Within Peace Corps Ecuador are different committees run by volunteers to support sustainable growth within the country outside of our normal responsibilities in our sites. I am a member of PCE's Gender and Development (GAD) Committee. We work all over the country to promote awareness of gender issues as well as work in conjunction with the Kiwanis club to provide scholarships for high school girls. Recently, we decided to add a seminar on men's health, open only to men to create a 'safe space' for learning and questions. This past week, I traveled to Quininde, a small town about 2 hours from Ecuador's coast to assist with and attend our very first men's health seminar. We had 15-20 men show up, the majority from the town's taxi cooperatives. Not sure how the seminar would run, we were pleastantly surprised that the men were very involved and active, asking questions and giving their opinions. We had a discussion dealing with gender issues, heard a talk on men's health from a local doctor, and learned about HIV/AIDS. For a half-day seminar, I think we discussed some incredibly important issues and that these men will more than likely go back to their co-workers, friends and families and share the information with them. In November we have a GAD seminar planned in Guayaquil, one of Ecuador's largest cities where we will capacitate volunteers and their counterparts in gender issues and how gender is affecting the projects they are planning in their sites. GAD has a lot of amazing plans for the future and is definitely doing great things here in country. We will be asking for money to finance the November seminar so stay tuned to see how you can help!

We just wrapped up our mid-service conference over in Quito, marking a little over a year of service and the beginning of our last ten months. It was great to see everyone and to start planning our last year together in country. It was also nice to hear that most of us have been in the same boat concerning counterparts, housing, projects, etc. Somehow, being in Quito requires the spending of ridiculous amounts of money to take taxis (for fear of getting robbed) and eat delicious lunches, such a sushi or…Burger King. You can’t leave the Super Maxi without spending 10 to 20 dollars on pasta sauce, peanut butter or, for the newly acquired stove at the Runa office, brownie mix and an oven mitt. Another thing I’ve noticed about Quito is that no matter how long I spend there, be it 2 days or 1 week, it is inevitable that I leave sick. I sneeze, my throat hurts, my ears pop on the bus ride back and I’m miserable until I have returned to the jungle and things get back to normal. I just can’t handle the high altitude and cold weather. Being sick, in turn, makes my Spanish hard to understand since I’m too tired and lazy to enunciate my words properly. I hate being sick. This realization has caused me to reminisce back to the early days, when I first arrived in country and my language skills weren’t quite up to par – a combination of lack of knowledge, practice and self-confidence. I will now share with you, my faithful reader(s?), a few examples of what I am talking about: 1. When I first got here and lived at the caves, it was a daily struggle to get through meaningless conversations: what do you like to eat, do you have a boyfriend?, how much money do you make?, why do you only have one sibling?, etc. Through these conversations, I learned that the word for sandwich, “sanduche,” is in fact SANduche, not sanDUche. I also learned that the word for police, “policia,” is not polICia. It’s poliCIA. Everyone got a good laugh about my wrongly accented words. 2. One day, my friend Monica was asking for help with her homework (she had recently returned to high school after having a baby). She had to describe a “paisaje,” or landscape. I said, “That’s easy! It’s the money I give to the bus helper whenever I go to Tena.” I had never heard that group of people laugh so hard. “No no Sarita, that’s PAsaje. Not PAIsaje. But good try.” I laughed at myself for that one. 3. This next one isn’t so much embarrassing for a language slip-up as just plain embarrassing. Tena, the capital of the province and a city about 30 minutes south of me, is a very popular destination for rafting and kayaking, and therefore boasts a very high number of raft and kayak guides. Because these guys work with gringos (foreigners) so often and have heard stories and know people who have actually married one and moved to the states, they try very hard to hook one of their very own. So, hanging out at the bar scene one night, I meet “Pedro,” a raft guide who loves to salsa and lives near Laurel and Dan. After that, he calls me quite often to get me to go learn to kayak, salsa dance, accompany him to his cousin’s graduation party, etc. I eventually get so tired of saying no/ignoring his calls that I think it will be a fantastic idea to make up an excuse. I tell him I’m sick, can’t get out of bed, and that I think I will have my unknown disease for at least a week. I basically forget about that conversation and head on to my daily activities: English class at the caves. After class, I catch the 8:15 Jumandy bus as usual. I sit down in my seat on an almost empty bus and hear, “hola sarita” come from a not-sounding-too-happy voice. I look over and who is it but “Pedro.” I quickly let out an extremely fake cough and try to lower my voice to sound as though I’d lost it and muster up some kind of excuse. I basically end up laughing for the remainder of my 4 minute bus ride home, as I’m sure I’ve been figured out. This, however, is no deterrent for an Ecuadorian man. 4. On my final Language Proficiency Test before we were cleared to go to our sites, I completely messed up “my name is sarah.” I am generally a nervous person, whether it be interviews, oral tests or speaking in front of a crowd, and this was no different. Instead of saying “mi nombre es sarita” or “me llamo sarita,” I combined the two: “mi llamo es sarita.” Luckily my interviewer knew my personality and let it slide; I still ended up being an advanced speaker. 5. Actually living in a Spanish-speaking country, you learn things your high school Spanish teacher never thought it useful to teach you: flirting. Luckily, I have Lydia near me who I can text or call at anytime to ask stupid questions: how do you conjugate this verb? What’s a good way to say this without coming across rude?, etc. Unfortunately, in one instance I texted Lydia about one text too late. A guy I had met and been talking to messaged me and told me he liked me or, ‘me gustas.’ I, not knowing how the verb ‘to like’ could be conjugated between two people, conjugated it right back at him: ‘te gusto tambien.’ Which, I’m not really sure translates two. I decided to ask Lydia after sending him the message. She then informed me that “I like you” is always ‘me gustas.’ It makes so much sense now...after the fact. That's all I can think of for now, but I'm sure there are plenty other stories and there will be more to come.

I'm leaving tomorrow to return to Ecuador. Its been a busy but bittersweet vacation! I got to see friends from high school, college and camp and the majority of my TN family. I saw Laura graduate high school and Michael graduate Elon Law (good luck on the bar!), met girlfriends, marveled at the amount of clothing still in my closet, made canteloupe juice, did not eat chik-fil-a (kind of sad about that), drank tasty beer at Racks by the Tracks and traveled to North and South Carolina and Atlanta. The things most appreciated from being home were sitting on leather couches, hundreds of channels on the TV, walking around barefoot and hot showers (not to mention everyone buying me lunch!). I'm eager to get back to life in the jungle - I miss my all of my friends and my puppy, so that's a good sign! I have one year left with the Peace Corps so heres to more adventures to tell you all. Love, Sarah

Last night, it started raining here in Archidona around 7 p.m. and did not stop until this morning around 8 a.m. It also rained in Tena, the capital city and in the surrounding communities. I woke up a few times last night noticing the strength of the rain, but thought nothing of it. Laurel, who lives in Tena, called me around 7:30 this morning to let me know of the destruction the rains had caused there. The water rose higher than it ever has before. It completely covered the roads and flooded many of our favorite restaurants there by the river. Houses and belongings were being brought down the river which eventually took out the bridge to the zoo on the island where the two rivers, the Pano and the Tena come together. There is still a family stranded there waiting for the waters to reside. The bridge was made with steel-reinforced concrete, which you can see by the picture above. I went out to survey the damage this afternoon and it was truly incredibly. The roof of a dance club by the river was completely destroyed, stores with their merchandise strewn across the road, everyone helping and doing what they could. To top it off, there is no water in the pipes and the river water is too muddy/dangerous to use. It's ironic. Two girls died here in my town because they couldn't get out of their house fast enough to escape the rushing water. No schools here in town had classes. It was truly a sad, interesting day. Tena has alot to clean up and rebuild in the coming days. The waters have started to reside, but as of this afternoon the Misahualli river that runs beside Archidona and eventually into the Pano river was still very high. Everyone out here from Peace Corps is safe and accounted for, thankfully. It just started sprinkling in Archidona....

