written 2/21

Time goes by so fast, I havent written in so long. The days are long here, but seem to pass ridiculously fast. That doesnt make any sense but thats how it feels. I have been here more than a month and will be leaving in just about 2 months. I cant believe that I first came here more than a year ago...

So much has happened, and changed. I have become a different person, or so I feel like I have. I have experience living in another culture to the fullest, something I have always dreamed of doing. I havent mastered the language yet but I am learning every day. I cant say that I am fluent but I can say that I can communicate, people can understand me and I can understand them. I had always hoped that once I lived in the culture that it wouldnt take me anytime to learn the language. Unfortunately it isnt that easy. I hope that someday Spanish comes to me just as easily as English, and I hope that that day comes very soon!

I have been spending a lot of time with the kids at the daycare.  They are so happy and beautiful! I love when I arrive and they all start yelling my name and jumping on me to give me a kiss! They always have smiles on their faces and always want to give hugs and kisses. They all have been wearing their clothes that were donated and playing with their toys. I have gotten special requests for more transformers! haha, no one can figure out how to transform them back but they all want them. I want to do more for these kids, thinking of some specific projects that can be done at the daycare itself and for the kids and maybe even their families. 

The house is coming along, slowly but surely. Could always use some construction help if anyone has time and wants to come down! We are getting down to the end, tiling and bathrooms, painting and all that good stuff. We are hoping to be done in the next 2 months. We have had several meetings with lots of different people who want to get involved, who see this place being a center to really enrich the lives of these people. We can only hope that we can help reach a handful of the people of this community and to really make this community a place that people want to visit. As of now the people of Pimampiro (only 3 km uphill) either dont know Paragachi at all or think that it is dangerous. We are hoping to change this, hoping to make this a place people want to go. 

This weekend was Carnival! What a weekend, full of paint and foam and water. These people are crazy, you cant walk down the street without getting hit with one of those three things. All sorts are covered in one or all of these things, and the best part no one works! There is a town in the Chota Valley that is known for its party, there are bands playing all sorts of music and everyone is wet and covered from head to toe in paint and foam. Definitely an experience, and they cant seem to figure out why we dont celebrate Carnival in the US. 

The old people are all super cute, a lady that works with the foundation is here right now and she does all sorts of art projects with them! They are so stuck in their ways that they dont like to do anything but color, when we give them something new to do they ask to just color. Haha! But, she has gotten them to do some really cute things.

Anyway, I am heading to Colombia tomorrow to visit my friend Paula’s family! Im super excited to go back to Colombia and to also get to see all of Paula’s family again, but Im sad because she cant be here with us. But at least I can talk to her family this time...last time we couldnt communicate very well!

Until next time...

no time for anything...but i have been trying to write...

1/23/12

Wow, how fast time flies. Before I left all sorts of things happened, but Ill try to remember them all and dedicate a blog just to that. But, for now...I have returned and it has been like Christmas! I came back with 5 FULL suitcases! The family that I live with wanted all sorts of stuff, so I came back with lots for them. I have two full suitcases of donations that I organized (with thanks to my mom!!!) and made up plastic bags for each kid. Clothes, toys, crayons, coloring books, and all sorts of other things! We are going down to have a little program with the kids and give them all of their gifts on Wednesday!! Then after that I get to help teach the parents about nutrition and hygiene! And then after that we are going to celebrate the turning on of the water!

I went tonight with the President and most of the important people of Paragachi to open the water to flow down into our amazing pueblo! We all piled into a truck and drove about 15 minutes up the mountain, stopped in a random spot on the road and all started the trek down a very steep portion of mountain. I slid most of the way down and all that I could think about was having to go back up! We got down there and Luis (the President of Paragachi) opened the pipes and let the water flow into them! A super amazing moment for these people! We already have 55 people signed up and waiting to start working on their gardens! This week we will start digging and getting ready to plant! 

1/24/12

Today was Christmas!! Galen (she is doing a GAP year here) and I loaded up a suitcase weighing about 80 pounds full of clothes and toys and all sorts of things for the kids into the bus for the short 10 minute ride down to Paragachi! We arrived lugging this huge suitcase down the dusty roads into the daycare. These kids, as always were ecstatic to see you. When each of them got their bag of goodies, they were so super excited they didnt want to put them down...the whole bag...they didnt even want to take anything out of it. Haha! We took some pictures, never as much as I would have liked to but hopefully we captured the excitement on their faces!

