Home is where ever I'm with you

New Home

About a month ago Eric and I moved out of our host family’s house and into an apartment. We were sad to leave our host family’s home, but it is nice to have our own place! Since we moved into our new place, we haven’t had internet for a while, but last week we finally got set up! It was hard because we use the internet to look up stuff for work, answer emails, and to keep in touch with family and friends. Not having it has been a challenge. I know there are many volunteers around the world who don’t have the benefit of having internet, so we know we are really lucky. As some volunteers say, "Posh Corps problems..."

Our apartment is adorable. When you first walk in, you enter the living room area. Once you take the stairs up there are two bedrooms on either side of the kitchen and a bathroom. We have a patio area that I’m looking forward to setting up our hammocks and relaxing outside. This will be nice because since we got here I have been wanting to sit outside, but there just wasn’t a good place with shade. Now we have it in our home!

We were originally a little apprehensive to move on our own because it didn’t make much sense to spend lots of money on things we would use for a year and a half. I mean who buys an entire house of furniture for less than two years? I’m sure it happens, but it didn’t make much sense to me. But once we found a place and started telling people our situation, I was really impressed with how giving the community was. After we moved our Ministry Coordinator saw us and said, “I heard you moved [it’s a small town]. You are supposed to tell me these things so I can help you!” I was touched that he wanted to help. Most of the stuff we have was given to us to use while we are here. From Eric’s teachers we got dishes, silverware, glasses, bed frame, and a night stand. Our landlady gave us a dresser, closet, table, curtains, and a heating unit to cook with.  Then my guitar teacher gave us a mattress and his brother gave us a small fridge. We also got a small desk from a friend down the street. I am just taken aback by how willing to help everyone has been. The people here have gone out of their way to make sure we have what we need. It really has made us feel welcome. 

Here is a video so you can see for yourself! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRgCSwhCdok

“I hear there are people who actually enjoy moving. Sounds like a disease to me - they must be unstable. Though it does have it’s poetry, I’ll allow that. When an old dwelling starts looking desolate, a mixture of regret and anxiety comes over us and we feel like we are leaving a safe harbor for the rolling sea. As for the new place, it looks on us with alien eyes, it has nothing to say to us, it is cold.” 
― Jan Neruda, Prague Tales

Much love,
Emily

English Advantage

Teaching English has caused me to evaluate a language I have taken for granted my entire life. It is fascinating to me. Below are some of my recent reflections on English and the world. Enjoy!

Part of our work as volunteers requires us to complete a small assessment in our community. We surveyed community members, teachers, and students. We asked students questions like, what is your favorite class and why? Since we work with the English teachers, we asked questions related to the English classes like, Do you like English? or Do you think English is important? Something about the results shocked me. Most of the students enjoyed English class, but I don't think there was one student who said English is not important.

Of course maybe the results are a little skewed since I administered the survey. Perhaps they were afraid to offend me. However, we asked the students to explain their response; why or why not. The answers we got were that you need to know English if you want to travel the world or to be someone in life. I had assumed that maybe they were thinking of traveling to the US, Canada, or the UK and that is why we received the answers we did. I thought that maybe it was something their parents and teachers told them and they were regurgitating for the survey. I guess my point is, until this point I didn't realize what a privilege it is to know English.

The other weekend we went to visit some friends in a nearby city. They know English very well. We all spoke in Spanish though, so Eric and I could practice. At one point our friend was telling me how that when he was an exchange student in Germany he got so mad because his host family would only talk to him in German. If he asked a question in English they would respond in German. He realizes now, that is how he had to learn German though it was difficult and uncomfortable at times. This struck me as interesting. I asked him if "everyone" knew English. He said, yes. He went on to tell me a story about him going to France where he asked someone for help and in English he said, "Excuse me can you show me where this is [as he pointed on a map]." He said the person acted like they didn't understand him, but he knew they did.

Later on that weekend we were going to play Taboo with some friends of our friends. I started to sweat a little. I didn't think I was advanced enough to play in Spanish. A family member of our friends had taken the game in English and written the translation of the word underneath all of them. I mentioned not being able to play and our friends said in Spanish, "Everyone understands English. You can just say the words in English and we can guess."

Sometimes Eric and I will be somewhere (mostly in bigger cities) and someone will say, "Hey man are you from the US?" Or we will order from a restaurant in Spanish and the person will start talking to us in English. It is hard to explain the feeling that comes from this. It's like, here we are, living in a foreign country, trying to learn Spanish and it's as though we don't need it or as if what we know isn't good enough. It was frustrating at first, but now I realize that there probably isn't much opportunity for people to practice their English so they are itching to speak it when they have the opportunity.

Through all of these experiences I have realized that English is a tremendous privilege. It really is the key to traveling the world. If you know English you can go almost anywhere and there will be someone who knows English. This by no means reduces the importance of learning another language in the US. I think there is something you get from learning another language that is really important. Because even if someone knows English, if they are not native there will be many things that just don't translate. Sometimes I feel like it takes at least 2 languages to get across what I want to say.  

