PACKAGES!!!

2.26.11


FYI- I AM able to get packages during training... just sayin'……..


A few tips/guidelines regarding packages:


- IF POSSIBLE, keep it under 4 lbs so I don't have to pay for it, my PC budget is limited
- DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT claim any value on the package when they ask you if there is anything perishable... yada yada yada at the post office, SAY NO SAY NO SAY NO!!! I don't care what is in it, SAY NO! Make up everything you put on the claim ticket and mark it USED. For example, say it's school books, crackers, reading books, etc.
-Take everything new out of the package!! If customs opens it up it is less likely to be stolen if it is out of the package!
- It takes 7-10 days for a package to reach Ecuador
- If you want to send me homemade cookies, brownies, etc. please put it in an airtight food bag thingy or a ziplock bag
- put EVERYTHING in ziplocks! In case of spills, leaks, etc. it doesn't get all over everything
- My birthday is March 27th, plan accordingly :-) hahaha, but seriously, plan ahead! You have 4 weeks!
- Seeing other people get mail and packages makes me jealous, just sayin'
- Please let me know if you send me a package so I can keep my eye out for it
- DO NOT send me checks or cash
- Make sure to stuff the empty space so nothing rolls around
- my mailing address is in a previous post with the blog title MAIL!
- Don’t send me a package after April 10 because I will be getting a new address when I move to my site on April 22^nd


To make it a little more convenient for you to send me a package I will give you a short list of things I would like :-) You're welcome, no need to thank me:
- CDs with music!!!! I'm unable to transfer songs from my iPod to my computer :-(
- v-neck white tees or any colorv-neck but black (Mens Small)
- some of my casual nice shirts from home
- granola bars
- creamy peanut butter
- crystal light on the go packets
- books to read
- any type of healthy snack food
- Hand written letters
- anything you think I will enjoy, which it just about everything!
- Something awesome, but not expensive, as a gift for my host parents. I haven’t thought of anything awesome to give them yet.
- clear top coat nail polish
- Kraft Mac and cheese (it’s $2.50 a box here, I refuse to buy it on my PC budget, not happening)
- body splash
- jewelry from my house
- headbands! J
- 1 qt size freezer bags
- t-shirts (not black)
- pictures of you! Sounds corny, but then I get to see what’s going on in your lives and I get to hang the pics up in my room and show everyone!
- gum


Packages are somewhat expensive, but letters and cards only cost .98 to get here!! I would love getting one of those too!


Heather

Long, but great week!

2.26.11

Wow, where did the time go??? It’s been 5 days since I’ve blogged. That’s a long time! It’s been a long, but great week! I’ve been so tired all week that all I do when I get home is eating dinner, do homework, and go straight to bed. But I haven’t been sleeping well for some reason so I’ve been extra tired the past couple days. I was supposed to go meet up with some of my PC friends and their family members tonight to go out, but I’m just way too tired, unfortunately. I’m really run down and don’t feel like getting sick right before and awesome week. So I’m being responsible and staying in. No fun! Haha.

Thursday a current PCV came to the training center and showed the NRC (Natural Resource Conservation) group, also the program I’m in, how to construct a tree nursery. It’s pretty simple, but requires some time. We had 22 people and it took us 4 hours to construct a small nursery, fill bags with dirt, plant some trees, and a few other things. I took before and after pics, no worries! I will hopefully post them soon. I did manage to get a pretty good sunburn on the left side of my neck. My host sister put some Caladryl lotion on it for me though and it felt a little better Friday morning, but it was def still tender. Caladryl looks exactly like Calamine (spelling?) lotion that you put on chicken pox. It dries just like chicken pox lotion too. I looked like I had a ghost around my neck!

Friday our NRC program spent the afternoon making recycled paper, wallets out of juice cartons, piggy banks out of plastic bottles, flower pots out of plastic bottles, and noise makers out of bottle caps. You should be jealous because it was pretty stinkin’ fun! And after school I finally got to play soccer with everyone! We played for about an hour 5 on 5.  I about died the first 30 minutes… the altitude definitely kicked my butt. After my lungs recovered from the shock of exercise in the altitude, it wasn’t so bad. My quads are a little sore today, but not too bad considering I haven’t worked out hard in about a month J

Saturday, today, each language group had to prepare a different Ecuadorian food and we had a fiesta, it was great. Don’t ask me what some of the dishes were called because I definitely don’t remember, go figure.  After we ate, one of the staff members played an Ecuadorian song on the guitar and the other staff members sang while he strummed away. Then one of the guys in my group played an American song on the guitar and we all sang along for the staff members. We went back and forth like 3 times, it was sooo fun!

I walked home from class with a group of friends. Before we all headed home we stopped at a fruit store that one of my friends host parents is starting up. They had a dj outside playing load music and some people hanging around outside. The store is really nice! And they had an awesome selection of food! The host mother gave all of us an orito (mini banana) for stopping by. I bought a Gatorade to go along with it. That Gatorade tasted soooo good! A nice touch of home to go with my banana J

I then went to the grocery store with a friend to buy some snack for the bus ride on Monday. When I got home my family was going to the other grocery store in town so I went with them. We stopped at the Heladeria (ice cream store) on the way back. YUMMMAYY!!!

We had hamburgers for dinner. They were really good. The hamburger and ketchup tastes a little bit different here than it does in the States, but it was still really good! I ate SO MUCH food today. Let me rattle it off to you for your entertainment: 1. Breakfast: fruit, scrambled egg with peppers, ham and spinach. Croissant when I got to the training center. SNACK: small handful of tortilla chips, pear 2. Lunch: tons of Ecuadorian food during our fiesta at the training center, a tiny plate of rice and chicken when I got home from class, Peanut butter and jelly while walking to the grocery store with a friend, large slice of pizza when we were on the way home from the grocery store. 3. Dinner: ice cream and a hamburger. I haven’t eaten that much food in I don’t know how long!

Now I’m sitting on my bed blogging and ready to go to bed and it’s only 8:30pm. So lame. So lame. Wish I had the energy to go out, have a couple drinks, and dance with everyone, but I don’t. Oh well, maybe next time!