1/26/12

Last night we had a meeting with Ken, Vibrate Villages, and talked about all of the projects that we are working on. There is so much going on! The people finally have water, the house is being worked on, we are partnering with Potters for Peace to build a factory to make pots to filtered water to make clean drinking water, everyone wants an organic garden, and and and. So much happening and developing. 

The house is coming along, slowly but coming. My friend Paul that i worked with in Haiti is coming down the beginning of February to hopefully help us finish everything!  He has been working in construction for many years and is just the guy to help us get done! Super exciting to know that having the house finished is within reach. Most of the big things are done, its just a matter of time before I will be living there and getting everything up and running! 

February 11 we are having a huge party in the street in Paragachi, celebrating the water and the house! There will be food and performances and dancing and music and and and. Life here is amazing, people are so super happy and wanting to be a part of everything, a part of enriching their community. We are here to help facilitate this growth...and when the people want it so badly it is amazing how easily things come together!

Something to be thinking and praying about, please...there is a little girl here who needs surgery on her back, she has a 90 degree curvature of her spine. The doctors here say that it is too difficult and there is too much other tissue involvement. So, we are submitting a request to Shriners in Tampa to see if they will take on her case and perform the surgery. She really needs this surgery, the scoliosis is worsening. Hopefully the doctors at Shriners will get back to us very soon and we can take her to have this surgery. 

I have been trying to update the website, though I am not so good at it, but there are some new pictures. Thank you all for being interested in where my heart is...

12/11/11

I just realized that it has been quite awhile since I have blogged. Time is going by so fast...and I will be back in the states before long. Where to start...

Lets start with most recent happenings...I was in the Galapagos this week! I have a friend whose brother lives there, so it was a great opportunity to get to see the islands! Unfortunately I did not get to see them all but what I did see was definitely interesting. The Galapagos are not like any other place in the world especially any other island. They are brown and you wont find much life of any sort there. I mean there are turtles and iguanas, snakes, sea lions and birds. Otherwise brown, lava made landscape is what you get. It was warm and sunny and I spent some time at the beach, something I really miss living in the mountains. The mountains are beautiful but the beach...I love the beach! 

Last week was spent preparing for “the day of the youth” that happened last Sunday. We organized this day for people between the ages of 13 and 30 to give them the opportunity to share their talents on stage and to show them that the community supports them. A big problem here is that by the age of 13 these kids are not kids anymore, they are given grown-up responsibilities and having kids of their own. Most of the young people are not aware that they have any other option, for this reason the goal is the educate them that there are many other opportunities in life. The day turned out wonderful, they danced and sang and showed off all sorts of talents. Hopefully this was a step in the right direction for this community.

This week I will head back to Quito to pick up a friend of a friend. She is coming to bring art kits for the kids of Paragachi and blankets. She has a foundation as well and wants to help us out in Ecuador! We are thinking of organizing a get together on Saturday where all the kids are invited to come and get their backpack filled with art supplies. We plan to make it a fun afternoon hopefully with some food and fun! 

Otherwise I am heading back to the states next Tuesday, so this week is my time to get things wrapped up and together. I will be returning in January with my friend who will help to finish the house!! We are hoping for a date sometime in February for the ‘grand opening’! I will head to the house tomorrow and take some pictures of the progress...but they will continue working while I am in the states and when I get back we are hoping to have to only do the finishing work and then well be ready! I cant wait to be able to get things started! 

Life here is great as always, thank you for all of your continued support! 

HELP

Calling anyone who can work on my house! These guys are slow and I just want the house to be done! Anyone...anyone have time?? 

Bathrooms are built, counter tops are poured, the structural parts of the house are just about finished. The next step is to put the gait and finish the wall around the house so that we can put in the windows. We dont want bars on the windows, because of this we need to make sure that no one can have the option of breaking the windows before putting them in. Not sure how soon this will get done but this is the next big task. After the wall us up, then windows and doors, and tile and appliances and fixtures. Still alot to go but it is coming slowly. So, if you have time or know anyone I would greatly appreciate a few days or weeks of your time! 

