Sippin on some syzurp

Hey friends and family. Ross here. Have you ever felt like you were a tourist for about 8 months straight? That is what I am starting to feel like. I know I am not really a tourist and that I live here, but whenever I visit other places, people always tell me welcome to Ecuador and then try to speak to me in broken English. At first, I would get a little upset and try to explain to the person that I am living here and that I have a job in this country. Now, I kind of play along. I have found out it is more fun to replying to there statements in English. They either think it is really funny or just look really confused. I mean they are yelling at me in another language and I am returning thoughts to them in my native language. All of a sudden, they are bilingual. I don’t know if this is mean or nice, but it helps me pass the time.

Also, I have been returning all the “hey you” and “gringo comments” by just simply saying “hey you” back. It is pretty awesome and most of the people in my community find it comical. Sometimes it seems to like a game to Ecuadorians. They are all trying to see if they can say something to me and have me understand. The best thing I have seen/heard was about two weeks ago when I was on a bus back to my site from Quito a random dude ran on the bus I was riding looked at me and shouted good morning pollo. He then smiled and darted away from the bus. He simply said good morning chicken to me, but he had forgotten to translate the pollo part into English.

So what has been happening lately in the Ecuador world you might be asking? Well, about a month ago I went to what I would like to call I minor freak out when my counterpart was put into the hospital in Guayaquil. All of a sudden I could not understand Spanish and people were just telling me the worst things about his conditions. Don’t worry though, it was just a minor freak out. Today, he rode his bike to work. He is doing much better even though he claims he is only mas o menos.
After the freak out, I went to reconnect. It is like a conference/reunion thingy. All I know is it was the GREATEST week of my life. You get my drift right. What else? I have been back in the Municipio for some time now and they will give me the dinero for my project, but they want me to change my project. Instead of making a tree nursery, they want me to buy 18,000 trees from another tree nursery and then teach people in the community how to plant them. I am gonna try and talk them back into the nursery idea, but hey, at least there is money to do something. I think the next project that I will work on will be a garbage separation project. I want to teach the people in this city how to separate organic and inorganic garbage and then have the Municipio pick up each type on separate trips. This way, we can make compost in a large scale next to the landfill. This will greatly effect the amount of garbage in the landfill because right now about 80% of it is organic. We would also then have good dirt to give away. I have basically been in a brainstorming coma for the past two weeks. I got plans and it is just a matter of translating these English thoughts into Spanish activities. I think I can.

So I am planning on coming home for Christmas still, I am gonna try and buy a plane ticket this week. Lets hope it is reasonable. I will let yall know exact dates asap. I hope everyone is doing good and again, I miss most of you…ok all of you.

I´m so cold

The life of a volunteer is a tough one. I would compare myself to those little kids that worked in the coalmines back in the day. I am developing black lung and there is not much hope for survival……..yeah that’s another lie. I would compare my life to a mix of the movies lost in translation and that airport movie with tom hanks, oh and animal house.

So now you know that I have it pretty good. I have been keeping somewhat busy lately. I am not really sure what is keeping me busy, but I have not been bored. I kind of have a routine now, but I should probably switch it up some. I get up go to work, eat, relax, and sleep. It varies somewhat day to day, but I usually find the time do to all that. Tough, I know. I am getting good at water cooler talk at work. We seriously sometimes just hang out around a water cooler and talk. They are usually trying to get me to be inappropriate, and I usually try to do something stupid without them knowing that I know that I am doing it. It brings a good laugh.

As for the future, I have been preparing a presentation for my community for the past few months. The presentation is about what I have learned just by living here and potential projects that are possible for the future. My counterpart and I will be presenting this information to Peace Corps in a couple of weeks at a giant meeting/training/get together. It should be fun. Also, next week is the fiestas of my city, dun dun dun. I am imaging music blaring for 3 days straight along with people drinking in the street for 3 days straight. I will probably hang pretty low. I might go out one night and see what the big deal is, but hanging low seems to be the plan. Other than that, everything is just happening and I am taking as much in as possible. I really do have the best life ever right now. I like it, even though sometimes things get tough. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow has to bring. Party.

Fire, water, burn

Well, well, well. Some things have been going on since my last post, not much. It has been very hectic since my last post. Let me see. The bank in town was robbed and someone got away with $150,000. That’s like a bagillion dollars here in Ecuador. Something very sad did happen, one of the people that I am working with passed away from a car accident. I went to the funeral and stood by everyone, it was very unexpected and sad. He will be missed by the community. The funeral was different than the states, but I really don’t want to get into it. It was a weird time.

I did go to Quito to take care of some business. Nothing too much there, but last weekend I went to Puerto Lopez for a day and a half. It was very beautiful. I had the opportunity to go fishing and caught like 8 fish. I don’t want to brag but I did catch the biggest fish. Some other people that were there did catch some giant sea turtles on accident, but don’t worry they were released unscathed. They were not even pulled out of the water. I then saw some whales and did a little snorkel action. There is an island that is close to Puerto Lopez, which is supposedly like a baby Galapagos. I did not have the time or money to check that place out, but I do think I will be regresandoing, that’s Spanglish for returning. The island is definitely in my future. I really liked it and kind of wish I was a little closer to the actual coast. I mean I live in the coastal region, but the actual coast is so far away. It’s all good though.

