Sometimes you just gotta say "Whoopsies"

I am not going to apologize and again and again for my lack of entries....just gonna say whoopsies :).

So here we are with about 6 months to go and I am thinking about extending...Yes sir you heard it right!  After all the tough times, tears, and silly moments I want to stay and do it again for another year!

Life back Home
Things have been going well at Runa and Archidona. I went home for three weeks for my best friends wedding the beginning of October.

Thar She Blows!!!
Before that I went to Puerto Lopez with the lovely Elizabeth Glass, Oscar Veloz (my new fella), Helen mujer, and the Omn bus 105 clan (well some not all).  It was AMAZING to say the least.  I've never seen a whale, aside from Animal Planet, and to be literally 5 feet away from a group of them was an unbelievable experience.  I will never never forget it.  The beach was amazing and Puerto Lopez is a lovely little laid back community on the beach where one can lay back in a hammock, drinking overpriced beer, and relax to your hearts content (or until your money runs out).  I hope to go back for another visit in the near future.

Me and Elizabeth at La Isla De La Plata

Oscar taking in some sun

La Isla de la Plata

Blue-footed Boobies!

We found star-fish!

Work and Ecuafamily Life
Before that I finished my big project with Runa in August.  I don't know if you followers remembered but I was head leader of the needs assessment surveys for the Fundacion. Basically it was like CAT Tools on steroids.  I went into over 50 communities and interviewed over 300 farmers since August of 2011 to August of 2012.  Thanks so much to all you Runa Interns out there by the way for all your help, input, patience, laughs, and humor.  You made it much more pleasant and adventurous experience!  Anyway we presented the data (whooo it was a lot!) to the CEP (Comite Ejecutivo de Productores de guayusa).  It felt like such an accomplishment to have finished after going out to all those communities and talking to all those people and finally being able to put it all together and hand it to the CEP and say here are the voices of your fellow members this is what they want.  Well, whether they really looked it over seriously or not it was still a great feeling for me.
Now I am hoping to work more on agroforestry projects with the local farmers and the Fundacion.  I really am going to get on the ball and make an effort to do this at least once or twice a month.  Helen and I are also starting gardening charlas with the kids in a community near archi.  Hope that works out as well.

As for family and friends here in Ecuador they are pretty darn awesome!  Days off are just awesome spending time with fellow volunteers, going to the river, seeing monkeys, feeling comfortable enough in our own surroundings to really get out there more and explore.  It only took a year and a half!  Although where I live its hard to leave...I'm pretty much a site rat.

Baby BBQ time!

Oscar and Elizabeth trying to figure out the 'baby' BBQ

This little guy was a real sweetie!

Aby, Oscar, y Yo and of course our little friend Alex!

A Tigre!

Spider Monkey

Me with the Tarpirs family!

Oh my birthday was awesome this year too!  Elizabeth made me a cake! So far I like being 27 and I still have a ways to go with it but I am curious to see how 28 treats me on year three.  I guess you guys will just have to wait a year to find out!

Aliana and Oscar at my Birthday!

Cake and singing are the best parts of Birthdays!

And the second best is getting your face smashed in your cake! Yay!

Christmas Jungle One Year!!!!!!!

Well friends and family I've pretty much been lost out in the jungle for these last....what is it now, 4 months? Geez! Well I apologize for my complete and utter lack of updating I'm a horrible blogger as I have mentioned many times before. Well there is no time like the present so let me update you!

New House

Due to some personal issues I've had to move out of my community and I am now living in Archidona. I've been there for about two months now and I love it! While I absolutely loved my shack sweet shack I love having running water, a sink, and.....HOT WATER! Oh man there is nothing better in the world than hot water showers. I hated having to leave Rukullakta I really enjoyed my time there but I feel as though I am in a much better place now both personally and professionally.

Runa

Work with Runa has been going great. I'm still going out into the communities doing interviews for our needs assessment project but we are on temporary hold for the month of April; which is good for me because I need a break and a change of pace.

This next week is Dia de Campo and Runa is opening its doors to the public! We are giving a presentation of both Runa Tarpuna and Fundacion Runa and I'm involved in presenting the community needs assessment survey to about 100 people and yes it's going to be in Spanish...Eeekkk!!! I'm really nervous. But will let you all know how it goes with in the next 4 months due to my posting track record.

