Bienvenido a Ecuador

I wasn't really nervous until I stepped through the customs doors and was surrounded by about 300 people talking in spanish, waving signs, asking me if I wanted a taxi and holding baloons, bears, etc to welcome their loved-ones home. I weaved through the crowd to find Sarah, who is a Program Director here and the organizer of all of the summer volunteers. Excited and exhausted, we then waited a couple of hours untill three other volunteers arrived. Then it was of to our house in Conocoto, a town south east of Quito that is located in a valley. The crazy car ride (people don't use turn signals...well I guess that isnt so new considering they dont in worcester either!) was my first peek into ecuador. Lots of concrete, cobblestone roads, and random grafitti a common sight.

We then arrived at the house, which is quite large and spacious. I live in the "apartment" which is connected to the house via the roof and you enter it through a small doorway in the concrete wall. I then chose a yellow room and a top bunk, only to find that the bed i chose squeeks with ever move I make. Thank goodness I am a deep spleeper, becuase with that noise, the cars and the barking dogs it is hard for some people to go to sleep. Little living quirks here that I have found: you can't put toilet paper in the toilet, the shower is hot, but the heating unit is connected to the shower, so it is fickle at best. They don't refrigerate their eggs, there is no peanutbutter, and the yogurt is liquid!

The first day consisted of orientation at 9am followed by a walking tour of Conocoto. We saw where all of the good ice cream, hamburger, and barbeque places were, including a place with two women cooking a whole pig out on the sidewalk. It was really interesting. We saw the centro and the church, which is painted a lovely peach color. The streets were busy and filled with children in school uniforms, cars, buses and people just walking around. We went back to the house and ate lunch, then later we took a bus to Rumiloma, the community in which MPI works in. The bus ride was an adventure in itself. The busses do not seem like a "normal" vehicle of public transportation as seen in the states. Rather, It is almost like an old greyhound bus that has been converted to run around the crazy, steep, windy hills of Ecuador. It was very busy and you get one right away. Then, a little boy with no uniform came by and collected our money. He was like a little monkey weaving through the mass of people while the bus swerved around sharp turns. It was really fun. :)

We then got off the bus and walked to where our library, teen center, and overall "community" center is. It was so beautiful. The library consists of a large room with different sections - adult reading in spanish and english, two large tables, then a kids reading corner with beanbags and spanish and english books as well as an arts and crafts/game corner with little tables. The library also has two computers that chilren can use for homework, reserach or playing games. Connected to the library is the teen center; one large room filled with a ping pong table, a couch, games, guitars, and an x-box and tv set up. I played ping pong for a while, then got the ball dented and paid 50 cents for a new one. Still such a little kid....

Then we went upstairs, which contained two rooms; one for the to be preventitive health center, and another bright green one wich is for art classes, english classes and more. We then went further upstairs to the exercise class/cooking class room that was a calm light blue color. One story up (more stairs!) was the roof - which has such a beautiful view of the mountains that surround us. Whew!

I hung around the library and teen center until cooking class started, then helped PD's Sarah and Eric run the class, which consisted of making an ensalada de oriental y chaulafan (fried rice). Four women from the community came - three sisters and one friend. They were so nice and funy. The food we made at the end was delicious and I was exhausted from trying to understand what they were saying in spanish for two hours. My brain HURT! We then packed up and went back to the house. The nights here are beautiful too - the stars are so bright and beautiful! (dont worry the days are super sunny, blue skied and beautiful too).

Today we travel to quito and tomorrow we go on a bike tour of a certain part of quito! I am very excited. Overall I like ecuador a lot. Things to note about this country: There are stray dogs EVERYWHERE! they are so adorable (most of the time) and if they aren't running around on the street they live on the roofs of houses, because most yards do not have backyards. Also, the women here seem to be incredible, especially the 4ft tall traditionally dressed barefoot ones that walk around with walking sticks and these great brown hats. The women carry their children in cloth behing their backs to sleep or to just sit awake and look at the world. That leads to the kids - there are so many kids! They are yelling and running everywhere! They are so cute with such big brown eye - I am excited to work with them in the library.

That is Ecuador in a nutshell. There will be more to come, especially when programs start on monday. I will be working on women's exercise, cooking classes, adult english and shadowing in a hospital the last two weeks I am here. I am really looking forward to taking in spanish and meeting the people who live here. The adventure begins! :)