Civilization...for a day!

Hi again! I am in Puyo, which is the closest ¨city¨ to where I live...about an hour and a half from the house. A bunch of us came in yesterday to see off some of the crew who left last night and this morning, and then we spent the night. This is where I will have internet access...including skype!..and the ability to buy things. Otherwise there is a small town along the way, where we can get small things like water, eggs, fruit, etc, but even that is about 20minutes by car. On the bright side..literally...the night skies and stars are absolutely incredble. We have a generator and thus, electricity for a few hours at night, but otherwise, its sunlight or candles and flashlights.

And I have a cell phone! I can´t really use it to make long distance calls, but I can receive calls any time from all of you!! If you are calling from the states, dial 011-593-(0)828-228-42. I dont think that you need that zero, but if you cant get through, try it. If you are calling from a country other than the US, its the same, but take out the 011 and put in your country´s exit code. So call me--preferably after 1pm my time (one hour earlier than NY) because during the week im usually teaching in the mornings.

I also enjoy mail and packages... you can send things to:
Rachel Klein
Correo Central
Puyo
Pastaza
Ecuador

NOTHING perishable or valuable, as it could take 3-4 weeks before it gets sorted and into my hands. And please let me know if you send anything, so I know to check. :-)

My days have been starting around 6am, or if im lucky, some days closer to 630. The car has not been cooperating (ie starting), and we live at the bottom of quite an impressive hill on a rocky road. If the car doesnt start, we have to walk up this hill (as the website calls it, ¨an energetic 20 minute walk¨ to then catch a bus or grab a ride from the locals. We ususally start teaching around 8am, and it can take up to 40minutes by car to get there. The school day ends around 12:30 and then we can head back to the house, hang out in the hammocks, read, play cards, nap, and then make lesson plans. We alternate cooking and cleaning and other things that need to get done. Supposedly the car should be running better this week, but I´ll believe that when I see it.

sending lots of love!

Hello from the Jungle!

Hi everyone!! I am finally starting to settle into my new home here in the jungle...there will definitely be a major adjustment period, but overall, I am quite happy. They were absolutely not kidding about the bugs...oh my. I won't get into details, as some of you may be reading this while eating. I'll just say EWW. But I will be a tougher person after these next few months, I can tell you that for sure.
Jungle life is interesting...sometimes there is hot water, sometimes theres cold water, and sometimes theres no water. Sometimes the car starts, sometimes only after a running push, and some days it dies about an hour from home. Or never starts at all. Sometimes the bus comes, sometimes not.
I'm sensing a theme here. But the people are fantastic, i've laughed a lot, Ecuador is absolutely beautiful, and I think i'll be just fine.
I'm still getting oriented to the work...this week i've mainly been teaching at various schools, and making lesson plans and gathering documents and worksheets. The texbooks...which interestingly enough come from the oil company...have not arrived yet, so we have been winging it a bit. And teaching for a few hours a day, in spanish, is exhausting. Its a learning process...some of the students can barely read and write in Spanish, so its interesting to try to teach them English. More on that later on, I need time to think about what that really means. The main idea is that to get into college, students need to speak English. That alone has some interesting implications...but also, how many really use it, or go to college...bare with me, I cant figure out where the question mark key is on this computer. Anyway, I have a lot more to learn. Its also SO frustrating how long it takes to get anything done. The car issues alone make us pull our hair out, but lack of communication and resources is a major issue too. We make it work, but I am gearing up for lots of challenging days. Im staying positive though...its all in good fun, and for a great cause.
The program also has a community development piece, which is really cool. I hope to get more involved with that, but for now, I need to focus on my job, and getting the semester started.
I have been told about...and offered...fried bugs. I think that I am pretty cuturally sensitive, but that shit was nasty. I declined. I practiced driving stick on our beast of a truck on a rocky road, and actually succeeded a bit. I have already taken a tumble on said rocky road and banged up my knee. I have soaked in hot springs, eaten lots of canned tuna fish, gained three new pets...two dogs and one cat, met lots of fabulous people, taught classes...and thats week one.
There is a group of awesome british guys here, but they are leaving this week, which is a bummer. I give up feminism for this period of my life...having boys in the jungle is very, very handy.
Ill keep everyone updated. For you Jews, happy Rosh Hashana. Eat some apples and honey for me.

BESOS!!!