Helen, my partner in crime and fellow PC volunteer, and I have started/finished two projects on the farm; a wormbed and compost box. We've also harvested yuca, pineapple, and plantains as well as planted these on the farm. We macheted out trails in the jungle like spanish explorers and were attacked by swarms of angry ecuadorian wasps! I came out unscathed, but unfortunantly Helen was stung in the face several times and her face swelled up pretty bad. She recovered quite quickly though.

Christmas in the States!

I went home for two weeks over christmas to see my family. It was so wonderful to see everyone and be surrounded by loved ones but it went by much too quickly. I am planning a return visit in October for my best friend's wedding. I'm think I will stay for about a month this time. Two weeks over christmas was just not enough time! I can't wait to experience some fall weather!

Jungle Life

Life all in all is going okay. I'm at a little over the year mark and it's starting to take it's effect. I'm pretty burnt out and looking into some vacationing time....It's long over due. I think my friend Elizabeth and I are planning on taking a weekend to the coast to do some whale watching in July/August. I suppose this is normal....these feelings of, I can't believe I am at the year mark...Can I make it another year? I know I can make it. It's just a matter of pushing through this rough patch and trying to stay positive. And keeping October forever in the forefront of my mind.

We are in the rainy season right now (surprise surprise!) so it's been pretty gloomy but the mountains are always amazing and on sunny days I like taking a dip in the river and taking some time out to relax.

Photos!

My sister and I at home for Christmas!

Passing time in San Martin before we start interviewing!!

On the way up to Santa Rita....Heeelllllooo Bus!

Santa Rita trees

Me and Andrew out in Tena for Helen's Birthday!

Helen and Alex....Ghetto birthday times!

And of course my sweet baby face...Supay!!!

This Update is WWWAAAYYY Overdue!!

I seem to have fallen off the face of "blogging" earth. It's been over 4 months since my last update and I know you are on the edge of your seats waiting to hear more 'fun' stories of my life here in the Amazon. Well lets see where to begin:

House:
I've been living in my house now for about 3 months; I love it. It's so nice to have soooo much personal space and privacy (more or less from Ecuadorian standards). Supay Oso and I are very happy here...he because he has free reign of the upstairs and a lookout point from which to bark at all who pass by (not so much fun for me at 2 in the morning) and all kinds of puppy friends to play with which is fine until he starts trying to bring them into my house...This will just not do. Well as I said, I'm loving the space, privacy, and ability to plan and make my own meals when and how I choose. I'm planning on starting a garden after the new year and a compost pile and wormbed. Photos to come...Patience Patience!  But here are one of my neighbors...for your viewing pleasure.

Work:
Work with Runa has been going well. My main job with Runa has been going out to communities working with Runa (we are at 95 now and growing) and doing interviews which we will later present to all the communities (providing a needs assessment) and make suggestions for project ideas that they can start with the Fair Trade profits which will be given to them at a later date...not sure when since everything here moves at warp 'turtle' speed. I really enjoy going out to the communities and meeting the people, getting to know them, and learning a little Kichwa along the way...that is until they are drunk on trago and try and grope me...I do not like you San Francisco community.
I've also been working at the factory in Rukullacta with my 'Mujer' Helen. We planted tea plots of guayusa for an experiment that Eliot (my boss) wanted. We also mixed and laid out concrete (its totally ghetto since she and I have no idea how to mix concrete, but should function just fine) for our wormbed we are going to make and this week we are constructing a box for compost. I have discovered I'm more of a laborer at heart (that is when the sun is not blazing and i feel I'm going to keel over at anymoment) I love working with my hands.
This week the Women's Association and I are going to start a community garden on their property. I can only hope it will go well...That is I hope I don't kill anything, lose my credibility, and disband the garden...I'm such an optimist...It seems Ecuador has sucked some of that out of me; to be expected as I learned in training. Anyway, I'm sure it will all be fine, it's just difficult to grow things here that are not native to this area. EVERYONE cross your fingers for me please.

Halloween:
Halloween was a lot of fun this year. I forgot to mention I have been teaching english to some of the teenagers in my community in the afternoons. I came up with the idea to have a small Halloween gathering at my house and carve pumpkins. I was worried at first that I might not find pumpkins and thought watermelons might be a good alternative but I lucked out and managed to find the one "great" pumpkin in all of the amazonian jungle! It was a good class and I think the kids really liked it. Pictures!

