ET isn’t just a movie anymore… its now my status as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I made the very difficult decision this week to end my service as a volunteer in Ecuador and return home to the United States. ET = Early Termination.
Let me start by saying that in no way is my ET a reflection of Peace Corps, Ecuador, nor of the community in which I was living. My community is a peaceful place and the people here are great. Ecuador is a wonderful country and I am amazed daily by how beautiful it is. Definitely somewhere that I think people should visit. And the Peace Corps… I was continuously impressed by the service the organization provides not only to the people of the world, but also to its volunteers. Whatever issue a volunteer may have, there is someone on staff that can, and is willing to, help. It may just be one of the better run agencies of the US government :D.
So why ET? I can give you a hundred reasons that have gone through my head in the last couple of months. But it really comes down to three main reasons. 1) I’m not happy. I know all volunteers go through rough times, but I decided that in the long run, my happiness is more important than anything else. I promised myself that years ago, and I must stick with it. 2) My mom has been sick over the last couple of months and I feel the need to at least be back in the states in case anything happens; I can be in constant contact and be able to get home quickly. 3) I think the work volunteers do is great and I think not only PC volunteers, but those with all programs make great impacts in the communities they serve, and their work should never be overlooked. However, I think that for a lot of people in these communities, what they need more than a gringo coming in is for their government to step up and do its job. Many of these people are lacking basic services, including water and food. I think it’s the role of the government to provide these services and give their citizens a basic standard of living. And while I think volunteers can help in that, I think a role better suited for me is to work in the government sector, where my passion is, and help people from a different perspective. (This would be an appropriate time to remind you that these are my personal views, not those of Peace Corps or the US government.)
So what does that mean for me now? I’ll head back to South Dakota to spend time with my mom and the rest of my family and then eventually head back out to my true home, Washington. I plan to get back into the political field, although the job market really will determine in what aspect. After all, next year is an election year and it’s looking pretty good for the Democrats… so hopefully that will help in the search.
I wanted you to all hear this news straight from me as well as my reasons for leaving Ecuador, as we all know how gossip is spread so quickly. Thank you to everyone that has provided support to me over the last 3 months. Your kindness hasn’t gone unnoticed, I truly appreciate it. I look forward to seeing those of you in the states upon my return and I wish the best of luck to my fellow Omnibus 98’ers and the rest of the PC family.
Amor y Paz,
Stacie
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Another week, more futbol, a new illness.
The last week has been more of the same here in my site. Last weekend we had yet another inauguration of a community’s new electrical system. This time the community was further out into the rainforest, so I got to see more of the beautiful landscape of
Sunday afternoon I went for a run around town… and ended up stopping over at the “host family’s” house. My host sister was going to play basketball with some of her friends, so I joined her. Keep in mind that as a 5’9-
Sunday night I ended up sitting outside of my counterpart’s “Burguer”/restaurant and talking to him and his wife. At one point, we were sitting there when a man came over to say hello to my counterpart. My counterpart introduced me as a volunteer from the Cuerpo de Paz. This man went off about the
The most exciting part of my weekend was what happened after the Burguer closed. My counterpart, his wife, and some other people and I walked over to the park after they closed up the restaurant to watch part of a presentation that was in the park. We had been there for maybe 10 minutes when I started to feel a little sick, as if I needed to throw up. I was thinking of a way to excuse myself from the group so I could go home and be in peace, when it hit me. My stomach got really upset, I got really weak and a little jittery, my knees nearly gave out, my vision got blurry, and then left completely. Just in time, I was able to explain to my counterpart that I wasn’t feeling well, and grabbed his arm to stable myself. I got sat down on the curb, where I was a lot more stable. I still felt horrible, but at least at that point, if I‘d passed out, I would have had a shorter distance to fall. The mayor/my host dad came to pick me up in his car and brought me back to his house, where I was able to convince everyone that I didn’t need a doctor to come, but only after I had talked to the PC nurse and she told me just to get some sleep. I slept at my host family’s house (where the roosters still are out of control)… but woke up just as sick as I went to bed. At the advice of the PC nurse, I spent all of today at home in bed, having just recently gotten up and moved to the kitchen table. One thing I would never wish upon anyone… even people I really hated (and we know how I feel about that word)… is intestinal cramps. They are worst experience I have ever lived through. So it’s not an official disease like the amoebas were, but I think nearly fainting in the town’s central park should make the list of health-type experiences that I’ve lived through. So mark that one down, Melanie.