I just asked my host mom if we were going to church in the morning and she said, “yeah we are going if you want to go.” I said, “yes I want to go.” But she looked at me and said, “Heather, it’s okay if you want to sleep in. You don’t have to go.” I must look really tired. I gave her the “are you sure” look? And she was like, “Of course, sleep in, you need your rest. Be calm. It’s okay!” She is so sweet! She then went on to ask me if I was going to sleep until 11? Haha, I said no I will be up before then. She then proceeded to tell me to sleep for as long as I want and if I want to lay around and rest all morning/day tomorrow that I can. I said I just needed a little extra sleep since I haven’t slept well the past few nights and then I will be good to go! My host parents are so easy going, it’s amazing. I feel bad that I’m not going to church with the in the morning… but I seriously haven’t been this tired in months. I also haven’t gotten to sleep in since I’ve been here, so I’m looking forward to it! I’m glad my host parents are so understanding!

I guess I should tell you that I’m going on what’s called a “technical trip” all next week with 11 people in my group along with our trainers and a few staff members. We are going to Cotocachi. There are a TON of things we have planned!! I know one day we are going hiking, but that’s as far as I read on the itinerary. I will fill you all in on everything when I get back. I’m SOOOOOOOO excited!!!!

Alright, bed time for me!

Until next week,

Heather

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!

Dear Mom,

Happy 50th Birthday!!!!!! Sending you lots of love from Ecuador!!!! Hope you had a great birthday! Although I couldn't be there, I was definitely thinking about you today!!! :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Love,
Heather

Otavalo!

2.20.11 Otavalo, Baby!

***This post has a link with pictures at the bottom!!!***

Oh where to start…. Today was definitely the best day I’ve had in Ecuador yet!!! My family took me to Otavalo, the largest market in Ecuador! But on the way we pit stopped at the Equator!!!! So freaking awesome! I took lots of pics! Then we pit stopped at the San Pablo lake lookout. There I took pictures of the lake from the mountains, but that wasn’t the best part…. There was a llama there, I’m guessing it was the store/land owners pet. My mom was petting it so I took a picture of her, then my host brother in law went to stand by it to get a pic with it and it SPIT grass on him, it was hilarious!! That stupid thing looked right at him and spit the grass right out of his mouth onto him. It was really funny. Then they wanted me to get in a picture with the llama. I said no, but they insisted. So I tiptoed over to it and what do you know, that darn this spit on me as well. Again, it was hysterical! We were all laughing really hard!

We then moved on… I thought we were then heading to Otavalo, but we stopped at a waterfall! Cascada de Peguche to be exact! It was sooo beautiful! It was packed… with locals, tourists, and people who were there to bathe themselves. Before getting back into the car we all shared a large beer. It was my first couple drinks of beer I’ve had since being in Ecuador. We had Pilsener, it was pretty good!

We then drove to have lunch at Fritado, which mean fried pig. The place was huge and we got family style food. The meat was delicious, it looked like chunks of pork, but tasted wayyyy better!

I thought we were going to the actual Otavalo market, but we just went to where the stores were. But it was still really fun. My 2 host sisters were trying on lots of clothes. They each bought a couple of things. They said they like to shop in Otavalo because the clothing there is much cheaper than Tumbaco and Quito. I didn’t get anything L I really like this cardigan sweater for $10, but I didn’t get it. I have to pick and choose what I want to spend my small earnings on!

On the way home we stopped for bizcoches. Bizcoches are a traditional food in Quinche (I think that is where it was, but I’m not positive!). It is hot chocolate with a shortbread like cookie and cheese. You dip your shortbread like cookie into the hot chocolate, it’s sooo delicious!

And that was my Sunday! It was a blast! I took tons of photos!! The link is below!

Heather

Pictures of The Equator, Peguche, and lunch!:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2610233&id=15920138&saved#!/album.php?aid=2610233&id=15920138

Saturday Class and The Mall

2.19.11 Saturday Class and The Mall

This morning we had language and culture class. Then the PCVLs (PCV leaders: Volunteers who have completed their service and extended one year to help train us) made an appointment with the neighbor next to the training center to tour her property. It’s huge. She raises guinea pigs, rabbits, and LOTS of pigs. The pigs were the best part. There were baby pigs, pregnant pigs ready to give birth any day, pigs for breeding, and pigs for selling. Pretty cool.

The Agriculture group then finished up the irrigation system they were putting in for our gardens and the rest of us hung out, helped out, and checked out the 80 baby chickens we just received at the PC training center. The ag group is going to raise all of them and then when family appreciation day comes around we are going to have to kill them and cook them so we have something to eat. That should be interesting!

Tonight, my host sister, host mom, 2 host nephews, and I went to the Central Comercial, aka the mall, in Quito. It is HUGE! All kind of stores: NorthFace, Lacoste, and Nike just to name a few. We got ice cream while we were there, it was delicious!!! I got 1 scoop chocolate and 1 scoop brownie in a waffle cone, yuuummmmaaay! Then on the way home we stopped and got McDonalds, ha, I got a cheeseburger!

Heather

Again, pics to come soon! Hopefully....

Tree Farm

2.18.11 Tree Farm

For class today the NRC group went to a Tree Farm for the whole morning. The place was beautiful!!! They grow tons of different trees. There were 5 stations set up… Station #1: Learn how they store seeds until they are ready to be planted. Station #2: Composting. Station #3: Dead heading and replanting. Station #4: Mix soils, put in small bags, and place tree stick in it. Station #5: Seed Beds and transplanting.

The rest of the afternoon the Police Captain came and gave us a speech over safety and security while in the Peace Corps.

I went to the supermarket for the first time tonight with my host mother, sister, other sister, and her spouse. It’s just like any other grocery store basically. I bought some animal crackers and a 6 pack of oreos. Haha.

Heather

Pics to come... it takes forever to upload them!

My first Ligo Game

2.17.11

We started today off with Medical Policies & Procedures, fun stuff, ha. The rest of the morning we had Tech Training. Topic: Environmental Education-Basic concepts and Resources for PCVs. Nothing that exciting. Then we spent the rest of the day on our first class of “Community Banks.” A community bank is where people in a community can make money without having to rely on outside resources. For example: This community bank consists of 30 community members. As a whole group they make rules (you must pay back a loan in 60 days or after missing 2 meeting you have to pay an extra $1) and appoint exec positions. The community bank group of 30 people meets once a week. At every meeting everyone has to pay $1. As money builds up people who participate in the community bank can take loans out using the money from the pot for whatever it may be that they need. They then have to pay the loan back plus interest in X amount of days. This is how they make money. This goes on for 1 year and at the 1 year mark the money is split 30 different ways. So they pay $52 throughout the year, but get back $75. There are many other details, but I will spare you. To put this into practice our training group is doing a community bank amongst ourselves for the 11 weeks of training so we can get used to how meetings run and whatnot. We haven’t made rules yet, but we have appointed exec positions. Yours truly was nominated and voted President. Ha, it’s not that big of a deal, really.

