Work, Protests, and Martha Stewart

If I thought time was moving fast the first 3 months in Ecuador, then this last month has passed at warp speed!

I began work at the Special Education school 3 weeks ago. They were short staffed so I agreed to take on my own classroom with about 7 of the students with most severe needs. I was so incredibly happy to get the opportunity to work with students that society may have deemed "incapable". I thought this would be my big chance to make a difference in their lives and to prove to the school and parents that with a little faith and support, every child can succeed. I was given a room that needs a lot of attention (cleaning, painting, organizing) and the teachers came up with a few supplies for me to begin teaching. Although the list of needs far outweighed the list of what I had, I saw the potential and got right to work.

It only took a few days to realize the things I need to be working on with this institution were not my 7 individual students, but all of the students, the teachers, the parents, and the administration. Also, volunteers are not supposed to take the place of an employee and I realized that being a teacher was not exactly my role as a volunteer. I´m stuck between a rock and a hard place because I enjoy working daily with my students and having the independence of my own classroom, but I feel like I am not reaching my potential to support sustainable development with this institution. So, I had a meeting with the staff where it was decided that I would teach a few more weeks until they could hire a new teacher and then I would make a work plan for the next few months. There are so many projects and charlas I would like to work on but the ideas for progress need to come from the people, not me. It will be easier to get help and support if the idea is something the school desires, not just the gringa. So I have made a list of things I am capable of doing (school garden, sex education, school for parents, newspaper, etc.) and am meeting with the staff this week to make a plan. It´s exciting to think that I could have my cake and eat it too by figuring out how to work with the students AND the organization.

As far as national news goes, the second day of classes, Ecuador announced a national teachers strike. The staff at my school held a meeting during recess to discuss the strike and I was left in charge of the 30 students. Sounds easy, right? Well, imagine 30 rowdy kids just fresh out of summer break, and a young foreign girl who can barely speak Spanish. Not a good combination. Luckily, the staff saw me struggling to control the students and ended their meeting. Since then, only one of the 7 teachers/staff is participating in the "paro" or strike.

Speaking of strikes, Monday the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon, or CONFENIAE, began a paro. While the rest of the country started to negotiate and discuss solutions, the province I live in, Morona Santiago, continued the strike. Peace Corps has a wise policy prohibiting volunteers from discussing or participating in politics so I don´t have much else to say about this subject. But if you want more information you can read about the protests here: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/10/02/ecuador.violence/index.html and http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/01/AR2009100102175.html.

Aside from than the national protests, I am safe in Macas and continuing to live a normal daily life within the calm city. I´ve been learning a few things in the kitchen with the "Martha Stewarts", Lila and Pamela. I am making more and more Ecuadorian friends and connections and getting to love my host family as if they were my own. They heard the Peace Corps is coming in a month to approve apartments and they immediately installed cable TV and hot water (WOW!). No need to persuade me, I plan on staying with my host family for a while, so these new conveniences are just a bonus! Another bonus: I got seasons of US shows from a friend and can now watch Arrested Development, The Office, 30 Rock, Weeds, Psych, True Blood, and many more anytime I´d like! Talk about a stress reliever!

I miss all of you an incredible amount and as always I appreciate your love and support.
Nicolette

Lots of Reading, Rest, and Food....

Well, today marks my 15th day in site. I know this because we had a HUGE packet of papers due yesterday about Emergency Contacts and Site Location. BORING but necessary. I, of course, turned it in late. Apparently, when they say you have 15 days to turn it in, they mean turn it in by the 14th day. Oops.

My first two weeks in Macas have been pretty uneventful. I visited the Consejo Provincial (which is something like the province capital building) and made friends with some of the engineers and workers there. We made pizza one night and have made plans to explore the jungle in a few months when we are allowed to travel. I also met a few police officers who are about my age and we sang kareoke and one asked me to marry him. Gotta love the difference of love and romance in foriegn cultures. All in all, I´ve spent the last 2 weeks adjusting to life in a new town. It´s actually been a nice break to transition from the rigid, strict schedule of training to the unstructured, chaos of being a volunteer.

I start work on Monday when the students begin class. The school didn´t have anything for me to do during summer break, hence why my last 2 weeks have consisted of sleeping, reading, and eating homemade quesadillas. I´m super excited to get to work and be productive and have a purpose each day. I am curious and a bit nervous about working with special education in a foreign language and culture but I think it will be an amazing learning experience.

