My Ecuaventure

Alright alright, I admit it’s been entirely too long since my last blogpost. In my defense, I’ve been trying my hardest to get my various visitors to write accounts of their trips, but I am repeatedly met with “don’t hold your breath” or simple “nah” responses, so looks like you guys are stuck with me. But where to begin? My problem now is that most things that happen to me that would have seemed outrageous a year ago are pretty standard now. Getting on a bus and having the person sitting next to me hold a bag full of live chickens the entire ride is no big deal. Arguing with the fruit vendors that each apple costs 20 cents instead of 25 is my new normal. In that sense, I might fail in painting a full picture of my experience- when I mention a bus ride and you picture a Greyhound while I’m remembering a campo Unidos bus, there’s bound to be some misinterpretations. But maybe that’s what you want to hear about- the little intricacies of how my life has changed and what will come

Phew, where to start?! This past week has been, hands down, my best week in Ecuador (so far). Before I get to that, though, let me catch you up to speed on what I’ve been up to since I last checked in. Since I’m still holding my breath that Shelby will come through and grace us with a blogpost about our trip, I’m going to refrain from giving you the blow by blow. Instead, I’ll give it to you by the numbers: Number of PC Volunteers Shelby met: 8 Number of PC Sites Visited: 3 Number of Parades Watched: 4 Number of Mangos Shelby Consumed: 25+ Number of Days Spent Without Running Water in My Site: 3 Number of Hours Spent on Buses: ~40 Number of Days Spent by a Body of Water (Beach or River): 6 Number of Hostals/Hotels Stayed at: 3/1 Number of Ecuadorian Provinces traveled: 5 Overall, we had a really fun time. She got to see where and how I live, got to meet my counterpart and host family, got to shop at a huge market, got to meet a bunch of my PC friends, and so much more. She came

While we all wait on pins and needles for Shelby's blogpost about our trip together, I thought I would bring to your attention a funny video about joining the Peace Corps that a friend sent me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-wDq17zyN0 Enjoy.

OK, this is going to be a long one, so bare with me. I’m going to do a little bit of a recap of my year- the ups, the downs, the visitors, the work, the food, the friends, etc. So, my year started as it usually does, with a birthday brunch at Grandma Bev’s house. It’s not that I necessarily started to feel the weight of what was to come whilst eating my bagel and shmear, but I definitely remember thinking that this was going to be my last b-day brunch with the family for at least a couple of years. I’m not a group movement type of gal, so I don’t remember feeling particularly upset about it, but I definitely took a second to think about the sorts of family events that I was about to miss- birthdays, graduations, holidays, etc. January and early Feb were spent mostly running errands and trying to get organized for my upcoming adventure. I don’t think I had ever spent so much money on myself or been into an REI quite as many times as I did during that month and a half. Overwhelmed w