                There is some kind of Soccer Cup going on right now, and tonight Liga (the Ecuadorian team from Quito) played Argentina. My family ordered pizza and we watched the game downstairs at my host sisters house. I couldn’t make it through all of it because I was way too tired, but they ended up losing L The pizza here is really good, but unlike pizza in the U.S. there is no tomato sauce on it! Crazy, huh? It’s still really good! I love the dough!

***I forgot to tell you that Tuesday there was a small earthquake, I’m not sure where, but I felt the tremors while I was sitting at the kitchen table doing my Spanish homework at about 7pm. Pretty crazy. It was def the talk of the town on Wednesday, haha!***

Oh and to finish my package story, I ended up getting my package on Thursday because PC went and picked it up for me! How nice was that??? It ended up being a Valentines card from my parents with some heart candies in it!!!! Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

Heather

Best Valentine's Day EVER!!! :-)

Today is 2.16.11, It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged. It’s been a busy few days for me, but I will try to start from where I left off…

2.14.11 Monday

This was a rough day for me. I had a rough morning dealing with my emotions, but I had great support from my PC friends, which made it a lot easierJ I was pretty good during the day because I was busy with training, but as the evening approached all I could think about was my family at the funeral parlor and how I wasn’t there.  Class ended at 5, I went to the internet café for a short while then moseyed on home. To be honest, all I wanted to do was go straight to my room and relax, but when I got home some of my family was over to hang out for Valentine’s Day so I sat down at the table and chatted with them… and this is when my day went from being rough to having an amazing ending. Normally when my family is talking amongst themselves I understand about 40% of it… not this night, I understood like 95% of what everyone was saying, whether they were talking to me or amongst themselves I understood it. It was unbelievable!!!! I understood so much that I could actually crack jokes with them. I had a total break through moment with my Spanish. It was at this time that I knew my grandma was with me telling me everything would be okay J But wait, it gets better!

So a little while later I broke out my computer because my family wanted to hear some of the music I had on my computer. While my computer was loading up they asked me, “Do you have the internet on your computer?” I said, “No, in order to get on the internet you have to have it in the house. I’ve tried to connect to the signals within range, but they are all password protected.” I then showed them the different connections within range and how they needed a password. Normally, there are only 2 that pop up, but this time there were 3. I told them I haven’t seen this one before and that I probably needed a password as well, but I tried anyway…. And what do you know…. IT CONNECTED!!!!!!!!!! I freaked out, I mean REALLY freaked out. I got soooo excited. I was so excited that my host family was laughing at me. (and I don’t mean that in a bad way!) I immediately got on gmail and emailed my boyfriend to see if he was home from the funeral parlor yet. He was. So I signed onto Skype and we got to talk for like an hour. It was incredible!! I asked him how my family was holding up and how the funeral parlor was. Again, another sign from my grandma telling me everything was going to be okay. I went to sleep with a smile on my face.

You may be thinking, “Heather, what’s the big deal? So you understood Spanish and got to use the internet tonight. Big deal.” Well, it is a big deal. Those 2 things turned my terrible day into an incredible day. It’s really hard for me to put on paper just how much Monday night meant to me. Between understating most of the conversations that night and getting to talk to someone close to me, relieved a TON of stress and emotions that were building up. It’s hard being away from my entire family during this hard time, especially with no real means of communication. But my grandma was with me the entire night J It was unbelievable. Love you, grandma!

So it was a PHENOMENAL Valentine’s Day after all J

<3 I also want to thank my friends, family, and neighbors back in the States for their kind messages of support: Katie, Lauren, Amanda, Julia, Aunt Debbie, Kovach, and many more. You have no idea how much it meant to me when I signed on to Facebook and saw those sweet messages or emails. Although there are many miles between us, those messages touched very close to my heart! Thank you! And for those of you who supported my family at the funeral parlor, I thank you for that as well. <3

2.15.11 Tuesday

Today was a normal day. I went to the supermarket for the first time with my family and I ended up buying some animal crackers and a mini pack of oreos J

I then got to Skype with my sister and parents. It was so nice to see and talk to them without having to rush through conversation. It relieved a lot of stress and definitely made my day!!! Love you guys!

2.16.11

Instead of going to the training center for class today, we traveled to Quito and got to see the Peace Corps office in the capitol! After getting a tour of the office and listening to a safety and transportation presentation we broke off into our language groups to travel back to Tumbaco. We ate lunch at an Indian place in Quito. It was gross.

When we got back to Tumbaco a girl in my training group, whose name is also Heather, told me I had a package waiting for me at the Post Office in Quito!!!!!!!!!!!! I asked her how she knew that and she said she had to pick something up there and when she told the post office guy her name they brought 2 different packages out to her and one had my last name on it. How exciting is that!!!!!! I don’t know why it didn’t make it to the correct address, which is the PC office, but whatev, I have a package waiting for me!!!!! AHHH!!!! I’m so excited!!! The only bummer is that I can’t go get it until Monday, when I’m back in Quito. The suspense is killing me!!! I’m so excited to go pick it up and open it!! Great ending to my day J

My evening was normal… I had some dinner, talked with my family, did some homework, and now I’m blogging and about to go to bed.

Much love,

Heather

Needing Prayers!

2.13.11

Keep my Family in your Prayers, please

Well, today started off awesome, but ended terribly. I will give you the bad news first…. I was able to Skype my parents tonight, but unfortunately, they had bad news… my grandma passed away yesterday morning at 3:30am. I knew this was a possibility when I left for the Peace Corps, but I definitely wasn’t expecting this news a week into my service.  But now she is in heaven with God and painfree. It’s going to be difficult for me not being able to be with my family during this hard time.

I went to church with my host parents this morning in Quito, except this time we were to a different church. It was just as beautiful. We got there a little early so I got to take pictures of the president’s house, Plaza Grande, the church, and a statue I can’t remember the name of right now. I will post those soon. After mass we stopped to have lunch at the same place as last Sunday. Don’t ask me the name of it because I have no idea.

When we were on the way home, my dad was telling me he was going to take me to the houses of my host mom and Danillo (my host brother), it was a joke, obviously, but I had no idea what he meant. So eventually we got there and he said it was a surpresa (aka surprise). He actually wanted to show me a house they had bought and are going to sell. The house was super nice! It had 5 bedrooms, a living room, dining room, and 3 or 4 bathrooms. Their son bought the house that was attached to it, but it isn’t done being built yet. He and his family are actually going to move into it in a few months when it is complete. Then we got ice cream after we got off of the bus. It was delicious!!!!