With all of that said, I still feel like slowly Eric and I are learning Spanish. Some days are better than others, but we are definitely understanding more and more. It's a constant challenge, but I feel there will be one day that we will be confident in our speaking abilities. At least I hope so ;)

much love,

Emily

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."Nelson Mandela 

My host sister's quinceañera

My host mom and host sister getting ready for the quinceañera

 Here are Eric and I with our counterparts from our high schools. That is our volunteer group's mural behind us. 

Ch-ch-ch-changes

            I remember when I was a kid I was really particular about my socks. I mean really particular. I remember telling my mom that I could only wear the “thin kind”. If I wore other kinds of socks it would feel like my feet were wrapped up and trapped. It made me anxious. Then one day, I think I was in high school, I realized that I was no longer picky about my socks. I hadn’t been picky about my socks for some time. I tried to remember the day that I said, “It doesn’t bother me anymore” but I couldn’t. I tried to remember the day that my mom forgot about the type of socks I needed to wear and said, “Emily, just wear them anyway!” but I couldn’t. Perhaps one of those days happened and perhaps not. Isn’t funny how you one day realize how dramatically you have changed?

            This realization came to me one day on the way to the bathroom in Ecuador. The toilet seat was up. All of the sudden it had occurred to me that once upon a time that used to really irritate me. I realized that now it doesn’t really bother me so much. Quite possibly because I strongly prefer putting to toilet seat down to wiping pee off the seat, or worse, sitting in pee.

It’s amazing how much Eric and I have changed since being in Ecuador and thankfully mostly for the better! Those of you who know Eric might not be able to believe that he eats EVERYTHING here. It’s amazing. For dinner tonight we ate meat and potatoes, which is a dinner we would have eaten in the States because Eric never ate vegetables. I take that back. He had one vegetable of every color that he would eat, so if it wasn’t green beans, carrots, corn, sweet potatoes, or ketchup he wasn’t eating it. This has completely changed. One night we were eating homemade vegetable pizza and Eric turns to me and says, “What happened to me?”  The truth was I didn’t know.

I have started to enjoy my time alone. I used to hate being alone. I would get so bored. But now I kind of like it. When Eric was working in the morning and I was working in the afternoon, I had my little routine. My host dad was also working so I had the house to myself. I would clean, listen to music and get ready for the day. It was nice. I find it interesting that this appreciation for being alone comes at this time in my life, because after Peace Corps when we start a family I am assuming that time will be limited. Right parents?

In the Peace Corps I think you have to learn to enjoy the quiet times, otherwise you will go crazy. This is why also I think I have started reading more. I’ve tried to start reading consistently for years now. I have always had difficulty. I think in Ecuador I can really learn to love it. The great thing about reading is you can take a book with you wherever you go and while you wait (because more than likely you will have to wait) you can fill the time with reading. 

Thus far the changes have been great. I'm looking forward to seeing how we change in the upcoming year and a half! Until next time...

Much love,

Emily

"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad."
C. S. Lewis 
 

Fiestas in Latacunga. I'm not exactly sure what this was for, but I was told the town shares in eating it after the fiesta.

We finally ate cuy (guinea pig). RIP Katie, Sunshine, Kelly!! It is a food that is usually saved for special occasions as it is expensive ($10/guinea pig). 

A couple birthday pictures from my birthday in July. Pepe is our host dad (red shirt). The others are friends from the area.

Summary of Personal Goal 1

>>>>> The language story continued (or started depending where you left off).

As you may recall, I laid out 9 three month goals to be completed while I am here in Ecuador. Let me tell you (especially those aspiring Peace Corps volunteers) this is the key to success in the Peace Corps. Set short term goals that you can complete yourself without the help or motivation of others. They have to be ‘DO IT FOR YOURSELF’ Goals. Like learning to cook, getting in shape, reading, writing, painting, etc. I would also suggest things that you just never found time for in the states. Like making the crafts you’ve pinned on Pinterest, cleaning up your Facebook, making a quilt, or studying all the poets of North Ireland. My first goal was to learn Spanish this is my evaluation of the first three months.

Although I had Spanish in both high school and college, I was never a big speaker in class. (Right TabithaJ) Grammar was easy for me but I lacked the discipline to practice more than required to do the necessary homework. When we were placed in Ecuador, I was thrilled but regretted not taking advantage of all the practice opportunities I had in College. When given the language test, I placed at the lowest level in my Omnibus. I used this as motivation and made some hard decisions along the way to get better. Like moving in with a new host family (separate from my wife) for training. 

What have I learned

I learned that self evaluation in language is hard. I could never see improvement in myself, even though I had people telling me I was improving. I think this is because language is more fluid than other goals. For example you can see progress when reading a book, or creating a painting even when working out progress is noticeable. But in language some days it is there and some days it is not. Image if language learning was like weight loss: Some days I would loss 10 pounds and other days I would gain 15. It was and still is a dizzying experience. This is due largely to the fact that the more I learn, the more I realize I what I don't know. 

