Wow. I just looked at my blog for the first time in what looks like two months. Sorry about that. Life has been really crazy since the New Year; you know that really good kind of crazy. The kind where you are busy and have an incredible ¨to do¨ list but it is full of things you want to do and are excited to do. AJ and I even prioritized the latest list because it had to do with moving into a new home.

This new home is spectacular and open and beautiful and sits on property of which I am a 1/3 owner. Yes, you did read that right. I now own land in Tabuga. Jason, Ry and I are currently land owners and partners. After looking around the coast, mostly south of Tabuga towards Canoa, we realized that everything we wanted for our future developments was right in front of our faces and literally under our feet.

After a disappointing attempt to buy a piece of land in Tabuga, Jason and I took a little break to talk about our dream idea. We decided we needed a break before we tackled another land buying adventure. I always like to believe that things happen for a reason, and just as we had decided to take a break a local neighbor approached me. He told me he had 10+ hectares for sale for $20,000. I was shocked at the price and told him that it was just too much for me. He lowered the price to $15,000 and I agreed to take a walk on his land to check it out.

On a calm Saturday in Tabuga we headed up to the land. Elle was visiting so she got to see the property. The land has incredibly personality, a few hills, and our own ridge line with an ocean view, a lime orchard, plantain filed and various other fruit tree species. The location is just a 7 minute walk from the main highway and the entrance is boarded by my Ecuadorian family members, my aunt on one side and my uncle on the other. We loved it. Jason loved it, I loved it, AJ loved it, Elle loved it. It was perfect. It was everything we had been looking for without even realizing it. The land has two wells and a simple wooden traditional house. Still, 15K was a little too much.

Coincidently, this particular neighbor had quite the old man crush on me. During my last year of teaching, Don Pancho would meet me at the top of my little road and walk with me to class. He wasn´t from Tabuga and would tell me stories of his more glorious days. He used to export bananas to the US and believed that together we could do it again. His company never bothered me and his stories humored me and so I grew accustomed to his company. People in town joked that he was my boyfriend and that he loved me but, he is a completely harmless old man.

So, the day after seeing the land, Jason and I returned to do some negotiating. We had it all planned out. I would butter up Don Pancho and his wife. Do the culturally acceptable small talk, ask about his health, family and cows and then we would move slowly into price and Jason would authoritatively move in.

Don Pancho said he wanted this deal to be done honestly and like true gentlemen. This was perfect for us. We had a very straightforward conversation and after Don Pancho pointed at me and said ¨Andreita, I respect and admire you and what you do and for that I am lowering the price¨ we got him down to half his original offer. The next day we paid Don Pancho and literally the following day the house was empty. Him and his wife had moved out quickly and taken all of their stuff with them.

AJ and I moved in the week after New Year’s.

Jason, Ryan and I are starting Finca Mono Verde (or Green Monkey Farm) a Sustainable Living Volunteer Tourism Project that focuses on green building, organic agriculture and community development. We are planning on combining permaculture principles with sustainable building strategies and our own experience and love for Tabuga. The primary goal of this project is to create an operating organic farm that will help the people of Tabuga reduce their agricultural chemical use and produce a more valuable product. In the future we are hoping to work with the recently formed Agriculture Cooperative of Tabuga and also with families doing family gardens. In addition, we want to build with sustainable materials and minimize our total impact on the environment. We are hoping to work with students internationally and nationally on green building projects for the farm. Finally, we hope to have volunteers come to the farm to learn about the things we are implementing on the farm and to work in the local community. Volunteers will be expected to help with the operation of the farm and in addition, will select activities in the community to be a part of. This includes working with the pre-school, elementary school and highschool, the library, the tree nursery and the high school green house. We strongly believe that this project can greatly help the development of Tabuga and guide the local farmers away from intense monoculture and chemical use.

For me, the greatest beauty of this project is that I will always have a permanent and positive connection to Tabuga. This connection represents all that I have given to Tabuga and all that Tabuga has given me. I absolutely love the farm and I really believe in the ideas and projects that Jason, Ry and I are going to try to implement. We are currently working on our business plan. Things are moving along and life is good.I look forward to the day when I post the farm link on this very blog.... very very soon. HUGS!

“Nieve si existe? Snow really exists?”

Well yes, I explain to the 5 year old. Her eyes go wide.

“Pero, solo en el Polo Norte, donde vive Papa Noel. But, only in the North Pole where Santa lives, right?”

There is snow there, I tell her with a smile, and also where my parents live there is snow. I go on to explain hats and mittens and snowmen and really warm jackets. The girl stares at me in disbelief. She looks to her mother and her mother nods. It’s the truth. The girl happily runs off to grab a piece of candy. I get AJs attention and tell the story.

“Well, imagine if you had always lived on the equator, it would be impossible to fathom snow actually existing. The coldest it gets here is 60 degrees.” I let AJs words set in.

Yeah, it’s hard for me to even remember snow and that much coldness. I think for a second that I miss it and then I remember putting on a sweatshirt and long pants last night and AJ pointing out it was probably 75 degrees and I was cold.

Throughout the holiday festivities I tell probably more than 10 people about snow. AJ gets very charades on us and demonstrates the making of and the height of a snowman he once built in his yard. This particular snowman sported a case of beer and a shotgun. Our 37 year old friend stared at AJ in disbelief; I took a New England post card off my wall as proof of our claims.

“Es como las películas de Navidad. It’s just like Christmas movies.”

AJ and I danced until about 5 am on Christmas Eve bouncing between 3 different Christmas parties. Unlike last year’s big community dance, this year people celebrated in smaller groups because no one had enough time or money to build the nativity scene near the soccer field. But, like every year in Tabuga, families ate dinner at midnight on Christmas Eve, drank a lot of aguadiente (like moonshine) and danced until morning. We spent the majority of our time with my best friend Geomaira and her family. It was hilarious to see Geomaira get tipsy and giddy over the moonshine mixed with coconut. Usually she, like most women in Tabuga, doesn’t drink and remains pretty reserved in public. But, during special holidays this always changes. Geomaira’s aunts were walking around serving small cups of beer and aguadiente and asking the men to dance.

The next morning, after just 2 hours of sleep we woke up and had a mini Christmas at our house. Kara came over and opened the stocking her mom had sent her and AJ and I exchanged gifts. I was ecstatic over the plastic drawers AJ got me. An unremarkable gift in the states, but, a treasure here because of the price of plastics and the desire to protect my underwear and clothes from rats, cockroaches and other such pests. AJ and I posed by the shiny new plastic for a picture. Kara burst out laughing. You guys are going to look back on this picture and be amazed at how pumped you both are about plastic drawers.

The rest of the morning we handed out gifts to the little neighborhood gifts, 50 in total. The boys got cars and action figures, the girl’s bracelets and hair ties. We decided to go with traditional boy girl gifts and the communist idea that all people receive the same benefits.

AJ and I spent some time at the Reserve and went into Camarones in our Christmas gift from our buddy Greg… an old windowless, topless, rough old land rover. It’s been a blast to have a car around here, even a semi-toy car that requires a manual hand pumping every third time we want to drive it. We have helped people move stuff around, helped out a bunch at the reserve and at my farm. Oh yeah, the farm. That will be the next blog.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all of you that live where there is snow… make a snowman in our honor.

I made the sash for the little christmas princess. They start them so young here!

Me posing with Kimberly. Her mom is amazing and a good friend. We are two christmas princesses for sure.

The Christmas Fairy and Papa Noel. Wow did AJ overheat in that suit!

AJ with little Karina... she was also a Christmas Princess. I even let her play with my Fairy wand.

Kara and I with Don Chinto, Angel and Javier. Everyone in town thinks it's hilarious that Don Chinto has two Gringa Daughters.

Posing with the best Christmas gift ever! Even the neighborhood kids were excited!

Alex and Sivana. We didn't get any sleep and these kids were bundles of energy!

Angel with his Pinocho book. He didn't even know how to count past ten when I got here. Now he reads and does long division!

Pushing the land rover out of the river. It got us to Pedernales today... let's just hope it makes it to Canoa to be with it's rightful owner on Thursday!

Me and the neighborhood kids sitting in the living room.. I was explaining to them how Papa Noel had visited the night before and left a bunch of gifts for all of our little friends!

I haven't been very good at keeping my blog updated the last few months. I guess life has just been to busy and fun and a lot has happened. Here are some pictures to show some of the highlights!

Enjoy!

Fresh veggies from our garden... it is so nice cooking with fresh organic veggies that our own hands and sweat and smarts have brought to life... delicious!

Here I am about to boil a bunch of fresh crabs, just caught the day before by a neighbor and kept alive in a bamboo cage. I made a mean crab deep.. it really only missed Old Bay but it was delicous. The crabs totally have a Dr. Seus coloringto them.

Here is my Tabuga family napping during a hot day!!! Hammocks are a life safer here when the heat gets steamy and the sun to strong.

Here Elle and I are looking out in the ocean from Isla de la Plata... or, the poor man's Galapagos. It was incredible!

Elle, Jason, Me and Santiago hoovering over some Blue Footed Boobies. We had the pleasure of being there during the mating season and it was awesome to the see the smaller male birds dance to show off to the females.

Elle and I demonstrating how the Blue Footed Boobies care for their eggs until they are hatched. Aren't we clever... because I am wearing blue shoes and the boobies don't sit on their eggs but rather tuck them under their webbed feet.

We interupted this guy during his mating dance.

Tabuga has a weird energy right now. A 16 year old girl died three nights ago. She was a student of mine, a cousin of my Ecuadorian family and a close neighbor. She lived on the main road that I had to walk every afternoon to go to class. During my first year she was still in school so every afternoon her big smiling face would be in the window, greeting me with her cousin and a roar of giggles always followed. I remember a bad month where my favorite part of the day was walking by that house. I used to wonder if they’d ever get over seeing me walk by, if eventually they wouldn’t hover out the window waiting to say hello and burst into giggles after. About two weeks ago, Alex and I were commenting on just this. The two girl cousins, eagerly waiting for us to get within normal greeting distance. They said Buenos dias and they giggled. Now, over two and a half years later that won’t ever happen again and not because the joke is no longer funny.

On Friday night they had her wake. I have never been to a funeral in the countryside, only in Jama where the tradition is different. My host mom had explained that the girl was in her house and that the family, friends and neighbors would light candles and sit by her until the last family member arrived. I waited to go with my Ecuadorian family and Kara. The girl was my host-brother’s goddaughter. Tabuga was quiet all day and the electricity was out. At about 7pm we walked with flashlights up to the dark house. I cautiously followed my Ecua-mom inside holding Angel’s hand as we entered the candlelit room. The casket was to the right open. I kept my eyes down as we filtered into the room and sat in plastic chairs looking forward at the casket.

People whispered among themselves. The girl’s cousin and window partner was two chairs away from me. Her eyes were solemn but her mouth smiled as she talked to other cousins. Kara and I sat close absorbing in the scene. The candlelit bounced around as more people came into the room, each one breaking the silence with a buenos noches and placing a pack of candles in front of the casket. My pack of candles was still in my hands. I hadn’t had the courage to look at the girl and held the candles as a type of safety net from the death that was so blantantly displayed. The house shook slightly from the people on the other side of the walls. They were preparing food and comforting the immediate family. The mother was kept out of sight because she was having attacks, according to my host dad.

A few men brought over a generator and set up two light bulbs on either side of the room, illuminating the casket and leaving the sitters in the dark. The father of the girl came out and handed my host dad a bad of urea. He asked him to place it around the girl. My host brother and other men helped open the casket and move the body gently as my dad place handfuls of urea throughout the casket. My cousin to my left told me it was so the body wouldn’t smell. I watched in horror as the girls dead body got lifted and turned in front of an audience. Little kids looked on and the adults stood up to get closer to the scene. From my American mindset I saw a bizarre act of disrespect for the deceased and from my open-mind I saw a pragmatic act of care and attention to the reality of the situation. A dead body will smell if not treated properly and no one was sure when her brother would arrive. He was the last family member that remained to sit with his dead sister and light candles.

The scene returned to the solemn silence and more plastic chairs were crowded into the small room. I couldn’t help but take note of the gender differences in this tradition. The women would come in and sit with teary eyes as if they were waiting for something but knowing that sitting was what was expected. The men would poke their heads in, cross themselves, place a packet of candles near the casket and disappear again into the darkness. I wondered why women were left to mourn and bear the burden of death. The crowd of men outside seemed to be in normal conversation as their voices inaudibly floated into the house from outside.

Without warning the spooky silence was broken by the girl’s brother. I was directly across from the brother and his faced expressed the rawest emotion I had ever seen. He flew his bag to the ground and flung himself onto the casket. From the other side of the walls emerged more family and they screamed and cried with the brother. He had traveled for 7 hours by bus to make it to the wake from his military base. In the moment that he saw his sister there was nothing else in his face expect for genuine deep pain. I felt like an intruder in his life and wished to disappear into the darkness. In the States, raw emotion and true pain are saved for private spaces with close family and friends. The reality was heart-breaking.

Most everyone in the room was crying. I looked to the ground and tried not to sniffle too loudly. The window cousin’s smile turned into a fearful frown as she buried her face into a handkerchief. The brother disappeared again, but his sobs were clear. The mom greeted her now only child and then came the attack. The woman screamed, she called out to god, to her family and the house shook. The inaudible cries filled the night air and the audience continued to cry. I looked to Kara. She said she wanted to leave, we both felt like it was inappropriate for us to be just sitting there listening to this woman’s pain. When the woman calmed down I asked my cousin to the left if it was okay to leave. She said no, very simply, we hadn’t sat long enough.

The girl had been sick only a week. She had a fever and her bones hurt. She lived with her grand-father and by the time he took her to the nearest health clinic it was really late. They rushed her to Bahia and that’s where she died. The girl had had dengue. Dengue doesn’t have a cure but also has a really low death rate. There are two types, and the worse type leads to anemia. Still, anemia doesn’t kill in and of itself. The fever from dengue is most likely what ultimately killed the girl. This, and the fact that the girl was only 16 and in perfectly good health a week ago, was wearing on my mind. Tylenol for the fever and iron for the blood could have been simple solutions that literally would have saved this girl's life. This smiling, happy, good student’s life. In an exercise Kara did in class she asked the students to write out a dream they have for the future along with other questions. In the 9th grade class, none of the girls wrote they had a dream, except this girl. Often, after a death, the comforting thing to say is that there was nothing that could have been done. My mind knows the opposite is true.

A younger brother of one of my god sons, Diandri, came and sat on my lap. They are the girl’s first cousins and their mom was running around preparing food and trying to help where possible. Diandri fell asleep. I woke him and told him to tell his mom that he could stay at my house with his three brothers. He came back and Kara and I used the little 5 year old as our excuse to leave. After two hours of sitting, I finally placed my pack of candles in front of the casket and looked down at Alexandra, her mouth was stuffed with cotton and her eyes closed. I knew I had to look in the casket it to believe it and know that I won’t ever see her contagious smile giggling out the window again.

It has been 3 weeks since I got back from my visit to the states. It was an incredible visit. I got to spend a lot of time with Molly´s kids, my family and friends. In addition, I went to 4 different NH lakes, partied with some of AJ´s friends and went to a wedding. I got to see all my paths of life cross in DC and again in NH. Peace Corps friends, Duke friends, Concord friends, family and AJ. For AJ and I it was a great break from our weird Tabuga life and a great test to see if we function in the technology ruled fast-paced life of AMERICA. I´d say we passed with flying colors, and, for the first time I didn´t really want to come back to Ecuador. I know, it´s hard to believe, but I was reluctant.

Life is weird without PC rules, restrictions and babysitting. I am living in Tabuga, working with Ceiba and going through the normal ups and downs of living abroad in a 3rd world country, and this time it´s by choice. I face the same frustrations and the same positives of the simple life but, I embrace that I had the choice to stay or go, three weeks in, I know I made the right decision. Plus, I have my first ever business cards to prove I am here for a reason.

Yesterday I was almost red in the face due to the lack of communication and transportation in and around Tabuga. Simple things like phone calls and visiting a neighbor became physical and mental feats. Then, after getting Ceiba work done in Pedernales, I got to Tabuga. I saw my bamboo house and was greeted by AJ babysitting our 5 year old neighbor, watching a bad copy of the little mermaid in Spanish and working in the house. I made a traditional Ecuadorian lunch and ate homemade (by me) pumpkin soup and relaxed. Then, AJ, Jason and I decided that the house would be more open and feel bigger if we took out one of the walls. There is no better way to get rid of stress than taking down a wall. As we hammered out the cross bars and threw the pieces of bamboo out the front door, I could feel the frustrations melt off me.

Now, the house really does feel more bright, open and friendly. There is more space for Gito, the puppy and with the recent addition of Waldo, the space is welcome. Waldo, who was just named this morning when we couldn´t find hime yet again, is a new kitten. Get it... Where´s Waldo? Two days ago, a little bug eyed kid showed up with Waldo at our doorstep saying that his mom had picked out the cat just for me (it´s eyes are blue like AJs) and that the other neighbor was going to throw it in the ocean. I couldn´t say no and AJ, being the good sport he is, agreed to keep the kitten. We are hoping that it helps with the ´birds´ that are living in our palm leaf roof. AJ is trying to convince himself, and me, that the pitter patter on the roof is really just the sounds of birds flying back and forth into the roof when, we all really know, the rats have found me again. For now, we just have to deal with Gito being the jealous older brother. He is constantly trying to fit all of Waldo in his mouth and eating all of Waldo´s food. As a 25 year old, dealing with the older brother and baby sibing relationship between the dog and cat is a bit overwhelming. It leaves me confused and amazed by the 15 and 16 year old mothers in Tabuga.

The fiestas of Tabuga were amazing, as usual. This year Carmen was replaced by AJ, Jason, Kara (the new PC volunteer), her friends and friends of mine from Canoa. The chicken getting it´s head cut off by a blind-folded teenager was replaced by cock-fighting and I got to represent Ceiba as their project coordinator. Not to mention the crazy tall blue-eyed white guy running around with a camera. Make sure to check out AJ´s blog for awesome pics from the fiestas.

All in all, Tabuga Take III hasn´t been very eventful. It´s been peaceful and happy and everything I would imagine it to be. The only curve ball has been little Waldo. Oh, and AJ and I became godparents together. I even tried to say no, but the son´s dad is the president of Tabuga and has been a solid factor in my success and happiness in Tabuga. Check out Alejandro, our little sailor below. After 2.5 years of life in Tabuga, I am proud to say I have it down. The choice to live and work here longer has proven a good one and life continues as normal, normal in this situation clearly being a relative term.

There is something magical about riding in the back of a pick up truck. Wherever you are in the world. It's the combination of risky behavior with an odd sense of freedom. The wind that wrestles with your eyelids and tangles your hair also blocks out all other sound. The winds triumph over all other noises forces one to be inside ones head, while the views from the back of the truck are incredible, even through blinking dust threatened eyes. Here I am inside my own head. Happily relaxed with places to be but no schedule. My boarder-line crazy Italian friend drives like a mad man along the Ruta del Sol, his pregnant questionably too young for him wife sits next to him in the cab. They seem happy each fighting with a smile for a word in their hand waving conversation (he is Italian you see). I sit alone in the back with some papayas bigger than 2 year olds, groceries and the wind. As huge dump trucks fly by heading north, my heart skips, it's all part of the unique freedom in the back of a pick up on a windy road in an underdeveloped land.