As long as exciting things keep happening down here, you lucky readers will have something to waste your time on! After I got back from the weekend with the dentists - completely exhausted (I went to bed at 7 p.m. on Monday!) - it was back to work at Runa. All of the 'tecnicos' from the Archidona office have been working for months building our new tea drying racks, garden, and firepit behind the office. After all of this work, Wednesday was the big day - the inauguration of the new equipment and the chance to get the important people from governmental agencies to come see what Runa is all about. Fundacion Runa has a main office in Quito and two field offices here in Archidona and down south in Puyo. From the field offices, there are 'tecnicos' that travel into the communities to teach them how to plant the guayusa and give them technical assistance along the way. Each farmer plants 625 plants in 1 hectare. In about three years, they will begin to see more income from selling the leaves of these trees to us. We buy at .35 cents a pound - almost double the going rate. Also in three years, Runa will see increased primary materials because the plants will be ready. We bring the leaves (from the farmers in Napo and Pastaza provinces) to the Archidona office to pre-dry the leaves, dry them in our industrial dryers, crush them and then ground them even smaller to be ready to put them into tea bags. Right now the business is online (http://www.runa.org/) but in the future we hope to move to small organic food stores like Whole Foods and also into small cafes and coffee shops. The founder of Runa is Tyler Gage, a 24-year-old graduate of Brown University. I've gotten to spend some time with him in these few weeks I've been working here and he is a remarkable person. To be so young and already have such a successful business is amazing and I definitely admire him and everyone that has been working for Runa. Tuesday night, all the staff was treated to an amazing dinner at Huasquila Lodge, north of Archidona in Cotundo. It was a nice way to start the inauguration and realize all of the great things we are doing. Wednesday was a long day - we were up at 7 a.m. to start setting up the tables, chairs and promotional materials outside. At 9, we all headed to the minicipal government for Tyler to give his presentation. After a successful presentation and much publicity, everyone headed to the office to begin the festivities. We had plenty of guayusa to drink, traditional dancers, a toast and then all went to lunch. In the afternoon, a few more people showed up to see the open house, and I was exhausted. Lydia, my friend that also helped with the dental translatng, had traveled up that morning from Puyo. Lydia lives in a community where they have Runa guayusa and helps the farmers in the area of technical assistance and also has school gardens. It is cool to be working for the same foundation but in different levels of the tea-making process! After a quick nap, we headed back to the office to see if we could help with anything, but everyone was already heading to the karaoke bar across the street! The owner of the bar is helping us out with the drying process so it is a place they frequent often. After plenty of Pilsener, singing, and dancing, we headed to eat. Thank you to the only restaurant open in Archidona late-night! I am very lucky to be working for such an organized, driven foundation. Thursday and Friday were holidays leading up to Easter so there was no work to be done. I hope everyone had a relaxing and happy Easter!

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to work with a group of dentists from the United States who had come to Ecuador on a medical mission. They came through The Judith Lombeida Foundation and the Children's International Dentist Project and worked here in Ecuador in conjuction with the Ecuadorian Air Force. My friend Lydia Montes, who lives down south near Puyo, came up to be the other translator from the Peace Corps. We met the group on Thursday for lunch at the Air Force base and then headed to the first site, Santa Rita. Santa Rita is a small Kichwa community just outside of Archidona. After set-up, Lydia and I returned to Archidona and watched the SandLot, a movie that is frequently quoted here in Tena cluster but I couldn't remember watching in my childhood. Friday morning, the commander of the Air Force base here in Tena picked us up on my street corner in Archidona and we headed out for the first day of our two-day mission in Santa Rita. We saw about 85 patients - pulling teeth, filling cavities and teaching the kids and their parents about good hygiene. I worked mainly with a dentist from Colorado Springs and his wife. Because it is a Kichwa community, my little knowledge of Kichwa helped me out quite a bit. We returned to Tena after the long work day and had dinner with Tena cluster. Saturday morning we met the Air Force bus in Archidona and headed back to Santa Rita. Our second day went by faster and we broke down the rooms around 330 to head home after the closing program. The dentists we were working with treated us to dinner at The Marquis (steak!!) and then we went dancing with some of the dentists and Air Force men. Sunday we met the bus in Tena and headed out to San Pedro which is my friend John's site. We set up the equipment and got to work. It was a smaller school so we could see all the students in one day. All of our machines kept tripping the breakers so we had to work around it. John came out to show his support before losing his soccer game in the Sunday tournament, 9-0. We packed everything up around 3:00 and Lydia and I headed back to Archidona to get ready for the closing dinner and program at the Air Force base. We had dinner and watched a video of the past three days then headed out to receive certificates (from the foundations and the air force!) and see some indigenous dancing. It was an incredibly exhausting weekend but I felt really good about being able to help these dentists out with the translating. This week, it's back to work because here at the Foundation Runa tomorrow we have the inauguration of the new dryers where we dry the guayusa leaves. Busy busy! Take care. SK

