Why I Love My Job

Here are just a few reasons why I feel like I have the best job in the world!

• Zumba: per request, we started a new exercise class. It's called "Zumba" and it's an aerobics class based on latin dancing. I feel a little out of place teaching latina women salsa steps, but they love it and we have a blast! AND I've NEVER seen them sweat so much in exercise. I think we have ourselves a keeper.

• Yoga at Maria's: last weekend, I met up with Maria (Adult English student, and one of the women training to be a fitness instructor) to go to her house to teach a private exercise class. Her sister has physical disabilities, so she can benefit a lot from yoga classes, but doesn't feel comfortable attending classes at the Centro. Maria wants to have Sunday morning Yoga with her mom, sisters, aunts, and neices, and I came the first week to start things off. Maria has been through training, so she knows modifications and moves and is excited to offer this class to her female family members.
  
  
• Dinner with Friends: one of the perks to living in a country where people vacation is meeting up with visitors. The Tysons and Cynthia Knust (family friends from church) came into town, and we met up for dinner. It was so nice to chat and share a meal with friends.
  
  
• Last Alinambi Class: yes, these kids may drive me insane, but I love them. It's sad to see the school year wrap up and the program end, but the kids have learned so much and are enthusiastic to share about the recipes they've made with their families (Krysta and I made a recipe book for the kids to take home with all the recipes we made in class). I hope this program grows, improves, and continues to be successful in the future.
  
  
• Women's Exercise Attendance: 12 people!! We've had an average of 12 women in each evening class. We've also had as many as 8 people in a morning class. Not too long ago we were begging for a class size of more than 2 or 3. This program has grown and is thriving.
  
  
• Day with Maritza: Maritza used to come to exercise (now has to work in the evenings) and is the daughter in my homestay family who is my age. I stopped by the house the other day to catch up, and I ended up spending 4 hours chatting, talking about work and marriage, watching the World Cup, eating, and looking at pictures. I love her, and I love this family. I feel at home in their house, and I am so happy to have made such great friends.
  

Where Am I?

The other day I ended up on Verizon's web page checking out their new phones. I'll need to get a new phone when I get back in August (seeing as the one I left at home is currently held together with duct tape and only works if it's plugged into a wall). Browsing through the phones, I found a common theme.... touch screens, key pads, smart phones, slides and twists. Those are all things I'm unfamiliar with. I couldn't find a single flip phone with a set of numbers to punch in, at which point the phone would ring and connect you to another human being to chat. It got me thinking about my return to the States. It's funny that after a year technology can change so much that I will have to be trained in how to make a phone call. Between a new phone, a new computer, probably a new camera, and learning how to drive again... I may have technology overload. I'm probably going to take it slow, so don't be surprised if I'm unreachable for a little while.

Another observation: today I was perusing the iTunes top 10 list. Wow. Not only had I never heard any of the top 10 most popular songs in the US right now, but I didn't know the names of the majority of the artists! I'm not surprised that music and technology and fashion has changed this past year; it was just a rude awakening that it sped forward and left 10 ex-pats living in a house in Conocoto in the dust. The important lesson I took away from this was not that design, fads, and what's popular is significant, but quite the opposite-- life is not defined in clothes, music, gadgets, stuff... possessions. It's marked by relationships and what you do. This is one of the main reasons I love living and working abroad. It puts so much into perspective.

Drumroll Please

Here is my much-anticipated interview. Jackie did a great job, especially for it being her first interview! Please excuse the echo-y room, loss of power due to a hail storm, and my mumbling. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions. Disfruta!

P.S. It is (clearly) very difficult for me to introduce myself in interviews. I'm very awkward and don't really listen to what I'm saying. Many apologies to Hokies all over for referring to our great university as "Virginia Tech University" rather than the two acceptable options-- Virginia Tech or Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. I'm so embarassed!!!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

I experienced all kinds of Ecuadorian treats recently, and seeing as I had no real place to put them, here they are in a "special edition" blog post.

