Peace Corps Journals / Ecuador / all updates

Homestay in Cangahua

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:29:18 +0800

(Ecuador / Reid Rambles)
PC training involves placing us in local communities to learn the language and culture – I’m in the friendly (y tranquilo) town of Cangahua with five others from our entering group. I’m ...
12 reads

Capucho

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:39:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Andy in Ecuador)
Aka: Capuchino Capoopo Capullo Queso de Ojos Clifford The Gentle Giant.Well I think it is about time for me to write a country song. First in August my girlfriend left and now my dog has gone bac ...
8 reads

In the End

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:46:00 +0800

(Ecuador / ...Let's Go Exploring)
One of my first memories here in Ecuador was sitting on the bus ride from Quito to Cayambe heading to our training site. Looking out the window all I could see is run down buildings dirty streets an ...
24 reads

I have a phone now

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:52:38 +0800

(Ecuador / Reid Rambles)
(finally) 593-8-764-1951 I can receive calls and texts for free but cannot call internationally. I can text internationally to help set up a call. I’m still trying to figure out the cheapest way to call here – a lot of the good services are still expensive for Ecuador.
33 reads

Sometimes they confuse the "b" ...

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:44:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Lo Rotzim Shikun, Rotzim Ma'abarah)
In Spanish the "b" and "v" sounds are very similar.Sometimes the people here don't just confuse the letters in speech. They also mistake them in writing.In the Spanish "botar" means "to throw (typic ...
8 reads

Get Ready For Long One!

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:47:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Mi vida en Ecuador, Peace Corps)
3-9-10Holy Moly it is already March! That still seems really odd to me as I couldn’t even believe that Christmas was here as well as the New Year. Time here really is an odd thing; it seems to go ...
13 reads

Getting poked

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Ecuador adventures)
I'm in Quito right now for my final medical checkup which means getting poked a lot. Luckily they're not making me get a flu shot (I boycott those on principle) but everything else is getting checke ...
4 reads

Palabra

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:33:00 +0800

(Ecuador / ¡Fiesta!)
Ok so wutsup. I have been living with a host family for almost two weeks now. I can´t tell anyone the town I live in on a blog post because of awesome Peace Corps policies but if you want to know ...
5 reads

Warm Weather

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:17:45 +0800

(Ecuador / Big Honkin' Livejournal)
Warm weather is here (more or less).As someone from California I am suspicious of warm weather in New York. For one I'm more recently from Ecuador where the seasons are reversed (sometimes) and wher ...
0 reads

Cusco Extravaganza

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:20:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Mary and Mike in Ecuador)
March 8 2010Monday 1:24pm55 CloudySayausiPor fin! Here is the long-awaited (or at least long in coming) Peru trip post. Though months have past the memories are as fresh as ever thanks to tons a ...
12 reads

Might as well face it...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:36:36 +0800

(Ecuador / Big Honkin' Livejournal)
Well raise your hand if you've been neglecting your LiveJournal.The last few days I've been trying to send massive amounts of email from home. That's the intent anyway. I usually end up falling asl ...
27 reads

Untitled

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:38:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Jessica's Adventures in Ecuador)
First of all happy 21st birthday to my little brother Kevin :) I wish I could be there to celebrate with you love you! Since it’s been soo long since I updated it just feels like such a daunting t ...
11 reads

¡Feliz Día de la Mujer!

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:39:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Adventures with Adam and Emily)
Today was International Women's Day! Cheers to all the women in our lives and the great accomplishments that have been made by women worldwide!P.S. Funny story- apparently in Ecuador people only say ...
1 reads

I guess it's a possible diagnosis

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:29:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Lo Rotzim Shikun, Rotzim Ma'abarah)
About a month ago one of the kids on our newspaper staff said he would attend our newspaper day camp.But the two-week camp came and went with no sign of the kid.He is very motivated to work on the ne ...
1 reads

So much to learn...I love it!

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:24:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Random thoughts, followed by dots...)
This week was a lot of Spanish classes Monday thru Wednesday. I could see quite a bit of progress in those few days. Thursday we met with the whole group in Ayora which is another town where the w ...
24 reads

¡Feliz día de mujeres! March 8 is Inte ...