Now that I’ve been up for a couple 2 ½ hours… its time to finish up some research for work tomorrow… and then head back to bed. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll wake up refreshed and ready to start my week.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Address Correction, Important!
Hey everyone. Check your email for something from me... I forgot the ¨Ecuador, South America¨ part of the mailing address I sent out. This is actually kind of important for sending mail!
Also, if you find that your not getting the emails and you should be... check your SPAM folder. For some people, my emails have been going there.
Hope everything is well where you are at!
Hasta luego.
Stacie
Also, if you find that your not getting the emails and you should be... check your SPAM folder. For some people, my emails have been going there.
Hope everything is well where you are at!
Hasta luego.
Stacie
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The gringa shuffle
Last weekend I went to a community not far from mine that was inaugurating their new electricity that they have recently got. The first thing I noticed was that this community, out in the middle of the rainforest, had more cell phone service than my much bigger community. I thought that wasn’t fair. But that’s not the point. This inauguration celebration was a pretty typical Ecuadorian event. We sat around at first talking. I met some of the kids and they spent an hour asking me how to say words in English. Some of the community leaders gave speeches. I learned that this quest for electricity began back in 1977. They have been fighting for electricity for 30 years, unbelievable. There was the “yes, we know there is a gringa here, she’s with us and here’s her story… she’s not as sketchy as you may think” speech. Then there was lunch – soup, a pile of rice with a piece of chicken, a couple fried pieces of pork, and then a small small portion of tomatoes. Of course you can’t forget the plate of yucca in the center of the table for all to share. And the spoon. All meals are served with a spoon. One of my personal goals for the two years is to learn how to cut meat with a spoon… because its hard. But I digress.. However, an Ecuadorian gathering wouldn’t be complete without the liquor and beer. After lunch (3/4 of which I took home for future meals), they broke out the crates of beer and a drink they call leche del tigre (milk of the tiger). The beer was typical Pilsner (similar to PBR in the states, and the more popular of the two beers they have to offer here). The leche del tigre was a mixture of milk and rum. I was not a fan at all… and it seemed that many people didn’t enjoy it.. so the mystery remains on why they still drink it. When Ecuadorians start to drink though, they also start to dance. Being one of very few women that were not preparing/cleaning up from lunch, and being the token gringa in the group, all the men wanted to dance with me. Let’s clear one thing up: I can’t dance. Period. To music in the states, to music in Argentina, to music in the Sierra of Ecuador (okay, maybe I can do the campo shuffle—but really, who can’t?), nor to music in the Amazon of Ecuador. I love to listen to music, but I can’t find the rhythm with my body to save my life. Well let me tell you, the Ecuadorians LOVE it. They love how the white girl has no rhythm when all of them were born dancing. They also love that although I can’t dance, I still do dance. There were embarrassing pictures taken, there were funny looks and lots of laughing. But I was laughing right along with them. You can’t get your feelings hurt if you think it is just as funny as they do. So I made some new contacts and people in the community think I’m sociable and have a great attitude. One point for the gringa integration.
Saturday later-afternoon I was hanging out in the park reading when one of my co-workers came running though. She is/was part of a “indoor” futbol team that was playing that night. Turns out there is a little league that is set up. Her team was actually the muncipal’s team, so there were other people I knew playing. They were playing women from a community not far from here… and although we lost, they put up a tough fight. Two observations from the game: One: Indoor futbol doesn’t necessarily mean that its inside of a building… this game was played in the basketball court of the park. Maybe because it wasn’t on a regular field it was “indoor”? and Two: the women played with canvass shoes on and no guards of any kind. Maybe it’s just the culture, but ouch. And they wondered why their legs were covered in bruises by the end of the game.
The rest of my time is either spent in the office or integrating myself into the community. I haven’t been as good as I would like to be at “Whipping it out”… but I’m working on it. After the dancing event on Saturday, I have finally made good relations with the lady at one of the stores by the park. We had a good conversation as I was buying some of the basic necessities I needed to make dinner one night. I met a nun that lives in town when the lady at the pharmacy told me that she sells the medicine that the PC nurses sent me looking for. I didn’t realize that when the lady at the pharmacy said “hermanitas” (“sisters”) that she actually meant hermanitas as in nuns. Boy was that a surprise.
