i am a cultural mess

Haha, I had quite an eventful morning, and the fact that Ecuador´s culture is not my own was thrown in my face. It makes me laugh, so I thought I´d share. And it also reveals my often funny or awkward presence in this country.
This morning I went for a run around the soccer field. I don’t often attempt to run, because it is quite difficult at such a high altitude, inconvenient, and a huge cultural faux pas.
First, description of the physical nature of the soccer field. It is set a bit above the center of town, and has beautiful views of the mountains and the surrounding countryside. It is officially the high school´s soccer field, but has about 15 mounds of dirt located in the center. Donkeys and sheep often graze on the field. Usually there are a couple kids either playing soccer in the remaining grassy areas using garbage as goal posts, or climbing on the large metal goal posts. There are 2 little girls who often hang a hammock from the top to hold their dolls.
The soccer field is the only area in which I can run, for if I run on the streets the dogs will chase me or the people will stare. A white girl running is quite a sight. So I limit myself to running laps around the ¨soccer field.¨
Today there were 4 little girls sitting on the end of the field, just talking and hanging out. 2 boys were flying their homemade kites, of plastic garbage bags, sticks, and old clothes as the rope. The first lap they asked what I was doing-a typical question…then at each lap continued to ask me how many laps I had remaining, if I was tired, why I was breathing so hard, what is my name. I answered the questions, I told them I would come hang out after I was done. So I sat down with the girls after my ¨run.¨ They once again asked why I was running, where I was from, etc. etc. The boys came and sat down with us and we talked for about 30 minutes. During this conversation, I was asked what my career was and my college major. They didn’t understand that my ¨specialization¨ was Communications, regardless of how hard I tried to relate this to counseling or teaching. People here major in fields that will aid them in getting a job. Communications. Often a joke in the US. Really a joke here. Then one of the girls starts laughing…I ask why, and her brother responds ¨you can say words in Spanish, but your pronunciation isn’t very good, because you are learning¨(haha, I thought my Spanish was improving because I tested Advanced-Low in the most recent PC language test. Think again. Oh humility.)---moreover, she wasn’t even laughing about my funny white girl pronunciation! Her leg had fallen asleep. An eventful morning run.
Then I get home, and my grandmother laughs. She always laughs at me when I get back after a run. She asks me how my run was, I tell her a little bit about my experience with the kids, and she says I look funny to them because I wear stretch pants…this wasn’t even a reason they mentioned. But yes, I wear running tights for 30 minutes 2x a week. And it is apparently quite noticeable and really super weird. It was an interesting interaction because we are talking about my odd presence and cultural offenses, meanwhile an indigenous woman is outside handwashing the family´s clothes, and my grandfather is sitting over a bucket of blood, plucking the hair off of a dead cuy (guinea pig). A couple weeks ago my grandpa showed me the cuy shed (there are about 20 of them, 10 ft from my room, separated by gender and size) and had said that some of them are almost mature. Apparently that means ready to be eaten. Plus there was San Pedro music playing in the background. This is music from the 4-day festival 3 weeks ago which continues to be played EVERYWHERE. And while all of this is going on, I am standing there in my running tights. It was a funny mix I thought.
So those are my thoughts from today. A glimpse into my crazy life. Off to my site tomorrow morning! Cant wait to let you all know how it goes.
Love,
Sarah

MY SITE!!!!!!

YAY! We were assigned our sites this morning, where I will be spending the next two years of my life...The whole process felt like college acceptance letters, it was really weird. The anxiety, the opening of letters describing our sites, the crazy emotions after realizing where I will be spending the next part of my future. Eek!
First off, I am so pumped. It seems like a great site, meeting my hopes for job responsibilities as well as town size and location. I will be visiting the site all of next week, hanging out with my counterpart (the identified community leader with whom I will coordinate activities at least during the first few weeks living at my site) and my future host family, learning the ropes of the community and trying to get a feel for what resources and additional information I may need to gain before heading out there...I move to my new home September 1st!!!
