Speed recap of my week in no particular order: hiked Ilalo with friends (mountain behind my house in Tumbaco), learned about intercultural health and participated in a Shamanic Kichwa cleansing ceremony, planted a medicinal herb garden, had my second language interview, met the stand-in U.S. ambassador (there isn't an ambassador right now...), had a bonfire with the other trainees, got showered in rose petals, danced around the training center with the language facilitators, harvested beans and corn, made humitas (see one of my first blog posts--essentially sweet cornbread cooked like a tamale), and, most importantly, I learned where I will be living for the next 2 YEARS. It's been quite the week. Below are some pictures from the aforementioned events, but all I can really think about right now is my site placement, so that's what this blog post is really about!

Ilalo hiking crew. (Photo by Marisa C.)View from the top(ish) of Ilalo.Limpia (cleansing) ceremony with shamans from Cuenca (Photo by Mathilde)

Language facilitators enacting a dance from the Amazon.

Humitas: pick choclo (type of corn here), save husks, remove kernals, grind choclo, mix with eggs and sugar, wrap in corn husks, steam, fry, eat. About 8 hours of work for these little treats.Besides the craziness of the week in general, the main feeling of the week was definitely that of nail-biting anticipation. The Peace Corps staff has kept us trainees in the dark about our site placements, mainly because sites can often change at the last minute. Site reveal was on Thursday afternoon, meaning the days went by extraordinarily slowly this week. I won't keep you waiting though--I'll fast forward to Thursday!

Thursday at lunch we were all kicked out of the Training Center, and weren't allowed to return until 1:30. When were finally allowed back through the gate, we found a map of Ecuador made out of rose petals on the soccer field with a sign for each province. They called us out one-by-one with the name of our province and site name for the next two years. In reality, some of us were slightly confused as to where our sites were, but a staff member ran with us to our spot on the map. I was one of the last people called, which was slightly nerve-wracking. While I did not really hear my site name, I definitely understood when our training manager called out my province--NAPO! I'm going to the AMAZON for the next two years!Map of Ecuador made of rose petals. Staff getting ready to call out our sites!Jungle girls! Four of us are in the Napo province.Lots of excitement and happiness about site placements.My provincial flag. Emily and I with our language facilitator.

After finding out our sites and getting copious amounts of rose petals dumped on us, we headed back into the training center to learn more about our assignments. I received a packet about my community and the projects I'll be working on. My friend Emily has been placed in a similar community to mine; after receiving our packets, we both had minor panic attacks, but now I'm really excited and/or nervous. I'll be living in an indigenous Kichwa community near a national park. There are a lot of people in major cities, and my site is definitely one of the more remote sites out of my training group.

A couple of fantastic facts...

Population: 700 in the community, but 1,100 in the general areaLocation: in the buffer zone of the Sumaco-Napo-Galeras National ParkLanguages: Kichwa and SpanishClosest city: Tena (2.5 hours away by car...)House material: WoodElectricity: NoInternet: NoCell phone service: If you stand in some spots in the village (?)Shower: Erm, no (they are supposed to build me a shower "cabin" to take bucket baths in)Refrigerator: NoRent: $25/month

Also, I've gotten a lot of questions about what I'll be doing for the two years. I'm the first volunteer at this site, so I really will be working on building relationships and creating a sense of trust more than anything else. But, this is a list of the primary activities that the community has identified that it needs assistance with:Foster organizational development & leadershipPromote natural resources conservation and environmental educationSupport organic "naranjilla" productionHelp organize a women's groupHelp start micro enterprises with youth (cheese-making?)Environmental education at school and creating a school garden

I'm going to visit my site next week from this coming Tuesday to the following Monday, so I'll know a lot more about my community soon. My mosquito net and I will be taking the 6-hour bus ride with my counterpart (who also happens to be my new host mother...) down the mountain to the jungle. For most people in my community, Spanish is their second language and Kichwa is their first, so I may be communicating with hand signals and eyebrow-raising for the next 8 days. I won't be posting next weekend, as I'll be in my internet-less community, but I'll post that week sometime! This adventure is about to get a lot more interesting...

Napo--my province!

