Home again!

I feel like I am in a mirage. All these things that were so similar, yet so far away. There were weeks when I felt like I would never be home.
Let me back up a little bit. The week. My bus ride to Quito was markedly easier than the way down to Puerto Lopez. The Suarez family picked me up very early in the morning, and I spent the rest of Wednesday sleeping, eating and watching movies with Gaby. Thursday was another laid back day, spent in Quito. Friday and Saturday I was able to meet up with Xavier and head to Otavalo, home of the largets artisan crafts market in South America. We had a great time catching up on life, and walking around the streets. In the morning, he helped me turn $40 into some great things, including a hammock! I don't have anywhere to put a hammock, but as soon as I do, I will have one! Amazing sight on the highway outside of Otavalo: Two live sheep tied to the top of a speeding bus. Not something I would ever see in the states!
Sunday was another restful day, but also gave me the opportunity to see another type of Latin dancing. The Suarez's are part of a Tango dance group, and the group decided to put on a little show at a plaza in downtown Quito. They were a hit, and it was really fun to sit and watch them for the afternoon.
I managed to pack all of my gifts, food, and booze with the things I brought in a small duffle and then into two backpacks. Pretty impressive for 10 weeks, if I do say so myself. Jose dropped me at the airport, and after an hour of my anxiety about the weight of my bags, the money to pay out, customs and security, I was easily at the gate waiting for my flight. Alex and I walked to the plane together, and I could feel my excitement. Even though my flight was perfectly timed for me to get 6 hours of sleep before Atlanta, I couldn't do it. I was too excited to get home, and the storms over the Carribean gave me an entertaining light show for two hours. Ironically, the bacon served to us for our breakfast was one of the things I craved in Puerto Lopez. I arrived in Atlanta, tired, but happy to be back in the States. Customs was lots of waiting, an otherwise no issues. They didn't seem to mind the 3 bottles of liquor I brought with me. I booked it to my connection, with enough time to pick up a couple resses's peanut butter cups. The flight to Minnesota gave me an hour of sleep, but still I was wired. Dad was waiting at the gate when I came in, and Mom was at the baggage claim. My bag came down just fine, and I was on my way home. Today has been eating, sleeping and eating.
Like I said, I don't think that being home has hit me. Or maybe it's that I was away, that hasn't hit me. Driving down the streets, and pulling up to Dupont Ave. had such a familiar feeling, that I almost forgot I left. Even though I wanted to be home so bad, the summer did go fast. I'm still working on my final thoughts, or at least my congealed thoughts for now.
I have to finish my papers this week, so I will post some excerpts and other thoughts by the weekend. Fair warning: I am going to take down this blog in a few weeks. I of course will save all of the writings for myself, but I know that public relations and reputation is very important for all organizations. Although there were many issues with Equilibrio Azul, I don't want my stories to cause any future pain for the organization. They need all the positive forces they can get. I also know that Andres monitors his organization in the news and online, and I just don't want to get into it. Thanks all for reading, I hope my stories haven't been too repetitive. Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions, I have too many stories to share! Much love!

Final Days in Puerto Lopez

Well, here I am. Tuesday, and I just did my final shark measuring duty, my final Flipper breakfast. The new volunteers left this morning for the island, so lots of goodbyes all around. I was trying to soak in the fish market, take some pictures (there are new ones up on photobucket (http://s274.photobucket.com/albums/jj255/annef06/)), remind myself that this would be the last time I would see these now familiar faces for a few years. I am planning to come back to the coast on my next trip to Ecuador. There is enough familiarity now, and also enough things that I haven't seen to make a return trip well worth it. Plus, I am going to miss like crazy ceviche, octopus, batidos, fried fish with rice and plantains, chifles, and cheap alcohol.
My school work has been steadily going, I am done with half of one project, and almost done with the final report for another. Unfortunately, the main academic paper I am writing needs the help of my books and notes scattered back in the U.S., so that will be one of my jobs that first week I am home.
Anywho, today is very laid back, like the last 3 weeks. I will finish packing, grab some lunch, a siesta, check my email, read, and then head to the bus. I am drammamine-ing myself for the nausea and to help me sleep. My phone is kinda working, so I am planning to call my Quito friends when I get into the city at about 5am tomorrow morning.
Plans are still formulating for the rest of the week, as I am now used to, but I am looking forward to some relaxation, a hot shower, and two golden retrievers that I know are not rabid!
I will check in again if there are any startling revelations, but otherwise I should be back in the U.S. at about 5:30am on the 31st!
Home!!