Ok, so now for the site itself. I will be living in the coastal province of Manabi, in the county of Santa Ana. The concentrated population in 260, and the total population in the parish totals 500. It is 2 hours from the large city of Portoviejo and 60 minutes from the large town of Santa Ana. The temperature is 75-80 degrees!-I am so thankful...no more of this wearing 2 sweaters, 2 pants, 2 pairs of socks and hat, gloves, and scarf to bed. The rainy season is between December and April; the town is located at sea level and inland...TROPICAL! I suppose this what I envisioned when I learned I was going to be living in Ecuador.
My health work in Santa Ana will often be coordinated with the local health centers of the Ministry of Health as well as Plan International, a development agency that has a very strong and well respected presence here in Ecuador (http://www.plan-international.org/wherewework/americas/ecuador/). My primary activities which have been outlined by my counterpart thus far (of which I will have the flexibility to choose and play around with when I arrive) are: provide nutrition education to children, prevention of teen pregnancy, work with youth groups, maternal health and breastfeeding promotion, promote prevention strategies for common diseases, support a youth group´s radio program, and help develop income generation opportunities for women´s group.
The upcoming site visit has been described as the worst week of the 2 years...apparently it is quite overwhelming, intense, and emotional...however, I am still looking forward to it and will send updates in a couple weeks.
Hope all is well!
Love,
Sarah

cuy, eggs. slavery. charlas. excitement.

HI!
Wow, the past couple weeks have been super packed. I just got back from el Valle de Chota on a technical trip with 10 other volunteers. the Chota Valley is located about 1.5 hours away from Cangahua in a valley obviously..it was sooo warm compared to Cangahua..probably 65 degrees or so! We were away for 4 days, with the goal of improving our knowledge of the health system here in Ecuador. I will tell a couple quick stories...
We visited the small town of Mascarilla, which consisted of about 25 houses at the base of a mountain. It is known for its foundation of arte negro, a group of artisans who make crafts (primarily clay masks) in honor of their history and their people. We hung out with some locals, learned to dance the bomba, and received a demonstration on how the masks are created (the women go up into the mountains and collect the specific type of soil, and use only salt and water to make the masks which are later fired in an oven in town).
The most striking experience in Mascarilla was when we visited the ruins of a sugarcane factory, destroyed only 30 years ago. The Mascarillians were enslaved by the Jesuits and then Mestizos until the 1970 Agricultural Reform was instituted and land was divided between the families. 1970!!! While we were walking through the ruins, I asked Alicia (the women who was showing us around) when the Blacks of her community considered themselves to be "free." Her response was quite profound..."it depends on how you define the term free. women are still enslaved by their husbands. and as negros we are still enslaved because we are making a living off of the history of our enslavement." Wow.
In Otavalo, a larger town at higher elevation, we visited a private, non-profit clinic called Jambi Huasi, a center for both modern and traditional medicine. It is supported by the Federacion de Indigenas Campesinos de Imbabura (the federation of rural indigenous in the province of imbabura) with the mission of improving indigenous health (focus on women and children) and belief that a "healthy town is a liberated town" and "health can only be understood in its social and cultural context." They work in the surrounding 40 rural indigenous communities in the mountains, giving sex ed charlas (presentations) in schools, providing official training for midwives with support of the Ministry of Public Health, and much more. It is quite progressive. We got the honor of witnessing 2 traditional treatments.
I participated as a patient in the first. I stood in front of this tiny, female, indigenous doctor as she rolled an egg all over my body for a few minutes, mumbling phrases in Quichua (indigenous language). She then cracked open the egg over a tea cup, and using a small spoon moved the yolk around intensely looking for something. She diagnosed me as having a headache and difficultly breathing. 100% correct (Ive been sick since I arrived, although on my way to recovery i hope :)). It was so incredible. She performed the same practice on Crystal, whose diagnosis was even crazier. She told Crystal that she had bacteria in her stomach, that she was sweating so much last night she couldn't sleep, and that she had no ganas to walk that day..it was crazy. Crystal had told Molly when she woke up that morning that she hasn't slept because her legs were sweating. so weird.
