¡Feliz Navidad!

A couple of days before December, all the PCVs got an e-amil from our boss telling us that we wern´t able to travel to Quito for the month of December due to increased danger during the holiday season. I wasn´t too happy about that because I had things to do in Quito, but what can ya do? Luckily the President of the Community Bank asked me to make an appointment in Quito for December 17th at two offices in Quito we are working with. Because ut was work related, I got permission to go. The meetings were busts, but I got to pick up my mail (Thanks Mom and Dad for the cookies, Aunt Char for the card, and Megan for the care package and an update on all the travel nurse gosip!!). I also got presents for the neighbor kids and food for Christmas dinner wih the family.

The next day I hiked about 40 minutes to the next town over, El Chaupi. This is a kickoff point for climbers and hikers who are going up the Ilinizas. I was hesatent to visit here because I thought that there´d be a lot of stuff to do, and I was right. I had to go to one of the hostals in town to get some info on hiking (I think some friends and I are goin gto climb a Mtn. next year). The hostal was like a Colorado ski lodge, and there were tourists sitting around the huge fireplace sipping coffee and reading. I got the info I needed and then we ate a nice, but expensive lunch. The american tourists said that there was a big group of 20-somethings there the night before drinking beer and playing cards. Less than an hour away, but what a difference! I donñt think I´ll be heading back anytime soon, because it would be too big a temptation to hang-out with other Americans all the time.

Friday was a busy day. In the early morning the teachers at the high school and I had "Secret Santa" (I got a t-shirt and candy) and then their Christmas program. Next, I went to the day care center for their program and lunch. Then I went to the grade school to watch the older kids doing a traditional Christmas game. They had sunk a de-barked and greased tree trunk near the school with presents tied to the top (the picture ot the top of the post is of this. Sorry for the sideways view, but it comes out bigger this way.). The kids had to climb up the 25 foot pole to get the presents. The whole time I was watching, I was afraid a kid was going to fall, but the teachers and parents watching were unconcerned. Then I grabbed a bus and headed to the jungle town of Puyo for a Christmas party with soem other PCVs.

The ride out there is beautiful and takes you right under the active volcano Tungurahua. It was a little more than disconcerting to look out the window of the bus and see a gigantic ash cloud spurting out of the top of a mountain only a couple of miles away.

On Saturday night we had a nice dinner and a gift exchange at some friends house and played poker. Sunday we got up early and went for a mountain bike ride down a trail with waterfalls all over. Although Puyo is only about 50 miles away from La Libertad, it is a different world. Hot, tropical, and full of bugs.

I headed home on Christmas Eve and noticed that the Pan-American Highway by L.L. was lined with families. I´d heard before Christmas that people from Quito will drive down and throw candy from their cars to the kids, but also that the Government was stopping this because too many kids were getting hit by cars. They made an announcement at the grade school, but I guess nobody paid attention. There were cars slowly giving out candy and almost causing accidents.

We didn´t do anything for Christmas Eve (for dinner instead of the fancy dinner I´d usually have with my family in the States, I had a plate of rice and a banana), so I took the time to make some eggnog for Christmas Day. The nog turned out well and was even better because it would be illegal in the States (I used Cuban rum. Havana Club, very tasty).

Christmas Day I relaxed, read, ate Christmas cookies, drank eggnog, and listened to Christmas music. That evening the whole family got together and we grilled some chicken and I made a cream cheese and corn side dish. It was all delicious and the kids opened the presents I got fot them. Not a white Christmas, but not horrible.

I hope you all had a great Christmas where ever you were. I miss you all!!!

The most wonderful time of the year (as long as you don´t get gored)!

