Ode To The Lenny´s

Ode to the Lenny's

There were about 9 different language groups in different locations...

My group was in Cayambe and well... the lowest language thank you very much...BUT also by the end of training the Most improved (clearly).

Having being the underdogs made us bond quickly and for that reason a post needs to be dedicated to the Lenny's... Look at us always hard at work...!

The name was inspired simply by our fearless leader/facilitator Lenny or Lenin.

(Look we were too busy trying to learn Spanish to come up with an origianl name!) He always was so fun, funny

and patient when we all got attitudes and resisted learning any more spanish. He was able to get us out and about in the community

and our of our shells in the classroom

(i.e. my house)

If it got really bad (and boy would it get bad some days...) he would treat us to bizcochos (a Cayambe original treat) and Nutella.

Whooo weee I forgot how delish Nutella was and bizcochos are the bizomb...if you come visit me maybe you´ll get some!!! Sure we were bribed with food...(rather..encouraged...with food... )

but I think we owe Lenny a lot considering the fact that when most of us walked in we spoke virtually no Spanish y despues we were armed with the tools to make our way in our Spanish speaking worlds...

(pls note that in any photo of us getting our reward we are killin our snacks in the street cause we couldn't even wait to get home...it would always be quite the scene...)

The Lenny´s rose to the occasion continually,

like winning part of the fourth of July Futbol Competition, actually speaking in full sentences for our first presentation, rocking out our charlasdoing a kick butt minga and many otra cosas....

Honorable mention goes to Cayambe B, who were Intermediate but still let us hang out with them from time to time :) Gracias por su amistad tambien...
Also for our new facilitator

Theresa who we only had the pleasure of having for approx 10 days...therefore I have no photos.

I must say all of our Facilitators were amazing and they really cared about our success. Couldn't have done it without them!!!

But most of all Lenny!!!

(thank you to Emmalee for letting me pirate most if not all of these photos ;oP)

Reality Check

OMG, reality just set in about how much time I actually have here. Here I am worried about the crazy rules we have to abide by and how every second of our day is scheduled that I didn´t even realize we have dos semanas mas of training!! Since we are leaving for our (different) tech trips this weekend we only have on week together. That means saying good bye to my family, by to my friends that I´ve come accostumed to being around every day, by to Cayambe the city I have come to know and love and good bye to a packed schedule. Hello, fear of guns and taxi´s rollin solo, not understanding a word, loving caring staff that will talk slow when you need and assist with the language, arrrgh goodbye everything I have come to KNOW!!! I am SO sad about leaving my family. I just sit and watch my mom cook now trying to swallow tears. We´ve gotten so close I do not want to leave! Or playing with my sister makes my heart ache now. Or just when we are all together I´m thinking man only a week more and then we leave. Sigh. It´s going to be a tough transistion and it came out of no where... All this time we talk about how time is dragging and that´s clearly not the case at all. I also only have two weeks to get myself to Intermedio Medio or I don´t graduate! lol. Gotta get on the grind. Well I have some posts that are going to post duing my tech trip and I´ll write when I get back on the 8th I think.... I know that next week I´m going to be full of emotion so bear with me and wish me luck on my week long tech trip!!!! It´s going to be a busy one!

Este Fin De Semana

I wanted to blog and tell stories all about this weekend cause it was full and fun but I’m so tired…probably from this crazy weekend.

As always our weeks are packed and I just long to sleep in juuuust a little bit (I’m doing well if I sleep till 9!) on Saturday and maybe even Sunday…Well this weekend was not typical at.all. Maybe I’ll bullet point…

Friday:
Jammed my fingers had to tape them together
Classes all day
Needed to prep for our presentation in front of all of our families
Went out for a night on the town (when we maybe should have been practicing Spanish…) I think singing Como la Flor @ Karaoke is sufficient enough

Saturday:
Should have napped/studied and skipped Karaoke lol
Had classes at 8 AM!! For the 6th day in a row!
Blur, fog, yawn, huh?
Got a chance to work and prep our pres
Have our charla at 3:00 not only do our families come but so do a lot of the staff!! Yikes!
We all actually get great reviews and really helpful feedback on our first charla
Chase my dog that doesn’t have a leash (or sense) through the streets of Cayambe with 7 other people and finally catch her.
Want to nap but instead go play “basket” with my group
Finally get the tacos we’ve been wanting since day one
Hang with the fam until I can’t stay up anymore (I think that’s how my Sat ended…)