I got home and was going to go to the internet café, but my host sister and her husband came over and I ended up talking to them instead. My host sisters husband is 50 and lived in the United States for 33 years of his life. So I chatted with him a bit in English and he translated questions that I didn’t understand. He explained to me that he and his parents built the first 6 story building here in Tumbaco about 10 years ago. The building is really pretty! It’s just a couple blocks from my house. I then asked him if he knew where an internet café with good cameras was, he said no, but let’s go look around. Just as we were about to do that his wife suggested we go to their house and could just use the internet there. So that we did. I got to Skype my parents for the first time since being here! It was fantastic!!!! Guess what we ordered for dinner?? Papa Johns! Haha. It was nice taste of home after just receiving some bad news! It was delicious!

I am now getting ready to do Chapter 2 in my Spanish workbook. Fun stuff.

My host brother is taking my blackberry to his friend tomorrow to have it unlocked so I can use that instead of buying a whole new phone. Very nice of him! So once I have my Ecuador cell number I will pass it along so you all can call me whenever you want!! J

Well, that was my day in a nutshell. Off to do some Spanish homework.

Buenos Noches,

Heather

Laundry.... By Hand!!

2.12.11

I walked to school with a couple of friends instead of taking the bus this morning. It saves me 20 cents and gets me some exercise! J It’s such a pretty trail!

Not much to talk about this evening. Spanish class was fine. We ended around 12:30. I walked home with a couple friends! We stopped to have lunch at a small restaurant. It was your typical Ecuadorian meal… soup, rice, chicken or fish, plantains, potato salad, and juice. I ordered fish, but she must have miss heard me because I got chicken. The people who got fish, received a WHOLE fish on their plates, eyes and all. I took pictures don’t worry. Soon enough, all this will become normal to me! Haha. The lunch was very good!!

*Side Note: there was shrimp in the soup. It was delicious! But we had to de-shell them ourselves. I immediate thought of my mom (my mom from the States) because she would have been so grossed out if it was her! Haha. Love you, mom!*

I still needed to buy a chip for my cell phone and get my cell phone unlocked so the chip will work, so my friend came with me to help me out since her Spanish is better than mine! While we were in the middle of talking to the guy about this her host mother called asking where she was and told her they were heading to Quito, so I didn’t end up buying anything today. I’m hoping my host brother will help me out tomorrow and go with me!

Guess what I did when I got back to the house????? My host mother taught me how to wash my clothes by hand! It’s actually pretty easy and it was good bonding time! It only took us about 30 minutes to do a basket of my dirty clothes, not too shabby. We then hung them on the lines to dry out. Keep your fingers crossed it doesn’t rain so they dry!! It turns out she does have a wash machine! So since I know how to do my clothes by hand now, I will probably use the wash machine from time to time…… or all the time. Haha. Juuuust kidding!

It’s about 6pm now, and I don’t believe anything is going on tonight. I think I’m just going to lay low and study some Spanish verbs/words. It’s nice to be able to relax and not have anything today since I’m always on the go between training and family things! J

Another great day in Ecuador!

Heather

Viernes!

2.11.11

Hoy es Viernes! (Today is Friday!) Except not my Friday because I have class tomorrow. But tomorrow is all Spanish and culture class the whole time and; therefore, I’m excited about it! We have class from 8-12:30 every Saturday, except the weeks we come back from our site visit of a technical trip.

Training was awesome today! We had our first of ten Safety and Security (S&S) presentations. Today’s topic was regarding our EAP (Emergency Action Plan) so we know what to do if there is an emergency/problem in the country and we need to take action.

After S&S we had our 1^st of a lot of health talks. Today’s topic…. DIARRHEA! Haha. Our PC Medical Officer (PCMO) gave us a 1 ½ hour presentation on diarrhea, parasites, and some other diseases that cause diarrhea. This is really disgusting, but depending on what our diarrhea looks like, she is able to narrow our symptoms down what we may be sick with She also told us how to send her a poop sample if it comes down to that. Gross, I know, but diarrhea is a reality in the Peace Corps. Actually, almost all of my group has it or had it already, including myself. The PCMO informed us that it is normal to have diarrhea for 5-7 when your body is adjusting to a new diet. Awwweesssooommmeeee!! I’m going on day 4 now, so I’m hoping my stomach gets better soon. Anyhoo, enough about diarrhea. We got our second rabies shot today after lunch. I’m not sure how many there are in the sequence.

The rest of the afternoon was run by current PC volunteers with no staff members around, only volunteers and us trainees. We broke off into small groups and had an open forum. We could ask the volunteers anything we wanted, nothing was off limits. This was really nice because the volunteers were open and honest with us about all the questions everyone is embarrassed to ask a PC employee. That lasted for a couple hours then we reunited as one group. The last part of the day was interesting… They said if anyone had anymore burning questions in the back of their mind, to write them down anonymously and the PCVs would take turns answering them. Oh man, were there some hilarious questions!!! Haha.

Some people stayed after class to play soccer on the small field we have on the training grounds. I stayed after, but didn’t play soccer; I must have missed the memo to bring my tennis shoes. Oh well, there will be plenty more opportunities to play. I did get to chat with some of the current volunteers who were here to help out for the day. They are all very nice. One girl is in her 3^rd year bc she loves her site so much! Pretty awesome, huh?

When I got home, my host mother told me it was her daughter-in-laws birthday. So when her and my host brother got home from work we celebrated with cake! (Yes, I had cake even though my stomach was telling me otherwise, I just couldn’t resist!) It was delicious! Then my brother Danilo and his wife Paulina asked me if I wanted to come over and meet Paulina’s family. So of course I went! They were all very nice! Paulina’s dad actually lived in New York for 15 years so he knew English and was able to translate all the questions everyone was asking me, it was great!

Paulina’s parents own a Lodge in the Oriente/Amazon near some hotsprings (if you don’t know what a hotspring is, look them up!!) for tourists to stay at when they our vacationing. Paulina’s parents want to take me there one weekend during training. I’m soooo excited!!!!! I hope it actually happens!! J

That was pretty much my day. Oh no, I did have to come home and do Chapter 1 in my Spanish workbook for class tomorrow. But it was pretty easy.

