The Good, The Bad, and the Smelly

Adjusting to life in Ecuador this time around has been somewhat complicated by the fact that in the week that I've been here, I've slept in three different places already. The plan was to leave for the coast, where I'll be spending most of my time, on Tuesday night. On Sunday afternoon, while I was home for a few minutes before running out the door again, I checked my email to find that my colleague thought it would be better if we left on Monday morning... at 7. So I spent the evening in a bit of a panic trying to pack my things and figure out what to do with the stuff I didn't want to bring with me.

After about 8 hours and two buses, we arrive in Estero de Plátano. We spent three days there meeting with people and basically giving me a chance to learn the ropes a bit. The community only has 600 people, so getting to know people was pretty easy. Having lived in Ecuador before, staying with families and visiting the houses of Ecuadorian friends, I thought that I had a pretty good idea of how people lived in Ecuador. It turns out that I was wrong about that. The community of Estero de Plátano is much poorer than I had realized. Although people have electricity, most houses don't have indoor plumbing. While I was there, I stayed with a family and showered outside with a hose. It wasn't too bad for 3 days, but I have to admit that I am a little anxious about doing that for 3 weeks... There is no doubt in my mind that I will be smelly cat most of the time.

Although I do have reservations, I think staying in the community is going to be a really great experience and very different than anything I've ever done before. In such a small place, it's much easier to integrate into the community and I found myself spending every afternoon playing with a flock of children. There's nothing to make you feel welcome like children yelling in joy as you walk up the street. I know that I will have to be very patient with the work that I'm going to try to do, but I think that as long as I keep my expectations realistic that everything will work out.

I'm back in Quito now for the week. I'm abundantly happy to have access to real coffee and showers, although the hostel does feel a little lonely after living with a family. I'm actually a bit sick though, so having some time to recuperate is probably a good thing...

In other news, I had planned on going to visit friends in Baños, perhaps the most lovely town in the world, this weekend. I had to reschedule for next weekend though when I found out that the volcano there was erupting. Just another day in Ecuador...

I'm not scared...

I left rainy Kansas yesterday, traveled for 12 hours or so and arrived safely in rainy Quito. After all of my airport pick-up planning fell through, I ended up taking a taxi from the airport. As I expected, my taxi driver tried to rip me off. There's nothing that will bring your Spanish skills back faster than haggling over $2, or so it seems.

As I try to connect with old friends, I'm remembering the difference between Ecuador time and US time. For example, I was supposed to meet someone for drinks at 8:00 tonight. 8:00 meaning 9:30, apparently. While I wasn't waiting in vain for people to arrive on time, I was able to get the low down on Estero de Plátano, which is where I'll be spending most of my time trying to teach sex ed.

It turns out that the health center in Estero doesn't provide condoms, nor does it offer STI testing. This puts a bit of a kink in my plan. I imagine it will be a little difficult to encourage people to use condoms and make sure to be periodically tested for STIs if there isn't actually a way to do that... It looks like I'll be getting creative this summer. In addition to that little snag, I also periodically freak out in my head when I remember that this community is an hour from the nearest town with internet access and that no one there speaks English. Did I mention I'll be there by myself? But let's not forget the upside! The town is on the beach, a clear advantage over everywhere else I've ever lived. And my Spanish is going to be ludicrously good when I leave.

I hadn't realized how much I had forgotten about Ecuadorian life, so here is a brief list of things that gave me a mild surprise:
-toilet paper goes in the trash, not in the toilet
-kissing on the cheek, not shaking hands
-just because something is on the menu does not mean that it is actually available
-navigating the porta/movistar cell phone world... (the office uses Porta, my friends all have Movi... and if you haven't lived in Ecuador you won't get this one, sorry)
-15 minutes = 45 minutes to an hour
-everyone is dressed better than I am

La Gringa Vuelva!

After a bit of consideration, I have decided to resurrect my blog given that I'm headed back to Ecuador next week. Lucky you!

This time I'm going to be attempting to start an HIV prevention program in a small (think 600 people) town on the coast. So picture me, straight-laced Mennonite that I am, explaining safe sex to a room full of teenagers. In Spanish. In a community where sexual education is about as foreign as eating guinea pigs. Well, actually eating guinea pigs isn't that foreign to them. But it seemed like a good comparison at the time.

I'll only be there for three months this time before heading back to the insanity of grad school. Three months of beach livin' for college credit? Yes, please. Who wouldn't take on sex ed under those circumstances?

So stay tuned to the adventures of your favorite gringa. I anticipate lots of things getting lost in translation, which is always funny... although not always at the time.