We pass so much beauty and destruction. The shrimp ponds that destroyed the mangroves, boosted the economy, gave poor people jobs and hope and then swiftly threw everyone rock bottom. We pass dried hills and valleys giving one the sense that a lion, elephant or giraffe should appear in the Ecuadorian desert. Our province, Manabi has the highest deforestation rate in Ecuador due to cattle. Ecuador has the highest deforestation rate in the world. Granted, statistics can be twisted but, the truth keeps rushing by me. The only sign of beauty in these deserted hills are the ceibo trees that curl high above the pasture. The Mayans believed the ceibos were our connection to the spiritual world, still today they are left standing in open pastures. As a science lover I am amazed by their green bark that is capable of doing photosynthesis in the dry season when the ceibo loses its leaves. As a New Englander I am happy to live in a deciduous forest, even if the temperature hardly varies between the wet and dry season. We pass amazing equatorial jungle, huge palms, vines and mystery. We pass poor villages and men selling huge prawns on the side of the road. I embrace this opportunity, to be forced by the wind to observe and ponder.

Because I am still in my head, and not someone else's, my gratefulness of opportunity immediately makes me feel a little guilty. I live in a place of beauty and poverty and the hardest thing for me are the lack of opportunities for women and even the men. But, because I can't help myself and believe that women are the key to development, I focus on the women. Sure a woman here can ride in the back of a truck and feel the wind in her hair, but, she'll never drive one. She can wonder and ponder things in the world, but, the chances are she can't write it down or read another's words. She can walk in the deep jungle gathering wild coffee, vegetable ivory seeds and palm seeds, but, chances are, she'll never own the land. Then, this gets me thinking of how lucky I am to have meet so many different strong women in my lives. If I could just show the young girls in Tabuga that there are women out there like these women... maybe they'd have a little bit of hope. Learn to say no, finish school and not be pregnant at age 14.

I think back to my elementary school teachers and how they tell us in America that we can be whatever we want to be – and we believe them. I think about all my childhood girlfriends and how they are living their dreams... even if those dreams are different that what they'd planned. I think about going to NARAL meetings as a 9 year old, enthralled by the conversations, words like contraception and all of the women there. I think of hearing Hilary Clinton talk in NH when I was about 12. I think of my lacrosse coach at Duke who taught me about commitment and determination while she also raised a family, and all my teammates who showed up everyday and balanced the Duke workload with good good times. I think of my advisor at Duke who was a tiny lady but incredibly intimidating and bright and I can only imagine the things that she has thought of by now. Or the head of the Environmental Science department who smoked cigarettes during our outdoors labs and encouraged me to go to medical school. I think back to my summer at Godard and how I was blessed to work with Ann and Susan, my two female mentors who taught me about science and showed me that you can be a successful scientist, intelligent and still be athletic and raise a family. I think of my female cousins who are both mom's and have been through times that could break someone but they continue to fight for what they want with the love and support of my Aunt. My sister who has taught me that being true to yourself is the most important thing in the world even if it means you might be sad for a bit. The two female US Ambassadors to Ecuador who I have had the pleasure of meeting during my time here who have big hearts even has big serious diplomats. My Peace Corps country director who just arrived here but has worked all over the world in huge leadership positions. The vice-country director who has climbed most ever mountain in Ecuador, continues to move up the ladder and still dresses great. Julieta, the highest ranking female officer EVER in the Ecuadorian national police who protects all of us little Peace Corps kids. All the Ecuadorian women in that office who I have had the pleasure of working with these two years who are working mom's. Sometimes, I can't believe that they grew up in the same country as Tabuga. I think of Geomaira, my best friend in Tabuga who is a young mom, studying in the university, learning English and dreams of opportunities. And, most importantly, my mom. Who is a rock, a constant support to me, my siblings and all the kids who she works with. Her story could bring most to tears while at the same time making them laugh and giving them hope. And finally, all of the men who have supported these kinds of women. Men who believe that women can be smart and men can be idiots. Men that believe in opportunities and respect these women as coworkers, friends and family.

I get to Tabuga and sit down in my little house. If I had more time I am sure this list would go on forever. But, the ride from Pedernales, crossing the equator to Tabuga is only 25 minutes. My 'cousin' comes over as soon as I get home and stands over me as I type. Amazed at the quickness of my fingers and asks me what I am writing. I tell her I am writing about women and how they are the key to a better world (this isn't just me talking either... read about international development and you'll see). My cousin is 18, has two kids, can't read or write and doesn't know the alphabet. She comes over everyday as if I am a soap opera. Her kid has peed on my floor a few times and once the 2 year old cried so hard she threw up on the floor (AJ's presence scared her that bad). When I hang out with Prima, I know that staying here for another year isn't just about me and living in my happy little bamboo hut. It's about the people. The women and children that think I am crazy but look to me for advice, knowledge and support. I hope to be for these women and children what all of the women in my life have been to me.

Juan Manuel of Fundacion Arena making us delicious pizza!

The following is what I wrote Sunday night, lying in bed listening to the music and the bullfrogs. Pondering my time as a Peace Corps volunteer and feeling grateful for my new job (starting September) as the Project Coordinator for the Ceiba Foundation!

Does it feel like just another Sunday night or does it feel like more? Should it feel like more? Cumbia, the typical music of the area continously played way too loud with a rumbling base flies through the air from my neighbors to my house. I spent the day getting work done at the reserve and teaching English to the youth group. I enjoyed huge prawns that were caught this morning by anonymous in a fisherman town 15 minuted down the road, that I sauted and mixed with veggies in an creamy sauce over pasta. Today was like any good Sunday. Friends of mine, a couple who own the Surf Shack in Canoa, stayed over last night to enjoy a night in the campo away from the crazier life of owning a bar in a touristy beach town. I love playing mom so, homemade carrot cake, spicy Mexican beans, fresh salsa and Jason's tortillas were cooked up in my bamboo hut. This morning we enjoyed coffee and the power being out – no cumbia for miles. I want to say it is just another Sunday, yet, something was nagging at my brain. Then, someone commented that tomorrow is August 10th, a big Ecuadorian holiday (I think it might be the day the new president officially takes office... should look into that). I quickly realize that this Sunday is different because it is my last Sunday in Tabuga as a volunteer. At this time next Sunday I will be heading to Quito. In Quito I will close my Peace Corps chapter, meet with my new Co-worker at the Ceiba office in Quito and finally head to the US of A.

I feel a sense of relief that the end of my Peace Corps service doesn't mean the end of my time in Tabuga. One would think that over two years is enough but, that one hasn't yet lived in Tabuga. There really is something magical about this place. The warmth of the people, the determination of a few that keeps everything going on, the seemingly lazy yet well deserved hammock time, the jungle, the beach, the store that I have credit at, free range chicken, abundance of fruits, the language and even the cumbia. Plus, mixed with all the positives are the difficult things, the poverty, the lack of opportunity, shoeless children, ribs of the dogs, 14 year old mothers and the lack of education. Then are the things that sometimes are a blessing and sometimes annoyances, lack of communication, not a single newspaper to buy in town and one TV in town that receives fuzzy channels. Tabuga has the perfect balance of magic and blunt reality. It keeps you on your toes and keeps you busy.

So, this Sunday is very different than any other Sunday. I feel a content sense of accomplishment yet a nagging to continue working. Serving as a Peace Corps volunteer has surely been the most incredible experience of my life and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I think the timing is right though for it to be over. For me to get on with life without a manual of rules, strict safety regulations and the comforts of being taken care of by the Peace Corps. To have AJ here by my side and to be here because I love it and I want to be and I have a job I love. The Peace Corps threw me in Tabuga like they do with any volunteer. The best mentality is that it’s not supposed to be easy. Somehow I lucked out and ended up in a small random town that I happily call home. Not everyone has amazing Peace Corps services, some people leave early, a lot stick it through without ever really loving it but everyone I have talked to has honestly said that it was worth the experience and the challenges. I think it's true what they say 'it's the toughest job you'll ever love'.

So hats off to the countdown... one week and I turn in my fancy Peace Corps badge. Here are some pictures of the good times I have been having in the last few months.

Two humpback whales swimming less than 2m from our tiny boat!AJ and I on the hills behind Tabuga where you can find coffee, cacao, bananas, monkeys, birds and an awesome view of the ocean!

Teaching Gito how to swim in the Canoa waves

Lizard earring - literally this guy held on hard!

Katie and I at Tabuga beach!

Little brother Alex body surfing in Tabuga

My good friend Maija at the Ecuador v Argentina soccer game!

Jason and I picking coffee in the hills behind Tabuga... who knew that coffee comes hidden in little red berries?

Jason, AJ and I with the newly elected Queen of Tabuga

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Life back in Tabuga is absolutely fabulous! Saturday night, after my house was officially Peace Corps approved, we had a party to inaguarate my new house! It was a blast and an awesome mix of Tabuga neighbors, reserve volunteers, other foreigners and AJ, Jason and I. We had food, an old Tabuga guitarist and jello shots. Check AJs blog www.ecuawindow.blogspot.com for more pictures and for now I leave you with these:

The Hostest with the MostestSunset at Tabuga Beach

Just start blogging... it's 7:30 am.... The last few weeks of my life has been a whirlwind of work, people, climates, parties and challenges. It's hard to know where to start. I guess the climax should be the summit of Cotopaxi so I'll start in an airport.

After 6.5 months apart AJ arrived to Quito in the middle of the day last Monday. It was just as exciting and nerve-racking as anticipated. More than anything it was refreshing to see how handsome he is without a crazy leprechaun beard and una-bomber shaved head.

I had spent the previous week, my first back in Tabuga, working from the moment I got here. Joe and Catherine from the Ceiba Foundation were here on the coast and when they are around things happen. I arrived to site on a Friday and went straight to the reserve. 5 University of Wisconsin students were working on their final projects for the semester abroad in Ecuador. I ended up helping out on some really nice projects and exhibits for the Eco-Center – which as you may recall was my little baby since its inauguration in June, 2008. We collected a bunch of plants for our botanical garden and had some really great meetings to plan the work plan for the reserve which included my role for the next 4 months. Time with Joe and Catherine always include fun stuff too! I went to Catherine's birthday party on the beach – her third birthday since I've been in Tabuga. We also went up to their new land and drank some wine before heading to Punta Prieta for an amazing dinner. Akul (now a returned-PCV) and Gina had stopped through Tabuga and were here to hang out. It was great to introduce them to my counterparts and show them Punta Prieta. P. Prieta is a series of guest houses on a point overlooking the beach. The owner is an artist from Quito. Prieta literally means dark and the place sits on the only point in northern Manabi where you can build because normally the cliffs are to soft and crumbly. We had delicious prawns for dinner with wine and before heading home hung out at the bar watching the waves crash into the beach below.

My buddy Jason is living in my old room so I spent the week back in my old room staying with him. It's amazing how my experience here has made sharing a small space, towel and bed with a friend seem normal (we can all reflect back on my brother's extended stay!). My host dad built me a house in Tabuga. It's a traditional bamboo house with palm leaf roof. It's beautiful. I bought nails, some plastic and a kitchen sink... total about $70. He used wood he had laying around from his old house for the frame and the floor. The bamboo was from his land and from his family's land, same with the palm leaves. My dad and his two brothers worked on the house little by little while I was living in the Sierra. To be honest, I didn't believe it would be finished by the time I got back to Tabuga. But here I am... in my perfect, full of good energy 'tree house'. My host mom cried as I slowly moved my things from the old room to the new house. This seemed silly considering I am literally 500 ft from the old house.. but she feels like I am here daughter, growing up and moving out. As silly as it is, it is really touching.

I spent the weekend 'installing' electricity and water and getting the house approved by the Peace Corps. Then with Jason, Akul and Gina I blessed the house in the traditional Bolivian style. I agressively broke a bottle of Caña Manabita... a local pure sugar cane alcohol. Then I headed on an over night bus to Quito. Then AJ was here. I hadn't had time to process the previous week or the fact that AJ was about to be here but, I think this was better. We spent the next two days catching up on 6+ months apart and meet a bunch of my friends in Quito. Then we headed to Latacunga...

My PCV friend John lives in Latacunga and came in right after me as a Youth and Families volunteer. He is a hoot, great person and was our connection to the agency we used for our expedition. We went to the office Wednesday evening to confirm our trip and get fitted to boots and gear. For just $150 the agency provides all necessary gear (including ice ax and crampons), e-snacks, e-sleeping bag, back pack, transportation and a guide. Jason, AJ, John and I made a dank carbo-loaded pasta dinner and went to bed early. The next morning Jason, AJ and I headed to the agency at 10 am to gear up for our trip. An Italian lady, Michaela, joined our group because the agency said it's better to have two tourists per guide. From here we drove up the Panamerican to the entrance of Cotopaxi. The mountain was completely covered by clouds which I found refreshing because the volcano is dominate and intimidating. AJ had posted a picture of the volcano on his blog the day before and upon seeing it both Jason and I came close to fainting.

The access road through Parque Nacional Cotopaxi winds through a horrid example of environmental destruction in Ecuador – a pine tree plantation that has replaced the lush, water retaining paramo of the sierra. Then the road passes through a beautiful shallow lake and turns up towards the volcano or the beast. A sliver of the glacier exposed itself during the drive up and I went crazy taking pictures because I knew Cotopaxi can often be too foggy and cloud covered to get good pictures. I thought a lot about the Geology course I took at Duke my senior year that included a trip to Yellowstone and a day digging up fossils in Wyoming. I bet my professor would be psyched to see the exposed layers of rock during the drive. The volcanic rocks layered between ash falls of the past. Cotopaxi is the second tallest active volcano in the world at a little under 20,000 feet. It is predicted to erupt again sometime in 2017...ish. As we passed all the chunks of rock I wished that I had retained more from that course.

From the parking lot it is another 1.5 hour walk up loose volcanic rock to the base camp that rests under the volcano at 15,000 feet. The guides, Diego and Joaquin, mentioned that this would be like a little test to see how well we could handle the altitude. Diego kept having to tell me to slow down, he threatened me with ideas of massive headaches and vomiting. I slowed the best I could but from the first trek on, I found that one of the hardest things for me is to keep the slow pace. AJ raced up in front of us. His winter in the high mountains of Alma, CO and his crazing running in the freezing cold had totally prepared him for this adventure. I think my time living in Cayambe during training prepared me enough to feel good and Jason, he's just a trooper. He has never lived above sea level except for during our PC training in February, 2007. We were feeling good up at the lodge. I definitely got chills when the summit of Cotopaxi exposed itself in the late afternoon, looming above us, shining in the low light right at dusk.

After practicing how to fall properly with the ice ax so that it holds you to the mountain and not impales you we had a carbo-loaded dinner and headed to bed around 6pm. I seemed to be the only person that got any sleep. Michaela, our Italian companion, had a head ache and I believe AJ claimed he and Jason slept 23 minutes combined*. The plan was for Jason, Michaela and I to head out at midnight with Joaquin. AJ was to head out at 1 am with Diego. This was based on AJ's run up the mountain on the earlier part of the trip and the assumption that they would eventually catch up to us. At 11pm I lay awake listening to the winds whipping around the building. I imagined a clear sky wiped clean by the clouds and I shivered with fear of the wind. But, I was ready to go. Jason, AJ and I were awake, stealing e-snacks and tea and ready to tackle the mountain. Then, the guides informed us that the wind was too strong, change of plans. We'd all be leaving at 1am together. This proved to be problematic for Jason.

The guides put out a nice breakfast but I had no appetite. It was like eating too close to game time. I simply craved a Rice Krispie treat like the good old days of CHS lax. After were all bundled up with multiple layers and equipment I had never used we began the first 30 minutes stretch of the climb. This was in loose volcanic gravel stuff that was like walking in sand uphill. This took us to the edge of the glacier where we put on our crampons and were to get harnessed together. The new plan was that Diego would go with AJ and I and Joaquin with Jason and Michaela. We would all walk together for the first two hours and see if changes needed to be made. Example: I can't keep up with AJ and need to switch with Jason, or Michaela needed to turn around and the three of us can continue. Well, AJ's crampons were f-ed and Jason and Michaela took off with Joaquin ahead of us. It was a good 5 minutes before AJ was ready to head up the glacier. With Diego in the lead, me in the middle and AJ bringing up the rear we quickly started zig-zagging up the mountain. We were the last group to leave and the mountain ahead of us was scattered with polka dots from the head lamps of the groups ahead. Behind us the night lights of Quito created a stream of yellow making Quito seem just a jump off the mountain away.

We passed Jason and Michaela promptly and continued up the mountain. At one point Diego turned to me and confidently stated that he wanted to pass all of the other groups. This seemed way too ambitious but I was in no position to complain because I could barely mutter a word, I was more concerned with basics like breathing and taking my next step. Diego seemed to interpret this as confirmation that we wanted to pass everyone else on the mountain and the zig-zagging ceased. It was all straight uphill after that. Walking on 30-60 degree inclines. Often having to take weird side ways steps up to prevent falling. I have never been so grateful of crampons and an ice ax.

After three hours of walking we finally took a water break. The sky was incredibly clear and the moon and stars seemed to be happily guiding our struggle upward. I asked Diego how much time was left. He said 5 hours. I almost cried and was tempted to give up. Five more hours of this monotonous struggle? Then for what? That would put us at about 9 am I estimated in my head. At 9 am it is the rule of the mountain that the guides turn around. The sun makes the snow too soft and avalanches are highly likely. Just the week before there had been an avalanche. No one was hurt but we passed the site on the way up... it didn't look like anything I wanted to be stuck in. Ice boulders, heavy snow and hanging icicles are not something I want to fight with.

After a two minute break we kept heading up the mountain. Just two minutes seemed unfair when the break started but after two minutes I had to move, I was starting to freeze. I could feel my sweat underneath all my layers crystallizing... scary! At this point we had passed all of the other groups except the one solo climber who left an hour before us and has a ton of mountaineering experience. So, we kept moving, in the dark... little by little.

After another hour and a half I started to feel really light-headed but I didn't have a headache. I realized that I had been hiking for 4+ hours with only a few bites of yogurt in my stomach. I needed an e-snack. I needed energy. AJ recalls seeing me stumbling, looking weak. The rope between us wavered a lot between loose and too taught. Interestingly, I could distinguish this feeling from altitude sickness. I simply needed food. I yelled to Diego. He quickly shot me down. Not here, in another 2 minutes we can stop. If I had energy I probably would have yelled profanities at the man but I just kept truckin along... I really didn't want to stop on top of a crevasse anyway. After some water and a few bites of chocolate that feeling of cold started to wash over me and I had to keep going. AJ's crampons need more adjusting and then we keep going. At this point a crazy adrenaline rush washed over me. I was pumped. The sun started to peak over the mountain. We were climbing up the western side of the volcano. The sun continued to rise slowly. I keep truckin along. Then in a rush of emotion, I made the group stop and look to our right. The sun was casting a perfect triangular shadow of Cotopaxi on the clouds and mountains below us. A crazy rush of head-over-heels emotion rushed over me. My adrenaline pumped and I felt like a million bucks. AJ was struggling behind me. I was eagerly telling him to take a picture. He was refusing. His crampons were slipping, he felt like he was in danger. I pressured him. He took the picture. He even says it was worth it now.

