Todd, the Foreign Diplomat

So what is new in the life of this lowly Peace Corps Volunteer?

 

For starters, I am working on my community surveys and school authority interviews. The Peace Corps has all the new volunteers complete a mountain of interviews, surveys, and assessments so that we can better know what our community needs of us. I think many volunteers use these interviews and surveys to really determine what their secondary projects will be in the following two years. In my case I am almost certain that my job will primarily consist of one thing. Teaching English. Seemingly everyone I encounter wants to learn English or has kids who “want” to learn English. This is to be expected. I am a white guy in Ecuador that speaks English. Therefore my projects will mainly be comprised of me speaking in my native tongue. But these surveys are not as fun as they sound (and they sound boring). Many people have no idea why I am asking them questions and it takes awhile to calm fears that I, as a PCV, am not a part of the CIA like Ecuadorian government officials have hinted. I have to complete all of my surveys and interviews and then compile the data I received. I will then “analyze” the data and put my findings into a presentation that I will give at a conference in Quito in August. That all sounds very fancy and important but really I could probably just stand in front of my boss and say “I will teach English” and accomplish the same goal as a complex presentation would.

I do, however, have exciting news. I was recently invited to take part in a summer camp program from the US Embassy. The Embassy is trying to promote English learning through fun summer camps for high school aged Ecuadorians. The embassy held a three day training session for those interested. Seven Peace Corps volunteers and I went to Quito this week and received training on how to plan an English intensive summer camp. We worked with about twenty other Ecuadorian volunteers that will host the summer camp with us next month. We spent most of the session planning our camp. The activity that I came up with for the summer camp was an outdoor survival course with the students. I am excited to see how well all my planning turns out. The Embassy was very supportive of our plans and really let us have the reigns as we planned our camp. I could not have been more impressed with the training staff from the Embassy. They were great facilitators and I can see why they are so valued at the State Department. These “big-wigs” were not only professional but approachable. The “Senior English Fellow” from the Embassy actually came outside after training and played Ultimate Frisbee with us. 

"Embassy of the United States"

During  Peace Corps training I had encountered the Embassy a few times and was relatively impressed with them. However, after attending this most recent training and seeing how dedicated they were to helping Ecuador by supplying both trained individuals and the money to make it all possible, I am a believer in humanitarian aid on the part of the United States. I feel that this exemplifies American values and we need to show the world that we are not all greedy and self-absorbed. One of the three goals of Peace Corps is to share American culture and values with host country nationals. I feel that through this training and these camps we are doing just that. I don’t know that a goofy white guy like me is the best example of America but it will have to suffice for Ecuador. 

 At the end of the training they gave out English curriculum to each Ecuadorian volunteer and invited them to make copies for their co-workers. This sounded so strange to hear an American Diplomat say that they should reproduce the information but then I realized that this is about reaching as many people as possible rather than working within copyright laws. I think that these English camps will really have an impact on the youths that are able to attend. Even the Ecuadorian volunteers were ecstatic to work with the embassy. They all wanted to learn as much as possible and were so happy to receive the training and the teaching materials. I guess the thing that I would like to get across to the astute readers of this here blog is that the USA has reputation everywhere in the world.  We, in Ecuador, are working towards making that a good reputation.

Trained!

To close this post I would like to reminisce about the time when I met the American ambassador to Ecuador. We were told to stand when he entered the room and only sit after he instructed us to do so. We were also only to address him as “Mr. Ambassador”. I am now a proud “trained informal diplomat” of the United States of America. I would not go so far as to ask you to stand when I enter the room nor would I ask you to address me as “Mr. Trained Informal Diplomat”, that title is simply too long. I supposed you could just address me as something more humble like, “Mr. Diplomat”. Yes, I think that will suffice.

Schools out for summer!

The school year has drawn to a close here in the Andean region of Ecuador. Students were released this past Friday with only a small percentage staying for “supletorios”, or summer school. Similar to the United States, teachers are required to stay and “work” at the school until the end of July. I have heard that this period of time largely includes card playing. Maybe instead of methodology training I can teach Bridge to my English teachers. The faculty will have a little less than a month off before returning for a few more weeks of cards then we resume classes in September.