Hola a todos: Sorry for not updating in 2010...and half of 2009. I'll start where I left off: In December, Mom, Dad and Michael came down for about two weeks. We spent a few days in Quito touring the Old Town, bartering for goods in Otavalo, visiting the 'middle of the world,' taking a gondola up an extinct volcano to take int he views of about five snow-capped volcanoes surrounding the city, eating good food, celebrating the holiday and spending time together. After a week in the busiest city I've ever been in, we boarded a bus and made our way to the jungle. The hosteria we stayed at reminded me of summer camp. It's a huge island that rescues monkeys and other jungle animals and rehabilitates them. We spent the weekend there and relaxed a bit and then I sent them to a hostal in Tena (the only one with air conditioning!) We visited the caves, the zoo, walked around Tena, took a trip to the Super Tia, hung out with Tena cluster, and enjoyed each other's company. it was a really great trip and I guess it was fun to be a tourist/tour guide for a bit. My family enjoyed their trip but did comment on how poor the country is - something I think I've started not to notice since living here. I moved into a cute, safe new house in the city and had to give Nina (the bigger white dog) away. She's with a good family a few towns over and so I know she's happy. Beso is still small and awkward and most likely not going to grow more and is a good dog. My neighbors and the people in my barrio are extremely nice so I've made some good friends here in town. January went by quickly and we moved into February: Carnaval. Ecuador has more parties and holidays than the United States will have over a period of twn years. Carnaval is probably the craziest holiday. We had over 700 people at the caves one day over the long weekend and the last day we got to play. Carnaval = water balloons, silly string/shaving cream, mud, flour, etc. It wasn't much fun trying to wash flour out of my already wet hair but I will say that joking around that day with everyone, pushing people in the pool, throwing flour, etc. was one of the best days I've had here so far, although I did somehow lose my shoes... March has arrived and with it some big changes in my Peace Corps life. I no longer work at the caves and have shifted my attention to wokring with kindergarteners in the mornings and Fundacion Runa in the afternoons. Working with the kids is incredibly fun - it's like having 70 automatic best friends that all want to hold your hand. I teach environmental education and English. You would not believe how hard it is for a three year old to distinguish between 'apple' and 'purple.' In the afternoon, I head over to the offices of Fundacion Runa (http://www.runa.org/) It is so nice to be in an office setting and use the skills that I came here with. The people I work with are all great and I'm so happy with my 'new life.' Last week, all the kindergarten teachers in the area had a soccer tournament. My team lost 2-1 but that one point on the scoreboard was all thanks to yours truly! It made me realize I actually enjoy playing soccer. Strange, I know. After the match I headed to Quito/Cayambe for our 'little brother/sister' picnic with Omnibus 103 - what a fun group of people! A good time was had by all and it was great seeing everyone from 101 as well. This week I get to help translate for some dentists that are coming to the smaller Kichwa communities to give check - ups and perform surgeries. We'll see how much dental vocab I can cram in before Thursday! At the end of April, my friend Jaime from training is coming to visit, then it's May which means...HOME! I'll be back in the states May 13-26th so I expect to see all of you there! Much love, Sarita

Cave Warriors Marcia, Monica, me and Martha Indi/Bebe/TROUBLE Wow. It is amazing how much life can change in a matter of weeks! I am all moved into my new house and I love it. Living in the city made a huge difference. The people I live near are ridiculously nice and helpful and I’ve already made new friends. The new house has an amazing yard so Beso and Nina are content. Beso is still small enough to slip under the fence. After losing her for days at a time I finally got the incredible idea to put some chicken wire so she can’t get out. Somehow she still manages to do it so I’m still working out the details…Nina escaped yesterday and came back a different color. I bathed her and she proceeded to roll in the mud. Thanks, Nina. Last week I worked with my new counterpart, same organization. We worked all day planning projects, investigating resources and learning from each other. Wednesday, the foundation had our weekly minga. We (almost) all headed to the farm in the morning and then went up to machete the weeds around our recently planted yucca. It is always a friendly atmosphere on the farm and I even got to practice my Kichwa. They always forget that I’ve learned how to say ‘you’re about to make me angry’ in their language. It’s fun to whip that knowledge out and surprise them! Being that my hands haven’t had much experience with a machete, I got a blister after an hour and went back to the house to help Mama Teresa with the soup. I ended up not feeling very well, probably from being out in the sun so long. Here, they call this feeling ‘mal aire,’ not to be confused with malaria. They all swore that I would feel much better after a cleansing of yucca leaves. I never think they’re serious about these things and then Papa Pedro walks in with a huge handful of leaves and starts cleansing me of my ‘bad air’ like the shamans do. Honestly, it made me feel better. I don’t know if I just wanted shaking a bunch of yucca leaves to magically cure an illness, or if their ancient beliefs could be compared to modern medicine, like, for real. We may never know. Wednesday night there was a CD release party in Tena. The National Park put out a new CD with songs about the region and since Laurel and Dan work up there we were lucky enough to be invited! The band played a few of the songs and everyone danced and had a great time. We’ve had quite a bit of rain these past few days so washing my clothes has to be planned well. I can’t believe it’s already basically December. I’ve been waiting for this month since February 24th and it is HERE! This means the Eldredge family will be reunited in 22 days. The countdown begins!

I met with the doctor this morning and I don't have tuberculosis! I do, however, have strep B and the PCV inevitable, amoebas. Those are probably the underlying causes for the other strange illnesses I had. Leaving today to go back home to my puppies :) Thanks for the thoughts and prayers!

Just an update: I've been in Quito for the last few days dealing with medical issues. Basically, we know that I have erythema nodosum (google it.) we just don't know why. I have had every test known to man including a chest x-ray and tuberculosis test. I hope to return to my site on Wednesday, given the test results are negative. I must say, the medical care provided by Peace Corps is wonderful. Probably better than I had back in the states. Its been a fun 'vacation' in Quito, I've gotten to see alot of people and eat some amazing food (sushi!) but I'm ready to get home. It is cold in Quito. And it's really high up altitude-wise so it's hard to breathe. But, it's a fun city nonetheless. I will continue to keep you all updated!

What an eventful week we've had here in the Amazon, as I'm sure you are all aware from my Facebook statuses and emails. The indigenous communities went on strike against a new water law. I think at this point talks have started between the president and indigenous leaders, so things should get back to 'normal' here soon. Since I live in a 99% indigenous area, strikes and protests were happening very close to my house so I was on edge for a few days. It is comforting to know that a cab can get to my house and back to the big city in less than 20 minutes, and even more comforting to know that I have some very, very good friends living near me. Tena cluster once again had our usual Friday night shin-dig, complete with some amazing dinner at our favorite (the only) Argentenian restaurant and ending with dancing at the local hot spot. I did my October grocery shopping yesterday. I bought yogurt in its normal plastic container and also in a bag, and I bought milk in its regular box (yes, boxed, unrefrigerated milk) and also in a bag. I plan on doing a taste comparison to see if I prefer my dairy products in bags. We will see. Nina is doing well, I tried to put her old collar on her and the ends don't even touch around her neck. She grew...the kids at the caves and I started an eco-club yesterday. We are going to paint inorganic and organic trash cans for the caves next week! In English class, we learned and translated Michael Jackson's 'Beat It.' I think I won some extra points for that activity. I can't believe October is finally here. I can't wait for the Halloween festivities at the end of the month - Tena cluster has costumes planned and we get to go rafting! No other news from here, I'm trying to update my blog more often so we'll see if I can do it.

