HannahMeetsEcuador

Leaving Palmar

2009-08-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

I left palmar on sunday night and I am on a plane tomorrow night: destination- home. I don't know how two years have passed. It feels like i am only just beginning. Leaving palmar was so much harder than i ever thought. So many tearful hugs and kind words that just melted my heart. I guess you find out a lot when you leave. I think leaving makes us honest and willing to say all those things that we assume that other people know. But no one ever really knows until it is spoken and communicated in actions. I spent so much time worrying that i wasn't a good enough volunteer and fearing that i would fail.... but the way that my community reached out to me in my final days let me know that I am loved. I ate so many lunches and dinners with various families and so many people took the time to thanks me and share how much they were going to miss me. And it's hard. It makes me so uncomfortable- being thanked like that. But it's really wonderful too. I also had the chance to thank them. My friends at neo juventud and the whole community of palmar welcomed me into their lives without question and they accepted me as their sister. And as for me-- two year outside of my country and far from my family and culture- I needed that. I remember leaving two years ago on june 18th, 2007-- My mom dropped me off and the airport and I remember wanting to ditch the security line and just run back after her and go home where things were safe. But i didn't and that decision has changed my life forever.

These past two years weren't easy. But I wouldn't change them. I will miss my palmar family so very much. But it really isn't good-bye because they are my family now and I will be back to visit.

Fiestas de 16 de Julio- Palmar

2009-07-18T17:17:00.000-07:00

palmar just has their fiestas. this time it´s for 16 de Julio which aside from being the date of the fiestas and the name of my neighborhood i am not really sure why that is when we have the fiestas but my guess is that it´s the birthday of the Virgen Carmen who is also the patron saint of the fishermen. And being that palmar is a fishing village..... anyway the fiestas include burning the castillo which is crazy fireworks and a vaca loca ( more crazy fireworks). this is always kind of scary and this year my friend actually got hurt when a chunk of burning firework landed on his head and he had to get four stitches and there was a lot of blood. this is when i feel very lucky to personally know the nun who runs the clinic and where the nurse lives so that stitches at 2 in the morning is not too hard to come by. each night there are dances in the tent where i am seated below. the music booms until about 7am and then there is a parade and a well... long program of singing, dancing, talking etc and they always try to get me up on stage but nope--- this gringita is not about to dance in front of the whole town. not now not ever. after that there is more dancing all night again. it´s a rowdy time and the people have lots of fun. so did i. i am always amazed at how people can dance all night and work all day and do it all over again. strange to think that these are my last fiestas and that i really only have a few weeks left here.......

Medical Brigade 2009

2009-07-18T16:51:00.000-07:00

Last week or so an amazing group of korean american doctors and volunteers came to palmar and offered their services for five days. I was lucky enough to be able to help their efforts by translating. I was also really lucky in that the same dentist from last years medical brigade returned and we got to work together again. I really love to work with him because he really cares about the people and doesn´t lose his cool when kids scream bloody murder ( which they do.)

Actually everyone involved in the medical brigade is pretty amazing . This year we spent three days in palmar and two days working in some more needy communities. Medical translating is one of my favorite things to do. It´s the next best thing to being the doctor because you really get to help someone. One of the medical services this medical brigade offers is acupuncture. I got really bad food poisoning and so the doctors offered me acupuncture. So i thought- sure, why not? So I did acupuncture which was a really cool experience. I really hate needles but you almost don´t feel them and i really believe that without acupuncture i would not have been able to continue working. I actually ended up doing acupuncture twice.

We set up the dentist office outside one day and worked around dogs, turkeys, a bee hive and chickens. i don´t have the exact stats but my guess is we served about 250 people (dentistry alone) altogether my guess is 1,000 or so. It was a tough week but so worth it.

Night Bus Blues

2009-06-02T17:42:00.000-07:00

I don´t know if I can really call this the blues but I sure do have to get on a night bus in an hour. I am taking advantage of internet in libertad. I am taking a night bus to quito for my cos conference. In peace corps language that translates to close of service conference. Its two days of info and preparation for finishing one´s service and taking the next step--- returning home.
I was just scanning my first couple of entries written almost exactly two years ago and I cannot believe that my peace corps experience is nearly finished. At the cos conference it will be the last time my omnibus (omnibus 98!!!) will come together before we all go our separate ways. We started this crazy adventure together and sadly some of us have gone home already for different reasons but for the rest of us-- the remaining group it... it will be really great to see eachother and sad to say good-bye. But we made it. We did it. Anyway-- I guess that is all I have to say right now. I better catch my taxi to the bus station and get ready for the long, bumpy ride to quito.
Buenas Noches from Ecuador

The gift of sight

2009-05-24T10:23:00.001-07:00

Not only did we celebrate the fiestas de Santa Rita but we held our very first campaña de lentes! For the past five months a group of youth and I have been working closely with a great NGO, Community Solutions and after months of trainings in how to give eye exams and identify various vision related illnesses we held our first campaign.

The youth gave free eye exams and also sold reading glasses, eye drops, sun glasses and protective eyeware for very very reduced rates. What is really cool is that when the people arrive they always assume that the gringos are giving the eye exams and the youth are assisting us but we get to say, NOPE- these very smart and capable young ecuadorians are in charge and we are assisting them.

We sold 24 pairs of glasses to people who had thought they could no longer read or sew because of near-vision issues and with the aid of reading glasses are able to enjoy those activites and in many cases earn a better living. (many women sew etc).

The youth involved also earn a small wage which can help pay their school tuititon and help their families. In the next months we will continue to set up these campaigns and travel to small communities where no health care is available. This is a great chance for people to learn how to take care of their vision and for many people who thought they were going blind- it an amazing chance to see again!!! So many great things are going on here! And what an amazing group of youth!!

Fiestas de Santa Rita

2009-05-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning coffee and content to find myself here- Sunday. The past four days have been put to good use and I am tired and happy.
Thursday and Friday were the Fiestas of Palmar or the Fiestas de Santa Rita and Palmar knows how to throw a party. Lots of music, dancing, soccer, traditional games, parades, castle burning and crazy cows.
That is right–even crazy cows or vaca loca. The infamous vaca loca consists of a very brave man donning a metal cow head strapped with fire works and running into crowds of happily screaming party-goers. He shoots fireballs off and people run. After the vaca loca we burn the castle or quemar el castillo which involves a large structure booby-trapped with spinning wheels that spit flames and fireworks in all directions and various other types of fireworks and fire. It’s a rowdy display of light, color, sound and general festive glory. Meanwhile the traveling carnaval has set up camp and have built a rickety ferris wheel and constructed other childrens rides from scraps of metal and what I will call “pieces of vintage amusement park history”. In the sandy street runs a little train that looks like a worm taking laughing kids from one end of the street to the other. There are candied apples, fried plantains, pink popcorn balls and homemade ice cream as far as one can see and tents selling plastic jewelary, toy guns, hot wheels, teddy bears, tiny blue-eyed dolls and other plastic toys that kids everywhere just love.

It’s a beautiful haphazard world of lights, salsa music and families having a wonderful night with the ocean a few feet away and a sky awake with stars.
At the heart of this festival is the saint herself, Santa Rita de Casia. A friend recently gave me a book about the life of Santa Rita which I am still reading.

Scholarship Kids and Nuestra Señora de Fatima

2009-05-13T09:55:00.000-07:00

The photo with the kids holding their school supplies are this years scholarship recipients. One of my favorite parts of my job is getting to help coordinate this program. We recieve the money for the scholarships via the catholic church. These scholarships allow for 24 children to attend grade school without this help they would not be able to go to school. Through-out the year i meet with their parents at least once a month to give workshops and discuss ways for them ( many of whom have not finished grade school or highschool) to support their children. I have now been working withthis group for two years and it´s been really great. Students recently entered classes again and it´s always a great time as they get their school supplies and i am always so excited to see their big smiles and their great motivation to be the best students they can be. It´s strange and sad to think that we only have two months left together as my time with the peace corps is starting to wind down but there will be a new volunteer to take my place and continue this work.

These photos are from the annual pilgramage dedicated to Nuestra Señora de Fatima. It is 20 km walk that takes place under hot coastal sun. Our youth group volunteers every year to help control the crowd so that we stay on one side of the highway. This is tough work. But after a long hot walk and a long mass-- it always feels good.

community solutions-- visual health and youth empowerment

2009-04-30T09:24:00.001-07:00

These are some photos from our recent workshop with a great ngo- community solutions.
they were founded by two ex-peace corps volunteers in guatemala and we are lucky enough to be participating in their pilot program in here in ecuador.
we are learning all about visual health including how to give eye exams. We will be selling reading glasses and are now educated in how to test the people in order to give them the correct perscription and make sure they understand how to use their glasses. many people living in rural towns believe they are simply losing their sight and have spent years unable to read or sew. the moment a person recieves the correct perscription and realizes they are not going blind is an amazing moment! with community solutions and a select group of committed young people we will be organizing campaigns in nearby communities to better educate people about visual health and give eye exams and sell reading glasses and sunglass and very reduced rates. This program also functions as a small business for the youth involved who will make a small profit. This is a great opportunity for the young people in palmar who often struggle to find work. It empowers them and creates a chance for them to help themselves and help their community. This is only a very brief summary of some of the work we have been doing with community solutions. i hope to write more soon!

