Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Between the Boredom

It’s funny if you were to ask me in person, “So what have you and Emily been doing?” My reflex response would be “Nothing in the house, bored.” However, as I try to write this blog I realize that a lot has happened. Don’t get me wrong we have spent many days being bored but this blog post is meant to capture what has happened between the bored and when it was compiled it really surprised me how much we have been living.

We have not written a blog since November and I have not actively contributed since July to our devoted 13 followers (we are sorry for that). This is because of many reasons/excuses which I won’t waste time list (as I had planned to). Ok so let’s move right into it. The important thing is that I am back and ready to update, celebrate, rant and highlight our experience thus far.

Updates

For those of you following my personal goal challenges, I am only one goal behind and I have had to modify others. I am currently trying to read more over the next three months and thanks to friends and family I am loaded with good things to read. After losing 30 something pounds in 3 months, the medical office here asked me to cut back working out to 2-3 times a week instead of everyday. I have cut it back a lot, but I hope to be on track to start P90X in July. As of January 3rd I finished my first mural and am looking for other projects. The only personal goal that I started and not completed is writing a novel in 3 months. I started with a too big of a goal and too many ideas, so I am reassessing how to go about it.

For those interested in our Peace Corps projects. We have had a lot of success with one or two individuals but over struggle to see the progress we have made. We are currently reassessing what we need to do to make our last year the most fruitful. We are still learning the education system here and constantly searching for a way to put into practice our methodology while keeping it in line with the culture that exists.

For those interested in our travel, we have done a lot of short weekend trips. We have made the most of the southern highlights including but not limited to Loja, Cuenca, Vilcabamba, and Podacarpus National Park. We are always traveling by bus so that usually takes two days of our trip. That being said I love the constancy and multitude of the public transportation in this country. We can get anywhere by bus with a little planning and patience. We have had many failed attempts to go to the Galapagos but we currently have a more secure plan for February and we are making plans to see Machu Picchu in April.

If you would like to know more about of house see our video Posted in November. We celebrated our one year in country last week with a small group of volunteers. Everyone had a great time. We also had our first Ecuadorian visitor two weeks ago which made us feel more integrated.


 Click here to read Celebration and Rants


Highlights

July
  Ø  Em’s Birthday- We had dinner with our Ecuadorian friends the Morales’
  Ø  2nd Anniversary
  Ø  Worked hard to find our space in the schools, community, and host family
  Ø  and I found this video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNM0ENUCO5I
August
  Ø  Spanish started to feel good
  Ø  Tried to find a balance between work and personal time
  Ø  Had a reconnect conference with the people in our group and the counterparts we work with
  Ø  Had Cuy for the first time (Pssst cuy is guinea pig)
September
  Ø  1st failed attempt to go to the Galapagos. Spent the a long weekend in Cuenca with great friends
  Ø  More Training in Tumbaco
  Ø  We completed a successful weekly training on the TOEFL Test, but...
  Ø  Balance was thrown off, other side projects start failing because of inconsistent meeting times or lack or interest
October
  Ø  Moved into a new apartment
  Ø  Felt the kindness of the people of Pinas: everyone was willing to help us move in and get things we needed
  Ø  Lots of eating out because we had no fridge or stove
  Ø  The start of two weeks of festivals in our town including the 50th anniversary of my school
November
  Ø  2nd failed attempt at the Galapagos
  Ø  We got internet in our apartment
  Ø  Em’s Sister and brother-in-law came to visit for two weeks. It was a good time.
  Ø  Had Thanksgiving with other Volunteers
December
  Ø  Went to rested in Loja, swam in a Podacarpus National Park, and Hiked in Vilcabamba
  Ø  Good month for catching up with friends and family
  Ø  Christmas with Morales Family
  Ø  Spent New Year’s in Vilcabamba with volunteer friends

             Always
             Eric Aiken

     "Blogs are whatever we make them. Defining ‘Blog’ is a fool’s errand.”
        -Michael Conniff
     “Don’t focus on having a great blog. Focus on producing a blog that’s great for your readers.”
        -Brian Clark



Christmas 
 Christmas fireworks

 Christmas fireworks
 Christmas fireworks in the park
 Pretty sunset in Vilcabamba
 Vilcabamba for New Year's
   Ecuadorian dolls to be burned in the New Year. It symbolizes letting go of all the bad things that happened in the last year.