I have also learned that you have to making a habit of improving. You second language will always be you second language and there is much to learn. This can be frustrating if you expect to be as fluent as a native speaker but exciting if you are a lover of challenges and LIFE-long learning. Luckily, I more to the life-long learning. Em and I both have a tutor to help with this journey.

I learned that books can only take you so far. You have to get out there and make mistakes, look foolish and feel a little uncomfortable. This is the boundaries that books just cannot push. I have also learned the strong power of necessity. When it is important you are willing to make more mistakes, take more risk, and be a little more willing to prepare yourself. 

The last lesson learned was to be realistic and flexible with my work routine. I planned out my language learning day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute and at first I would bet myself up if I was not motivated to work at the scheduled time or get frustrated when I was not learning. I have since then learned to be more relaxed my timetable and setting manageable objectives..

How this translates to other goals

For my next goals, I have a more realistic mind set. I know that these goals are going to require a lifetime of learning but I can start a good habit of learning while here in the Peace Corps. I also I have learned to set realistic consequences. This has help keep me motivated but not self destructive. I have also made a conscience effort to make all goals self motivational and self for filling. While I know that the results of my goals will make some people in my life proud of me or happy with me. These goals are “DO IT FOR YOURSELF” and that’s ok. I am currently finishing up my second goal 'Fitness' and it is going great mainly due to the lessons I learned for my first goal 'Learning Spanish'.

If you are now feeling inspired which i hope you are, I would recommend the Power of Habit and the 4-hour Chef to anyone that is looking for tips on changing their habits or creating new ones. Just remember books can only take you so far.

Always

Eric Aiken

"Education is the progressive realization of our ignorance."

Einstein, Albert

“People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves.” 

Paulo Coelho, Veronika Decides to Die

Creeping on 27

Some of you may realize that my birthday is coming up! A fellow volunteer asked me today how I felt about getting older. I guess I realized that I try not to think about that part. I was in class last week and a student asked me how old I was. This is a pretty normal occurrence here, at least for me. I was told it is rude to ask a woman how old she is but that has never stopped anyone from asking me, maybe because they think I look younger. It doesn't bother me much. I figure I would rather them ask then guess and talk behind my back. Anyway, I told the student 26 (in English). She repeated in Spanish 26? Noooooo 20, 22 maximum. I told her thank you and continued helping the rest of the class. So I guess feeling old doesn't have to mean looking old.

In other news Eric and I have been in our site for almost three months and we have been in Ecuador for almost six months! Wow. I have to say we were struggling for a while because we didn't know many people here and we really missed home at times. Though we still miss our lovely friends and family, we are really beginning to integrate into the community. It is really cool to see.

If I have learned anything from college and my student affairs experience it's to get involved. I tell my students all the time to find something they like to do and join the club. It's a great way to meet friends with similar interests. Knowing this, Eric and I applied this theory to our life in Ecuador. So far it has been a great way to meet people and to do some fun things. Here are a few of the things we started to do:

I began playing basketball with some women in the evening. It is difficult to exercise here so this was a great opportunity. I found out about the group through my host mom who used to play with them. They seem like really great women and they are good basketball players! They asked me to play with them on the city team. It is supposed to start sometime at the end of the month.

About a month or two ago I began taking guitar lessons. This has been great for my free time and to practice my Spanish a little bit. My instructor seems to really know music and has also been a great person to get to know. This also has opened up the door to getting to know his family as well. Eric enjoys hanging out with his brother (who sells flooring).

Eric and I started an English club for the community. This was really Eric's idea to meet the needs of the many requests we have gotten for English lessons. We were on two radio stations to publicize the event. It was quite embarrassing for me because I got nervous and I don't speak Spanish very well when I'm nervous! One of my English teachers actually said that he heard me on the radio and I told him how embarrassed I was. He started laughing and said that when he heard me laughing on the radio he knew I was nervous.

Eric is also supposed to start playing basketball for the city team on my host brother's team. No one has seen him play, but they seem pretty confident that he's good.

Eric has been going with one of his teacher's to a men's social club. I think it might be similar to a Rotary but seeing as I have been to neither Rotary or the club Eric goes to, I may not be the best source. From what I can tell, it's a bunch of men that get together and play cards and carom(pool without pockets).

We both try not to shut any doors of opportunity but it can be hard when all the opportunities come on the same day. It becomes more complex when you add in the go-with-the-flow culture. Many things fall through so picking a weekend activity is like playing roulette (say yes too many things and you will let someone down but if you don't say yes to enough you could be stuck in your room waiting for the phone to ring) None the less we are beginning to really love Pinas. We are meeting some really great people and I think we will have a great two years here.

 

Eric playing the ukulele with Claudio Jose the son of my host sister. 

Me visiting a friend and fellow PCV in Arenillas 

I finally ate ceviche! A typical costal seafood. I meant to take the picture before we started eating...

This was a pretty sunset from the balcony of our house. Remember the sun sets at 6ish all year round!

