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!

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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

My First Day in Ecuador!

ECUADOR!!! So I have finally arrived in Ecuador!! It still hasn’t hit me that I’m here.  There is so much to talk about and it’s only been one day!

Let’s start with Thursday when we got up at 2:45am to check out of our hotel at 3:30am. After check out we took a bus to the airport, checked in, sat around for 4 hours, and then got on our 8:20am flight to Miami. We had a 4 hour layover in Miami then caught our 2:55pm flight to Quito, Ecuador. We landed about 7pm, got through customs, took a bus to the “hotel”, and ate dinner.

We aren’t actually in a hotel, we are staying at a spirituality center. Breakfast and dinner are made for us. Last night we had a type of tomato soup, rice (of course) and a beef and veggie mixture to go on top of the rice. It was really good. This morning for breakfast we had rolls with butter and jelly along with scrambled eggs with diced tomatoes in it. Also delicious. And tonight for dinner we had soup, rice, shredded cabbage with a type of mayo dressing, sliced tomatoes, and chicken legs. Very yummy.

Enough with the meals, so today was our first full day of Peace Corps. It was a long, but very awesome day. We had breakfast at 7, and were at the training center by 8:15am. It started off with an introduction of all the PC employees, then came a short presentation on how to stay healthy (it’s inevitable though, we will all get sick at some point), next we had to go around to 5 stations to fill out paper work, get vaccinations, get a photo taken for our Ecuadorian id, open back account, and get our allowance for the first couple of weeks. After lunch we had a presentation on safety and security when traveling. Afterwards, we broke up into our program groups. Our training officers introduced themselves and then gave us an overview of the goals and objectives for the Natural Resources Conservation Program.  Overall and pretty successful and eventful day! J

The landscape is A-MAZ-ING!!! Mountains everywhere, volcanoes in the distance, it’s beautiful! So freaking gorgeous!

Did I mention that all of my fellow trainees are SOOOO awesome! They are all so nice and they each have their own amazing personalities! We all get along great and are really excited to start this journey together!

Tomorrow we meet our host families, I’m sooo excited!!!! It’s going to be difficult speaking with them, especially because they speak so fast, but my Spanish will come with time. It’s going to be pointing and gestures all weekend trying to get my point across, haha!

Alrighty, I’m off to shower and go to bed, I’ve got a big day tomorrow! Until next time!

Heather

Last Post from the States!

As I sit here and write this post I am up in the air on a plane, on my way to Washington DC for Peace Corps Staging (orientation). Never thought this day would come. What an eventful past 48 hours it has been… where to start? Let’s start with the weather. (Side Note: someone just shit their pants on the plane and it was not me. Sick.) Saint Louis was under a blizzard warning… we were suppose to get 3”-12” of snow then we were suppose to get 8”-16”, but in reality, we only ending up getting 4” of sleet. Hundreds of flights were canceled out of Saint Louis, including my 7:30am flight today, the 2^nd of February. My flight was then rescheduled for 12:20pm, which is where I’m at now. So that’s the weather.

 Now onto packing… any takers on how many times I had to pack and repack? If you guessed 2, you’re right. That’s not bad, right? It’s not that I had to repack everything for a second time because it didn’t fit, it’s that I was 18 pounds over the 100lb weight limit and refused to pay American Airlines $60 for an overweight luggage bag. So, with the help of my lovely sister, we took EVERYTHING out of my 2 suitcases and ALL of my clothes out of my space saver vacuum bags. (when I told my sister I was going to do this….the look on her face was priceless, I thought she was going to kill me since we had just spent a good 1 ½ hours packing it all. But she didn’t J bless her heart) I got rid of another pile of clothes, my peanut butter L, my mouth wash, duct tape, condensed my shampoo and condition into small containers (thanks Mom!!!), and a few other miscellaneous things to cut weight down.  We then put the clothes back into the space savers (my sister was like a 2 year old watching the air be vacuumed out, she was very intrigued, haha. Sorry Mandi, I had to tell everyone!) and organized everything back into my luggage. Did it work? HELL YEAH it did! Thank God! Talk about an awesome team! When I checked my luggage one piece weighed 53.5lbs and the other weighed 47.5lbs, so we did some rearranging, weighed them again and they both weighed an even 50lbs! YAY, no $60 overweight charge!! Now the challenge is going to be trying manage it all myself… Two 50lb suitcases, a carryon and book bag. That’s going to be a good laugh for any onlookers!