I let almost an entire month go by without posting to let you all know I am still alive. Oops :) Things continue to go well down here, taking it day by day, one step at a time! The month of September was filled with alot of traveling, it was nice to get out of site and I was a little sad to have to return and get back into the grind. I really enjoyed traveling and seeing some more of Ecuador. Bueno. So September started off well, I went to Quito for a day for the GAD (Gender and Development) meeting. We work with equality for women and hold leadership camps and give out scholarships to young girls. I'm super excited to learn more about GAD in Ecuador and to meet the girls we are helping go to school. I'm in charge of planning the next GAD seminar for volunteers and their counterparts so that will be fun. Quito changed their bus station situation so it was a tad confusing. The new bus stations, however, resemble very nice airports so I can't complain about that! All in all, the city is huge and incredibly different from here in the Oriente. So I got back from Quito at 1 AM and had to be up for a Shaman gathering here in Tena. Looks like my counterpart didn't research it well because we...couldn't find it. Maybe Shamans are like ninjas? Who knows. So that was a bust, but I still got to see some of Tena cluster. So the weekend passed quickly and Tena cluster headed out last Monday for Reconnect. Reconnect is a gathering of all the volunteers in Omnibus 101 to...reconnect...and talk about the past few months and start planning the first year of service. Counterparts were invited as well and I took the secretary of the Foundation. We learned a whole whole lot about project development and planning so I'm excited to see what may come of it. It was great to see all the volunteers in the Oriente as well. The place we stayed at was incredible - beautiful plants and flowers, walkways and trails, volleyball court, swing set!, pool, sauna, etc. Way to go, Peace Corps. We had a talent show one night (because volunteers are hilarious, especially in the oriente - why else?). The girls and I copied an SNL Spanish skit, we rewrote '500 miles' and there were some hilarious impersonations! A good time was had by all. We wrapped up the week on Friday and most of us packed up and headed to Riobamba. Since Reconnect is usually supposed to be in Quito with all the volunteers but was different this year, we all planned to meet up in Riobamba (kind of a central location?). Mostly everyone from Omnibus 101 was there. It was so good to see everyone, share stories, and hang out. The hotel we found was super nice (but cheap! we are volunteers...) and the town is gorgeous. It was refreshing feeling cold weather, but combined with the altitude change it didn't really agree with me. I found a store that sold the good cheese and chocolate that comes from Salinas - Gouda! My ritz crackers were especially jazzed up last night. The bus ride is actually very beautiful coming from Riobamba to Tena. You can see where the air changes, where the highlands become jungle, etc. The road in between Banyos and Puyo is especially gorgeous - the waterfalls are absolutely amazing! The bus ride was also particularly entertaining - and seemed shorter! - because Laurel and I have decided to start a band. She's going to learn the guitar, and when Mom and Dad bring me my banjo in Diciembre (mom, dad, now you can't say no - you've been published.) we are going to start singing and playing and stuff! I will probably buy a guitar too to start learning. I'm really excited. Our first cover will be the Indigo Girls - Joking. Just wait until we get famous. Anyways, we got into Tena around 5 on Sunday and I went to my friend's house to pick up my puppy. She grew! They bathed her for me which I really appreciated. So, here I am back in my casita with Nina, planning for the next big thing. While I was in Puyo, my counterpart called to tell me that a young woman who had volunteered and lived with the people up at the caves was shot to death a week ago in Quito. I had met her once and she always referred her friends to come visit the caves and the foundation. She was from France working in Quito. Read the story here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32861796 ...I guess it just goes to show that no matter how safe you think you are or how aware you are of your surroundings, anything can happen. It's really, really sad. And scary. Anyways. Hard to believe I just have to get through October, November, and the first few weeks of December and I'll be showing my family around Ecuador! I hope all is well in Kingsport and wherever else you may be reading from. As always, thanks for reading! ...and if you are ever bored and need a laugh, go to mylifeisaverage.com. Best. Procrastination. Ever.Take care - Sarita

I´m still here! Sorry I haven´t been too faithful to updating my blog. Things down here are still going well, we have Reconnect coming up in a few weeks. Hard to believe we´ve already been in country six months and at site for four! I will be helping finish some composting toilets in the surrounding communities this coming week and hopefully helping a community with their failed community bank. I´ve successfully become a guide for the caves so that is exciting! Now when I wear my shirt that says ´guia´on the back, I´m not just pretending! The other volunteers in Tena cluster have had visitors in and out all month so its exciting to get some people from the states (although none of YOU have come!!). My puppy has grown so much in the last few weeks and continues to run the chickens out of the yard. I have discovered that there are rats that like to play in my kitchen at night so I might conseguir a cat! We´ll see. It is definitely more exciting to have pets around when you live alone but I´m sure my neighbors probably think I´m nuts. Luis finished installing my shower and water for my washing rock so that is super helpful. He´s going to build me a better shower later in the year so maybe I will have hot water (just in time for the fam!) Buy your plane tickets people, I need visitors! (fotos: tena girls during sarah´s visit, pet snake at caves, tena cluster and family go to the caves)

Hello all, I am still alive. I moved into my new house and got a puppy, nina. ´Nina´is a Kichwa word which means fuego in Spanish and fire in English. She is super cute and was rescued from the street. We had a busy weekend here because it was a holiday weekend and school starts back soon, so lots of tourists at the caves! I am the new member of Peace Corps Ecuador´s Gender and Development committee so I am excited to start working with them. I have attached some pictures of the caves, my puppy and my friends in Tena cluster. Miss and love you all!

What a week! Last week on my birthday, my community threw me a surprise party. My community is Kichwa and so they don’t celebrate birthdays, holidays, etc. so their first attempt at throwing a birthday party was an incredible gesture. They said they wanted to make me feel like I was at home, I almost cried! One of the guys from the Fundacion gave me one of his paintings for a present. It is so pretty and I can’t wait to hang it in my house! We ended the night having a mini dance party. Friday night the entire family (and when I say entire, I mean like all eight brothers and sisters and brothers and sisters in law, etc.) went to my counterpart’s nephew’s graduation party. It was probably the most fun party I’ve attended here in Ecuador. We ended up dancing until 2:30 in the morning and continued the party when we got back to the caves. Tuesday morning I went with the girls and we painted my house – canary yellow! We lack one wall because the maestro was working on my ‘wrap-around porch.’ I’m really excited about moving there. Wednesday, Bertha (bear-tah, not Bertha) and I went into Tena to buy a cook top, refrigerator and gas tank. Thank goodness for buying on credit! I also bought some jellies – remember the shoes that were popular when I was like five and all they are is clear plastic? Back in style. (I think in the U.S. too?) So that was exciting. Not much else happening, I´m going to another community next week to see about helping with dry toilets. I know, hard to imagine me building a dry composting toilet. Such is the Peace Corps! Much love, SK (fotos - the girls at my surprise party, my counterpart luis in the caves, lady helping paint my house, dancing with my ecuacrush. haha.)

My computer found its way [expensively] back to Ecuador! And just in time for my big 2-3. Happy birthday to me! I can’t believe I’ve already been at my site for over two months now. I get to move into my own place at the end of the month. We are fixing it up and painting it until then. I am also the proud owner of my first very own bed and mattress! Exciting times. I visited some friends in Puyo recently to learn about website development so I hope to have at least something up and running for the Fundacion soon. Having my computer here will also help with the brochure designing, among other marketing activities. The kids and I still have English classes, work in our garden and bathe in the river together. I have to start doing my interviews with community members soon. My house is right outside of Archidona but I will be doing my interviews with a small Kichwa community up the road and seeing if there’s a project I can start there. The Tena cluster had an incredibly fun and incredibly American Fourth of July party on Saturday, complete with hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, fruit salad, deviled eggs, watermelon, beer, and an American flag cake. Thanks to Mom’s cheesy decorations, we also had American flag clothing, flags, plates, napkins and necklaces. It was a tough decision between wearing something patriotic or wearing my 2009 Fun Fest tank top! If anyone is reading this and thinks to themselves “Man, I bet Sarah might enjoy a package with some Luisianne tea bags and some good coffee!” don’t be afraid to go ahead and go to the post office. :) As always, thanks for reading and come visit the Amazon. Miss and love you all! (photos: Tena cluster Omnibus 101 on the fourth, Mama Teresa drinking guayusa, the tourist complex of cavernas jumandy beside where i currently live, the girls of Tena cluster on the fourth, and my new house!)