Once the sun was up the majestic surroundings kept us focused on the peak ahead of us. There was one sketchy 30 ft climb where Diego had to belay us and then about 15 more minutes of walking. We went over a small hump and upon descending were struck by the view of the crater. From the top we could see a number of other volcanoes around us. Including Chimborazo, the highest volcano in Ecuador, Cayambe the volcano that I was living near during training and Antisana, the volcano that sits at the entrance to the Amazon. Below us the clouds hung like ocean waves at the base of the numerous volcanoes. It was breath-taking and beautiful. Honestly, I admit, with an embarrassed grin, I cried. The physical test that AJ and I had overcome, the rewarding feeling of success combined with the incredible view and mixed with exhaustion overwhelmed me. I shed a single tear. I was overcome.

We got to stay at the summit for 15 or so minutes which is rare because usually the conditions aren´t permitting. AJ, Diego and I were all feeling quite proud. The climb that takes most tourists 8 hours took us only 6 and we were the last group to start the climb. The only person that beat us up the mountain was that one solo climber with personal guide.

Then, for the descent. My legs were so tired and Diego kept telling us to keep going. At one point AJ, now leading us down the mountain, stopped, put his hands to his knees and yelled with exhaustion Necesito un e-snack! Diego pushed us onward though; it seemed that both AJ and I have a habit of demanding breaks while on top of crevasses. So, we continued, got an e-snack eventually and then stumbled down the mountain. The 6 hour difficult climb upward turned out to be only a 2 hour descent. I fell once almost stabbing AJ with my crampons and forcing Diego to fall and dig in with his ice ax. I was tired. The snow started to get soft and for the last 30 minutes AJ, Diego and I sledded down the remainder of the glacier. At the bottom, star struck, proud and exhausted we met up with poor Jason. Michaela had signs of altitude sickness only two hours in and he was forced to turn around.

WoW! I know this is long. But, it was really the hardest and yet most spectacular thing I have ever done. The physical struggle mixed with the visual and emotional rewards make this experience so unique. Plus, after two years in this beautiful country it´s awesome to still feel impressed and blown away but the natural beauty and diversity. From beach to jungle to glacier capped volcanoes.

To emphasize this point even more, Jason, AJ and I decided to go head on into partying and getting back to the coast. This included riding around Quito in an open air party bus with a band on top to celebrate the end of the semester abroad with the Wisconsin students, taking a bus that left at 4 am to Tabuga, celebrating our friend Pete´s birthday and finally, ending up in Tabuga. To my new bamboo and palm leaf house, built for me by my Ecuadorian family and now happily shared with AJ.

* See www.Ecuawindow.blogspot.com for confirmation

****PICTURES WILL BE ADDED SHORTLY*****Capacitar is to train or give capacity to in Spanish and an example of a word that seems like it should be a cognate but really isn’t. Often, you will here volunteers says: We had a capacitation, or I was capacitating. It sounds possibly violent but really just means to train or training. I use it in the title because I absolutely love training. I love sharing what I know with others and motivating them to love everything too!

Two weeks of pre-service training have flown by. Jay, Mo, Susan I are sharing an amble apartment in Ayora, a small community outside of Cayambe. Ayora is really tranquil and the people are really nice, it has a view of Volcan Cayambe and is surrounding by farms and close to the Panamerican Highway. There is an internet place, a mini-market and one little pizza place. The Women’s Association of Ayora has a meeting house that we use as the training center. It’s really nice being in a small town again after my short time in Quito. Also, this is the first time that I am living without an Ecuadorian host family. It’s the first time in my life living abroad without a host family and I love it. We all get along great, prepare delicious meals and are really a super training team. At the training center the trainees receive all of their technical, health and safety sessions. The language and cultural components of training take place within the training communities. We currently have trainees in groups of 4 or 5 in 10 communities around Cayambe. The trainees were divided up based on their language skills and spend 2 – 3 days a week in language/culture classes with their language facilitator. It’s so fun to talk to the trainees and help them deal with this experience and remember back to my days in Paquiestancia, my training community. It’s especially fun because Mo and I were both in Paquiestancia and we reminisce about the days when I would ask Mo to talk for me. Her Spanish was so much better than mine and even I would be timid sometimes. Now, they can’t shut me up!The nice thing about being out of the city again is the easy access to nature. Last weekend Mo and I walked for 2.5 hours up hills and around to another town called Olmedo. We could see the farm and greenhouse spotted valley below us and Volcan Cayambe loomed above the mountains. We passed fields of wheat, cows, old indigenous ladies and little kids. It was so beautiful. Then yesterday we spent the day walking through the fields around Ayora and playing Frisbee. This Saturday all the language facilitators took their groups of trainees to various cultural spots near Cayambe. Mo, Jay, Susan and I all accompanied a group on their trip. I had the chance to go up to Ibarra. I actually have spent a good amount of time in Ibarra but have only gone to party and hang out. For example, I went there for the superbowl, caranval and a friend’s going away party. I jumped at the opportunity to go to Ibarra as more of a tourist. Ibarra is an awesome city, it’s clean and pretty and tranquil. Turns out it also has some Inca ruins and a cool museum for the Caranqui people, the ancient culture that occupied the Northern part of the sierra before the Incas conquered them. There is a beautiful lake nearby called Yaguarcacha, which stands for blood lake in Quichiwa (aka Kichwa, Quichwa). It is apparently the site of the battle between the Caranqui people and the Incas. The Incas were victorious and beheaded their enemies, leaving their bodies in the lake which consequently turned a deep red, hence the name.The cultural trip started with a visit to the museum and unremarkable Inca ruins (90% were destroyed so only a small part of a rock wall has been excavated, Archeologists were actually at the site when we visited). Afterwards we jumped on a city bus and headed into the hills surrounding Ibarra. The scenery quickly changed from paved roads and city buildings to the campo. Roberto, a currently Youth and Families volunteer that lives in Ibarra and is awesome set up a lunch for the trainees at a woman’s home. We got to the small dwelling and waited for lunch to be served. I made friends with the little kids and was happily enjoying being back the campo. Then, Roberto told me that one of the little kids had fallen and was in bed crying. I went into the empty home and kneeled down by the bed. The little kid was miserable and his right arm was swollen. A little 3 month old baby was pantless beside him, baby sounds squeeked out of the little one and seemed to comfort the older brother. He held the baby girls hand when I squatted down . I talked quietly to the kid and started to calm him down. The boy´s grandmother sat beside the boy. She couldn’t speak and artfully acted out the fall the boy had taken. The grandmother only spoke Quichiwa before she lost her ability to really speak at all according to Pamela, the older sister of the boy. The grandmother didn´t understand my Spanish so we communicated non-verbally. Then, once she understood the old grandmother left and came in with a little tin of menthol. The boy screamed that he didn´t want the older woman to touch him. She handed me the menthol and shyly she sat by me as I messaged the swollen arm. I had taken her role a bit and at first felt awkward with the older woman peering over me, she seemed to approve though and lovingly comforted the boy. The mother showed up with a stained old ace bandage that I used to lightly wrap the boys arm. I wiped away his tears and kissed his forehead. I whispered that he was fine. The boy remained really calm and even devoured an ear of corn. The mother urged me to eat and shoed me over to the trainees. The trainees were enthusiastically chowing down on guinea pig, potatoes and corn.It was really a cultural experience for the trainees and for me. After serving my whole time on the coast I hadn´t had many highland small town experiences apart from training. The communal style of eating was really special and the guinea pig was delicious. A bucket of juice was passed around with one cup. We all happily ate with our hands and tossed potatoes around the circle. Afterwards we thanked the women who prepared the food and danced around to the highland music. I found myself with the little kids again, taking pictures, throwing them in the air and climbing a tree. The most outgoing of the group, Justin probably age 3, really took aliking to me and begged me not to leave, to stay and play. We took a picture together and then he offered me his bird stuffed animal as a token of rememberance. The language facilitator Pablo was in aw of the situation pointing out “The poor always seem so willing to share what little they have, while the richest guard their belongings behind gates and alarms”. I never knew Pablo to be a philosopher but the moment was the kind that could move anyone to think beyond the material world. The stuffed animal, named appropriately Justin, rests happily on my nightstand next to many other important tokens of rememberance.After a short bus ride we were plopped back in the city. We ate the traditional ice cream of Ibarra known as Helado de Paila. The cream is placed in a copper dish that rests on salted ice on top of hay. The ice cream is churned by hand using a big wooden spoon and the result is delicious. We all relaxed in the shade of a big tree in one of the many manicured parks in Ibarra, enjoying our icecream.But, the adventure wasn’t quite over.Before boarding the bus, the facilitators took us to watch Pelota Nacional or National Ball. Apparently Pelota Nacional is the official sport of Ecuador, yet, I had gone two years without ever seeing it played. We suspiciously wandered out of the main part of the city and found the Pelota Nacional fields. A group of old men, smoking cigarettes and gossiping were watching the sport. At first appearance the sport seems silly. The two teams stand on opposite sides of a long and skinny dirt field. The players have these big paddles that have heavy foam cones on them. The object of the game is to hit the heavy rubber ball back and forth, allowing just one bounce. The team that wins slowly moves down the field for a certain distance to win the set. Sides are switched, like in Tennis and the game continues. Apparently a game can last hours. The old men explained the rules and claimed that women dont play because it is too brutal. I doubted the brutality of the sport and pointed out that two of the men on the field were even smoking cigarettes. The old men dared me to give it a try and explained that the brutness of the sport comes from the difficulty to manage the heavy paddles. The next thing we all knew, Kevin, the other language facilitator had a bunch of paddles and one of the heavy rubber balls. The men sent us to the middle court, in front of everyone and watched as we struggled.I consider myself pretty athletic and at first swing found myself spinning in a full circle from the weight of the paddle, I wiffed horribly. The trainees tried, they also wiffed horribly. Little by little we started to make contact with the ball; I think we even completed two volleys, back and forth. We walked away from the court with big smiles and sore wrists. Apparently on April 28th, there is a huge tournament during the fiestas of Ibarra and I am determined to spend the day with the oldies, shouting at the players and smoking cigars. We”ll see.On the way home I got off in Otavalo to get dinner and some beers with Jay and Mo. We sat outside and watched as the men carried huge loads of textiles on their backs to storage until the following weekend. Otavalo has the biggest market in all of S. America and is known for the bright textiles, sweaters, hammocks, blankets and more. We wondered if the men would accept a hand cart in place of the forehead straps that we customary. Mo asked me why it seemed that I always had the best day of my life no matter what I do and I responded “It´s because I just jump right in a love it”. The strategy has proven to work for two years and I am doing by best to capacitar the trainees to do the same.

I can't calm down, I can't stop smiling.... after 6 weeks of office work, 6 weeks of the big city life the group has arrived. The moment I saw their smiling, scared, excited, anxious, exhausted faces.... I knew that this was where I want to be. I am so happy about the decision I made to leave my beloved site, Tabuga, and head off into the unknown. From a machete and monkeys to a computer and city buses. Already, I feel the rewards. Now, I am in the office, waiting for them to get here for our first meeting. I am so excited to be a part of the Peace Corps experience for these 24 natural resource trainees. Ecuador has won me over, my experience doesn't cease to be incredible and I really really hope that these newbies get to feel the same way. So... this is a shout out to Omnibus 101 and anyone who knows them or is thinking about the Peace Corps... get ready to jump in and start the toughest job you'll ever love, I'll do my best to make it a smooth ride.

The Eager Co-Trainers waiting for our kiddies!

Look, Look, the first one up there, they made it!

You can see them and there is our Country Director waiting for them too!Last but not least!

Excited boys with lots of baggage!

The meet and greet team - smiling faces!

Hey Mom! These are for you!

A visit to the North ...look how beautiful and different it is!

Susan, Mo and I ready for a night out.

Making the Burgers....

Burgers are Absolutely Delicious... especiallywhen served with Yucca and Sweet Potatoe Fries!

Wes is a great guitar player and pees out of the sideof his leg... slash... Susan spilt in the excitementof the wonderful sing-a-longs we were having

Group Indian Food at Ryan's... spicy delicous

Casey is eating with a tablespoon!The Cheft himself enjoys a big boy bite... good job Akul!

It’s been three weeks since I made the big move away from Tabuga, my family, my tranquil lifestyle and my work to come to the capital. Like many young Ecuadorians, migration to the city means a better job, more fun night life, better food options, freedom and an overall eye opening experience. Some economists and development theorists claim that migration to the city by the young able population is the only way for a national economy to start the climb out of poverty. Others claim that anti-sweat shop campaigns are ruining economic chances of success in third world countries. On the other hand, others claim that international development needs to focus on supplying small farmers with simple technology and creating self-sufficient communities. My theory, as a person without any formal education in the matter but who is attempting to live the experience is “it’s not that simple”. All the theories seem to stem from some reality and my experience tells me that both have their personal, familial and community benefits. Often, immigrants to the US suffer greatly but send money to their families in their home countries. This in turns buy books and clothes for their siblings, an oven for the mother and in some cases land. It’s the same with the migration to the cities. Often the people are living in poor conditions in the country and then move to a different kind of poor conditions in the city. But, the benefits of the city include having a job and making money, buying a cell phone, dancing at clubs and being able to send money home to the family. Money home to thee family puts money in the local market and can be used to buy small machines to better small farm agriculture. Unfortunately, the big move is at the expense of having your family. For many Americans this doesn’t shock us and I am one of those. The majority of us grow up eager for the high school graduation and the big move to college or to the working world. We crave freedom and space. We love our parents, we do our best to keep in touch but the world post-18 is ours. Like my favorite t-shirt “My world, our planet”. I am determined to do good for the planet but I live in my world. Although this t-shirt continues to ring in my cerebrum, my feelings towards family, sweat shops and development have changed. I miss my family and friends in Tabuga. I miss the monkeys in the forest and the frogs at night that sound like children yelping in glee during a game of marco-polo. But, I am enjoying the city, the developed world. There are fabulous salsa clubs, good restaurants that serve more than just rice with a fried small bone filled fish and I have friends. Friends that want to talk politics while smoking a hooka and watch Duke basketball games over beers.

One of the things I am enjoying the most about Quito is my work in the Peace Corps office. I have clear tasks with deadlines. I focus, work hard, complete the task, present it to my superior, he says good job and I move on. After almost two years of service on the Manabí coast, I love having clear defined work plans, deadlines and positive reinforcement. The previous two years I was my own boss, set my own deadlines that often never were met, taught classes to high school kids who don’t know simple multiplication tables and said to myself in the mirror a number of times good job. It’s also nice to work in a team. My fellow co-trainer Susan and I had completely different Peace Corps experiences and different personalities and work together like nuts and bolts or peanut butter and jelly. Our tasks are all geared toward planning an effective intense 8 week training to prepare 24 Americans to be superb volunteers.

The newbies arrive February 25th eager, anxious, scared and excited. My senior year of lacrosse as an undergraduate assistant coach on crutches and Percocet is definitely going to come in handy. Like I love CHS, Duke lax and NH, I love the Peace Corps and I am so excited to promote it, share it and help train people who in turn, will hopefully love it and rock it.

What if you don’t really want the New Year? I really liked last year and I always love an excuse for a good party but, 2008 was great. I imagine 2009 will prove to be another year full of adventure and new experiences but I really got to give hats off to 2008. It was my full year in Ecuador and Tabuga specifically and 2009 marks a lot of big changes. To start out I am writing this email from Quito. I no longer live in America-in-a-box, it’s been cleaned out. I know live in a house with a washer, dryer, 3 bathrooms, a couch and a set of 5 keys just to get from the road through the various gates and doors to the inside. Today I am starting my new job in the Peace Corps office as co-trainer for omnibus 101 that arrives in late February. I don’t need a machete or rubber boots and I don’t live with rats or cockroaches. The picture shows 6 of the 10 baby rats that I found freshly born underneath my camping type stove when I was gone for just 3 days. Amazingly this was reassuring information because it proved that the mama rat wasn't eating my underware for the fun of it but she was really just preparing the nest for her 10 ratlings. I had thought Jason was stealing my boxes of matches and was looking everywhere for my beadazzled bikini top but just turns out that the mama rat had taken everything from hair elastics, plastic bags, an HIV/AIDs awareness CD and more to make a nice home for the babies right where I prepare food. Now, to start my day I simply need 25 cents to take the city bus to the office and a strong cup of coffee to keep me focused.

First, let’s back track and recap how this wonderful year, 2009, was brought to life. It all started in Canoa with Jason and I building our very own lawn golf set and meeting up with Akul, Ryan, Elliot and a bunch of Bolivian volunteers. The Bolivian volunteers were evacuated from Bolivia after the US Embassy was kicked out tof the country and instead of cutting their services short they decided to accept the offer and come to Ecuador. Canoa is my turf and I love giving people the Canoa initiation which mostly involves shots of la Una de la Gran Bestias which is a mixture of scorpions, centipedes, marijuana leaves and sugar cane alcohol and dancing all night. Yard golf, renamed golf player (beach golf), proved to be a big hit and we had a bunch of Ecuadorian kids playing with us, a cute family from Cuenca even got into the fun. It was a blast. New Years is always one of those things people try to over due and make a big deal out of but the PC family did it right in Canoa. Some of my favorite moments apart from just beaching it all day included jumping over burning effigies and winning two bottles of champagne to bring in the New Year. It was also crucial to have a last horrah in Canoa before my big move to Quito. I told hundreds of people not to forget me and danced the night away.

After the party it was back to Tabuga for me. After some solid sleep, aka recuperation, I started the count down. I filled my last days in Tabuga with lots of house visits, shared meals, photo ops, tears and project planning. I have requested an extension in Tabuga from May until late August and I was working with some community members on the details of the projects we want to accomplish. Those two weeks passed by way too quickly and I soon found myself in Quito for our Close of Service conference. This was the last time all of Omnibus 97 will be together and the conference covered some really heavy stuff. Heavy meaning thinking about and planning for the future post Peace Corps service. We talked a lot about how to put our Peace Corps service on our resume and about the ups and downs of re-integration into the states. For me the experience was really valuable but also difficult. The Peace Corps is such an incredible experience and each volunteer has such a unique service, it’s hard to face that it’s ending and it was weird to realize that we all are about to go our own separate ways. Our group really is unique and wonderful and the support we all give each other has been crucial to our experiences. After COS I booked it back to Tabuga to finish cleaning out my room, have some going away meals and spend some quality time with my family and neighbours. I left pictures for everyone and a bunch of my little brother, Angel. I refused to have a big party because I don’t consider this goodbye. I am like any other coastal person heading to the big city for a few months to work. I told everyone that in August we’ll have the big party, we will dance all night and hug and I’ll probably cry. Tabuga is a special place and has a special place in my heart. It was incredibly hard to leave but I know I get to head back (whether it’s PC official or not is pending) and I am excited for a little change and for the new challenge of preparing other cool people to be great volunteers and have incredible unique PC experiences.

I am sure there will be more to come on my experiences in Quito, the big city!

This picture shows Susan, Mo, Me, Jay and our host mom's and sons having our first American dinner all together in Quito!

This story has to start with a big thank you to all the Beaver Meadow kids and friends that donated clothes back in October. The fruits of our joint labors proved to be absolutely delicious and brought smiles to the kids and elderly of Tabuga. On the Saturday before Christmas the Queen of Tabuga gave each child and senior citizen of Tabuga gifts and a big celebration with dancing, food and candy for everyone. There was even an extra surprise being Papa Noel and the Christmas Fairy. Yours truly was the glitter covered, pointed hat, magic wand carrying Christmas fairy. I danced around with all the little kids and sprinkled glitter on their tiny heads. Bigote, the cook at the reserve dressed up as Santa Claus. He danced around with a sack of toys yelling out hohoho. It was an absolutely fabulous Christmas celebration and after dancing we elected a Papa Noel, Christmas Fairy and Christmas Princess from the senior citizens and young mothers. Bigote’s wife was the Christmas Princess. Bigote and I got to hand over our roles and special sparkly sashes to two cute old Tabugans.