What I didn’t tell you was all the clothes and other things I had to get rid of BEFORE I even started packing the first time. I got rid of a TON of stuff before I even started…  Lots of clothes, batteries, kitchenware, art supplies, enveloped, nail polish, qtips, tape, etc. I can’t even remember what else because it feels like so long ago. But my point is, I didn’t get to take all the stuff that was in the picture in my previous post. Not even close to all of it. I have all the stuff that didn’t fit in a plastic container in my room so my parents, if I ask nicely, can mail the things to me if need be.  

On to the goodbyes at the airport… ugh, that was tough. I didn’t say half the stuff I wanted to say to my family and Josh, mostly because I would have been an emotional WRECK and wouldn’t be able to speak. I didn’t want to go out that way. So I will take a moment now to say thank you for all the support you have given me in the past year or so while I was preparing for this journey, I couldn’t have done it without your love and support. It means the world to me! There were some ups and downs, frustrations, and setbacks, but you were there to listen to me rant about it all! And for that, I thank you! But the day has finally come for me to follow my dream! I absolutely cannot wait to share it all with you!

I also want to take this time to thank my friends, co-workers, acquaintances, and even the people I don’t know. Your support means the world to me, you have noooo idea! J

Okay, I got sappy there for a couple paragraphs, I just had to get it out! (That’s going to happen a lot)

Time to land, I will have to finish this post later tonight from my hotel room!!!

It’s now 11:49pm DC time, I have to be up in 2 ½ hours, yikes. I’m going to wrap this post up quickly and get some shut eye in hopefully. Before I do though, let me tell you a little about how my day went… We landed on time in DC, got a cab, the cab driver ripped my suit case while putting it in his trunk and then proceeded to act like he didn’t do it!!!! Soooo frustrating. Needless to say, I didn’t tip the guy. Jerk.

Anyhoo, I couldn’t let that upset me too much. So we got to the hotel, checked in, and immediately went downstairs to join the orientation. Orientation was good. We did some group activities: we had to draw pictures of our anxieties and aspirations with have, then we made a list of our biggest threats in Ecuador. After we made the list we had to come up with ways to avoid those things and ways to decrease the impact if they did happen. That was pretty cool. From there we talked about how important it is to have positive support from family, friends, and loved ones. We ended it with an “ice breaker” type game. Then we were set free for the night. I ended up going to dinner with 3 awesome girls! We went to a place called J. Pauls, I think. It was pretty good. I got a big fat juicy burger and fries! J Good last meal in the States.  

After dinner I came back to my room, got some papers together I need to send off, called my parents to let them know how the day went. I then to a HOT HOT HOT shower! My last one in the States for a long while. And, oh boyy, did it feel good! I soaked it all in! I put the water as hot as I could stand it. It was great! Oh, I was suppose to have a roommate, but the girl I was suppose to room with tonight, her flight got canceled L So she and 2 others will be meeting us in Ecuador on Friday. So that’s a bummer because I know she is bummed to not have made it here. But soon all 42 of us will be together!! I’m so excited! I also got to Skype my boyfriend one last time before leaving the States. It was harder to say goodbye on that then it was at the airport!! But it was good to get to see him!

Alright, time for me to get to bed. I’m exhausted. I apologize for the typos, but I am feeling way too lazy to spell check, I’m sorry! Next time I post it will be from Ecuador!!!!! Eeeekkk!!!!!

And I swear I will put my mailing address on here! If you would like to get it before I put it up, Facebook my sister or call my house and talk to my mom!! They would be glad to give it to you and I would be SOOOOO FREAKING ECSTATIC to get letters from you!!!!! Hopefully I can put it up tomorrow during one of my two 4 hour layovers!