My debut on Ecuadorian radio was a bit anticlamactic. I went on Saturday morning (December 8th) with some kids from the high school I teach at to "Radio Latacunga" AM 1280 for the kids show. The kids just read news from Friday´s paper and some jokes and a story from the paper´s "Kids" section. They picked and played a lot of music too. Halfway through, they interviewed me. Here is a rough transcript...
Kid - We´re here today with Jay. Where do you live?
Me - In La Libertad.
Kid - Do you have any siblings?
Me - Yes, two.
Kid - What are your parent´s names?
Me - Richard and Mary.
Kid - OK. Now for some more music.
Not exactly Charlie Rose, but still, I can always say that I was interviewed on Spanish radio.

The next night I went to a Wedding in town. I was actually excited to go because this is the first Wedding where I was friends with the couple. The bride is part of the woman´s group in town and the groom works at the grade school. Also, I teach their eight year old daughter English. Yeah, kind of strange getting married with an eight year old, but down here that is pretty common. Weddings are expensive, so a lot of times people will live together as a married couple until they can save enough for a blowout (this can take some time).

The other Weddings I have been to have all been Catholic and were pretty much the same; a lot of booze and dancing, but this one was very different. The couple is Protestant and they don´t drink. Instead of toasts and drunks walking around forcing shots on everyone, they played games and asked trivia questions about the Bible. It seemed everyone in their church stood up at some point and said a prayer for the couple too. One guy explained why they don´t drink and said that 60% of Ecuadorians are alcoholics and also that 30% of American are. I´m not sure about that, but why let facts get in the way of faith. Anyway, the Protestants started dancing later in the night (I say dancing, but the really were just bouncing around). The did this to religious music for almost an hour, and then when everyone was exhausted, the band slowed the music down and started talking about Jesus´ love for us. All the people stopped dancing and immediately started hugging each other and crying. Even the little kids started to. Some of the people even fell to the floor and were almost in convulsions. One more step and they would have brought out the snakes.

Between the two types of Weddings, I don´t know which I prefer. It´s like if I had to vote in a Democratic Primary. I´d have to go with the candidate I disklike the least.

On Friday the grade school had their Christmas Pagent. Other than a sign the said "Feliz Navidad", the program had nothing to do with Christmas. It was a beauty pagent for girls from all the grades. One event was a traditional dance. The picture from the top of the post is the neighbor girl in her outfit. (Note: I finally changed the picture from the "Mama Negra" post to one that I took) She finished third and I said that maybe she´d win next year, but apparently this is the last year for these pagents. The Government is banning them because in other towns the parents will get into fights if they don´t like the results.

Saturday and Sunday were big party days in town. We had bullfights in an arena that was constructed in the center of town. (If you want to see what this looks like, go to YouTube and search under "torros del pueblo Ecuador") These weren´t bullfights like Hemmingway wrote about, but instead just a bunch of drunks from town with blankets trying to mess with the bulls. I went to watch on Sunday and was kind of disgusted. The first bull got it´s ear and a horn ripped off chasing a guy into a fence. Also, most of the guys in the ring would just stand 50 feet away from the bull, yell, throw bottles at it, and then run away if the bull moved toward them. I saw two drunk guys get gored (one pretty bad) and found out later that a 20 year old on Saturday was in the ring and fell off his horse. He must have hit his head pretty badly, because he died a couple of days later in the hospital. Sometimes I don´t understand this place.

Notes:
- I want to give a plug for my college buddy Mike´s blog that he and his wife are doing from their new home in China. You can check it out at http://smithsinshanghai.blogspot.com/ or follow the link from my blog homepage. Nice title, eh!

- Jimmy Ballgame, I´m sad to see you go. I just read the the Cards traded Edmonds to San Diego. It´s going to be strange not seeing Hollywood out there "Cadillacin´ It" (Mario P´s words), but like I said Rasmus, Ankiel, and Duncan are the future.

Its beginning to look a lot like Navidad

Things are really starting o get busy around here. Since I didn´t give an update last week, I´ll try to fit it all in. Another Volunteer came to visit a couple of days last week. She was in Quito for some meetings and had some time between them to kill, so she stayed here to save money on Hotels. There wasn´t a lot going on here, but we had a good time hiking around. The weather was clear her last day here, so she got to see all the mountains and was blown away by the view. Her site is one of the cold ones too, but she said it wasn´t nearly as cold as in La Libertad.

