Verano

When school let out in late July, I knew that I was in for a busy “summer vacation” and boy was I ever. So last updates included the end of my 2 week summer camp in town and training for the Embassy summer camp. Since then, so much has been done! (Passive voice because much of it was not my choice.) I’ll try to wrap up everything in a nice little package. It’s my life in a box.

The US Embassy summer camp was SUPER chevere- the campgrounds were absolutely beautiful, with a lake, huge trees, lots of open fields, in Valle de los Chillos (the middle of nowhere). This place also had a lot of uber-mosquitoes which ate me alive. My ankle swelled into a gigantic cankle and my hand was so puffy, I looked like Eddie Murphy in The Klumps. Don’t worry, everything went back down to normal size (Ecuafat). The camp was really fun and we did some activities that I’m definitely going to repeat in future English classes. Highlights: We got to hang out with a bunch of really cool Ecuadorians, scared the mierda out of the kids around the campfire, taught Baseball which all the kids hated, danced the Cha Cha Slide, and got a free CD and band tshirt from a cute Ecuaboy with a British accent. Also! Before the camp, we got to Quito a night early and watched the Ecuador vs. Spain soccer game in a bar in the party area of the capital, which was really fun and I definitely wanna go back.

Next was the Peace Corps conference, Reconnect, in which all the volunteers got back together to talk about our progress, share best practices, and work with our Ecuadorian National counterparts to hash out some projects for our communities. I had to do a 15 minute presentation in Spanish which made me want to puke but it went well. It was really nice being back with all the staff and volunteers and with my favorite host family of course.

And luckily, this conference fell right smack dab on my birthday! The night before my birthday, 2 of my favorite female volunteers bought me a brownie, stuck a candle in it, and sang me Happy Birthday in the middle of a mall in Ecuador. Sonia made me a huge, delicious breakfast and even went to the mall 30 minutes away to make sure I had a chocolate donut on my big day. That night she made me a delicious seafood rice concoction and Javier made me a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. They gave me hugs and sangria and made me feel so special and loved. They invited over a couple of my volunteer friends and my sitemate Todd got me a cool coffee cup that says “Keep Calm and Make a Difference” and my fellow fattyclub member, Jazzy, got me peanut butter, chocolate, and chocolate wafer cookies. Cloud 9. That night, the volunteers had a party at one of the host family houses and we played drinking games and danced and had a great time. Turning 27 was completely different than the previous 26 birthdays but it was definitely a good different and I am still in an awed state of gratitude for the wonderful life I lead.

That weekend after the conference, a group of volunteers and I headed to a city west of the capital called Mindo. It’s in the subtropical area between the mountains and the coast so it’s not too hot, not too cold, and a bit humid and SO PRETTY I’M GONNA DIE! Everything is covered in vegetation, flowers, butterflies, and rainbows. I’m not even kidding. Highlights of the trip: taking a cable car above a cloud forest to a hike with at least 5 waterfalls, jumping from a waterfall into a pool below, chocolate tour, Mexican food, first time ziplining on 10 cables above said cloud forest, and being eaten alive AGAIN by my kryptonite, mosquitoes. 

This week, the teachers are getting back into the swing of things and starting some lesson planning. We’re having an English area meeting on Thursday. My plan is to drink 7 cups of coffee before the meeting and be SUPER enthusiastic about the workshops I want to hold so that my energy will encourage them to agree and attend. We’ll see. Classes start back up next week and I’m actually kinda looking forward to getting back to the routine, daily grind, good work stuff. Ask me again in a few weeks and we’ll see how much my attitude has changed. Though, going back to school today reminded me how great my teachers are and how happy I am to work with them. Every bone in my body is grateful today.

I also bought a Shakira CD today and have been dancing around my room to it all day. Then I went for a run and listened to it while running, all the while resisting the urge to start a dance party at the park. If you feel like tapping your toes, (or your entire body) I recommend “Lo hecho esta hecho” featuring Pitbull. 

Until next time, keep dancin’ that gratitude dance, my friends.