I went to the sub-centro de salud (clinic) today to introduce myself and give them the PC list of numbers in case there is an emergency. I’m hopefully going to be doing something with them during my time here… after all, I am a health volunteer. We’ll see when the director/head doctor comes back from his conference next week.
A few other thoughts:
**Alert the media: I have discovered the reason for the droughts in the US Midwest. The rainforest stole all the water. I can not even explain how much rain I have seen in the last 24 hours. Downpours that prevent you from seeing across the street… that last for hours. I’m not sure there has been a day that it hasn’t rained. You wake up to it, you go to work in it, you come home for lunch in it, and its still raining into the evening. I tried explaining to a couple of my coworkers this morning that people in my part of the US would do anything to have rain like this. That we have droughts which hurt the crops. One woman’s response was that people here know how lucky and special their country is for getting all the rain and how better their agriculture is because of it.
**I´m starting to believe that my community is more interested in getting me a husband and family during my two years than actually what I was sent here to do... I think it was something about health?
**I have banana trees in by backyard and chickens that run around everywhere. If you´re looking for the chicks, they are probably in my front yard. But the pig? You´ll have to walk behind all the banana trees.
Signing off from the jungle,
Stacie
Saturday later-afternoon I was hanging out in the park reading when one of my co-workers came running though. She is/was part of a “indoor” futbol team that was playing that night. Turns out there is a little league that is set up. Her team was actually the muncipal’s team, so there were other people I knew playing. They were playing women from a community not far from here… and although we lost, they put up a tough fight. Two observations from the game: One: Indoor futbol doesn’t necessarily mean that its inside of a building… this game was played in the basketball court of the park. Maybe because it wasn’t on a regular field it was “indoor”? and Two: the women played with canvass shoes on and no guards of any kind. Maybe it’s just the culture, but ouch. And they wondered why their legs were covered in bruises by the end of the game.
The rest of my time is either spent in the office or integrating myself into the community. I haven’t been as good as I would like to be at “Whipping it out”… but I’m working on it. After the dancing event on Saturday, I have finally made good relations with the lady at one of the stores by the park. We had a good conversation as I was buying some of the basic necessities I needed to make dinner one night. I met a nun that lives in town when the lady at the pharmacy told me that she sells the medicine that the PC nurses sent me looking for. I didn’t realize that when the lady at the pharmacy said “hermanitas” (“sisters”) that she actually meant hermanitas as in nuns. Boy was that a surprise.
I went to the sub-centro de salud (clinic) today to introduce myself and give them the PC list of numbers in case there is an emergency. I’m hopefully going to be doing something with them during my time here… after all, I am a health volunteer. We’ll see when the director/head doctor comes back from his conference next week.
A few other thoughts:
**Alert the media: I have discovered the reason for the droughts in the US Midwest. The rainforest stole all the water. I can not even explain how much rain I have seen in the last 24 hours. Downpours that prevent you from seeing across the street… that last for hours. I’m not sure there has been a day that it hasn’t rained. You wake up to it, you go to work in it, you come home for lunch in it, and its still raining into the evening. I tried explaining to a couple of my coworkers this morning that people in my part of the US would do anything to have rain like this. That we have droughts which hurt the crops. One woman’s response was that people here know how lucky and special their country is for getting all the rain and how better their agriculture is because of it.
**I´m starting to believe that my community is more interested in getting me a husband and family during my two years than actually what I was sent here to do... I think it was something about health?
**I have banana trees in by backyard and chickens that run around everywhere. If you´re looking for the chicks, they are probably in my front yard. But the pig? You´ll have to walk behind all the banana trees.
Signing off from the jungle,
Stacie
Friday, September 7, 2007
The first week in site...