Leadership Conference 2008

2009-04-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

Club Kiwanis Churquiragua and the Peace Corps Ecuador Gender and Development Committee Leadership Conference 2008

**** so this conference was something that another volunteer grace and i were in charge of last year---- it was one of the greatest challenges i faced during peace corps and by far one of the most amazing experiences of my life. we had to plan and run this conference in everyway... right now i can only upload a coupla photos but hopefully more soon. i have fallen way way behind updating my blog as this conference was nearly a year ago but asi es la vida. much love!!!****

“Eres la Luz que Ilumina el Camino”

The 9^th annual Club Kiwanis Churquiragua and Peace Corps Ecuador Gender and Development Committee Leadership Conference was held July 31- August 3 2008 at the Sacred Hearts Retreat Center in Conocoto, Pinchincha. 55 young Ecuadorian women from various provinces and cultural backgrounds were selected and spent four days attending seminars and workshops on small business, sexual education and developing leadership skills through teamwork.

The young women arrived in the afternoon of July 31st at the scenic and peaceful Sacred Hearts Retreat Center where they were assigned small groups to help the girls meet new people and develop new friendships. The first activity was a motivating and passionate presentation by a past scholarship recipient, Verónica Paucar who spoke about overcoming the many obstacles she faced as a young indigenous mother attending the university and how she rose above the challenges and graduated.

The first night each young woman presented something to the group that represented her home and/or culture for “Cultural Night” which has become a Leadership Conference tradition. This night served to break the ice between the girls and increase their self-confidence.

The first full day focused on small business workshops: how to find funds and how to start and maintain a small business. These workshops were given by PCVs and Elvira Bravo, a successful business woman from Mindo. The girls also participated in two hands-on craft-making workshops where they learned how to make earrings and weave bracelets. PCVs from Anti-TIPs (a peace corps volunteer run-initiative that educates and works to prevent human trafficking) defined and presented the reality and risks of human trafficking in a dynamic workshop.

The evening activity was the showing of “Bend it Like Beckum”, an inspirational movie that highlights a young woman who overcomes many challenges in order to pursue her dream of playing soccer.

The second full day focused on sexual and reproductive health with workshops on: Sexuality and Affection in Adolescence, “Me and my Sexuality”, HIV/AIDS and a question and answer segment which allowed for the girls to ask questions without feeling self-conscious.

The last morning included a poster contest where the girls split into small groups and were given materials to make a poster representing the conference and what they learned. Each group presented and explained their poster. The contest was followed by an awards ceremony where each girl was presented with a certificate commemorating her achievement.

Interwoven through-out the conference were several activities to build self-esteem, inter-personal growth and team building.

1.) Each morning a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) led an optional aerobics class to promote healthy body images and get the girls motivated to start the day.

2.) The young women were given daily journal writing exercises to encourage self-expression and personal reflection.

3.) “Como dejar que mi propia luz brille”. In their small groups the girls each lit a candle as they shared what they learned at the conference that they would bring back to their communities.

4.) The bonfire on the last night was a very unifying event in which the girls wrote one thing they thought they could not do on a piece of paper and one by one each girl threw her piece of paper in the fire and said, “ I can”.

Overall, the conference was very successful in that the participants were exposed to new information and given the tools and increased self-esteem to put their knowledge into action in their communities.

Below are several of the many similar quotes from the participant’s evaluations:

“Si la veo distinta ya que con estos temas, hemos aprendido a valornos a nosotras mismas a los demas a toda la sociedad, estas temas nos han impulsado a seguir adelante.”

“Ahora primero me valora como persona tengo una Buena autoestima, mi manera de ver el futuro es major porque sea como sea voy a cumplir mis metas como la mujer de la provincial del cañar (Veronica Paucar)”

“Si, porque voy prepara para el futuro voy con mas fuerza a superar todas las adversidades que se me pueden presenter voy con las ganas, la fuerza, la Amistad, el Corazon y el recuerdo de lo que aprendi aqui”

2009-04-30T08:54:00.000-07:00

Our community bank began in January 2009 with 20 members. The majority of those involved are active participants in our youth group while the remaining associates are parents and neighbors of said youth. Our community bank meets every Saturday night to update the group on the status of funds, give out loans, address issues, hold a weekly raffle and plan future fund raising events. As of March 2009 we have held two big events including a town bingo night and a raffle of foodstuff both of which (on top of our weekly raffle) were very successful in increasing our bank’s balance. For May we are planning a mother´s day raffle.

The community bank is an experiment for me as well as the youth group and we are learning how to do this as we go and while the peace corps manual has served as an instrumental and important guide it has been just that, a guide. I never thought I could start a community bank of all things. I am terrible with numbers and math but I really really believe in the project.

What is a community bank? A community bank is a group of committed people who pay a certain amount of money each week ( the amount is decided by each group in our case we pay $1.50) and the money paid is kept in a sturdy wooden box about the size of a basketball that has three locks with three keys. The group elects a board consisting of a president, secretary, treasurer and two auditors, three of these officers keep a key and the treasurer keeps the box so that in order to steal money a total of four people would have to conspire against the group. After a certain amount of time in our case three months the bank is ready to give small loans to members with the following stipulations: the loan is to be paid back within one month with 10% interest. The idea is that these small loans would be used towards micro-business plans etc but the member is not required to explain to the group the reason for the loan. In one month the loan is re-paid to the group with the 10% interest. The idea is that people keep taking loans to better their lives and the money made from the interest stays within the group so that when the bank liquidates ( as we plan to in one year) each member will receive back all of their weekly payments plus the interest. In order to increase the income a group may decide to fund raise for example we have done a raffle and a bingo night. All the profits are returned to the bank box and eventually to the members.

Many women in my village aren’t allowed to work because their husbands won’t let them but the community bank is a chance to earn a little extra cash and perhaps through a loan start a small business out of their home.

We gave out our first loans this past Saturday which is really exciting! I am nervous to see that everything gets paid back but I guess only time will tell.

2009-02-16T05:16:00.000-08:00

Carnaval Madness

We recieved this official email from Peace Corps. While it's from Bolivia we recieved in here in Ecuador as Carvnaval is an important and popular holiday here as well as most latin american countries. Anyway-- I laughed so hard while reading this. Carnaval consists of small children throwing water balloons and such. It's this happy, fun family type holiday that happens before lent. Anyway... the here is to keeping americans safe abroad!

WARDEN MESSAGE
U.S. EMBASSY LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
February 13, 2008

This warden message is being issued to advise U.S. citizens traveling to and residing in Bolivia that for the duration of the month during Bolivia's "carnaval" season, it is common to encounter groups of people throwing water balloons at both pedestrians and vehicles (sometimes frozen which can cause injuries). It is advisable to remain aware of your surroundings while walking and to avoid areas where people are congregating with water balloons, squirt guns, and other liquid projectiles. If you are in a vehicle, keep your windows rolled up while you drive around the city.

For the latest security information, U.S. citizens traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's internet website at http://travel.state.gov where the current worldwide caution, travel warnings and travel alerts can be found. Additional information is available in the country-specific information for Bolivia at http://travel.state.gov and on the embassy web page at http://bolivia.usembassy.gov.
Current information on travel and security in Bolivia may be obtained from the Department of State by calling 1-888-407-4747 within the United States, or, from overseas, 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). U.S. citizens traveling or residing overseas are encouraged to register with the appropriate U.S. embassy or consulate on the State Department's travel registration web site at https://travelregistration.state.gov.
U.S. citizens may contact the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia, via e-mail at consularlapaz@state.gov or by telephone at (591-2) 216-8297 during business hours or (591-2) 216-8500 after hours and on weekends. The Consular Section is located in the U.S. Embassy at 2780 Arce Avenue in La Paz, Bolivia. The Santa Cruz Consular Agency can be reached by telephone at (591-3) 351-3477 and the Cochabamba Consular Agency can be reached by telephone at (591-4) 411-6313.

Knives + fridge + a silly gringa= problems

2009-01-21T10:57:00.001-08:00

me with the massive ice chunk

I feel compelled to write this entry and share my sad tale in hopes of sparing some other volunteer or whoever the same sad fate. Last month when my freezer freaked out and the ice grew beyond what could be kept and i could nolonger close my fridge i decided to take a knife to the ice. I felt so powerful chopping away at the massive chunk of ice- breaking off pieces and feeling it´s icy coldness (it´s hot here and it felt like a bit of wisconsin). After several hours of hard work I managed to get out about 1/3 of the ice and was able to close my fridge once again. Well.... last week after several days without electricity I realized that I had stabbed my fridge. When the electricity came back my fridge never got cold and the ice began to melt exposing the stab wounds. I still had no real clue that it was the stabbing that was causing my fridge to malfunction. While talking to several friends in town they mentioned how the volunteer before me had used a knife to get rid of extra ice and had stabbed her fridge and damaged it. They laughed telling this story, i mean how crazy does someone have to be to take a knife to their fridge. I turned red and confessed that I too had used a knife and that i too had accidently stabbed my fridge. They told me not to worry. The volunteer before me was able to get her fridge (which is currently my fridge) fixed and that miguel´s cousin is the fridge repairman. So we found Jerardo sitting barefoot on the malecon and walked back to my house. He took one knowing look at my broken fridge and told me that when i stabbed it i had struck gas which had all leaked out. So very very sad. Jerardo was great though. We went to the city the next morning so he could buy the supplies and then he fixed my fridge. 40 bucks total but i was thrilled that my fridge was not dead. But then.... several days later i realized it´s not cold again. Jerardo fixes it again. another 20 bucks. Now 60 dollars in the whole and my fridge appears to be in good health. So here is hoping that this is the end of the fridge saga. But my sage wisdom is-- please! never knife out your ice! just unplug your fridge and let it melt naturally.

rainy season

so the rains have come to palmar and the things are green again and the dust has settled! it´s wonderful. but oh-- the pure mud and mosquitos. just thought i would send you a coupla mud photos, also some of our quails and the giant hole that miguel and i dug.