Breaking News...

“Language is the class you never graduate from, you’re always a student” –Bibi PC Training Manager

Before we start on what is sure to be a very nice and complex view of how language is shaping my experience in Ecuador. I would like to give a quick update for friends, family, and people reading at work.

The S.H.H. report (safety, health, and happiness report):

 On the topic of safety I feel more safe and relaxed in site than I have the whole time I have been in Ecuador.  It has a lot to do with the host family we have and the community support that we are receiving.  There is a lot of machismo culture in Ecuador but in our site it is tame and mild. I don’t worry about Em walking around alone and we do not worry about getting pick pocketed or robbed. On the topic of health, it is a running joke between Peace Corps Volunteers that you only get sick once and stay in this limbo of 40-80% health. For the lucky ones it higher and for the unlucky ones well if they stay they are true champions. On the topic of happiness, we are pretty happy here. As with any move there are lags in the integrate cycle. (What’s that, you want to know how you can help us through a lag period, thanks for asking.) What would increase our happiness is a visit for someone or even more economical a care package. SEND US SOMETHING, lol.

The highs and lows forecast:

Highs: Host family is awesome; there is a good balance of support and space. I am making movement on my PC goals and Em as set some of her own. Our site community and school community is good; they have really welcomed us with open arms. We have started to travel around our Province a little and visit other volunteers. I am in love with the seafood here and I’m trying to learn how to cook some of it.

Lows: Number one; there is always a battle to find something to eat. Often during the week we cook for ourselves and finding the time to cook the local meals is an uphill battle. Also our knowledge of how to cook with the local ingredients is a competence that we have not yet mastered.  Number two, Boredom is a really killer. When we are bored it is hard not to think about home so we try to stay busy. Number three, Teaching English, like teaching anything, is a time consuming process. That means we spend a great deal of time think about the English language, speaking in the English language, and discussing the English language. As you can imagine, our Spanish takes a backseat some days this is the saddest part of being a TEFL volunteer.

The Big Story:

Even with all the English, Em and I are still making progress in our Spanish. I was told by an Ecuadorian that my Spanish had improved greatly. This was after having a 45 minute conversation about varies topics that didn’t include the basic: where are you from? How long are you here? What’s your favorite color? Etc. Along the same note Em was told by an Ecuadorian that hear accent and pronunciation was really good. This is big because I know it is something she works hard at.

>>> Ok so this post went long then I thought so I am going to add some pictures and continue my Language story, later.

This is our new Host Family "Ellos son muy amable" (google it a little language lesson lol)

Some very good friends of ours took us to a water park. Where we found out their brother owns it and we had the whole thing to ourselves.

the view outside a window in our house

One of the best meals I have had so far.

A day at the beach 

Family

It’s lunch time. My host mom moves the table runner and candle sticks to the side of the table and puts a fresh table cloth on the table. She sets the table with a fork, knife, spoon, and glass. She tells me as she is doing this that my host dad doesn’t like all this. She says, “He just likes it to be the same, he doesn’t understand why I change it all the time.”

I get it.

Over the weekend we lost water for an afternoon so we decided to pack up and go to the grandparent’s house about 30 min away. My host mom packed all the food we were going to eat for lunch and dinner and not to mention a few snacks and drinks. We got to the house (no one lives there all the time anymore) and my host mom put a fresh towel in the bathroom, put bread cinnamon rolls (snack) on the table in a glass bowl, and moved a table and chairs on the front porch for cards. This woman thinks of everything! When we got into the house she even said, “She’s hungry” to my host dad. Maybe it was a lucky guess or maybe she’s incredibly good at reading people, but none the less I’m impressed.

As I grow older I have learned to appreciate these little accommodations that people sometimes make. I’m reminded of when I visit my parents' house in Livonia and my mom makes me breakfast every day or how she nicely sets the table for dinner or how she sets out a pair of slippers in the spare bedroom or maybe, just maybe there’ll be some chocolate milk in the fridge for me to enjoy.

I guess some concepts are international. Even for those who do not have a lot, one can make an experience so much better with just a little thought. I have to say it makes me love it here and miss home all at the same time. 

much love,

E

The family - that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to.
- Dodie Smith

You never get over being a child, long as you have a mother to go to.
- Sarah Orne Jewett

Right on Time

Eric have had quite the journey to make it to site, however I feel that we are right on time. I will explain this more later. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tEI2FnX2fs&list=PL77A4E42A58F79B12&index=9

I had a string of bad luck for our first three months in country. To give you an idea... I was sick for two weeks when I found out I had parasites. I took medicine and was better in another week. I got bit by a dog while on my way to Eric's host family's house (there happened to be NO ONE around at the very moment this happened). I found out I needed a root canal a week before we were supposed to leave for site, which was very painful. Eric and I found out we didn't have a place to live less than a week before we were supposed to leave for site.

