One day I looked out my window and saw this moving flower. I thought it deserved a photograph plus an explanation here about these really cool ants. Leaf cutter ants are common here. I often disrupt their work days by crossing their leaf-carrying trails but do my best to not squish them. Here's the cool thing about them though- they don't eat their leaf (or other plant) snippets as most think. They're actually a society of farmers and use the plant material as nourishment for the cultivation of a fungus that they feed to their larvae. A quick Wikipedia search led me to more cool facts: some types of leaf cutter ants are capable of defoliating an entire citrus tree in 24 hours! (thus are considered a major pest in some places...). They can also tell if certain plant material they feed to their fungus is toxic and will discontinue it's use. Cool huh?

3.29.11 Ecuadorian Fashionistas

Actually Ecuadorian fashionistas don’t really exist…you remember fashion in the 90s? That’s pretty similar to fashion in Tena (slightly modernized). It’s really hot here in Tena- probably around 90 everyday with high humidity. I can’t really wear jeans any day without being extremely uncomfortable and don’t understand how Ecuadorians do it. Unless you have a professional job and are required to wear professional attire, most clothing here is casual. Let me start with women:

About 80% of women you see in Tena are wearing Spandex capris or shorts and tank tops. Most of their clothes are brightly colored and they often have matching brightly colored make-up. Flip flops are common (although high heels are also very common) and most have a nursing baby in a sling over their shoulder as an accessory. From very informal studies, I’ve found about 4 out of 5 women prefer scrunchies to secure their hair.

One thing I really like about Ecuador is that people are much more comfortable with their bodies. It doesn’t matter if a woman is overweight, she still wears her Spandex and no one minds. Being overweight here is just seen as a fact.

There’s not much to say about fashion in Ecuadorian men. Pants and t-shirts are standard. Again according to my informal studies about 30% are normally seen wearing rubber boots and carrying machetes.

All kids are required to wear uniforms to school but afterschool they wear normal kid clothes- usually dirty but shorts, tshirts, dresses.

Gringos (aka foreigners) definitely stick out because of their clothes (I suppose also because of their blue eyes and light hair). But most tourists are seen wearing high tech dry wicking shirts and convertible pants with very secure sandals. Ecuadorians seem to really like American clothes but the American clothes here are nothing special- lots of Hollister t-shirts or t-shirts with vulgar sayings in English (which make me wonder if the wearers actually understand what they say).

On a related note, I mostly do all my laundry by hand here. This usually entails spending an hour or two on the weekends applying bar soap to each piece of clothing, rinsing (usually not thoroughly enough) with water from the mosquito breeding tank that’s outside my house and hanging my clothes up to dry on an outdoor clothesline. I’ve found the lack of a drying machine combined with drying on a clothesline means my clothes are often much larger than they started. When it feels like I could fit another person in my shirts with me, I usually send them to the laundromat to be shrunk a bit. During my first few weeks in Ecuador, this system worked out perfectly. My clothes were growing along with my growing waistline and I hardly noticed any weight gain due to the great increase in carbohydrates in my diet. Washing my clothes by hand is just an example of how much I am learning to really appreciate the ease of life in America. I’m positive I will think back on all these hot Saturday afternoon hours of washing clothes every time I turn that knob to Spin Cycle when I get back.

2.5.10

Here I am, just now remembering my new year’s resolution to keep people back home better updated on Ecuadorian life. Hopefully there will be more reading here soon for those interested.

Lately at work, we’ve been busy with new community projects and we just finished a water testing in the communities that we’ve already been working with who have rain water collection tanks installed. As part of the critieria for receiving a grant, the granting agency wanted proof of how the community’s health improved with the installation of these rain water collection tanks, so we tested the tank water. Let me give you some context for these communities first:

Most remote communities in the jungle here do not have running water. (Many now are just having electricity installed). But because of no running water, most families rely on river water as their main source of water for bathing, washing, cooking and drinking. Based on brief interviews we did in the communities, the majority of families do nothing to purify this water before drinking or cooking with it. Naturally, the rivers are contaminated. I haven’t heard of any effective sewage treatment facilities in the Oriente region. Here in Tena, all drains lead directly to the river. (Which has definitely made me think twice about fun Saturday afternoons swimming in the river…) And it’s the same throughout the region.

So our tests wanted to prove that with effective cleaning and purification of the tank water (we provide guides and workshops on cleaning the tanks and purifying the water) this water should be safe and healthy to drink- and much more so than their river water. Most of our results did show that. The rivers in the community had dangerously high levels of E.coli bacteria and other bacteria and the mothers in the community reported that their kids were sick with diarrhea or other gastrointestinal problems about every 2 weeks. So far about 85% of the tanks are safe to drink out of (those that are unsafe can be remedied with a good cleaning).