Here are a coupla of New Years Poems

Gratitude.

I am content
waking alone
brush the sand from my sheets
slip my dirty feet into my dirty flip flops

light the stove, boil water
for coffee
and mutter something like a plea
for salvation

I doubt this will keep me
from all the wrong that I have done
but still, I wake with this desire
to let it fall away
be new
and wear my life like the most beautiful dress
that I could never afford

under the pelican´s blessing

returning with silver gifts from
deeper waters
the boats come to shore

hard shoulders
bearing plastic buckets of fish
pressing through the shallow waves

returning to offer
the next meal, pay rent
and clothe the children

hard shoulders and cracked lips
returning after the sea has rattled their bones
all through the darkness
and they will wake do the same tomorrow

New Years in Ecuador!

2009-01-18T12:27:00.000-08:00

Happy new year to everyone!
One of my very favorite Ecuadorian customs is the burning of viejos when the clocks strikes midnight on New Years eve. What exactly am i talking about? I mean burning life sized human figures in the streets-- well, sometimes human. In the weeks leading up to january 31rst the streets fill up with papermache hulks, sponge bobs, political figures, heads, limbs etc.

The tradition changes from town to town and especially between the culture of the sierra and the coast. In Palmar we burn the good and the bad and believe in doing so we will start the new year fresh. It is also said that if you take on the task of making, building or buying a viejo that you must keep doing that in the years to come or risk having a bad year. The photo below is Marcelo building our viejo: both he and miguel are in charge every year of this important task.

Once the clock strikes midnight the viejos are lit on fire in the street and most of the time firecrackers and other fireworks are thrown in as well to add to rowdyness. Then it´s time to jump of the burning papermache dolls. With my youth group only the boys do this and i am okay with that. I have never been cool with leaping over flaming people dolls.

This year was extra special because my sister, Amelia was visiting. It was really great because my youth group celebrates new years on the 30th so they can be with their families on the actual 31rst. So we had the traditional ecuadorian new years on the 30th and then went to puerto lopez to meet up with some other volunteers to celebrate with a gringo twist.

It´s really sad to think this is my last new years in palmar and in ecuador. I have spent the past four new years in latin america but i believe 2009 will bring me stateside for new years eve. But... who knows?

I am considering taking on the commitment and starting to make my own viejo and carry this wonderful tradition home to the streets on wisconsin. So if you see a gringuita burning a papermache doll in the snowy street next year, don´t call the cops but rather enjoy the light and let the year burn and start the new year fresh.

Election night in Quito

2008-11-05T11:59:00.000-08:00

Last night in a crowded, smoky bar in Quito, Ecuador, surrounded by my fellow americans and ecuadorian friends, I watched as Barack Obama was elected president and history was made. I will never forget this election, where I was and how in one evening I felt my faith in my country renewed. I was really taken by the strong sense of community that I felt among americans living abroad- united by a shared hope for a better future. Over beers and conversations, we cheered and speculated as election results came in and eventually when the results were tallied and Obama was named president we cried and hugged and high-fived with joy and relief.
This is my third presidential election in which I was able to vote and my first time in which I felt such hope for positive change. I am very proud to say that I voted for barack obama and that even though voting here in ecuador as a peace corps volunteer was quite difficult I was able to jump through all that red tape and fill out my ballot and have my say. Cheers to the next four years!

random photos

2008-10-21T09:33:00.001-07:00

Kids brigade

This is something I had to write up for Peace Corps about the kids group and art class that I do in my town.

The Kids Brigade is a part of our Youth Group, Neo Juventud that is directed towards children ages 5- 12. The goal is to employ the use of non-formal education to create a creative learning environment that focuses on teaching values, critical thinking, developing leadership skills, increasing self-esteem and environmental consciousness. The children are split into two groups based on age and each group meets once a week for an hour and a half to two hours. Currently there are about 50 active participants.

My personal goal for the Kids Brigade is to provide a safe place for children to learn and express themselves without fear of making a mistake or embarrassment.
Our educational activities follow several themes: health, the environment, self-esteem and human values. We discuss the subject and do a follow-up hands on activity, the children have time to ask questions or share: the Kids Brigade is not school and our meetings are an open conversation. Afterwards we always play: we go outside and run around, play games and sing songs.
After about six months of running the Kids Brigade I started an experimental art class that meets once a week. At first no one came and I was really confused: what kid doesn’t love glitter, glue and colored paper? Then I realized that the children had never had art class before and simply didn’t know what I was talking about but after I clearly explained what art class was, attendance began to grow. The art class is open to anyone, so I have children as old as 13 and as young as 4 (sometimes even teenagers). When we first began, the children were horrified at the idea of drawing without an eraser and a ruler, they kept asking, “What if I make a mistake?”. They had learned that art meant copying whatever their teacher had drawn and the concept of mistakes being a catalyst for beautiful art rather than a source of shame was scary at first.

Since the beginning of the Kids Brigade and art class I have seen some amazing changes in these children. There were children who were too shy to speak but now they are confident enough to greet adults and when we pass in the street, they run up and give me a hug. There were kids who simply wouldn’t participate for fear of screwing up and now they are active members who share ideas and help me plan activities. Specifically I have witnessed a complete turnaround in some of my pre-teen girls. I had several young girls who would come but would never participate. They would just turn in blank papers or the materials for the art project without having even tried to complete it. When I asked them why, they told me they didn’t know how or they were just bad at drawing. It took awhile but everyone participates now. This seemingly small effort is a big step and I am so proud of them. Also one of my newest participants is 13 and mute. When he first started coming to art class the rest of the children kept trying to do his work for him and kept informing that Jhony couldn’t do the project. They really wanted to protect him but I insisted that Jhony was responsible and capable of participating in the class and that my expectations were no different for Jhony than any other kid. Jhony rose to the occasion. Last week we made hemp bracelets and Jhony’s was by far the best and he was so proud and the rest of the kids kept asking to see his and he was helping them with their bracelets. The Jhony I met four months earlier followed the others and last week he was leading.

the mangroves

2008-10-21T09:29:00.001-07:00

The Mangroves

Palmar has the only mangrove in the province of Santa Elena and one of the few left in Ecuador. Until I came to this small seaside village I had never set foot in a mangrove or thought much about them and even now I am only just beginning to learn. I may not understand everything about this fragile eco-system but I know that each time I enter it’s muddy heart I am transformed.

I’ve always loved stories of children entering strange lands through magical books or wardrobes and the mangrove is just that for me: a strange and magical land.
To enter on foot you must trudge through narrow paths of deep mud that can reach as high as your waist and climb through a maze of twisted roots ( the mangroves are the only species of trees with roots that grow above ground). It is not easy. It’s beautiful.
Mangroves are incredibly biologically diverse: there are hundreds of species of fish, crabs, snails, birds and insects that live within it’s boarders. In recent years shocking numbers of mangrove forests have been destroyed in order to make room for shrimp farms and the eco-system is in serious danger- especially here in Palmar.

The story of the destruction of the mangroves is a very important one- but I am not writing about that today. I am writing about the cool of the black mud on my skin and the way tiny violin crabs feel as they crawl across my toes. I am writing about the strange growls of birds that loom below the deep shadows of green leaves and the damp, bitter smell of decomposition.
I am writing about Sunday morning on my knees, digging into the muddy earth to plant more trees so a new forest can rise.

Yesterday I hiked into the mangroves at low tide with Miguel, Marcelo, Salo, Juan, Milton and Luigi. We gathered about 100 seeds to plant inside the forest. There are four species of mangrove trees in our small sector and there are different seeds in accordance to the different trees. The majority of the seeds that we collected were for the red mangrove: the seed is roughly seven inches long and the shape of a thin carrot, the bottom is a reddish brownish that turns to a deep green at the tip. We carried the seeds through the forest to a strange vacant plot of land where years ago all the trees had been cut down for a shrimp farm that no longer is in business. Our goal is to reforest that entire plot of land.
It’s important to understand that planting requires a fair amount of effort: one must dig a hole about seven inches wide and 10 inches deep and that the top layer of earth is hard and dry while the mud below is thick and heavy clay and in that one hole, only two seeds may be planted. After the seeds are all planted the hole needs to be partially filled with water so that the seeds don’t dry out right away in the heat and die. The entire process took us about four hours and we re-planted less than 1/4 of the space. But we will be back.

