Two Weeks Down, 113 To Go

Much has happened since I locked my host mother out of the house on that first afternoon. First of, my host mother is all sorts of fun. This was immediately evident upon meeting her, but was confirmed when on the third night when I told her that I liked to dance, which as a general concept is true. She, however, decided that this meant we had to stop everything so that she and my host brother could teach me to dance. Jorge brought his speakers into the kitchen, hooked up his mp3 player, and the party was on. I learned a couple of steps of Samba and either Merengue or Cumbia, I don't remember. After 15 minutes of lessons Jorge switched it over to techno and he and my host mom continued groovin while I got my camera. Unfortunately the video doesn't seem to want to upload.

Last weekend the family took a day trip to Santo Domingo, the province next to Pichincha, where I live. My host father's father owned a farm, a house, and a gas station there until he died in 2009, and now my host father and his brother take care of the properties. Unfortunately, it rained for most of the time we were there, so I didn't get to check out the farm. I did, however, get to sleep under a mosquito net for the first time. If I end up in the lowlands there'll be a whole lot more of that in my future.  We went to a park in Santo Domingo before leaving sunday afternoon, where Adriana talked our way into shooting hoops with an 8 year old and his mother. I taught him to shoot with proper form, and he is now well on his way to being the Ecuadorian Ray Allen. After that I ended up playing in a coed 4 of 4 game, in which I had at least 7 inches on everyone. Apparently basketball is the most popular sport amongst women in Ecuador, while soccer and volleyball are more popular amongst men.
The drive to Santo Domingo is pretty intense. We went up through Quito, which is 2,800 meters and ended at 500 meters, the descent taking place over about 70km of winding road down the western slope of the Andes.  Right now is the rainy season, so the road was wet and the clouds were thick enough that all I could see was one curve ahead, and a white abyss to my right. Meanwhile, every inch of land to the left was covered by lush green vegetation, and water was cascading down every other crevice. I was glad I wasn't driving and simply got to admire the scenery.  There were a few spots where the side of the mountain was washed away from landslides that I'm told are responsible for closing the road sporadically.

Technical training has been for the most part enjoyable. A little redundant at times, and a little powerpoint/classroom heavy when compared to what the agriculture trainees have been up to, but by and large I feel like I'm being prepared for work and life over the next couple of years. My official position is in Environmental Education within the Natural Resource Conservation program of Peace Corps Ecuador, though they warn everyone that there's a strong chance that our actual work will span a broad range of activities. We've had some EE training, learned how to do a basic community assessment, and started an organic garden in the back of our training center. Thursday we have to run an activity in one of the primary schools here in Tumbaco, which should be an experience. I have some ideas, but they still haven't told us what ages we'll be working with.

A few bullet points to finish this up:

*I'm feeling alright about where my Spanish is. I'm very comfortable speaking. My main problem is that my vocabulary is lagging and I'm terrible at remembering new words without writing them down and drilling them into my head. I'm no longer translating everything I read/hear into English in my head, though, which has helped considerably.
*It's nice to again be working amongst what is by and large an awesome group of peers from whom I can learn a lot.
*Three of said peers came over last night and we made pizza for my host family and a few relatives. I had a great time, and damn if that pizza didn't taste good.
*We've played soccer twice after training so far.  So.  Much.  Fun.  Also the first time playing at altitude: So.  Much.  Pain.
*I've decided that I'm not going to get sick the entire time I'm here. The decision has been made. End of discussion.
*Six days out of the week, I love that I wake up naturally between 6:00 and 6:30. On the seventh day, I do not.
*It is impossible to overdo it on avocado or pineapple.