Hasta manana,

Heather

Diarrhea

2.10.11

Ohhh diarrhea, how I’ve met you WAY too soon… You may go away anytime you wish, seriously. So you read it, I have it. No wonder I was having stomach pains the past 4 days. I figured it was coming. I started out having minor pains in my stomach and as the days went on they got worse and worse. At first the pains would come and go and then they became more consistent. And then it came… 5 times today. I took some pepto tablets and my pains have subsided, but not the wonderful diarrhea. Hopefully tomorrow I will start feeling better and I will be able to eat again. I basically haven’t eaten in 30 hours. The last time I really ate was lunch yesterday. I had a tiny bit of eggs this morning and some juice, but nothing since then. And to be honest, I don’t even feel hungry at all, and it’s not just because of my stomach. I believe it’s because I eat so many carbs and I don’t exercise; therefore, I don’t burn any energy to get hungry. I am starting to walk to and/or from school if it isn’t raining, so I am getting to burn some calories!

Let’s see, so the NRC program had class in the park near by this morning. We went around in pairs interviewing youth (youth here is considered 17-25, but we didn’t find that out until we were back at the training center) and asking them a few questions. Some of them are as follows:

Do you go to school? Do most people who start school finish it? Do you work? If so, does some of the income go to your family or is it just for yourself? Do you know how to take care of the environment? Are you interested in learning more? Would you like to join an eco-club? How many times a week?

That’s not all of them, but you get the point. We did that for about 1 ½ hours then headed back to the training center. Felipe, our program manager, gave a presentation on how to go about starting up a youth group. Then Gabi, the community development manager, gave a presentation on some of the statistics regarding suicide in males, % of women who have kids at certain ages, and many more. Some of the stats were devastating.

We then broke for lunch, but I didn’t eat lunch because my stomach was hurting sooo bad and I just wasn’t hungry. So while everyone ate, a couple friends and I walked down to the internet café. The connection was SOOOOOO slow, I was so annoyed, so I only stayed about 20 minutes, then went back to the center. I made a good decision to leave when I did because when I was just about to the training center, it started raining. (I guess I should tell you that the normal place we eat lunch at was closed today because Andrew, our family program manager, told them everyone would be gone all day on a field trip and would not be eating lunch, so everyone walked about 25 to a different place) And then when I got inside, it POURED, and I mean POURED! It was crazy because about 15 minutes before that it was 70ish and sunny! Needless to say, a lot of my friends had to walk back in the rain and didn’t have their rain coats with them, they were soakin wet! From head to toe! They were all laughing about it, I mean what else can you do but laugh, right? Oh man, they were sopping wet! It was great!

The rest of the afternoon we broke off into groups and planned a charla on a certain topic regarding NRC as if we were going to present it to school children. We planned for about an hour and then we presented them. They were all really good. We did this activity because we are going to be doing this exact same thing for real in about 2 weeks.

After class I dropped my book bag off at home and then headed to the internet café to Skype my parents since I hadn’t talked to them since I’ve been here. Well, that didn’t go so well because there were no headphones at the computer I was assigned to. Awesome, right? NOT! Oh well, life goes on. I did get to connect with them, but we couldn’t talk, so we instant messaged for a while instead. It was better than nothing! At least we could still see each other J At the same time I got to chat through Skype IM with my sister, which was great as well, because I hadn’t spoken to her since I left the States a week ago!!! Not only did I get to chat with my sister and parents, but also my boyfriend and 2 of my friends!! It was a crazy hour at the internet café! But oh so worth it!

Today was my friend’s birthday so we all (when I saw ‘we all’ I mean my training group, Omnibus 105!) had plans to meet at a bar near all of our houses after class. About 25 people showed up, it was great! Well, besides that they all got to have a beer and I only had water L Stupid stomach!!!!! Maybe next time! There are good number of us who have birthdays throughout training, so there will be more times to celebrate. Also, the only married couple in our group has their one year wedding anniversary coming up in about a week, so we get to celebrate for that as well!!

So over all, a great day!! I can’t believe, as of today, I have been in Ecuador for a week!! It seems like I’ve been here for way longer, yet the time has FLOWN by! I love it here! Tomorrow is Friday, I don’t have any plans, but after school on Saturday my training group is going to stay after and play some soccer! I can’t wait! We have a soccer field, basketball court, and volleyball court at the training center! What what!!!

To my friends in the States: take lots of pictures when you are out this weekend and send them to me!!! I can live my American life vicariously through you guys! Love you and miss you all!

Buenos Noches,

Heather

P.S.- It is impossible for me to write a short blog post. I apologize…. But not really. I always have so much to say. Ha!

Novice High!

2.9.11

Today was a great day! When we got to school, we chatted about our different host family experiences thus far. Everyone loves their host family and some have really humorous stories. After that we took the bus to the center of town with our language facilitators to buy our cell phones. I brought the money I needed to buy a cell phone, except I forgot my actual cell phone at the house. Doh! I am going to try and use my cell phone I brought from the States to save some money. I just have to get it unlocked and then buy a chip (aka sim card) for about $10 and then also buy some minutes for another $10. Not too shabby. But the sucky part is that the minutes will only stay on my phone for one month. If I don’t use them, I lose them!

After we got back to the training center I had my NRC interview. They read off some words and I had to say yes or no. For example: follower, leader, organizer, etc. Then they asked me if I had any environmental experience and I told them about my volunteer experience in the Dominican Republic. And well, that’s about it. Since I’m a business major, I definitely don’t know much about the outdoors. But that’s what training is for. And the last question they asked me was, “if you could choose where you want to go for site, where would? Keep in mind we can’t promise anything.” I told her I would love to go to the Coast or the Sierra (aka Highlands or Mountains). They laughed and then responded, “How come no one wants to go to the Amazon??...... We don’t have many placements there so that’s okay.” Overall, I think it went well. We will find out where our site for the next 2 years will be in a few weeks. I’m hoping for the coast of the highlands, but I’m sure I will be happy wherever I am placed!

After lunch we talked about what we expect out of the cultural classes. Then we were assigned to our language groups. Remember we had our language interview the other day? Out of the 9 possible groups, I rated myself at Novice High. (If you don’t know what that is, check my previous blog for the different language levels) And that is exactly where they placed me!!!! So I was excited about that. I’m with 4 other people and they are all at the same level I am. It’s great. We had a 2 hour language lesson to finish off the day. Each person had to draw a logo of what they want to do at their site, as well as, a slogan for ourselves. My logo was an outline of Ecuador with different pictures: me teaching young children, some trees to represent conservation, a recycle symbol to represent recycling trash on the ground, and water to symbolize correct water sanitation. And my slogan was “to generate income without depleting natural resources.” To end class we had a brief history lesson of Ecuador… when it was colonized, when it received it’s independence, etc.

