Life in Asuncion...4 months in!

So I have been in country for 4 months as of last Friday. Whohoo, one third of a year!! I am scoping out potential houses/apartments for the remainder of my service. I can move out of my host family’s house in one month and I am so excited to cook and clean (my way), and have a place that feels like home! I must say that there aren’t many options and one apartment that I saw is beautiful and is probably out of my price range. We will see. Peace Corps sets a limit on our housing allowance, but I don’t live in an expensive area so I am hoping it is doable. Otherwise there aren’t many options in my town…

Teaching is going well. I don’t have any resources so I am creating games and improvising. I guess this is fine for the remainder of the school year. Now I am worried that when school vacation starts on July 9th that I will be a bit lost for things to do to stay busy.

I help teach English in a school in Guaranda…They invited me to the graduation, and come to find out I was not only sitting on stage with the other teachers, I was speaking in front of 400 people, handing out diplomas, and “capping” the graduates. (Graduations are a bit different here. For one, there are never any pamphlets telling you who is speaking, who is graduating, who is the best of their class. Also everyone in the auditorium is served champagne. And the graduates are not in caps and gowns the whole time, just on stage. It is also a bit slower of a process…to be expected in Ecuador.) The nice part about the speaking I had to do…it was in English. And a few of the teachers and the graduates probably understood, but I was comforted with the fact that a (large) majority wouldn’t understand me anyway. And by the way...I REALLY need some nicer clothes here. In this picture is my counterpart, the honored speaker, my host sister (who graduated), me and another teacher.



I have officially had my first real sickness in Ecuador. Not too big of a deal but I missed a day of classes and luckily didn’t have anything I was committed to yesterday. Today I was supposed to go with one of the grade schools to a waterpark in a town called Palsabamba. I wish I felt up to going, but I haven't eaten much in two days and still have one hell of a headache. Humidity of the subtropics, the Ecuadorian sun, and 40 kids...Most days I would love this, today is not one of them.

I also just started to read the book “Living Poor” by Moritz Thomsen. The author was a volunteer in Ecuador in the 60’s. Peace Corps was much more rigorous then...far less communication, much more difficult training, and significantly worse living conditions. It is enjoyable to read even though his experience seems to differ quite a bit from mine. But the fun parts are the similarities. I have heard that volunteers should read it at the beginning and at the end of their service for the experience.