I arrived Monday evening to my site after traveling for 24 hours. My host mom offered to pick me up from Loja, which is about 5 hours on a bus from Santa Ana (I think that’s what I decided to call my site… alas, it is now). I was so happy to not have to take another bus, especially with all of my suitcases that I jumped at the offer. The 5 hours by bus turned into 9 by truck. We stopped in Zamora, the capital of my province to do some work at the provincial Department of Education. My host dad happened to be passing though Zamora after doing some work in another city, so he hooked up with us as well. We then had lunch, more work, and finally, hours later, we headed out. However, as I woke up from one of my numerous naps in the truck (if you know me at all, I can’t stay awake ever, especially in moving vehicles) I realized that we were arriving in a community that is about an hour drive from my site, the community I went to visit in August. Unfortunately, the volunteer that lives in this community was on his way to Quito when I called him, so we weren’t able to meet up. Finally, we arrived in my site. I was so excited to be there that about an hour after arriving, I was already in bed.
The last couple of days have been pretty good. My counterpart is on vacation this week, so I don’t have much to actually do around the office and we’ve been unable to actually plan what my goals should be. I’m having a meeting on Friday with the health promoters to discuss what topics they want me to support them with and work out a schedule for when I will be traveling with them to the outside communities. Then on Monday I will have a meeting with my counterpart and discuss these plans and solidify what my job will actually entail. But because none of this has happened yet, I have essentially been hanging around the office; awkwardly sitting by people and making them talk to me and using the internet whenever no one is on the one computer in the office that has access. The question that remains to be answered… is now me, of all people, got the job that starts at 7:30am? All municipal employees show up for work at 7:30am, break at 12:30pm for lunch, return at 2pm and then leave for the day at 5:30pm.
Outside of work time, I have successfully been the awkward gringa. My omnibus has the motto: “Whip it out… and get some”, which referred to being outgoing, going up to people and introducing ourselves (A Texas university, Texas A&M maybe, uses this motto and apparently everyone knows everyone and school spirit is extremely high. Our trainer went to this school so is all about it.). Let me tell you, Whipping it Out is harder than it seems. Not only am I complete stranger to these people, but I’m also a foreigner, and I also lack the ability to speak their language with fluidly. Add to that the fact that I am shy… and well, we don’t have much whipping it out happening. I’m working on it. I know it will take some time, but eventually I will integrate into this community and people will like me, because, well, how could they not?
One point of information, I don’t have cell phone service in my site unless I’m standing on the roof of my house (which, don’t happen all that often, surprisingly). We’re suppose to be getting a tower “ya mismo”… but I’m not holding my breath. A language/cultural lesson (this is 1/3 of the PC mission... for me to tell you about the culture here)… Ya mismo can roughly translates to mean already/right now/soon. In Ecuadorian culture (and maybe other Spanish speaking countries, I’m not sure)… it actually means sometime in the future. Mix these together and you could reasonably assume it means sometime in the near future. So theoretically we should have cell phone service in the next month or two. Well, if you reasonably assumed this, you would be wrong, at least partially. Ya mismo here in Ecuador means anything ranging from five minutes from now to never happening (or at least happening so far in the future that we’re around to see it). So ya mismo we’ll have cell phone service could mean that we’ll have it by the end of the year, by the end of my service here, or by the time my grandkids are born. So I’m hoping for a shorter time, but I’m not holding my breath.
The question I leave you with is this: How does one dry her clothes on an outdoor clothesline when she lives in the rainforest and it rains at least twice a day? (It’s a question I must propose to someone here soon… I’m running out of clean clothes and my clothes just won’t get dry on the clothesline.)
The last couple of days have been pretty good. My counterpart is on vacation this week, so I don’t have much to actually do around the office and we’ve been unable to actually plan what my goals should be. I’m having a meeting on Friday with the health promoters to discuss what topics they want me to support them with and work out a schedule for when I will be traveling with them to the outside communities. Then on Monday I will have a meeting with my counterpart and discuss these plans and solidify what my job will actually entail. But because none of this has happened yet, I have essentially been hanging around the office; awkwardly sitting by people and making them talk to me and using the internet whenever no one is on the one computer in the office that has access. The question that remains to be answered… is now me, of all people, got the job that starts at 7:30am? All municipal employees show up for work at 7:30am, break at 12:30pm for lunch, return at 2pm and then leave for the day at 5:30pm.