Not quite Ecuadorian children but a great photo nonetheless

I, as a volunteer, am expected to work through the vacation period. I plan on spending much of this “free time” working on Community Assessment Tools that I must present to the Peace Corps during a conference in August. These “tools”, no pun intended, are rather involved. I am to interview around 50 families in their homes, conduct surveys in my school community, and poll my counterparts about what exactly the needs are in my specific community. This process is supposed to guide me to new projects and to gain a better perspective of my community and what my role might be in community development. Personally I think CAT is for volunteers to meet their community and further help with integration. I am all about meeting new people.

In addition to CAT I plan on continuing to work at two local universities. UTC and ITSA have extended offers to me to work with a few of their English courses. I began working at each university three weeks ago. I really enjoy working in an academic setting with students who want to learn. Working in the university is fueling my professional dream of becoming a professor in the US. iYo sí puedo!

I have been working with visually impaired students at the Ministry of Education on a weekly basis. However, they also are now on vacation. This particular job requires a lot of creativity. Every week I try to think of new activities to aid me in teaching English to these students. As one can imagine there is not much material on the internet for this very specific task. Maybe I will make my first million by selling my lesson plans.

I went back to Cumbaya recently after a friend invited me to come to his son’s 15^th birthday party. Eager for cooked food and good company I accepted his invitation. Cumbaya is a well-off suburb of Quito that is home to the movers and shakers of Ecuador’s capital. I expected a warm greeting upon my arrival to the family’s house as I was given one month ago when I visited. Instead, the grandmother of the family scolded me for not calling or visiting the family sooner. It is strange being hugged and chastised at the same time. This was more or less repeated by every member of the family including those I had never met before.

I had bought a t-shirt to give to the birthday boy but absent mindedly left it on the bus. I had shown it to another member of the family the day before so at least it was known that I had tried. In hindsight, it was probably better the birthday boy didn’t see my gift. It was a knock-off Vans t-shirt. “Chimbra” or fake clothing is very popular in Ecuador but within the gated community of Cumbaya my gift might have been judged a bit harsher.

We all sat down for a 5 course lunch. I still do not know which spoon or fork to use with each course. I was excited because they told me we were eating Lasagna as the main dish. As with every meal here we started with soup. Salad followed shortly thereafter and then on to the main course. It looked absolutely delicious. I cut into my lasagna and to my surprise the meat was hot-dogs. I tried to hide my surprise and ate it happily. Ecuador, you never know what to expect.

Before lunch we all watched a “Toros del Pueblo” from the roof of my friend’s house that was being hosted in Cumbaya. This is basically a bull fight that anyone could participate in. BYO Cape. I was assured that the bullfight was safe and no one would be seriously injured. Those horns still looked pretty sharp.  

I did not bring my camera to the bull fight so this pirated photo from Google will have to suffice

The prize for the best bullfighter was a large pizza. I assumed I heard incorrectly but a man standing next to me reassured me that it was indeed the prize. Many of the men that jumped into the arena had obviously had a bit too much “liquid courage” in their quest to for a large ham and pepperoni. One heavy-set man in particular stood out. He did not bring a suitable bull-fighting cape but used his black and white poncho instead. He would stumble around the arena until he had the bull’s attention. Then as the bull prepared to charge the man would have a moment of clarity and run at a drunken full sprint to the fence. Twice he launched himself at the fence only to collide with it as the bull was in hot pursuit. He would climb the fence quickly and both times he did a front-flip over the top of the fence and landed square on his back. This brought great cheers from the audience and from me as well.

I had a great time watching this exposition and even had a very small desire to participate. However, I think the Gringo will stick to sheep-fighting for now.

Ecuadorian Hospitality and Climbing Putzalahua

This past weekend held yet another lesson on culture for one of Ecuador’s newest and whitest residents. After the two days were finished I was physically exhausted, full to my eyeballs with Ecuadorian food and a bit red from the ever penetrating sun. I am just now beginning to recuperate.