With all this that has happened I still feel incredibly lucky to be in Ecuador! All of the bad things that happened to me could have been SO much worse. Luckily the dog bite was not severe (see picture, although I had a nasty bruise after), the parasites went away with medicine, and I didn't have to pay for the root canal (one of the benefits of being a volunteer). Not to say that all of this wasn't stressful because trust me it was. I just have faith that there is another plan in my life.

Eric and I stayed in a Hostel in Quito until my root canal was finished and we had a new host family to live with in Piñas. We finally moved in with our new host family today. We have been again blessed with a great family. They seem really nice and we are excited to get to know them. It is a family worth waiting for! Our house is located in the center of town; really close to my school and close to Eric's school. While they say everything is close in Piñas, we have quite the prime location.

The picture on the left is a view from my new host family's house. Our host dad is the Fire Chief and I have noticed he's kind of a big deal in town. He said if we ever need anything we can just call the fire station and they can help us. My host dad's father lives on the second floor and he owns a hardware store. Our host mom lives the weekdays in Machala (a nearby city) with their daughter who goes to high school there. They travel back on the weekends to Piñas.

All this to say, things are looking up. Classes begin May 2 so we have a little time to get acquainted and settle in.


Much love,
Emily

An Orchid from the Botanical Garden in Quito. Piñas also known as the Orchid of the Andes. Supposedly there are over 100 different species of Orchids. Also there are about 30 hummingbird species and 330 species of birds (The Big Year, anyone?)

A month update...

Since our last post so much has happened  We have had many highs and a few speed bumps but we are now officially Peace Corps Volunteers. I will try to make the last 4 weeks short and sweet and go into more detail as we get feedback from our comments and emails. With so many important but complex moments it is hard to know which ones everyone will want to hear about.

Site Visit:

As I am sure you all know by now we are going to Pinas, El Oro. We went for a week-long visit about three weeks ago. With the help and accompaniment of our counterparts (my principle and one of Emily's teachers) we made the 14 hour bus ride down to the small city of Pinas. Pinas is the Spanish word for Pineapple. Even though you will be hard-pressed to find any Pinas in Pinas you will find an abundant amount of orchids, birds and bananas. The providence of El Oro (Spanish for Gold) sits north of Peru. If you look for information about Pinas I believe you won't find much, but once we go there next week I hope to share more about the city in which we will be living. Here are two videos that show what Pinas looks like. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtCk124EOp8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2_dZtWDYa0.

Exams, Classes, and Senioritis:

Needless to say after 3 months of training we are excited to get to work, because sitting in classes all day is educational but get tiresome (although the training staff does a wonderful job at trying to keep thing entertaining as you can see in the photos below). The weeks following site visit are hard because all you want to do is get to site and meet the people that you will be spending two year with. Correction, this is our opinion and the experience is different for everyone. However, I believe that we are the first group in a long time to have all the original members on the omnibus (cohort, group, team) make it to swear-in. Our group is a great one full of different personalities that have all find a way to work together or find a way to compromise. We had to take many exams including to test our competences of: safety and security, personal health knowledge, language and culture, as while as technical knowledge in the areas that we will work.

Packing and Parties

Packing is once again at the forefront of our lives and it seem that we have more than we came with. It is even more difficult because we have two different houses to pack up. But as you might we remember we are pros (click here if you don't). We are willing to take the challenge (mainly because we have no choice, lol)

In the past few weeks there have also been a lot of fiestas (parties). Including but not limited to Family day, Volunteer gathering, March madness, baptisms, and graduation. Below are photos:

Waiting

Currently, we are waiting in Quito. We are waiting on a place to stay in Pinas. There has been a lot of confusion about the best housing option for us. It is my understanding that placing married volunteers is hard.The Peace Corps wants the most supportive and safe environment for all volunteers and that usually entails living with a host family. However, that is a little hard for married couple because most families know volunteers to be single and usually want a female so they are either a little hesitant or don't have the space for two volunteers. There are some great prospects in Pinas and we are sure to hear something soon. By the end of this week we are heading to Pinas. In the meantime we are trying to enjoy the free and cheaper activities of the capital (Quito).

Site Assignment!

Yesterday was the day Eric and I have been waiting for for almost two years! Crazy... The Peace Corps did a great job with the presentation of sites. We started the day with safety and security which to be honest was tough to pay attention to with the excitment and anticipation! At lunch they made everyone leave the training center and we couldn't return back until 1:30. When we came back one of our facilitators greeted us in traditional Ecuadorian regaila.

We all walked out to the backyard of the training center where there was a huge map of Ecuador made out of rose petals. Each province had a sign. The rest of our facilitators walked out of the center in traditional dress of each province. (It continues to amaze me how Ecuador has so much different culture, dress, food, etc. in one small country!) They called each of us individually and walked us to our province.

There were plenty of jokes to go around that Eric and I were going to go to different provinces, but DON'T WORRY we are both going together :)

So now I'm sure you would like to know where we are going, huh? Alright, well drum rollll! Eric and I are going to be spending our next two years in Pinas! Pinas is located in the El Oro province. It is located on the south coast of the country (some people like to say north Peru). It is a smallish city and though it is located on the "coast" our city is still quite high altitude and on the east side of the province. This means it won't be too hot (I was worried about that!).