Why Ecuador is different than the United States of America:

1. One man's pet is another man's food. I ate cuy! Cuy, or guinea pig, is quite the treat here in Ecuador. The Valle de los Chillos (where I live) is famous for this meal of roasted rodent. One afternoon, I met up with Jenni (one of the summer volunteers) and Krysta to try what we've heard so much about.

2. Karaoke is not to be taken lightly. Upon arrival to my very first Ecuadorian Karaoke Bar, I noticed something was different. People weren't shouting out lyrics, people were not talking above the singing, there were no upbeat 90's rhythms to dance to, and there was absolutely no laughing to tune-deaf performers. Oh don't get me wrong, there were plenty of tune-deaf singers belting out their favorite spanish ballad (and every song sung was just that... a ballad with a synthesizer melody line), but there was no laughing. Karaoke is a way to serenade your sweetie in front of a quiet room of on-lookers. Four of us sang our version of Bohemian Rhapsody much to the dismay of our fellow karaoke-ers. I don't even know why it was in the song list, since most of the people in the bar looked at us as if we were punching their child. So next time you find yourself in Ecuador itching to sing Spice Girls, skip the karaoke bar... no fun to be had there.

3. Washing dishes is about appearance, not efficiancy. Hmmm... cold water and a tub of solid soap. Just how clean can a dish get anyway? This may be the cause for #4.

4. The definition of "normal" changes. Trips to the bathroom happen regularly, but most of us aren't regular. As gross as it sounds, our bowell movements are normal dinner conversation; we've come to realize that we have gotten so used to our angry digestive systems that we've forgotten what it's like to not have stomach cramps after a meal.

5. Cows don't belong on farms. They belong on soccer fields, in streets, in front of tiendas, walking along highways, etc. Some mornings they even greet you at your doorstep. Cows. I love them and I surely will miss getting that good morning wake up call of moo-ing outside of my window.

A 19,000 Word Blog Post

This is a beautiful country. This post is a collection of pictures taken recently. Enjoy the scenes and the stories they have to tell!

All Kinds of Busy

Here's an update of the last couple of weeks:

We've had summer volunteers here for about 3 weeks now. They've been helping with programs and have done some projects of their own. One exciting contribution is that we now have a reading club at the library. When kids read a book and do a mini book report, they earn a "piece" of an ice cream sundae. They put a construction paper banana or scoop of ice cream on the wall, and once they complete the sundae (8 pieces), they earn an ice cream. It's encouraged kids to read and take books home at the end of the day. They've also worked to improve our programs and have lesson planned for different classes.

On the weekends, the volunteers have done some traveling in this gorgeous country. Two weekends ago, I helped lead their trip to Banos. Banos is what we call a "transitional forest" (on the border between the rain forest and the cloud forest). There we mountain biked, rappelled through water falls, had massages, took a swim in thermal baths, and went 4-wheeling. It was an adventurous weekend, and I'm glad we got to make it to Banos before Tungarahua started erupting (Banos is at the base of a volcano that started erupting 2 days after we left).

Dr. Escobar, the doctor who I shadow on Tuesdays, has asked Krysta and I to attend a couple of the Diabetes Club meetings throughout the year. He has a club of a couple hundred diabetes patients that meets on Friday mornings to discuss different relavent topics, to get their glucose levels checked, and to meet as a support group. We just attended the (belated) Mother's Day Celebration. Dr. Escobar talked with me about the possibility of offering exercise classes for the club, and we are now in the process of setting that up. I think this is an awesome opportunity and I hope that these classes will be up and running before I leave.

Diabetes Club

Last Friday, our 6th graders at Alinambi gave interviews to local tiendas to ask about the nutritional value of what they sell and how that affects the health of the community. Some of them were shy, but for the most part, I was really impressed with their journalism skills.

They look thrilled, don't they