Outside of work time, I have successfully been the awkward gringa. My omnibus has the motto: “Whip it out… and get some”, which referred to being outgoing, going up to people and introducing ourselves (A Texas university, Texas A&M maybe, uses this motto and apparently everyone knows everyone and school spirit is extremely high. Our trainer went to this school so is all about it.). Let me tell you, Whipping it Out is harder than it seems. Not only am I complete stranger to these people, but I’m also a foreigner, and I also lack the ability to speak their language with fluidly. Add to that the fact that I am shy… and well, we don’t have much whipping it out happening. I’m working on it. I know it will take some time, but eventually I will integrate into this community and people will like me, because, well, how could they not?
One point of information, I don’t have cell phone service in my site unless I’m standing on the roof of my house (which, don’t happen all that often, surprisingly). We’re suppose to be getting a tower “ya mismo”… but I’m not holding my breath. A language/cultural lesson (this is 1/3 of the PC mission... for me to tell you about the culture here)… Ya mismo can roughly translates to mean already/right now/soon. In Ecuadorian culture (and maybe other Spanish speaking countries, I’m not sure)… it actually means sometime in the future. Mix these together and you could reasonably assume it means sometime in the near future. So theoretically we should have cell phone service in the next month or two. Well, if you reasonably assumed this, you would be wrong, at least partially. Ya mismo here in Ecuador means anything ranging from five minutes from now to never happening (or at least happening so far in the future that we’re around to see it). So ya mismo we’ll have cell phone service could mean that we’ll have it by the end of the year, by the end of my service here, or by the time my grandkids are born. So I’m hoping for a shorter time, but I’m not holding my breath.
The question I leave you with is this: How does one dry her clothes on an outdoor clothesline when she lives in the rainforest and it rains at least twice a day? (It’s a question I must propose to someone here soon… I’m running out of clean clothes and my clothes just won’t get dry on the clothesline.)
Sunday, September 2, 2007
From Quito...
It’s official: I’m a Peace Corps Volunteer.
On Tuesday morning I headed to Quito to begin a week of meetings. The best thing about being in Quito is the fact that they have non-Ecuadorian food. It is nice to have something else to eat besides rice and potatoes. Throughout the week we ate Indian, Mexican, and really good American food. Sure, it’s more expensive than typical Ecuadorian food...but really, it was worth every penny. Both Saturday and Sunday morning we went out for American breakfast… pancakes, omlettes, bacon, etc… I was so full that I was uncomfortable for most of the day.
Anyway, Friday was the swearing-in ceremony for Omnibus 98 -- Peace Corps Ecuador now has 45 new volunteers. The actual ceremony was held at the residence of the US Ambassador… which is really nice. She (the ambassador) reminded us that whenever we are in Quito, we, as PC Volunteers, have access to the swimming pool and tennis courts that are there. You better believe that I’ll be hitting that up when I get a chance. After the ceremony we had a reception which included bagels, another exciting and rare food (why is this whole entry about the food??) As a tradition, the training group that is sworn in throws a party for not only themselves, but for all the volunteers that come up to Quito for the occasion. We went a really cute bar and had a lot of fun. From what I’ve heard, the other volunteers enjoyed it. By 4:30am we decided that it was time to head home, as we had to be up early enough to make brunch.
With each group that swears in as volunteers, 3 members of that group are elected to be members of the Volunteer Advisory Committee. I was one of the members selected from my group. I’m actually really excited for this… having an active role in the Peace Corps, in addition to my actual work in my community. The committee holds meetings a couple times a year in Quito… which will get me out of the south of the country once and a while.
Tonight (in about 4 ½ hours)… I get on a bus to head to the community where I’ll spend the next two years. I’ll get there tomorrow afternoon, after nearly 20 hours on a bus. While I’m not looking forward to the bus ride, I am really excited to get to my community and start the integration process. There is a lot of paperwork I have to complete for PC in the first couple of weeks… so really I’m going to be busy with that. I did find out, however, that the city that I have to go to to check my mail (snail mail) is only 3 hours away instead of 5… so that’s pretty exciting. A trip every couple of weeks to the city will be plenty.
I’m off now to finish packing my bags and then meet up with the other girls I’m traveling the first 13 hours with. We’ll see how this goes. I have all of the stuff that I packed 3 months ago plus everything I’ve accumulated over the months to carry without assistance through a scary bus terminal. Wish me luck.
P.S…. I posted some new pictures on facebook yesterday… so check them out!