Geomaira my best friendand organizerFabiola the queen of TabugaBigote, Papa NoelMe, The Christmas FairyLily, The Christmas Princess

Me and Señora Yollandathe Christmas Fairy ofthe senior citizens

The Queen and Papa Noelwith the box of hand madecards and photos for thesenior citizens.

The kids lined up waiting for their gifts. From here on the Christmas celebrations continued in Tabuga. The day time party for the kids was followed by a celebratory dance by the adults. Then Monday the elementary school had a party for the kids, Tuesday the high schoolers had their party and finally on Christmas Eve Day the whole community got together to bring in Christmas. Just like midnight mass in the states, the clock striking 12 is celebrated by a big dinner, signing to Baby Jesus and dancing. I helped prepare beer baked chicken and made brownies for the celebration. After awkwardly watching the people of Tabuga circle around a manger and sing repeat after me type versus at the wad of cloth representing the baby Jesus, I had a delicious meal with some of my favorite people in Tabuga. After the midnight Christmas dinner and a special reenactment of the birth of Jesus, me being the Virgin Mary, we headed to the concrete slab, aka the football field, and danced until 4am.

Christmas day I spent on the beach. We ate fresh fish soup for breakfast, to cure the dancing hang-over, played soccer on the beach, swam and ate fresh fish for lunch. It was an incredible day spent with people I love but, Christmas without the freezing cold winters of NH just doesn’t feel like Christmas. I got a sunburn and I think Santa Claus up in NH probably got frostbite.

Apparently turning 25 is the new 21 and also, 27 is 21 too. How do I figure this? The shenanigans that Jason and I celebrated for our 27th and 25th birthdays, respectively, were not those of professional adults but resembled the actions of a college student who just threw out the fake ID and decides to take on the town, be it Durham or San Fransisco, for a whole week. The circumstances were just too beautiful not to take advantage and celebrate hard. My birthday was on a Wednesday, middle of the week, so instead of having to decide between one of the weekends, before or after, I decided to celebrate the whole week. Also, Jason’s birthday is the day after mine and therefore it was an absurd necessity calling for a full week celebration. To top it off, my other good friend Susan BC (not married Susan) birthday was the following Sunday.

So, where to celebrate? As I mentioned the circumstances are just too perfect. Do I want to go an hour south to Canoa to party on the beach with a bunch of local friends and x-pats or to Mompiche, a less developed but pretty beach 3 hours north with all my Peace Corps friends or stay in Tabuga? So many great options. Well, when your birthday is a week long, you can do it all. So, Jason and I started in Canoa with a bunch of friends, danced our faces off and ended up at a bonfire on the beach Saturday night. On Sunday after a day of fish soup, coconuts on the beach and general laziness Jason and I collected our things to head home. Being responsible adults that needed to work Monday.

While passing the Surf Shack, my brother’s former employer, Greg, stopped Jason and I, apologized for not making it out the night before and insisted that we stay another night. Jason and I have gotten really good at playing what we call the poor hungry gringo card which leads to us getting free food, alcohol and a bed for the night. Greg accepted the challenge and challenged us to tequila shots, on him. There isn’t a better way to make me stay then free tequila shots with good people on the beach. So, instead of being responsible Jason and I went tequila and we did it well. Jason fell of his chair and then proceeded to kick himself out of the bar with embarrassment and I drank him under the table, chatting about micro-credit and organic farming. All said, Jason passed the Canoa initiation and I continued with my reputation of competitive drinking and sustainable development banter.

Back in Tabuga, Jason and I went responsible for two days and awaited the arrival of Ryan, Akul and Elliot.

On my birthday the high school took the day off to celebrate on the beach. All the kids put in money to get groceries and we enjoyed an incredible afternoon of beach soccer, tuna sandwiches and even Frisbee. It was an awesome gesture of appreciation for me and a perfect birthday afternoon. Afterwards all the teachers came over to my America-in-a-box to give me a toast, some gifts and eat cake. The president of the community who is also the director of the high school, my neighbor and friend gave a really nice toast to my year and eight months that brought tears close to my eyes but happiness and cheap champagne wiped away the tears. It was really fun to have my work peers, my Ecuadorian brother, Jason, Ryan and Juan Carlos, a good friend from the bigger town of Jama all together on my birthday. I felt so lucky and full of love and goodness. My good friend Geomaira and other friend Fabiola gave me this really soft tiger print pillow for my birthday. Geomaira explained why the pillow was so important, she told me 1. The tiger print represents the way I attacked projects and can get really mad, 2. It says I love you in English because it’s a phrase you use with friends and I speak englihs, and 3, the light color on the tiger print is the same color as me. Hilarious!

The next day, Jason’s birthday, Akul and Elliot also showed up and we had a great birthday dinner and then played basketball in Tabuga with some teenagers in the rain. It was really awesome to have my friends in Tabuga and celebrate goodness with them.

Then, the weekend was upon us and we all headed north. Mompiche is the Esmeraldas province and was a completely different world. We are currently in the extreme dry season in Tabuga and everything looks dead and brown but up north it’s still green and beautiful. The beach at Mompiche is really nice and at the beginning stages of development. It’s the perfect place to invest in land, if anyone is interested. We’d be happy to live on it and manage it for you!

Some other friends met us in Mompiche and we spent the weekend in hammocks, drinking rum, fruit drinks, eating fresh fish, swimming, playing soccer and Frisbee. The best part of the weekend was the walk that we took to a virgin black sand beach. It was so beautiful! The sand glistened and was really brilliant. A handful of the black sand weighs so much and is just so different than regular sand. In an effort to display our politically correctness, we all covered our bodies in the black sand. It looked really awesome with my pink bathing suit and sunglasses. I’ll get pictures to post. After the black sand beach adventure we headed further north to a little island. We had to pay $1 a person to cross. The island is really small and only hosts a few habitants. We ate a delicious meal at the one ‘restaurant’ on the island and then took a walk. We attempted to climb coconut trees and drank fresh picked coconuts.

All said and done, the birthday week was absolutely fabulous and it was fun to turn 21 again!

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays and in my head and heart is a time to be with family. Thinking back right now I realize that I haven’t actually had thanksgiving in Concord since my junior year of college, 2004. Yet, I have still enjoyed my turkey with people I love. This year I started the day at Parque Carolina, the big park in Quito. I laid in the sun and cheered on my friends while they played football. I originally wanted to play, assuming it was going to be a casual Peace Corps game. Unfortunately for me, we accidently met up with a bunch of guys from the US Embassy. The head of DEA operations, military guys, etc. The majority of them had cleats and they even had real flags, the ones with a belt. So, my hippy bare-foot version of football didn’t happen but, it was still fun to watch and relax on grass. Grass is a funny thing to miss but after a life of soccer, lacrosse and playing outside, not havening green soft grass in your life is sad. In Tabuga there is just dirt, or dust in the dry season, like now.

A bunch of my friends were at Ryan’s new pad in Quito making a turkey day feast and I headed to the DCMs house. The DCM is the second to the US Ambassador and a pretty big deal. The house the Embassy rents out for him is a three story, 7 bedroom, 8 bathroom mansion. You can imagine the image we may have had of this dinner upon arrival. My inability to use a fork and knife after only using a spoon for two years and my new skill of sucking the meat off chicken bones had me focusing on my table manners. I even repeated to myself, don’t talk with your mouth full.

As it turns out, this image was wrong. The DCM and his family were incredibly welcoming, chill, fun and really wonderful. It was really great to talk to him about his work, all the places they had lived, the Foreign Service, the Peace Corps and everything. His pre-meal speech was perfect and reflected all my own thoughts. Thanksgiving is wonderful because it’s not about gifts and materialism, it’s about family and sharing and being appreciative. All of us people abroad find in others that sense of family and it was really awesome to be invited into their home with 8 other volunteers, share a delicious meal, some wine, cheese and good times.

We even got to watch football, sit on comfy couches and chose which ever bathroom we wanted to use.

After I went back to Ryans and allowed the turkey comatose to take over my body as I watched a movie and drank some boxed red wine with my PC family. I love Thanksgiving!

These woods look a lot different than the ones I visited in NH in October, but for me, a walk in the woods, no matter what woods, is an unexplainable pleasure. This 7 hour walk took me all along the boundary of the Lalo Loor Reserve, into an Ecuadorian uncle’s banana farm and back down around to the northern most point of Tabuga. The reserve is on the southern most boarder of Tabuga. While I was relaxing and eating lunch at one of the two local restaurants, scraping the freckle sized ticks off every part of my body, I had the biggest exhausted grin on my face.

Bigote, Maximo and I started the walk carrying a bunch of barbed wire, hammer, machetes etc. Bigote is the cook at the reserve and Maximo is in charge of trails, volunteers and other activities. The reserve has had problems with hunters and people cutting down wood (woodsmen?) and we were on a mission to close a door they had recently opened in the boundary fence. I strongly believe that the people coming into the reserve aren’t doing it o be malicious but literally for lack of other options. The people are coming in from Camarones and if you look at Camarones from some of the high points along the walk, it’s clear that the people have already destroyed all of the forest in the community. The community sits in a bowl surrounding by stripped hills once lush with dry tropical forest. Now the only forest sits along the rim of the bowl because it’s owned by big landowners who haven’t needed to exploit it yet.

To get to this fence we walked along a stream, it’s dry now because we’re in the dry season but remains the greenest part of the forest. Monkeys howled above our heads, playfully checking out who was in their territory. These howler monkeys yell like gorillas but really are the size of a two year old, an American two year old, not an Ecuadorian two year old, they’re smaller here. They are black and have awesome tails that allow them to eat fruits high up in trees that would otherwise be unreachable. They are also known for peeing on people and throwing their own feces in self-defense. This was the case with a fun Israeli volunteer who was really into photography. In attempt to capture the playful howlers on camera he would climb the trees and quietly follow the monkeys. I am not sure if he got any good pictures because he uses film and processes his own prints, but he definitely got some good stories.

I collected a few different plants along the walk to plant in our botanical garden that we are working on at the environmental interpretation center. One of these being a baby strangler fig. They are incredible trees, have a huge impressive presence and are my favorite in the forest. People say the roots can grow up to 100m from the main trunk of the tree. I don’t know if this is true but there are definitely roots in places where it’s hard to find the main tree. One of my favorite parts of the walk is this steep rock face that in the rainy season is a really beautiful waterfall. When we got to the boundary it was really disappointing to see that our neighbors had opened up a new door to get into our woods. We collected motor oil bottles, bullet shells and other trash. Then we got to work. It felt so good to be with Bigot e and Maximo, just the three of us, working hard, making jokes and being together. Besides my host family, they are my family here. Working side by side with them has been incredible. They have completely accepted my desire to learn everything even if it’s considered ‘man’s work’ and even expect me to carry heavy loads, machete the tough hard spots and align the barbed wire.

After the fence was put up and photos were taken as evidence of the trash and the new fence we headed uphill. This incline is ridiculously hard and I gasped at the new fence that my host dad and uncles had put up the week prior. My host dad is 50 but moves like a teenager in the woods. He grew up in the forest collecting tagua and palm seeds. Maximo, Bigote and I had to take two breaks just to get up this hill, my dad and uncles did it while carrying barbed wire and the fence has three layers… craziness.

The top of this hill marks the highest point in reserve and the farthest boundary from the road. From it you can see the ocean, which when you’re hot and sweaty is like a huge tease and makes you think, I wish I was a bird. Well, what kind of bird because during one of the breaks a yellow bellied toucan flew over us. Toucans have a very distinct call and all of our heads flew to the sky to catch a quick glimpse of this awesome bird.

Also at the top of the hill, you can find a lot of tagua trees and chonta trees. Tagua is the vegetable ivory that is used for jewelry and other art. It starts out as a liquid that is in a pod that is in a bunch of pods. With time the liquid transforms into a solid like coconut meat and later becomes really really hard. So hard that it is called vegetable ivory, you can carve it, dye it and makes amazing things with it. Still to this day people drink the tagua liquid where they’re out in the forest and, after that steep climb Max, Bigote and I really chugged it down. I also helped Bigote collect chonta which is a small peanut M&M size fruit from a spiny palm tree that is used to make a drink mixed with sweet plantains (Yummy!). In order to get the chonta down we had to use a long piece of bamboo, make a hook at the top and attempt to catch the thick stems in the bamboo to tear it off. This involved me stepping back and trying to direct Bigote. Every time he’s catch a stem of the huge heavy bunch of chonta he’d have to jump back quickly. Then we collected the bright orange seeds, drank a little more tagua juice and started to walk along the ridge of the hill.

This brought us to my uncle Gio’s land where I had never been. He has a ton of banana and plantain trees and a mama pig with 7 piglets came running to us through the trees thinking that we had brought them food. From here we started to descend into the northern part of Tabuga. As we passed different bunch of fruit trees Bigote told me who owned what. It was awesome to finally see where all the men go when they head off in rubber boats, on their mules with a machete.

During the dry season ticks are a problem in the forest and especially near cows. The ticks don’t carry diseases but are a pain in the butt and hard to get off. I have never ever seen anything so bizarre as the thousands of ticks that were falling on Bigote and Maximo. The ticks accumulate at the end of little twigs in the paths and when you hit them all those thousands of ticks stick to your pants and try to find the warm spots. Read between the lines here, almost all the men have found ticks in their ‘warm spots’. Not to mention armpits or just everywhere!

The walk ends on a smooth decent through ovo trees. I don’t know if there is word for ovos in English but they are a little bigger than grapes, have a hard seed in the middle and can either be sweet, sour or incredibly sour. People often eat them with salt and when I first tried them I hated them. Not, as time has taught, I love them. We stopped and climbed the trees and ate ovos all the way back down to Tabuga.

My walk in the woods was probably one of my favorite days in Tabuga. I felt so at peace, happy and sad all at once. I can’t believe I am leaving here so soon and that time has passed so fast. Yet, I felt like I was having closure with the forest. I saw monkeys, a toucan, tons of other birds, drank tagua, collected chonta and was with my forest family, Bigote and Max. Walking down the main road with a machete and a baby strangler fig, in my rubber boats, dirty and exhausted I couldn’t have been happier.

When I first got to Tabuga I started to take every Wednesday as ‘Andrea Day’. On this treasured Wednesday I would clean up my house, hand wash my clothes, prepare myself a favorite meal, bake sweets, read good books, listen to music and grade homework. I haven’t taken an Andrea Day since my brother got here in December. I pay my neighbor $3 to wash my clothes, I do favors for my mom in return for her to clean up my room, I live off rice, fried eggs and fried plantains and haven’t read a book for a good while. Now, almost a whole year later I am enjoying a well-deserved Andrea Day. I just ate a spicy home-made dish of vegetable curry, swept my floor, cleaned up my America-in-a-box room and was just reading. I am about to go bake some banana bread with my mom and later, go machete some weeds on our other piece of land with my dad.

It’s amazing that even in this slow life style I can lose my own tranquility, forget to take a breath and over-work. Just like the over-achiever I have always been I want to do too much, there is so much help to be given, so much progress to help set in motion. So, even though I have a ‘to do’ list as long as the stalk of bamboo I carried to my land yesterday, I am having an Andrea Day. Ecuador has taught me patience; a different deep patience that I think is impossible to find in the states, and today I am embracing it.

I originally started this blog as an email to a good friend but figured that it’s about time that I get a little personal in this blog. With the end of my time in Tabuga just around the corner, I find myself more emotional, sentimental and thoughtful. More than once this week I have been brought to tears by the kindness of a neighbor or my family. Tears brought on my happiness and warmth are distinct from those of sadness. But, mine seem to be a strong mix. The kindness and comfort warm me and then leave me chilled with the awareness of losing this all. My Ecuadorian family is currently distraught by the immediacy of my departure. Just last night, while we were discussing the plans of building me a bamboo house, my mom let out a helpless sigh. I thought perhaps she had cut her finger or stubbed her toe, but no, it was simply an honest sigh of pre-missing me.

On January 12th, 2009 I will head up to Quito for my close of service conference. This doesn’t mean much except for a lot of paperwork, the COS connference is 3 months early. But, for me, it’s a big deal as it signifies a big move to the capital. I will spend the end of January and the first part of February preparing for the arrival of Omnibus 101 in Quio. Then, I will head to Cayambe for two months to prepare the next group of natural resource conservation volunteers with fellow volunteer Susan BC. Cayambe is where this whole adventure started for us and it’s a crazy trip heading back there now as Co-trainer. I am really excited about the opportunity to share everything I have learned and be the coach for the next group. I think my Duke Lax senior year days are really going to be helpful for this experience. Coaching is the unique act of motivating a group of people while teaching them all the skills necessary for success. Team moral is crucial and simple lackluster classes won’t do the job of creating a super charged group of volunteers ready to go off on their own and perform.

Then why do you ask am I planning on building a house in Tabuga? Well, as it turns out there is an option to extend my service. I have been working with the president in my community on a request for a health volunteer to come to Tabuga after me. The health program is on a different schedule and the volunteers arrive in late August. So, I am requesting an extension of my service back to Tabuga to work for 4 months until a health volunteer arrives August, 2009. I am currently writing up a work plan with the president of my community to see what we could get done in those 4 months. We have two really great ideas and I think the Peace Corps will grant my extension…keep your fingers crossed.

So, I have less than a month and half in Tabuga but am planning on returning after training. My experience as co-trainer is going to be an incredible opportunity to wrap up my experience as a Peace Corps volunteer and I am hoping that a few extra months in Tabuga afterwards will help me wrap up my time here. I really feel like it’s too soon to go back to the states. I am experiencing an incredible mix of sadness and appreciation. This truly has been the most amazing experience of my life in so many ways. The amount of appreciation and love I have for Tabuga and all of my friends her is immeasurable. The sadness I feel in leaving Tabuga is weird. Mostly, I feel bad for leaving and have always found in my life that being the one that leaves is easier. In leaving one finds newness, where as the ones who are left find emptiness.

My Ecua-mom stated the other day that there will never been a Gringa like me again. She started to go through a list of my qualities that she loves and will miss. I tried to explain that different doesn’t mean bad, and the new volunteer will have something else to offer. Like lost lovers, we don’t ever replace them but rather move on to something different, unique and beautiful in their own right.

I didn’t ever realize that 14 hour bus rides were something you could get used to. But, after a long weekend in the jungle, my 14 hour bus ride really wasn’t too bad. I probably slept 50% of it. The fact that I only slept 1.5 hours the night before definitely helped but, overall, I really have gotten used to these bus rides. I even got excited today when the bus stopped for a little bit and a round of 15 merchants selling everything from mangos to French fries with fried chicken to fake cigarettes that have red sparkle stuff on the end and let out baby powder when you blow into them. I chowed down an ice cream cone that should be called a lamely chocolate flavored ice chunk stale cone and devoured some corn bread with cheese. I even bought 2 of the fake cigarettes for 25 cents for the Ecuadorian teenage girl that was traveling with me.

Whenever I see the lights of Pedernales, the seedy costal town a half hour north of Taubga, I get all tingly inside. In March, 2007 the first time I went to Pedernales I cried afterwards. I couldn’t believe that that shithole was supposed to be the place I was going to go to “get away from everything” for the next two years. Pedernales is dirty, dusty, hot and not very pretty. The Rough Guide to Ecuador book claims it is “unremarkable”. Now, almost two years later, Pedernales is the first sign of home. It’s like going through the Hooksett toll booth on 93N after getting picked up at the airport, you know Concord is just a few hills and curves away. Pedernales is my Ecuadorian version and as soon as I step off the bus into the dusty hot bus terminal that reeks of piss, I feel home. I even played myself a nice reggae version of Country Roads to get me in that “I am almost home mode”.

