So being home for the holidayz, I received a lot of quejas because i hadn't been bloging. sorry. I will now make a bigger effort to give updates no matter how boring i may think they are.
my last blog was on the nutrition workshop i was invited to. that workshop went well and it was a nice chance to meet other volunteers from other omnibuses as well as give them some of my first-hand experiences. In mid december I was invited to attend another workshop with my counterpart (and bff) susana where we were to learn about the creating youth groups focused around the environment and environmental issues. This too was very interesting however the majority of the seminars were on subjects that we had already mastered as a youth group working in evironmental issues. for example: 1. forming a youth group (already formed) 2.) fundraising (all over that..) 3.) service work (our life, basically) 4.) recycling and art projects (we know demasiado)
as far as our recycled art projet which is one of the biggest ones we have now we make hand bags, change purses, earrings, phone and camara cases, bracelets, key chains, susana has even made a backpack, basically anything you can thing of we can make out of all recycled materials mainly plastic bags one gets when shopping at the supermarket but we also use bottle caps and chip/candy bags.
so that seminar was from the 12-16 of december and since i was returning home to visit for xmas and new years the 20th we decided it would make more sense to bring all of my things with me and stay in and around the quito area for those few days in between and not make the 9 hr bus trip back to san isidro and then back to quito.
luckily we have a few friends who live in quito and a tio who lives in riobomba (a near by city) so we were able to pass the time nicely. We made a day trip to Otavalo (another nearby city) to do some cheap-flea market shopping, visited an un-advertised mitad del mundo, the next day we went to riombomba and visted family who took us to las aguas termales which are basically hot tubs but the water is heated by the nearby volcano, the next day we retuned to quito and just hung around and watched movies and the next day i headed home--the home in the united states that is.
the trip/flight wasn't too bad besides spanish words accidentally flying out of my mouth it was pretty smooth going through customs, security, etc in the states. arriving home wasn't that different than it was always been; meaning I did not suffer from a culture shock (which I never really did have that problem). My main goal for my home visit: eat...and I did. Between special k cereal, tofu products, ben and jerrys ice cream, raviolis-all italian food actually, tacos-all mexican food actually, sushi, chinese food, pizza, and many more products I gained about 10 lbs before heading back to Ecuador. Another mission I had was to bring back gifts for my ecuadorian family and friends-this means 10 host moms; 10 dads; around 15 sisters/brothers/cousins and another 10 grandchildren.... it wasnt easy and packing was even worse. the first week i was home was 'at home' time with the fam and the tv, the second week was 'out of home' time or friend-time where i had friends from pennsyvania, new jersey, connecticut, new york, md, and florida come visit me. we hung out in baltimore, went to the aquarium, ate seafood, went out, hung out and caught up.
the return trip home-ecuadorian home- was a bit of a mess. I had planned on checking 3 bags (all those gifts!) and carrying on a small backpack. however when checking in we were informed that to ecuador no more than 2 bags are permitted...que???? what was i supposed to do with the whole entire extra bag not to mention that each bag weighed a ridiculous amount... i had to lug the smallest one (that wasnt even small!) around and carry it on the plane. the next disaster was that they found a pair of sissors in my carry on bag (which was originally going to be checked!) and security thought i was trying to kill someone or hijack the plane. next my connecting flight was delayed an hour and i had to figure out a way to tell my ecuadorian friends who were going to see me at the airport that i would be arriving late and not to leave me. while waiting to board every half hour they delayed the flight another half hour. after waking up at 7am, leaving the house by 10am, arriving at the airport at 11am, boarding the plane at 1pm, and arriving in miami at 3pm i finally boarded my second plane at 8pm and arrive in ecaudor at 12:30am. Luckily my friend hadnt left me and had actually been waiting since 7pm (not quite sure why...bad communication between ecuadorians) we took a $15 cab ride to the house arriving at 2:30am and going right to sleep to wake up early the next morning and take the 9 hour trip to San Isidro. We planned on me taking a 9am bus directly to SI and arrived at 8:40 to find out the bus had LEFT EARLY for some unheard of reason and I had to take an indirect bus to an hour away town called Chone. I spoke to my friends though in SI and luckily they were able to get a friend to go and pick me up at the bus station for only $10. They greeted me at the terminal and it felt so good being home again (or heading home at least) and finally relaxed.
I got home and organized my bags into my stuff (put to the side) and gifts (put out to display) and called the fam...todo se volvio loco it was like a people tornado with clothes and shoes being thrown all around. I told everyone only one thing each until everyone had something and then we could go back and re-chose but pretty much everyone took about two items. I went through what was left and gave away the rest of the gifts and i am very happy (and thankful to my parents for donating clothes) that everyone that matters got something and love it...the whole gift thing was a success and i will try and upload pix of them wearing them.
I arrived to a new san isidro. We have entered the rainy season and the dirt roads have now become muddy messess and it is hot, humid, sticky with lots of rain-thats good for my plants though- and the heat always feels good in my book. now its just time to try and get back into the mix of things with work and everything and try not to let the rain hold us back.
pix will be loaded soon...
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