"Planting seeds”

I thought I would write a quick post about my second week and what I have been up to. The Peace Corps and other volunteers had warned us that there may be significant times of boredom or feelings of uselessness in the first few months of service and even throughout our two years. I have found this to be true.

I have created a work schedule that I will follow during my first three months. My schedule states that I attend/observe classes of my English teachers, work with my English teachers individually two hours a week, attend weekly English meetings, and spend time in the “Sala de Ingles” doing “personal planning” thirty minutes a day. From that list I have actually only attended/observed classes and spent time in the “Sala de Ingles”. At this point I believe that my English teachers don’t quite know what to think of me. Don’t get me wrong, they love me. We can chat for an hour about the kind of food I ate in the States and how it compares to here. They loved hearing how I have eaten “Cuy” here in Ecuador and yet I had a guinea pig when I was a kid. Another great topic of conversation is family life. My teachers are very curious about my family and my ability to leave them for so long. They think if you move ten miles away from you family you might as well be dead. 

If you know me well then you know I love to talk. This has been a tool for me to work my way into my school community and especially with my English teachers. The problem with all this idle conversation it that it is all in Spanish. While I do want to improve my Spanish as much as possible, I want my teachers to feel comfortable speaking in English in front of me. One of my main goals here is to improve the capacity of my teachers. This includes improving their English. I hope that after a period of time I will be able to break down that barrier but for now I guess we can keep talking about strange foods that I have never tried in Spanish. Whatever makes them happy.

I have been trying to find ways to keep my mind occupied and my days full. The weekends seem to be a lull in activity for me. Perhaps that is why I am writing this post on Sunday. During the week I have things to do and specific times that I need to do them, even if that means going and sitting in the English lounge and reading a book. Because I am so new to the city I don’t really have a grasp of what there is to do nor do I really even know many people. To pass the time I have began reading a good amount. I have read more books for pleasure in the last three months than probably I had in the whole year leading up to my service. Not always having internet has forced me to look elsewhere for entertainment. 

I decided to chart my path yesterday

14.5 km and 4 hours later

Even more than reading, I pass my time walking around the city and running at a small park nearby. Now when I have free time, more than I would like to admit, I walk. After classes I make a point to walk to a store that I haven’t visited yet to check it out. Most of the places I go into I simply look around and don’t really buy anything. I am sure I am a disappointment to many store owners who recognize Gringos as a source of moola. After two weeks of walking literally around the entire city, I feel that I am spatially aware of my surroundings and a few Ecuadorians are beginning to recognize me as not a typical tourist. This will probably become a source of frustration for me. While a few Ecuadorians may know who I am and what my cause is, I feel that most people of Latacunga will just assume I am another Gringo tourist passing through.

English Teacher Workshop

I am thankful however, that the Ministry of Education Coordinator on my province is on top of her game. She informed me and a colleague that we would be holding a three day English workshop for teachers of a nearby high school. When we first received this news we were flustered. We had just arrived at site and were not supposed to begin hosting workshops similar to this one until three months into our service here at site. We cautiously agreed and spoke to other volunteers that had given the workshop the week prior. We did not have to plan the workshop but simply needed to follow the outline provided to us. I am a king of improvisation and I took on the challenge. My colleague wanted to practice and have everything down before we started the “show”. I am thankful for her dedication and OCD tendencies toward perfection. If I were in charge of the preparation side, things would not have gone as smoothly as they did. Thank you for being anal-retentive, Chelsea. :D

Teacher demonstrating how to prepare "Pineapple Cheese"

The workshop went off without a hitch. The teachers were very appreciative and showed this by bringing us food every day. On the last day of the workshop the women gave a “how-to” presentation over anything they wanted. Of course, they almost all chose food preparation. You cannot imagine how many fried things were put on my desk during those presentations. I hope the women did not mind a few grease stains on their grading rubrics that we were frantically were filling out during their presentations. After they presented they took us out to eat. Nothing beats free food. The cherry on top of the experience came when three of the ladies from the workshop asked if my colleague and I would hold a workshop once a week with them. This was music to my ears. SOMETHING TO DO! We agreed and will begin next week. 

I am learning to be more patient. Even though I have only been in site for two weeks I am beginning to realize that my job here must come second. I have to build relationships and continually try to be a part of the community before I can consider getting to work and being a catalyst for change. After explaining my feelings of uselessness and boredom to my mother on the phone yesterday she hurried to grab her one of her favorite magazines, “Guidepost”, to read me a quote she thought might be of help. 

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant”. 

Good words Momma.