After working, we all went for a swim to clean off the layers of mud in the tide pool that becomes a small lake as the tide fills in. It felt so wonderful to just let the water make us all clean again and I imagined the seeds taking root in the quiet dark mud and how years from now I will be gone but the trees will grow and become homes for all kinds of creatures and redeem the destruction and mistakes of the past. As we left the fisherman were just arriving in their wooden boats named after saints and women, filled with red plastic buckets of fish followed by streams of gulls and pelicans.

Walking the beach back home, salt on my skin and mud in my hair I felt content and alive. This is the life I choose.

Adventures in Dentistry

2008-07-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

A group of catholic doctors and volunteers from LA came to Palmar a few weeks ago: equipped with bags full of needed medicine, medical equipment, candy bars and the energy to work hard. While they spoke English and Korean no one spoke Spanish. While we may smile in the same language, phrases like, "please pull out the second to the last tooth on the left side of my lower jaw" can get a little more complicated. So I got to translate and even dabble a bit in what i like to call, dentistry 101. With the Korean nun speaking Korean and Spanish and me speaking English and Spanish we managed to communicate and have a pretty good time.

Much to my surprise, my duties went way beyond that of translating as I actually assisted the dentist and got to take a trial run at a career as a dental hygienist. ( which for the record = not my cup of tea). While I lack the correct vocabulary, I can tell you that I mastered the art of the air-puffing tool, the mirror-lip re tractor and the tiny stitches scissor. I admit that the first tooth removal was a bit rough-- the unnatural crack of bone followed by the raw gum, pooling with blood, pomegranate red and then how he flung the chunks of rotten tooth like discarded movie popcorn left me a little unsteady but after that I started to almost enjoy watching the dentist yank on the tooth like it were a stubborn nail, deeply rooted weed or a stuck door.

But the best moments for me were being able to serve as a mediator between the patient and the doctor. It was amazing to really comfort people by explaining what exactly was wrong and how it could be fixed, to help connect them to their doctor and answer their questions while holding their hands.
The best day was our last afternoon. We went adentro, about 20 minutes to a town with a greater need for medical attention where even without electricity we managed to serve 70 people before night fall. As you can imagine, dentistry in particular is kind of rough without electricity but we managed. The dentist told me that the conditions in palmar were worse than he experienced working in the missions in Korea in the 1970s.

It was a really exhausting week but so worth it and an amazing experience.

crickets, baby showers and visits!!!

2008-06-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

June 8

Sunday morning coffee and Paul Simon singing You can call me Al. Last few months have been cockroach invasion— I mean almost every night I would wake up with a cockroach running across my face ( and I even tuck my net under my mattress- they must have tiny tools). Now it’s not the worst thing– they are not rats, black widow spiders or scorpions but they suck. Anyway– as seasons change so do my insect problems- before the cockroaches were mass amounts of ants, flies, mosquitos and now......... ( drum roll please)............ crickets/ grasshoppers! Which are by far the best insect to have except that they jump high and come outta nowhere and they don’t mind jumping on me which always freaks me out. But they are kind of cute and so we live here together in harmony. Last week my friend had her baby shower which I helped with and it was really quite an experience for me. I’m not really a big fan of organized social events with games and forced participation but everything is still new to me here and I wanted to help out so I went happily.

Here in Ecuador there exists the hora ecuatoriana or the Ecuadorian hour which any Ecuadorian appears to instinctually understand while foreigners flounder. It’s the concept of showing up an hour or four hours or even days late to any given event or meeting and it’s okay, you don’t need a pass or an excuse or anything- you get to greet everyone and sit down and that is that. So while the party started at 2:30 even the guest of honor didn’t show up until 4:30. I actually really like the hora ecuatoriana because you don’t every have to do that American thing of being in a crazy hurry where you shove food down your throat and run like mad to your next destination. But this sense of time is tricky because sometimes it is implied that you better be there on time and everyone else gets this but I miss the hint and show up late and feel like an idiot. Anyway the party got started around 5:30 and involved games where you couldn’t cross your arms or legs and if you did the girl that sees you can still your flower pin ( which they gave at the beginning) needless to say I lost my flower pin at about 6:00.
To my credit I actually arrived at 2:30 so I had to compete longer than the other girls. There were games where baby food was feed using blindfolds,diapers where pinned on paper babies, peach wine was drunk from baby bottles, the Mom to be’s belly was measured with toilet paper etc and all of this mixed in with random dance sessions where cumbia and merengue were blasted and all the ladies got up and shook it. Later dinner and cake were served and all the presents opened. It was a nice party ( even for a girl who is not that into organized social gatherings). My mom and sister came and visited for the last two weeks of May which was wonderful! The spent four days in Palmar where they got meet lots of people and really get to know the town.

The people of Palmar really reached out to my family and we barely had to cook a meal because someone was always bringing us fresh fish or inviting us to lunch. The kids from Neo Juventud took my family for a boat ride through the mangroves and threw a welcome party where we sang kareoke and ate so yummy food. The ninos brigadistas came and met my family and we played some games and the kids had a great time practicing their English. On Wednesday we attended the festivals of Saint Rita our saint which involved a really long outside mass, burning castles and the vaca loca which is a cardboard cow that shoots off fireworks and the castle is a huge structure with spinning flaming starts that shoot off fireworks as well. Afterwards is a community dance and a dance for the younger generation. After Palmar we ventured up the Ruta del Sol where we stayed a great eco-lodge and went to some beautiful beaches after that we headed to the Cuenca in the Sierra. Cuenca is an idyllic city that brings to mind eastern Europe and parts of Spain. It was really great having my family here and so hard to say good-bye at the airport. Well— there is so much more to say but I am going to stop here.

Update from Palmar

2008-04-17T10:34:00.000-07:00

April 16th

Tonight is the town meeting where the Nun, the presidents of each of the 10 barrios, leaders of local businesses and groups will meet to begin planning the Fiestas de Palmar which will be held on may 21 and 22nd. It is supposed to begin at 8pm which in Ecuador means come at 9:30, but I am still supergringa and I will show up what we Americans call- casually late but here in Ecuador is still too early. But, hey, I always come prepared with a book to read ( currently Confessions of an Economic Hit Man- which is really good by the way) or I will just chat it up with the half dozen other “early” birds.
Yesterday I met with the parents of the children receiving scholarships through the Guayaquil Archdiosis to fill out forms with the new parents and note all of the school supply requests they had. Friday I will go to Libertad ( the nearest city) with the Senora Andrea to buy as much as we can afford with the money allotted: mostly shoes, backpacks and material to make uniforms. It was really great to get to meet all of the parents at one time and it was great because I ended up more or less running the meeting by myself and afterwards- I realized that I did just fine and that I would have not have been able to do that 10 months ago when I first arrived in this country.( thats right- 10 MONTHS BABY- only 17 to go). The moms all call me Nina Hannah which I love, while the word nina means little girl, Ecuadorians use it to mean “Miss” and something about it always makes me smile. These scholarships are so very important and they are a big deal as there are only 25 slots in a town with a population of 7000 most of whom are kids and families without the extra cash that schools require. It’s not uncommon for 10 and 11 year olds to drop out of school because their families just do not have enough money.
Otherwise life continues here and as time passes I grow more and more comfortable here and am understanding better my place and what and how I can best contribute. The two biggest plans that I am working on are developing a club for moms that would provide an opportunity for new mothers and more experienced mothers to meet and share concerns, advice, remedies and support each other. Also work with local health professionals and have them give health- nutrition workshops with the moms and perhaps small business training-leadership. Also I have been studying up on Community Banks and am nearly ready to begin the process of starting several with several groups here in Palmar. We continue to give workshops on HIV-AIDs-- the other month I wrote about how we set up the ambulance and 20 people were tested. I don´t know, it never really occurred to me that any of the results would be positive. We give these talks and run these workshops, we have parades on World AIDs Day but this disease is not backing down. We tested 20 people that Saturday morning and several tested positive... what about the thousands of other people we didn´t test? Who don´t want to be tested. Who are scared to be tested. Who still aren´t sure what AIDS really is and how it isn´t something faraway but right in their own tiny fishing village.
Well, the town meeting is going to start in 15 minutes (or an hour) but either way I should be on my way.

“ A woman is like a tea leaf. When she is in hot water, she just gets stronger,” Eleanor Roosevelt

I am only one

I am only one,
But, still,
I am one.

I cannot do
everything.
But, still,
I can do
something.

I
will not refuse
to do
the something
I can do.