I am really not sure what to do right now. The man who passed away was going to help me with presenting my project to the mayor, but now I got to figure something out. I think I am going to bring in a new idea about putting trashcans all over the city. I don’t have enough time right now to get the tree nursery started before the wet season. I think two types of trashcans would be a good idea, organic and inorganic. After we have some of the garbage separated, we can maybe start a giant composting project near the landfill. These are just ideas, I don’t know, I just don’t know. Haha. Anyway, mom and dad if you are reading this, you need to by your tickets to come visit me and let me know the exact dates. Also, since I am somewhat bored I will finish this post with a list of things I want yall to bring me.

1. My playstation 2 with all the games they can find. You can take the games out of the cases and put them in a cd folder. A giant cd folder could be great considering I buy dvd’s like a mad man. Oh, and a sharpee.
2. Beef jerky or some means of making jerky. My counterpart will be impressed with this. I gave him beef jerky a couple months ago and he freaked out. Since then, every time he meets a new American, he asks them for beef jerky. It’s strange, but funny.
3. A book on how to make beer and some freeze-dried hops. I understand if you do not want to bring this, I will just buy it when I return. But seriously, buy this. I need to make an IPA.
4. Books, books, and books. I look books about baseball, zombies, super heroes, biographies, etc. I will read pretty much anything. Don’t bring a bible mom, cause I already got one.
5. I need a new external hard drive. Mine has bit the dust. Just get one that is cheap and mac compatible. Also, the smaller the size of the actual hard drive, the better it will be for me.
6. Shoes – I wear size 12.
7. Any hobby that seems like it could be time consuming.
8. A textbook about reforestation would be great. You could probably go on amazon.com and buy a used one for really cheap.
9. A sense of humor and the ability to deal with patience.
10. Camo hat
11. A bunch of peanut butter, like a crap load of it.
12. Jalapeños??????? Maybe just jalapeño seeds.
13. Socks, I love new socks.
14. Old magazines. Seriously this would be awesome. Like sports magazines. Yeah sports magazines. Good idea ross.
15. I am sure there will be other things I want, and I am pretty sure that I am a spoiled brat. Hopefully this brat gets all he wants.

Hiyo

What up? So it has been a while since I last posted, but I assure things are going good. I have been typing my butt off and trying to get my reforestation project started. It is all about presentation here at the municipio. I am still learning of course. Lately, I have either thought my Spanish is awesome or the worst ever. Never in the middle it is weird. I either no exactly what to say or what is being said, or I don’t. It is all good though, I am not that awkward about anything anymore. I have come to accept that I am that token foreign guy and there is nothing I can do about that. I will never really fit into Ecuadorian culture; no matter how many soccer jerseys I buy. I mean I have a giant red beard, I am 6’1, and did I mention that I was white. I still love it though.

This past weekend I got to go to Guayaquil (the biggest city in Ecuador) to look for a bike. I did find some awesome bikes, but left empty handed. I was able to buy some Lacoste tshirts for 5 dollars and every episode of Entourage and Planet Earth. I also attended my first soccer game ever. Barcelona vs. Olmedo. It was really awesome. The stadium was like the biggest ever of course I was the only white person there. It was normal and awesome. I also had the opportunity this past weekend to eat at not only taco bell, but also dunkin donuts. I love America.

These next few weeks should be filled with something, I just don’t know what yet. Oh, I forgot to mention, they are putting another volunteer at my site in the middle of August. I met her on her site visit here, and sure enough she is from Austin. That makes 3 people in the area from Austin. That means there are only two other people in the area that are not from Austin. Qué mas? Nothing more really. Everything is the same here and I hope everyone back in the states is doing good. Ok, later.

So what has been the craziest thing you have seen at you site

As of late I am starting to regret this whole Peace Corps thing. I am very dipressed and I want to go home??.yeah I am just joking. Everything is going great. My managers from Peace Corps came to my site yesterday for a site visit. I am supposed to have two site visits while I am here. I didn?t get much feedback but I think I am on somewhat of the right track. I introduced them to the people I work with here at the Municipio. So I am all good on that front. My parents are in Canada or Alaska or something right now and I hope they are having a great time. I received a package from them yesterday. It only took like a month to get it. It had beef jerky in it, I was very impressed.

In the next few weeks I hope to get underway on my cities tree nursery. After many talks with different people, I think I am going to give in and allow them to use bamboo in our reforestation project. It may be invasive, but they need a fast growing plant right along the edge of the river. One of the Peace Corps managers said that bamboo would be great for that. This should be a pretty big project and I am looking forward to getting started on it. I have to write a proposal for the Municipio and get it approved by the higher-ups. Wish me luck.

