Beware the water...

I thought time would pass slowly here in site, but to the contrary, it is actually flying by quite rapidly. I've been here in site for about two months now (even though about three weeks of that time was actually spent in Quito for medical reasons), so that means I've only got 22 more months to go. Hah. It's not like I'm counting down the days or anything...every month just feels like a milestone. As far as when I get to move out on my own...four months to go. For this, I am counting down the days. Nothing against my host family...they've actually settled down considerable...I'm just tired of living above a swamp/trash pit. The waste water from all of the surrounding homes empties into it and the odors are repugnant, especially at night. After seeing the apartment that the other volunteer here in site was living in, I would be crazy to stay here for any longer than I have to.





I'm finally beginning to feel better, health wise, and I hope it's for the long term. I was suffering from both amoebas and gastritis simultaneously for about a month, and it was really taking a toll on me mentally and physically. It was probably the worst I've ever felt for such an extended period of time. I wasn't getting anything done at Agua Muisne, which was beginning to frustrate my counterpart, and I was developing a serious phobia of just about anything I was offered to eat or drink. On a positive note though, I am losing tons of weight due to all of this sickness...somewhere between 20-25 pounds in just five months. Not bad.





I am beginning to make a little bit of progress at work though. I've been traveling to several nearby communities with my counterpart, checking up on existing water purification systems and working with people interested in constructing new ones. It has been a great way to get to know the province. I also spent some time helping out with community surveying in the nearby towns of San Jose de Chamanga, Salima, and Bolivar, which proved to be a fun and interesting experience. We were going door to door asking people about their water consumption habits, and whether they have had any illnesses associated with poor water quality. The bloody diarrhea questions were always fun to ask...thankfully those were towards the end. People were very hospitable though for the most part, and I felt great doing it. It proved to be a really great way to get face time within the community, so it probably wouldn't be such a bad idea for me to do a similar type of survey in Muisne. There I still feel like the strange gringo that everyone is afraid to talk to (except drunks and beggars, they LOVE to talk to me), so I could really use that.





I took a little trip out to the city of Tena this past weekend with my counterpart, which marked my first time in the Oriente (the jungle side of Ecuador). The twelve hour bus ride was brutal (the poorly dubbed Stone Cold Steve Austin/Jean Claude Van Dam movie marathon certainly didn't help), but it was worth it once I got there. I got to spend some time with several other volunteers stationed nearby, and eat some top notch food for a change. I saw monkeys (squirrel and capuchin, to be exact), learned a little about indigenous culture, and met an especially nice gal out at one of the discotecas. Story of my life...the good ones are always so far away. I wish I had been able to spend more time out there to make up for the horrible bus ride back (it took much longer than twelve hours, and some guy seated behind me puked his guts out all over the floor, which as it turned out, completely drenched my backpack...FMPCL). Unfortunately, I had to get back to do more community surveying...I felt like I owed it to the foundation for being so worthless over the past month or two.





At the moment, I'm planning a trip up to the Sierra (Quito, Latacunga, Riobamba) for the week of my birthday. Hopefully PC will approve it. I'm trying to include as many fun things (festivals, hikes, indigenous markets, discotecas, etc.) as possible into my plans, but with only a week to work with, it's tough. There's just too much that I want to see and do. One thing appears certain, and that is that I will be spending a lot of time on the bus. With any luck, puke will be kept to a minimum this time...I'll let everyone know how that goes.

Hasta la proxima vez...