There are no stories about monkeys or jungles in this post. In reality, this post is about doughnuts.

Carnaval was this past weekend, so I had Monday and Tuesday off from training for the holiday. One could compare Carnaval in some parts of Ecuador to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, I suppose. However, here in Tumbaco, there aren't street parties, there are small children armed with espuma (essentially colored, scented shaving cream), water balloons, eggs, flour, and buckets of water. They target everyone, but they especially like to target unsuspecting gringos. For instance, on Tuesday, I was walking out of my house, turned left down the street while marveling at what a beautiful day it was, and suddenly several water balloons burst on the pavement in front of my feet. I looked over and several kids were giggling from the second story window of the house across the street. Overall, I made it through fairly unharmed--I didn't get any espuma to the face like many other trainees did.

So, if children with copious amounts of water were the worst part of Carnaval, then prestiños dipped in cinnamon syrup were the best part. Most of my posts seem to at least have one section about food, and I swear it's not just me. Food is a big deal down here; the weekends and holidays revolve around eating. Anyways, back to prestiños. You may be asking what is a prestiño? It's like the Paczki of Ecuador. Or an elephant ear. Or Native American fry bread. Eggs, butter, flour, yeast, salt, sugar. Mix. Knead. Let rise 1 hour. Make rings out of the dough. Deep fry in oil. Dip in cinnamon cane-sugar syrup. Eat.

My host family and I made over 100 of these little delicacies. They took about 30 pictures of la gringa (I found out that this is sort of an endearing term in Ecuador) making prestiños. Apparently it was entertaining. Everyone was not satisfied that I had actually "tried" prestiños until I ate at least 10 in one sitting. Then, we proceeded to eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next two days. I'm not sure if these fit into Peace Corps nutrition planning. Nonetheless, I love them.

Rosa and me rolling, cutting, and folding the dough. Yum!Lunch, dinner, breakfast, lunch, dinner, breakfast.During my four-day weekend, I also went to the town of Mindo with some other trainees for the day. Mindo is a fairly touristy town about two hours from Quito in the cloud forest. The journey in itself was quite an adventure, as public transportation always seems to be down here. We took three buses (one was extra as a result of bad directions) to get to the station to catch the bus to Mindo. Once on the bus, we waited as they checked our ticket once, twice, three, four, five, SIX times. It turns out the women in the office had accidentally written the same seat number on two tickets, so, after an hour of sitting on the bus, we finally left for Mindo. Time doesn't work quite the same way here as in the States--long waits are fairly common. While the traveling was a lot for only a couple of hours in the town, it was worth the trouble. The cloud forests are really beautiful: rolling hills, lush vegetation, waterfalls, raging rivers. We had lunch and then went horseback riding for a bit through the forest. Not a bad way to spend a day.

Emily, Saira, and Me in MindoMuddy muddy ride to get to the horses.The tamest horse of all time.Just a little waterfall, there are many more--I'll have to go back and hike soon!Not much more to report. During this short week of training, my NRC training group had presentations about our technical trips and we went to a beautiful research center and tree nursery owned by the government. On Thursday of next week, I find our where I'm going to be living for the next two years! Keep your fingers and toes crossed that it's a good site!

Alli punhca. Good day (in Kichwa).

Super chevere. Super cool. (Yes, super is actually used here.) Anyways, those words barely begin to describe how incredible thispast week has been. I had a technical training trip to Tena (in the jungle, eloriente, region of Ecuador) with 10 other Natural Resources Conservationtrainees and some of our facilitators. Monkeys, jungle treks, cacao plants, medicinaltrees, snakes, more monkeys, maitos, and the list continues.

Tena is about a four-hour bus ride from Tumbaco, but thechange in landscape, elevation, and climate along the way is absolutely amazing.Needless to say, the bus ride was an experience in itself: curving roadscombined with queasiness from my malaria medicine. Good times. But, in allhonesty, the views were worth a little sickness. Snow-capped volcanoes and lushrolling hills leading down through a layer of clouds and finally into theinnumerable shades of green in the jungle. After the mild weather of theSierra, I couldn’t believe the wave of heat and humidity that hit me when Istepped off the bus in Tena.