After class I walked home with some of my friends. It’s about a 3 mile walk or so. It felt SOOOOOOO freaking good to get some exercise in. I haven’t burned any energy since being here! It was great! We walked the whole way home on a bicycle trail, it was very pretty! J Since I don’t have a cell phone yet and couldn’t call her to tell her I would be later, I was worried that my mom was going to be wondering where I was, but she was totally fine with me walking home with my friends! So I told her if it wasn’t raining, I was going to start walking home from school so I could get some exercise. She was totally okay with that! Made me very happy!

I didn’t end up eating dinner tonight 1. Because I wasn’t hungry, and 2.  Every time I eat I get stomach pains. So instead of food my mom made me a glass of juice (FYI-when I say juice, it is ALWAYS blended fresh fruit, it is amazing!) and some type of tea for my stomach. I still got stomach pains after I drank those. I’m going to wait until Friday and if I still have pains, I am going to talk to the PC Medical Officer. It comes and goes in waves, it’s not 24/7, but last night it definitely kept me up for a good chunk of the night. Booo! But I’m definitely okay, no worries!

My host mother had a meeting tonight at 7, so she left after she boiled by tea. Her son was there and we chatted at the table for about 30 minutes because his wife was getting an injection in her butt so she wouldn’t have babies and his sons were at the movie theatre with their aunt seeing Repunzel. I asked him where he worked and he told me he works for a tree company. They plant Teak Trees, let them grow for 20 years, and then cut them down. They use the wood for furniture, outdoor structures, and wooden floors. He said these trees are the most expensive ones in the World. And his work also has to do with some kind of shareholders. 80% of the shareholders are in the U.S.A, and 20% of them are in Ecuador. Pretty interesting stuff.

Now I’m in my room typing up this blog! The kids got home from the theatre and came right up, sat on my bed, and told me all about it! Now it’s about 8:30pm my time, and I think I’m going to hit the sack, I’m so tired.

Oh yeah, tomorrow the NRC program isn’t going to the training center, we are having class in the park about 3 blocks away from my house. The only thing I know is that we are going to interview the local people. After class it is one of my friends birthdays so we are going to a bar to have a couple drinks. Should be a good time!

Hasta Luego,

Heather

Training Day 2

2.8.11

Not much to say today. It was basically just another day of introductions to training. Today was introductions to our language and culture class and a short presentation on cell phones, blogs, and websites. We will be going to get our cell phones in small groups throughout the week. I’m going to try and use my blackberry I brought from the States instead of buying a new one. I just have to buy a chip to put inside it for about $3-$10 I think. We also had our language and health interviews today. In our language interview we were asked questions that made us use different tenses to see how far along we are with our Spanish and to see which Spanish class we should start out in. There are 3 categories with 3 subcategories in each. They are as follows:

Novice low, Novice Medium, Novice High

Intermediate low, Intermediate Medium, Intermediate High

Advanced low, Advanced Medium, Advanced High

By the end of our 11 week training we need to be at Intermediate Medium. My goal is to be at Advanced low by the end of training! My interview went okay today, but I REALLY need to study my tenses again. Once I review those, I think I should move along pretty well. I also need to pick up a lot more vocab, especially vocab that pertains to my program, Natural Resources Conservation. Since I was a business major, I don’t even have the vocab down in English…. I’ve got lots to keep me busy!

In our health interview, we were just asked simple questions about the medicines we are currently on, an emergency contact, if we’ve had any health problems since getting medical clearance, etc. Very simple and in English!

I ended up stopping by the internet café for about an hour after class before I headed home for dinner. I love it when I have emails or Facebook messages from people! But I’ve only received one email so far, no letters, and no Facebook love… COME ON PEOPLE!!! Don’t you miss me?!?!?

After dinner, I finished up my homework with the help of my sister and her husband! It’s nice to get those questions out of the way. Now, I’m ready for bed. I start to get real tired about 8pm. I’ve been going to bed about 9:30 though.

Random little tidbit, but nothing to worry about: I have been getting stomach pains about and hour after I eat. Nothing serious at all, they come and go in short waves. I think it is because my body is getting used to all the carbohydrates I am putting into it and wayyyy less vegetables. I believe another reason I am getting stomach pains is because I’m constipated. too much information, I know. But you are just going to have to get used to it. Peace Corps stories are always TMI J So between eating more carbs than veggies and my body getting used to the food, I’m pretty sure that’s why I’m going through these small bouts of stomach pains. But I reassure you they don’t stop me from any of my daily activities, no worries, all is good!

Also, I really missed working out, so I think I’m going to try and start walking to school instead of taking the bus. It’s about a 4 mile walk. But it’s rainy season and the ground is pretty muddy in the mornings so I don’t know if that is going to happen. Maybe sometime soon!

Hasta luego,

Heather

First day of Training

2.7.11

Today was the first day of training. My brother gave me a ride to training because his two sons go to school right down the street from the training center. We started off with a powerpoint of PC policies from the country director. Next, the PTO (Program and Training Officer) gave a presentation of the core competencies of the Peace Corps. Then it was time for lunch. We walked down the street to a lady’s house/restaurant to have lunch. After lunch we separated into our training groups and we had an introduction to technical training for the NRC (Natural Resources Conservation) program from our training manager. Here is what the next 11 weeks looks like for NRC tech training more or less:

Week 1: Introduction to technical training

Week 2: Food Security, PACA Tools, Environmental education, community banks, tree nursery

Week 3: PACA presentations, non-formal education, Environmental Education Practicum and Tree nursery construction, community banks

Week 4: Tech Trip to highlands and Amazon (Climate change, community gardens, park management, Small business/working with indigenous groups, community based tourism)

Week 5: Tech trip presentations

Week 6: Community banks, site assignment presentation and simultaneous activities (this is when we find out where we will be serving for the next 2 years!!!!)

Week 7: SITE VISIT—we go to visit our sites!

Week 8: Group dynamics and organization structure, non-formal education

Week 9: Another tech trip to the coast for mangrove conservation and alternative income generation activities, forestry and payment for environmental services, working with youth group practicum

Week 10: Sustainable tourism practices for communities, PCV handbook and professional accountability, and final tech presentations

Week 11: Program meeting and SWEARING IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So that’s the tentative schedule, but it could always change. After our training intro, it was time to go home. It was the first time I was going to take the bus. Since I didn’t take the bus in the morning, I was totally unsure of what stop to get off at. Luckily, we were given a map and I had marked some friends on it that live close by. So we all got off at the same stop. It ended up only being a block or so from my house. Tomorrow morning I am going to take the bus so I can get to know the bus routes!