Sunday:
*REEEAALLLLY wanna sleep and rest….
*But get up bright and early to accordian music blasting for today is mi hermana, Jenny and mi abuela Mama Ines’ birthday celebration extravaganza
*Finish some work that is due Monday muyrapido
*Think I’m getting out of hand washing my clothes a) cause my fingers still hurt b) because there are 20 people at the crib and it’s only 9 something c) feel there is no point in hanging my clothes up outside when it’s going to just smell like the smoke from the chicken mi tias are cooking outside on the front steps…sigh
*The family makes fun of me as I scrub my life away as they cook up a storm
*My mom gives me 10 minute count down to be ready and I’m soaking wet and covered in mud (it’s too long of a story only I get more dirty and some of my clothes when I WASH…can’t explain it…)
*Viva Fiesta…well I’m in the shower…but the party begins
*Dani is also invited over since there is also a request for a repeat performance of the pizza making from early in the month (I certainly can’t do it alone…)
*We eat…..We dance in a circle for about 3 hours…and eat some more…
*As if we need more food, we go and buy cosas for the pizza
*Once the majority of the fam gets wind pizza is being made...most people don’t leave and a pizza making party commences
*The eating doesn’t stop, neither does the laughter and good times
*Finalimente, candy, cake, pizza, carne, arroz, lechuga etc are all consumed and mi tias, tios, abuelas y sobrinas return to their homes and I call it a night!
*I go downstairs one last time to say good night and my fam is actually eating AGAIN and offers me some soup, but I clearly need to get rest for class bright and early Monday!

Otra Cosas July

Otra Cosas-

I locked myself out of my house by ripping the key to my door...It's a tricky door...I have sinced figured it out and force isn't always the way.... It's cool, I now know our local locksmith and I met the local store owner that I met when I had to wait for my family to wake up since I definitely broke it when I had gone on a 6 AM run with some of my fellow trainees. Ugh... that was a rough day...

Def experienced my first mood swing, little things like being stuck outside at the crack of dawn, I was feeling a little enferma, and was having feminine hormonal swings as well... I think it lasted a day or two. It was ugh, but in that I was able to see who some of my real friends where. I def wanted to lock myself in my room and cry all night but my homies did not let that happen. My people came over unannounced just to check on me in the ride or die fashion that I am accustomed to so that was a positive outcome. Oh, part of the reason the visits were unannounced was because my phone was broken. It just didn't turn on one day.And wouldn't. days before my texts had stopped working. We already feel out of touch with our loved ones and that was hard not even being able to talk to my peoples here either.

My phone is semi fixed, my texts are still iffy. Why do I ALWAYS have phone issues lol. I have talked to my mom and dad not sure if I've mentioned that. So that has made me happy.

I still haven't changed my voicemail to say that it's me because the instructions to do so are in spanish and it just hasn't happened....I gots to get on that. Just some random things I had written down...

Independence Day? (?)

Happy Independence Day. Of course there is a definite delay in my posts but hey it is what is. No worries. My independence day had little to do with Independence. My day was filled with washing clothes by hand. WHOO WEE what task. Yep mi madre finally cornered me and got me to do it. She also made me sweep and dust my room...under supervision. She even "you missed a spot"ted me lol. I learned how to make a bed like they do at a hotel and as I type this all of my personal intimate apparel is hanging up outside in the front yard over the dog house for everyone person who comes over to see. Sweet. Also, this weekend it was QUITE the task getting out of the house Friday and Saturday. All of our new padres are really protective of us trainees. They feel we are their responsibility and they are not messing around. They want to make sure we don't get jacked in the park, that we have enough money to get a taxi if we need it, but not too much in case we get robbed/pick pocketed, oh and we always are sent out of the door with something to eat...if we don't sit and eat something which is preferred. I was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic as I'm approaching 30 and yet can't be out past 7:30. In reality I appreciate someone taking me into their home and loving me as if I were their own. It's just me and my attitude trying to get out of line. Tonight I (4th of July) I really didn't want to go out and party like a lot of people wanted to do. My super protective family served as the perfect excuse to stay home and test our my new blogging technique with my thumb drive. I sure hope this works. I was able to go out and meet up with friends.... I just had to be home before dinner :)