The first day was mostly just hot, but I also got achance to eat the best chocolate I’ve ever had from cacao grown in the area.Delicious.

Emily and I in the town center in Tena.The river running through town.On day two, we went to work with a community tourismproject in a Kichwa community. Kichwas are one of the many indigenous groups thatlive in the Sierra and the Oriente. The community we went to has started atourism project where they have several small cabanas where tourists are ableto stay for several days at a time. The project is not only economicallybeneficial for the community, but also is a way for them to share their richcultural history and traditions. In order to preserve their culture, they onlyhave guides who speak Kichwa and Spanish, as opposed foreign languages. Wehelped with a minga, a group work day, with the community members and our groupof trainees. When we arrived, they had papaya, bread fruit, and chicha(traditional Kichwa drink, made of fermented fruit) waiting for us. We movedrocks from the river that flows next to the property to create the border for a path leading down to the river. After that, we were treated to one of thehighlights of the entire week—a hike in the jungle.

Let’s go on a hike. With machetes in hand, we beginfollowing a guide along well-trodden paths behind the cabanas, and abruptlyturn into the jungle along no pathway. The guide begins talks about thedifferent types of plants, such as yucca and plantains, as we pass by, and thenhe pulls guaba fruit off a tree. It’s a long brown pod that doesn’t lookparticularly appetizing. I twist it open to find seeds covered in fuzzy whiteflesh. I try a piece. Que rico! We continue walking while munching on guaba.Then, we reach the cacao plants—bushes with red fruits. The guides use theirmachetes—the tool of choice for all things from digging holes to buildingtrails—to cut open the cacao. Cacao fruit reminds me of the guaba and is alsodelicious; it’s white, fuzzy, and surrounds a purplish seed. The seed is thepart that eventually becomes chocolate. As I’m contentedly munching on cacao,spitting out and saving the seeds as per request of the guides (think about that next time you're enjoying a bit of chocolate), I realize thatthe guides are using machetes to hack down a spike-covered palm tree. Why? Tolet it begin to rot in order to attract grub worms, which are, of course,delicacies. After several minutes, the tree falls, and they go to the top ofthe tree and cut out the soft, white center. Fresh hearts of palm. Theknowledge they have of the jungle is astounding. After our appetizer hikethrough the jungle, we return to the community to find a table set with giantbanana leaves for a lunch of rice, lentils, plantains, yucca, and soup. Initially,we were supposed to pay for lunch, but they were so grateful for our rockcarrying capacity that they treated us. They are incredibly kind people. Kichwa community tourism site: Wasila.Banana leaf table cloths.Lunch: verde soup (made with ground plantains), rice, lentils, plantains, and yucca.One of many beautiful butterflies.Our stone path leading to the river.The following day, we went to another community tourismproject with a Kichwa community on the Napo River. At this site, they hadanimals, gardens, a museum, cabanas, and a restaurant. We learned abouttraditional hunting and fishing methods, shamanistic rituals, and medicinalplants. They also had a monkey, Lucas, who was very precocious, as well as aboa constrictor, oscillate cats, and a slew of other animals. More monkeys wereto be seen in the afternoon, as we went to a preserve on an island near Tenawith several monkeys, native plants, and other animals. There used to be abridge to get to the island, but a flood last year took it out, so we had totake a wobbly canoe. As we took the tour of the ecological reserve, one of the monkeys would jump fromshoulder to shoulder; at one point, our little friend took a daring 5-foot leapto get from my shoulder to our language facilitator’s shoulder. I guess he hadhad enough of me. Caged--only so they don't eat the other smaller animals.Playing with monkeys.Lucas the monkey sneaking some yucca.The River Napo.Boa Constrictor. Draped him around my shoulders as well--not so pleasant.This blog post is becoming quite lengthy. Do you need an intermission? Feel free to go grab a snack—maybe some grub worms.