Week 9!

Hey all. Sorry for not writing much, there hasn't been a lot going on. A week from tonight I will be back on a bus headed towards Quito. I am all set with our family friends for an early morning pick-up! I will spend a few days in Quito, then head to Otovalo with Xavier and his brother for some shopping. Then back to Quito for some rest, and a late night flight home on the 30th. I plan to spend that Monday sleeping, watching TV, catching up with my friends, and eating. My initial requests have been real sweet corn, cheddar cheese, and non-long-life milk. I'm sure the list will grow! I am currently working on my papers. It is so nice to be able to set goals for the day, a to-do list, work on it, and make some progress. It seems so simple, but I am enjoying accomplishing something. I am fighting for computers still because the other kids have not gone to the island as expected. There have been a few logistical snafus here, which means we are waiting on Andres to return in order to head to the island. I have asked why 3 20-year olds need a baby-sitter to count birds and eggs, with little answer. So I am working where I can, trying to alternate with my roomies for use of the internet. I am ready to leave here, no doubt. Had some cool stuff happen, but I am moving on. I am planning to have excerpts of both of my papers up on here by next week, to give a little more summary of my experiences here. Now starts the process of coming home, decompressing, relaxing, getting back to my life!

Same stuff, different day

Alrighty, so I have now been without a real project or promised "supervisor" for over a week. It is getting old. I even thought I was going to the island this week, but the breakdown in logistics, personnel, and overall organization left three capable, willing workers on the mainland. Hey, considering I got sick early Monday morning, I guess I should be happy that I was not missing out on anything. Yes, I got the famed sickness that has accosted half the Americans I have seen here in my stay. Took me to week 8, I really thought that I would skate by without it, but it finally got me. In short, me and the toilet are much better friends now!
So after laying in bed for basically two days, I have awoken to find that there is nothing going on, nothing has changed, I have missed nothing, and nothing. The funniest thing is that the volunteers that were on the island last week when Xavier and I were doing...nothing, are shocked, and are clamoring to go back. There have even been half-joking remarks about paying off me, the next volunteer set to go, for my spot to go this week. So here I am on Wednesday, early morning. The -tentative- plan is to spend today getting supplies we need to put up the rest of the informative plaques below the paintings. Then Gabi and I head to the island, put up the plaques, spend a day making sure they cure and don't fall down (i.e. suntanning), and head back Friday afternoon. I am so down for this plan. Quick trip to the island, spend a few more days doing something, then right into free weekend, and a next week of all my own work. Then I'm outta here! Two weeks from tonight, God willing I will be on a bumpy ride back to Quito, for a week of seeing more of the country, and my friends. Don't mean to sound ungrateful or desperate to leave, but this hasn't been all I was hoping for. No doubt I have had some amazing experiences, seen things I would have never seen before, met some amazing people. But there is also a level of organization and respect that I expected. Even when I came down here with no expectations, no real goals, no worries, I at least expected the place I was working to function a little better than the third-world country it was in. The sad thing for me is the potential of this place. I see so much that could happen. So many possibilities. I have been trying to figure out what is wrong here for about 5 weeks, and all my searching has garnered me a little glimmer, but not something that I am willing to put up here. I'm not so into calling people out on the internet, that can be saved for the chat rooms and forums. So in my late night blog I will say this. My last full week here, next week, will be where I try to pull this together. One paper will be where I give my evaluation of this place and my time here, and one will be looking at the issues raised here, both within the organization and in the community, in the frame of my larger world view, and the schooling I have had so far. I am hoping that at least the second paper will help me focus on the positive, help me see things in a little perspective, help me see the value of these 10 weeks abroad. I have hoped for a lot of things down here. Maybe this last hope, being almost solely in my control will actually work out.

