“Beginings are scary. Endings are sad. But it’s the middle that counts.”
The one year mark is approaching and it has definitely flown by. Life in the Peace Corps has had its ups and downs, and its been really hard. But over all its been the best experience of my life.
As some of you know I started the new year at a new site. This is not typical of Peace Corps. You should spend the two years of your service in one place but unfortunately things happen and I as given a new site.
Leaving Puca Chicta was very sad. I miss my youth which I had no idea I was so attached. Leaving behind what was already familiar is always hard. But the transition has seem seamless.
I’m still in the Amazon, but living in a different province. The province of Pastaza. Life in Puyo Pungo (kichwa meaning door to the clouds) has been real good. I am actually working for an organization called Fundacion Runa. This organization is a great organization that promotes the planting and harvest of wayusa. Wayusa is a native plant used by the Kichwas. It is said to give strength, cleanse the body and ward off snakes. The elderly are accustomed to wake up at 4am to cook the wayusa and drink it. Puyo Pungo has really been the door to the clouds as is its name in kichwa. Its beautiful and the people are great. So far there has been lots of work and life is good. I will update more later, not much time today.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Traveling in Ecuador
Buses: Even if you buy a ticket ahead of time, there is still the chance you wont get a seat, because there is likely to be a really old man or woman in your seat that if you made them move you would feel like a real jerk. You end up standing in the aisle with your backpack and your laundry, groceries and a very unhappy puppy who hates the heat. Turns out that it must be the hottest and most humid day in world history, and there is still ten minutes before the bus leaves. The thing about buses is that there is no such thing as a packed bus. People keep getting on and the assistant on the bus keeps yelling to please keep moving back, cause they know that there is still space “no sea mailto” (don’t be mean) keep moving back. Just when you think it might be packed you come up to the next stop (which can be anywhere), and there waiting are 13 middle school kids and surely enough the assistant insists that there is still room. Your puppy’s whimpering and yelping reminds you once more that this is just ridiculous. You would think that being this packed on a bus you would be unable to move anywhere. Well that is just silly cause when the driver breaks everyone leaps forward and you have people on you that you don’t really want on you. Or you struggle to get that small kid out of the crowd of people that just fell on him that will surely suffocate him.
You would think that getting a seat would make things better, WRONG. If you sit by the window your chances are a bit better although you might have someone that falls asleep and keeps nodding off towards you. On the other hand, you could sit next to the woman with three kids that only wants to pay her fare. Therefore, she is sitting in a seat with a baby in her arms, a kid right in front of her between the seat and her knees and the other kid in the aisle really close to her seat and usually during the trip, the kids end up trickling into your seat/space. Well if you do get an aisle seat and the aisle gets packed you have choice of these types of people that might be near you; 1) the kid with the school backpack that is in your face. 2) The kids who is eating crackers and is dropping crumbs on you. 3) the person who doesn’t want to hold on to the bars above so he/she holds on to the seat in front and behind you and decided to be looking out the window having their upper torso in your face. 4) The person who has half their butt on the side of your seat and the other half on in your face.
When you are lucky enough to travel in a decently packed bus you get the vendors on the bus. Selling anything from mandarins to the cure for cancer that will only cost you 50 cents, let me tell you that sometimes its really great to be able to buy ice cream or Bon Ice (like otter pops) while your getting ready to embark on a 2hr trip. Luckily, in the Amazon it’s always hot and humid so there is no issue about having enough windows opens to have the air circulate. In the sierra…that’s a different story. It’s always cold in the sierra and when you get on the bus and its one of those packed buses, the windows start sweating and its gets hot, but god forbid you open a window. Someone is sure to slam it shut.
Camionetas (Trucks): These will take you anywhere a bus can’t. This is completely new breed. People travel in the beds of the camionetas, some have benches and some don’t. Sometimes you can fit about 25 people (standing) in the back of those, along with bags of cacao, plantains, chickens, babies, shovels, corn, etc. Just like the buses, it’s hard to tell if a camioneta is packed, there always seems to be room for more people. Sometimes there is nothing to hold on to except someone else. You always have to be looking out to the front as well in case your coming up to a low branch, I can’t tell you how many times I have been talking to someone and have been swiped by some twig or leaves. Going up hills on these packed camionetas is also quite the adventure. The slow grunting of the truck as it’s trying to go up with 25 people and some women shrieking as it slides back slowly. On the way to my site, there is a suspended bridge (aka scary bridge) that the camioneta has to cross. It is old, it has already broken, and a man died as he was crossing packed with wood. Before if the camioneta were packed with 25 people some would have to get off and walk across. Well now the bridge is being really worn out and everyone (no matter how many people are in the back of the camioneta) have to get off and cross on foot. Which to tell you the truth I don’t mind at all. Cause I do not want to fall in the river from that height.