Some of you may know that we thought we were going to a different place. While I think the other location we were hoping for was also a good fit, I am opptimisitc about our placement. We will be visiting our site on Monday for the next week so we will know more then.

Much love,
Emily

"It is strange that the years teach us patience; that the shorter our time, the greater our capacity for waiting."
Elizabeth Taylor

"We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us."

Voting, Carnival, Valentine's Day surprise,

As some of you may know, Ecuador has just had their elections where they elected second term Rafael Correa. Through election season, I have learned a lot about the way Ecuador holds its elections. First, and perhaps most interesting, voting is obligatory in Ecador. This means that every citizen 18 and over HAS to vote (16-17 is optional). On voting day (Sunday), everyone must go to the polls in their area. There are tables that are assigned about 300 people by last name and sex. The voter goes to their table and receives four big pieces of paper that have the names and pictures (for those who don't read) of all the candidates. There were about 35 people running for president and just as many (if not more) political parties. The president must receive 51% of the popular vote. If he/she does not recieve 51% of the vote, another election is held in March between the top two candidates. Correa secured 68% of the vote, so another election was not necessary. After you vote you receive a card that states the year and that you completed your duty. Voting means chosing someting for every option; you can't leave anything blank. This voting card you need for everything. If you want to buy a car, open a bank account, etc. the tellers have to ask for your cedula (ID) and your voting card. I find this fascinating.

On Monday February 11, my host family and I went to Chota for Carnival. Carnival is a celebration of water, signifying life, for the beginning of lent. This means that everyone gets together and throws water, shoots foam, and covers each other in paint. It's a fun tradition and no one is spared. Unfortunately while in Chota I picked up something more than just paint and foam. On Wednesday, I woke up at 2 a.m. with a sharp pain in my stomach. I spent the day throwing up. I'll spare you the rest of the details, but I have been sick ever since. I am getting better each day though!

On Valentine's day I stayed home from training because I was still pretty sick. At about 11:30 p.m. I woke up to use the bathroom. I had a pretty bad headache and was falling back asleep when I heard this music getting louder and louder. I was pretty confused because everyone was sleeping when I got up. The music got so loud I thought, "What the heck is going on?" I remembered, my host dad has a music group. Then I had the thought, "Why are they practicing so late?" Pretty confused and a little angry at this point I hear my host mom say, "Go get Emily up!" Prepared for this I wait for my host sister to run into the room. She runs in and tells me to get up. When I ask her what is going on she says something I don't understand. So I get up and I see my host mother and sister standing at the main door. Outside the door is my host dad's group was playing love songs to my host mom (there was still 20 minutes of Valentine's Day left). When I get to the door my host mom says, "Serenade!" (Earlier that night she was telling me that Eric needed to come to my window and serenade me with his ukulele.) I would have prefered the serenade take place at, oh, 9:00? But I guess you don't get to choose a random act of love :)

"Love doesn’t sit there like a stone it has to be made like bread: re-made all the time, made new."

Much love,
Emily

How to Change Seats While Riding a Roller Coaster:

If being a Peace Corps Trainee (PCT) is like being on a three month roller coaster ride, than being a married PCT is like being on that same ride while sharing a seat. Sharing that seat comes with both its ups and downs (no pun actual intended, but let's keeping going and see what we get out of it).

As the ride starts you have someone to talk with, confided in, and if necessary hold your hand. As the drops and sharp curves come you do not scream as loud because you truly know you're not in to alone (and you don't want to hurt the other person’s ears). Somehow the ride starts to feel smoother but the seat you’re sharing starts to feel smaller because it truly meant for one. Your PCT husband, wife, partner starts to only notice half the ride, half the experience. Then you realize you too are only experiencing half the ride as well. You look behind you and other PCTs still have their hands up, screaming in the wind. You look ahead and see the weeks of track left with all its dips and curves but you are already starting to reflect on haw nice the ride was. Because you and your PCT partner have worked out a system, where you hold her stead on the drops because you like them and she doesn't, she pins you to the side of the seat to lessen the effect of the curves, and you both look forward but only to one side when going uphill. Don't get me wrong it is a pleasant ride but when you look back and see all those hands and hear all those screaming voices you realize you are missing part of the ride.

I use this long roller coaster metaphor mainly to prepare my family and friends for the latest news in our Ecuador service. I also wrote it to encourage of PCT couple to do what we are doing (if the similar conditions exist).

Em and I are now living in separate houses (no we are not separating). I am moving to a new host family. Although we love our host family and are doing really well in training, our Spanish is suffering from around each other 24/7. Neither of us understands enough of all the parts of speech to hold a long conversation with each other and we often revert back to using English. Monday-Friday; 7am-5pm we are around 25+ PCT (unmarried or single however you take it) who HAVE TO talk in Spanish all weekend and every night in Spanish and they just want to speak in their 1st language. I am currently on an English ban for two weeks (not listen or speaking any English) but I know that it is not enough. Emily and I have decided that we will live with separate host families during the rest of training so that our language skills will increase at the rate of other PCTs. Many married PCTs have a hard time learning a language at the speed of a single PCT. So we are trying to squash that.