Last week I went to an all day birthday party where I met a very nice family that invited me and a fellow volunteer to their house “anytime we wanted”.  They were very kind and seemed to be good contacts to have. Seeing as how we had nothing to do in the upcoming weekend we decided to call and accept the invitation to come to their house only six days after meeting them. I felt that it might have been an empty promise and was worried we might be calling a bit too soon. To my surprise they were ecstatic to have us come visit and so soon! We got the address of the house and a few more contact numbers and prepared for our whirlwind one day trip to Quito.

The family actually lives in Cumbaya, a suburb of Quito. Much like the song, Cumbaya is a very calm and relaxed. Oh and did I mention it is where some of the wealthiest people in Ecuador live? Yeah, after we realized where we were going I began to wonder what kind of experience was in store for us.

We left early in the morning on Saturday and embarked on our 3 hour trip. We arrived in the much warmer city of Cumbaya and waited in front of a large megastore for the family to pick us up. A man walked up and asked if we were Todd and Chelsea. Awkwardly we responded that we were and were quickly whisked into a nice car where the grandparents and the daughter were waiting for us. I realize that we as white folk stand out here but when someone comes up and already knows your name and who you are, it is a bit unnerving.

We made it to the house shortly thereafter. This house was amazing. It was in a guarded compound and the first thing I saw was the pool. We weren’t in Kansas anymore. We parked in the garage. That’s right, I said garage. I have not seen one here before this Saturday. Then we were escorted into the house. It was beautiful. The house had hardwood floors, three stories, and a magnificent view of the suburbs of Quito and the surrounding mountains. I tried to keep my jaw off the floor. What kind of Peace Corps experience was this.

View from the 3rd floor

Lunch was prepared for us and the rest of the family was about to arrive. We ate sandwiches and drank juice. I was happy that they didn’t go out of their way to make us a large meal. The parents arrived after lunch and we chatted for awhile. My friend had made a pie to give to the family. I made… drum roll please… Doritos. The family thought that was hilarious and because men here do not cook it was acceptable. They were very happy that we had accepted their invitation. We were asked if we had brought our swimsuits because it was time to swim. I packed my trunks in the anticipation of this offer. We were ushered to the pool and sauna both of which I thoroughly enjoyed.

After swimming we were told to shower and come downstairs for lunch. I had assumed that we had had lunch two hours earlier but as usual I never know quite what is going on here. An enormous meal had been prepared for the whole family. We ate a large cheesy soup followed by salad and fresh shrimp. Then we had the main course of spaghetti and French bread. Dessert was fresh fruit and whipped cream. It was all delicious and I was stuffed by the second course. I must admit that more than once I had to watch the family to decide what piece of the large array of silverware to use. This was a piece of knowledge that I did not think I would need to employ while in a developing country.

At the end of lunch we sat and chatted for about an hour. They, along with most Ecuadorians, love hearing about my family and where I am from. Both topics I am happy to talk about. I love the looks on their faces when I describe my city in Texas. They simply cannot believe people would live in a city that is flat, dry and dusty. When it was time to leave we let them know how grateful we were for having us there. They were pretty sad that we were not staying the night with them. They continually insisted that we could not leave. We promised we would return and stay the night at a later date. They turned this into a plan for us to stay a whole weekend and have the whole family together. They offered to drive us to the bus stop and we were happy to accept. Of course this meant we had to stop and get ice cream to delay our departure from the family. I offered to pay but they would have none of that. They then took us to the stop and we said goodbye and thanked them many many times.

I was amazed at the hospitality of this family. They had met me only a week before but I felt as if I was a member of the family. Despite the fact that this family was obviously very well off they still behaved like any other Ecuadorian family. They were very close to one another and were not arrogant or prideful. I am very proud to say that they are one of my new good friends. The grandmother kept hugging me and telling me how happy she was for us to be there. Ecuadorians walk arm in arm with people they are very close with. The grandmother walked with me in this fashion after only having known me for 3 hours. After she found out that my mom is coming to visit in October she insisted that we all stay with her. I thought she was just being nice but after the third time she mentioned it I knew she was serious. If her house is anything like her son’s I think my mom would rather enjoy that. She continually called me “my boy” when addressing me, in Spanish of course... This could also have been due to the fact that Todd is a ridiculously hard name to say in Spanish. I am hoping she just really liked me.