My life continues to be exciting here in the rainy rainforest. Last week, another puppy got hit by a car, a horse died when it stepped in a hole, and we killed an equis that was slithering down the stairs. The 9 year old saw it when I told her it was there (very calmly) and told me not to touch it. Did she honestly think I was just going to reach down a pick up a snake? En serio. I took the kids to the zoo in Tena yesterday. One gringa and six kids under the age of 12. A very tiring adventure! When I say ´zoo´I actually mean about ten different animals in cages on a really muddy and under-construction island. The ostrich gets to run free because his ´cage´floods regularly. They do have an anaconda and monkeys hopping from tree to tree. After the excitement of the zoo we headed to the pizzeria and then went to play on the playground. It was un poquito stressful but we all had fun! I plan on traveling down south to Puyo in the coming weeks to learn more about building a website, and when my computer makes its way back here I will be able to do more with that. Countdown to moving to my own place and getting a dog has begun - taking suggestions for names! Not much else new here, working some in the store, teaching a little English, and leading trash pick-ups on Sundays. Life is good. Happy 35th Anniversary Mom and Dad!

1 month down, 23 to go! Life is continuing to be very tranquilo and entertaining here in the Amazon. My American amigo Charles left a few weeks ago so I´ve been at a lack of English. The fam all went to Karaoke for his despedida. Not much going on here, we´ve had volunteers from Denmark and France along with a steady flow of toursits and school groups. My computer is back to life (minus 8 years of pictures, work, etc.). It will be easier to work down here once I have it back. Last night, my neighbor found an equis (possibly the deadliest snake here) in his yard, so they poured gas on him and burned him in the middle of the road. The tarantula routinely crawls down my wall. We bought chickens last week to raise. The pet snake has successfully escaped his cage the last three times they have put him in there...strange, all my recent happenings involve animals. Anyways, I´m sure alot of you are wondering what exactly it is that I am doing here. My new best friends are 5 girls under the age of 12. We go down the water slide (yes, I live next to a tourist complex with a pool, water slide, and caves), play in the pool and bathe in the river together. They also convinced me to teach them English. The Fundacion I work with is comprised of 1 big family. The two grandparents have eight kids who in turn are married and there are eight grandkids running around. So, there is rarely a dull moment here at the caves. When I can get into town, I do a little marketing for the foundation and will be developing a website here soon. The foundation is also in the process of building volunteer housing (thanks to Charles´designs) so that will also bring in more volunteers. We have family vs. family basketball games (which I only have an advantage in because I´m tall. There is no skill involved.) I´ve also learned to successfully kill a papaya with a blowgun and trekked through the Amazon in my yellow rubber boots. Right now we are in the ´rainy season´here in the rainforest. When it raines the caves become very dangerous and the whole complex floods. Kinda cool to see. Anyways, life is pretty chill. These first three months are meant for integration and evaluating the community´s needs. When I move into my own house (there´s a scary thought) in August, my projects will expand and by then I´ll know the caves well enough to be a guide, so start planning your next vacay to the Amazon! [photos: Jamie and I in Quito during Swear in week, Tena cluster after swear in, beautiful waterfall in the middle of the Amazon, me with Daicy and her friend on our jungle trek]

I´ve been here at my site for about two weeks now. Time sure does fly in Ecuador. My site is amazing. I work with a foundation that´s basically run by this huge family. There is never a dull moment here at the caves! We had a minga last week to plant cacao and platano and also to finish the dry composting toilet. I helped them open a bank account (the bank in Tena has air conditioning...best two hours ever.) Other than that, I´ve been hanging out, tromping around the jungle, playing with the kids and learning to cook Ecuacuisine. I highly suggest that if you are reading this blog, you come to visit. Hope everything is amazing back in the states!

I am finally here at my site! It is hot, there are bugs, but there are also caves. And a tarantula that crawls up and down my wall, and a pet snake that is ´missing´. But other than that, I am in Ecuador and I love it. So, I had a blog entry all ready to go but my computer died while we were in Quito, so while it takes a vacation back to Tennessee, you all will just have to wait for updates and pictures. But in the meantime, if anyone wants to send me some sour patch kid watermelons, flip flops, twizzlers or just a nice little card, I can be easily reached at: Sarah Eldredge Casilla 15-01-35 Tena, Napo, Ecuador South America But that´s only if you want to :)

Sorry for the delay in update! We had our technical trip and then some of the group came down with some group sickness, so I’ve been lazy this week. We left for our tech trip on Easter Sunday and headed to Puerto Quito which is a little west of Quito. It was super hot there and there were way too many mosquitoes. We all got eaten up pretty bad! We spent three days in Puerto Quito visiting a farm and learning about tilapia, pesticide safety, commercialization, compost, worm beds, etc. and spent our free time in the pool or playing volleyball/futbol. It felt like summer camp – 30 girls in one cabin sharing two bathrooms! I am glad to say that the girls totally dominated the ecuateam in volleyball our last night there. It was a good victory. From Puerto Quito we divided into Oriente, Sierra and Costa tech trips and headed to our next destination: Puyo. We had an insanely good dinner in Puyo at an italian restaurant owned by a legit Italian. We spent a few days in Puyo visiting an orchid park, tree nursery, learning about waorani culture and visiting a nature reserve run by an american and his shuar wife. Everything was incredibly beautiful and the climate in Puyo was perfect. We spent one night mas adentro en the jungle learning about tilapia ponds, compost, bokashi and things of the sort. We were literally in the middle of nowhere but it was amazing fun. We got to cook real american food for dinner and breakfast, swam under a 60 foot waterfall and sang songs by the campfire. It made me miss HPC for sure! After Puyo, we headed to our hostal in Tena (which had wireless internet) and then made our way to my site – the caves! We had a traditional lunch of maito – fish cooked inside a huge palm leaf – and then made our way into the jungle to learn about the different fruits and eat some cacao and guava. After the jungle, we headed into the back entrance of the caves for a few hours. Everyone had a good time, which is obvious, because my site is too cool. After the caves we headed back to the hostal for dinner and a warm shower. Apparently dinner wasn’t a good idea because the people that ate it ended up getting sick the next day. We finally got back ‘home’ and were able to relax and process an amazing trip! This week we’ve had more Kichwa class, final language interviews, final technical tests, final evaluations, etc etc. Everyone is really excited to be in Quito for Swearing-In next week. I can’t believe training is over! I’m sure these next two years will fly by as well. Yesterday we had a ‘sports day’ where we did the ecuapresentation of the teams and chose a ‘madrina’ to represent the day. Of course, Joyce won. Because she’s on our team. And we made incredibly amazing team jerseys. We played volleyball, basketball and some softball and called it a day. Today was our family appreciation day and we had lots to eat and good company to enjoy. Tomorrow we’re off to the capital to finish up training and officially become Peace Corps Volunteers. I will try to update after swear-in but if not, it might be a while – we move to our sites this week! I will find a good internet place asap. Thanks for reading and keeping up with me. Love and miss you all!!