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:05:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Voluntary Simplicity)
To all the wonderful women in our lives: Happy Women’s Day! This delightful holiday is sadly not much celebrated in the U.S. but it is alive and well here in Ecuador. Besides the extra saludos and ...
2 reads

25 – Ecuador – Coke a Cow and Coffee

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:13:31 +0800

(Ecuador / Ethan in Ecuador)
25 – Ecuador – Coke a Cow and Coffee March 2010 You know you’ve made it when a dog’s been named after you. While to you Ringo might sound like a dog has been named after one of those guys from the Beatles it’s actually a combination of how I am referred to by people in my [...]
18 reads

Untitled

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:17:00 +0800

(Ecuador / VIVA IBARRA)
After my visit home the transition back into Ecuadorian life has been a difficult one. I´ve spent many hours on my bed staring at the ceiling contemplating what exactly I am doing with my life. ...
0 reads

Looking Back

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:05:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Abril...more than just a month)
This was a blog I started during training....I will go back and add pictures and more information about our first week in Ecuador in a bit.February 20th: Arrival Training has begun. I must say I am ...
11 reads

My New Abode

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:35:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Abril...more than just a month)
Home sweet home:This is my home for the next few months. I have already been here for a week and 3 days...hey whos counting? Time really has been flying by though.I live in a small town (a long dirt r ...
62 reads

Getting Cultured

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:01:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Abril...more than just a month)
Trip to SalinasFriday and Saturday we took our cultural trip to Salinas which is north of Cayambe in the province of Imbabura.The day before I had finally gotten my peace corps cell phone and set my a ...
8 reads

Worth a thousand words...

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:33:33 +0800

(Ecuador / Sebastian Becerra)
Since I don't have a whole lot to say today's entry will consist of some of my favorite pictures from the start of the trip in Washington D.C. to where I currently reside in La Chimba. Let´s see if I...
6 reads

Nursery and Greenhouse Project

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:35:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Andy in Ecuador)
Ever since I arrived here in San Pedro de Vilcabamba I have been working with this great development organization called the Colinas Verdes Foundation (http://www.colinasverdes.org/). The foundation ...
16 reads

The Honeymoon Is Ova!

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:56:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Let The Sunshine In)
So we are at 6 months in site. Finally. It seems like we’ve been talking about 6 months for.ev.er. I think part of that has to do with that our 6 month anniversary in Ecuador was in December. Howeve ...
13 reads

I Heart Scrapbooking

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 02:13:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Adventures with Adam and Emily)
This is for all those scrappers out there ;P Shout out to my sister Susan... I just recently made a mini album of our pre-Peace Corps road trip and liked the way it turned out given the limited suppli ...
14 reads

March march march

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:40:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Amanda Elizabeth Sandau)
Well I am once again lonely after a great few weeks of Stefanie being here she has finally returned home. But the good news is she says that she wants to come back and live in Quito so my fingers ar ...
12 reads

Getting back up on the roller coaster...

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:15:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Adventures with Adam and Emily)
Warning- a lengthy stream of consciousness post ahead. No promises that it will make sense. It's late (I haven't been able to get to bed before 3am recently). I think I haven't adjusted back to the ti ...
11 reads

Rehydration

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:37:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Lo Rotzim Shikun, Rotzim Ma'abarah)
It was a scorcher Friday.We are in the heart of the hot season and it might have been the hottest day yet.It was the last day of the day camp we organized and we were treating the kids to a day at t ...
0 reads

Cherimoyas YUM!

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:06:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Eye Trip)
If you haven't had a chance to taste this amazing fruit also known as the custard apple you need to! It's by far the best fruit I've ever had in my life and Mark Twain once said that it's "th ...
26 reads

Happy Peace Corps Week!

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:20:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Adventures with Adam and Emily)
Happy Peace Corps Week! This week Peace Corps celebrated its 49th Anniversary. For more information about Peace Corps visit http://www.peacecorps.gov/.Over the past week I have been thinking a lot ab ...
2 reads

Emotional trial

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:39:32 +0800

(Ecuador / Fred in Ecuador)
Saying goodbyes have always been difficult for me no matter how often I have had to move on with my life after incredible experiences just like this one. Although I still have over a month left in my service I feel that this painful process of rupture has already begun. I clearly broke down in [...]
12 reads

Hey Sideburns

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:07:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Lo Rotzim Shikun, Rotzim Ma'abarah)
For fifty cents you can get a cup of the freshest goat milk in town from this herd that roams the streets every day.(Click on the image to get a better shot of these not-so-lonely goats)
13 reads

One Year In

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:41:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Voluntary Simplicity)
If the conversation rolls on long enough a group of gringos in Ecuador will eventually certainly turn toward that most elusive of things missed: American food. “Sub sandwiches mmm what I’d gi ...
8 reads