On Tuesday morning I headed to Quito to begin a week of meetings. The best thing about being in Quito is the fact that they have non-Ecuadorian food. It is nice to have something else to eat besides rice and potatoes. Throughout the week we ate Indian, Mexican, and really good American food. Sure, it’s more expensive than typical Ecuadorian food...but really, it was worth every penny. Both Saturday and Sunday morning we went out for American breakfast… pancakes, omlettes, bacon, etc… I was so full that I was uncomfortable for most of the day.
Anyway, Friday was the swearing-in ceremony for Omnibus 98 -- Peace Corps Ecuador now has 45 new volunteers. The actual ceremony was held at the residence of the US Ambassador… which is really nice. She (the ambassador) reminded us that whenever we are in Quito, we, as PC Volunteers, have access to the swimming pool and tennis courts that are there. You better believe that I’ll be hitting that up when I get a chance. After the ceremony we had a reception which included bagels, another exciting and rare food (why is this whole entry about the food??) As a tradition, the training group that is sworn in throws a party for not only themselves, but for all the volunteers that come up to Quito for the occasion. We went a really cute bar and had a lot of fun. From what I’ve heard, the other volunteers enjoyed it. By 4:30am we decided that it was time to head home, as we had to be up early enough to make brunch.
With each group that swears in as volunteers, 3 members of that group are elected to be members of the Volunteer Advisory Committee. I was one of the members selected from my group. I’m actually really excited for this… having an active role in the Peace Corps, in addition to my actual work in my community. The committee holds meetings a couple times a year in Quito… which will get me out of the south of the country once and a while.
Tonight (in about 4 ½ hours)… I get on a bus to head to the community where I’ll spend the next two years. I’ll get there tomorrow afternoon, after nearly 20 hours on a bus. While I’m not looking forward to the bus ride, I am really excited to get to my community and start the integration process. There is a lot of paperwork I have to complete for PC in the first couple of weeks… so really I’m going to be busy with that. I did find out, however, that the city that I have to go to to check my mail (snail mail) is only 3 hours away instead of 5… so that’s pretty exciting. A trip every couple of weeks to the city will be plenty.
I’m off now to finish packing my bags and then meet up with the other girls I’m traveling the first 13 hours with. We’ll see how this goes. I have all of the stuff that I packed 3 months ago plus everything I’ve accumulated over the months to carry without assistance through a scary bus terminal. Wish me luck.
P.S…. I posted some new pictures on facebook yesterday… so check them out!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
And it´s all ending... and beginning at the same time.
This week has been pretty typical of Peace Corps training. We spent most of our time in our training community in Spanish classes. We were studying the subjunctive and even worse: the imperfect subjunctive. The English language does not utilize this form very often and I sure don’t remember learning it in any English class that I took in all my years of school. This makes it even more difficult to study in another language because there isn’t a simple translation to clarify things. Regardless… slowly but surely the concept is making sense. Now if only I could use it without great difficulties in daily conversation. We also watched a Mexican movie, “Cicatrices” (“Scars”). This movie discusses domestic violence. Essentially, the man beats the woman, the woman uses self defense, files for divorce, the couple’s child rides his bike off the house’s roof, cracks his head open and dies, the couple gets divorced, the man turns to god and changes himself, the couple gets back together, and the movie ends with the woman getting pregnant. The reaction of my training group to this movie was overall negative. The issue of domestic violence is real here in Ecuador, as it is in the US and all parts of the world. The message this movie gives is that even though a man beats his wife, over time he can change and everything will be fine. While that would be nice, and ideal, it’s not reality. Most abusive relationships do not end like this. 800 million women lose their lives as a result of abusive relationships, often at the hands of their spouse/boyfriend/whoever. The worst part is that this movie is shown in schools to young kids to discuss domestic violence.
Friday was our last day of our technical training. We learned about Community Assessment Tools (CAT tools). For once in my life… it seems like part of my $200,000 GW education is going to be put into practical use. Essentially I will be observing and conducting interviews in my community in order to gather data about the community both for their information and also to assist the work that I will be doing over the years. As we were discussing the tools, all I could think about was sitting in PSC 104, Research Methods, thinking how useless it was to learn most of the techniques for collecting data and the like. Now I’m actually really excited to collect this information, produce a report, and then present about it when the omnibus gets together again in January. It will also be nice, 2 years from now, to be able to show potential employers that in addition to the direct work I did in my community, I learned a skill that can legitimately be transferred to work in the political sector.