To settle your fears here are a list of questions I thought you might ask if I were to tell you this in person:

1. Are you and Emily doing ok?

Yes, we could not be better and our love and support of each is at its strongest.

2. Did Peace Corps make you separate?

No, we talked with them about some language strategies and this was one of the options.

3. Are you far from each other?

No, only two blocks away and we see each other almost everyday

4. How/ who is the new host family?

The new family is great a little quiet and reserved but I am slowly breaking that shell

5. Can you visit each other?

Of Course, Em has the same family so I feel comfortable going over there and they know us as a couple and love us both. My new family was more than happy to hear that I was married and has welcomed Emily over whenever she wants. Ecuador is all about family and is sad to see a couple live a part but understands why we have chosen this option.

6. Why have you not called, Skyped, or emailed me?

Two reasons first is the lack of time. When living with Emily's family we both had internet, but very little time during the week we are up at 6am, in training from 8-5pm, family time from 6-8pm and in bed by 9pm. on the weekend that family keeps you busy with something 6am-9pm.
Now that I am with my new family I have lots of time. But problem number two I have no internet. So, I am spending a lot of time getting to re-know the Spanish language and myself lol.

If you have anymore questions or concerns please email me of comment. Emily and I are having a good time here and really want to grow in the language. As far as the metaphor goes just think of it as new seats on the ride a better, scarier view. But if we need support we just need to reach out to each other. Now that I am done being calm, I need to throw my hands up and scream into the wind.

Always
Eric Aiken

-" Life can be like a roller coaster...
And just when you think you've had enough,
and you’re ready to get off the ride and take the calm, easy merry-go round...
You change your mind, throw you hands in the air
and ride the roller coaster all over again.
That's exhilaration...that's living a bit on the edge...that's being ALIVE." (Unknown to me)

-Life is a roller coaster, but I feel a change. (Donny Most aka Ralph Malph of Happy Days)

curiouser and curiouser

Last weekend Eric and I did our first load of laundry. It was long overdue (we were running out of clean socks and underwear). I have to say after doing my first load of laundry I can see why Ecuador is where clothes go to die. Ecuadorians use what is called a piedra de lavar to wash clothes (see picture). After soaking the clothes for a day you rub the clothes with a bar of soap and scrub with a brush and on the stone. Then you use a cup and pour water on the clothes rubbing against the stone until all the soap is gone.  Then you ring the clothes out and hang them up to dry on the line. A lot more work than we are used to for a load of laundry!

Last Saturday our host sister invited us to play soccer and basketball.  Little did we know we were signing up for a whole day tournament of basketball and soccer! A few of the catholic churches in the area came for a tournament in a nearby city. We got up at 6:30 a.m. and left for the tournament at 7:00 a.m. We arrived in El Quinche at around 8. We all went to misa (mass) and then began playing the tournament. We didn’t end up playing soccer because they had a lot of people to play, but Eric and I both played basketball. 

     Being pretty tired, it was a good practice in language when we were not 100% alert. From here the day had an interesting turn in events. In the first game they told us they were giving the other team a 12 point lead to start because we were “too good”. I’m not exactly sure how they knew this, but somehow they were sure of it. We won the first game and waited to play the next team in the finals (there were only four teams). However, last minute, another team entered into the tournament (after the first round). There was some talk about this and it was finally decided that they would play the team that we beat. In the next round we played in the first finals. We again beat the team. We were pretty beat by the time the second finals came around. It was about 3:00 and the games were 40 minutes each and very tiring! We were about to start the game when the “officials” said that we could play in the second finals but Eric, myself and our other good player could not play. They said it wouldn’t be fair considering the other team was much younger than us and Eric and I are extraneros (foreigners). Considering we were only playing with five people, this didn’t give us many choices. Eventually they agreed to let us play, however, there was some tension between one of our players and a player on the opposing team. Being tired and not wanting a fight to break out, Eric and I decided it would be best to leave. Instead some people we came with played in our places. In the end our team lost the basketball finals and won the soccer championship. After our team was done taking pictures with our trophy (a huge rosary) we finally were able to go home.

The next day we got up early again to climb Ilalo (an old volano). See pictures.

Thus far it has been a great experience. I am curious to see what other adventures we will encounter. 

Mas o menos

We made it to Ecuador! So much has happened in the last week... On January 15 we had a day of orientation in Jamaica, New York. Then at 4 a.m. we left for the airport in New York. We flew from New York to Miami and left from Miami to Quito, Ecuador. We arrived in Quito at about 8 p.m. In New York we marked all the Peace Corps bags with rose colored yarn so we knew whose bags to pull off. After we made it through customs we watched all of the bags come through the belt when we realized that none of our bags where there (there are 25 of us each with at least two bags). We waited for a bit and then we went to talk to the baggage people. We found out that our bags were on the second flight from Miami and they weren't going to be in Quito until 10:45. We talked to our Peace Corps representatives who (after a while of waiting) decided we would head to the training center since we still had an hour drive! We arrived at the training center around 11:00. Some of the staff stayed behind with our passports and baggage claim tickets (good thing I kept them!). They picked up our bags and brought them to the center.