Getting back to Tabuga is a whole different kind of emotional rush. The rush that says, your bed, your things, your family and your friends are waiting for you. I love that feeling when I open the door, turn the light on and see my America in a Box room. In that moment, the whole world takes a deep breath and lets out a sigh. After 14 hours on a bus it’s surprising that all I want to do is sit down. My colorful blanket on my big comfy bed is so welcoming. I sit, I start to lean back. I pause. Gross. Rat terds on my bed, right near my pillow. I laugh out loud to myself. What else can you do?

As I am contemplating my rat poop spotted bed, the part near the pillow, someone knocks on my door. My godson and his mom are visiting to welcome me home. They are my next door neighbors and watch my every move. They saw the light go on, they came over. I am strategically sitting on the bed to block the rat poop. I am sure they have rats in their house but come on, who wants their neighbors to know that rats shit next to your pillows?

I am telling stories about my weekend and they are laughing. Being in Ecuador has really upped my confidence in story telling abilities because people think I am the funniest most outrageous person they have ever meant. In the middle of a knee slapper my conmadre jumps out of her chair. A rat is scurrying across thee door frame, across the wall beam and disappears. I stand up and I grab my broom and start poking behind my bookshelf and under my bed. My god son points out the rat feces on my bed, now freely exposed. We sit back down and finish the conversation. We say sweet dreams and see you tomorrrow.

So, I really wanted to title this blog “Crotchless Panties” but I know what people would think. Get your heads out of the gutter; they are not the kind you are thinking about. Lately, the rats in my house have morphed into bigger versions of themselves. I think it has to do with the rat poison that we have been putting in around the house. The rats have been eating it without dying. Maybe it’s having reverse effects? Anyway, when I first got to Tabuga I was grossed out and annoyed by rats eating my soap in the shower. Well, this past week I threw out 4 pairs of crotchless panties, all of which were used on long 5-7 hour hikes and days working outside with a machete and hoe. Apparently rats dig the salty sweatiness of work panties. Here is a picture to prove it. I know, gross. Crotchless panties make rat poop near your pillow seem like a housefly… annoying but harmless. I am now accepting underwear donations.

WOW!

I am forever thankful and impressed by the community service project that the third graders at Beaver Meadow School did. In just a few days the kids collected a bunch of clothes for me to bring down to Tabuga. Not to mention the Erf family, they donated some really cool stuff and others who dropped stuff by Wood Ave.

It was a hassle getting the clothes to Tabuga and a lot of people helped out. It started with Toni´s organizing, Don´s contribution, AJ´s packing and transportation skills, Peace Corps muscles, friendly taxi drivers, a nice bus driver who didn`t charge me for an absurd amount of baggage and my friend Jason. Jason is the new director at the Lalo Loor Reserve where I work and was coming by Tabuga to hang out, little did he know what he was getting himself into, bagman. From NH, to NYC, to Bogota, to Quito, to Ryan´s, to the bus terminal, to another bus terminal to Tabuga. The clothes made it, and oh man, it was worth it!

On Monday I went to my friend Geomaira’s house to organize the clothes. We separated them by gender and age range. The mix of clothes was perfect for all the little boys and girls that run around Tabuga. We put the clothes in boxes and marked them $1 for baby clothes and $2 for kid and adult clothes.

Tuesday I explained to everyone at a community meeting the history of the clothes and with the Queen of Tabuga, Fabiola, announced that we’d be selling the clothes Wednesday morning. We explained that with the money from the sales we were working with the school to have a Christmas Party and give a gift to every kid in Tabuga. Applauses filled the concrete slab where we play soccer, have parties, have meetings and do just about everything.

Wednesday at 9am I arrived at Geomaira’s house, at about 9:01am the living room was already full of Tabugan mom’s going through the clothes. It was a madhouse but a happy madhouse and we raised almost $400! Granted, not everyone has paid yet but that’s how things work around here. It’s a normal thing in this culture to have promotions and people randomly selling stuff. In fact, I just bought some exfoliating face wash not minutes ago from the mother of my god son, it smells nice and has exfoliating beads in it and she’s my friend, how could I say no. Normally they are scheming things like the used car salesman stereotype; this project on the other hand is purely from the heart. The hearts of everyone who donated clothes, from Fabiola and Geomaira with whom I am working.

Geomaira and Fabiola already headed to Portoviejo, the provincial capital to buy gifts.

More on this to come post Navidad!

Coming back to Ecuador after my second trip home was really difficult. For the first time in over a year and a half I wanted to stay home. I felt intrigued by the numerous possibilities the US has to offer in terms of relationships, friendships and my professional future. A four hour layover in Bogota left me with lots of time to contemplate these possibilities and left me hesitant to take the plane to Quito. Thank goodness for my new iPod that my mom gave me as an early birthday present, amazing!

I got to Quito with my four fifty pound bags and had to sweet talk the guy to let me pass through customs because there are new laws that require special paperwork for donations, oops. Again, for the billionth time in two years, I was shocked and impressed with my smooth Spanish talking skills. I called Ryan from the cab and arrived at his new Quito pad. I was greeted by Ryan, Akul, Elliot and Jason. This overwhelmingly good welcoming was just what I needed to feel back at home in Ecuador.

After a great night with the boys, a day in Quito and a night alone at Ryan’s with the Big Lebowski my sad to leave home mood was out the window and I was ready for some rafting adventures. The next afternoon Jason, Ryan and I headed out to el Chaco. John, Dave and Akul were supposed to be with us, we had bought our tickets early but their taxi got pulled over on the way to the terminal. I was freaking out they weren’t going to make it and trying my best to pull my sweet gringa Spanish on the bus driver to convince him to pick them up. He said he only could if they went to the circle called the trebol. I relayed the message to Jason, Jason made the call, they were going to make it - we were calm. Then, upon leaving the terminal, the three boys were there bags ready, smiling faces happy to have made it in time, eager to get on the bus. They were at the wrong circle, I ran up front, I told the bus driver to pick them up, he said he couldn’t, the police didn’t allow it in that spot. He told me to tell them to take a taxi to the trebol, Jason relayed the message, the boys started to run. They ran and they ran through the oxygen-less polluted Quito air, twice they were touching the door of the bus, begging to be let on but the bus driver kept pointing further ahead. Finally, after a good 15 minute jog the boys got on the bus, the whole bus applauded and we were on our way to el Chaco. El Chaco is the entrance to the Amazon rainforest. I was there in September with Carmen, my friend Jeff is a volunteer out that way. Being a good friend of Jeff’s I got to stay in his cabin with some other people from our group, I love his cabin.

I wrapped a stolen from the hostel where the rest of the volunteers were staying white sheet around me into a dress, taped a bunch of condoms to a headband, painted my eyes dark and headed to the 2008 El Chaco Halloween Gringo Fest. Upon arrival I found myself socially awkward when I was expected to mingle with the other groups of volunteers. For whatever reason these groups are called Omnibuses, I am from Omnibus 97. We are now the seniors of Peace Corps Ecuador, suffering from mixed emotions of love for the past, fear of the future and senioritis. Luckily, our Omnibus has really stuck together and I easily found my niche in with my best buds. The gringo fest included Beirut, flip cup, 80s music, a bonfire and even gringo candy! The night was a blast and the pictures are too good. I was Mary Magdalene and sported a nice condom crown, to express her sexual freedom but promote responsibility; my supposed whorish-ness was emphasized by the presence of two Jesus’… why would Mary M only have one? Susan and Jeremy both rocked amazing costumes and are the winners in my book. Susan’s for artistic ability in the construction of an enlarged box of Clos wine, a favorite amongst PC volunteers for its cheap goodness. Jeremy’s was not only creative but political and well done. Go them! The real adventures began the next heavy eyed, too much beer, where did I even get that tequila, morning. Alone, I went to eat breakfast because there is a nice Manabi (my providence) restaurant in el Chaco – I ate encebollado, a fish soup from the coast that is famous for its amazing ability to cure hangovers. Then I met the other volunteers and we headed to the river. I don’t think any of us knew what we were getting ourselves into.

The weather was spectacular and the atmosphere incredible. The scene was like a weekend music festival but seriously missing the good music. The 14 year olds in the Ecua-music cover band almost succeeded in ruining the amazing mood set by the gorgeous surroundings, the good people, the abundance of beer and the friendly competition. The rafting competition involved 18 teams. The first day each team got two chances to qualify for the second day by doing time trials. My team, Balls Deep, formed by Akul, John, Dave, Jason, Mary and I really dominated our first trial run. Balls Deep turned out to be the best name choice of the competition because of the hilarious way it sounds when an Ecuadorian tries to say it. Unfortunately our second run turned out to be rib breaking and shin bruising when we hit a rock and both John and Mary went flying from the boat. We finished with Mary in the boat without a paddle, huddled in the rear and John nowhere to be seen. We later found John in the ambulance but the rib was just bruised, thank goodness.

15 of the teams qualified for Sunday, round 2. We were team 15. The tournament was divided into 3 heats of 5 boats each. Time was the ultimate deciding factor but the presence of other boats presented a new challenge and a clearer sense of competition. The el Chaco dump truck loaded all of the participants in the third heat to the starting point up river, during this smelly bumpy trip it started to rain. After waiting in a torrential Amazon down pour under a banana tree huddled together for the boats to arrive, Balls Deep gathered together. With goose bumps and blue lips we got refocused and entered the river which had increased in velocity due to heavy rains. Being serious competitors we considered this positive, high waters giving us a clear advantage. With Ryan as Johns’ replacement, Balls Deep entered the river. Dave’s D1 cheering and our Balls Deep smooth rhythm pulled us in front of the pack. Seriously, this part of the race felt so incredibly good, we were so positive so strong, so smooth. Another boat pulled next to us but their rhythm was off, as we started to gain on them again we were confident we were going to win the heat. The guide was cheering, I was ecstatic, Dave continued his coach-like encouragements: push it Ryan, yeah, you got it Jason, Dig Akul, keep it up Mo, etc.

Then disaster struck, or rather when trying to avoid hitting the other boat we struck a rock. Upon impact our guide, Jason and Akul all flew out. Our boat started to wrap round the rock and fill with water, the side of the boat upstream quickly disappeared and the water rose to my chest. I clenched with my legs and looked up to see the next boat coming straight at me and fear rose as the boat covered me. I thought I was going to suffocate, I pushed with all my might, the boat disappeared, flipped and with it 6 other volunteers were in the water, paddles everywhere. I took my paddle and paddled backwards, Dave and Ryan paddled forward, adrenaline kicked in. We were suddenly free from the rock, the boat spun out and we were heading down river, no guide, missing three people. Since this event I have seriously considered becoming an emergency room doctor. I saw our guide in the water, I grabbed the bag of save people rope and looked to Akul, I yelled to him, but he never turned around, I turned to Lindsay, she was flying down the river, a pale white look of fear on her face, I was standing with my knees balanced on the side of the raft, I wanted to save her. I saw her as her back hit a rock and she flew like a rag doll down a two foot drop. I called to her, she was going head first down the rapids, she wouldn’t turn around. I turned to the guide; he was swimming toward the boat. He told me to get out of the way, he reached the boat. In one huge burst of strength I ripped the guide into the boat, he looked at me surprised and grabbed a paddle. Then I saw another volunteer Jon, I reached down and pulled him into the boat.

We paddled strong to the shore. We were minus two rafters on our team and plus one from another team. Needless to say we were disqualified. But, we were alive and Akul even found his shoe while he was floating down river. I was shaking as I walked toward our little tent, my adrenaline rush leaving me feeling week. Clay came over to me with an intense look of concern and muttered “Andrea, I really thought we were going to kill you”. Minutes later, Wilson, the guide from Clay’s boat that had crashed into me, came over and apologized “I am so sorry, I thought we were really going to kill you”, but in Spanish. All in all, the competition was really a blast but I think the rock won, turns out it was the same rock that had put John in an ace wrap the day before. An Ecuadorian team won the competition and Peace Corps teams came in 2nd and 3rd. The 2nd place team actual didn’t deserve the win but the guide had mixed up and noted someone else’s time as theirs. The volunteers tried to give back the money… hilarious.

Even though I apparently almost died, the weekend in El Chaco goes down as one of the best during my time in Ecuador. I was surrounded by good friends, I got to dress up, dance, be competitive and be in one of the most beautiful places around. The people of el Chaco are really incredible, the scenery breathtaking and the times good. It really might be the best place on earth.

The Peace Corps gives volunteers two vacation days per month. The best thing about these days is that they accumulate if you don’t use them. Also, one does not need to use official vacation days to visit other volunteers. So after 1.5 years of service and no official vacation days used I had a lot to spare. The first time I used my vacation days was in June for my first trip home. Then, I used 6 more for my spectacular vacation in the Galapagos with AJ. Turns out, I still had 14 days of vacation unused. I have recently been awarded the position of Co-trainer for the new group of trainees that arrive in February and I am planning on extending 4 months afterwards in Tabuga. I couldn’t see myself using vacation during the extension and didn’t want to waste such preciously earned days off. So, when the opportunity arose last month to head to the northern hemisphere, I didn’t hesitate.

Even though flight prices around the world are sky high, flights to NYC via Latin American airlines are still reasonable. So, my trip landed me in the capital of the developed world. I am assuming that all 400 people in Tabuga couldn’t fill up one apartment building there. The change from Tabuga to NYC is more than just drastic, it’s magical, frightening even. My first night in the JFK airport is telling of my inability to function in such a high speed developed world.

My good friend Becca had arranged for a Super Shuttle to drive me from the JFK airport across NYC to her apartment near Columbia University. My instructions were to go to the Super Shuttle desk, state my name, get in van, pay the driver and arrive at Becca’s NYC pad. As people rushed by me in a New York hurray I admired the advertisements, paying close attention at my snail pace to the signs pointing me through customs and then baggage claim. I successfully followed signs to ground transportation to find that there is no Super Shuttle desk. Apparently, ground transportation has ‘gone modern’, meaning that there is no need for a local friendly smiling receptionist. A kind lady at the general information desk told me to go to the green phones and press 21. Cheery music played as I waited for the next available teller. Candy told me that I needed my confirmation number in order to find my driver. Easy enough, I thought to myself, I’ll call Becca. Unfortunately, credit card pay phones and credit card internet don’t really exist in Ecuador and upon facing them, I lost. Contacting Becca proved to be a failure. Candy must be able to help. Green phone, 21, elevator music, Candy’s voice. Annoyed, Candy said that my driver was looking for me, he has the information, Candy assured me, find him. Luckily, the Super Shuttle guy was yelling out ‘Super Shuttle’ and in a breath of reassurance that I would finally leave JFK, I ran to the man with the cool accent. Apparently he didn’t think my accent was very cool, with an angry look of frustration the cool accent said to me ‘You are speaking Spanish’. Opps, that’s why he couldn’t understand me, I smoothly transitioned to English, mine proving to be better than his, and was turned down. Neither my name, nor Beccas was in his handy dandy modern walkie talkie gadget thing. He waved me toward the green phones and in my head I thought it at the same time as he said it, Press 21.

Candy almost seemed like she was expecting me. I copied the confirmation number and Beccas address quickly and feeling triumphant, turned toward Mr. Cool Accent. He was gone, he had deserted me. I searched on the other side of the green phones, I asked the general information lady. I returned, I pressed 21, Candy was not impressed. She told me to sit on my bag, told me not to move and told me a new driver would be there to get me soon. In about 15 minutes a bilingual (Spanish/English) guy saved me and 1.5 hours after my bag had been claimed I finally left JFK airport. I arrived at Becca’s two hours after my original ETA. The driver asks for $21, the haunting number of the evening. Becca’s security front desk guy had to hold the phone away from his ear as I heard her shrieks ring through the phone. I got in the elevator. So many mirrors, so many buttons... you won’t believe what floor Becca lives on... Press 21.

I hadn’t seen Becca or Christine for almost two years. After girly shrieks and hugs, I took a step back and we all realized we are all the same. It was so incredibly good to see them, my heart felt full of love for these two incredible friends that were waiting up for me. Christine had bussed it from DC to be with me and my appreciation for their friendship is immeasurable. We stayed up until 6 am talking. The next day we even met up with Dan for some delicious beers along the river in NYC then the rest of the day I played tourist and that night we hit the town. The Indian food on Curry Hill was to die for and left me full bellied to enter my first developed world social scene. I didn’t make it passed the little kitchen entrance way until about 30 minutes and one strong drink in. My first conversation with a young businessman type ended poorly, he claimed I made him really jealous, he hates his job and wished he could do something like what I do. I pointed out that at least he made money. He didn’t seem to agree, asked for my blog and that was the end of that. By the end of the night though, I was socializing, dancing with Becca and one of my new favorite people Matt. Only one embarrassing thing happened when I exclaimed ‘Wow, that guy is wicked tall’ and he turned to me and stated ‘That’s because of genetics honey’. I was very apologetic, explaining that I live in Ecuador and always say things out loud in English and no one understands. Awkward, I called myself out for talking to myself. I think that’s when I got another tequila shot... delicious.

Sunday morning, Christine, Becca and I did the breast cancer walk in Central Park. It was incredible and I totally recommend it as a tourist attraction. You get to do something good, see the diversity of NYC peeps, exercise, and see central park and the surrounding area. It was a gorgeous day and I often had to explain to people that I was a tourist because my camera was out every second, I ran into others and would just stop dead in my tracks at the site of a red and orange tree. Being from NH, I grew up with fall foliage but hadn’t seen fall since 2001, my senior year of high school. After delicious cupcakes and window shopping (prices are scary!) we headed back to Becca’s to await AJ and nap. My nap was just me trying to call down which required me to relax on the hammock I had strung up on Becca’s 21st floor balcony overlooking NYC. Hammocks are quintessential to Tabuga and although the scenery was incredibly different, the calming affect was the same.

Once AJ was in NY, I felt way more comfortable, less out of place and Monday morning we started our slow journey northward. This took us through Woodstock, NY, a hike overlooking the Hudson River Valley, winding back roads, small fresh produce markets, North Hampton, Mass, Amherst College and into beautiful NH to my sister’s apartment. Garmin, nicknamed Carmen, AJ’s GPS was an awesome road companion allowing us to get lost, make wrong turns, follow pretty scenery and somehow, end up back on track. Thanks Carmen!

Home was amazing. I got to see so many people who I love and miss dearly. Not to mention I got to see the king of them all Deegan! He´s such an incredible boy and as always it was awesome to see the Arnolds. They really are my other family.I also got to relive some nice childhood moments like take a hike (or walk) up Mt. Kearsage and visit the Maine coastline and some of my Dad`s childhood spots. I had the chance to visit my extended family in Maine and see some of my cousin´s kids. I also got to hung out with Trinity, a friend from NH who I met in Ecuador and see Lizzy B who flew up from Kentucky to NH to spend the weekend... unbelievable goodness. NH is so beautiful this time of year and being home is so wonderful because it shows me that I do want to be back in the states someday.

AJ, Ang, my mom’s boss and I planned an awesome surprise at Beaver Meadow. My mom knew I was coming home thanks to three different people who spilled the beans but didn’t know when I was to arrive. I sat amongst the third graders in my mom’s library and it took all my might not to yell out at her as she walked in the room. Toni first saw Ang, then AJ and then started searching for me. Apparently, I look a lot like a third grader because I had to jump out at her. It was such an awesome embrace. I love my mommy.

