My first stop would be Quito where I would await
transportation to a US embassy-funded summer camp. This camp was located south
of Quito. We reserved a very large and beautiful campground for our camp. 6
Peace Corps Volunteers and 10 Ecuadorian volunteers comprised our staff. We
hosted about 40 Ecuadorian high school students from the northern portion of
Ecuador that had received scholarships due to their academic success.
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| Explaining S'mores was more difficult than I thought... But the kids loved them. |
We planned the camp about a month ago during a training
session that the US embassy held in Tumbaco. From the planning session I felt
as if the Ecuadorian volunteers were firmly in-charge and we as PCVs would be
merely assisting. It turns out that the Ecuadorians had the exact opposite idea.
After some initial confusion we, PCVs, went into action. We started planning
activities and executing them on the spot. A fellow volunteer and I had just
finished our own camp so we had several good ideas that we quickly implemented.
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| Of course we had to do the Cupid Shuffle |
During the day we tried to wear the kids out with games,
races, obstacle courses, and arts and crafts. In the evenings we had bonfires,
ate s’mores, and sang English songs. Much to the dismay of fellow PCVs, my
inner-Texan came out during the campfires as we sang “The stars at night”. The
Ecuadorian counselors wanted the students to only speak English the entire
camp. I felt this was a bit harsh so with my group of boys I made a rule that
they could only speak Spanish when they were in the cabin. Not one of them
objected to this.
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| Ecuadorians like the "thumbs up" look. Integrating! |
I mentioned earlier that the campground was beautiful. What
I failed to mention is that though the campground was magnificent, our “cabins”
reminded me of large jail cells that would only be suitable for prisoners who
committed particularly heinous crimes. The bunk beds were stacked three high
and the entire room was about 20 ft x 8 ft. 15 of us were packed into that room
and we got to know one another quite well.
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| Ronnie and Bryon |
The camp, though poorly planned, turned out to be quite a
success. The kids had a wonderful time and seemed to have no idea that we were
had just planned each activity fifteen minutes before we started them. It was a
great learning experience for all of us and for the kids.
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| Group Shot |
Before I move on I have one quick story about one of my
favorite students from that camp. His name was Ronnie and he was from la Valle
de Chota. This part of Ecuador is largely Afro-Ecuadorian and economically
disadvantaged. Ronnie tried very hard to only speak English with me even though
his vocabulary and grammar were rather poor. The thing that cracked me up was
his accent. He sounded 100% Jamaican when he spoke English. In Spanish his
accent sounded similar to everyone else but his English was a different story.
I felt as if I was talking to a character from “Cool Runnings” every time we
conversed. Ronnie wanted to learn English so he could talk to American girls on
Facebook. He told me that he had 22 American girls as his friends on Facebook
and he always tried to chat with them. When I asked him how he found them he
told me that he simply searched “American” names such as Sasha and Anastasia. I
suppose motivation to learn can come from many places.
At the conclusion of the summer camp we all piled into an
Embassy van and headed to Quito for a conference with all the other PCVs from
our group. The conference, Reconnect, is an opportunity for each of us to
present our analysis from surveys that we have completed during the first
months in site. It was nice to see all of my friends from my Omnibus that I had
not been in contact with since April.
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| One of these guys is Natural Resources Conservation volunteer, can you spot him? |
Throughout the week we watched one another’s presentations
and planned with our Ecuadorian counterparts for the upcoming year. The
conference was a good chance to let some of the dust settle from the first
months and get a good idea about where to go from there. The conference lasted
a week and once it was over I was ready for some adventure.
I and eleven other volunteers packed our bags Friday morning
and headed to the city of Mindo which is located about 2 ½ hours northwest of
Quito. This city is now my favorite city in Ecuador. It is situated in a cloud
forest at nearly five thousand feet of elevation. Mindo’s economy is based
almost solely on tourism and fittingly so. This city was remarkably beautiful.
I had never been to a “cloud forest” before and very quickly you can tell why
it has that name. The place has a rainforest feel to it but the weather was
mild and almost chilly. In the afternoon the clouds would roll in and hide us
from the sun.
As a group we took advantage of many of the touristic
attractions. Late Friday afternoon all the guys in the group went whitewater
tubing. We bought our 6 dollar tickets and hopped in the back of a truck. We
went by a small building and picked up the “boat” (six inner tubes that were all
tied together), lifejackets, and helmets. We drove up a dirt road several
kilometers and then were told to get out and carry the “boat” to the river. We
did so and the guide told us to sit in specific spots so the weight would be
divided evenly. We took off and had a blast as we went over large rocks and were
tossed around like ragdolls through the white water.
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| Sorry, this is the best waterfall shot I have. Didn't want to get the camera wet. |
The next morning we went to a “Waterfall Sanctuary”. This
was a nature preserve that had 6 large waterfalls that you could hike to.
Entrance to the park was free but you had to pay 5 dollars to ride the cable
car that went to the other side of the valley to gain access to the falls. We
went to the three of the six and they were awesome. We swam in a pool of one of
the larger waterfalls. We even found a place that we could climb up to and then
jump into the pool. I cannot describe how beautiful that park was. You will
just have to come see it for yourself.
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| Cable Car ride! Devin doesn't look scared at all. |
I stole someone else’s video from YouTube so you could get
an idea of what the cable car was like:
In the afternoon we decided to go whitewater tubing again.
This time however, we were going to up the ante. We went on the second tier
rapids that afternoon. It was similar to the first trip but much more
exhilarating. It poured down rain the entire time we were in the truck and
during the entirety of our “boat” trip.
A little rain didn’t dampen our fun though. Several times I thought we were about to
change from whitewater tubing to whitewater swimming but luckily we were able
to hang on. On this second trip we had two guides for our one boat. Maybe it
would be better said; we had a one guide and his friend who was brought along
for the ride to weigh down our “boat”. Apparently we did not weigh enough and
the guide asked his friend to jump on our boat and hop around in his
tighty-whiteys like a mad man right before we would go over a small waterfall.
Regardless of the oddity of the situation we all had a blast.
That evening we played a three hour game of Risk on the patio
of our hostel that had a bubbling creek nearby. Passing the time in Ecuador
never seemed so easy. Reflecting on all the events of that day and the days
that preceded it allowed me to once again realize how blessed I am to have this
opportunity to serve in the Peace Corps. Some days are rough and lonely but
times like that serve to give more value to times when I am surrounded by the magnificent
nature of Ecuador and Government-Issued friends. I am thankful for all of the
experiences that I am having here, both good and bad.
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| Zipping |
On our final day in Mindo someone suggested we go zip lining
before our four o’clock bus left the station. I figured what the hay. The
company we went through had 10 cables ranging from short and fast to long and
really fast. I had zip lined before but was not accustomed to their system.
They gave us gloves that had large leather strips pasted across the fingers.
This was your brake… At the end of each cable they had a rubber stopper thingy
to slow you down but you were instructed to begin stopping yourself about two
thirds of the way down the cable. At times I felt that I was going much too
fast and would brake extra hard. This served to put new grooves in the leather
strap and significantly warm my hand as the friction took its toll. We all
survived the zip lining and got back into town just in time to catch the bus. I
lugged my huge backpack to the station and hopped on. In a short five hours I
made it back to my house and promptly passed out exhausted from the last two
weeks. After a solid twelve hours of sleep I am ready to head back to Mindo…
wait, I meant head back to work!