As soon as I got off the plane I felt the altitude difference with a huge headache. I've been getting headaches everyday, but they seem to be getting better. Except for that, the experience so far has been great. Here are some pictures.

This is the view from the top of the training center. The city in the mountains is Quito.

This is the view on the right of mi casa (if you turn right from the picture below).

 This is the house of my host family.

This is our room! Sorry it's a little messy. I'm not sure that we have unpacked all of our stuff yet... We have two closet drawer things for our clothes. Our bed is quite firm, but not too bad. There are roosters that like to talk to each other early in the morning! Aye.

My host family is great. They really like teaching us Spanish and have been very patient. Our padres are both teachers for 9-10 year olds. My madre calls her house Gringo Landia because their family has had five volunteers before us and they all come back to visit.


Much love,
Emily

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PACKING!!! It is often described as the beginning of the end by many Peace Corps Invitees. In many cases it is. As I stood in the middle of my living room with luggage, clothes, books, etc. scattered all around, it finally become real that I would be leaving for two years. How to begin the task of downsizing our lives into two pieces of luggage. Not to mention find a place to store the things that we are not taking with us (thanks mom). For Em and I packing has become somewhat of a daunting but stress free task. Having pack up all our possessions into a Nissan Sentra and move has been an annual thing for us.

Eric ‘noitemleftbehind’ Aiken

12 years of professional packing

Style: Modified Army (‘let me plan it out’)

Biggest Packing Moment: packing a two bedroom apartment into a Nissan Sentra and driving it 12 hours to another state.

Emily ‘spacefinder’ Aiken

8 years of professional packing

Style: grab-n-stuff (‘oh it will fit’)

Biggest Packing Moment: Packing two people’s summer possessions plus wedding gifts into a Nissan Sentra in under 2-hours and taking it another state (all before the honeymoon).

Much like me, I know that there will be future volunteers surfing the internet looking for what to bring (and what not to bring). What I want to offer you is some help on many levels. Below you will find my words of advice and our packing list.

1. If you are traveling as a married couple make a list together, but remember that you must pack separately in case you are split up for a period of time (I am thinking mostly clothing here). There are some things, such as sun block, medicine, entertainment items, and toiletries that you can split the duty of packing but still share later.
2. You can fit a lot of things into a suitcase. The important thing is to the think about the weight of both the items you’re packing and your luggage. Line these up correctly and you should come in underweight.
3. Warning: go easy on researching what others have brought in the past. It is important to look at what others have done before you but you must pack to your own needs as well. With that said here are a few blogs (Nomaddict, Ucdkiliclimb, mkellyecuador) that really helped us create a packing list. Also remember when the people above wrote this blog they were in the same position as you (waiting to leave). Here is one the bloggers follow up blogs after being there for a year. Nomaddict
4. Our packing philosophy: if you can get it there, then leave it here. I don’t believe in wasting money or resources, but in this case you should only take what you cannot live without and buy as you go. Who knows you might find out that ‘need’ is really just a ‘want’.
5. Here is our packing list. I think it can be helpful to men, women, and married couples. Good luck and Good vibes as you pack.

If I'd known how much packing I'd have to do, I'd have run again. -Harry Truman I know I said sometimes I wear clothes but apparently I lied...I'm only packing swimsuits. -Kate Upton Always  EZ Aiken

Learning without a classroom pt.2

…I know I left the last blog without any really conclusion as my friend, TJ Taylor, pointed out. I would like to say it was a test to see how many people were reading. However the truth is I felt that the last blog was getting too long and I just did know where to cut it off.

Recently I have been reading, The Four Hour Chief and The Power of Habit, The first is book about learning in which they use cooking as the example of rapid learning. The second breaks down the how habits works, breakdown and buildup. Needless to say I have been convinced! It takes about month to create a habit, another month to see growth and change in from that habit, and yet another month to master it (maybe). We are in the Peace Corps for 27 months so that makes 9 goals; 7 of which I have already created. There you have it in a nut shell. I plan to write more on the topic as I develop a method of action for these goals. But now with only four days left Em and I will be writing our last minute thoughts has we prepare to depart for Quito, Ecuador.

“Change might not be fast and it isn't always easy. But with time and effort, almost any habit can be reshaped.” 

― Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit

"No matter how good a plan is, how thorough a book is, or how sincere our intentions, humans are horrible at self-discipline"..."A goal without real consequences is wishful thinking. Good follow-through doesn't depend on the right intentions. It depends on the right incentives"

-Timothy Ferriss, The 4-hour Chef

Always

Ez Aiken