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!