Friday our Co Trainers, Current Peace Corps Volunteers, Facilitators and Staff had a Futbol Tournament and BBQ for us. It was SO MUCH fun. After my week I needed to just be outside and running around. In Ecuadorian Tradition we had an Madrina/Reina competition. The Reina represents the futbol team and it's basically a pageant before the tournament. There are maybe 9 language groups so we each had to elect a Madrina. For my group..that we call the short bus since we are the lowest Spanish class lol...picked me. Well it was more I agreed to do it cause NO one wanted to. No one wants to parade in front of people AND have to answer a competition question IN Spanish! Our group is the one group that doesn't even speak Spanish so you know we can't even wing it if we wanted to!! Man we at first were like, no man, no way...but then our competitive spirit took over and the Short Bus banded together for real! We came up with a chant in Spanish, we got T-shirts made (pictures coming hopefully) and my whole team had my back helping me come up with my speech. I had one night to memorize it....I thought I could never do it. I could barely READ it correctly let alone memorize it! We were being judged on team spirit, team outfits, chant and the madrina. I was soooo nervous the next day for the competition. Mi Madre was so on top of it, she ironed the one dress I brought with me, and made me wear some make up lol and she even came to the event even though it was just for Peace Corps people. She's so supportive. My lil sis came too and took pictures. My team looked great in our outfits, we had great team spirit, I actually made it through my speech and while the competition was steep guess won !? Yep ME! lol. I am the Reaina of Omnibus 102 2009 and have the sash to prove it. For real it means so much because my group REALLY came together as a team. The Director said the reason Cayambe (my group) won was because our team spirit was so obvious. We were all up late at night writing my speech and while I was saying my speech my girls were mouthing the words in case I forgot lol. It was fun. It's a good memory for when I think I can't do something, I can remember that a) si se puede b) I have a support system.

Despues we got to playing some futbol. My team didn't have any apparent great players like some teams, but we really held our own out there on the field. I think we were pumped from our victory. We won our first game (I made our one and only winning goal, maybe I'll be a futbol player for real!) and we lost our next game in a kick off...and that team was the Facilitators and they were really good, so I feel like we one that one too...lol. Then we met volunteers who have been serving for about a year and had the best food I've had in weeks. It's always great talking to people IN service cause they tell you how it is. We all hung out after the even too...and it was hard getting out of the house lol....but I did and all and all it was a great day.

I got out of going to a parade today early in the AM but tomorrow there is one that I gotta be ready to leave that house at 9 AM sharp. I have written about 5 posts on this thumb drive tonight, I hope that it works. I will have much more fun detailed blog posts if it does! Happy Fourth even though I"ll probably post this on the 14th lol :)

In The Beginning

I know I said I would blog, so I am going to try my best to stay on top of things. Hopefully this can be my main way to communicate and keep everyone involved. I know I would be wondering what I was doing so updates to come. So far it has been very labor instensive and instructional...not as exotic as my loved ones at home may be thinking. But don´t get me wrong Ecuador is BEAUTIFUL. Snowy mountains everywhere, the bluest skies in the world and the weather is great. I am in the Sierras and it gets pretty cold. Okay let me try to jump into what I´ve been doing...
The first days were crazy. I can´t believe it´s been less than a week!
There are 45 poeple in my group. 2 married couples, a few career leaves (late 20´s mid 30´s I´m in this group) the majority are recent graduates and there are three ladies who are in there 50´s (and super fine! lol) I like my group a lot.
So if you´ve read the blog you saw my bags, well we all had that many bags if not more. When we left Miami we had to carry our bags alllll over the airport... then flew into Quito and spent a night, had to pack up again and took a roller coasteresque ride up the windy mountains to Cayambe, lugging all of our bags with us. There we spent two nights. The majority of what we do is sit in a classroom, speak Espanol solomente, and learn rules, regulations, policies, saftey procedures etc...things we need to know primarily before even getting our host families. Which we were all so anxious and excited about.

We stayed in hostels and the bathrooms were an adventure within it´s self. I think it was great though. A good way to build a way for us to bond. Survival situations. Our tranining staff is THE BEST they take such great care of us and you can tell they reaaaallly have our best interests in mind.

Some challenges have been...the high altitude, new food, ugh I had a snafoo with having to sign my passport the same as I did before to open up my bank account (still pending I hope it goes through)

Ugh I have so many thigns to report and I´m running out of time...Ok some great things are I Meeting everyone, the amazing staff, me not speaking the language but making my way anyway...I´m proud of myself (well I was until I realized I haven´t even been here a week!)

I´m trying to read notes I took...other fun thigns we did. Created an work out group that would wake up early and do 15 min of circuits. It´s all we could handle in the high altitude! Our rooms were cold, our showers were cold...but my sleeping bag was mmm mmm warm.
Arlight so out of time...I hope this is the worst blog I do and my thoughts will be more together.
Miss everyone!
Mas mensajes to come!