The second traditional med doc works with cuy (guinea pig). This was one of the strangest events or feelings I have ever experienced. incredibly intense. Greg (a volunteer) took off his shirt, and another indigenous, female, really old, doc proceeded to roll/hit a live cuy all over his body as it squeaked and gasped for air. She alternated between stretching the cuy´s body (with one hand around the neck and one tightly grasping both feet), and holding it just around the neck as she hit it over Greg´s body like a dishrag. After about 5 minutes of this practice the cuy died (the length of the process is dependent upon how long the cuy lives) and the women sat down on a stool in front of a small trash can. She proceeded to cut the cuy´s neck open vertically, where she stuck her fingers into the body below the hide, and ripped the body open from throat to anus. After skinning the animal, she again cut the body open vertically, revealing all organs. Fully opening the body, she took out all the organs (expect the heart) and placed them in her right hand. The intestines were still wriggling due to parasites. After examining the organs she told Greg that all organs were healthy (meaning his were as well). They (the cuy and Greg) had a few unnoticeable parasites, and more serious back problems. Greg was shocked. Lastly, before disposing of the animal´s remaining "body," she pulled out the heart. Most importantly, Greg´s heart was healthy.
This stuff is amazing. I don't believe that either traditional or western med holds all the answers, but both should be respected and definitely have their purposes.
Another success from the past couple weeks was getting the opportunity to give a charla (presentation) to a women´s group in Cangahua. Cynthia´s (a volunteer) host mom is a leader in this group, and asked us to talk about family planning and contraceptives ( a huge need in this area, especially with the indigenous families, who are often illiterate and are unaware of laws, rights, or services, or do not have access to these services due to their physicial proximity to the town.) to her cooperative! It went really well. We discussed the need and advantages of family planning, presented different contraceptives (uses, pros and cons, common myths), and answered a few questions...And we were asked to speak again next week! Super chevere. The request is for a charla on HIV and AIDS. About 25 women were present, and their knowledge of AIDS is that it is a disease that can be transmited by blood. The did not know any more than this, so I am super pumped to have the opportunity to educate! YAY!
The counterparts/community leaders from our future sites are coming to Cayambe next week for a site fair. We will get info about the community needs, and receive our site assignments on the 24th!!!! So next time I write I should know where the heck in Ecuador I will be living for the next 2 years. How long have I waited for this moment?! Haha, Katie, if it wasnt for you I wouldnt even be aware of my PC invitation (one of my best friends and roomates last year in Chapel Hill had some weird premonition one afternoon that my invitation was sitting across the street on the neighbor´s porch. she just felt that the mailman had brought it to the wrong house. i doubted her, told her she was crazy, and wasn't in the mood to go check. due to her wonderful ability to cheer me up, i became motivated (how stupid does this sound, that I was too lazy to walk across the street?!) to go outside with her and check it out. and sure enough, my invitation was sitting in front of the neighbor´s door!) So long story short, it´s been a long time coming.
I really hope that all is well. Your friendships and relationships are so energizing and give me strength and make me smile at the most random of times. Thank you.