The highlight of my week quite possibly could be the fact I received a care package from my mom. In addition to the practical stuff that I had requested, she sent me pictures of home (some from graduation… but also literally of our house, so I won’t forget what home looks like J). Best of all though were the Swedish Fish and Reese’s Pieces. It’s not that the candy here isn’t good… it is… but there is nothing like the comfort foods from home. It took me hours to even consider opening a package of candy… because it is so special I don’t want to waste them. Oh how priorities have changed over the months.
So here we are… the week that we’ve been working so hard for. Week 10. Tuesday we leave for Quito. Friday is swearing-in. Sunday I leave for my site in order to get there by Monday afternoon. And then I’ll finally be settled. In addition to my work in the community, providing technical assistance in the area of health, there are two other sections of the Peace Corps mission. One includes improving the understanding of other people and cultures on the part of Americans and the other includes improving the understanding of American culture on the part of other people. These are the part of the mission that people often don’t know or forget about, but the part that I am excited to perform the most. Not many people can discount the fact that the image of the US on the part of the world as a whole is not the best. People often get the wrong idea about the US as a result of our government’s foreign policy over the years. As a result, it is important to inform and educate the world that the people of the US are not necessarily representative of the government in all aspects. But in addition to that, I believe that the people of the US (as a generalization, not everyone) are ignorant to the people and cultures of the rest of the world. By me sharing my experience and other volunteers sharing their experiences, we can only hope to educated the people of the US of the huge world we live in and how (in my opinion) all people and all cultures have something to share to the world as a whole.
So there’s that. The next update will probably be coming from Quito, after I’m officially a volunteer. Keep an eye out for an email from me this week with my new contact information. If you don’t get it, shoot me an email and I’ll make sure to forward it to you.
Friday was our last day of our technical training. We learned about Community Assessment Tools (CAT tools). For once in my life… it seems like part of my $200,000 GW education is going to be put into practical use. Essentially I will be observing and conducting interviews in my community in order to gather data about the community both for their information and also to assist the work that I will be doing over the years. As we were discussing the tools, all I could think about was sitting in PSC 104, Research Methods, thinking how useless it was to learn most of the techniques for collecting data and the like. Now I’m actually really excited to collect this information, produce a report, and then present about it when the omnibus gets together again in January. It will also be nice, 2 years from now, to be able to show potential employers that in addition to the direct work I did in my community, I learned a skill that can legitimately be transferred to work in the political sector.
The highlight of my week quite possibly could be the fact I received a care package from my mom. In addition to the practical stuff that I had requested, she sent me pictures of home (some from graduation… but also literally of our house, so I won’t forget what home looks like J). Best of all though were the Swedish Fish and Reese’s Pieces. It’s not that the candy here isn’t good… it is… but there is nothing like the comfort foods from home. It took me hours to even consider opening a package of candy… because it is so special I don’t want to waste them. Oh how priorities have changed over the months.
So here we are… the week that we’ve been working so hard for. Week 10. Tuesday we leave for Quito. Friday is swearing-in. Sunday I leave for my site in order to get there by Monday afternoon. And then I’ll finally be settled. In addition to my work in the community, providing technical assistance in the area of health, there are two other sections of the Peace Corps mission. One includes improving the understanding of other people and cultures on the part of Americans and the other includes improving the understanding of American culture on the part of other people. These are the part of the mission that people often don’t know or forget about, but the part that I am excited to perform the most. Not many people can discount the fact that the image of the US on the part of the world as a whole is not the best. People often get the wrong idea about the US as a result of our government’s foreign policy over the years. As a result, it is important to inform and educate the world that the people of the US are not necessarily representative of the government in all aspects. But in addition to that, I believe that the people of the US (as a generalization, not everyone) are ignorant to the people and cultures of the rest of the world. By me sharing my experience and other volunteers sharing their experiences, we can only hope to educated the people of the US of the huge world we live in and how (in my opinion) all people and all cultures have something to share to the world as a whole.
So there’s that. The next update will probably be coming from Quito, after I’m officially a volunteer. Keep an eye out for an email from me this week with my new contact information. If you don’t get it, shoot me an email and I’ll make sure to forward it to you.
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