Things on the bus: There are no restrictions on what you can or can’t carry on the bus. Everything from chickens to guinea pigs can get on the bus and with as much cargo as you want. Once we came to a stop in front of a man that had a big dog on a rope. I thought to myself that is great that that man is able to bring his dog on the bus. The dog (poor dog) was actually placed under the bus in the trunk space. I was shocked, but what happened later is worth telling. Someone gets off the bus and has some thing in the trunk of the bus as well and they had the assistant open the trunk and the dog happened to be in this space as well. The dog escapes and his owner (asleep) is woken up and told his dog is running down the street. He runs off the bus and we all have to wait until he gets his dog back and it's put back in the trunk.
You would think that getting a seat would make things better, WRONG. If you sit by the window your chances are a bit better although you might have someone that falls asleep and keeps nodding off towards you. On the other hand, you could sit next to the woman with three kids that only wants to pay her fare. Therefore, she is sitting in a seat with a baby in her arms, a kid right in front of her between the seat and her knees and the other kid in the aisle really close to her seat and usually during the trip, the kids end up trickling into your seat/space. Well if you do get an aisle seat and the aisle gets packed you have choice of these types of people that might be near you; 1) the kid with the school backpack that is in your face. 2) The kids who is eating crackers and is dropping crumbs on you. 3) the person who doesn’t want to hold on to the bars above so he/she holds on to the seat in front and behind you and decided to be looking out the window having their upper torso in your face. 4) The person who has half their butt on the side of your seat and the other half on in your face.
When you are lucky enough to travel in a decently packed bus you get the vendors on the bus. Selling anything from mandarins to the cure for cancer that will only cost you 50 cents, let me tell you that sometimes its really great to be able to buy ice cream or Bon Ice (like otter pops) while your getting ready to embark on a 2hr trip. Luckily, in the Amazon it’s always hot and humid so there is no issue about having enough windows opens to have the air circulate. In the sierra…that’s a different story. It’s always cold in the sierra and when you get on the bus and its one of those packed buses, the windows start sweating and its gets hot, but god forbid you open a window. Someone is sure to slam it shut.
Camionetas (Trucks): These will take you anywhere a bus can’t. This is completely new breed. People travel in the beds of the camionetas, some have benches and some don’t. Sometimes you can fit about 25 people (standing) in the back of those, along with bags of cacao, plantains, chickens, babies, shovels, corn, etc. Just like the buses, it’s hard to tell if a camioneta is packed, there always seems to be room for more people. Sometimes there is nothing to hold on to except someone else. You always have to be looking out to the front as well in case your coming up to a low branch, I can’t tell you how many times I have been talking to someone and have been swiped by some twig or leaves. Going up hills on these packed camionetas is also quite the adventure. The slow grunting of the truck as it’s trying to go up with 25 people and some women shrieking as it slides back slowly. On the way to my site, there is a suspended bridge (aka scary bridge) that the camioneta has to cross. It is old, it has already broken, and a man died as he was crossing packed with wood. Before if the camioneta were packed with 25 people some would have to get off and walk across. Well now the bridge is being really worn out and everyone (no matter how many people are in the back of the camioneta) have to get off and cross on foot. Which to tell you the truth I don’t mind at all. Cause I do not want to fall in the river from that height.
Things on the bus: There are no restrictions on what you can or can’t carry on the bus. Everything from chickens to guinea pigs can get on the bus and with as much cargo as you want. Once we came to a stop in front of a man that had a big dog on a rope. I thought to myself that is great that that man is able to bring his dog on the bus. The dog (poor dog) was actually placed under the bus in the trunk space. I was shocked, but what happened later is worth telling. Someone gets off the bus and has some thing in the trunk of the bus as well and they had the assistant open the trunk and the dog happened to be in this space as well. The dog escapes and his owner (asleep) is woken up and told his dog is running down the street. He runs off the bus and we all have to wait until he gets his dog back and it's put back in the trunk.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)