I´d love to hear from anybody and everybody! My new address is

Nicolette Sammarco
Cuerpo de Paz
Correos Central
Macas, Morona Santiago
Ecuador.

Yes, that´s right, just send it to the post office and I´ll go by occasionally to see if I´ve recieved anything. No box. No delievery. Just simpleness. MULU 123 (my family´s amazing code talk for Miss You Love You).



Ps- I´m trying to figure out the picture scene.... right now Facebook is the easiest to display and store photos. For those of you who don´t have an account, I´ve made the albums public so you can view. Just copy and paste these URLs into your top bar and have a peek!

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047869&id=120500814&l=b21d026e2c

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047755&id=120500814&l=e1cc7e4bbd

The Light at the End of the Tunnel....

I am an official, sworn-in volunteer of Peace Corps Ecuador Omnibus 102!

I can hardly believe how busy the last month has been. I am going to update the last few weeks and after this post I should be able to update weekly since I will have some sort of routine and easier access to the internet.

Week 5 (site visit)
I had a 5 day site visit to Macas in the province of Morona Santiago. I stayed with my future host family which consists of a mom, Piedad, her 21 year old daughter, Johana, and the 2 year old grandson, Daniel. It reminds me a lot of the house I grew up in, full of young, lively women! My room is an addition to the house so it has a private bath, access to the kitchen and laundry room, and its own entrance. So it´s basically an apartment with a host family attached! On this site visit I also met up with 2 agriculture volunteers who will be around during my service. I went to the Special Needs school I´ll be working with but the kids are not in school until September so I just met my counterpart and discussed a 3 month plan. All in all, my visit was a huge success. I love Macas and the people and the future work!

Week 6
Not gonna lie... I don´t remember anything about week 6. I was on such a high from visiting my site and making new connections that it just whizzed by. We finished up our youth group in Olmedo. Over training we had to work with youth in our communities in 6 different areas. It was interesting practice but didn´t quite do the job of preparing me for the tech trip....

Week 7 (tech trip)
We went to the province of Esmeraldas to practice giving charlas (talks) and working in the communities. First, we went to a volunteer´s site (Geoff in Quinnedea) and worked in a garden, gave self-esteem talks to 8 years olds and sex-education talks to 15 year olds, and did some community surveying around town. No amount of previous training could have prepared me for the work we did. For example, during our sex-ed charlas we played musical chairs with words having to do with sexuality. When the music stopped, the students were supposed to write the first thing that comes to mind. The thing about this charla is that it is a topic that we would normally wait over a year before working on it with our youth. It is just not a talked about topic in public. So it was actually really great practice for us to work with the youth and catch a glimpse of what the future will be like. After a few days in Geoff´s site, we went to the beach town outside of Atacames to visit Chris, an agriculture volunteer working in a Cacao project. We didn´t really do much there but swim in the ocean and lounge in the hammocks... exactly the break we needed!

Week 8
Our final week in Cayambe included a lot of post-tests and final interviews. In order to be sworn-in we had to pass the medical test and safety & security test, take our language proficiency exams (I am at advanced medium, the 3rd highest level!), and interview with our program managers to assess our emotional maturity and motivation. I apparently passed all the tests and was cleared for swear-in! We had a family day where I dressed in traditional indigenous clothing and danced. Then we had our omnibus going away gathering, which was bittersweet. It was so nice to loosen up and just have fun with the crew but it was sad to know that was the last night we would all hang out together.

Week 9 (this week)
We moved out of our communities on Sunday. I didn´t think it would be very emotional, considering the lack of connection between myself and my host family, but my senora gave me a traditional top (which cost an arm and a leg!) and I realized that family is family. They will always hold a place in my past and I in theirs. Once in Quito, I spent 3 quality days with "The Fantastic 4"(i.e. Kara, Emmalee, Tiffany, and me). We ate Papa Johns pizza, went to a mall, and had a music/picture exchanging party. Then Wednesday morning we went to the ambassador´s house and took our oaths to become Peace Corps Volunteers! An hour after the ceremony ended we were whisked away to our sites.... not so cool. It was hard to have such an exciting experience of swearing-in then immediately saying goodbye to our closest friends and riding on a bus for 8 hours. When I got into town I met my family and went for pizza (better than anywhere in Ecuador!) and have been unpacking and rearranging my room. I can´t wait to start work on Monday!