We found out our sites! Mine is in Napo province en el Oriente working with marketing and tourism in caves and aiding in the distribution of tilapia production. I will also be teaching the cave guides english. I am sort of replacing another volunteer who has been working with the caves and will be leaving in a month so hopefully that will make my transition smoother! Last week we had our mid-term evals. I am now advanced bajo in spanish and passing training with all 2’s and 3’s. Here is a recap of my visit to my site: The folks heading to Quito first met up around 7:00 am to catch the bus Sunday morning. Once in quito, we split into provincial groups and those going to Napo headed out.. I arrived at my site around 3:30 where my counterpart Luis was waiting for me! The married couple that has been doing some things with the caves were also there and so they took me on a tour of the complex – a pool, waterslide, caves that go for miles, housing for visitors and a sports field. We then watched the Ecuador-brasil futbol game, which Ecuador technically lost, and I went into town with one of the girls to grab some dinner. I got back, hung up my mosquito net as best I could, and went to bed. Monday was super fun. I went into the jungle where Pedro (my counterpart’s father in law??) has some land. He showed me the tilapia ponds beside his house, I met his ‘mujer’ Teresa, who speaks only a little Spanish and mostly kichwa, and we all trekked into the jungle to see all the amazing fruits and see the animal traps he had set up. It was super hot but I got to eat tons of crazy fruits. I got back, had lunch, and Luis took me to the caves! Good thing I have a headlamp that is waterproof. (Thanks bob and susan!) it was super chevere to go caving in Ecuador and know that I can go into the caves anytime I want. The caves go for quite a while and to see them all would take over a day. Luis took me to the waterfall and we went swimming because there is tons of water in the caves. It was super cool caving barefoot, I must admit. I ate dinner and then hung out with the people of the community for a bit. Tuesday, I went back up into the jungle with Luis, Pedro, Ramon and Carlos. Carlos is a recent graduate of UVA with an architecture degree that is serving him better in Ecuador than it would in the states. He had come to Ecuador in January with some friends and met Luis on the cave tour and decided to come back down to help out with the cabanas Luis wants to build in the jungle. So, I have a new English speaking friend who will hopefully be there for a few months. After mapping out and machete-ing and measuring for the cabanas, we had lunch and Luis took us to a place he used to work. It is a super cool hostal/lodge that is made up of about 30 different cabanas way high up on the mountain overlooking the river. You can see three volcanoes from the balcony, and there are hammocks and it is amazing. I will highly suggest that if anyone comes to visit me, they stay there. It was pimp. Wednesday morning I finally gave in and decided to shower. But, surprise, when it doesn’t rain much or the guy that owns the land with the water pipes decides to shut off the water, t here is no running water. So there I was, bathing like an indigenous woman in the cave’s river with my bucket and soap. It was actually kind of fun. I figure I’ll be bathing that way quite a bit, along with washing my clothes in the river. In the morning the other volunteers came to get me and showed me their projects – dry toilets, raising chickens, etc, I met the director of the school, ate lunch in Tena and finally showered in a legitimate shower with running water and everything. It was probably the best shower I have had in over a month even if there wasn’t hot water. I met the missionary family from Ohio that is living in my town and we headed back into Tena to meet up with the other trainees for dinner. I stayed over at the volunteers’ house and caught the bus the next morning! It was a long trip home, but I was glad to get here. Friday morning we had a ‘minifiesta’ in class for making it through half of training. We even got Dunkin’ Donuts. The rest of the day was spent sharing about our site visits and in the afternoon we actually had a session on inter-cultural marriage. I suppose that could be important because so many PCVs marry ecuadorians! Saturday morning we had our first Kichwa lesson. Kichwa is difficult to learn because it has nothing to do with English or Spanish. It’s just its own language. We got a good first crash course on it and will learn more this week. We have one more week of training, a technical trip for a week, another week of training, and then a week in Quito for swear-in before moving to our sites! Sunday I went back into town to pick up a few things and lunch with my amigos. Then my entire family skyped me. Try talking to nine people at once! Apologies for not updating more often, I will probably update next after our technical trip so you will just have to sit there in suspense for the next two weeks. Bahaha. (the picture is of my new pet tarantula, paulina, that lives in my room on my wall...)

It has been a good while since I´ve written! The recent act of the rainy season actually being the rainy season has kept me from walking to the internet. Lo siento. A recap of the past week or so... Saturday – woke up and caught the buses to the leather capital of the world. Spent time seeing the city and talking to the people, then met up with some current volunteers for lunch. Fruit salad and a ham sandwich equals heaven. We rode out to one of the volunteer’s sites. It was good to actually see a site. Went to Gran Aki with Jamie to pick up some things, and we ended up buying cubes of cheese, ritz crackers and coke and kicking our new soccer ball, chris brown, home on the dirt road. It was great. It’s strange, because here the expensive cheeses are cheddar and Colby, etc, but in America, the expensive ones are the ones that are so cheap here. We sprang for some tasty cheese. I came home and my madre was here to take me to Maria Paz’s first birthday party. It was insane – clowns, facepaint, an enormous hello kitty cake, treat bags, and lots of people. They really make a big deal out of birthdays no matter what age you are. I enjoyed it. I think the funniest tradition here is that after the cumpleañera blows out the candles, everyone chants ‘que muere de pastel! Que muere de pastel!’ and then they shove the person’s face into their cake. Luckily they only held Maria Paz’s head to the cake and let her take a big bite, but they usually just push your face into it! I finished watching the first disc of 30 rock thanks to Nicole, and went to bed muy temprano. Sunday we went into town to get some good american lunch and drink some not so good ecuadorian beer. It was a good day. I bought a watch. Monday we learned about good plants to make herbal teas from and the uses for them. I thought it was pretty interesting since I drink herbal tea from a plant out back every night. We then traveled to another site to see these herbs in person and to see the other group’s garden. It was pretty. This week we have to make compost and finish our garden. We are going to try raised seed beds to see where our plants grow better. We are a little pressed on time to make a legit compost pile, but we’re goin to try our best. Ate dinner with the madre and hermana, my mom is really sad because apparently someone stole our sheep from the back yard, but she has a lead on where it may be and is gonna find it if she has to beat some people up to do it. We also have a new cat. It came over in a backpack the other week, and I didn’t see it after that, but it escaped from the roof and was in my sister’s room the other day before hiding under the stove and then in the silverware drawer. I think it might be back outside now, but it certainly does not want any human contact. My friend Jamie who lives down the street had the cutest kitten, but it got ran over because it decided the best napping spot would be in front of a wheel. So the parents replaced it with an even smaller cat. It is adorable. Tuesday we went to a neighboring pueblo again to make lunch – we made cheese empanadas, mote pillo, majado, fruit salad and tea/coffee. We finished off the day with a round of translated pick-up lines, and ended the day with a small celebration of St. Patty´s day. Wednesday we got to meet the ambassador and got our cell phones – so exciting! My numero is 011-593-9-488-5852. I can call and text within ecuador but I cannot call the u.s. however I can receive calls from the US and text there. So call me. We ate dinner at 6:00, and I got confused because it was so early! I think madre had to run out for something with her amiga. Finished off 30 rock to pass on to Jamie. Thursday was a chill day with a morning of language simulation tests/hanging out and playing an ecuadorian card game, cuarenta. It’s super fun. Had more health/assault talks and made our traditional ham sandwiches for lunch. We received our cook books today and I’m excited to finally get to cook for myself! Oh, and I got to eat a scrambled egg this morning. Not fried, not boiled. Scrambled. It was basically the most exciting morning so far. Basically. Friday was a normal day, but Thursday night was freezing! I’ve definitely put the long johns to good use lately, since its actually started raining in the ‘rainy season.’ We learned some reflexive verbs, ate pizza for lunch and worked in the garden for a bit in the afternoon, then it started raining. One of my sisters ducklings died because it decided to ‘play’ with one of the dogs, so we’re down to two. Oh well. The other two get to live inside the house now because it is so cold at night. I walked out of the bathroom this morning and they were hangin out in the hall! Saturday morning I learned how to wash my clothes on a rock then talked to mom for her birthday. Jamie and I went into town for a good hamburger and we saw alot of other gringos there. Abiding by the rule of six, we found other places to hang out! Sunday I went to town with my family because my sister, brother, and his wife were dancing and playing guitar in a parade. It was cool to see them in their traditional dress! My sister-in-law got sunburned like I usually am, and my padre said ah, two gringas in our house now! haha padre, not funny. Today was a chill day of class and tomorrow we finally get to find out where are sites are! I can´t wait. That is all, and just in case anyone is wondering what to get me for my birthday (I realize it is three months away but let´s be real, I´m in Ecuador), I would love a new pair of TOMS (www.tomsshoes.com), preferably fleece lined ones. You´ll not only be helping me out with cool shoes, but you´ll be providing a pair for a child in need! It´s win-win. Ciao!