On a bit of a different not, the 4th of July is coming up and I am in a different country. It is ok though, I plan on celebrating by playing with fire, drinking Budweiser, and eating Mexican Food. It will be different, but I still think I am having more fun than yall. Just kidding, I hope yall are having just as good a time as me. Ok, take it easy, and don?t party too hard this weekend. Later.

Yeah it´s Thursday

Hey dudes. Lately has either been really in your face or a lot of watching movies. By this I mean, I have either been super busy or doing nothing at all. For example, Last Saturday I had to give a charla (lecture) to a group of about 50 adults on the different types of basura (trash). It was my first charla and therefore, kinda scary. In the middle of the question and answers portion, I had to sit down. I was a little nervous/dehydrated. It was all good though, the group I gave the talk to asked me to come back and give them more information on environmental stuff. It is pretty tight. They even said that they would make me some ceviche. That Saturday night was a reina competition. This is basically a beauty pageant to pick the queen of Emplame. I don?t really know what was going on during the whole thing. From what I gathered, the reason they have this event is so people can sell food and beer. I was forced into drinking beer with some dudes til around 1:30 in the morning. The competition wasn?t over, but I was so tired and scared of what might happen if I kept hanging out. It turns out the competition didn?t end until around 4am. Crazy I know.

The next day I went to a town called La Mana that has some cascadas (waterfalls) nearby. I saw 7 waterfalls that day with two of my friends that live close by. It was really sweet. One of the waterfalls was like 100 meters high. I jumped off of it?..just kidding mom. The waterfall I jumped off of was only like 30 feet high. Don?t worry though the water doesn?t have a bottom. I am convinced that it is actually an abyss. Another highlight from this day is that we made sandwiches with cheese that kinda tasted like cheddar. The meat tasted like deli chicken, but was called Jamon de Pollo, which translates to Ham of Chicken. I don?t know really what it is supposed to mean.

Since then I have mostly been watching movies. I finished a bunch of work plans for my counterpart. Oh and I put some dirt in some bags. It was a highlight. Next week is probably going to be crazy. It is my town?s citywide dance. I am not sure, but I think it is going to trump the reina competition. This is going to be tough to do considering the reina competition had a stage similar to a stage you would see at say?.. The Austin City Limits Festival equipped with two giant tv screens on each side, an extremely loud sound system, and a water fountain in the middle of the stage for the contestants to walk around. It is gonna be dope I am sure. The city even made the next day a holiday. They gave the holiday some significance for some famous person, but my counterpart told me it is the day of the hangover. Don?t worry I wont participate in that part mom.

Oh, the fourth of July is coming up. I think me and some of my friends are gonna get together and drink some budweisers. That seems pretty American. Alright, well yall stay cool and I will say wutsup later.

I have been showering lately. Well when I feel dirty.

These past weeks have been full of stuff. I am not sure if it has been productive stuff, but at least its stuff. I don?t know if I let yall know, but I finished all of my interviews in my community like 2 weeks ago. It is kind of crazy because everyone else I have talked to is not even close to being done. Oh well, my counterpart was really eager to get these out of the way.
I have been watching a lot of movies and tv shows lately. I recently went on a spending spree and spent about 30 dollars on media. This may not seem like a lot to most of you, but here in Ecuador this is 30 dvds. It is pretty awesome. I even bought Iron Man 2 like the day after it was released in theatres. So I guess my habits are about the same here as they were in the states. I still watch movies and play video games in my spare time. I am still waiting to get a bicycle and guitar and then things will be almost back to normal.
Also for the past two weeks I have waited for what seemed forever to use the internet here at the municipio (municipality). It turns out I wasn?t waiting on anything. We were just given wrong information and asked the wrong people to use the internet. Anyway, I finally got to use the internet yesterday. I got mucho information about reforestation and have almost finished my general plan for the project. I say general plan, because I know for a fact that I will run into many problems and have to change some of the stuff quite a bit. I hope it?s a sustainable project though. I hope my community isn?t just depending on my to do the project, but they also take an interest and participate in it.

I have been at my site for like a month and a half almost. That means, in another month and a half I will be done with host families. I can get my own apartment. This will be great. I will be able to cook for myself and take care of everything on my own again. I can start eating dinner when I want to eat it. Right now I eat dinner around like 9pm because that?s when my family likes to eat dinner. I won?t have to share my living quarters with an office. It will be nice freedom. I can?t wait.

My parents are planning on coming in October. This should also be awesome. I get to plan what we are going to do. I am also planning on making a trip back to Texas for like a week in December around Christmas. Oh, the thought of eating Mexican Food and drinking Lone Star and Shiner. I will try to keep everyone posted on when I make my return and want to try to see as many people as possible. Also, if anyone wants to come to Ecuador, it is not a problem. Everything here is super cheap. A 10 hour bus ride is like 10 bucks. A hotel room is like 7 bucks a person. It is all good. Meals are between $1.50 and $3.00. There is tons of hiking and awesome stuff to do. Anyway let me know. I miss everyone and will post soon. Luego.