-Helen Keller

Monday in Palmar

2008-03-19T08:58:00.001-07:00

Monday in Palmar

The Nun, nurse, doctor and I drove the ambulance/van to the market and set up a tent to test people for AIDS. The nun and I chatted up passing people: guys on bikes, guys hauling chickens, married couples out to buy cilantro and potatoes and did our very best to encourage them to sign their name and climb into our ambulance/van and let the nurse take their blood. I felt a little bit like a cult member but rather than tracts about spaceships, I was trying to get people to find out if they were infected with a very real, devastating and fatal virus. AIDS is a really scary thing and people weren’t too eager to talk about it much less hop in our van and give us their blood. The nun was pretty amazing. She was really assertive and managed to get quite a few people to get tested, at first I wasn’t sure how I felt about her tactics but her motives were so obviously good that I think people got tested because they really respect her and her opinion. I on the other hand did my own thing, which was smiling a lot. This tactic works wonders with the men. In fact there was one guy who wasn’t going to get tested but he took the test and actually came back and bought me a yogurt afterwards. In all we got 20 something people to get tested that morning and maybe it’s not a lot but it felt good and I know the nun was happy and I was too.
The afternoon was four hours in the quail pen cleaning out months of quail poop and feathers, at one point I even rocked the machete ( it serves well as a tool to scrape off quail poop) and best of all I am pretty much over my fear of fowl. I still don’t really like holding birds of any kind and while I will most likely never own a chicken farm, I am okay with it.
Now after a long, cold and soapy shower I am so very aware that my life here is indeed a strange and amazing life. And I am very blessed to be able to encourage people to value their health and happy to clean up quail poop ( once in awhile anyway).

Almost Pretty Funny ( surviving robbery, landslides and bus accidents)

2008-02-26T08:41:00.000-08:00

Let's get one thing straight here... I survived.
I am alive. I am safe and typing this from the peace corps office where now as I take the crazy series of events into perspective I can conclude that this past week is almost pretty funny.
First of all nothing that happened to me this week in the scheme of life is really that big of a deal but
still... but if I don't enjoy the drama a bit it might just bring me down.
Okay, the weather here has been a bit, shall we say..... damp. Floods, landslides, mudslides... damaging amounts of rain have inundated the southern half of Ecuador (ie where I live). Last week I had to travel to Quito for Reconnect (an official Peace Corps meeting) and our bus was in some kind of accident. This accident remains vague because I was fast asleep when we were flung up into the air and came crashing back down into our seats. The bus suffered the most damages ( ask me about my elbow) and we ended up waiting about 4 hours for it to get fixed and then we continued towards Quito... alright long story short not one but two landslides kept us backed up for hours and my 12 hour bus ride became a 19 hour bus ride. But we arrived in Quito. I made it.
After several days of meetings and workshops we were unable to return to our sites because many of the roads had been closed and the President had declared a national state of emergency so PARTY. We stayed in Quito on the Peace Corps tab but being the hardcore volunteers that we are my friend and I used the extra time to plan a leadership conference for scholarship girls.
Well, yesterday on the very crowded trolley to the bus station to buy our tickets back to our sites-- the police came on and arrested a thief. I was like, dang, close call.... However as I was leaving the trolley I realize that my bag has been slashed and my atm card, my ecua-atm card, copy of my passport, my cell phone, and 40 dollars were gone. It is quite something to lose everything you own of economic value in minutes and not even realize it was happening. It is humbling and of course.. you are reading this and perhaps thinking (perhaps not) what the heck was I thinking carrying all my cards and money in one place. I know. Dios mio, I know.
Well... here's to surviving and laughing about it and knowing that in the end none of this is a big deal.

2008-02-19T14:45:00.000-08:00

Me and Margarita + 20 hours on a bus + 300 quails= 30 hours

7 hours into our 9 hour trip to Santo Domingo, I’m sweating on a steamy bus with a jammed window that no matter how hard I pull, I cannot open and the more I try the more sweaty I get, so I give up. Surrender to the heat.. Enjoy the brief breezes that sweep in when the bus door opens to let more passengers on or off and little kids selling frozen coco water, oranges and clear plastic bags of skinned slivers of yellow mangos. My traveling companion, Margarita is a member of Neo Juventud the group of young people that I work with here in palmar. We left that morning at 7:30 to make the 9 hour trip to Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas to buy and bring back 300 quails and return that same night. Margarita turns to me and laughs, “Hope it doesn’t rain.”
It began to pour about an hour outside of Santo Domingo. We arrived at the bus terminal in the rain where we caught a taxi with a driver that seemed to kind of sort of know where we were going. He stopped about every block and a half to ask the best looking woman within earshot for directions; 6:30 pm and about 7 curvy ladies later we pulled up to the house of the couple who would sell us our 300 quails. Gringa moment- I expect to walk in, pay the 420 dollars and be handed several boxes of birds so that we can return to the terminal and catch the next bus back to the coast. Rather we were warmly received by the wife who informed us that we would need to go un poco mas adentro, in other words we were going to need to head into the junglish campo and box the birds ourselves. We walked past several large dogs to the office where we sat down and chatted for awhile and the wife let us take refreshingly chilly showers and called us a cab so that we can find some dinner. She offers to go with her husband to box the birds and meet us at the terminal at 10:30pm, we gladly accept as we have not eaten since earlier that morning and at 7:30pm we are starved.
"Shopping" is this mini-mall type complex ( with the best bathrooms- Shoutout to Nick Chan)) that can be found in several cities here in Ecuador including Santo Domingo and Libertad ( the nearest city to my town). Not only is it a bit of the States in Ecuador but it’s also the only place that was guarantied to be open until 10pm, so Margarita and I were both in agreement that the food court would make the best meal. She enjoyed rice and fried chicken from KFC and I got a mini-pizza from some ghetto place called “Ch Italia.” Then we had an hour to waste but the rest of Shopping had closed so we stayed until almost 10 when they pretty much kicked us out.

Okay. Flashback. The volunteer before me had to make this trip once all by herself and I believe 100 birds died because the bus guys made her put the birds below the bus with the luggage and they died from the heat and she had to bring back 200 live birds and 100 dead ones. This was no picnic and I still vividly recall her telling me this story as a humorous warning (with very serious undertones). At the time I was still a volunteer in training and had no idea I was going to be assigned to her site and thus, one day be faced with this arduous task. So I did what any naive newbie would do, I laughed at her tale and comforted myself by telling myself that that would never be me. No way. I would just never try and bring 300 quails back on a nearly 10 hour bus ride. Well, 10 months later I was in line to buy tickets for Margarita, me and 300 quails all the way back to Libertad..
We tried to talk them into letting the birds have their own seats but we lacked a strong defense to the very obvious fact that the birds stunk so instead we asked if the birds could have their own compartment below the bus, away from the heat of the motor and other bags. The bus guys agreed and then tried to charge us 1.50 a box ( we have 15 boxes not including the strange Japanese chickens that the quail couple gave us and a human ticket costs five dollars and you get a seat and everything). Margarita talks them down to a dollar a box and we buy our tickets and are set to leave at 11:30pm. The quail couple kindly waited with us for an hour or so until our bus arrived and helped us load the 15 some boxes onto the bus. After lots of hugging, handshaking, cheek kissing and such, we thanked them for all their help and boarded the bus ourselves.
The 9 or so hour trip back was the coldest I have been since arriving here in Ecuador. Being that I grew up in Wisconsin I fancy that I am fairly immune to what people here, ( a country that is cut in two by the equator) refer to here as cold but dang, it was downright chilly. While this was a bit rough for us and the woman who actually demanded to get off the bus at 2am with her baby, preferring to wait in the rain at a dark gas station for a “warmer” bus it was a blessing for the quails. This whole cold debacle was about the same time that the police stopped us like usual and made everyone get off the bus. I remember when I was new to this country and actually got off the bus, now I play ignorant and hide in my seat. Margarita had forgotten her id and we managed to lay low. The police allowed everyone back on the bus and we were on our way again. I had brought my trusty discman from 1996 ( who needs an Ipod?), I took one ear bud and let Margarita take the other and we fell asleep to the peaceful stylings of Damien rice.
long story a little less long... we made it back in the pouring rain and every single quail (a bit wet) survived ( which might be a quail leyenda). That is my story of the 300 quails.

a bit of reflection

2008-01-17T08:48:00.001-08:00

Jan 16

I wanted
the words to come to me, I wanted
to speak the language
that everyone else spoke. I wanted
to keep myself and
become them
like the last hints of sun
against tide, rising. I wanted
to wake up and fit into the size
of my new life. I wanted
to be as graceful as the blue slivers of boats
that bow to the sea at days end. I wanted
to bounce all my prayers off
the hard stone of some cathedral, lose
my mind in Hail Marys and
wake up sure that
it was all as it was supposed to be.