See ya in Ecuador!

Heather

7 DAYS! Where did the time go?!?

COUNTDOWN: 7 days. Ready or not. It's finally hit me that I am leaving for 2 years. I went out with all of my friends for one last hoorah this past Saturday. That's when it hit... when I had to say some of my final "see ya laters." I know it's only going to get worse when I have to say my final "see ya laters" to my best friends, boyfriend, and family. I am NOT looking forward to that day :-(

Here are some pics from Saturday and the last couple weekends!:

Love them! And will miss them dearly until I come back next

 March 2012 when my one of my best friends will get married(Girl on the left)! :-)

 Before we went out one night!

 Greatest girl friends anyone could ask for :-)

 My little sister and I!

 St. Louis Blues Hockey Game.... we sat 3 rows from the ice! what what!

But what I am looking forward to is PC ECUADOR!!! I am so freaking ready to get there, get to know all the other awesome trainees in Omnibus 105 (that's the name of our training group, we are the 105th group to train in PC Ecuador), meet my host family, and start training! After all I have been waiting for this for TWO years!

Yesterday, I got all the clothes together 1.) that PC recommended I bring, and 2.) that I want to bring, and oh boy, there are wayyy more there then I thought was going to be. Shoot. Time to figure out which ones to hang back up and part ways with. I don't know why I want to bring so many. After all, I'm not going to a different world, just Ecuador, where I can find almost anything I will need, which makes me happy. So I need to relax and keep that in mind. I bought some 'space saver' vacuum bags today to help out with room in my 2 suitcases. It is a variety pack: 1 medium, 2 large, 2 extra large, 1 travel bag, and 1 pouch. I think those will be enough for the clothes in my 2 suitcases and carry-on.

I thought picking out which shoes I wanted to bring was going to be difficult, but surprisingly, it wasn't very difficult to part ways with some of my favorite shoes.

All of my clothes

 My shoes (I still want to bring another pair of tennis shoes though)

 Everything else!

 I have to fit all of the stuff above into this suitcase, duffel bag, and carry-on...

So the next 7 days are going to FLY by! I have a pretty booked schedule, and on top of that I need to stuff all my belongings into 2 suitcases. I thought I would provide you all with my schedule for the next week:

Tuesday 25th(tonight)--Dinner with friends one last time
Wednesday 26th--stay home and do a test packing run
Thursday 27th--hang out with Josh and my family
Friday 28th--Go to Jason Aldean concert at Mizzou with my sister!
Saturday 29th--Go get a massage with my aunt! Visit my grandparents one last time.
Sunday 30th-- Lunch with a friend in the afternoon. Then my Aunt is having the whole fam over in the evening for dinner.
Monday 31st--Say "see ya later" to my boyfriend's parents
Tuesday 1st--Finish up some last minute packing during the day. Then my sister is coming in from school and then we are going out to dinner one last time as a fam!!
Wednesday 2nd--Fly out of Saint Louis at 7:30am to Washington DC where I will meet all the other trainees in my group and have orientation from 12-7pm.
Thursday 3rd--Check out of hotel at 3:30am (yes, you read that correctly), get on a plane at 8:20am to Miami, then off to Ecuador at 11:00am. Land in Quito, Ecuador at 7pm!!!
Friday 4th-- PC stuff all day long: meetings, spanish crash courses, interviews, etc!
Saturday 5th-- PC stuff until 1pm, then meet our host families at 1!!

Okay, so I gave you my schedule for the next TWO weeks, I got carried away, oops! :-)

In the next post I will give you my address so you can send me letters during training:-) And yes, every single one of you MUST send me letters!!

