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!
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!
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!