Life Continues in Palmar

I have now been in Palmar four and a half months and in Ecuador nearly seven. An entirely new year has begun and what can I even begin to say about the strangewonder of it all. These past seven months have been chuckfull of triumphs and blunders to the say the least- all contributing to the great cycle of continued learning that I am always spinning in. I mostly focus on the bright shiny side of this crazy experience rather than the disheartening days or all the ways that I have managed to muck things up before I got them right. And believe me, I have got some pretty great tales to tell on the subject of How Hannah Screws Up Yet Again. Adapting to a new culture is full of failures, ( most of which are pretty funny and I’d be happy to tell you about them in person over coffee or I don’t know, scotch). But the triumphs, the moments of clarity and sense of purpose are what I want to share with you now- If you are nice enough to bother entertaining these ramblings, I would like to offer you something hopeful.
So here is my moment of reflection-
I realized New Years last year after welcoming 2007 with hundreds of beautiful children in Honduras that I needed to make a change and take a risk. I returned to the states and filled out the application to join the Peace Corps. I had no real intention of actually pressing that Send button- but the darn internet makes things so accessible that one bleak January morning I thought to myself, “what the heck”. Sometimes the first steps to change are as simple as taking a deep breathe and pressing a magical button. Of course all of the rigorous medical, dental exams/ legal crap/ selling my car/ moving out of my beautiful apartment/ saying good-bye to my family etc was, shall we say- a little less than magical. But I did it.
But first I cashed in my entire savings account to go to Spain for two weeks over Easter with a friend and his brother and walked 200 miles of the pilgrimage El Camino de Santiago. My two weeks as a pilgrim provided me with a clearer head, strengthened and better connected me to myself and God and gave me a swollen ankle, some serious blisters and some of the most beautiful memories which I am very privileged to have. On the day we arrived at the cathedral in Santiago, the destination of many pilgrims throughout history- Santiago where I saw the bones of Saint James, received my certificate of completion, drank the best glass of wine in my life and received the news that I had been waiting for: I was officially invited by the Peace Corps, Destination- Ecuador.
What did all that mean? I didn’t know. I just knew that my journey as a pilgrim, rather than ending at the bones of a saint, were only just beginning.
My mom took me to the airport. Plane from Appleton to Chicago. Chicago to Miami and then Ecuador. Physically walking away from my mom and my home was one of the hardest parts, just getting on that plane was hard... sitting down and putting on my seatbelt, fighting every urge to just run off the plane and go home.
Anyway— I stayed on the plane. I arrived in a new country. I survived 2 and a half months of intense training and the first months in my site. All of which were full of struggle and excitement. And now... seven months into my adventure, I feel that as my mother wrote me in a letter that she gave me as I boarded that first plane, that I am, “abundantly blessed”. And I feel very much like the photo that she enclosed in that same letter– a photo of this red-head on her tricycle, full of determination, fear and pure joy. I am ready to take on 2008.

2008-01-03T08:36:00.000-08:00

New Years in Palmar

Here we burn the año viejo in the streets.
Strike a match

to this weary year and burn burn burn, sparks springing into the
mild darkness. Such quick death.

But, the heat and light
color our faces

Watching the glorious flame dissolve the
blackness and the past
disintegrates before our eyes.

There is no time to wonder about tomorrow and next month
No time to fool ourselves with resolutions, lofty ambition
Only to pay our respects to what has been.

To let it die in a loud spectacular display of firecrackers and gasoline soaked
dolls.

And afterwards the soft puddle of ash
a new day and all that we burned

The “some guys beat up van” taxi from montañita to palmar

( how I met my ecuadorian brother)

7 am new years day
Shake the sand from my hair

His tie-dye t-shirt has a sea horse drawn
on with permanent marker.
He’s 20, no he’s 15 at most.

We are packed in like a string of christmas lights
folded in just so
We are facing each other

I turn my head to stare out the window.
I crave sleep like water.

My eyes close and I don’t realize
Until the driver slams on his brakes.
Open my eyes to find his,

I realize we are not going to crash
and smile.
He smiles.
His face is so familiar to me and I smile again.

He says softly, “I love you”
with a sheepish kid grin.

I laugh and compliment his English.

He twists his hair
with his finger and we sit for awhile in
silence. He looks hard at my eyes, “tienes ojos
lindos”.
I tell him his eyes are beautiful too.

The van stops at Palmar and I wish
him luck in the coming year and climb out.

Pay the driver a dollar and the van
pulls away.

Sometimes, alone in this country
I find a sense of family in the strangest ways.

World AIDs Day and Baking Bread

2007-12-05T08:33:00.000-08:00

So this past Saturday was December First which is World AIDs Day-- being that HIV/AIDS is a a growing concern particularly here on the coast we made sure paint the town red ( well, with bright red balloons and red ribbons anyway). A group of about 30 kids from our youth group showed up for our parade and carried signs and helped pass out information about what AIDS is, how we can protect ourselves and how we can reach out to people who are dealing with this devestating disease. The compassion and motivation shown by the youth in Palmar is amazing!

Here in Palmar there are still many people who don´t know what AIDS is or how to protect themselves and the youth is committed to getting the information out there and saving lives. It´s exciting for me to be able to be a part of their efforts.

There past two weeks I have also been participating in a baking class with the youth in my community in order to expand and improve our bakery sales. We are learning how to bake all kinds of breads, cakes and cookies and are going to have a big exposition of our work this weekend. YUM!

Well, I would love to write more but i gotta catch a bus back to palmar if I´m gonna make it to baking class on time! ( Thank goodness for the "hora ecuatoriana" because it´s okay to be late here!!)

thanksgiving day

2007-11-22T11:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Day of Thanks!
My thanksgiving started early- I met my friend at 5:30am to run the length of the beach which takes about 40 minutes. We ended up at the end near barrio esteros where we walked around the inlet where the mangrave begins and watched the boats begin to come in to shore with the catch of the day. We walked further and climbed the huge moss-covered rocks---we looked for treasures--little sponges, shells, crabs, starfish and I held one creature in my hand that closes itself up with tiny tentacles. About this time with sun was nearly risen and the light had changed. Sun on skin. We climbed the highest rock and sat there beside three pelicans, humming bob marley songs and waving at the fisherman as they continued to arrive in rickety wooden boats with pealing paint and names like Santa Rita, Santa Carmen ( the patron saint of fishing), margarita etc....Climbing down the rock is always the tough part but i made it.

We walked back to the beach and got caught up in the chaos of every morning in palmar: the fishermen climbing out of their boats balancing red plastic boxes full of shinning, silver fish and the sea gulls and pelicans come in mass swooping down claws stretched to steal what they can. They dogs run wild torn fish dangle from their jaws as they pick fights with eachother for their breakfast. We drink morocho from plastic cups sold by a man and his bicycle wooden cart-- the warm milk with raisons, cinnamon and morocho warms my body and tastes like heaven. Alex goes out to the boats and returns with a plastic bag full of trumpet fish-- Meanwhile I have waded into the sea and realized that I was surrounded by hundreds of bright orange starfish- as though for a moment the sea had claimed the evening sky and I was walking through a strange galaxy.

We returned to my house to clean the fish and then I had a game of beach soccer. The whole town was out on the beach with big speakers blasting the sounds of don omar, aventura and of course, daddy yankee. We played hard in the blazing mid-morning sun and I SCORED THE ONLY GOAL! It was a huge moment for me. I was playing defense and kicked it as hard as i could from mid-field and it went right in the goal. I´m pretty proud of this... a thanksgiving milagro. And the other girls invited me to play with them again next sunday...Now here i am running a few errands in Libertad and soon to return to palmar where I am going to cook up some trumpet fish to celebrate my thankgiving.

It´s been a beautiful day and I am grateful for a great many things: my family, my friends and my home... and I am grateful for my new town, friends and my strange new life here. Everyday is full of newness and beauty. I wish I could be with my family on thanksgiving but since I cannot, I am very thankful to be here in ecuador living life the best that i can. Much love from ecua-land!

Malchinqui--a poem

2007-11-15T09:38:00.000-08:00

Malchinqui

Merciless the wind whips sheets
of dust, stings my eyes.
The sun narrows it´s heat, bares
down upon my pale shoulders.

Low, among the withered cornstalks, she
crouches, peering out from her hiding place
she waits. Quiet as the absence of rain.

Three gringas, standing
a half moon around her front door.
We are speaking with her mother.

Nearby her baby sister gnaws on an apple,
barefeet crusted in dry earth, the dust
sticks to the tiny corners of her mouth, sucking
at the sweet meat of fruit.
Her brother surveys the scene, he keeps a close
distance.
Old man draped in a worn, wool poncho
hovers in the doorway, his eyes
nearly hidden below folds of wrinkled skin.

She shyly observes our movements,
our jeans, fleece coats, sunglasses and
artisan hand-bags, our shiny hair
How we shift our backs to break the force of wind.

When she rises
from the cornstalks, she moves slowly.
Her legs are no more
than bones and skin.

Her eyes, set deep, send
dark shadows down her face,
She does not meet my eyes. She knows
we´ve been talking about her, how her body
is crumbling. Disapearing--like the cornstalks
in the heat and wind and dust.

When I look at her again, her eyes
She wears the sun like diamonds.

2007-11-15T09:15:00.000-08:00

Here are some random photos!
First we have the Jesus graffiti-- vota pensanda-- which translates more or less-- vote thinking. Love it.

The next one is of some volunteers and i enjoying Cuenca the best city ever. Next is of a woman selling flowers.

To the left we have me with my fist in the air, "¡viva la revolucion!"

Here is just a random picture of Cuenca...did i mention it´s the greatest city every.

This is the lovely ocean where i am lucky enough to live. Palmar is a beautiful town (so come on and visit me!!!)

Hanging out in Palmar with pedro and miguel. We work a lot here but we still manage to have a fiesta or two.

And here is Palmar. I know i have written before that it is small... so this is the main square.

Okay----so that is it for this entry. Just some photos from Ecuador!