When I got home my host mom was very excited to see me and asked me how my first day of class was. My two nephews were there, as well. (they come over after school until their parents get home) Sabi immediately showed me his report card in which he had all check marks which is a very good thing!! I was only home for about 20 minutes and my Rosio had dinner on the table for me. I wasn’t hungry at all, but I ate anyways. I had “tortillas” for the first time. They are basically potato cakes. I was the only one eating, so I asked her why no one else was eating and she said because they already ate. It turns out they ate a late lunch about 3pm. We had lunch and dinner at all different times so it is hard for me to figure out exactly what time dinner is. Oh well, no biggie.

When I was finishing up my dinner, my brother and his wife came over when they got home from work. They ate dinner and helped me with my homework. We were given 2 ½ pieces of paper with questions in Spanish regarding crime, transportation, alcohol, and clothing in Ecuador/Quito and Tumbaco. They were soooooooo nice and helpful! To my surprise I actually understood most of the questions! Go me!! We kept having to pass the dictionary around to look up words, it was pretty funny.

After we did that I cleaned off my nail polishes. My clear nail polish had leaked all over my other nail polishes during the plane ride. Ugh, annoying! I didn’t get all of the clear nail polishes off of the others, but I did get enough off to where they are usable still! That’s a plus!

And that was my first day of training! J

Much love,

Heather

MAIL MAIL MAIL MAIL, Send me MAIL!!!!!

2.7.11

SEND ME MAIL!!!!!

So I’m finally putting up my mailing address!! J I know you all are dying to send me letters… well, now you can!!! And I cannot wait to receive them!!!!!

But before I give you my address I want to share some things with you that will help your letter effectively get to me:

-          It takes about 7-10 days for a letter from the States to reach the PC Ecuador office.

-          It costs about 0.98₵ to send a letter

-          Use US Postal Service, do NOT, I repeat, do NOT use DHL or FedEx

-          Send your letter in a padded envelope, it is more difficult to open and is less likely to be opened prior to it getting to me.

-          IMPORTANT: Please number your letters so I know if I have missed any!

-          Do NOT send packages to me during training unless I ask for it, or it is absolutely necessary. I’m not sure why this is a rule, but it is! J So let’s abide by it! I will give you more information on sending me packages as it gets closer to the end of training

My address during TRAINING:

PCT Heather Siegmund

Cuerpo de Paz

Casilla 17-08-8624

Quito, Ecuador

South America

There you have it, in extra large and bold writing so you can’t miss it! Now get to writing!!!! I don’t care if I know you or not I would love to hear from you. If you write/email me, I PROMISE to write you back!

I would love to get emails too if you don´t feel like writing a letter!! i promise to write back!!

I look forward to reading your letters and emails,

Heather

My first mass in Ecuador

2.6.11

As I write this, everyone is watching the Superbowl L I’m upset I missed it, but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but here right now!

I slept rather well last night for it being my first night with my host family. I woke up a couple times to the dogs scratching at the door wanting to come in and some REALLY loud cars going up the street. Welcome to Ecuador, Heather! I got up around 8, organized my stuff a little more and then it was time for breakfast at 9. While I was eating breakfast with my host parents, they informed me that we were going to go to church after we ate. I proceeded to ask them what time church was and they said in an hour. I was like, “Uhhhhh, I can’t go to church looking like this!” I was still in my pajamas and my hair was super greasy. They just nodded and we continued eating. After I was finished I asked them again and they said in an hour. So I ask them if I had time to quickly take a shower before we left. My host dad told me to calm down and that we were going to catch the bus in an hour! I was so happy I finally understood. So I got to take a shower before we left.

Their church is located Quito, the capital of Ecuador, which is about a 20-30 minute bus ride depending on how many times the bus has to stop to pick people up and drop people off. The church was in the Centre de Quito (center of Quito). To my surprise it was a Catholic mass. Mass started at 11 and ended at about 11:40ish (Mom, that’s your kind of mass! Haha). After mass it was raining. My host dad told me that we will walk around the center of Quito on a different Sunday since it was raining. I was happy when he told me because I didn’t have my camera on me. So we caught the bus to which I thought was going to take us home, but instead we ended up getting off and having lunch at some restaurant. It was really good. We had soup, which is always served with lunch, main course, and then dessert. I don’t recall if I said this yet, but in Ecuador lunch is the biggest meal of the day. And with every lunch and dinner, rice and some meat type if meat is served. My lunch was good. The soup was like a chicken broth with onion, carrot, and potatoes. Then I had rice with a piece of chicken, and watermelon for dessert with a glass of fresh lemonade.

We then took another taxi to the bus station, and caught a bus back to Tumbaco. When we got home, I changed clothes, got on my computer and started a blog. After about 30 minutes, Rosita asked me if I wanted to go to Quito with her, my host dad, her daughter, and her husband. So I went! We ended up going to a couple places in Quito to look for furniture for Rosita’s daughter and husband.

As soon as we got home, Sabi and Andre came right over. Sabi wanted to show me the autographs he got on his shirt today from some famous soccer players. He was sooooo excited about that! And Andre just came over because he wanted to hang out. It was so cute. As soon as he walked in the house, he came straight to my room, where I was reading my PC training manual, and just stood there. He is 3 and has no idea how to explain himself. So I asked him how his day was and he ended up sitting on my bed and started talking nonstop about where his family and friends live. I only made out a few words because he mumbles and stutters like any other 3 year old. He is so adorable!! I ended up getting out this crayon puzzle I brought with me and showed it to him and Sabi. We sat there and put the 5 piece dinosaur shaped “puzzle” together a few times and I then proceeded to show them that they were crayons. They were so amazed, they didn’t realize they were crayons too! It was great! Soon it was time for dinner (rice with a mixture of mushroom, onions, etc, and some hot chocolate) which was very good. I haven’t had a meal here yet that I haven’t liked. *knock on wood* I’m waiting for the soup with a cows foot in it that the PC told us about. Haha.

After dinner I chatted with Rosita (the daughter), her husband, and Danilo. They were asking me tons of questions trying to get to know me more. One of the questions they asked me was, “Do you eat rice with every meal?” They were floored when I said no, and immediately asked me what I ate if I didn’t eat rice. So I spat out as many different foods in Spanish that I could. They were all surprised! It was a pretty funny moment. I also told them we eat a lot of vegetables in my household. After I said that Rosita, the daughter, told my host mom she needs to start cooking more vegetables for me. I said it is not necessary, but in the back of my mind I’m glad Rosita said something! J Maybe I will get more vegetables from now on!

Now I’m sitting here finishing up this blog. It is about 8:20pm on 2.6.11. Another awesome day with my host family in Ecuador!

