My new home
I have been in my new place for about a week and a half now, and every day I feel more and more comfortable. Each day, more people say, ¨Buenas dias, Esteven¨... instead of greeting me with the unspoken question of ¨What are you doing here?¨
Although, that question, voiced or not, is quite valid in a community of about 50 Afro-Ecuatorian families living way off ¨the trail.¨ At the same time, everyone is super friendly and the majority are at least somewhat accustomed to a foreigner in their midst, as they have had 2 previous Peace Corps volunteers (one left about 4 years ago).
Here is a view of my little house from the front. I hang a hammock around the corner and mainly plan to use it during the night to look at the millions of stars that are visible here. During the day, I get a constant stream of kids that come asking to play in the hammock :)
Beautiful, huh? You all know how much I like sunsets, but this is actually a sunrise! I have to get up before six to catch the bus if I am going to go anywhere... and every Monday morning I get up at 5:00 to catch it at 5:20am. (This was a Monday morning). But don´t be decieved, today I got up at 9:30 because I didn´t have anything specific to do.
Now we go into the house. I really love it... it is nice and cozy and just the right size for me. Four small rooms: Bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom... it actually feels HUGE! This is my living room, which has a sofa, a chair, and a checker board all left behind by the family who moved to Quito!! I play (and beat) everyone at checkers who visits me. Normally I am the kernals of corn and they are the black beans.
My bedroom... it´s nice.
Well, I guess that I can´t put any more pictures up, so I will just make a couple more comments.
Bathroom... not as nice, but it works. The water in my town only runs about 1/3 of the day, so I use a big bucket to hold water in the bathroom and in the kitchen. It is not that big of an inconveniance. It is much more of a hastle that I don´t have a frig (but I´m going to share my neighbors´... they´re awesome!).
Starting to get my schedule straightened out, so things are starting to calm down and make some sense.
Love the emails and the notes. Oh, my address here is still the same.
Steve Gisel
Peace Corps
Casilla 10-03-10
Ibarra, Imbabura, Ecuador
Pensamientos after 1/4 Año
Yes... I do read the very few comments that I get and I really enjoy them because they let me know that people use this to know what´s going on here.
I am officially settled into the little town where I am going to live. I am super excited! I have almost an entire house to myself because the owners live in another city and will just visit now and again (my rent is $15 a month). Plus, my neighbors are a couple with a 4 year-old that teach at the school. They are SUPER nice. I went bird hunting with Carlos (the husband) yesterday) and I got one with the slingshot (he and his cousin got like 10 more). I think that we are going to have them for dinner tonight.
Some thoughts:
I live in a town where all of the houses are made of concrete and a lot of people walk around on the dirt streets without shoes (becuase they don´t have any)... and that is becoming normal.
I drove by Mascarilla, a small Afro-Ecuatorian town, the other day and I realized that it doesn´t really look that poor to me anymore.
I wonder if I am starting to look with new eyes at these things, or if I am just getting used to poverty.
I constantly answer the question: How much does someone make in the U.S.? (Or alternatively the statement: People in the U.S. make a mountain of money.) I have found that I am constantly trying to convince people that life in the States is not better than here. I use cost of life comparisons that make life there approx. 10x more expensive than here. This makes the $150-$200 they make every month relatively equal to a $20,000 salary in the states... it changes their $5 a day to our $7 an hour.
I wonder if I really believe that the quality of their life here is just as good, or if I am just embarrassed by all of the luxuries that we consider necessities. Probably a bit of both.
I think that I am going to get really good at cooking rice, beans, potatoes, and yuca. We´ll see. Oh yeah... soup is not a seperate meal, it is just the first half of EVERY meal and it is NOT a meal if there is no rice.
Send me emails... my letters are trickling off.
Un Miercoles
Thought you might enjoy a glimpse into one particular day, not especially different from any other day... but every day is different from the next.
Hit the ^snooze^ on my cell alarm twice, reset the alarm for a half hour later, and then hit the snooze again. Woke up to an urgent bodily call for the toilet. Busy. Went outside, crossed the street, jumped a dirt wall into an empty field... diarrhea.
No gasoline in town (interesting in a country that exports a HUGE amount of oil - injust international distribution?). Called a truck to take us ^adentro^ (^inside^... into the rural area). Introduced myself to the principal of the High School. Diarrhea.
Discussion on development, community ownership, and how long before frozen chicken goes bad, while eating a lunch of rice, beans, and chicken. Met my soon-to-be neighbors (maybe)... seem really nice. Excited! Did my first real charla... taller (oh yeah, English)... workshop with a group of 10 young, Afro-Ecuadorian women. Topic - Racism. Played the ¨Knot¨ game. They couldn´t get unraveled, but had fun.
Contemplated the mountains and thought about family, friends, God... a girlfriend (?). Wandered around the church and found a valley framed by mountains, mountains framed by a sky glowing red like the embers of a dying fire. Wow. Contemplated God some more. Diarrhea.
Listened (from the other room) to my 24 year-old friend practice the pronunciation of the song that I had just taught him: ¨I´m too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it... heerrt... heartt... huurtss!¨. Read a book that reminded me that everything in this world is ¨written by One Hand.¨ Diarrhea. Prayed. Slept.
