Saturday, August 4, 2012

I'm out of my head...

I don't know why I find it so funny that my host family (the gentleman of the house, especially) is so easily perturbed by the presence of their own pets. Perhaps it's the gentle nature of the animals in question that makes it so amusing - a sweet little white and brown dog that resembles a Cocker Spaniel, and a mild mannered cat of the same color. How could somebody be so contemptuous of such innocence? The gentleman, who I will from now on refer to by his nickname (Pocho), is constantly yelling, stomping and chasing the animals around with a broom, demanding that they “SALE!”, or “leave” the premises. Something about these animals, especially the cat, really brings his blood to a boil. He doesn't physically harm the animals, but he does nearly everything in his power to intimidate them.

The animals have come to love me, because instead of cursing them, I give them kindhearted attention - the kind that the average family pet in the United States might expect to get. Naturally, the family finds it strange if not downright appalling. Here in Ecuador, a lot of peoples' relationships with their pets are much more utilitarian than affectionate. The cat's presence is merely tolerated, as it's “duty”, as it were, is to hunt down rats that would otherwise invade the household. The dog, though not exactly a menacing presence, is entrusted with barking at strangers and packs of wild dogs that come too close to the house...though I'm not sure how effective he is at that...he seems more content just sleeping. I don't blame him...why should he go out of his way to protect masters such as his? For all of his barking, he'd probably just end up with a swift broom to the butt...

Anyway. Not ragging on my otherwise amazing host family, just noting the cultural difference.

Reconnect is coming up, which means all of the volunteers from my omnibus will soon be reconvening at the training center in Tumbaco for progress reporting (which will surely involve lots of papelotes and icebreaker games). It will be the first time that many of us have seen or spoken to each other since leaving for our sites. I'm sure everyone's looking forward to it. It should be interesting to note how peoples' attitudes, Spanish levels, and physical appearances have changed. I know mine have. We'll be staying with our original host families as well, which is always enjoyable for me.

I'm looking forward to Reconnect for another reason as well, which is that I'll be able to spend some time with my new girlfriend (yep, you read that right), who is traveling up from Riobamba to meet me there. Being that it's a long distance relationship, any opportunity that we get to spend together is cherished.

I suppose I should tell you all a little about her. She is an Ecuadorian gal by the name of Yesenia who I met in Tena a couple of months back (I believe I mentioned that encounter some posts back...she clearly made an impression on me). I kept in touch with her since then, and was able to finally convince her to visit me here in Muisne, which she did this past weekend. Things went amazingly. She is exactly what I've been hoping to find...beautiful, intelligent, laid back, passionate, kid-free, independent, great sense of humor, patient with me and my terrible Spanish, has goals in life, and goes 50/50 with me on everything. Seriously, I hit the proverbial jackpot with this girl. She's incredible. The only downside is that we live a considerable distance away from one other, as I mentioned, which is an obstacle not easily overcome on a crap Peace Corps budget. Nevertheless, we're determined to make things work.

The job is going about the same as it was. Communication issues still exist with my counterpart at Agua Muisne. I often wonder if there will ever come a day when I can fully understand him and what's going on with the work. Recently I've been tasked with inventorying systems and coming up with project cost estimates for a huge grant that we're trying to obtain. It's fairly difficult, time consuming work, especially considering that I've never done anything like it before. The foundation wants me out traveling and managing my own projects as well, but we still haven't exactly come to terms about compensating me for my travel expenses, so until we get that issue resolved (if we ever do), then I won't be doing much of that. Asking for money, whether it's owed to me or not, is pointless, so I rarely do it. I did recently decide to devote every Monday to traveling, or at least the idea of it, which I hadn't done before, so maybe we can begin to work toward something. It's part of my latest attempt at reaching a compromise of my time and efforts.

Indeed, I have been struggling a lot with the organization of my time as I have continued to branch out into the community. The problem has been that I've been trying to work around everyone else's schedules. That wasn't working out very well (because as it turns out, most people here don't do schedules), so now I'm making everyone work around MY schedule. The way things were going, everyone was getting a little less of me than what they were hoping for or had come to expect, so naturally everyone was feeling frustrated (including me). Now that I have an organized set schedule which devotes a little bit of time to everyone, things should start clicking (I hope), especially with Agua Muisne. I really want things to work out with them...we're just having a difficult time communicating and establishing what my role is and should be as a PC volunteer. It's pretty obvious that I'm not the sort of person that they had in mind when they applied for the help. They were hoping for a “hit the ground running” kind of person that would essentially be doing the job of a full time hired employee. That's not what a PC volunteer is or is expected to be. I try, but inevitably I come up short. They're growing ever impatient with me. Things are moving and I'm still piddling about at the starting line. Like I said, I want things to work out with them...however, I'm not stressing out over it as much as I was. As my PC program manager recently informed me, I'm not “stuck”...if we can't make things work with them, then we'll simply fall back on other opportunities, which thankfully, are numerous.

Besides all of that, I don't know, I guess things are going well in general. I'm clearly having a good time most of the time, so that must mean that I'm doing something right! I miss home at times, but it's less and less now that I'm beginning to achieve a sort of inner balance (and a full schedule). I'm doing a good job as far as my work is concerned (or so my program manager assures me), I feel increasingly integrated in the community with each passing week, I've got an exercise routine that's beginning to pay dividends, I'm reading a lot which is keeping my mind sharp, I have a girlfriend that's completely enamored with me (and I with her), I've got a good and reliable Spanish tutor finally, and I'm about to start attending “bailoterapia” sessions which should help me out on the dance floor. Hey, it's a start ;)

The heat of this stuffy room is beginning to get to me now, so I think I'll end my rant here and go outside for some “fresh” air (it still has the smell of poop but at least it's a breeze). Until next time, devoted readers...