The rest of last week wasn´t too hectic, but we were planning a lot of stuff for this week and the time up to Christmas (Navidad). On Thursday we moved the Community Bank to a new building in the center of town. Hopefully this will increase the bank´s profile, but it also means that we will be keeping the bank open a lot more during the week so people can use the computers and copier. I´ve already been there a couple of days waiting for people to come, but I´ve used that time to give some impromptu computer classes to some of the ladies.

On Saturday last week I went to Latacunga with some of the kids from the High School for World AIDS Day to give out red ribbons. The Latacunga PCV had set it all up, so all I really had to do was watch. It was a good chance for the kids to get to hang out with some kids from the city, and they all had a good time. This week I´m going back to Latacunga with some other kids to talk on the local AM radio station. I´ll let you know how my first Spanish radio interview goes.

This week had the first (I believe) celebration of St. Nick´s Day in La Libertad. I had the neighbor kids put their shoes out the night before so that San Nicholas could put some candy in them while they were sleeping (This is a December 5th tradition for those Non Saint Louis Catholics out there). Unfortunately the kids weren´t sleeping while St. Nick was working, so they called me out the next day. I told them it wasn´t me and that if they didn´t believe then San Nicholas wouldn´t come next year. This got them to change their tune. I´ll have to work on my sneaking skills before the next time.

Next week is Finals at the High School and Grade School and the bank is having their charge day and the town is having the pageant and election of the "Star of Christmas", so I will be running around a lot.

Since the weather is pretty much the same as it was when I first got here, it doesn´t seem like Christmas. I did put up some lights in my room and a star on my door, so there is a little festiveness. The High School teachers and I exchanged names for Secret Santa this week. It was funny, because right after we switched names, one of the teachers came up to ma and asked what I wanted. It´not going to be much of a surprise what I get. They also had the kids switch names (during one of my classes of course). It took 45 minutes and the teachers were constantly yelling at the kids to be quiet and pay attention. It felt good to see that they were having as much problems as I do.

ECUADOR NOTES:
- The national Congress just passed two laws creating the 23rd and 24th provinces in Ecuador. I don´t know why they think they need more bureaucracy, but things work so smoothly right now, why not add some more?

- The assembly for writing the new Constitution just convened. I was watching the opening ceremony with the teachers and asked one how long she thought it would take to finish. She told me, "One or two weeks". Later I asked another teacher the same question and she said, "Six months". I guess we´ll see.

FUNNY STUFF (KIND OF):
- I ate dinner at the little stand in the center of town the other day (French Fries and Chicken). When I came home, my neighbor asked where I was. After I told her , she said that I shouldn´t eat there because the food was "dirty". This is the same woman who loves sucking on boiled Cuy heads and uses water to make soup from the tank outside her house that has rotting potatoes on the bottom. If she says the food is dirty, I have to re-think eating there.

- I was listening to a radio morning show the other day and they asked a trivia question like they do in the States. The question was, "Which finger on the hand is longest and which is shortest?". The people I was with started arguing about it. I said hat it was too easy and mus be a trick question, but later they announced the answer was," The pinkie and the index finger". God I wish there was Ecuadorian Jeopardy. I´d be a millionaire.

Cheating on my posts

Not a lot to report this week, so I´m going to cheat a bit and just use an article that I wrote for the "Kapers", the Pi Kappa Alpha - Alpha Kappa Chapter alumni lewsletter.

Life at 0° (And Two Miles High!)

La Libertad, Ecuador - I knew this moment was coming. The travel books I had read after receiving my invitation to Peace Corps Ecuador had all mentioned the popularity of Cuy, but one week after arriving, when a steaming pile of potatoes was put in front of me by my host "Mother" with an entire fried Guinea Pig spread eagle on top (The head pointed at me seemed to be smiling), I had to pause and ask, "What did I get myself into?".