A Very Posh Thanksgiving:
The Runa clan had a very nice small gathering the weekend after Thanksgiving. We ate amazing food; turkey soaked in brine with mango and pineapple, greenbean casserol, stuffing, mashed potatoes and for dessert a banana cream pie (of sorts, thanks to the worst chefs in the world...no really the dessert was awesome Sarah and Evan!). It was so nice to eat a real american meal and spend time with my new family. Pictures!

Eduardo:
So some of you were curious to know more about Eduardo. We've been dating for a few months now. He's great and so is his family. It's really helped with my spanish (although now I feel that I've platued...time for classes maybe?) but as with all cross-cultural relationships we have our share of issues; mainly with communication. He says one thing and I hear something else and vice versa. Its taken a lot of patience on both ends but overall its a lot of fun. He's introduced me to the wide world of...dan da dun!....Karaoke. I've discovered I can sing...sometimes. It's a lot of fun to sing and listen (and has helped with my spanish as well!) Pictures!

Stories From The Jungle: Don't Ever Look A Monkey In The Face...

And now for an awesome story involving an attack by monkeys:

Well where to begin on this one. It all began on a quiet monday afternoon. I had absolutely nothing to do that day and the boys in my family were off school for vacation. We decided that since it was such an awesome and sunny day, and for once it wasn't raining, that we'd go to the pool near the community. It's like this exotic hotel across the street from my community, totally random. I've been there from time to time with the boys and it's a pretty awesome place they have all these different species of monkeys and it's super tranquilo. I go with Jamil, Keneth, and their cousin Clide. We're swimming for a good hour or so and having an awesome time when Clide starts yelling at me that he sees monkey's really close to where we are swimming. Me being the "gringa" crazy "extranjera" I start freaking out and am like 'oohhh mmmoonnnkkkeeeyyysss!! Lets go see them!'....what was to occur next could have only been the most unique and horrifying experience of my life. We leave the pool and walk up to were there are these two monkeys hanging out in this low hanging tree. One of the employees at the hotel starts feeding one of them bread and as we approach the other monkey falls out from the top of this tree and hangs down from a low branch by its tail and starts reaching out to me and Clide. Well at this point I'm cheesing out big time...here I am in the Amazon with my Kichwa family and here's this monkey reaching out to touch my fingers like something out of Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam"...I am kicking myself big time for not bringing my camera...So we hold hands with this monkey for a few minutes and then she springs off to go forage or whatever monkeys do in there free time. We go back to the pool and swim some more and again the monkeys return. We go back and this time she is out of the tree and on the ground hanging out in this chair. So Clide and I go to sit with her...kind of close but at what I thought was a good distance...apparently not. We're sitting there for a few minutes and like lightning she went from being this tranquilo little monkey to 'monster monkey' like something out of Wizard of Oz....She starts screaming and lunging at Clide. He gets up from his chair and starts to slowly back away from her but unbeknownst to him the she-monkey's boyfriend has jumped down behind Clide and the he-monkey's not too happy to have someone else looking at his woman in that manner. I see the he-monkey before Clide does and so I try as best I can to yell at Clide that there's a monkey behind him....too late, he backs right into the he-monkey and I watch in horror as he grabs Clide's calf with his squirrely-hands and takes a huge bite into his leg....like he was biting into an apple...At this point I'm screaming and Clide is screaming and we both take off running for the safety of the pool....and of course the monkeys start to chase us...they are running at us on their hind legs gnashing their horrible 'fruit eating' teeth at us and screaming like banshees...they want us out!....I'm running and Clide is limping for his life for the pool. After what felt like a heartwrenching eternity we make to the safety of the pool and the monkeys retreat to the trees screaming in triumph. I check myself over, making sure everything is still in order and then look down at the blood dripping from Clide's calf...there was a deep gash in his leg about the width of a pencil and the length of my thumb. I'm trying to stay calm as I apply pressure to his leg with some tissue from my bag but inside I'm soooo freaking out. Here I am the 'adult' of the group and I let my cousin get attacked by a freaking monkey! He kept insisting that it didn't hurt at all and that he was fine, oh those Kichwa boys, but I insisted we leave and get his leg cleaned out. So we left....Moral of the story: Don't sit with a he-monkey's girlfriend...he will get jealous and he will bite the shit out of you. And Clide is fine...we got him cleaned up and his leg is healing very nicely....Probably one of the funnier moments since my time here...Not then but it sure is now...

An update that is looooonnngggg overdue!