I did presentations for the third and fourth graders about Tabuga and the third graders did a collection of clothes for Tabuga and it was almost too successful. I ended up packing 4 fifty pound bags of donated clothes. This worked out well for me because it required AJ to drive me to NYC to take off. This gave us another night together that we spent in Brooklyn with Elle, Casey, Elle’s beau Luke and a friend Lauren. We had a perfect delicious last super at Elle’s apartment and then I took off for Ecuador with 4 huge bags, great memories and love in my heart for everyone at home.

I am working with the President of the PTA equivalent here to sell the clothes for really cheap ($2 each) and with the money we are going to throw a Christmas Party and all of the kids are going to receive gifts for the holiday. Thank you sooooo much Beaver Meadow Third Graders. It really is a selfless thing they did and an awesome international community service project.

Picture of the Mountains surrounding Quito, when the sun out it is absolutely georgeous. The Si in white to the left is the sign of Yes, vote for the constitution.

I almost met the president of Ecuador. I know almost doesn’t count but he was suppose to be there, unfortunately, something kind of big came up involving all of the presidents of South America meeting in Chile. It has something to do with Bolivia, America, Bolivian politics, Chavez and probably is some how the fault of G.W. Bush Jr. Either way, instead of the president I had to settle with the Head of the Ministry of Environment. Currently the Ceiba Foundation is working with local land owners in Jama to create a biological corridor of privately own protected forests. It just so happens, that Conservation International (one of the largest conservation NGOs in the world) is currently working with the Ministry of Environment to organize projects just like ours. So, my week in Quito started with an overnight bus with some locals to the presentation of a new government program, Sociobosque. The program aims to motivate land owners to conserve by giving them a biannual minimal stipend and exempt them from paying new taxes that are about to be in place. These new taxes target ´lazy land´ which according to the recently accepted brand spanking new constitution (voted 70 to 30 in favor 28/09/08) is land that isn’t agriculturally productive. It was really an awesome experience and I must say I felt a huge lump of mother-like pride as I watched the President of my community sitting attentively and comfortably with the head of the Indigenous Nation Shuar, the head of the Ministry of the Environment and other important environmental/conservation figures. Plus, to give some Tabuga peeps the opportunity to go to their capital, participate in an important event and give them time to hop around Quito was just awesome. Gotta say thanks to Ceiba for this one. The Ceiba Foundation, the municipal government and land owners are now starting an association so that when the time to join Sociobosque comes we are ready. This is really a huge step to conservation in the area I live and has been a big goal of my counterpart. Very very niiiiiiiiiice.

From here, it was all work and I must admit as always lots of play. My really good friend Jeremy took on a project of writing an environmental education manual geared towards giving teachers information and activities to teach solid environmental education classes. In an effort to make this project spectacular, fellow PCV Whitney and I joined in on Jer´s cause. I am happy to say that after hours at the computer (95% done by Jeremy who is super devoted, hard working and just awesome) the manual is close to ready to publish. Once published it is our goal to get the Ministry of Education and of the Environment together to use the manual as a guide for their national program for environmental education that they claim they are going to start. Jer has really busted butt on this project and it’s been cool working with him. He was a high school science teacher before the Peace Corps and you can really see how much he loves and believes in education. Alex Crosby got to hang out with Jer a lot and I think he really made an impact on my little bro. Not to mention Jer and his wife Susan are the coolest married couple ever and what I classify as life-time friends. They are the kind of people that make you believe in things like marriage and doing good things. I am kind of obsessed, it’s a little embarrassing.

I found it really hard to work at a computer. About every 6-10 minutes I was out of my seat running around, doing cartwheels and/or anything to get my energy out. It is amazing how the computer is really something that you have to get used to. Either way, I really tried my best and Jer didn’t seem to mine my outbursts of energy expressed by belting out country music or push-ups. By the end of the end my brain was fried, my fingers and eyes were tired but I still had energy. The only way to release such energy was going on dates with a fun British kid, dancing all night long and yes, what I miss most from the US of A… live music. QuitoFest just happened to coincide with my week in Quito tour so I got to see free live music. Quito is surprisingly hip and modern and it was fun to be surrounded by young independent people. One of my biggest challenges in Tabuga is the lack of friends my age without 2 or 5 kids. QuitoFest was just what I needed before heading back to Tabuga on the night bus. Highlights included meeting some fun Ecuadorians, remembering my hippy music festival dance style and freestyle-battling with a random Ecuadorian who spoke English and claimed to be a red neck - I totally won and Alex Crosby would have been proud! In the end we were shown that even in Quito, Ecuadorians love to protest. When the last band headed off stage, after a long day of about 7 bands and great times, the crowd was still pissed that one really popular band didn’t show up and started to throw empty plastic bottles at the stage.

Good times with cool Ecuadorians, loving the live music!

Ecuadorians at QuitoFest threw bottles in protest of the end of the concert. The concert should have been over, it was scheduled to be over but Ecaudorians really like to protest. Plastic bottles in your face!

All in all, Quito was fun. It was nice to buckle down and do work that has a clear end result and it was great to go to a concert, drink wine and play with my friends. I wouldn’t trade Quito for Tabuga ever but, Quito is like America, with KFC, Dominos, cars, internet and people who speak English (which one should be careful for when teaching Ecuadorian friends horrid inappropriate English phrases), it was nice to be reminded of America and after a year and a half of service I think I can say that I will make it back there, some day.

KFC late night... delicious... Fried Chicken!

Ryan is always so deep in thought, it's actually a novel, I was being artistic.

Why are these cables so low? Oh Ecuador!!!

I know it probably seems like all I do is have fun crazy adventures but, that´s because I tend to only blog about the out of the ordinary things in my life. Then, the other day while I watched a neighbor climbing around barefoot on bamboo while building an open air meeting place at my reserve I thought, hell, my ordinary day things aren´t so ordinary for my friends and family in the states, especially those that sit in offices all day, work on this thing called a computer (that I am currently trying to make do what I want it to do) and crave the outdoors. So, this blog is about my office.

The majority of my projects during my service have been with the Lalo Loor Dry Tropical forest reserve. My counterpart, The Ceiba Foundation for Tropical Conservation, has put me in charge of the Environmental and Tourist Center for the reserve. This includes a beautiful round yellow building that I have filled with tourist information, flora and fauna facts and pictures, conservation tidbits and some interesting stuff about tropical marine life. Basically, I take the foundation’s ideas and try my best to put them into reality. So far, so good. All of my work really has paid off and on September, 11th we officially opened the center and hirer a local employee. Maria is from Tabuga, is super willing to learn and is right now training under me. It all seems silly sometimes that I have arrived at this point where I am training someone to do a job that I just started doing one day. I had some background training with the Peace Corps but mostly, it was all about personality, adapting, being creative and desire. Now, what I was doing for the reserve created a job here and I am happily helping Maria learn everything I have learned and try to be as chipper, creative and friendly as possible. Basically, she gets to learn to be me, but cuter, with better Spanish and she gets paid.

Now that I am slowly handing over my responsibilities to Maria I can really get to the juicy stuff, which in my office means design an environmental education plan for the county, train Maria to do the environmental education activities, work with my buddy Máximo to be a informational and dynamic trail guide and hopefully get hundreds of kids frolicking through the forest throughout the next year. A lot of it is fun and games but atleast I am getting stuff done. And, I don´t want to rub it in, but I love my office.

In addition, I do a lot of stuff within the community. I teach English and sex education in the high school. I helped start a community bank, we recently passed $1,200 in the box (literally, a box) and have held bingos and raffles to make more money. My other projects include an association that is working in leadership and social action in the region as well as helping on a biological corridor project with Ceiba, the Ministry of Environment, the local government and local land owners. Not to mention, I am writing an environmental education manual with two other PCVs and continue my overly-rewarding work with teenage girl’s leadership camps. The next one takes place in the entrance to the Amazon outside of Tena in November.

Sometimes I imagine myself in another kind of office and maybe I´ll be there some day. For now, I love my office and I love my work. As much fun as all my adventures have been, what makes me happiest is being in Tabuga, living my work and doing the best I can with my best friends, see below, Maximo, Bigote (means mustache in spanish) and I are our lunch break.

For those who have had the incredible opportunity of visiting Tabuga, I am sorry to say that Carmen's week in Tabuga tops all. In March when Carmen was attentively watching ticket prices I had mentioned to Carmen that sometime in the month of September fall the fiestas of Tabuga. Apparently Carmen has good Karma because her trip dates were perfect allowing us to spend a week in Tabuga, working, playing soccer, dancing and just living the life. Entertaining, captivating details follow:

The fiestas of Tabuga this year were planned by a Tabugan who recently returned from Spain with big hopes of putting Tabuga on the map. His new 'modern' ideas learned from Spain led to a 6 day full schedule of local traditions, futbol, gambling and a huge dance. Carmen and I missed day one in order to white water raft which was definitely a good choice. Day two we arrived after an overnight bus and I went to work on my environmental center well Carm got her beauty sleep.

The center is doing incredibly well. After it's inaguration in June I have been working to get it ready to be full functional to open it and put a local employee as the receptionist/welcome person etc. This all gotten taken care of just fine and Carm and I really got the last minute details in place for the big opening Thursday, Day 4 of the fiestas. The girl who is working in the center is 23 and studying at night in the University in Jama. She has a 'husband' and a kid and is super PILAS and awesome. I plan on writing a blog about my work so that you all know how much I do work and that it isn't a party all the time but in short, this Environmental Center has sucked out all of my energy and creativity and to have it now open is a huge success in my Peace Corps service, plus, it was cool for Carmen to help out.

Enough about work, the fiestas are all about playing and you should see Carmen dominate indoor. Indoor is played outdoors on a concrete slab and it´s huge here in Manabí. Everyone in Tabuga is still talking about Carmen and her sweet indoor skills. Highlights from the soccer match include a Tabugan shooting off a gun, 4 times, in celebration of one of Carmen´s goals. Luckily I had warned Carmen about this and she didn´t dive to the ground in fear like I did the first time it happened with me...where do the bullets land? Also, my favorite, was when Carmen schooled a girl, breaking her ankles (figurtively), scored a goal and upon celebrating running towards mid-court a teethless neighbor of mine, in a intense burst of enthusiasm grabbed Carmen´s arm and ran with her in celebration. The ultimate weird indoor experience was definitely the disputable red card. After the ref made the call that the girl from the other team grabbed the ball with her hand while on the ground in the box (not disputable, always a red card), the men in town stormed the court. The men from the neighboring town weird so mad, everyone was yelling. All the girls,those of us playing, moved to the side. Poor Carmen just stood confused wanting to finish the game while I took the opportunity to talk about feminist stuff. For example, why were there a bunch of men yelling when all of us just wanted to play. Then, we realized why, they all had bet mad cash on the outcome of the game.

THe overall indoor highlight was the championship game where Carmen dominated scoring 4 goals and then I chipped in with one perfectly arched left footer to win the game. Gringa RUE domination... very nice.

Besides fútbol Carmen and I enjoyed watching card tournaments, getting drunk with the old men, teaching some locals college drinking games, getting dressed up and dancing the last night and of course the inhumane treatment to a chicken. The Tabugans burried a chicken in the ground up to it´s neck, blind-folded teenage girls, spun them around, handed them a machete and gave them three tries to behead the chicken. It was ludicrous. The best part being when the 4th girl succeeded I took off running and screaming in fear. With embarassment I crouched down to the ground only to see Carmen out of the corner of my eye doing exactly the same thing. All the people who had been eagerly watching the horrific murder of an innocent chicken were turned, watching the gringas run in honest fear and discust. Just mark that up on the list as a HUGE cultural difference.

In order for Carmen to get a full Andrea lives in Ecuador experience, Carmen and I took Friday night off to party in Canoa. It was a blast and included good fresh sea food, happy hour specials, reminising about Alex Crosby and la uña de la gran bestia, a shot of strong caña alcohol that is left to ferment for 3 months with a scorpion, centipede and maryjuana. I think Carmen liked it.

After the dance that had people in Tabuga dancing until 7am, literally, Carm and I took a bus to Quito, spent our last R.U.E moments together and departed at the airport. I then headed back to Tabuga on a nightbus.

SHE IS WITH ME!!!!!!!

After 1.5 years of not seeing Carmen, I was worried... is she blonde? Does she wear 3 inch heals and suits? Does she talk like an adult? Is she tall?

No, no, no etc. Carmen is the same, entertaining, enjoying life and my buddy. Imagine, 4 years together in college and reunited in Ecuador.... amazing.

Currently Carmen and I are in Quito after having some great adventures in Quito, El Chaco and Tena. Tonight we are heading to the T to the Buga!

Real quick shout out for TRINITY.... my good friend from NH, met here in Ecuador and my life friend... drink some good beer, eat mexican food and cheese and say hello to NH for me! You will be missed and wrapped around in all of my one upping stories. Especially those that involve going to Columbia, coming back over the border and ending up at Pablos' grandmother's house.

Besides just getting to spend time together and laugh a lot here are the highlights of the last few days.

1) Mitad del Mundo - Middle of the world - Yes, Carmen and I traveled to the middle of the world and there lies a line, painted on the ground about 100m off from the equator. And on this line lies a monument and around this line a bunch of stores and resturants with eager employees waiting for the tourists to come. "If you build it they will come" was the strategy Carmen imagined they used for the planning of this place but really, no one is coming. So, the middle of the world feels like a deserted DisneyLand, without the cool rides.

2) Playing tourists in Quito... stops included...The virgin angel, with strength enough to tame a dragon. She is a statue overlooking old town Quito. We also did some arts and crafts market shopping and churches.

3) Duke v UNC... okay, not really, Ecuador v Bolivia... but we got equally into team spirit and Carmen almost cried with genuine excitement. For those of you who don't know Carmen she is a kick butt soccer player and soccer aka fútbol remains a big part of her life. SO, when we realized the Ecuador v Bolivia game was happening in Quito saturday, we scratched ziplining off our schedule and put in Fútbol. It was a blast and Ecuador won 3-1. Unfortunately, Carmen and I were in the bathroom during two of the 3 goals and the attendent suggested we stay in the bathroom so that Ecuador could win by a bigger margin, Carmen and I opted to watch the game and had a blast.

4) From this spectacular event Elliot, Trinity, Ryan, Carmen and I dragged Carmen to the bus terminal, she was tired from Jet Lag (read between the lines, 2 hour time difference?), and headed to El Chaco, East of Quito towards the Amazon. The bus ride alone was a highlight with some classic lines from Carmen. For example: FRIED CHICKEN ON MY FACE (refering to the KFC we saved her) and GOD IS ABOUT TO THROW A CURVE BALL AT US IN 15 Seconds (not sure what she was refering to) when I did not agree, Carmen revised GOD IS ABOUT TO THROW A CURVE BALL AT YOU (finger point at me) IN 10 SECONDS, later she claimed that FRIED CHICKEN IS GOD's CURVE BALL and therefore she had INCREDIBLE FORESIGHT, I JUST DON'T KNOW WHY, IT'S INCREDIBLE. Her foresight was in hindsight of my foresight of knowing she would want fried chicken on her face.

5) Can we say second wind? After a trip to the middle of the world, a world cup qualifying fútbol game and God's curve ball we landed in El Chaco. At first we weren't sure if we could rally, but, oh we rallied. Until 4 am. The night involved a lot of Carmen speaking English to this cute Ecuadorian and him responding romantically in Spanish. After 2 hours of hanging out with him Carmen told me she thought he wanted to come rafting with us, which is funny, since he was our rafting guide and had been trying to tell her since introductions were given. When he invited her to go home with him her response, in her own language was: Yeah, I am really excited for rafting tomorrow too! The poor Ecuadorian remained confused as Carmen walked away after clearly accepting the invitation. They were the most romantic couple I have ever seen that couldn't understand a word they were saying to eachother. Dancing, latenight food and randomness landed us at 4 am, bed time 5:30am, wake up time 7:45am... efe.

6) Rafting. Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness. Amazing. Elliot and Jeff who raft often even said this was one of their best runs. We opted for the longer course and really dominated it. Not to mention jumping off rocks 50 feet up and making sugar cane juice along the way. Amazing.

Yes we are somewhere in that big splash of water, aka rapid... can you spy a helmet or paddle?

7) Monkeys, Monkeys, Monkeys. Last night we booked it to Tena only to get a yummy pizza dinner and a good nights sleep. Our plan was to go tubing (tubbing according to local guides in English). Tubbing got cancelled because of dangerous river conditions but even monkeys don't leave the rain forrest when it rains.

And here we are again, halfway through the trip. So much goodness has passed and only more awaits. Let's see what curveballs God throws at us for part II.... maybe the old wrap around.

over and out

R.U.E.

Roommates United in Ecuador

I have chills writing this email. Partly due to the air conditioning in the internet place. I swear I leave here with a cold everytime, I am so used to living in tropical heat. But, mostly, my chills come from the feeling I get talking about Tabuga. Tabuga is my home now and it is my reality. After vacation in the Galapagos, party time in Canoa and relaxation in the PentHouse I returned to Tabuga weary of the reality I live in. As always, Tabuga suprised me and today I love Tabuga more than ever, I love that it is my home and my current reality. I respect that it isn´t always going to be my reality but I have embraced it with all my heart, and in return Tabuga has embraced me. The chills continue...

Saturday evening I returned to Tabuga sleepy or should I say passed out on the bus. A neighbor had to wake me up. I could hear the music blaring from the farside of town, an awful techno-cumbia echoing through the hills surrounding Tabuga. I knew I had to find the energy to go, all of Tabuga attends the fiestas and this was for the school. Each grade has a little king and queen dolled up to represent their classmates. I couldn´t miss the photo opportunity and honestly, I missed the people of Tabuga. So, I Ecua-showered (threw water in my hair and on my face) and headed with my Conmadre (mother of my godson) to the fiesta. To be honest, this fiesta was a little dull and I wasn´t the only one without energy. The presentation of the queens was adorable and after one extra-long Ecuad-dance with my godson I returned home. That night I went to sleep with a big smile. I had just spent time with so many good friends and then, back in my home I was happy, people were happy to see me and I felt fully content.

In the middle of the night I woke up in the darkness unsure about where I was, I had recently been sleeping around (haha) Ecuador and I muttered to myself... I am home... and with a childlike contentment feel asleep in my arms.

Sunday I woke up and did some work on my dying laptop. Just like heat and humidity get to old people, my computer wavers in the Ecuadorian coast. Then, I had one of the most tranquilo days of my life. With my Ecuadorian Mom, Dad and brother Angel, I walked the 3 km to visit my god-daughter. The mother (my conmadre) is 19, pregnant again, for the third time, with a third man, with whom she is not with, again. She lives with her Aunt who has the biggest heart in the world and cares for everyone. My pregnant conmadre, Maria, has had an awful pregnancy. She was just bleeding for a full month. The doctors in the area couldn´t tell her what was wrong and told her the baby was dead. As soon as the news reached me I sent $20 and told her Aunt to take her to Bahia (where the PentHouse is) because there is a good hospital there. Turns out the baby is fine and the visit to the hospital saved her and the baby. I don´t really know what was wrong because the Aunt didn´t understand. What they understand is that Maria and the baby are fine. Being a woman of science, I wonder how fine the baby is and wonder if bringing the baby into the world is actually a cruel joke from god rather than a blessing. They don´t want the baby and are trying to give it to someone, not sell it, gift it. The situation is depressing and heart wrenching and with this in mind I went to visit my god-family.