Doing this project also gave me and my coworker the unique chance to see every beneficiary’s home and talk more personally to each family (we usually just have community meetings with them). While this included a lot of walking through the hot jungle, I like now that I can more easily put names to faces of the families we work with. Most were very generous, feeding us lunch (one day lunch at each house…) or giving us a drink or fresh fruit. But we are most indebted to our guides for this project. As houses are spread out, some deep in the jungle, it was absolutetly necessary that we have a community member accompany us and show us who lives where.

When we arrived to collect the first round of samples in one of the communities, we found out that 2 young kids had recently died there. The father of one of the kids told us his extremely sad story about how his son was sick with stomach pain for a few days so they took him to the hospital and then somewhat mysteriously, he died soon after. They were waiting for cause of death results but the Ministry of Health government officials responded by giving community members jugs to hold water and bleach to purify it while they waited for results. It was hard to listen to what this family went through and to know that it happens everyday here due to the lack of something so basic as clean drinking water.

Here in Tena, I have running water but I don’t drink it straight from the tap. Government officials in Tena recently said the water is perfectly safe to drink but I don’t believe it and neither do my Tena friends. We ran a bacteria test on tap water just out of curiosity and it indeed did come back with high levels of E.coli bacteria. So I’m going to continue to boil my drinking water and maybe only keep my head above water when I spend fun Saturday afternoons at the river…

9.6.10

Mo Money Mo Problems

For the next two years, I am here in Ecuador as a volunteer. Volunteer: somebody who works without being paid. Now, that’s not exactly the case with the Peace Corps. PC volunteers receive a monthly stipend to cover the cost of our housing, food and daily transportation that is based on the economic levels of the communities we’re placed in.

One thing I love about Ecuador is that I can buy fresh vegetables, meat, bread etc. that will last me all week for less than $20. On the other hand, things like appliances and large electronics seem outrageously expensive. I realized how quickly my views about money had changed when my sister came for a visit a few weeks ago. Now, my sister currently lives in Chicago and is probably accustomed to a slightly higher standard of living than Tena, Ecuador. I spent a lot of her visit apologizing for not having much money to spend and trying to budget what was left in my bank account here. My spending habits are a lot different here- I was concerned for my sister when I told her it would be easiest to take a cab from the bus station to the airport for her flight home because I knew it would be around $15. To me, that seems outrageous now. Let me explain why with a quick list of common items to give you an idea of what sort of money I’m spending regularly:

bananas 12 for $1

bus fare from my house to the office where I work .$20 each way

taxi to anywhere in Tena $1

2 lbs of tomatoes $. 70

1 golden retriever puppy $80

lunch at a restaurant $2.50

my rent each month $85

small, refrigerator (like for dorm rooms) $250

the latest Blockbuster on DVD $1

10 eggs $1

Last week I was doing some mental math while riding my bike to the office. (I don’t really enjoy arriving at the office covered in sweat after biking for 15 minutes in extreme heat, so I stared considering the costs of taking the bus): $.20 each way from my house to the office- once in the morning, once to arrive home for lunch, again back to the office for the afternoon and finally home for the evening= .$80 each day. $4.00 each week spent on bus fare could instead get me a nice dinner, almost 4 beers, 48 bananas! When I think of money in this way, I just can’t seem to justify giving up all those bananas when I have a transportation option that is free.

8.25.10

As I haven’t written here in a long time, an obvious topic to update you all on my life is: Michael Jackson.

We’re all aware that MJ has been dead for more than a year now, but it’s surprising how much a part of my life he is here. Let me tell you the ways the musical genius of Michael Jackson has helped me bridge cultural divides multiple times here.

In almost all my conversations with children 10 and under here in Ecuador, we arrive at Michael Jackson as a topic of discussion. They usually start this discussion with the question, “do you know Micheal Jackson?” I reply, “sure, of course I know his music, his videos but no, we weren’t friends. Yes, he did live in the United States, but very far away from me, on the other side of the country.” Of course they’re disappointed to hear this but we can continue discussing which videos are best, who’s friend can dance just like Michael Jackson or what song titles mean in Spanish.

I’ve recently become good friends with the 3 neighbor boys a few doors down from me. They’re 10, 7 and 5 years old and I let them come over to color and make crafts with me. The other day, a few drawings in, our conversation turned to Michael Jackson and our coloring session turned into a Michael Jackson video viewing session (I have a few DVDs of MJ’s videos, best $2.50 ever spent…). I like that Ecuadorians appreciate the Michael talent. And never in my discussions with kids do the weird things about MJ come up. More like: “my friend won a dancing competition, he can dance just like Michael!” or “how about that video where he turns into a puma, what’s that one?” Or ok, maybe a little weirdness: “when do you think MJ was better looking- when he was white or black?”