Viva La Provincia Santa Elena

2007-10-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

So--Last Monday I was living in the Province of Guayas but this monday I am in the Province of Santa Elena. Did I move? Naw. There was a week of stikes, blocked highways and burning tires but it worked and last week Tuesday the congress voted and we became the newest province of Ecuador! One thing that I really dig about Ecuadorians is how they take it to the street until they see change. Not saying this always works but it inspires me, they know what they want and they go for it. Not sure if becoming the 24th province is the best choice or not but time will tell...who knows? I´m feeling hopeful. On the first day of the strike I got caught trying to get to the city of Libertad (about 40 km from Palmar) and it was a wild scene: flaming tires and buses, cars, trucks all backed up at each blocade. What I loved was how it wasn´t a bunch of angry people yelling but rather one big party- I mean, there were even vendors selling cokes and snacks. I heard later on there were a couple little run-ins with the police, but I think tension was inevitable.
As far as life in Palmar: I believe The Dude ( The Big Lebowski) says it best when he says, "strikes and gutters, ups and downs". Yesterday about 10 youth and I piled in the back of one girl´s uncles truck and tumbled down the Ruta Del Sol to a small village where from we hiked a good five hours through the jungle. At one point while eating some tuna a tarantula landed on Dayse´s shoulder ( who was sitting right next to me), thanks to Maestro our faithful guide and friend no one was bitten. He knocked it off her shoulder ( so it landing about an inch from me) and then killed it. It was a pretty intense hike, at the end we had to wade through a muddy river in our sneakers....dark water surrounded by jungle makes me nervous. In training we learned about a snake called Matacaballo which translates to HorseKiller because it can leap like 15 feet in order to kill it´s prey. There are no documented cases in years but I couldn´t help but wonder... But aside from tarantulas, snakes and dark water... the scenary was spectacular and Maestro, our guide was a really cool guy and his son Denis ( 10) came along too. He lives in a very humble house with his wife and kids- so we brought food and clothes. It was a pretty cool day--by the time I got home I was so cold and tired that I went to bed before 8pm.
Otherwise my days are always suprising. I help lead kids youth groups (make playdough and play rowdy games of duck, duck, goose) and plant gardens, clean storage sheds, plan upcoming interviews, talk to young mothers etc. I love being here but I do constantly worry that I could be doing more or doing things better or why can´t i speak spanish like a native (it would be so great). Instead I massacre verb forms on a daily basis and tell people that I am "poca casada" which means I am a "little married" when I mean "cansada", tired, I am a little tired. sigh. One day. One day I will speak correct Spanish!
And sometimes I just don´t have the words. Like today-- I met a young 13 year old mother who on top of all that has the chicken pox. She is standing there with her week old baby and I have no idea what to say to her in english, much less in spanish. Her face is tired and pale and she is wearing glittery lipstick and a pink t-shirt and while the woman I am with is telling her about the importance of vaccinations, I can tell the girl isn´t really listening and I feel completely helpless. What can I offer her...? So i smile and admire her baby and wonder... what can I do? Start a young mothers group--would she even come? Probably not. Do i know the first thing about being a young mother? Probably not. Do i feel like a very small gringa in a very big world? Yes. (which is funny because I am the tallest person here).

A little bit more about my Job and Life

2007-10-04T10:40:00.001-07:00

Palmar is a small town in which there are about 7 thousand people living, 2 tiny comedors ( which are like restaurants), an outdoor market and a few "stores" which are really people selling coke, instant coffee and eggs out of their living rooms. There are quite a few bars and two churches ( one is catholic and the other is evangelical something or other). While I may not be catholic, I am learning. I like to think of myself as a "Latina Catholic". I might not know Our Father in english but I can rattle off Padre Nuestro in spanish with the best.( My official counterpart is a korean nun).
Otherwise I really work directly with the youth in an organization called Neo- Juventud- Young people of Palmar with a vision for the future. There are about 50 or so kids directly involved with the group that currently operates several small buisnesses; a bakery, a buisness raising quails in order to sell the eggs ( soon we´ll be raising chickens too), and we are developing plans for a small-scale theater/cafe. Another one of our current projects is a community garden which we have just begun ( I got the honor of hauling bags of cow poop....ahhhh the life of peace corps!). Neo Juventud is active in keeping their community clean and giving weekly workshops on HIV/AIDS in order to get much need information out into their community and the surrounding campo. The province of Guayas has the highest HIV/AIDs infection rate in Ecuador. Many people just do not have access to important information on how to keep themselves safe. Also discrimination is rampant against those who are HIV positive-- hopefully with more knowledge= less discrimination and healthier choices.

The other big project in my community is reforestation/ conservation of the local Mangroves. I didn´t even know what the heck a Mangrove was until I arrived here in Palmar but trust me, they are awesome. They are one of the most interesting and important eco-systems in the world. The Mangrove forests grow in tropical climates and can live in the presence of saltwater. These trees live with their roots above the ground! (Crazy, right?) Mangroves or el Manglar (en Español) are home to a diverse array of species: fish, crustacions,birds, reptiles, microscopic animals and vegetation, insects, monkeys and even armadillos. There are several types of Mangroves-- which I´ll stick to the Latin cuz my translation into english is not gonna cut it: Rhuzophora mangle, Avicenia germinans, Leguncularia racemosa and Conocarpus erectus. So, Mangroves= pretty much amazing.
Another part of my job is working with the Dispensario de Nuestro Señora Fatima ( the town clinic). I go out into the community, barrio to barrio, visiting women in their homes. I work with another woman and we discuss the importance of getting an annual pap smear, HIV test and recieving constant medical care (especially for pregnant/ new mothers.) Ecuadorian law mandates that all mothers and children can recieve free health care until the child turns 5 years old yet many women aren´t aware of this law and due to lack of resources don´t recieve proper medical care. So, three times a week I hit the sandy streets and knock on doors, tap on windows and call---" A ver...", Just your friendly neighborhood gringa, here to talk about pap smears.
So that is a pretty rough outline of my life here in Palmar. A couple things that catch me as strange are
- Being the only American. I live in my community and speak only Spanish. I was worried about feeling isolated but it´s actually pretty cool. Plus my spanish is way better for it. Not speaking english is the key to language learning as far as i can tell.

- It´s 2 hours and 2 buses to get to the nearest post-office where I get my mail.
- I work everyday. They told us P.Corps was a 24 hour a day, 365 days a year deal--- I remember thinking a distinct, "whatever". But it´s true.
- Wild packs of dogs. There are dog gangs here. The cushy american notion of the cuddly, tail-wagging canine is officially cultural.
- It´s a small town. Did I mention that? I thought I signed up for URBAN youth development. I am the unofficial town gringa. Which has its ups and downs. Like the cute elderly couple that sell bananas at the market who call me their niña and give me kisses whenever I pass by, or the tienda lady who gives me extra peppers when I buy eggs or the groups of school girls who run up and give me hugs. But I am the target of every stumbling, borracho man in the street. That sucks. But overall people have recieved me with open arms into their lives and community and I feel safe and welcome.
- But it gets better--- At night without a computer, internet, t.v. (not that i had one before cuz t.vs are lame), movies, a social life---- I cook from scratch, paint, write poems and stories and read lots of books. I run and do my own attempt at yoga... I do all the things I love doing without distraction. ( although thanks to the fam i have a portable dvd player and can watch MOVIES!!) THANKS FAMILY!!!!
Well---this is a HUGE rambling letter. This first few months have been saturated with newness, discoveries and change. Like any job/ life I know soon enough I will settle in and routine with find me and my life will become normalish. But for now--- I wake up and drink my coffee with joy. Each morning is exciting and I am grateful for this opportunity and am eager to soak it all in, work hard, get stuff done and GROW!

First week in Palmar

2007-09-11T15:26:00.000-07:00

I have now been in site for over a week. So many new things. Each day I am amazed by all the small things that people do that make me feel really welcome and help to not feel so alone. There are two small tiendas by my house---one has lights and more things to sell while the other is shall we say...not as visually pleasing. So i like to go to the not so nice store and the woman is so kind and always gives me some "yappa" which in Ecuador is "a little something extra". Sometimes a green pepper or some plaintains and she gets this cute little smile each time and slips a small something in the plastic bag. There is also "Papi" and "Mami" who sell bananas at the market: they call me their "niña" and give me toothless kisses everytime I pass by. I started visiting women with the Señora Andrea-- we talk about nutrition, pap smears, AIDS etc. We visit everyone--which is really nice as far as getting to know my new community. I still struggle with missing my fellow volunteers--it was really hard to leave them after surviving our two and a half month training. Hmmm....the beach is beautiful and I love walking outside in the mornings, coffee in hand and finding seashells and watching the red crabs scurry sideways into their holes. Well---my internet time is nearly up.
My address is

Hannah P Cook
Correo General
Salinas, Guayas
Ecuador
South America

Swearing In= Officially ready to Volunteer.

2007-09-02T12:50:00.000-07:00

Swearing In= I am an official volunteer.
What does that mean you might ask? It means that tonight at 9pm I will take my last two tylenal pm and board a rickety night bus and tumble down the highway 12 hours to arrive with way too many bags in El Palmar my new home (for the next two years anyway.)

