This is it. My two year service as a Volunteer in the United States Peace Corps is coming to a close. I should be home around the first of April; after which, I’ll start all over again. Once home, I’ll begin the slow transition to life back in the states and embark on my job [...]
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33 – Ecuador – Nobody messes with the gringo March 2011 I have a reputation around these parts as being serious. Now, I have gotten to the point in my Spanish ability where I can make a joke or say something witty and bring the house down (which is an incredible accomplishment, honestly); but [...]
32 – Ecuador – Milk February 2011 There are few greater disappointments here in Ecuador than the milk; across all of Latin America, really. Of course, it’s not their fault that my palate isn’t accustomed to its flavor profile. Somehow, they process or pasteurize it far differently than their neighbors to the north. It comes [...]
December 2010 Christmas can’t come soon enough. Thankfully, I’ll be able to travel home for the holidays and it’s something I’m looking forward to; especially, because I’m ready for a long, hot shower. You see, for about the past two weeks I’ve been taking bucket baths. Normally, I can take a shower here in my [...]
November 2010 As of mid-November I’m less than a month from being home for Christmas and about five months from completing-my-service. Or “C.O.S.-ing” in Peace Corps lingo. But by looking forward it’s very easy to look back. And looking back it’s hard to believe I’m at this point in my service. I’m glad I made [...]
29 – Ecuador – Test Tubes and Rock Stars October 2010 After over a year-and-a-half as a resident of Ecuador, my Spanish ability has increased dramatically. I’ll never be fluent because I’m too lazy to study; but my speaking capability is pretty darn good – until it isn’t. I can hold my own in nearly [...]
August 2010 There’s a full blown garlic crisis in Ecuador; or at least here in the province of Loja. As rumor has it, a company in Loja that makes meat marinade ordered five or six truckloads of the stuff and in doing so scooped up the available supply in the nearest vicinity. Garlic prices have [...]
26 – Ecuador – Buses July 2010 I believe I last wrote to you about a dog that carried a form of my name, Ringo. Unfortunately, he didn’t carry it for very long. Dogs around these parts have a pitifully short life span. By my count, sixteen dogs have been poisoned during my first year; [...]
25 – Ecuador – Coke, a Cow and Coffee
March 2010
You know you’ve made it when a dog’s been named after you. While to you, Ringo might sound like a dog has been named after one of those guys from the Beatles, it’s actually a combination of how I am referred to by people in my [...]
24 – Ecuador – Burn the Mannequins
February 2010
I made it home for three weeks during Christmas and if I missed seeing you, then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. It was a quick trip that involved lots of food, infinite glasses of sweet tea and conjured self-questioning of why I ever left in the first [...]
23 – Ecuador – The Dirt Clod Wars
November 23, 2009
I’ve been digging a hole for the past three days in hopes of one day filling it with water and tilapia and renaming it a pond. At the rate we’re going that day will not come in the near future. I’m [...]
22 – Ecuador – The women here are out of control
November 4, 2009
There are moments – rare moments – when I think that as a stranger in a foreign world I blend in perfectly. That happens until I see another foreigner walking the streets not blending in at all or when I have a starring [...]
21 – Ecuador – Fair with the Father
September 29, 2009
I just sent samples of my feces through the Ecuadorian postal system. I know you’re tired of hearing about by bowel problems but it was too humorous to let pass without informing you. I just sent samples of my feces through the Ecuadorian postal system! How [...]
They hand off babies here in Ecuador. If you’re privileged to ride in the cab of a truck or the interior of a car you have a better chance of being the recipient of the handoff while stopping to pick up the occasional hitchhiker. Hitchhiking is a common practice here with the absence of cars [...]
My track record here south of the Equator is quickly becoming tarnished. If we were to remove from my resume the purchase of ten cuyes (guinea pigs) and a seemingly pregnant rabbit the tarnish would slide right off. Unfortunately, with five dead cuy bodies on my watch and no baby rabbits my small animal projects [...]
For all the accolades that were heaped upon “Titanic” and its famous love song, hearing a stringed karaoke rendition in the middle of Ecuador will always be humorous. It was played at a recent community event here in Fundochamba to honor the annual mother who is selected to represent all the other mothers of the [...]
Culture Shock
Culture shock has been described by many experts and cross cultural commentators but it is never understood until you experience it. For some, culture shock is just that: such an extreme shock in cultures that it physically and mentally hinders your ability to function successfully in another culture. For others, culture shock is small [...]
Today, I surely traveled to the end of civilization. We went over our mountain here in Fundochamba to visit an even more remote town. Ecuadorians continue to amaze me in their ability to live in remote locals away from conveniences that I possibly would lose sanity over in their absence. They, however, have the best [...]
Before I get started I want you to know that here in my new town of Fundochamba it’s as hot as fire. And, unfortunately, when the sun decides to let its presence be known, which is every waking hour of the day, it’s as if another life form is landing their star cruiser with all [...]
The Cipro Situation
April 9, 2009
At the age of 25 and with a college education you would think childish tendencies would be behind me…think again. Last week I came down with a terrible case of sickness. I call it sickness because it was never specifically diagnosed and I call it terrible because it was absolutely and [...]
The Boned-Chicken
March , 2009
So, I just ripped off chicken from this mass of bones and I think it was from the part where the respiratory system converges. I’m not sure. There were tubes. It was gross. Let’s just say the cat, Mariano, apparently likes the respiratory system of chickens; and, now, he likes me. Having [...]
So this whole blogging thing hasn’t really worked out that well over the past few weeks. Limited internet access has definitely limited my ability to communicate to you how life in Ecuador is. Hopefully, I will be able to update this every other week or so.
On Wednesday, Peace Corps Ecuador swore in its 101st group [...]
There is nothing better than sitting under a single dim light bulb hovered around a tiled counter with chairs that are too short and pulling chicken off the bone with dirtied finger nails. It’s simple and basic and somewhat refreshing when you put overcooked chicken in your mouth followed by tasteless corn and purple [...]
So here I sit in the back corner of an internet cafe close to my training site and about 45 minutes by bus from where I live. Life is basic and simple and while that is sometimes refreshing it oftentimes leaves me longing for warm showers and tasty foods.
The food here is pitiful. Usually some [...]
I´ve finally arrived in the middle of Ecuador and am living with my host family. They are great although things are very different here. On Friday the altitude sickness hit very bad and coupled with four shots my body wasn´t well. I had the worst diarrehea I`ve ever had and a terrible headache.
I´m all better [...]
I don’t know if you’ve ever decided you might one day just pull out your luggage and see if you could pack for a two-year stint following airline regulations but it is highly impossible. My packing was a disaster and terribly stressful but I’m finally in DC for orientation and ship out tomorrow for Ecuador.
The [...]
So here it is.
T-Minus one week and counting.
I will depart Nashville on Tuesday, February 24 and go to Washington, DC for a short orientation. On Wednesday, February 25 our group leaves DC and will arrive in Quito that evening. Here goes nothing.
Meet Ecuador
Ecuador is a wildly diverse country with almost 14 million people living within [...]
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