Crossing the river to get to the reserve.More monkeys.Pink pine cones?View of Tena from the observation tower.Wobbly tower.Thursday, we went to a very ruralcommunity about an hour bus ride away from Tena. We went to do an environmentaleducation lesson for the kids and youth of the community about deforestation. Iwas quite shocked by how rural the community was. I’ll know where my site is inabout 10 days, but, as of now, I do know that it will likely be very rural.Seeing a small community was a good experience to shape my expectations. Itturned out the kids went on vacation a day early for the Carnaval holiday.Pretty standard. We did end up giving a presentation to some of the studentsthough. The kids were amazingly sweet. Many of the families have 7-8 children,so the young girls (10 and younger) often care for the babies all day while theparents work in the fields. It was an eye-opening experience.

We ate a traditional meal of maitos for lunch (fish,chicken, or beef cooked in leaves, served with yucca). And, some of the moreadventurous tried chonta cudo, cooked grub worms. No gracias. Finally, we wentto the organization RUNA to learn about the business they have created sellingguayusa, which is a plant that is made into a tea that indigenous peoples havebeen drinking for thousands of years. I was really impressed with thebusiness—check it out www.runa.org.Teaching at a community.Town center.Traditional Amazonian meal.Now, I’m back in the chilly Sierra hand-washing my muddy clothes, and I’m so grateful for the amazing experiences I had this week. I have Monday and Tuesday off for Carnaval. I’ll be dodging the children spraying foam, throwing water balloons, and dumping buckets of water on unsuspecting people.

Okay, I'm starting this post with a forewarning. If you don't want to see a cooked guinea pig, then do not go to the bottom of this post. Have you scrolled down already?!? The third goal of the Peace Corps is for volunteers (and trainees!) to share about host country culture. Guinea pig, cuy, is a very traditional Ecuadorian dish, so I'm just trying to share a little piece of Ecuador with you. More on this in a bit!

So, I've been in Ecuador three weeks. No time at all really, but the days of training seem to pass at a snails pace. Oddly, the weeks have been going by quickly though. It has certainly been another seven days full of enlightening experiences. As I'm typing this, I already feel as though my English skills are failing me. I catch myself mixing Spanish and English more and more; unfortunately, my Spanish doesn't seem to be getting any better. Compared to three weeks ago, I understand much more, but I still am a bit mute when it comes to speaking. Poco a poco.

This week began with my first presentation in Spanish. My group and I went to a colegio, high school, and an escuela, elementary school, to teach students about water conservation. I've done a lot of environmental education about fresh water in the U.S., and, now, that seems extremely easy compared to getting up in front of a room full of 17-year-old students while trying to speak a language I'm not even close to being fluent in. Oh well, so goes training. Overall, the presentations were actually quite fun. The students definitely laughed at our gringo Spanish, but they seemed to learn at least a couple of facts from our activities. At the elementary school, the students were already quite knowledgeable about environmental issues; they had a huge vegetable garden on the property and all of the students in the class I taught had bunches of freshly picked cilantro on their desks. Hopefully, I'll be able to start some school gardens when I get to my site! Speaking of gardens, on Thursday I had a gardening training facilitated by some current volunteers. We created raised beds in the backyard of the training center and planted lettuce, broccoli, radishes, carrots, and cilantro. It was really nice to get out of the classroom for a little bit, as we have been having a slew of sessions (as always) about security, health, culture, technical info, and Spanish.Teaching about fresh water availability, while wondering if the