Right now... I am about to leave the other volunteers in my Omnibus and head out on my own. Well..not on my own---I will make new friends in this my new country. So-- this remains short and somewhat sweet...as i still need to figure out how the heck i am going to fit everything I have into three bags.......

Site Visit- El Palmar, Guayas

2007-08-06T09:49:00.001-07:00

This is from my site visit to El Palmar, Guayas. I am not feeling in the mood to write but I want to post a couple pictures. Clockwise is some of the young people I work with hanging out at Playa Rosado, The boats are in the barrio next to mine on the way into the Mangroves, The ocean view is my front yard, NeoJuventud is the organization I work with and the view is of my town Palmar. I move there for keeps on September 2nd.... I am pretty dang excited. Much love!

Site Assignment- Day of Destiny!

2007-07-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

Hands down- the most intense day of training thus far! All 40 something of us attempting calmness, hanging on until recieving the decision that would dictate our location, work and life for the next 2 years. I mean it´s crazy. It´s like christmas morning as a kid times a million because rather than presents waiting for you it might be a tiny mountain town in the sierra, the jungle or the beach. Each site is great in it´s own way but let´s face it.... we each have our own personal hopes and fears.

I am scared to be out in a tiny town without
another volunteer/english speaker for hours.
I quite honestly was hoping not to be placed in
the Sierra because the weather sort of brings me
down.... so yea, back to the Day of Destiny........
You don´t pick your site. You are placed there based on your skill, site interviews etc... site interviews meaning all the counterparts from each site make the journey to Cayambe to meet, present their site and they get to have a small say as to whom they think might mesh well with their organization.
The lack of control was tough and this whole process was, well scary. But then again, I applied to Peace Corps prepared to be sent anywhere in the world. So......where did they put me..................
A small town of 8,000 people called El Palmar in the province of Guayas! I am very excited and terrified and everything inbetween! I´ll be working with an organization called, Dispensario Nuestro Senora de Fatima and NeoJuventud. My principal jobs will be working with young people in sexual education/ HIV/AIDs prevention, leadership training, abuse prevention, environmental education (reforestation and conservation of Palmar´s Mangroves), small buisness (bakery, artisan works and quail egg sales) and community banks.

It is a small town without another volunteer nearby..... two huge fears to overcome but I know that I can overcome those! I will intergrate into my community! The work is very exciting to me! Also... Palmar happens to be directly on the beach..... um, pretty excited about that.
The Nun actually requested me... so I feel extra good about going there. I leave to visit for a week on Saturday! I think it is like 13 hours away...crazy.
So that is another update from Peace Corps training in Tabacundo. Still focused on August 31...when I swear'in and really get to begin this adventure!
Thanks for reading and for all your support and prayers... these past weeks have been really overwhelming. Paz, Hannah P

Notes from the Jungles

2007-07-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple photos from my tech/

cultural trip to Santo Domingo and Mindo.

We spent the night with an Indigenous

group called the Tsatchilas. The men are known for their bright red hair: they dye their hair with a plant called Achote. It is done in remembrance of the the many who died during the yellow fever pandemic in the early 1900´s. And mind you, this is what I understood... my Spanish is pretty good.. but if this info is not 100% don´t hold me to it. The photo with the little hut is of my friend Jen and I where we slept in the jungle with the Tsachilas. It was great= Wooden slate bed, candles and mosquito net. Seriously, it was really, really cool. The Shaman demonstrated a spiritual cleansing ceremony and we were all given native names, my name is Lu-Li which is the word for flower.

The next day we learned more about the Tsachila culture- they danced, played the marimba, we ate purple potatoes and bought some beautiful necklaces and bracelets. We gave a short talk on AIDs as this is becoming an issue in this particular community and it went really well. It felt really open and the community was really receptive. We traveled to the beautiful town of Mindo... and wow, it is beautiful. We got to rest a little as traveling took most of the day. The next day we went to a school in town and worked with groups of students and discussed communication and played a bunch of games. Later we returned and worked with a group of young people ages 13-25 discussing sexuality and safe sex options. We visited several volunteers and saw their projects--- one who started a cafe/theater and one who is working on a cool farm. It was a great trip overall and now back in Tabacundo I am recovering from being rather sick... but that comes with the territory, right? Water is pretty much my best friend right now. Hope this finds you well! Much love!

Feliz 4th of July!

2007-07-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

Somehow I always seem to develop an animated sense of patriotism when I am out of my home country and so am inclined to truly celebrate national holidays such as the 4th of July. This 4th of July was no exception! Several volunteers that are training in the same city of Tabacundo where I am living organized quite the festive party! We invited all of our host-families and pretty much any and everyone who wanted to come and made hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, potato salad, fruit salad and a lovely American flag cake! We had a bon-fire and roasted marshmallows and lit off bottle rockets and everyone enjoyed the Sparklers! We blasted Creedence, Janis Joplin, LEd Zepplin etc.
Later on we switched to salsa and danced.. there were at least 70 people. Everyone enjoyed the food and music and of course the fireworks! It felt wonderful to share a little piece of life back home with our new friends here in Ecuador. It was an evening to dance, laugh and combine the worlds of home (the states) and my new life (Ecuador) and allow it all to settle in over hamburgers and fireworks. Last night dancing below the brightest starts with an adorable little girl and laughing with her I began to feel more at home. Somewhere between spanish and english, between salsa and janis joplin, between home and Ecuador- I began to sense that I can find my place here. That though this training is hard and yes, I am always screwing up my spanish or I struggle with this or that... I am on my way and am excited for what lies ahead!
Happy Fourth of July! I Hope this finds you well!

Mi Vida en Tabacundo- en la Mitad del Mundo

2007-06-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Well-- I arrived in the city of Tabacundo on saturday and will be living here with a host family for the next 10 weeks. I live with a great family! The dad runs a kind of taxi service and also supervises a rose garden. Roses are one of the main industries here and you can buy 24 rose for only 2 dollars! So there are always flowers here! My mom stays home and works really hard keeping everything clean and preparing all the meals. My host brothers are 16 and 8 years old and really sweet- we play a lot of Uno and the little one and I like to draw pictures and play random games. My host mother loves to try and make me eat lots of food. She laughs about how she will feed me until my clothes don´t fit and since i don´t eat enough she thinks i am anorexic.
It is pretty funny but seriously-- I heard it´s because of the altitude (we are up high in the mountains) but I am just not hungry here.
We are training and learning a lot everyday. It is complete spanish immersion which is overwhelming but exciting. I learn so much everyday... it is crazy. It´s hard too... i feel pretty isolated sometimes... we try to spend most of our time with our families as to better integrate into our community which is great but can be really hard too. It is a challenge to go from living on my own, making my own choices to being a host daughter in a culture that I don´t yet understand. This means--- no going out, no drinking, no skipping meals.... so I started running. Yea- how healthy am i? A couple volunteers and i meet in the mornings at 6 or 6:30 am to go running at a very rundown track. The best part is there are other people in our community who do that too and we are starting to become regulars and accepted in that facet.
Let´s see.... the food is interesting and I really like bizcochos (which is a kind of bread). So good.
All coffee is instant coffee... I learned how to make icecream....
Mostly my host family thinks i am crazy and I just laugh. I am the gringa mas gringa.
I think this training is going to continue to challenge me in new ways... It´s hard for me to give up parts of my old identity ... i am trying to find balance but I am just not sure how yet.
But I saw in a patrick swayze movie- that I have three choices in life...
1. Run
2. Stay on the side-lines and spectate
3. Commit

I am commited. I will speak spanish! I will intergrate into my family and community! I will keep growing, learning and trying new things!

So that is where I am at... I am a bit homesick so if you have time-- drop me an e-mail or something!
>By the way--- Ecuador is gorgeous! okay-- gotta do laundry... handwashing--sweet.

Con Amor,
Hannah P

Staging in Miami

2007-06-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

Today is my second day in Miami which is pretty much latin america! Everyone speaks spanish--- it's seriously the best ever. It's been non-stop info and getting to know folks. There are about 35 people heading to Ecuador either working in youth developmet or health--- The people are great- I have been getting to know so many interesting people with big hearts and eager spirits to learn and grow. I think we are all so thrilled to meet each other that making friends is really easy and fun. It was scary at first- no doubt. Tomorrow= Quito, Ecuador. Then off to Cayambe for 3 days and I move in with my host family on saturday in a smaller village outside of Cayambe. Our swearing in ceremony is slated for August 31rst and then we will be assigned to our sites and begin our work. It's incredible to think it is really about to happen! The hotel in Miami is pretty sweet and there is a great pool ( so i think that is my evening plans). Figure i gotta live it up pretty good as during training we work 6 days a week, all day----yikes. But I guess that would be the best way to learn, right? Much love to everyone!!!

The Night Before...

2007-06-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

I´ve said most of my good-byes... my bags are packed and my room is empty of my things. I am ready to get on a plane tomorrow morning. I am ready to get to work. I am ready to learn. I am ready to speak Spanish better. I am ready to meet lots of new people. I leave my town, friends and family with a sense of strength and support and I am so grateful for that. There isn't much else to say yet. I am tired and it's humid and right now I feel very small in a very big world.