*Side Note: Last night I was lying in bed thinking about what I was going to do all day today since nothing was planned and how I was going to miss the Superbowl… well, it was definitely a full day of activities that was unexpected! I enjoyed it very much!* And to be honest, the Superbowl didn’t even cross my mind until about 8pm!

I’m hoping to get to the internet café tomorrow after training to post these blogs and Skype my family and tell them all about my Ecuadorian family! I can’t wait for a weekend when my sister is back from college so I can Skype her as well, since I won’t be able to call the USA from my Ecuadorian cell phone, which I should get on Tuesday!

Tomorrow is my 1^st day of training!!! I’m so ready to start learning! Wish me luck!

Until next time,

Heather

P.S.- Please, if you have ANY questions at all please don’t hesitate to ask by leaving a comment at the bottom of my posts or emailing me. I would love to answer whatever questions you have. Also, if there is anything you would like me to write about, please let me know! I just write about whatever comes to my head and I am positive there are a million other things I can write about as well!

Heather

Host Family!!!

Okay this starts a series of posts!!! Enjoy everyone!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.5.11
Oh my goodness, I just had a total freak out…….. I turned on my computer and it had reset itself, everything was gone. All my Word documents and pictures. I immediately shut it off, waited a minute, restarted it, and THANK GOD it was back to normal. I have no idea what happened, but everything is back to normal. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again. PHEW! (wiping sweat off of forehead).

Saturday 2.5.11

So today I met my host family. The families came to the training center to pick us up about 11. In order to figure out who our families were (us volunteers nor the families knew anything about each other, no names or anything), us volunteers were given half of an index card with our last name written on it and our host family was given the other half of the index card with our first name on it. Oh boy, were there a TON of people in the courtyard of the training center. 42 volunteers + 42 families = LOTS of people. So eventually I found my family. My little brother actually found me. He was running around from person to person asking, “Is this you!?!?! Is this you?!?!” in Spanish of course. He was soooooo excited when he found me. He hugged me, asked me my name, and then drug me to where the rest of my family was. I met my family in the courtyard we had to find my bags. None of us volunteers knew were our luggage was prior to meeting our families. So that was a fiasco, my family kept rambling to me, in Spanish, to go get my bags so we could go home. And when I say this, I mean it in a good way. They were just so excited to get me home. So eventually we figured out where our luggage was and off we went. Their house is about a 10 minute drive from the training center. Not too shabby.

So my family…….. their awesome!!!!! I live with a couple, Rosita and I can never remember my host dad’s name, oops, but in my defense they can never remember my name J So we are even! Haha. If I had to guess I would say they are in their late 50s, but I could be totally wrong. They have 2 daughters and a son. The entire family lives in the same closed off area. In the house behind us lives their son, Danilo. He is married and has two small boys, Sebastian 10, and Andre 3 ½, and they are freaking adorable!! I played with them for like 2 hours when we first got home while my host mother prepared lunch for us. In the house below us lives one of my host parents daughters, Rosita, as well. She is married (can’t remember her husbands name) with no children. My host parents have another daughter, Claudia, but I’m not sure where she lives…. Possibly in the fourth house of the closed in complex. She is also married with no kids.

So that’s my family. Let’s get back to how the rest of the day went. After playing with Sebastian and Andre for a couple hours, we ate lunch when their mother got home from work. So altogether at lunch was Danilo, his wife, his 2 boys, my host parents, and I. We had rice, chicken, salad, avocados, potatoes, cheese sauce, juice, and a couple other things that I cannot remember at the moment. Talk about a lot of food. They laughed at me when we were done because they said I eat so little (I ate the normal amount of food I would in the States). I got really lucky with my family. When I’m full they don’t try to shove more food at me. And for that, I am soooooo thankful!

After lunch Danilo and his wife offered for me to come over to their house, so I did. The kids wanted to show me their room so we went there first, and well, I never came out. Haha. We ended up looking at pictures of each of the boys and then I played Clue with Sebastian, in Spanish, and blew bubbles with Andre while we played Clue. Both boys wanted all of my attention, it was sooo cute. After about an hour or so I was getting sleepy so I came back to my host parents house to organize some of my stuff. Sebastian ended up following me back to the house, haha. I asked him where an internet café was and he walked me to one. Oh shoot, I guess I should tell you that Sabi (short of Sebastian) speaks a little English! He helps me out tremendously. More on that later. So I get on a computer and he sits next to me. I told him he didn’t have to stay with me, but he wanted to. So I checked my email, signed on to Skype to see if anyone was on. No one was, so I emailed Josh to see if he was available to Skype with me, and he was!!!! I was really excited because it was the first time I got to Skype to him since being in Ecuador! So we talked for about 7 minutes, and what do you know, Rossita, my host mother walks in with her daughter Claudia for me to meet her! She is very sweet! I had both my host mother and Claudia wave and say hi to Josh! They thought that was pretty cool! Haha. My host mother then told/asked me if I wanted to go get ice cream. I said, of course, but asked if we could leave in 5 minutes since I had just got onto Skype. She said no prob. So I said bye to Josh and walked out of the café. And to me and Sabi’s surprise they were waiting for us outside in the car, haha! We had to drive to go get the ice cream!

The ice cream place was very nice. I am sooo upset I didn’t have my camera on me! It was a small hut with a large grassy area with benches around it. There was also a place for kids to play soccer and a jungle gym. We were there for about 30 minutes, and then left for home. But before we went home we stopped by my parents other daughter’s house and stayed there and chatted with them for quite a while. My host dad disappeared rather quickly, but I didn’t think anything of it. We watched Couples Retreat in Spanish, haha. After that was over my host mother walked in with plates of food for everyone. I asked Claudia if my house was nearby since she was bringing the food over, she chuckled and said yes, it’s right above us! We all chuckled! I obviously don’t know my away around yet.

Anyhoo, we left about 9:30, I came to my room and unpacked my suitcase to find that one of my nail polishes leaked. Luckily, they were in a zip lock bag. I’m not looking forward to cleaning that up. Oh well, it could have been worse!

My whole family was sooo patient with me, when I didn’t understand something they would try to reword it and speak slower to me. They are all so nice. Also, if it wasn’t for Sebastian I wouldn’t have understood as much. He sometimes knew the English word to whatever was being explained. The PC (Peace Corps) said that you learn Spanish faster if you talk to children because their vocabulary was very minimal. They were never so right! When my family wasn’t able to explain something, Sabi almost always could explain it to me.

So all around it was an AMAZING first day! It went so well! J I went to sleep happy!

Heather