children understand a word of my Spanish.Teaching sixth graders about water conservation...in Spanish.Besides teaching on Monday, the week was relatively uneventful. The weather has been beautiful. Rain comes and goes, but there has been a lot of sun this past week. Some days, I walk home with other volunteers. The walk takes about an hour on the beautiful bike path that runs between the training center and Tumbaco. Dodging mountain bikers, dogs, cows, motorcycles, and whatever else comes our way always makes the walk more entertaining, as if the spectacular views weren't entertainment enough. I'm heading to el oriente, the jungle, next week for a week-long technical trip to do presentations and to speak with representatives from NGOs, national parks, and other protected areas. I'm so excited to see another part of the country. However, since I'm heading to a part of the country with malaria-infested mosquitoes, I had to start taking anti-malaria medication last week. Side effect: crazy dreams. As if my life wasn't odd enough right now, I get to add ridiculously vivid, slightly twisted dreams to the mix. One of the many views on the walk home from the training center.Here's the part you've been waiting for. It's difficult for me to even begin to describe the surreal experience of eating lunch while being surrounded by five people munching on guinea pig legs. Actually, I still feel a bit queasy when I think about it. Cuyes are reserved for special occasions, as they are expensive to raise (they eat a lot of alfalfa). Today was my host brother's birthday, meaning special occasion, meaning time to eat cuy. During training, we've been learning about cultural perspectives and how people see other cultures based on their own preconceived notions. As much as I would have liked to see this experience from an unbiased perspective, I could only grasp my United States upbringing in seeing fried pets. And, it's not as though people eat a piece of guinea pig on their plate; they are served an entire guinea pig--from buck teeth to head to claws. Of course, I was sitting at the table eating potatoes and broccoli, while they all poked fun at me (jokingly, I think!). Rosa thought it was very funny to face her guinea pig at me to pretend that it was watching me. Hysterical. That is, until she chopped the head off with a knife and started eating it. Oh Ecuador, you are a continual source of amazement. I promise--no more photos of fried guinea pigs; I just had to share this experience with a photo because words couldn't do it justice! Next week: pictures of the Amazon! And, no fried or roasted animals, hopefully.

My host mom's guinea pigs.My host mom's guinea pigs--roasted and spiced. Buen provecho!

Not as much to report this week—training is pretty intensebetween multiple group projects, Spanish lessons for 4 hours a day, and anarray of security, regulation, and health sessions. This week, I did get thechance to leave the training center to go to Quito twice. On Wednesday, my group and I traveledto see the Peace Corps office in the city; it’s quite the trek, three busrides, to get over there. The office is really nice, as are all of the staff.Of course, while at the office, we had yet another safety talk with our head ofsecurity. She discussed robberies and theft on transportation in Ecuador, whichis quite the problem, especially if you are a gringo. Unfortunately, on the busride back to the training center, one of my fellow trainees experienced thisfirst hand when she got off the bus and realized her jacket had been slashed.She’s fine—just short a cheap cell phone and five dollars. Sneaky, sneakythieves.

The weather has been extremely beautiful this past week withlots of sunshine. Several of us decided to walk to the neighboring town ofCumbaya (yup, that’s the name of the town) during the day on Saturday to enjoythe lovely scenery. There is a bike bath, the ciclovia, which runs for milesthrough and between towns in the area. Lots of mountain bikers, runners, andwalkers take advantage of the path, especially in the mornings. I’ve onlydriven through Cumbaya on the bus on the way to Quito, and I can’t believe hownice the town is. The town square is beautiful with a fountain and palm trees.After our walk, we all decided to opt out of eating at a restaurant servingwhite rice (two weeks in of eating white rice for two meals a day, and I’malready trying to avoid it!), so we found an Italian restaurant and enjoyed deliciouspizza. It was such a relaxing day after a super stressful week!A view from the ciclovia on the way to CumbayaMore nice views from the cicloviaTown square in CumbayaFellow trainees and me!About to enjoy pizza and beer (sin arroz--without rice!)However, Saturday didn’t end with lunch in Cumbaya. Theentertainment always continues when I get back home. I need to preface thisstory by saying that my host family always says that I eat “como un gato” (likea cat). Meaning: I don’t eat much. I’ll let you decide if you know any cats thateat the sheer quantity of food that I was given on Saturday.

I walk in my house in late afternoon after my outing toCumbaya. I’m greeted with hugs and a rapid flood of words that I sort of halfknow. Rosa asks what I did with my friends. I tell her we had a huge lunch, andI’m very full (take note of this). Next, my host brother asks if we’re going tomake cookies. I remember my promise about making chocolate chip cookies, so Isay yes. Rosa watches over the whole process to ensure that I do in fact knowhow to use a spoon to mix ingredients. (Side note: same goes for sweeping,dusting, making my bed, and ironing—all of which I now know how to properlydo.) I make the dough, I put the cookies in the oven, and I am about to walkout of the kitchen. But, Rosa calls my name from the dining room and tells me thatmy soup is waiting for me on the table. I reiterate that I just ate lunch. Nope, doesn’tmatter, I have to try a little soup. A heaping bowl of soup later, I’m nearingfood coma status. Next thing I know, I’m sitting in my room studying and myother host brother, who is a truck driver that drives to the coast every week,comes in with a mango and hands it to me. I don’t really know the protocol whenyou are handed a piece of tropical fruit in your bedroom, so I say thank you and try tocontinue studying. He is still standing in my room next to my bed, so I realizethe protocol is to follow him into the kitchen. My two host brothers and Isplit open mangoes and laugh as bright orange mango juice drips down our armsonto the ceramic floor. I eat one mango. Do I want another? Oh my god, no. Isneak back to my room. Ten minutes later—I hear the bells chime six from thechurch in the center of town, and in comes Rosa. She wants me to make a saladfor dinner. You’re kidding, right? I’m back in the kitchen. Salad, rice, eggs,and beans. For situations like this, the training staff taught us how to say, “Ya no avanzo.” (I can’tcontinue.) It never works.

