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...