Ahora mismo, ya viene

The two weeks since I touched down in Quito have passed in kind of a whirlwind. I spent a few days in the Yanapuma office getting ready to go to the coast and left after only having been in Quito for 2 days. Since arriving in Estero, I´ve completed bacterial cultures of different water soruces, done 20 household surveys about water, danced salsa, gotten stung by a jellyfish, and helped build a hostel.

When comparing this trip to Estero to my time here last summer, the contrast is fairly striking. While last year I was frustrated by the lack of real, solid work to do, this time I´m exhausted by how much work there is. The Artisan´s Group is racing against the clock to finish building their hostel, the Women´s Group spends every Sunday making ceviches and almuerzos to sell to tourists, and every afternoon from 4 to 7 is spent in the library helping with homework. And in between all of those responsibilities I was also trying to fit in my water project. Luckily, I´ve finished all of my water stuff for now and I can focus on other things for Yanapuma.

Amidst all the changes, there are still things that remain the same. I still spend Saturday nights with ¨los muchachos,¨ who delight in asking me when I´m going to bring my sister for them to marry. The two main (and only) drinks in Estero are the national beer, Pilsener, and aguardiente. The answer to anything regarding time is always ahora mismo (right now) or ya viene (it´s coming right now), while the reality could be a wait of an hour or two. And of course, the most important thing of all is not to be ¨brava¨ (grumpy).

I have a little less than two weeks left on the coast, at which point I´ll be headed back to Quito to continue working in the office and looking for a job. I´m keeping my fingers crossed that I´ll be able to pull that off as well as I did with my water assessment!