Last weekend was the Fiestas of Sigsibamba. This is a small community up in the mountains, we paid a truck to drive us the hour up the mountain. We ate, and walked around, and watched a handful of crazy men/boys playing with a bull. They call it bull soccer, where basically they make two goals and they separate into teams, the objective is to get the bull to score. In order to do this they yell and whistle at the bull until it is angry and charges them. Dangerous, yes...entertaining...absolutely. After motorcycle races, lots of food, and a day very close to the sun we decided to return to Pimampiro. Unfortunately there were no cars or trucks...finally one guy said he was coming back down the mountain so about 30 people jumped into the truck. Little did we know that it was about to downpour...we were all packed in the bed of a pickup truck bumping along on the barely there roads and holding on for our lives. When we finally arrived we were drenched and the roads had converted into rivers, but we were alive and smiling. 

Today Im heading to Ibarra to get my chip...hopefully they have it after weeks of waiting. This means I will have internet and BBM on my phone...which in the end is actually cheaper than what I am paying now for just talking on my phone. Ridiculous! 

Let me hear from all of you...please?

11/11/11

I got an email telling me that today is a lucky day...11/11/11. It didnt exactly feel any different than any other day. I seem to lose track of days here...weeks...its been a month since I left home. Crazy...but good. At first I was disappointed since the house isnt done, I was/am really excited about getting things going...but things happen for a reason and in the right time. I am apparently supposed to be learning patience. Since up until now in my life I have had no patience maybe at 27 I will learn what it means to just sit back and watch things happen and not always be in such a hurry. One can only hope...

So the events of last week proved to be the same every day, we cleaned house, cooked, did laundry, all those sorts of things during the day and at night went out. Pimampiro was full! It was a great time of just getting to hang out with everyone and to experience the culture. 

Little did I know that I should have rested some last week, or the weekend cause this past week has been one of the busiest since I have been here. A friend of a friend arrived to volunteer, she is full of great ideas and enthusiastic to help get some things going. For instance, today we took 12 kids between the ages of 11 and 15 to Ibarra. Doesnt seem like a big deal, except for most of these girls have never been to Ibarra. Keep in mind that Ibarra is the closest city to us, about an hour away. Most of these girls are from areas in the mountains where they never get the opportunity to go many places. For this reason we collaborated with the school to take them to the University, out to lunch, to do some exploring, and shopping for things that are needed in the daycare in Paragachi. The goal of this trip was to 1. show these adolescents that there are other opportunities out there 2. help them get to know a place close to them so that they are not afraid to go there to continue their education 3. and to have a day away from the normal for them. We also talked to them about how hard that it is to finish school if they would have a baby. This is the age that we are trying to reach...kids who can make decisions and who we can educate to make the right decisions. 

We have spent almost every day in the daycare, the daycare lacks so much. There are 4 teachers and over 30 kids. The kids arrive about 7am and dont leave til about that time in the evening. These kids are fed 5 times a day (3 meals and 2 snacks), bathed, changed, played with, etc 6 days a week. I love just playing with them, feeding them, holding them to go to sleep...so many things that they dont get on a normal basis. The teachers have said that they send the kids home in the evenings and they come back in the morning with the same clothes. So sad. These kids are so happy and so full of love...and they have absolutely nothing. It breaks my heart to see dirt under their finger nails and their dirty clothes....

I have been doing some nursing stuff too! I live with a family and the mom was in an accident almost a month ago now, she has third degree burns on mostly her right foot/ankle. The first doctor that saw her told her that the black dead skin did not need to come off, for her to put vaseline and eventually it would just come off. Every day I cleaned her leg, scrubbed and tried to get rid of that dead skin. But, from the beginning I did not understand why the doctor did not remove the dead black skin so after some coercion I convinced her to let me talk to the doctor in town and have him come look at it. As soon as he saw it he told her that she needed to have it removed, so the next day she went to a plastic surgeon who removed all of the dead skin. Three days later we went to the hospital, to have the bandages changed and it cleaned. This doctor scrubbed her raw burned skin with no anesthesia with her holding her legs on the edge of a metal bowl. It hurt me, she was in so much pain that the whole way home she was moaning. So awful! I cant even imagine trying to do that in the states, Im pretty sure that most of us wouldnt be able to handle it, nor would we allow someone to put is through that torture. But, the good news is that she is walking some (which she wasnt doing just the other day) and soon she will be back to new! 