All of these discussions led me to the conclusion that Micheal Jackson is probably the most famous musician worldwide. Few kids here know about the Beatles or Elvis but Micheal’s legacy lives on and apart from his revolutionary dancing, and music we all continue to enjoy, thanks MJ, for helping me relate to Ecuadorians better and for bridging that cultural divide that stands in my way everyday here.

ps photos from the trip to Mindo with my sister.

7.28.10 Agua Fria

This week I moved into my very own apartment and for the first time in my life I’m living completely solo. It’s fun shopping for plates and towels and things but also expensive (ok, not relatively, but on a Peace Corps salary- yes expensive) and lots of work. But as I’m settling in at the new place, I realized some things I take for granted, and especially in the last few days- water.

At my host family’s house, they have hot water in the showers. There’s some sort of dangerous looking device with electrical wires that heats up the water and it allows for pleasant, warm showers anytime you want. At my new house, showers go something like this: I avoid them in the mornings when it’s cooler (Ecuadorians are firm believers that if you bathe in cold water when there’s also cool weather, you’ll get instantly sick), after working all day, biking, walking around and sweating, afternoons are the perfect time for showers. Lately though I’ve been busy up until night time so am forced to take a shower at night when it’s also cooler. This leads to dreading turning on the water, standing as far away from it as possible in the shower for a good few minutes, mentally preparing myself and finally just going for it while thinking a string of curse words and washing very quickly. BUT I figure this is all for the best, I am a natural resources conservation volunteer after all. Cold showers lead to short showers, (or heck, skipping showering altogether- the best form of water conservation) and my hair has never been softer or shinier!

Water is definitely on my mind more frequently here than in the U.S. Water outages are common in Tena for a day, half-day at a time so it’s important to have buckets always collecting rain water or reserve stocks of water for washing dishes, laundry etc. when the tap water is out. Lately every water source in my house gets me thinking, how can I collect this extra water that’s going down the drain? because I never know when I’m going to need it. Some communities here rely completely on rain water for their source of potable water. Rain collection tanks with simple filter systems are common and an excellent alternative to drinking water from contaminated sources. So why not seek out those extra buckets you have lying around, line them up under your rain spouts and wash your car or water your plants or start taking bucket baths, how practical! (my bucket is collecting the water dripping from my new sink as I write this…)

7.13.10
A Lesson on Ecuadorian Amor

Inspired by a conversation with a man about three times my age yesterday, here’s a little insight for you all about love here in Ecuador.

I find it interesting that there are varying degrees of “singleness” here. When Americans say “single” it means they’re single- no spouse, no boyfriend/girlfriend, nada. Here there are three main words to describe your relationship status: soltero which means unmarried, comprometido means engaged and casado means married. There’s no word for “taken” as we say; no word for “in a relationship.” I find this interesting, paired with the fact that there’s a lot of infidelity here in Ecuador. It seems to leave a lot of gray area for when you’re first meeting a potential love interest. If you’re not married or engaged, you’re not really committed yet, so no need to mention a boyfriend or girlfriend right? I can’t tell if people are joking or not when they say, “no importa” if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend or “no importa” that there’s a huge age difference between the pursuer and the pursued.

While there are good Ecuadorian men here, I receive a lot of warnings to be careful. Young men especially have the reputation for being womanizers and weekly I hear stories about “committed” men being seen with other women. (To be fair, I also hear stories about women doing the same). My whole time here, I’ve been surrounded and living with single mothers. I’ve heard plenty of sad stories about fathers abandoning their kids (again to be fair, some about women too) but these women are strong, generous, caring women for it.

During Peace Corps training, one whole day was devoted to seminars about inter-cultural relationships. We were told that friendships only are very rare between males and females. Unless you’re hanging out in a large group, it’s very rare that males and female (of the same age mas o menos) hang out together. I learned quickly that this is true. If a male friend from the U.S. invited me to hang out, go on a day trip or out to eat, I would think nothing of it, happens all the time. Here you’re committing to something more if you agree to that first meeting (especially if it’s dancing- you might as well start picking out some baby names). This was a tough adjustment for me and it’s hard to explain to Ecuadorians that it’s different in the U.S. between male and female friends, they don’t really understand. While I feel these cultural boundaries are a little limiting in who I can and can’t be friends with, my new amigas are great and I often find myself part of fun, inter-generational groups of people rather than the homogenous group of twenty-somethings I’m used to, which is a change it seems I have no other choice than to get used to.