Peace,
Sarita

¡Buenas Tardes!So, to catch you all up on the adventures here in Ecuador. I feel like I have been here for months...I am now living with a host family in Cangahua, 30 minutes from Cayambe, where we had training last week. It is a small rural town, about 5 blocks by 5 blocks, located way up in the mountains, with a bunch of small surrounding farming/indigenous towns. The views are absolutely amazing. On clear days (clear days here actually don{t exist, bc the weather is constantly changing...rain, clouds, sun, mist, wind, etc. all day, so during a clear hour...) you can see the snow covered volcano Cayambe. The scenery is awesome...tons of farmland, animals, little houses, cobblestone or dirt streets, dogs and children everywhere. The inhabitants of Cangahua are mostly farmers or store owners. I live with a grandmother, grandfather, mother, brother (13 yrs), and 2 sisters (8 yrs and 1.5 yrs). They are awesome, very friendly, and helpful. I live in a small and very simple house on a corner across from the center of town. All rooms open to the outside, where the clothes are hanging on clotheslines, and the cuyes (guinea pigs) are kept in a small shed. Guinea pigs are a favorite here in Ecuador (to eat). There are 3 bedrooms (1 is mine---at times such as these, when I see what I am given, and what the family is given, I feel so privledged...maybe not even privledged, but spoiled. yes, spoiled. and at times, ungrateful. i am grateful to have my own room, but I am often so cold without heat. I am grateful that we have a toilet that flushes, but when the slugs come out at night, I am a bit taken a back. I must change my perspective, yeah? I think this is a huge part of Peace Corps, learning about your own culture, your expectations or what you take for granted...I must reflect on this and observe the culture with the understanding that I have a filter when I experience anything here, be it conversation, actions, or circumstances.) The central parque (center of town) consists of a beautiful blue catholic church, a couple tiendas (stores), a pool hall, and a central cement area with a couple bushes, cement benches, volleyball net/soccer field, and 4 or 5 circles painted on the ground for dancing (during festivals the surrounding communities (really rural towns) come to Cangahua to dance in their respective circles.) I guess it{s kind of like a dance-off? We have one tonight for the celebration of San Pedro and Pablo...I{ll let yall know how it goes :) The people here really are so fabulous. Everyone I pass says good morning/afternoon/night, how are you, welcome to cangagua. Its much different out here in the campo (rural parts). They look you in the eye, acknowledge your presence, want to know how you are getting along, if you want to come play futbol with them, etc. I love it, definitely not what I am accustomed to in the States outside of my small neighborhood.My days here consist of "training"-cultural, language, technical, safety, personal health. There are 4 other PC volunteers in my town, and we have been assigned a faciliator, Kelvin, who is tan chevere (meaning cool--apparently comes from "chevorlet" the expensive and cool car). It{s all very informal but intense. For language training we study vocab, grammer, local phrases, etc at one of the volunteer{s homes...cultural training we visit markets, talk to locals, walk around and get to know the area...for technical training we study the functioning of the ministry of health by visiting health centers/clinics in Cangahua and around the area, asking local families, hanging out at schools during recess, meeting with town officials, doctors, school principals, gathering statictics (which is quite difficult). Safety and personal health are taken care of during general meetings of fridays when all volunteers gather in one town with PC staff. In my free time I play soccer/basketball/volleyball/marbles/cards with the local kids, hang out with my mom in her store (which is pretty awesome that as a women she owns and manages her own store), go on hikes with my PC friends, sit in the center and talk to locals enjoying the views of the mountains and rolling hills and farmland...Yesterday after a super packed day we (PC vols) sat in the center with a beer and watched the sheep and cows graze way up on the mountains while the sun set, speaking in english for once (we try our best to speak in spanish at all times) about our lives and our passions and goals...it was so nice, bc with limited spanish vocab it is difficult at times to express the way you feel. I feel oddly at home in Latin America..I did in Central America, Puerto Rico, and now here in Ecuador...I love the physical beauty of the country, the colorful houses and shops, the small stone/dirt streets, the beautiful and happy people despite circumstance, the rich history and indigenous culture, the language and fun word play, the traditions, the built in stairs and houses on the hillside....it feels so "lived in"...the machismo, lack of public health knowledge (like nutrition, sanitation), and lack of opportunity is a bit disheartening, but comes with the job and the life here. That{s it for now. I wont be writing for a while, and probably not usually this much, but I wanted to give you all an overview of what my life will be like for the next 2 months or so. I hope you all are doing really well!!!!!!
Con all my cariño and more,Sarah