Sorry for the delay…
So I realize a ton of stuff has happened since I last wrote and will not even try to give details, but rather a few highlights. Sorry for the brevity, but things are wrapping up here and I don’t have the memory to go over everything that has happened.
Humor y Vida- So I went to the Amazon region near the Colombian border with the new organization that I’m supporting. They basically recruit artists from all over and then give workshops to children and youth in communities affected by displacement near the border. People from Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, France, and Spain gave workshops on topics such as photography, stilts, dance, drama, music, clown, acrobatics, and art. All the people were great and what they did and were also good teachers. I was really impressed that they had almost 200 children in the morning and 150 youth in afternoon for the whole week I was there. When I say there, I mean the city of Lago Agrio, which has a large Colombian population. It’s kind of rundown, not too much to see, hot and humid. But after seeing the organization work there I was very glad I am spending the rest of the grant money on them.
For two days, I went to another rural town called Puerto Nuevo, which is located directly on the San Miguel River which marks the Colombian-Ecuadorian border. It was fun to be out in the campo (country) again and see more of the country. I have definitely enjoyed living hear not as a tourist and not doing so many touristy things. There was another team that worked in that community and did basically the same workshops. They, too, had a great reception and did a great job. On their final night, they probably had almost 25-30% of the 900 people that lived in the community, which was very impressive to see.
It was a great trip except for the mystery insect bites which itches like shit for several days and didn’t let me sleep much.
Quito- I was back in town for only 3 days but had a full time while I was there. Two of my roommates who were a couple from Slovenia were leaving later in the week so I spent a lot of time hanging out with them and enjoying our last few days. That included eating and drinking in excess for the whole weekend, which left me sick with some weird stomach problem for all of Monday August 10, or the 200 anniversary of Ecuador’s independence. Sunday night we walked around to see tons of live music, dances, some shitty fireworks, and again more food and booze. After being laid up for the whole day on Monday and missing more drinking and eating with a bunch of people in my house, I shipped off to the beach that night with 40 kids from the Proyecto Salesiano.
Proyecto Salesiano- Finally, the damn beach trip happened and we took 40 kids to the pacific coast for 3 days of hanging out at various beaches. While it was a bit trying at times, it was not the nightmare I thought it would be. It was fun taking a bunch of kids to the beach when some had never been before. Luckily, they were tired as shit at the end of everyday to be too much of a problem, and I’m glad I ended my work with them on that note.
Personal Stuff- Thursday night I saw the kids off, and then 3 Spanish volunteers and myself stayed behind to go to a little hippy beach town for 3 days to relax and just chill. It was a good time with not too much craziness and unfortunately this time of year it is cloudy and rains a lot. Of course, I managed to get burned pretty good although the sun never came out in 3 days, but had a good time at the beach regardless.
The other good news was that I was offered the job in DC, which I am planning on taking once I get the final official confirmation on start dates and everything. I’m very excited about it and glad to finally have some clarity on my future. It would be great to go to Nigeria, but there are lots of negatives to going there and I strangely feel ready to settle down a bit and call someplace home and dig some roots in, which is a first for me. All in all, I’ve enjoyed my time here but am ready to head back to the states and start my new life.
Thanks for all the messages of support again and smiles on Facebook. Hopefully, I will be seeing some of you in the very near future! Love you all!