Update on the house...we have bathrooms! The guy went down to measure for the window frames, as soon as they are done then the windows go in! Step by step things are getting done...

Written 10/31

Happy Halloween! Not a holiday here but I know that everyone at home is celebrating. I cant remember the last time I was actually in the US for Halloween...I remember many more outside of the US than in. 

Life here is so nice, no time frames, no dead lines, no reason to set an alarm...just the way that I think life should be! Except when it comes to the house, these guys are taking their time...or so it seems. I will head down tomorrow or Wednesday to see the progress that has been made, Im expecting a roof on the second floor bathroom. The next big thing to get done is going to be the windows and doors, we talked to a guy today and he said he will go down and do some measurements on Monday. So hopefully in the next two weeks we will have windows. Then we just have to figure out doors. Then the floor on the second story. Once these things are done then we get to start the fun stuff! The fun stuff that will take some time to complete since things will get done as money allows. But, the most  exciting part is that once we get windows, doors, bathrooms, and floors we can start getting programs and classes together! This is what I am inpatient for!

Paraglyding, hurling yourself off of a 9000 foot high mountain landing on your butt in a field very far from where you started. Yes, this is what I did on Saturday...and now I am very sore. I believe that the soreness comes from the first attempt at ‘taking off’. We had a small mishap...I of course have an instructor flying with me...and when we tried to take off a gust of wind pushed us towards a tree. Mind you, we are a few feet in the air but heading towards a tree is no bueno so the instructor attempted to steer us out of the tree instead we landed on the hard ground. Him on top of me in a pile of kite and strings and appendages. After recovering and hiking back up the 40 feet that we had lost we attempted again. This time was a success, we flew for almost an hour! Not without insult to my body though, I am not sure if my ribs are so sore form the fall or from flying. Regardless my ribs are so sore that my stomach is upset and all night last night all I wanted to do was vomit. With the giant bruise that I have on the inside of my left leg, the pain in my ribs and back...it was all worth it!

I just finished reading the Lunatic Express by Carl Hoffman, amazing book about his travels around the world on the worst transportation he could find. He travelled many of the same places in the same buses and trains that I have being in South America! But, he said some interesting things...”When you travel you imagine leaving your old self behind. But hunger, fatigue, and the aches and pains of life in a bus seat, only show you the real you-there’s no escape from yourself. Out here I could just be myself, happy, self-reliant, content, exactly where I belonged. ...a reminder that happiness wasn’t all the  external comforts but just there, within myself.” He concludes that the reality about travel is that it , “shows you things in a starker way than you could ever see them at home.”

This week everyone has vacation...apparently everyone goes to the beach and its a time to relax. All my friends that live and work outside of Pimampiro will be home, and no one will work...I assume things will be closed and there will be lots of people out and about. We will see...

Written the other day...

As I sit here in my bed, I cant help but think of all the people so close to me, right here in Pimampiro who dont have a bed or who are sharing a bed with one, two, or maybe 5 other people. I pass these people in the streets, they dont have enough food, they dont have enough warmth at night. And then I remember I am here...I am here to help these people help themselves. 

I want to complain...about taking a cold shower but then I remember at least I have water to shower. I want to complain...about the 50 bug bites on my legs that are itching so badly Id rather scratch off my skin than have them itch anymore. I want to complain...that I cant find anything because some of it is in storage and some of it is here and some of it is in the 53 suitcases I have in my room. I want to complain...because my house is taking forever to get done. But then I remember, I remember what I am here for...why I love this place and these people so much. Life means so much to them...family and friends and happiness. I watch these very old men and women walking amazingly long distances uphill and am thankful that that is not part of my every day life. Though I do have to walk up the same hill every day, and I am winded and sweating every single time! 

Life is so simple, they wake up, they work, they buy their bread for the next morning, they go to bed and do it all over again. If only it was possible for everyone in the states to live just one day, and cut out all of the unimportant things that we do in a days time.