What a week. Monday was frustrating in class, but I came home and helped my family with the avas and watched a few telenovelas and felt much better. My host brother asked me if I had seen the movie ‘Sao’ and I said, no, I have never heard of it. And then he put it in the DVD player and it was Saw II. And I was like, oh, Saw! And they made fun of me. Sawww. Saaawww. Good stuff. It was also the first birthday of my host niece so we had cake and it was goooood. Tuesday was a gathering of todos, and we got our bank cards, learned more about how not to be robbed, and Jamie Nicole and I once again made ham sandwiches for lunch – amazing. The best part of my day was coming home and seeing a sheep tied to the gate. My host mom proceeded to sheer it in the driveway. Now, he’s chomping around in the back yard and baah’ing in the mornings. I figured out that I no longer need an alarm clock because mister rooster wakes me up at 5:00 without fail! Wednesday, we learned about typical dishes of the different regions of Ecuador and prepared our presentations for Friday. We have to speak in front of our facilitators and trainers in Spanish about our town – a map, the needs, a typical day for a man or woman, and a seasonal calendar showing when to plant crops, when school is in session, festivities, etc. I think our posters are the most colorful and awesome. We had lunch at the Kioskos (one of three options here) and it was tasty – fried egg, rice, tomatoes, onions, beans and fried bananas. Then we played a game with our vocabulary and Jamie and I were ‘las azadones’ but we lost. Oh well, after that we got to begin our garden. It’s on land the the other Sarah’s family owns (they also own a cheese/milk/butter/yogurt factory and the yogurt is amazing). We hoed the land, made raised rows for our crops, and planted lettuce, cabbage and tomatoes. Thursday we took a trip to a tree nursery in Pifo. The land used to be owned by a mining company, but they found better ore over the mountain and donated the land to reforestation. It was pretty awesome. We were supposed to pack a lunch, but Jamie and I forgot – and had also promised Nicole we’d bring her a ham sandwich – so we improvised. Bread, cheese, stale crackers, and some borrowed Nutella. When we got back, we went to the gringo café for some French fries and spaghetti. We will return there on Sunday. Today, we learned about the different ethnicities in Ecuador, gave our presentation about the city (we did awesome) and then worked in our garden. My madre let me wash clothes this morning! I also got to meet the three new ducklings that live in the backyard with the sheep, pigs, guinea pigs, chickens, roosters, puppies, and dogs. Tomorrow is a trip to Cotocachi and Sunday is a day of rest. What a life.

What a week! I can’ t believe I’ve already been in country almost ten days. It seems unreal that I am even here, after talking about it for ten months. It was a fun first week and I learned quite a bit! Thursday was our second official day of program training and we learned about the emergency action plan as well. No restaurantes were open for lunch, so Jamie, Nicole and I were resourceful and bought a loaf of bread with some lunch meat. Que inteligentes! The cheetos were probably the best part of the day, no lie. On Wednesday night, I got to help my madre make empanadas. She said I had to learn and then do it myself, all alone, the next night. Thank goodness she was kidding! I helped shape the dough into circles so my sister Catalina could put the mixture inside – the first ones we made had onions, egg, and other veggies and the second ones had a piece of orito (the small banana). They were amazing. Although Caty did make fun of my inability to make circles, instead, mine were oval-shaped pieces of dough. Oh well, they tasted fantastic. Friday morning, we had to be in Cayambe at 7:15 so we could travel to una finca de one of the host families. The farm was amazing – it is an organic farm and so there is no waste. We learned about elevated seed beds, compost, green houses, tree grafting, worm beds, and cuy. We even saw a cuy be killed at the end. I am definitely going to have a worm bed at my site – I hate worms but the idea of them making the soil so useful is extremely interesting. We traveled back to our town, exhausted from a day in the campo, but excited because I got to wear my brand spankin’ new yellow rubber boots! Jamie and I were very noticeable among all the green. Saturday, we went into Cayambe to get some pizza and cervezas at Mitch's house. The girls decided to actually look like females, and I learned my lesson not to wear brand new shoes on a day with alot of walking! We found a pizza place and it was good - not as good as papa john's, dominoes, italian village, etc etc etc. Then we bought some Ecuadorian Pilsener and headed to Mitch's. Again, not as good as Magic Hat, Corona, Bud Light, PBR, etc. We passed the afternoon conversing and tomando, and left around 7. Jamie and I headed home where my madre already had food on the table. My host dad, brother, sister-in law and niece were there as well. I went to bed early after watching another episode of Flight of the Conchords on my (ben's) iPod. Ben Hilton - you would find that show funny. You and Ryan. Anyways, today is el dia de las mujeres and my host dad took us into town for ice cream! He also bought me a beer at the super market and handed it to me outside, so I was the gringa carrying a bottle of Pilsener to the car. Jaja. I took a short nap because (no offense to Slice or Lipford) 'In Defense of Global Capitalism' isn't the most excited book to re-read. Or even to read for the first time. I am seriously regretting not bringing the fourth installment of Twilight down here. I need to borrow some books muy pronto! I woke up, and we ate cuy (guinea pig). It was a little salty, but I enjoyed it. (Sorry to any child who has one as a pet). Now here I am in the internet cafe, using wireless high up in the Andes Mountains! Nicole and John, other gringos are here too. Interested to see what we learn this week! -SK

Hola con todos! We finished our second day of language training. I now have a shiny new pair of yellow rubber boots to wear to the campo on friday! I am officially the first person of omnibus 101 to try guinea pig - it smells funky, but tastes like chicken and really doesn't offer a lot of meat. Oh well, I tried it because my host mom had to kill it yesterday...not much other news, classes are going well, everyone came yesterday for program training. I don't know much about natural resources consevation and yesterday's pre-test made that obvio. Entonces, debo regresar a mi casa para la cena. I wonder what it will be...rice? bananas? pollo? Una sorpresa! :)