This is long over due!! I must apologize for my lack of updates but I've been fairly busy and lazy out here in the jungle and a lot of crazy/hilarious things have happened to me since my arrival here most of which I can't write about on this blog but if you really really want to hear some ridiculous stories come visit me; we'll drink a beer and I'll regale you with my adventures....
So where to begin?....Where did I leave off?...Well as of now I'm just trying to stay busy and trying to figure out what sort of work I can do here in my community. So far I've accomplished a few things. I started three gardens (small vegetable gardens) in my community. One and a half of which has failed miserably due to too much rain and not enough sunshine (fungus has killed my tomatoes) but the biggest and, in my opinion, most important garden at the women's association is doing really well. I've got over 20 tomato plants (red and yellow), cucumber plants, watermelon, and chili pepper plants (which are sooo pretty by the way!)...I'm trying to look at this as a learning experience, I have absolutely no experience growing things out here in this type of climate so most everything is an experiement but so far I'm really excited with the results. My hope is that I can begin a seed bank with the women's association so they can continue the garden if they so desire. I'm trying to stay open minded and neutral to this idea, I'm not sure if it's something they would be interested in.

One of my gardens in the Rukullacta Vivero

One of the other gardens at the Women's Association

Teresa, my host mom, is on the far right with some of the other women from the Association; cleaning this area for the garden

With Runa I've been working with their interns doing community development assessments in the communities affiliated with Runa. I helped, by helped I mean gave my opinion, develop an interview format; went out to communities to conduct interviews with presidents and community members; data collection, and collaborate ideas for future projects with the communities we are working with. It's been an interesting experience and we had some really awesome days and some really horrible days I feel like we can make some real strides with the information that we collected it's just a matter of accepting that it's going to be a slow process unlike in the States when things get finished right away, here it's more like..."ya mismo"....or I'll get to it. My hope here is to continue this work with Cassandra, the intern coordinator, after the first round of interns leave. I also hope to work on agroforestry development/projects at the Runa factory when they start to construct the tree nursery there.
Future goals in my community: Well I've been doing my encuestas (interviews) within the community and I've learned some interesting things so far and gotten a few good ideas for projects. The encuestas have been exhausting mentally in some ways. It's really difficult to listen to people here talk about how poor they are, the health problems they have, how badly they need help, etc. I feel so horribly guilty some days and I just don't know what to say in most cases. I want so badly to just run around the community like Santa Clause with a huge bag of food and money for everyone. But that's not sustainable and I don't have those kind of resources. Like they say "give a man a fish and he can eat for a day, teach a man how to fish and he can eat for the rest of his life"...or something like that. I have had this idea about using this abandoned field near my house to start a garden and/or chicken farm for the youth in my community and within that add charlas about whatever topics parents think their children should learn about. It would be AMAZING if I could get that working but there is an issue with the land. It's owned by the commuity (plus) but many people in the community don't want to share or let others use it (minus)...I could just be running my head into a brick wall with this. I suppose we will see. I'll keep you updated....Maybe.... :)
I got a puppy!!! I've had him for about a month now. He is an absolute terror! Yet I can't help but love him all the same. I have a feeling I jinxed him with his name. I call him "Supay Oso" which means "devil bear"! Supay means 'devil' in Kichwa and oso means 'bear' in spanish. He really lives up to his name. He's constantly getting into things and chewing things and pooping/peeing everywhere! Its all part of puppy parenthood right?? He's been a great help to my integration though...now when I see people they are like "hey!...where's Supay?"....They greet the dog before they greet me....Oh well.....Anyway heres a photo of my little devil....

Don't let the face fool you...He's a monster.... :)

Love the head cocking....

I got a house and I'm moving in two weeks! Pictures to follow when they finish constructing the bathroom, shower, and lavadora (clothes washing area). It's ballin! It's two rooms with an open area for my 'livingroom/hammock area' It over looks the soccer fields so I can watch the kids play in the evenings and its an awesome view of the mountains...I really lucked out...there's not too much to choose from here in terms of housing. I'm so excited to have my own space and privacy. I love my family here, they are absolutely amazing but it's vacation time right now and that means EVERYONE is home...that's 10 people in the house and that does not include cousins that come to visit frequently....Plus I can't stand the constant rap music coming from Wilfridos room....among so many other things...Privacy does not exsist here. I literally have someone watching me at all times and relaying to everyone else just what I'm doing. It's not personal it's just how it is here and I'm a source of gossip and interest here in my family and the commuity....Now I know how Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie feel...I don't envy them.