I got there and my little 18month old god daughter ran to me with open arms. Her cousins and older brother all followed. Soon I was surrounded by dirty little kids and I was in heaven. All of the negative feelings I felt during the walk melted away. The most amazing thing to me in the world right now are children. Children who have holes in their clothes, destented bellies, no decent bathing and often no parental love, these children amaze me because they seem to have the biggest hearts and give the best hugs. Attention, hugs, playing and care can transform a sad little girl into a princess and I get to give this to so many kids. People here always remark ¨Look, Andrea doesn´t have any kids but knows how to care for them better than most mothers¨. Children for me are the little energy that keep me going. Children whose mothers are irresponsible, father´s are non-existent and opportunities seem limited. Making a child like this giggle is an incomparable feeling.

And so, I spent my Sunday. With my Ecuadorian family, my god-daughter and kids everywhere. The aunt killed a chicken for us for lunch. This is a tradition here in honor of important guests. My Ecuadorian Mom and brother are the god parents to the little boy, my father and I god parents to the little girl so this was important. A chicken must be sacrificed. Right in front of my face. She twisted the neck about 5 times and just snapped it with an artistic experienced hand. No blood was shed and later, this chicken made a delicous soup. While the adults ate at the table the kids all huddled around on the floor eating. I drank juice that I knew would kill my stomach later, made with water out of the river, not boiled, not treated. After I relaxed in a hammock with the kids pushing me side to side, climbing, giggling kids. The airness of the bamboo house kept the temperature perfect, the lighting just right and so, I dozed off a little bit until the walk home. I couldn´t believe the photo opportunities that I missed this happy Sunday, I hope my words do it justice.

Arriving in Tabuga, work called and on my little trip to the center of town I found everyone I needed to talk to. Everything was going so well, so happily and in this air of good energy I ran into a good friend of mine, I would say one of my few really good female Ecuadorian friends, Geomira. I was holding her beautiful baby, talking business with the cook from the reserve. When I went to drop the baby off in her house Geomira handed me a pretty blue devil blue ring. I was obviously confused until she showed me hers and explained, rings of friendship.

As I headed back to my house, my godson and brothers joined me and admired my ring. My Sunday was complete, full of family and friends. As I went to sleep I thought to myself, the only Sunday in the world better than this Sunday would be going to sleep in the arms of a true love. But, hey, life is about timing and a spinster´s life seems to be the best for me... for now...

Lots of love and contentness (a word I made up because I am not very good at English right now.. Commonly used is the word contentment)

HUGS

Andrea

I have just continued living the rough life since the Galapagos.

In celebration of my friend Akuls´ birthday, the presence of my super star friend Jason and in order to ´work´ on the environmental education manual Jeremy and I have been working on, i just spent the last week on the beach and in the pent house, yes PH, of a sick apartment building in Bahia. Bahia means bay and sits nicely on a pretty bay and is known for being a mini-miami and/or a Eco-city. I don´t really care what it is known for because now, it is known to all of us as the PH city.

Here are a few pictures just to show how hard life has been lately. Two weeks in the Galapagos (pics to come) and a nice vacation in Canoa and the PH. I continue to be amazed by the friends I have and the experiences I get to share with them. Lots of good peole, lots of good times. The word good can´t ever be over-used in my mind.

So many good people...

We are so tan and popular... on one of the 4 PH balconies

The rough life... ouch, it hurts, life is so hard...

I mean, he just looks so cool in that picture... Life on the beach, human pillow... nice

We are tan, we are popular and we drink beer...UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...

Posing by the Washington monument....Pent House Style Now, I am back to Tabuga for a community party celebration for the school and a hard week of work and getting the Environmental Center up and ready! Back to sweat, tears and blood. Goodbye PH.

Wow!

Thank goodness for my male nurse. AJ saved me on our long journey leaving the Galapagos. Our last night after a day of seeing sharks, snorkeling with sea turtles, walking in a lava tunnel and much, much more I got really really sick. My fever passed a hundred as did the number of trips I took to the bathroom.

But! I smiled the whole time. After seeing everything I had seen and traveling around with a good friend life was just too good.... even with a bacterial food infection and amoebas. So as we went from boat to taxi to bus to ferry to plan to taxi to Quito to bus overnight to Tabuga. As we went I slept on benches, floors, AJ and any other surface available. I was so weak, I was the weak duck. The smiling weak Duck.

Luckily, I can be a tough cookie and took Tae Kwon Do when I was little so I used my mind over body skills and quickly was back to my spunky self.

AJ and I went to my reserve, attempted at teaching English in the highschool but the doors were locked and no one had a key. We hung out with my counterpart, Joe from the Ceiba Foundation and hung out with my Peace Corps friends in Canoa. Canoa is the surf town Alex (my brother) used to live in. Actually, Alex´s old apartment is now a sick bar and his old room a storage room and bathroom to the bar. It was crazy and Elliot, Trinity, Fitzy, AJ and I drank beers at Alex´s old room now bar in honor of my little brother.

From Canoa I had to send poor AJ with his loneself back to Quito because I had a big meeting. So with a single tear in my eye I waved goodbye to Primo AJ and there closed the adventures of A - squared. It was an incredible trip and words can´t express how beautiful it was. Pictures will help. AJ... get on that already... we want the pictures! I will post the link ASAP.

After my meetings I returned to Canoa where I dominated happy hour and beach life with my PC friends. Now I am working on an environmental education manual in Bahia. Bahia means bay and we happen to be staying at the Pent House apartment of this incredible apartment building in Bahia, overlooking the bay. And environmental education manual seems to mean rum and cokes and carrot cake.

Happy Birthday AKUL!

And so I leave you to go drink a cocktail on one of the four balconies of the Pent House time share apartment. And I leave you with these words:

Be good people, love good people and good will be.

Life is rough ey?

Peace, Love and Friends,

Andreita... (wants a margarita!)

Hey guys -- Andrea's too feverish to type up a blogpost before we head off to Tabuga, so I'll just copy and paste the email I just sent my friends-and-fam list. Don't worry, I'm taking good care of her...

Hola -- que tal amigitos? Soy kicking ass and taking names as per my usual! You find me now back in Quito, for a short while, before embarking on a overnight 6-hour bus ride to Andreitas village of Tabuga. The ride promises to suck, a lot, but from everything I've been hearing about Tabuga for the past year and a half it'll be worth it. Unfortunately I happen to know a lil something about sucky travel today, as we grouped up at 5:30am to take a 4 hour boatride back to the island that has an airport. I actually wasn't hungover, but due to taxi difficulties to the pier, we were the last ones on the boat and got stuck up at the front where it's choppiest. We're not talking a big boat here, far from it, there were about 12 passengers and believe me when I say I got to see 8 of the 12 puke heartily in front of me for the next 4 hours. I was allright for the first half hour or so, but the boat got really hot and stuffy up front, so I'm starting to sweat as well as have my stomach turn from everybody puking in bags, so I was about to pop but we got 'em to open up a flap on the back to let some air in, I moved back there and made it through without chunks blown. You think that's bad though -- at least I'm healthy! Andrea came down with a fever and all sorts of bad things last night and spent all night dealing with that, and she's been like a zombie all day today on all of our travel back to Quito. I'm just glad I've been here to force feed her bread and water and dehydration pills and whatnot, but she's checking up with the Peace Corps nurses right now to see if she caught Dengue Fever, which would probably screw up the rest of our trip... She's been a trooper tho, so hopefully not.

Good news from our day of travel (from 5:30am to now I've been on taxi, boat, watertaxi, truck, ferry, bus, plane, and taxi) -- we called American Airlines and they found my bag, so the donated clothing will go where it is needed, so that's a weight off my back. Tight.

To catch ya up on yesterday -- we rolled out dece early again on a tour in the back of a pickup truck to a couple different spots down a road on Isla Isabella. First up was the 'Wall of Tears', which was completely idiotic. Back in the fourties after WWII, some Ecuadorian politico got the bright idea to send a ishload of prisoners out to the Galapagos for no apparent reason. There were a bunch of prisoners, and not many police, so the police guards responded by inventing a task sure to kill a bunch of them -- by building their own prison lavarock by lavarock. Dumb. Anyways, they only got one wall done before the prisoners revolted, tied the guards to trees, took their weapons and shanghied a ship off of the island, but not before a whole bunch of them died. So, saw that. That was that. Second up was a pretty sweet lava tunnel that we were able to climb down into, that went all the way to the ocean (although we didn't wade that far). Thirdly, and really the one I'd been waiting for all along, was a visit to the Galapagos Turtle Breeding Center, where they collected all the different types of turtles (each island evolved its own subspecies) and breed them, take care of them until they are old enough to survive all the sweet predators we've introduced to the islands, and then put them back in the wild. Turtles are tight! And big! And slow! And completely unnecessary! I mean seriously -- what's the purpose there?

Lastly we jumped on a boat and headed out to a nice snorkling spot not far away from our hostel. On a little pre-snorkle walk we found a bunch of black lizards, literally hundreds on sitting on the rocks next to the path. Then we checked out a shark resting area (weird -- how do they know to come there to rest?) which was dope, and then out to snorkle. Not as much life there as Hawaii, but still very good snorkling, and I found and followed two sea turtles (and got Andrea over to see the second one) so that's always tight

Got back, had another great fish dinner, this time up was swordfish, deeeelish. Headed out to a bar for some more drinks and dancing, which is right around the time Andrea figured out she had a bad fever and felt generally like warmed over sheeeeit, so we called it an early one to allow her to thrash around the hostel for the next 10 hours or so. I feel really bad for her, but she's doing a lot better now and has got some antibiotics, so hopefully we're good from here on out.

Shit! I gotta wrap this up so that I can get some pics of the sunset over Quito. We're headed off to Tabuga tonight as I said, so hopefully I'll be able to hitchhike to one of the bigger towns nearby Tabuga to send one last missive before I fly back to Denver. Adios muchachos!!

AJ

(with Andreita looking on)

¨How cool is it when you go somewhere that you know has cool things and you find more cool things that you didn´t even know about?¨

Let me tell you... very very cool.

I have become very profound with my amazement with the Galapagos. Happiness is pouring out of my nose and ears. Want to know why?

Yesterday we left Isla San Cristobol after a wonderful night of dancing at an Ecuadorian discoteca. AJ got his first taste of being the only white person somewhere and forever will remain the ¨most attractive guy that I have ever seen¨according to overly excited Ecuadorian girls who swooned over the baby blues. AJ even danced with them one after another and afterwards they thanked me for sharing my cousin. AJ and I tell peeps we are cousins because it´s a lot easier than explaining that in our culture it´s normal to have friends of the opposite sex. I think my family would totally adopt him as a cousin so AJ Crosby (weird those are my initials) is in, especially considering he is the most attractive guy in the world, we only like pretty people.

From Cristobol, still tipsy from the shots that our Ecuadorian island buddies were feeding us, we took a boat to Isla Santa Cruz. We had the morning to explore the island before heading to Isla Isabela and this is where cool things that we didn´t even know existed appeared. First we went to what the Lonely Planet guide book describes as one of the most beautiful beaches on the Galapagos. We took the long walk away from town through a forest of cactus trees. Literally these trees were incredible having normal trunks and instead of leaves, cacti. We were a little skeptical because the walk took awhile but when we arrived it was all worth it. The white soft sand beach was georgeous and instead of regular rocks they were lava rocks. AJ and I have decided were really super tourists because we tend to explore more than the average tourists. It definitely payed off when we wandered into three huge iguanas (picture will be posted someday), a bunch of cool crabs and lots of cool lizards. On the walk back we happened to wander down a little bath to a salt water lake. Even with AJs sick camera the photos don´t do it justice. The water was an incredible green and so refreshing. A great little bonus cool thing in a world of cool things.

From Santa Cruz AJ and I hopped on a small boat for a 2 hour ride to Isla Isabela. It´s the biggest of the islands and was recommended because it has great variety. On the boat I was worried that a little girl was going to have a heart attack. I realize it´s not common for 4 year olds but the amount of fear radianting from this girl was intense, she screamed ¨Please stop the boat sir¨ for about twenty minutes, tears rolling down her face and a piece of chocolate, meant to distract her, melted in her knuckle whitening clentched fist.

Now, on Isabela life continues to suprise me. We´ve seen some really amazing stuff but after hiking today I am burnt out and need a power nap before dinner and another night of dancing with AJ and whatever Ecuadorians are drawn to us. Being with the most attractive guy in the world happens to draw people in. If only I had some sweet baby blues...

Peace, love and the Galapagos!

Why shouldn´t I overload my blog after months of my family and friends wondering if I am alive. AJ writes well... and obvs has a different perspective on things so here are his remarks:

August 13

Hey folks, as most of you know, I'm off to Ecuador tomorrow for another 10-day-jaunt in a Third World country. I don't expect to have nearly the internet access on this trip as I did in Egypt, but I'll do my best to keep you informed and up-to-date on my experiences and plans while I'm there.

I'm not nearly as nervous heading into this trip as I was for Egypt, mainly because I have a lot of faith in my Espanol from the 4 years I took in high school. Hey, compared to my knowledge of Arabic, even know how to conjugate a verb is a huge step up, even if I don't remember what the verb means. And Spanish uses the regular alphabet instead of weird scrawls and dots! Woot woot! Anyway -- my plan so far is to fly to Quito tomorrow without any delays or problems, meet Andrea in Quito (she apparently has a US Embassy pass and can go back and forth thru Customs so she'll be able to find me pretty easily), spend the night in a hostel in Quito and then jump on a small plane to the Galapagos.

We're going to play it by ear in the Galapagos -- we may go the low-cost backpacker route, or may jump on a 2-3 day cruise if we can find one at a discount. Regardless, I expect to see lots of flaura and fauna that looks effing ridiculous. If I don't see a giant tortoise poop out an egg in front of me, I'll probably view the trip as a dissapointment.

After 4-5 days in the Galapagos, we're flying back to Quito and catching the 11pm bus to Andrea's village, Tabuga, which is like a 6-7 hour drive. Sounds good to me as I'll be with my native guide, but it was funny to read some literature that said: "When in Ecuador -- try not to travel by night, especially by bus, which can be robbed by bandits". Banditos! Muy bien! Hopefully Andrea's Embassy pass covers them as well. But yeah -- we'll get to Tabuga, which may be a pain even without bandits as I'll be hauling a duffel bag or two of a bunch of donated clothes I got together from folks at my office for the Tabugans. It sounds like we'll spend a day or two in the village, seeing what Andrea's life is all about, and then head to a beach village an hour south to hang/party with some of her Peace Corps peeps for a day, and then catch a ride from a visiting professor back to Quito and make it back to the states bedraggled and Latinized.

So anyhoo that's the plan. I'm sure it will go through many mutations, or as we in Ecuador, "muchos El Ninos". But it should be a heck of a time, I'm really looking forward to it, and hopefully I'll be able to keep you guys semi-in-the-loop. Take care of yourselves and I'll do the same!

Alejandro de el Johnson

PS -- If ya'll want to read a bit more about my friend Andrea, here's her (rarely updated but pretty funny) blog: http://tabuga.blogspot.com/. Enjoy!

August 14th

Hola friends, coworkers, family and framily all! This morning finds yours truly in downtown Quito, after what could be called a truly restful nights´ sleep, but certainly wouldn´t be called that in any other place. For one, I was delayed three hours by lightning in Miami, and you know what´s awesome about that: nothing! So got in a lot later, not that Andrea noticed ´cause that´s just not something she notices, which is tight. We went directly to our hostel in Gringoville -- no shit, that´s what our area in Quito is called -- checked, grabbed some pantalones (hace un poco frio) and I took her out to an extremely expensive Ecuadorian meal which I think ran me $30 all told. It. Was. Frickin. Bueno! SO I got all filled with flank steak, plantains, rice and beans there, and then went to a dive bar she knew that specialized in cheap cervezas, cheap hookas and cheaper weirdos. We didn´t try the weirdos, but they tried us with their eyes, and the hookah and beers went down like gravity says they should. We chatted and caught up like old people do, got mildly twisted, and ritered to our hostel muy excelente for the night. And here we are, a mere 4hrs later, pumping out email, updating blogs and about to go to the airport for our Galapagos adventure. Impressions? Quito is just like a shitty city in America -- we´ll say somewhere in Jersey -- but this comes from an hombre that´s only hung out in Gringolandia. So, take what I say so far with a large helping of salt. Anyhoo, my perceptions are sure to change drastically as soon as I´m sleeping on Andrea´s floor with the cock-a-roaches.Oh, and American lost my luggage, which had all the donated clothing I was bringing to the po folks in Tabuga. Thanks American! Update on that as it comes in.Until next time, I´d advise you not to travel to Georgia in the next week or so. Them Russkies are muy muy crazy, and not in a good way.

Alejandro

August 16th

HOLA amigos! I am in the Galapogos now, internet on the islands, who knew? It´s evolved totally different here though, the keyboards are on the walls and you have to pedal to make it run. Whoops, bad evolution joke, that´ll happen. Anyhoo, we hopped on a flight yesterday and made it out to Isla San Cristobal, the capital of the Galapagos, and where actual people actually live. It´s been great, definitely a bit different than most tourists start out. I´ve been hobbling around decently well on my bumb ankle, although we did have to go buy an ace bandage for it after I rolled it again when jumping rock to rock. Obvio. But other than that lameness on my part, it´s been bomb and filled with animals as expected. After we arrived and found a nice hostel for $10 per person, we took off on a jaunt that took us to the local center for conservation, which Andrea dug especially as she´s building one out in her neck of the jungle. Then on a rocky path with lots of lizards down to a beach with maaaad sea lions, just chilling on the beach and generally not giving a damn. Andrea went in and snorkelled with them then, I chilled and rested the ankle like the leathery old man that I am.

Then, made it back and found us a GREAT dinner of pizza at some cool place overlooking the bay, waited for the sun to go down unspectacularly due to clouds, and spent the night barhopping and making some new friends, some Americans and also a funny English woman and Aussie dude. There may have been dancing on a pole by yours truly. God I hope not.

Woke up this morning not feeling hot, but hot enough that we were able to scramble out of our beds to find a nice lil brekkie, and make it to our boat at 9am for a tour around San Isobel. We were out on the water from 9am till 2pm, during which time we did awesome shit like, say, boat out to a huge rock in the ocean that had ishloads of animals hanging on it, and then snorkle through a strait that split the rock, and we saw lots of colorful fish, barnacles, etc. Oh and also probably 15 sharks about 5 ft in length, tight, and 8 Manta Rays that were pretty damn amazing and looked like a screensaver as they travelled in a pack below us. Aint so shabby, this lil life of mine. I´m gonna let it shiiiine. We then had a walk around a beach covered in blue footed boobies and mangroves, and found a massive heron (don´t worry got great pics). Then it was off to a place where our captain new there was young sea lions that loved to frolic, and frolic with young sea lions is what happened. They were a hoot, jumping all around the boat and generally acting like puppies.

When we got back to land, we were mad tired, but that didn´t stop us from slapping each other to wake up and jumping in a cab to go visit this freshwater lake that is in a caldera in the middle of our island. In five minutes, we went from a tropical, beach atmosphere to chilly, misty greenness, and it only got more so as we went up. We got to the caldera and had to walk the last half mile up a hill of mud, and up some steps, and we couldn´t even see the caldera when we were on the rim due to the mist and fog. One muddy, slippery walk down later, and we were all up on the lake. It was extremely surreal, especially as Andrea took off her shoes and clambered down like Jungle Jane and ended up wading into the lake like a crazy person. Very, very cool.

