First week in Palmar

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.

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

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!

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

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!

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

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