Cuando veo las estrellas, nunca me siento más vivo y aún más sola...

  Last night was one of the most beautiful nights I've seen since moving to Ecuador. It was around 10:30pm and I was laying in my bed watching some Grey's (thanks by the way Chloe!!) and getting ready to nod off to sleep when out of the corner of my eye I see the street light outside my window go out and I find myself in the pitch black except for the light from my computer. Curiosity getting the better of me I close my computer, get up, push aside my mosquito net, and tip toe through my room and out into the open part of the upstairs. I blindly turn the corner to the front of the house in the total darkness and stop in my tracks gasping in surprise...There in front of me was one of the most clearest and brightest skies I have ever seen. There was not a single light for what could have been miles. The only light was coming from the illumination of this massive blanket of stars silently twinkling like moris code...there was no sound as well which only added to the clarity and beauty of the night. I stood there in wistful awe and never felt more solitary and yet felt more comfort in that feeling in my whole life. It felt like someone wrapped a warm blanket around my shoulders. I stood there and tried to think of something brilliant or poetic or cliche to say or think or feel, but I all I could feel was just this warm feeling of comfort; like this is exactly where I'm supposed to be and I didn't want it to end. It certainly puts things into perspective...I'm such a small person in such a big world. One phrase did come to mind while I was standing there in the ebony of the night..."Kushi kawsan" which in kichwa means "live happy"...In that moment I felt like I was really living happy. I'm pretty damn lucky to get to stand out under the stars alone in the middle of the amazon jungle in Ecuador contemplating life...

Falling in Mud 101: La Reina del Lodo...

It's been quite some time since I've written so it is time for an update! As of last wednsday I have officially been in my site for one month! Whoo hoo! One month down and 23 more months to go! I don't how this first month has gone by so quickly. Some days I feel like I've just gotten here. So far things have been going well in ol' Rukullacta. I've been taking it very slow here. Mostly hanging out with the family when I'm not riding on the coat tails of the Technicos. So here is my schedule for the most part. During the week days I wake up around 6 or 7 have breakfast, change, and wait around and read in the hammock for a few hours until Nelson or Silverio comes to pick me up and we either go to a farm to cut estacas, look for guayusa trees, or they give charlas and I hang out and listen. It's been fun so far but I'm still not entirely sure what exactly I'm going to be doing with Runa. Everything still seems really up in the air. But so far I'm enjoying the ride.
I've been sick once since I've been here. Last weekend I had a fever, sore throat, muscle aches, and diarrhia. After that the fever and muscle aches left the diarrhia stayed and continued on...Just my luck. I had been staying near the house for those few days but I'm feeling much better now. It's very difficult to be sick and so far away from home. All I could think about that whole time was about how much I wanted to be home and have a car and be able to get into that car and drive to the pharmacy and pick up what I need and speak in english and come back home and recooperate. Everything here is that much more of a challenge especially when you are sick. That's something I know I took for granted back home...The convenience of everything back in the States.
I am La Reina del Lodo! How did I come across such an awesome name? Well all you have to do is follow a group of Kichwa people about an hour into the Jungle and up and down a mountain when it has been raining everyday for the last week and you are wading through mud up to your knees and then, most importantly, you have to fall...A LOT. How does one walk on mud you ask? I have no idea! I have no idea how they can so easily walk through the forest and barely have any mud on them and I'm covered from head to toe! Mud is a most decieving thing. It looks stable. It lies to you telling you that it's solid ground and it wants you to step on it. "Come forth weary traveler and place your tired sole onto my ever so solid footing" and you believe it! You place your foot on 'solid ground' and before you know it your knee deep in mud and the pressure and suction has made you stuck...Stuckity stuck stuck!...Trying to pull your exhausted limbs from the mud is even worse. It just makes you even more tired trying to pull yourself out and you usually end up getting more stuck. Towards the end of our travels through the bosque I just gave myself up to fits of laughter after falling for the hundredth time, I just laid there in the mud and laughed and laughed. It was laugh or cry at that point and I'll be damned if La Reina del Lodo cries in the jungle especially in front of her coworkers! Needless to say I survived the trekk and am a better person for it. I would never trade that experience for anything! It was awesome. I had never laughed, lept, swung, slipped, slid, pounced, fell, lagged, twirled, stumbled, shouted, smiled, snorted, sighed so much in my life! I loved it! I'm ready for another trekk and know I will be better the next time. I'll keep you updated! And here is a picture of one of the many creatures living in my house...