This is my family's field in a neighboring town. There are papas, trigo, and avas. And cows. The next picture is from the field as well, but you can kind of get a peek of the volcano to the left of the clouds. Today was our first day of language classes. We met at 8 and began discussing informal and formal greetings, fruits of Ecuador, and ate at the pizzeria owned by another woman's family here. It was pretty good, certainly a treat. After lunch, we walked around town to get acquainted and then boarded the bus to the larger city to test our skills at the mercado. We bought many interesting fruits that are native to Ecuador, and also bought some 'oritos' which are very small and sweet bananas. They were the highlight of my day. The bus only costs 16 cents! After we got back, we came to the internet cafe in town which we found has wireless, so I am using my own computer! Exciting, I got to skype with Dad, but he couldn't see me which is unfortunate because I haven't showered in two days. My family needed to buy more gas to heat the shower and couldn't do that yesterday. Anyways, tomorrow is our first day of technical training where the entire group comes to our city. We four ladies of our pueblo have a homework assignment concerning vocabulary about tools. I learned those words in high school, but that seems like forever ago. I'm sure it will all come back! Leave comments. I like to know who's reading my rambling :) Talk to ya'll again soon!

From Friday February 27th... Day 2 of being in Quito – Woke up, had breakfast, went to the PC office and started another day of briefing on safety, security, etc. We also found out our language scores and got our site assignments to begin training. I am in a community where training actually takes place, so no bus rides for me! There are three others there with me and I am too excited. We got to travel to el mitad del mundo hoy, where the equator line is. Our guide showed us a few experiments to see if it was the true equator and yes – water indeed goes down the drain in different directions depending on which side you are on! We had an amazing lunch at a restaurant and we got to taste a bunch of the local fruits – the bananas were amazing. We returned to the office, had a program on natural resource conservation and then returned to the hostel for dinner. I can’t wait to get to my site to meet my host parents. I am excited to begin speaking only in spanish and learning more about the culture! Ecuador rocks. Today: I arrived to my host family yesterday and they are amazing. They are super helpful and are willing to teach me about ecuador, their culture and their language. I have a host mom, dad, two sisters and a brother who lives in Quito with his wife and 11 month old, but she stays with us on the weekends. Family is very important here, so I have met quite a few members of theirs. My family harvests and raises its own food:guinea pig, cows, sheep, roosters and chickens, wheat, potatoes, avas, onion, etc. and are very proud that they don´t need to buy anything. They do buy bread from the panaderia, and I am very grateful for that! Today I am here with my amiga Jamie who is also here in el pueblo. Her family is big as well! The mountains here are incredible, unlike any around Kingsport and absolutely breathtaking. My diet here constists of boiled eggs, rice, chicken, hot chocolate and bread. My host family has asked my a bazillion times if I have a boyfriend, and they think I have at least ten in the United States, but that won´t stop them from trying to marry me off to an Ecuadorian. (I have seen some cute ones...). The climate here is relatively hot but comfy during the day and very cold and windy at night since we are in the sierra. I asked my host sister if there are snakes aqui, and thankfully, there are not! Classes start tomorrow so that should be good and exciting. Ciao! -SK......the first photo is from the mitad del mundo and the second is me, nicole and jamie at the mitad del mundo.

I´m here! The country is beautiful. The streets are so busy and noisy, but you look up, and there´s a gorgeous mountainside with tons of trees - amazing!! The people here with me are also amazing and I´m so glad I´m here to share the experience with them. I´m sure after a few more days here I will have more to say and pictures! Love, SK

I'm in DC! My flights went without a hitch, my roommate is super nice as are the rest of the group, and I just ate my last hamburger at Five Guys! Its been a long day, but I'm so excited to FINALLY be here! I have to rearrange luggage and make phone calls before bed, but tomorrow night I will be in Ecuador!! Love to all. -SK

The time is here! I leave for DC in nine hours. I finally finished packing (gave up might be a better term) so I'm ready to go! I will be in Ecuador Wednesday night for a few days then the group will travel up to Cayambe to begin our three months of training. If you want to write me while I'm there, send mail to: Sarah Eldredge/ Cuerpo de Paz/ Casilla 17-08-8624/ Quito, Ecuador ........I can't figure out how to put spaces between lines, but that should be four separate lines :) If you're mailing more than a letter, put it in a padded envelope weighing less than four pounds with a declared value of zero. Adios!!

Only two weeks left in the U.S.! I had my going away party on Saturday. It was amazing, most of my friends and family showed up to celebrate! I think my favorite gift has to be that head lamp! Thanks Bob and Susan :) Now I have to decide what to pack and what to pack it in. I'm excited to meet the others going with me to Ecuador, the ones I have met through facebook all seem very nice. The countdown continues...

So it's 2009 now, and only about 50 days until I leave for staging (place stilll unknown) and then training in Ecuador (city still unknown.) There seem to be alot of unknowns in the Peace Corps, but I'm okay with that. I'm still trying to think of everything I need to do before I leave, which is alot. How do you pack for this? They say Ecuador is the hardest country to pack for because there are so many different climates - I could be in the jungle, by the beach, or somewhere in the Andes mountains. Who knows! I spent most of December playing - "ski" trip, Christmas with the fam, quitting my job, and a fun time in Panama City. Now it's back to reality. I will be subbing for Kingsport City until I leave to make a little extra money. Other than that, I'm just trying to get a grip on things, ready to start my new adventure!

I got my invitation kit on Friday (after successfully stalking the mailman), and found out my country is Ecuador! I think I really lucked out on that one - Ecuador is a gorgeous country and I cannot wait to spend the next two years working there, despite the large anaconda/poisonous snake population. I have already informed everyone I know and begun finding other Ecuador invites through Facebook. For now, I will fill my time with substituting, dog-sitting, and filling out more paperwork!!

I got officially invited to the PC on Tuesday! I won't lie, I was pretty stressed about it for about a month since I last heard from my Placement Officer so this is such a relief. Now I just have to wait until my Placement kit comes in the mail so I will know where I am going and what exactly I will be doing. Then, I'll have ten days to accept my invitation (like I would say no...). For now, I'll be quitting my job at CVA and hopefully substituting a bit before I leave and of course finishing all the PC paperwork and trying to get my loans deferred! I'll certainly be busy the next two months getting prepared for my new adventure.

Well, I had my Peace Corps interview yesterday with Mr. Caleb Judy, and he officially nominated me for a program in Central or South America doing Business/Natural Resource Management leaving in February of 2009! He said my interview went really well, and now all that is left are some medical forms to mail into Washington, D.C. and to wait for my official invitation to become a PCV which will come by Christmas Eve (the six week deadline before my departure date.) Then, I'll know exactly what country I will be going to and what I will be doing. This is so exciting. I've kind of had my heart set on doing this for a few years, I just didn't let on to it until the past few months. Of course, I did wait until the last minute to apply! (typical.) So, it looks like I'll be in Kingsport for the next few months working and saving money until I officially become a Volunteer and see where the next twenty seven months of my life will take me. Wish me luck!