Changes

Today, my best friend, my best teacher, and the person who has cared about me most here, left. Xavier was the kid from Quito who showed up with me and Alex on that first day. He is going to school for eco-tourism and wants to work abroad in Australia next year, then come back to the Amazon and start his own tour guide company. He wants to do tourism because he loves Ecuador so much, and he thinks that if people really feel a connection to the place and the animals, that they will care about where they are and what happens to the entire country. He hates tour companies here who just take people--"okay, now here's the island, here are some Boobies, here is your lunch, I hope you had a good time". He wants to do so much more than that. So he has been the tour guide and educator to the entire group of volunteers here, especially the Americans. He has always been willing to help, willing to translate, willing to laugh. He has also been with me through the rough parts here, and we have spent many hours talking about how we would do things differently. He is so disillusioned with things here, and he personally feels bad about the American volunteers who just saw this place as Ecuador. He is so patriotic and caring, I think that is why he is most upset with this organization. In short, it was no surprise to me that I cried when he got on the bus tonight. In reality he had a few more days here, and he offered to stay just to keep me company. But the pressure and un-organization here finally got to him, and when he got a chance to leave and go home for a "family emergency", he took it. I told him to go, that a few more days were no good for him, and that I would have to go another two weeks without him anyways. So sad.
Gabi, the go-getter from Quito returned last night for a week of work here. She is going to save me from total isolation here. She speaks great English, is understanding of the work that I have done in my past 7 weeks, and is sympathetic to my concerns. She spent a good hour this morning with me and Xavier this morning writing down a list of 25 things that need to be changed here to make a better experience for the volunteers. She is amazing. Another person who actually cares. So I have tied my kite to her ship, and asked her to pull me through another week. She has come back with a few projects for the end of the week here (mostly working on lesson plans for the eco-club) and has advocated for my participation with Mica and her at the island next week. They are planning to leave Sunday, and be back in Puerto Lopez by Thursday. That's a week in my mind! Then I can hermit around my school papers, and hope that I am only bothered for sharks and meals (a tall order, I know).
I should have another regular blog at the end of next week. If something turns up that merits mention before then, I will be sure to post! Love to all!

Week 7

Alrighty- I am here on Tuesday afternoon, and what to say about this upcoming week. Not much. Things are pretty much the same. Yesterday Xavier and I were responsible for cleaning the entire house, because all the other volunteers are on the island. That was great. We also spent time fixing some chairs. Fun too. Today was much like the first week, sharks, then off to Los Frailes for some beach cleaning! We were happy to go today, because the weather was so nice. It is up in the 80's here, and has been sunny since I woke up at 6:30 this morning. Xavier and I both worked on our tans, although the snorkeling at Los Frailes leaves a little to be desired. Tomorrow I am supposed to be working on updating the website, and hopefully Gabi will be back in town to give us some more jobs. I am really just passing the time till I go to the Island next week. I am also starting to look ahead to my requirements for school and my intern program. I have 2 papers to write, a lot of reading to do, and weekly journals to finish. I have already set up that the last week I am here I am working on my own things, as I don't see much happening here unless I ask to do something specific. So that last week I am going to be a bit selfish and work on my own things, as that will be way more productive and fulfilling for me. Plus then I can have the last two weeks of my summer when I am home to actually rest, relax, enjoy my family and get back into things stateside. I am so looking forward to the MN State Fair! I hope whoever goes with me that first day (dad!) will be ready for lots of "Oh my God, this is so weird", because I can already feel the nervousness and weirdness of being home creeping into me. I know it is still a ways off, but just seeing television shows in the restaurant at lunch today was a nuance. I'm sorry I don't have more cool stories for y'all, but there really isn't a lot happening. I will be sure to post here if there is, and I should get in at least one more post before I leave for la Isla on Sunday or Monday. Sunny days to all!

Full Pictures!

Hey all, what a difference a week makes! Last week I was with 5 other Americans and 2 Ecuadorians, and with only 2 guys in the volunteer group. Now I am the only American, and in a dwindling group of two girls. My spanish will continue to improve! One month to go! This week most of the organization is going to be on the island. I am planning on being here for this week, working on garbage management for the house with Gabi, and suggesting updates for the website. Week 8 I will be going to the island, most likely to work with turtles. Week 9 will be some fix-it-up jobs building shelves and organizers for the children's club. My final week will be a short one, as I have been given clearance to leave Puerto Lopez 4 days on the 25th of August to travel to Quito and Otovalo. I am so excited about that ending. Not only do I get a chance to see another part of the country, and enjoy the huge market in Otovalo, but I can work hard up until then and finish my tasks so I can leave early!
I also wanted to invite you all to my photo album on photobucket.com. There are all the pictures up until my last island trip. I will be adding more tomorrow. To get to my album, you do not need to be a member of photobucket. Simply go to photobucket.com and type "annef06" in the search bar at the top right of the intro page. Then in the search bar, drop-down the topic from "images" all the way down to "people" and hit search. My album should pop up, with all the pictures. If I am really bored tomorrow I may caption a few, but most likely you will just need to wait till I can go through them individually! This is the easiest way to share pictures, as I only have to try to upload them once. Enjoy!