One final note: My host family loves my chocolate chip cookies, and theword vender, to sell, got thrown arounda couple of times. I hope they were talking about the cookies. Either way, I’mglad I could add something to the food fest.

Whew, it has been a crazy week (wonderful, but so busy)! Peace Corps has every Monday through Friday planned out from 8-5, then I spend about an hour and fifteen minutes walking home, and, sometimes, I have homework to do afterwards. On weekends, I have host family obligations--more on that in a bit. So, I've decided during PST (Pre-Service Training, there are a million acronyms in the Peace Corps) I'll try to update my blog every Sunday.

So here's the update...

This week has been a blur of training and absorbing Ecuadorian culture. I've been spending most of my time at the Peace Corps training center. Each day begins with a chaotic bus ride at 7:20 in the morning; when I say chaotic, I mean no maximum capacity, landscapes rushing by, a serious core and forearm workout in order to remain upright, and continued movement while trying to get off the bus. It's definitely an experience in itself. After the enthralling bus ride, the rest of the day seems rather dull. I've been attending lectures about culture, health, safety, Spanish, and technical training about environmental education and natural resources management. The two most interesting training sessions: the security briefing by a special agent from the U.S. Embassy and the intestinal illnesses talk from the extremely enthusiastic Peace Corps nurse. I'll let your imaginations dream up the contents of those chats.

My second home: the Peace Corps Training Center.Besides training, I've been spending a lot of time with my host family. And by spending time, I basically mean eating copious amounts of food. And, I have to say, the food here is so good! I could write paragraphs about the food, but I'll limit it to just one for the first week. My favorite dish so far has been humitas--ground choclo (the type of corn here) mixed with butter, sugar and egg wrapped in a corn husk and steamed. Then, wait for it, fried in butter. Think: fried, sweet tamale. Delicious. My host mom, Rosa, and I go to the market every Sunday and stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables. The markets are incredible here! For breakfast, I have fresh juice (pineapple, melon, naranjilla, mandarin, or tomate de arbol), a roll, and tea. Lunch and dinner usually consist of a combination of white rice, fried eggs, soup, vegetables, beans, lentils, and/or noodles. There's definitely an abundance of starch. On weekends, the day is basically centered around food, with lunch being the main meal of the day. Yesterday, my host family and I ate a huge lunch of soup, rice, vegetables, and beans. So, for dinner, we had tea and chocolate cake. Chocolate cake for dinner!

A fruit stand at the central market in town=delicious!Yesterday, I had to tackle the task of washing my clothes on la piedra. (La piedra is the stone that people wash their clothes on here.) Basically, you take one piece of clothing at a time, lather it with soap and water, scrub it on the rock, let it sit for half an hour, then take that piece of clothing, douse it with water, and squeeze it until all of the water comes up. So, Rosa taught me how to wash my clothes, and two and a half hours later, I finished washing 6 shirts, 3 pairs of pants, one skirt, a handful of underwear, and a set of sheets. Where's the washing machine at? No, not really, it was actually kind of pleasant washing my clothes in the morning sunlight. I think the best part though was that my bright purple underwear was splayed out on the clothesline in front of the dining room window while we ate lunch. Not embarrassing at all, nope.