We were wiped after that illogical trip, so we went back and got a loooooong siesta, so we just woke up and I dragged her to an internet cafe as I´m teaching her to be a better blogger and emailer. So, check out her blog for competing descriptions of our days, she´s actually updating it! I have effected change in my world! Tight! Baby steps.

OK peoples -- until next time be good and I´ll talk to ya soon.

A to the Jizzle (gross - Andrea)

8 Sting Rays

bunch of sharks

sea lions

and crazy colorful marine life

Not too bad for a virgin snorkeler! Today AJ and I spent the whole morning into the afternoon on a little boat traveling around to little islands around Isla San Cristobol. It was incredible! We saw out first blue-footed boobies, a sea lion kissed my hand while showing off his sweet water skills and the snorkeling (cherry officially popped) in crystal blue water in a cove of a massive rock shooting out from the middle of the ocean was remarkable. Yes, worth remarking about Alex Crosby... so here, I remark:

Imagine a big flock of geese. Now instead of being geese have them be sting rays with about a 4 foot wing span. A smooth black color with bright white poka dots and tails that look like a samari sword. Instead of being below look up, you are above and they are all swimming in unison, the flying V underwater. The gracefulness absolute beauty, the stingers absolute fear. AJ counted 8. A breath taking moment which is unfortunate while snorkeling because a lot of water got in my mask and up my nose.

Now imagine a shark. Not a big shark, not, according to the guidebooks, a man eating shark but, a shark none the less. Imagine that shark being curious about the blonde girl (the sun has turned me quasi-platinum) staring at it. Imagine blonde girl freaking out and swallowing water and being way too excited about the shark that she almost missied the sea lion circling her. Blonde girl happy.

Then there are the baby sea lions. AJs picture are going to give them more justice then any of my words but they were amazing. Like little puppies jumping for attention and playful loving embraces. They are so agile in the water and being able to touch them and stuff was spectauclar.

In the afternoon AJ and I decided that it´s cool to go from snorkeling in the middle of the pacific with clear blue water and tropical sun to rainy cold muddiness. This change was in the form of a caldera that is situated about 20 km away from the coast up to about 700m. The drive up from the coast was like going from the tropics to jungle to the mountains all in one fast swoop. In an effort to show off my new barefooted jungle skills, learned from time in the rainforest, I got muddy and wet climbing down and actually going and almost falling into the lake. It was like we magically arrived in Tarabithia, a surreal (thanks AJ) misty world, worlds apart from the earlier part of the day´s reality.

Today I realized just how rough my life is. Our trip hasn´t even ¨really started¨and already I am fullfilled and seriously amazed that there is more to come.

This internet training session is coming to a close.

Pictures and words from AJ to come. Did I mention he has a sick camera and is really into photography? Being assitant to AJ is really adding to the absolutely difficulty of my Galapagos experience. Breathtaking pictures and all I have to do is hold onto the camera bag. Rough, really rough.

Hello to All!

I know I have been awful about about blogging and I promise everyone to write some good updates from the past few months. A lot has gone on from shocking stories about my students participating in beastiality, a visit to the US of A and lots of awesome work stuff.

But for now, I am going to keep you all on your toes about the bestiality and plans for my future and focus on the moment:

At this very moment I am practicing which is going to be an intensive course on being better on updating my family, friends and fans. I am in Quito with Alex Johnson (going to go for AJ in the blog so we don´t all think Alex Crosby has returned to Ecualand). For those of you who don´t know him he is a good friend from Duke and post-college life in Colorado and he happens to be an incredible blogger and email updater. AJ arrived last night and we immediately hit up Gringolandia and AJ splurged on a $40 meal. I did say splurged and it felt like it to me but for all of you AMERICANs $40 doesn´t even get you a bottle of water these days. We spent the night on the town catching up on over a year and a half of life which now back together again feels like just yesterday.

But no, yesterday I spent the day frantically running around Quito trying to get some last minute deals on Galapagos tours. As it turns out I dominated the last minute deals and AJ and I have a full and eventfull week ahead. And, because my personal trainer on blogging is with me you will all actually here about it!

Today the adventures start. AJ and I are flying to the Isla San Cristobal. We get to spend two days there guideless and open-minded before we take a boat across the open sea to Isla Santa Cruz.

Galapagos, soon to be daddy George and a dream come true just a few hours away!

You´ll be hearing from me soon!

This past week I had my first sex ed class with my ninth graders. Alex was there with me and literally was running circles around the classroom in a confused, astonished, overwhelmed, sympathetic state. I have had conversations, many conversations, with the teenagers of Tabuga that had prepared me for the lack of knowledge I was about to confront. Alex unfortunately had heard my stories but had not experienced first hand the seemingly ridiculous myths and misunderstandings that exist in Tabuga regarding sex.

To start the class I just sat down in front of the class and talked about why I was teaching the class, how the government of Ecuador has declared it a right to learn sex ed (not that it actually happens much) and the importance of the information that was going to presented. Then I explained the importance of having respect in the class as well as open conversation. I also explained the teaching tool of having an anonymous questions box where the kids can write whatever question they want anonymously and I will answer in front of the whole class. From here I elaborated, most likely if you don’t know or are confused about something probably a number of your classmates also are in the dark about it.

It was all downhill from here.

Or, if you’re over positive like me, uphill. I had all the kids answer a questionnaire, like a pre-test. I told them that where they didn’t know the answers just to write ‘I don’t know’ and that the purpose was to help all of us see what the kids know and don’t know. Alex can attest that the majority of the answers were ‘I don’t know’. Almost all of the kids figured out that you can buy condoms in a pharmacy after a few kids answered it correctly and spread the news. Otherwise there were a lot of confused kids, confronting words they have never seen, like masturbation, and being told that not knowing anything about the questionnaire was a positive thing because it meant that the class was totally needed.

Some funny tidbits from the first class...

Profe? How do you make love? – Carlos, 17 years old

Well, obviously Carlos isn’t shy but that is a more personal question and for now we’re going to take it step by step –Me

Profe? What word did you just say? Mas-t-u-r-ba- what? – Jarizta, 15 years old

Masturbation, raise your hand if you know what masturbation is – Me

About 4 out of the 31 raised their hands, two of which I had explained previously what masturbating is

Question #11 Where can you buy a condom? Answer by my 13 year old godson A condom is the penis.

Question # 6 Can a female get pregnant during her first time having sex? Literally the majority of the kids that answered said no, I think only 3 got it right. The rest simply put ‘I don’t know’.

Question 8 and 9 asked the students to name part of the female and male genitals. One kid, frustrated yelled out, 'I don’t know any of this, I don’t even know what the word genitals means’ and like a out of tune children’s choir a number of the students chimed in that they didn’t know either.

After I helped Alex snap back into it by assuring him I will do my best to spread the truth about sex to the students I went to tell my fellow teachers about the class. I am trying my best to keep them updated in case a parent gets uncomfortable about their kids learning. I told them how surprised I was by the lack of knowledge the students have and told them some of the tidbits mentioned above. Then I shared my materials with the other teachers who declaraed thata they wanted to attend my classes as well.

Then, one of the teachers who has two kids, ask me sheepishly if women pee and have babies out of the same hole? She told me that the men believe that and say it is how you can tell the difference between a virgin and someone who has had sex, those who pee loud can’t be virgins because their holes have been stretched out. Luckily I had my sex ed resources with me to show the drawing of the female genitals and without laughing in their faces I explained how women are built. I am sure this sex ed class is going to give me a lot to write about but for now, atleast I have explained to two women that the vagina and the urethra are two different things and that tampons don’t give you cancer, hurt when they are in or are for people with big vaginas.

Hats off to knowledge, looking forward to helping prevent unwanted babies that come out of the hole one pees out of.

SORRY THERE AREn´T ANY PICTURES, WE´LL PUT THEM UP SOON BUT THIS INTERNET CONNECTION IS SOOOOOO SLOW....

I know it has been awhile since I have updated this blog but life has been busy. So, while my brother is asleep on my floor after a night of playing pool to celebrate the 50th birthday of one of our favorite people in the world, I am ready to try to update all of you on my life.

Sometime in April Alex decided he was done with Tabuga and ready to challenge his newly found maturity and independence. To do this, he moved out of my one room heaven and headed south to Canoa to be a chef at a pizza and burger place. Canoa is a beautiful beach surf town. It’s pretty quiet and calm but is full of foreigners. Foreigners who own restaurants, hostals and those who are just passing through. In Canoa Alex rightfully saw a life in paradise, no shoes, no shirt, a party all the time and hopefully some cash too. .. I will get to that part.

Two and a half weeks after his big move Mom came down to visit. She was smitten over the Ecuadorian coast after her first visit and really just wanted to spend some quality time with her lovely children in a tropical paradise. Because Alex was living and working in said tropical paradise I went to Quito to pick up mom, a rental car, my friend Trinity and a recently sworn in as an official volunteer, Paul. Paul now lives about 6 kilometers from me, in a small community called Camarones. We never see eachother though because as it turns out, 6 kilometers takes about an hour due to lack of transportation. I developed Camarones as a Peace Corps site because in my mind it is the perfect Peace Corps site. It is isolated, a 3 km walk off the main highway where buses pass every hour, it’s very poor, the people are incredibly kind, open and ready to better their community, the women wash their clothes in the river, the little kids always want to hold your hand or play soccer and surrounding the community are hills covered with tropical trees. One of these hills is the other boarder of the reserve where I work. www.ceiba.org/loor.html

Anyway, Mom and I busted ass from Quito to make it to the coast. We picked up my friend Ryan, dropped off Paul with his luggage ready to start his new life and headed to Canoa. Alex was stoked to see us all. Trinity and Ryan are two of my best friends here in Ecuador and since Alex had become my side kick, they were two of his best friends as well. Ryan is from VT and Trinity from NH, so we got a lot of New England love here in EcuaLand. Mom was happy to see that Alex had a sweet little room with a porch with two hammocks looking out over palm trees on the Pacific Ocean. But, mom was not so psyched to see Alex getting exploited by his bosses, working a lot but making no money and losing weight from not eating enough due to lack of cash money flow. To put it simply, Mom, being a mom, couldn’t sleep she was so worried about her baby. To make a long story short, by the time Mom, Alex and I were heading to Quito to send Mom on her flight back to the states Alex had all of his stuff with him to return to the simple life of Alex and Andrea, minus the cameras, little dressed up chawawa, the $500 hand bags and the drama. (slipping in an American cultural reference to show that I am still in touch with where I come from, even if it’s an outdated reference). When Alex threw his bag into my room he released a sigh has he said ‘man, it feels good to be home’.

Mom and I really had a great time together. She even dared the cockroaches, rats, bats and scariest of all, out door bathroom. I had asked Mom to stay with me in Tabuga for two nights to get a little taste of my life. I wanted her to visit the reserve, hang out with the people and just live my life for two days. It was awesome. We celebrated Earth Day with little kids in Tabuga where mom wasted paper and showed kids how littering can be fun if first you fold the paper into an airplane. We visited the reserve, went to a dinner with the founders of the Ceiba Foundation and the mayor of my county, had some quality time with my Ecuadorian family and had some good laughs. The best was Mom’s fear of going to the bathroom at night.

‘Andrea honey, will you come with me to the bathroom. Here take this cute little red flashlight’.

‘Okay mom’ is how I responded but I was thinking crazy lady in my head.

So there is a light in the bathroom out back, granted it isn’t very bright because it’s in the shower on the other side of the brick wall but, it gives off enough light to see. But, for Mom, this just wasn’t enough and she made me stand there flashing the light on her with the bathroom door open. When it was my turn to go I handed mom the cute little red flashlight and told her to head back to the room, I could go to the bathroom like a normal person. But, no, Mom insisted on putting me in the spot light on the toilet because Mom was too afraid of walking back to the room (about 10 paces) by herself. I told her it was fine, no big deal, you’re okay, don’t be embarrassed. Now that it’s passed. HAHAHAAHAA mom, you’re hilarious and I love you.

After a few days in Tabuga Mom and I headed back to Canoa for two days to relax on the beach and watch the sunset with cocktails at happy hour. Mom got us all Canoa t-shirts so we could feel like real tourists and then we headed to Quito to say bubye to the beloved mommy. I left Alex and Mom in the care of Trinity in Quito and took an overnight bus back to the coast to participate in a workshop with Ceiba and to party on the beach to celebrate my Ceiba counterpart, Catherine’s birthday. Catherine and Joe are the president and vicepresident of Ceiba, they are professors at the Univeristy of Wisconsin, Madison and are just awesome smart fun people. Every year they come to Ecuador with a study abroad program. The semester includes classes in Quito, 3 weeks in the Amazon jungle, 3 weeks on the coast, 3 weeks in the Galapagos and then a 4 week personal internship project. This year I helped out as a quasi mentor to four of the students who lived in the reserve and one student who lived in Camarones . Each had their own project and I did what I could to help develop their ideas, get them contacts and make it happen. They were quite a spectacular group of people and brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the reserve. It was sad to see them go but we got a lot of stuff done and they seemed to have a good time and for the reserve it was a nice little boost to have some good volunteers helping out.

I recently had my Mid-service conference in Quito which means that one year as an official volunteers has flown by. I can only imagine this second year is going to fly by too which is scary because it’s hard to imagine leaving this place, my work and the people.

Last week Alex and I had the incredible opportunity to head into the Amazon jungle to work with the Waoroni in one of the communities that is at the end of an oil road. More about that awesome trip to come.

Now, we are back in Tabuga, living the life and getting back into our routine. Classes have started back up in the high school and this year I am teaching sex ed.

Yes or No... do women pee and have babies out of the same hole? A lot of people here believe yes, it’s all the same hole which is why women who are not virgins pee a lot louder than virgins do. I know, like I tell the kids, you can laugh, these things are weird to talk about but we can laugh with respect.

Alex only has 3 weeks until he heads back to the states. He’s going to be missed greatly. It’s not normal to have someone stay with you during your Peace Corps service but because Alex is such a great worker the reserve where I work signed a contract with him that he doesn’t make money but he does get meals when he works. Usually foreigners have to pay $400 a month to live and work at the reserve so it’s really a great deal. The contract says that he is my assistant. Imagine that life, the assistant to a volunteer, it sounds like a pretty poor existence but it works for us and life has been good to the Crosby kids here in Tabuga. Plus, Alex knows he’s made his mark, with the people here and with the work in the reserve, even in his stint as a chef in Canoa. It’s kind of like how Mom left her mark, paper airplanes are taking over Tabuga, at least now the littering can be fun.

Alex and I are always talking about how much we smile here. Ecuador has helped us both create an inner happiness that makes everything seem funny or atleast smile worthy. Even when something goes wrong we smile about it because if things go right here, it’s weird. Alex and I take it a little far though as we are always over smiling. The smile held an awkward second too long or done with just a little too much enthusiasm. We have created a list of examples of our over smiling moments.

1. After work it’s normal to find Alex in a towel and me in my underwear about to get in the shower. One such afternoon as Alex walked into the room, refreshed, a huge jet pack style of flying bug flew into the room. We start dodging the bug, in kind of a defensive stance. The bug chases Alex out the door and then flies back in the room which causes us to simultaneously do a home plate style dive onto the floor. We both look at each other relieved that the other was so afraid of just a bug. As soon as we make eye contact the tear drawing laughter begins. Through tears I tell Alex to stop, the laughing hurts and I might have peed a little bit on the floor. We break into another round of laughter as we look at the quarter sized wet spot on the floor.

2. ‘Oversmiling – I feel like we haven’t been doing it as much lately’ – Alex

‘You are doing it right now I can hear it in your voice, but don’t worry, I am too’ –Andrea walking behind him through the dry tropical forest.

3. Running home from work in the pouring down rain, stomping in puddles in our big rubber boots.

4. Alex blurting out English to Ecuadorian family members randomly in a too loud voice.

5. Greeting and waving to everyone, even if you have already said Buenos dias to them 5 times that day and they haven’t moved from where they were four hours ago.

6. Riding in the back of trucks

7. Walking around Tabuga with Alex’s commentary, those of us who know Alex know he’s funny, put him in a world where he can say whatever he wants and I am the only person who can understand and his funniness reaches a new, often inappropriate level.

8. 1.5 pounds of fresh squid for 2 bucks... delicious

9. Baked pasta with mozzarella and parmesan cheese, salad and homemade crutons

10. Raining inside my house... one day when the wind was blowing horizontally during a rainstorm it literally was raining inside the room. Alex was over smiling about it as he stood in the middle of the room yelling, ‘look its raining on me over here, and over here too!’

11. ‘I am not even sure what I like about it here but I am so happy’ Alex, just living the life.

12. New Pillows.... the old ones were moldy and smelt weird

13. Bus drivers knowing we live in Tabuga, not yelling Canoa at us just because we’re white

14. Cockroach eating Styrofoam wall decoration, the noise woke us up and freaked us out... another reason for yet another middle of the night conversation

15. ‘I kind of want to hold your hand and skip, we just get along so well’ Alex regressing to our childhood

16. I have an amazing ability to speak mute... even from far away

17. Getting seen around Ecuador on this weird MTV like TV show where Alex was grinding with the plastic surgery gone overboard reporter.

18. Ryan Fitzgerald

19. Strawberry oatmeal pancakes

20. Rushing to the shower after work –one friend exclaims this shower is so nice, because it always has water

21. Gusuentight – had no idea it was German

22. Getting a beer at the local store, just hanging out and making the wife laugh her witch laugh

23. Hanging out in the jungle with the indigenous group, Waoroni, Alex pulling naked kids into a moving truck and me learning how to say bad words in Wao, the crazy sounding language

24. Bigote, the cook at the reserve and our really good friend. He looks out for us, we look out for him, we really love him... bigote means mustache in Spanish.

25. Oversmiling when we get home after a day of work, a weekend away or a week in the jungle, just because we are home, in Tabuga

Sometimes life doesn't make time for writing in what now seems to be my second language (english). Especially when life involves no internet, no cell phone service, no conventional phones and no TV. But hey, Tabuga gets one radio station!

Thankfully, pictures can tell a lot!

You read that title right! More than one year has past since this non-spanish speaking American girl arrived in Ecuador. Now, after a year in Ecuador and a little over 10 months in Tabuga, I am Manaba. Manaba refers to people from Manabi which is the province I am in. The Manaba stereotype is someone that likes to dance, talks really fast and cuts words short and doesn't really do much work. I fulfill that stereotype incredibly well except for the work part. When I am in Quito talking to Ecuadorians or with other volunteers they can't get over my Manaba accent. Part of me feels really proud because I have learned a lot of Spanish and truly integrated into my new culture. The other part is a little worried because the Manaba accent and phrases aren't used or understood in other parts of Ecuador or in other Spanish speaking countries. In terms of work, I feel like I have already done a lot at my site and with the Gender and Development committee and I can only imagine that the next 14 months of my Peace Corps service are not going to disappoint me in terms of work.

One year went by way too fast and everyone says the second year is suppose to go by even faster. I am incredibly happy, still positive, helping and learning everyday. Tabuga rocks my body and I think I'm doing an okay job embracing my assignment and helping out where I can. A lot of people in my town tell me I am never going to leave, some tell me they hope I stay forever. I know a part of me will always be in Tabuga, and this Manaba girl I've grown into will stay with me forever and forever.

But, it's not over yet, thank goodness.