My Haunted House…

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:55:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Let The Sunshine In)
If I haven’t said it already I love my apartment. Even with barely anything in it it felt like my home. Now that I’ve lived in it more it feels even more like home. I feel truly thankful for th ...
17 reads

Spanish

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:46:28 +0800

(Ecuador / Reid Rambles)
Spanish is probably the easiest language for English speakers to learn but it’s hard. I tested pretty terribly in my preliminary interview – advanced beginner. There’s beginner inter ...
20 reads

What’s different here

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:45:43 +0800

(Ecuador / Reid Rambles)
- the food – half of your plate will be filled with rice every lunch and dinner usually along with meat and potatoes. Interestingly they have soup really frequently and you put popcorn in it in ...
19 reads

Usage guide: No pasa nada

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:16:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Lo Rotzim Shikun, Rotzim Ma'abarah)
No pasa nadaIt's just three words. Ten letters.But around here it is a philosophy.In English it best translates to "don't worry about it" or "nothing's going to happen."It is typically said to allay ...
29 reads

Back Due to Popular Demand!

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:36:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Alex's Ecuadorian Forestry Blog)
ok so the day by day breakdown i tried a while back clearly isn´t going to work to cover this hiatus. a week by week breakdown might be a bit much too so i´ll try a month by month:november: i kind ...
10 reads

Guayzimi: My Spa of Zamora Chinchipe

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:17:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Peace Corrie)
FINALLY fiestas are over. Someone said to me yesterday no wonder our country is poor--all we do is party. That couldn´t be truer. It´s not always a bad thing...they just need to do it in moderation ...
14 reads

Now living in Puruhantag Ecuador...

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:42:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Random thoughts, followed by dots...)
So right now I am sitting in my host family’s kitchen with a bowl of capuli in front of me. Capuli is like small cherries tasty. My family is great to me and I have a great room and new mattress. ...
36 reads

Gun Control in The Peace Corps

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:35:23 +0800

(Ecuador / Sebastian Becerra)
I am one of those people who is blessed with the ability to wake up at the slightest noise. This is a good trait if you’re sleeping in the woods and a bear tries to sneak up on you ...
8 reads

Chocobananera

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:33:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Lo Rotzim Shikun, Rotzim Ma'abarah)
Bananera - the Spanish word for banana plantation.My town is surrounded by them. The highway looks like it was just a strip of concrete laid in the middle of one of these. Machala the provincial capi ...
6 reads

Untitled

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:18:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Abril...more than just a month)
Now that I´m actually here in Ecuador I haven´t had a chance to post till now.So I am now living with a host family in a small town around Cayambe. I just got here yesterday and it has been quite a ...
1 reads

pics

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 13:37:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Ecuador adventures)
Here´s some pictures from Mateo´s birthday party and some new year`s celebrations. They were playing a game where you popped the balloon and inside there were instructions on a charade you had to do ...
12 reads

Peace Corps Ecuador website

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:29:00 +0800

(Ecuador / monkeys.are.smarter)
After several months of planning discussions and phone calls we finally got the website put together before Christmas. You can read about PC volunteers around the country and soon we will be out in ...
28 reads

Training to work in Sustainable Agricult ...

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:47:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Random thoughts, followed by dots...)
We have spent a week now in training. At this point we have been staying in a dorm style hostel with classrooms and such. It is fun…kind of like the freshman year of college except less trouble ma ...
31 reads

Is this Pamplona?

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:00:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Lo Rotzim Shikun, Rotzim Ma'abarah)
Earlier this afternoon I was walking through town with about thirty kids from the newspaper daycamp we have going on.The camp had just ended for the day and I'm walking toward the center of town. The ...
9 reads

¡Cayambe!

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:23:05 +0800

(Ecuador / Sebastian Becerra)
I am now on day seven of training and it feels like a month has passed. I’m starting to get to know the other volunteers pretty well and there’s a great esprit de corps (no pun intended). The group is...
32 reads

Work Work Work

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:10:00 +0800

(Ecuador / ¡Fiesta!)
Hola everyone. I feel like all I do is go to class and play soccer. Oh we eat like 5 meals a day. Breakfast a snack an hour later lunch a snack an hour later and then dinner. At every meal we hav ...
6 reads

6 guys 1 cup

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:52:00 +0800

(Ecuador / Joannah & Rob´s Peace Corps Adventures)
South America just celebrated Carnaval a Mardi Gras that for me completely enhances any definitions of the word “party.” I’ve never really celebrated Fat Tuesday back home and while New Orle ...
6 reads