La PiedraSuccess!My host family has a garden, actually more like a small farm, in a neighboring town. Rosa and I went to see the farm and to feed the pigs yesterday. She goes to the farm everyday in the mornings. The garden is very beautiful; there's corn, potatoes, lettuce, beets, beans, and three pigs! Los chancos, pigs, are gigantic and crazy. There's also a ton of alfalfa that Rosa grows to bring back to the house to feed the cuy, guinea pigs, several of which will be eaten in a couple of weeks for her son's birthday. I've tried lots of new things this week--food and experiences--I can't wait to try more, but maybe not any cuy!

Rosa and her chanchos!The view from my host family's gardenOne of the many beautiful flowers blooming here!

I'm here! I'm in Ecuador! I'm in South America! After a day of staging in Dallas, a trip to the airport at three in the morning, a layover in Miami, and a rainy arrival in Ecuador, I'm officially a Peace Corps Ecuador Trainee with Omnibus 107. There are thirty-six other trainees in my group, and everyone is wonderful. I arrived in Ecuador on Thursday night and stayed at the training center for the first two nights with my fellow trainees. Training thus far: shots, signatures, shots, safety, thirty-minute Spanish lesson, signatures. There is much more to be done in the coming eleven weeks--in fact, 8 hours a day of training!

After two days at the training center, I moved in with my host family yesterday. Peace Corps placed me with an older couple and their older son (people here live with there parents until they get married; much different than the U.S.). They are wonderful people. The host mother, Rosa, was extremely disappointed when she found out that I am vegetariana, but she is very nice about it. Although, she does put a small piece of chicken on my plate at every meal. Their home is surrounded by avocado and lime trees (more description further down). Today, Rosa and I went to the market in the morning to buy bananas, papaya, watermelon, melon, pears, pineapple, and claudias (small peach-like fruits=delicious); she makes fresh juice every morning. At the market, I realized she has taken to introducing me as mi gringa--maybe she forgot my name. Just kidding. As for my Spanish: it's kind of a joke. I could probably have a fantastic conversation with a two-year-old. But, my host family doesn't speak a word of English, so there is no time like the present to learn, quickly.My room for the next 3 months.On another note, I love to write descriptions about my surroundings, so here is a passage I wrote last night about my first day with my host family. My internet connection is not goo enough to upload pictures, so this will have to do for now...

As I sit in my room, giant avocados droop from branches, lushly green, verde, in the Andean rain. Mist-laden mountains come in and out of focus with the passing layers of clouds. The squeak of guinea pigs, cuy, biding their time drifts through the slightly open window. Swirling scents of freshly showered leaves blend with the unnameable scent that is the Ecuadorian Sierra. Lime trees create a wall of citrus around the blue rectangular house. The chatter of Rosa returning home pulls my mind back to the present. Hola. At least I know that part. Unfamiliar words blend with slightly more familiar ones. Mercado, market, and la vuelta de bus, bus ride. Four blocks from the house, the city center of Tumbaco begins. At the market, Rosa and I play the "name that vegetable and/or fruit in Spanish" game and purchase vegetables for the gringa that doesn't eat meat. A practice bus ride follows to the Peace Corps training center. On the crowded bus, cool mountain air blows against my face as the bus jolts up a dirt road. Two little boys in striped shirts hang their heads out the window and bark relentlessly. The boys exit, and Rosa and I change buses. As the bus driver hops on the bus, he calls me guapa. Rosa won't stand for that; she asks him if he meant both of us, including her (mind you, she's a grandmother). I laugh as we head home.

The beginning of my adventure is just hours away! Saying goodbye is always bittersweet when leaving for a new adventure, yet I must say farewell. I'm heading out on a plane for Dallas early in the morning tomorrow (Wednesday) to meet my fellow Peace Corps Trainees for our staging event (orientation). On Thursday, we'll fly as a group to Miami and then to Quito, Ecuador. I can't believe it's finally happening. Below are all of my worldly possessions for the next 27 months--it's actually sort of refreshing to only own what I can carry (sort of being the key words). I'm not sure when I'll be able to provide an update, but, until I can, I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone for your words of support and love. Each word of kindness has meant so much as I leave on this grand adventure. Hasta luego!

