My dear readers, It has recently come to my attention that my friend Sarah Zelcer has finally been able to set up a Peace Corps Partnership for her women’s group, Las Orquídeas, some of whose members are pictured below: It...
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So I've been using the LinkedIn Resume Generator to easily sync up my resume with my profile. It's a really nifty app, but it is definitely still a little rough around the edges. Here are a few tips: Bullet points...
Well, now that I'm back, I'm ready to get back in the game! As of this week, I am actively seeking out job opportunities in the Atlanta area. Looking for Software Engineering work, something that is challenging and interesting. I'm also...
My dear readers,This will most likely be my last Peace Corps blog entry. From this point forward, this blog will revert to its original theme: technology-themed commentary on just about everything.As many of you know, I recently decided to head...
There is this virus that is all the rage on antiquated windows XP systems in Ecuador. It spreads via flash drives by hiding your folders and replacing them with identically-named shortcuts that point to a hidden executable that then...
Riding around public transit in Quito, Ecuador, with PCV Sarah, we came across the following sign:Translation: Entry to doorway #2.This entryway to the bus is restricted to: women, senior citizens, and people with special capabilities (disabled people).Now, at first I...
This post is written in Spanish because its target audience is Ecuadorian Google searchers. For those of you who don't speak Spanish (or Nerd): nothing to see here, please move along.Para los suscriptores del servicio DSL FastBoy (Ecuador) con modems...
This is what I woke up to today. Someone REALLY wants to sell us some potatoes. $6 for a 100 pound sack. Act now! Also featured: Chatarra chatarra chatarra chatarra…. (looking to buy scrap metal). Pescado! PESCADO! PES-CADO! LOS PESCADOS!...
Update: It’s been pointed out to me that any donation would not apply to your 2010 taxes. Sorry for the misinformation! But I still encourage you all to donate! Raise your hand if you love doing your taxes! I know,...
How very lame, I know. Not only am I using Windows instead of Linux, but I’m using Lyx instead of LaTeX! The shame. However, I recently had to put together a rush-job document and my LaTeX is a little rusty....
Catching up a bit--I've been living in my new place for a few months now, and I recently got Internet hooked up! This has been slightly detrimental to my health and I estimate that I lost a week and a...
I still have a blog? A lot of things happened in a short amount of time and it seems that I've gotten a bit backed up. Just before I left for a Christmas vacation, I played in a basketball tournament with...
... It tolls for thee.What?It tolls for thee!Huh?IT TOLLS FOR THEE!OH HAI I'M A LITTLE HARD OF HEARING IT'S BECAUSE I RING THE BELL EVERY DAY YOU SEE!Sigh. This is the church in the town where I live. I don't...
I have recently bought a friend's phone line and DSL modem. In a week or so ("ya mismo"), employees from the phone company will install the line and I should be in business! Look forward to more regular updates at...
We interrupt our regular programming to bring you some pictures. A little background: I played in a basketball tournament this week with the professors from my region. We had previously played in a hard-faught inter-parish tournament (we won the clinching...
My dear readers, If any of you happens to have a not-too-old laptop that they no longer need, please drop me a line. I’ll be home over the Christmas holidays and will be looking to take one back with me....
I spoke with one of the Big Men in Town the other day--the vice president of the parish. He's the second most powerful man for several zip codes. Haha, just joking, there are no zip codes here. No street addresses,...
I have come to realize that, in rural Ecuador, there is no concept of personal space. When you stand in line at the grocery store, the old lady in line behind you pushes up to the point that she's physically...
Ecuadorian society is very traditional: men are men, and women are women. Girls go to high school in dresses and more often than not heels, boys in suits with ties. You must always greet your elders, say your please-and-thank-yous, etc....
It just occurred to me that one of the perks of living in Latin America is that everyone knows how to spell my name! I have never been able to do that—just say my full name without spelling it out—in...
Today there was an encuentro interparroquial (inter-parish encounter) where professors from the various schools in the zone play against each other in "friendly" voli, basketball, and futbol matches. Yes, dear reader, there's a reason for the quotes. All in good...
There's a great Romanian movie called "Amintiri din Epoca de Aur." It consists of 4 different short stories about Romania's "golden age," the time before 1989 when Ceauşescu was in power and Romania was communist. It's so-called because this is how the...
As I type this from PCV Sarah’s site, the unbearable caucophony of church bells ringing assaults my ears. I had previously been told (but didn’t quite believe) that the priest in this town is off his rocker, and rings the...