So if I had to sum training up in 3 words I would say: friends, skills, and jr. high! Haha. I met some amazing people and made incredible friends, learned tons of skills for my future work, and yet had nothing better to do than get involved in jr. high drama. Now that I´m in Macas, I hope to move on out of that bubble of training and into the ¨real world¨. Let me know what you think and if there is anything else I should include in my blog! Love you all and miss you tons!

Achachay!!!!

Hey there!

So I know it´s super cliché to say that time is flying but SERIOUSLY.... these last 4 weeks have blown by. We have so many activities and lessons and assignments packed into each day that I can hardly keep in touch. Basically our training so far has been technical sessions in the morning and language training in the afternoon. Sometimes we meet in our individual communities and sometimes we gather together in a central town.

But here is a quick update on the last four weeks…..

Week 0 (transition time): Lots of settling in and getting accustomed to life in a new country and speaking a new language. There were non-stop festivals around the area, which were a great way to integrate into a community because everyone seems to be happier and more social during fiestas. I had my first sad moment when I realized I couldn’t communicate with my family the way I would like which left me feeling lonely and helpless…. But while sulking in my room I played a little Miley Cyrus and decided to be proactive even if I looked ridiculous. I also ate waaaaaaaay too much until I effectively communicated with my family that 7 potatoes, 2 cups of rice, bread, and soup is just toooooo much! I missed Fathers’ Day but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t thinking about my wonderful family.

Week 1: I started Spanish language sessions in my little town with 4 other girls and had enough technical sessions to earn a graduate degree. I heard 1001 brilliant things about the trainee who lived in my house before me (the perfect David), which basically means I’ve got some big shoes to fill. But I think I’m putting up quite the fight to become my family’s favorite! Half of our training group went on a cultural trip to a small indigenous town outside of Otavolo where they speak Kichwa and make knitted things from scratch. It was an exciting trip but was overshadowed by some of the trainees’ attitudes. We were only there for 28 hours but the living conditions and activities weren’t exactly what we were expecting (obviously) and the pessimism spread like wildfire. BUT after a few days back in our training sites, everyone realized how helpful the trip was to expand our idea of culture, Ecuadorians, and the many types of sites we could be placed into!

(View from my room with Mt. Cayambe in the back)

Week 2: My town had their big festival where we had a bus parade (all 27 buses paraded through town) which ended with the priest blessing each bus! It was crazy cool but I defiantly felt like a foreigner taking pictures and getting so excited because it’s pretty normal to all of the other people. The 4th of July we had a BBQ with some of the staff and volunteers. We had a soccer tournament (we lost 1st round), ate “American” food (hamburgers, potato salad, chips & guacamole, etc.), and got to know other volunteers from around Ecuador. I also gave my first “charla” about self-esteem… in Spanish! We worked with some youth in our town to create personal flags that represent their lives and aspirations. Oh, and I met my “big brother”, William, who is a volunteer and he brought me some Reeces from the states! YUM! Things that I wouldn’t normally eat in the states, I would pay triple price for here…. Like if I could get my hands on a Snickers I would probably give my left leg!

("Achachay"= "It´s freezing" in Kichwa)

Week 3: I went to Cayambe to watch the big parade with my family and I was not being very cautious with my camera and it got stolen. Therefore, all of my pictures will be barrowed from other people until I can replace it. I played soccer in the park with some kids and it boosted my Spanish speaking confidence. Kathleen (PC Ecuador Country Director) brought us candy from the US and I had an Almond Snickers!!!!! This shouldn’t be that big of a deal but it was probably better than any gift I could have asked for. We had more language sessions, tech training, presentations, and meetings. I made spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread for my family and they absolutely LOVED the bread! It was the easiest to make yet the best part of the meal.

