Cipro: My new best friend

When I decided to resurrect my blog, I didn't really consider the lack of internet access. So here I am again, trying to fit a month of activities and news into one post.

I walked into my last three weeks in Estero with the responsibility of everything on my shoulders. The person responsible for the projects in Estero left the foundation the week before I went back, so for my week in the office I was desperately trying to soak up all of the knowledge that I could about everything going on there... and failing for the most part. So I came back with a three page work plan and the knowledge that in the office, I am now the person who knows the most about this community. For those of you who know me well, you know that I was a mixture of nerves and ambition.

As far as work goes, the three weeks passed pretty much as normal. Successes, setbacks, and plenty of time conversando and relajando. The new volunteers arrived for my last weekend in Estero so I was playing hostess and trying to cram 2 months of knowledge into their poor heads in two days. Luckily for them, I mixed in catching pulpo and a killer despedida.

We ended up leaving Estero at a dead run trying to catch the last bus that would leave for the day. It was leaving about and hour earlier than we had expected, so after begging the driver to wait for 15 minutes, I found myself running through town to get everyone together and onto the bus. We all made it, by some miracle, and that was the end of my time in Estero de Plátano.

I arrived in Quito with a disgusting cough and plenty of body aches and the like. After watching me hack up a lung for the weekend, one of the new volunteers, Allie, gave me some cipro to knock out whatever I had. After a few days of popping pills, I finally started to feel like myself again.

I was supposed to finish my practicum on August 2nd or 3rd, but I'm still here in the office. Since I'm the one who knows the most about Estero at this point, I feel a lot of responsibility to leave people well-informed. Luckily, I have complete confidence in the abilities of the new volunteers. It's always hard to know if the work you've done will have any sustainability when you leave, but leaving it in good hands does a lot for peace of mind.