We got back very late in the evening but the bus trip was not very bad. My friend and I spent the ride chatting about how great and hospitable the family was. In the back of our mind I kept remembering that we had yet another very large day ahead of us.

On Sunday I woke up early without much rest and prepared a large strong cup of instant coffee. “Coffee, if it ain’t instant, it ain’t Ecuadorian”. Ecuador produces some of the best coffee beans in the world but for whatever reason, instant coffee is the craze. At my school the teachers use the drip coffee maker to make hot water to put into a cup and then add the granules of instant coffee. Appalling to all coffee drinkers, but it is what it is.

I headed to the central park of Latacunga at 7:30 in the morning. I walked around until I saw the man I was looking for. I recently met this guy and his wife at a literature night here in Latatcunga. While the poems and songs are in Spanish I can still appreciate the artistic prose. I told the guy that I wanted to climb a nearby mountain but didn’t have much information on it. In true Ecuadorian style he “Ok, let’s go this weekend.” So five days after having met this guy and his wife, I and another volunteer were about to be taken, by car, to the trailhead. The fact that we were taken by car was great. We assumed we would all take a bus but the guy told me that his father-in-law would be happy to take us. We all piled in to a very small car and headed off. We drove for about 20 minutes before arriving at a house on a hill. We all got out and were told to wait. Like always, I had no idea what was going on or about to happen. Then a large GMC 4x4 came rumbling up. We all piled in and headed off again. The man, my new friend, told me that the road is only passable by four wheel drive vehicles. I didn’t know it at the time, but we were going muddin’.

Cruising in the GMC. Can't beat 'Merican muscle.

The road got narrower and narrower. The rain didn’t help much either. We slowly crept up toward the mountain. The family kept calling the truck a “spider” because of the way it would lurch ahead with each touch of the gas. Other folks were making the same climb towards the mountain. Quickly we ran into a traffic jam. Trucks were stuck everywhere. It was very scary seeing the trucks slipping and sliding down the muddy road with large drops on one side. I was happy to get out of the truck and begin the hike.

We hiked for about 2 hours up the mountain, Putzalahua. I chatted with my new friend throughout the trip. He is somewhat of an intellect and enjoyed speaking and debating about socialism versus capitalism. He made some very valid points for his side and I feel that I did the same. It was refreshing to have an intellectual conversation in Spanish. The views along the hike were great. There were many indigenous people living high in the mountains and seeing them work in the fields and the housing always gives me a sense of humility. We made it to the top and soaked in the beautiful views. All around us the Andes rolled their hills out beneath us. I had yet another feeling awe when I thought of how lucky and blessed I am to live in such a beautiful place with such great people.

View from the top of Putzalahua

We had a picnic on the peak of sandwiches, chips and fruits. We took plenty of photos and then decided it was time to head down. When we got in the truck I realize just how exhausted I really was. I was struggling to keep my eyes open as my friend wanted to chat more. My weariness was a topic of conversation and great laughter in the truck as we drove back to Latacunga. We arrived back at his house and all piled out. I hugged each of them and thanked them profusely for taking us. I offered to help pay for gas but this family also would not have any of it. We are making plans to travel to another remote and beautiful spot 5 hours away next month.

Danilo and I

It is crazy to think that neither of these two families had not planned to host or hang out with two gringos this weekend but were more than happy to plan their weekend around us. The father-in-law most certainly could have spent his Sunday a better way than spending his time, money, and energy taking a friend of his son-in-law up a mountain but he was delighted to do it. The hospitality and genuine acceptance of new acquaintances here is incredible.

Couldn't resist taking a picture with this girl and her llama.

This is usually where I try to think of something witty or wise to say but honestly I am still too tired to think. So catch you on the flip side.