Two weeks ago we had our reconnect conference. The goal of the conference was for every volunteer in our omnibus to bring along their community counterpart and present a report on their community’s needs, current projects, and future projects...
Sorry I couldn’t call you. But, here’s a great old picture I dug up: Gracias por todo, y que cumplas muchos mas!...
This post also has nothing to do with the Peace Corps. Don´t worry, I will only do this occasionally. I completely agree with this article written in the NYT about how to fix the Filibuster issue. The problem is that...
This post has nothing to do with the Peace Corps. Today I was catching up on my favorite websites and the news stateside today, as I do every couple of weeks or so. I was very saddened to read a...
I've been playing a lot of equa-voli lately. I hadn't really picked it up before because I didn't want to lose a bunch of money and look stupid in front of the whole town, but we've started up a weekly...
Today I made my first acceptable batch of tostones (they call them patacones here). I cut the bunch of plantains off a tree that's maybe 20 feet from my front door. Pretty awesome. This is the cow that was eating...
Today I went to watch profe Guido's soccer team play on their home turf. I can't really do their field justice using words, so instead I will use some media: This is the view from behind one of the goals....
This weekend I went back to my training community with a few other people to experience the "golden festivals of the plowed fields." I'd guess that the closest analog in the U.S. would be a harvest festival (though I've never...
You might be a nerd if the first thing you do after planting seeds in a garden is go home and whip up a Visio diagram. Without further justification: View image Pictures of the garden will follow at some point....
Watch out ladies, it turns out that I’m a handyman. It’s been fun to recycle as much stuff as possible, and I wanted to share some of my proudest achievements with my loyal readers (besides hooking up an electric shower...
Land Disclaimer: This post is the result of months of conversing with and observing my community. Part of my responsibility as a volunteer is identifying the problems (as well as the strengths) of the community, in order to be able...
Here’s a picture of my room. Check out the vintage 40-year-old desk-and-chair set. Pretty sweet. Here’s the dining room. Check out my curtains. I think I could be an interior designer. I feel like I’m pretty well integrated into the...
Today, one of the kids from the school invited me to come visit his family. He lives about a 30 minute walk from Downtown, and his family lives and works on what was formerly a sugar cane farm and is...
Here are some pictures of my community. I will take more later, but I’m still wary of flashing my new camera too much—it’s worth what most people here make in a month. This is Downtown. The blue building houses the...
Escuela, continued Continuing coverage of the school: Immediately after opening formation, two of the sixth-grade kids having breakfast just before English. The meals are heavily subsidized by the government, and the kids essentially eat breakfast and lunch for free. The...
Escuela I took some pictures of the school where I spend most of my time. Without further ado: Front view of the school. The building behind the truck is where the custodian lives. One of the professors lives in the...
As I type this post, I’m listening to The Very Best of MTV Unplugged, 2002. As part of the care package that I received from Fernando and Mili, I received a flash drive full of software and media that I...
In my last post, I alluded to some less-than-stellar wiring practices en mi entorno. For my opening statement, I will present some pictures of my house, where the wiring is excellent by local standards. Here’s an example of typical utilitarian...
My host mom decided to raze the aguadua (cane) shack that she had in front of the house and replace it with a proper building. The idea is to have a restaurant on one side, and a store on the...
Thanks to Fernando and Mili who happened to visit Ecuador on vacation, I now have a new camera! So the next several posts will be quite photo-intensive, as I make up for lost time. And the first picture that I...
At the behest of my dear mother, I have put up instructions for snail-mailing me. Check out the “Mail Me” link to the right....
My posts seem to be getting more random and less cohesive. Never fear, it just means that I’m combining material so that I don’t make 15 one-sentence posts. With that in mind: Here is a list of the animals that...
I was waiting on the corner to catch a ride to the nearest town, and I heard ice cream truck music. Funny how some things are universal; just like in the states, the kids came running out of their houses...
This past Saturday I took part in the yearly parade that commemorates the founding of our parish. All the satellite communities get together to celebrate and pay tribute to the capital. In particular, all the primaria and colegio kids participate,...
This week I had the opportunity to sit on the ceremonia de los abanderados (ceremony of the flagwearers/bearers). This is equivalent to being #1 on the honor roll in the states. The students with the best GPA from grades 5-7...
Day 17: Today is the first day that I can truly say that I changed something in my community. Pretty sweet. But don’t get too excited, I’m setting my standards pretty low to start off with. First let me start...
Packing Suggestions, 2.0 I made an earlier post (Peace Corps Packing 101) during training that touched on the items that I was glad that I had packed. I’m going to add onto it now that I’m at my site. Just...
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