here again and to show Katie where I have been living the last two years. For those of you who don't know Katie she is like family and has grown up with us as my little sister and my brother's best friend. She recently spent a semester abroad in Spain. It was really amazing that Alex, Katie and I all now speak Spanish and were hanging out in Tabuga together. Alex's return to Tabuga was hugely anticipated by our neighbors and to honor his return we had a big grill out at my house. His god daughter's mother and some other neighbors helped us cook, his god daughter brought over music and we had all the little neighborhood kids and random people jamming out and eating delicious mixed rice and fish on the grill. Besides a short trip to Canoa and time in Quito we really just relaxed and hung out in Tabuga, walked in the reserve and hung out at the private Tabuga beach. I and our neighbors were really touched that Alex returned to Tabuga and all of the teenagers fell in love with Katie.

The two main reasons for my extension as Volunteer are to build a green house with the high school and create a smooth transition for the Health Volunteer that will be replacing me. The green house is crawling a long which is normal here. The big hold up right now is getting the bamboo for the structure. The bamboo exists, it's been designated as Tabuga High School green house bamboo but, unfortunately, the phase of the moon isn't yet right to cut the bamboo. So, we must be patient.

The new volunteer comes to Tabuga next week for a visit. The visit is to prepare the volunteer for their next two years by introducing them to community contacts, possible collaborators and more than anything, to get them over that initial shock of looking at a new place and telling yourself – I am going to live here for two years.

My final date of service is August 18th, 2009. That date is approaching ever too quickly and Tabuga – take two has been incredibly fun. Now that I don't teach classes in the school I have had time to do things in the community that I wanted to do, work at the EcoCenter and mainly at my own house. AJ and I built a composting toilet along with Paul, Jason, Max and help from the neighbors as well as a shower with a fun little mosaic. Both our shower and our kitchen sink drain into banana circles. Banana circles are a way to filter and use waste water that contains shampoos and soaps but not heavy cleaning products. All of the water along with agricultural organic waste go into the middle of the circle and four banana trees are planted around them. As the organic waste decomposes it releases nutrients into the soil with the waste water and the banana trees happily soak it up producing lush fruits. This is a classic permaculture design and way too easy not to do here in the tropics. The next step is the garden that we are starting this week.

But wait... why would anyone start a garden when they only have a month left in a place. That seems silly, illogical, crazy even.

Well, considering Tabuga – take two has gone so incredibly well, I have decided to keep on keep'in on with Tabuga – take three. Two weeks ago I accepted a job as Project Coordinator for the Ceiba Foundation. The Ceiba Foundation manages the Lalo Loor Reserve where I have worked the last two years. This position puts in me in charge of continuing and solidifying projects that I helped Ceiba start during my Peace Corps service. AJ has also decided to stick around for Tabuga – take three and we will be continuing our simple life in our dreamy bamboo hut. So, for those of you that have been reading my blog and following Tabuga – take one and take two. I hope you stick around for take three.

Another big highlight came into our lives while Alex and Katie were visiting. His name is Gito and he is a smart, playful mutt that AJ and I have since adopted as our own. His name came from the term Gringito. My house is known as the Casa de Gringos and when we arrived with a brand new WHITE puppy, the little neighbors started calling him gringito. So, Gito stuck and he stuck with us. Before I forget, there was another huge highlight. When my brother came down to Ecuador this second time he brought 30 children´s books in Spanish that my mom had sent down with him. I went to the Tabuga School and donated these books and the children immediately took to them and started to read them. Even the teachers were enchanted by the playful words of some amazing stories like THE BFG and THE TWITS. Books are such an amazing gift to give and the kids in Tabuga have yet again been blessed by kindness. I think one of the most beautiful parts of my service has been the exchange between the Beaver Meadow kids and Tabuga and I hope that we continue these efforts. The lack of resources provided to kids at school is really sad and the best we can do is help out little by little.

I am assuming Tabuga – take three will be even more interesting as I wont be living under Peace Corps strict rules and regulations and will have not only my best buddy Jason here with me but my bamboo dream house live in boyfriend here too.

Check out AJ's blog for some awesome pictures of everything that has been happening the last few months.

http://www.ecuawindow.blogspot.com/