(My host family basically triples on weekends, and these are the younger one I hang out with)

Week 4: I started running, which really means I run about 2 blocks and then start wheezing from the altitude and walk around trying to catch my breath for an hour! The U.S. Ambassador came to talk to our training group with a 4 car entourage! Our first trainee decided to return to the states (one of my favorites!). But most importantly we found out our sites!!!! I will be living in Macas which is a jungle-ish town in Southeastern Ecuador. I am going to be working with special needs children to develop life skills, integrate into the community, and increase skills to enter into the workforce. I am more excited than I thought I would be. I had an idea I was going to Macas but it is just so relieving to get a piece of my future and build on it to complete the crazy puzzle that will be my next 2 years! I leave today to visit Macas... There are 2 other trainees going there and 1 volunteer already there.

Check out more photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044965&id=120500814&l=161729676f

First Post from Ecuador!

Buenos dias con todos!

So I just got settled into my town for the next 9 weeks! The view is amazing and the people are great! We stayed in Quito for a night where we got our shots and took a spanish interview test. Then Thursday we rode to Cayambe (a mountain city) and stayed there for 2 nights while we had more orientations and bonded as a group of Trainees. Yesterday we were assigned our language facilitator and host families.

There are 5 of us trainees in my town, about 30 minutes northeast of Cayambe in the Mountians. It is FREEZING at night but so incredibly beautiful. Right now, it is the festivles of Cayambe and the festivles of San Juan. So everyone is out dancing in the streets in traditional indigenous clothing. Also, there is a bull ring where we watched men try to fool the bulls with their red capes but luckily they didn´t kill the bulls in the end! I have also milked a cow and eaten enough new mystery foods that I´ll probably be sick for the next month!

Overall it is an amazing experience so far. I am getting the language FAST and making new friends and family easily. I´ve had a few ups and downs but in the 5 days I´ve been here, I´ve learned so much about myself that everything seems to equal out in the end!

I´m not allowed to give out my address or phone number publicly but if you would like to send me a letter or padded envelope package..... let me know! I´m ready for some snail mail! Hasta Luego!

The Night Before Jitters

So the official countdown has begun..... 12 hours!

Last weekend I had a wonderful BBQ with all of my closest friends and family, followed by the most bomb.com float trip! I got to visit my Dad and his family for 4 days in Joplin and have been relaxing for the last week. But yesterday started "crunch time"..... i.e time to actually start packing and shopping and running errands! I'm not sure how it all came together so easily and quickly but I'm packed and ready to go and my to-do list is completely checked off. That gives me just enough relaxation time to have my last junk food-junk TV night!

I thought about posting my packing list but it was outrageously long. Sooooo aside from clothing and toiletries, a few favorite I'm bringing are my Kindle (reading is fun), laptop, white noise maker, journals, mac n' cheese sauce, a years worth of Cosmo, and some special gifts from friends and family.

Next time I write, it will be from Ecuador!!!!! Hasta Luego!

Application Timeline

In yet another attempt to procrastinate, I have gathered up an application timeline. I was discussing the timeline with a good friend of mine when it dawned on me just how great it was that I made it through the process. First, I feel amazingly privileged to be selected to serve in the Peace Corps. Second, I am pretty shocked at myself for completing it! I have a habit of procrastinating and changing my mind and having a "grass is greener on the other side" mentality. So I think it is quite an accomplishment and proves just how much I want this!

Application Timeline

June 26, 2008- submitted application online
June 30- 1st email from Recruiter asking for college transcripts
July 13-24- PC received fingerprints, addendum, college transcript, and recommendations
July 29- Interview in Dallas with Recruiter
July 29- Officially Nominated for Eastern Europe, May 2009, Special Education
August 3- received medical packet
December 13- submitted medical packet
December 30- Dental Clearance
January 9- Medical office needs more information
March 27- Medical Clearance
April 2- Phone call from Placement Officer saying that I missed the cutoff date for Eastern Europe and my nomination has been changed to Central/South America, June 2009, Special Education
April 7- Received Official invite in the mail! Ecuador, June 15th, Youth and Families, Child Development- Special needs
April 9- Called to accept invitation!

I am now in the process of sending in Passport info and my Aspiration Statement!

It's Official

Yesterday I turned 23...... AND officially accepted my invitation to serve in the Peace Corps! Big day! I will be heading to Ecuador June 15th for Child development-special needs. This is probably the most exciting yet terrifying news I've ever received. It's strange to dream about something for so long and then it actually become a reality.

More to come later.... I just wanted to see how this silly blog thing works.