Going Coastal

My Peace Corps part 2 do-over adventure started in Quito with a blessedly brief week of orientation. Me and my 10 fellow Bolivia evacs got a run down of all the basics: safety and security, Ecuadorian culture, some language differences were cleared up, new slang and pick-up lines learned, we met all the staff, got a tour of the office, and in between all the meetings there were abundant coffee breaks with lots of yummy snacks. I have to give it to Ecuador, they definitely trump Bolivia when it comes to food considering that they actually use seasonings and the food has flavor. It’s also so much more developed in the cities, there are so many American chains and the supermarket, which is called “Supermaxi” has almost everything you could want. There’s even a “Megamaxi” but I wasn’t quite ready for that, the same way I wasn’t ready to go to BJs when I was in the States. While I was in Quito it felt kind of strange, since everything was so accessible and they use the dollar here so it was almost like I was still in the States. Ecuador is definitely more “Posh Corps” than Bolivia was and it made me realize that Bolivia really is a unique place nearly untouched by American commercialization. It made me sad to realize I wouldn’t have that again, but also appreciative and happy that I got to experience it while I could.

So after our orientation was over we got to take a field trip to the “Mitad del Mundo” or Middle of the World. Ecuador is of course so named because it is situated on the equator and they’ve made a whole tourist trap town out of it. We took lots of pics by the equator line, although supposedly it’s about 5-10 meters off of where the equator actually “is,” I mean, that is if an imaginary line can actually be anywhere. Then we headed back to the PC office for our own little swear-in ceremony. The ambassador was there and she made a brief speech, we got new certificates (I’ll add it to my collection) and then had snacks and chatted, basking in the glory of once again being official volunteers. We had the weekend free before heading off to our sites on Monday (exactly a week after arriving in country). Some other volunteers were in town to take the GRE so that Saturday we all went out Quito style to celebrate. I have to say, Quito night life is actually decent, when compared, as everything is for me, to Bolivia. They played really good dance music all night and not once repeated a song, amazing!
So on Monday I was off with my ridiculous amount of luggage and a general idea of how to get to my site. I knew a couple of volunteers in my “cluster city” as they call it, were going to meet me at the bus station. The only bus to my site leaves at 12:30pm and I wasn’t going to make it so we went and got lunch and then Clay and I were left to figure out how to get to my site. In typical PC do-it-yourself fashion we went to find this restaurant that was owned by a woman in my town. Turns out that she no longer has that restaurant so I called my counterpart’s wife and she sent her brother in a car to pick me up (I had made it as far as the entrance to my site, but the only transportation at that time was on moto and that is a big no-no for PCVs, plus I had all my luggage with me. My counterpart Eddi is related to most of the town and everyone is incredibly nice. Viviana, his wife helped me clean my house, buy all my furniture, and she bargained to get me the cheapest prices possible because things are definitely more expensive here than in Bolivia but we still get paid the same. I couldn’t move into my house for a few days so they had me stay in their bed while they slept in their son’s room on an extra bed. Viviana fed me everyday, preparing delicious vegetarian meals when she found out I didn’t eat meat. It’s very typical here to be served chicken when you go to visit someone or for a special occasion and I’ve had to explain that I don’t eat chicken, which is pretty shocking to them and pretty hard to do when they’ve got the bird plucked and prepared and ready to cook especially for you. But they’ve been very understanding in preparing other food and now that I have my own kitchen I plan on sharing some good vegetarian dishes with them as well.

So my site, first of all it’s in the tropical campo (countryside) about an hour from Santo Domingo, and is about the same size as my site(s) in Bolivia. Ecuador is divided into 3 parts, the Orient which is basically jungle, the Sierra which is mountainous, and the Coast. So I am considered to be part of the coast even though the beach is about 2 or 3 hours away. My site is filled with pineapples, bananas and yucca. I basically eat some type of banana in some form at every meal or in between meals. I think at the end of my time here I will write an ode to the banana and enumerate all the ways it can be eaten. As far as work goes I’m meeting with the town’s “socios” (leaders in the community) to discuss the work possibilities. There was a volunteer working here for about 2 or 3 months but she hurt her knee and had to be medically separated. People here like to talk about her a lot and even though she is Pakistani and based on what I’ve heard completely different from me in almost every way, people sometimes call me by her name. It’s okay, I’m still in the settling in phase where you don’t quite feel like yourself, partly because there is no one who knows who you are. But little by little I get more comfortable here and people are getting to know me. After the experience in Bolivia I’m finding it hard to make long term plans. It’s like I’m scared that if I start planning things again it’s going to be taken away again. I’m really just trying to build the kind of relationships that I couldn’t have in Bolivia because of circumstances beyond my control. I like having my own house where I can have visitors and cook and goof around with the constantly curious children who come by. Starting over was even harder than I anticipated but I feel really lucky to be here because the people I’ve met, both Ecuadorian and the near-by volunteers, are incredibly helpful and supportive and I would be completely lost without them.

So that’s where I’m at for the moment: in my little house in the campo, fighting off the constant invasion of insects, visiting with my neighbors, watching telenovelas, going for long walks in the campo and text messaging other volunteers. It’s a strange life…but it’s all mine.