I will miss the Sierra...

I am leaving the Sierra on Tuesday. Training is almost over!!! We officially swear in as volunteers at the U.S. Ambassador’s house in Quito on Friday!!! It has been a great 3 months, but I am surely ready to move and start working. The following are bits of my life here that I will miss or have treasured during training:
-Dancing like ¨rockstars¨(as my host siblings Jasmina and Alex try to pronounce in english) in the kitchen with the fam...it reminds me of my own siblings in the U.S. who I dearly miss.
-Waking up by the sun shining through my window and seeing the cap of snow-covered Volcan Cayambe.
-Hiking almost every day, sometimes on the cobblestone roads, dirt paths, through the forest or the hills...I feel like a kid exploring. We have only gotten lost once....it was fine, Mom, I ran up to the top of a hill and was able to catch a glimpse of Cangahua center to direct us home :). The pictures dont do this place justice, but it is absolutely breathtaking.
-The indigenous women perfectly dressed with their hat, blouse, cardigan, necklace, shoes, and pleated skirt worn just so. The diversity of the people and culture in the Sierra is awesome,
-The chocolate ball at Cafe Aroma, which is the closest thing we have found to a North American ¨brownie¨
-Chochos: white beans and fried corn kernels, with onions, tomato, and cilantro on top. Don’t knock it till you try it. While it may be street food, and although I am a ¨health promoter¨, chochos are a complete protein...so I can justify eating it and loving it.
-The little shepard kids with their flocks of sheep and goat in the streets and countryside, and the boys often riding the sheep as they graze.
-The pigs and cows that constantly walk by Kristen´s house as we are having spanish class. Its such a different life than what I am accustomed to...haha, and Kristen´s dad always asking us if we´ve seen the cow...haha, and Kristen getting asked to walk the pig...oh, and there are also the cutest little kids that come to her door (also during our class) asking for milk.
-Cynthia complaining about having to protect herself from the evil turkey that tries to attack while she takes her clothes off the line...Apparently she is armed with a broom as her hands are also full of clothes...i would love to see her in action
-Hanging out in the center with my Cangahua crew. Geez, Im going to miss them. Hahaha, and Spanish errors. They are funnier when made by people other than myself, especially Kris. Examples: while giving a Dengue presentation to a high school class, she described a symptom and pointed to her face saying ¨caca¨(feces) instead of ¨caja¨(face). Hahaha, and when she told numerous Ecuadorians ¨que Dios le pegue¨ after they did her a favor, before realizing that this means ¨may God strike you down.¨ She had meant to say ¨que Dios le page,¨ meaning ¨may God pay you.¨ haha, amazing.
-Constant, endless fiestas and parades de San Pedro. Okay, I kind of detest the music and inconveniences after 3 months of such things (like when I cannot sleep because the same song is on repeat at 2am, or our bus getting stopped because of a giant corn parade), but it´s also humorous and and interesting, and cool that the people uphold such traditions that honor their ancestors.

I´m not trying to romanticize this place, this culture, or my life here. It is anything but. It is wonderful, and should be seen for what it is. I have enjoyed my time, but with the positive also come negatives....
-My proximity to the snow covered volcano means it’s really really cold (have I stressed that enough? and its not like we have hot water or heat to warm the body up). So yes, I hate being cold.
-The distinct indigenous dress and culture is wrapped up in the phenomenon of racism. My family and Kris´s family used to make fun of me because they thought I had the accent of an indigenous due to the way I pronouced my r´s.
-Exotic food and high altitude = many nights spent by the toilet, in an outside bathroom of slugs and mr. rat.
-Adorable children tending animals or buying milk in the afternoon means that these children are not attending school.
-Pigs, cows, sheep, dogs, donkeys, horses, cats, goats = dung evvvverywhere
-Fiestas = drinking = alcoholism

The list goes on, and I am sure I am not aware of even half of it. But hopefully it gives some context to my pictures and insight into my life during training.