"It is so much easier to live placidly and complacently. Of course, to live placidly and complacently is not to live at all." (Jack London)

"All paths lead nowhere, so it is important to choose a path that has heart." (Carlos Castaneda)

Many (well, at least a few) people have asked questions about becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV). When? Where? What? Why? How long? So, I've decided to answer some of those questions here. This way you can refer back to the answer to that pressing question you have about my volunteerism whether it's the middle of the night or when you're watching TV or while enjoying a nice cup of tea, really, whenever you want.

Wait, the Peace Corps still exists? Are you trying to save the world?

I'm not going to go into this in much detail as a result of there being many websites about the Peace Corps. Visit www.peacecorps.gov for a plethora of information, videos, and interactive features.

However, I do want to share with you the three main goals of the Peace Corps to show that I am indeed not trying to save the world:

1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.

2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.

3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

When and why did you apply?

During 2010, I was an AmeriCorps member in South Lake Tahoe, CA working on conservation and environmental education projects. My experience with AmeriCorps was wonderful, but I knew that I wanted to go abroad to do environmental work and be immersed in a community, so I started my Peace Corps application. Summer in Tahoe got in the way (if you've ever been there during the summer you know why--beaches, mountains, lake, rocks, etc.), so I didn't finish my application until the fall. Over a year later, I'm seeing the realization of that dream.

How do you become a Peace Corps Volunteer(PCV)? How long are you volunteering for?

For those you don't know much about the Peace Corps, here's a brief overview because I've gotten a lot of questions about the logistics of the program. When an applicant applies to the Peace Corps, she does not decide what country or what region of the world she will end up volunteering. There are different sectors of the Peace Corps: education, youth & community development, health, business and IT, agriculture, environment, and HIV/AIDS. Volunteers are placed based on their educational background, work experience, language skills, and many other factors. I had some input into my assignment, and my background clearly led to a nomination for environmental education. Also, to be placed in a Spanish-speaking country, I had to take a college placement exam since I had previously tested out of the language requirement at U of M. All volunteers commit for a full 24-months, plus 2-3 months of training, so I'll be in Ecuador for a grand total of 27 months.

Will you be doing anything in Ecuador?

Yes, yes I will. My assignment will be to work on environmental education and awareness projects within the natural resource conservation project. The natural resource conservation (NRC) project focuses on the ability of Ecuadorians to manage their natural resources so they will be available for future generations. I'll provide much more information on my assignment as I learn more...

Is Ecuador in Mexico?

I really did get this question--by the nurse at the travel clinic where I got my yellow fever vaccination. Seriously. Maybe she was having a confusing day. Anyways, I know everyone else knows that Ecuador is on the northwest coast of South America, bordered by Peru and Colombia. Ecuador is about the size of Colorado and is comprised of three main regions including the Amazon, the Andes, and the coast. Also, the Galapagos Islands are part of Ecuador. It's the smallest of the 17 megadiverse countries in the world. (Hopefully I'll be able to nerd out on some plant and animal identification down there!) Peace Corps started sending volunteers to Ecuador in 1962 and over 5,700 Americans have served there.

What's that quote by John F. Kennedy about the Peace Corps? (No, just kidding. No one really asked me this, but it's a good quote.)

The Peace Corps was first introduced by John F. Kennedy in 1961. Click here for more information about the history.

"Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed—doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language. But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying."

After over a year of applying and continuous waiting, I'm finally heading to Ecuador in less than two weeks with the U.S. Peace Corps! I haven't wanted to create a blog for fear of jinxing my long awaited spot as an invitee, but, with only days left, I'm finally giving in and creating one. I know nothing is certain until I touch down in Quito on January 19th. Then, realistically, everything is even more uncertain. Oh well, that's life.

I'll be using this blog to share about my life at the equator--experiences, ramblings, boring events, pictures, people, culture shocks, roasted guinea pigs, biodiversity, projects, exciting happenings, travels, living with host families, language struggles--and the blog will, of course, evolve as my adventure begins.

Internet connectivity is a huge uncertainty at this point, so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update this. The quality and/or quantity of my future posts might be affected by an array of factors. Best not to worry if I don't post. While I'll make an effort--no promises!

So with that intro, I must say: Welcome to my blog, blah, blah, blah. Enjoy.