Heather

Facts about Ecuador

Since the holidays are over and things have settled down I figured it was time for another update. I wanted to provide you with some facts and pictures of Ecuador! So here you have it! I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

- The equator runs through the country, hence why the country is named Ecuador
-  Ecuador is a republic government
-  The capital of Ecuador is Quito
-  Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador, apart from being a major port and a leading commercial center
-  Ecuador received its independence from Spain on May 24, 1822, but the holiday is celebrated on August 10, 1809 because that is when Quito received its independence
-  Ecuador was a part of the Inca Empire before the arrival of the Spanish, in 1534
-  Population: 14 million
-  Age Structure:  0-14 yrs: 31.1%

                            15-64 years: 62.7%

                            65 and over: 6.2%

-  Average Life Expectancy: 75.5  years

-  95% of the population is Roman Catholic

-  Official Language: Spanish

-  Literacy Rate: 91% of the population is able to read

-  Main exports are: petroleum, bananas, cut flowers, shrimp, cacao, coffee, hemp, wood, fish

-  Adopted the US dollar for its currency in 2000, crazy huh??? (I also found a site that said January 2001)

-  Ecuador is about the size of Colorado

-  Ecuador is the smallest country in the Andean highlands

-  Bordered by Colombia to the north, Peru to the south and east, and the Pacific ocean to the west

-  Ecuador is one of only two countries in South America that do not share a border with Brazil

-  It’s one of the most bio-diverse countries in the world and contains 10 percent of the Earth's plant species and 18 percent of bird species

-  Has the second highest deforestation rate in South America

-  Divided into 4 regions: Andean Highlands (Sierra), Amazon Lowlands (Oriente), Coastal Lowlands (Costa), and the Galapagos Islands about 600 miles west of the Ecuadorean mainland

-  Climate: tropical along coast, becoming cooler inland at higher elevations; tropical in Amazonian jungle lowlands

-  Two of Conservation International’s 34 biodiversity hotspots are represented in Ecuador, and it is the smallest of the 17 mega-diverse countries of the world

-  Chimborazo Volcano, at 6310, forms the highest point in Ecuador, while the lowest point is formed by Pacific Ocean

-  Ecuador has many active volcanoes and also, one of the greatest densities of volcanoes in the world

-  Majority of the balsa wood in the world comes from Ecuador

-  Quinine, the first drug used to prevent and treat malaria, is obtained from the bark of the cinchona tree that grows in the Andes mountain range, in Ecuador and Peru

-  Guinea pig is considered to be a delicacy in Ecuador

Flag of Ecuador

Different regions of Ecuador

Volcano Cotopaxi (claimed to be the highest active volcano in the world)



Now for some facts about the famous Galapagos Islands!

- The name 'galapagos', an old Spanish word for 'saddle', was originally used by Bishop Tomas and his crew to describe the giant tortoises but the name stuck

- Darwin's research in Galapagos led to the groundbreaking theory of The Origin of Species

- In 1978 UNESCO designated Galapagos as the first World Heritage site

- The convergence of three major oceanic currents brings an incredible mix of marine life to Galapagos

- Galapagos is home to the only surviving giant Pinta tortoise, 'Lonesome George'

- The abundant, fearless wildlife allows visitors to get up close and personal to some of the world's rarest animals

- There are two seasons: December to May is warm and wet and June to December is cool and dry

- Annual rainfall in the lower regions is 2-4in (60-100mm) and the air temperature varies between 69°-84°F/21°-29°C

- The Islands' climate is determined by ocean currents

- Despite being located in the tropics, the Islands' micro-climate is curiously dry

Map of the Galapagos Islands

You can find these giant tortoises roaming the Islands!

                Marine Iguana: found in the islands, as well, could you image coming across one of these things?!?!? I hear they are nice creatures, I won't believe it til I see it!

 The famous blue footed booby found on the Galapagos. Booby comes from the Spanish term bobo, which means "stupid" or "fool/clown". This is because the Blue-footed Booby is clumsy on the land, and (like other seabirds), they can be very tame and therefore easily captured, killed, and eaten by humans

There you have it, plenty of facts about Ecuador and its famous Galapagos islands! Coming next, some pics and my itinerary for Staging (aka orientation) and my first few days in Ecuador.

Hasta Luego (translation: 'bye'. If I have to learn Spanish, then so do you! :-) )

Heather