Rewind a little over a year and I was a successful engineer working in operations management at a Chicago area steel manufacturer. I needed a change though, so after a lot of soul searching, I decided to quit and take advantage of my skills and lack of attachments to follow Jared Adams´ advice, "Carpe Diem", and apply to the United States Peace Corps. After an intense nine month application process I was offered a position in the Sustainable Agriculture program in the South American country of Ecuador from February 2007 to April 2009. I have to admit that the first thing I did after I read my invitation was to look on a map to see exactly where I´d be living for the next 27 months.

Ecuador is a small country (about the size of Wyoming) located between Columbia and Peru on the northern Pacific coast of South America. The country consists of four distinct geographic zones; Coast, Sierra, Oriente (Amazon Rainforest), and the Galapagos Islands of Charles Darwin fame. Due to it´s position straddling the Equator and it´s high Andean mountains, Ecuador has some of the most diverse ecosystems in the World. There are more bird species in tiny Ecuador than in the entire continent of North America. Ecuador has always been the source of all authentic Panama Hats and is the world´s leading exporter of bananas. Also, Ecuador is home to some of the finest coffee and cacao growing regions in the world. Unfortunately these resources and the countries petroleum production have traditionally been held in the hands of the privileged few and depending on the source, between 40 and 60% of the population is considered below the poverty line.

To help improve the lives of the average Ecuadorian, the Peace Corps has been working in Ecuador since 1962 performing the three objectives assigned to it in the 1961 establishing legislation; 1) To provide technical assistance to countries that request it 2) To promote better understanding of Americans by the citizens of these countries 3)To promote better understanding of foreign cultures on the part of Americans. By living in my pueblo, La Libertad, for two years and integrating and interacting with the community, I am for better or worse taking care of goal number two (Most people in my site think that all American are 6´2" like me, about 8" taller than the tallest guy in town). By writing articles like this and posting weekly in my blog http://jayinecuador.blogspot.com/ , I´m fulfilling goal number three. For the technical assistance aspect, I am working with the local community bank that was founded with funds from the US Government. I help with computer issues, data processing, and we are currently looking for additional funds to expand the amount and number of loans that can be given to local farmers. I also help out with classes at the town´s agricultural high school and we are planning on building a Cuyeria or Guinea Pig house for teaching the kids small animal production. To fill up the rest of my time, I teach English at the local grade school four days a week and have computer, cooking, etc. classes. Also, I am experimenting with Lithic Mulch practices in my garden to see if crop yields can be improved in our poor soil. I´ve had to use the problem solving skills that I learned at Rolla in ways that I never would have imagined, and the experience of moving to Rolla´s small town lifestyle has helped me in my transition here. Although having to live with buying everything at Wal-Mart is a little different than learning to enjoy boiled rodent for breakfast.

The results of my work so far have been minimal, but with Peace Corps having been working here for 45 years, I didn't expect overnight success. That has to be the most frustrating part of being here. Part of the job is frustration, lonliness, and a nightly helping of boredom. After dark everyone in town is usually home watching bad TV. Since I don´t have a TV myself, I spend most nights reading (34 books and counting!). Thanks to the support and encouragement of family and friends, I´ve been able to adjust to life so far from home.

What I haven´t been able to adjust to is living at the top of the longest mountain range in the World. La Libertad is located two hours south of Ecuador´s capital, Quito, on the Pan-American Highway. The elevation is over 11,200 feet, so breathing even when walking can be difficult. My front door is higher than the peak of Mt. Hood, but because of the the intense sun, the climate is like a constant crisp fall day. This climate prohibits the growth of plants that flourish at slightly lower elevations, so the local crops are restricted mostly to potatoes and onions. The view though is amazing. From my backyard I can see around ten peaks that are higher than any in the Continental US.

I have another 17 months to enjoy that view and see how much help I can provide the community that has welcomed me with so graciously. After my service is over, I plan to head back to the States with a greater understanding of the world outside our borders, the ability to spek fantastic gringo Spanish, and most likely the desire never to see another Guinea Pig again.