DONE Done Done Done Doooonnnneee!

Dear blog readers…good news…My project is done!!! Whoot woot.

After over six months of work, we have reconstructed 300 meters of canal, buried 40 meters of PVC, fixed the leaking reservoir tank, and built a sedimentation tank. I am most proud of the sedimentation tank, because the planning and design was my own and it proved to be the hardest part of the project, due to lack of participation from the community members and the misunderstanding of its purpose.

The project numbers:

Total cost: $6,611.12

Cost and percent of donations from local governments: $3,873.17 and 59%

Cost and percent from USAID: $1,043.88 and 16% (thanks taxpayers!)

Cost and percent from the association of farmers: $630 and 10% (not including labor donations), $1,694 and 26% (including)

Cost of a “peon” or unskilled laborer for a day (no kidding, that’s what they call them): 7 dollars with lunch, or $8

Bags of cement used: 193

Cost of a bag of cement: $6.76

Gallon of gas: $2.10 (not really relavent, but interesting)

Renting a concrete mixer for a day: $40

Man-days of work: 210 (not including me)

Completing a peace Corps Project: priceless…(Sorry I couldn’t help the cliché)

I still have to complete a “Completion report” for USAID/Peace Corps. But reports and paperwork seem kinda fun after construction. The only problem is internet…it seems harder and harder to come by. And what is the deal with my power and water always going out recently? I thought these things should improve with time not get worse…

I am also in the midst of graduate school applications. It is difficult from here. Graduate programs want you to have a relationship with a professor and to have chosen an adviser before you even send in an application. Of course from Ecuador, this is impossible. Emails are impersonal when you know they receive hundreds.

Steve (my boyfriend) and I are making plans to live in the same city when I return, after two years of very long distance. He just started a job in Minneapolis and I am doing my darndest to get accepted to University of Minnesota. That’s right, I want to be a Golden Gopher. It was either that or a Badger. Which is my second choice, Univeristy of Wisconsin-Madison. Not the coolest mascots, but I am excited about either school.

My Mom will be arriving Tuesday night for her third visit (yes, I am spoiled). We will be preparing a Thanksgiving Dinner for my host family and for a few straggling volunteers who show up. We also plan to visit the town of Cuenca (my favorite city in Ecuador). Only two short weeks after that I will be flying to the states for Christmas! I am beyond excited.