Hello from Quito!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I arrived safely to Quito. I´ve spent the day wandering around the city...its a nice change from the Central American capitals i´m used to. Everything is bright and colorful, the people are amazingly friendly, there are churches and colonial buildings galore...all in all, a very cute place. I only have one day here, and the high altitude is making my head spin a bit...i´m just taking it easy and enjoying the scene. So far, so good, and tomorrow I meet up with some of the other volunteers and coordinators in a small town along the way to where I will be living. It will be nice to finally meet some of the people I will be living and working with, and on Sunday, I arrive to the house. For now, i´m enjoying the fact that i´m still a part of civilization. After this weekend...who knows?!

Love and hugs to everyone!!

To the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle...

So here I sit, enjoying consistent electricity, air conditioning, pure tap water, and other joys of home that may soon be considered luxuries. As of 1:35pm tomorrow...a mere 23 hours away...Contintental Airlines will be whisking me away to what is probably going to become my greatest adventure yet.
Once I'm settled in I'll have more information for everyone...including a phone number and mailing address, but for now, check out http://www.youvolunteer.org/. It gives a really nice overview and has some pictures, so take a look. Please send me e-mails and keep in touch...i'm not sure how frequently I'll have internet access, but I'll try to do the same.
As of now, my greatest and only concern is figuring out how to pack up my life into a backpack that seems to be getting smaller and smaller. Once--or if-- that mammoth and seemingly impossible task is completed, I just have to wrap my head around the fact that it's September already. THEN I can go on my merry way.
I'm spending two nights and one day in Quito, then a 5 hour bus ride to Puyo, the closest town to where I will be living. I'm meeting up with some volunteers and coordinators who are already there, and then i'll finally arrive at my new home some time Saturday in the late afternoon.

Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and happy thoughts. Here's hoping for an exciting and fun experience in the Amazon of Ecuador.

Stay tuned, and i'll see everyone next summer!

Another trip comes to an end...

I feel like I just got back to Costa Rica--and I CANNOT for the life of me understand how it is already August...but here I am, procrastinating and putting off packing before heading to the airport in the morning.
This trip was great...very different from anything I have done before, since I was here to work, but I still enjoyed myself. We've had a busy final 2 weeks here...last weekend we went to EARTH University (which I talked about last year) where the students stayed on farms and we learned about agriculture, sustainable development, etc etc. And I always love chiling with pigs and cows and goats, so good fun. And I saw the farmer who I stayed with last year, which was really nice, and he told me that the tree's my friends and I planted are growing quite well. Awesome.

The last week the students were finally able to implement their capacity building projects...each group got to apply for a small budget to use towards enhancing some area of their organization. One group was able to purchase supplies for disabled adults who put on educational performances through music and dance, another created a volunteer handbook AND a curriculum for an english-education program...the ministry of education may accept and use it in the future, which is amazing! One group that works with the elderly was able to provide a lot more materials for one of their programs and create a more solid foundation for its implementation. The last group, working with at risk children, used an art activity to discuss important themes and ideas, and left the organization with supplies, so that they can replicate it. There is a lot more that they were able to accomplish, and that was just a VERY basic overview, but i'm tired and need to pack--suffice to say that it was a really nice culmination of everything they have done. After working really hard and putting in tons of effort, it was really nice for the students to see everything come together and feel like they really had an impact. It's amazing what can be accomplished in such a short amoutn of time!

Friday morning at 6am our bus left for Nicaragua! The rainy season had knocked out a bridge or part of the highway or something...not quite sure...but whatever it was, it added a 2-hour detour to our trip. So 11 hours later, we finally disembarked in Granada. I was there last year--it's an adorable colonial town with really interesting architecture, its suuuper cheap, and I was not staying in a cheap hostel, but a lovely hotel. All good things. So pepto bismol ready on my nightstand, Julie and I spent some time wandering around and eating dinner. followed by purchasing what looked like a nice bottle of Chilean cabernet sauvignon. FAIL. It had already turned to something tasting very much like vinegar. oh, well. we just went to sleep, ready for a busy day on Saturday.
The purpose of this trip was to hook up with a group called Global Potential, started up by a woman who used to be a TA for Lori (the professor leading this trip). They work on leadership skills, among other things, with urban youth in Boston and New York. Part of the year and a half long program involves an international experience in Haiti or the DR, and this year, they added Nicaragua. The students get to do "internships" and community service abroad, and then take the experiences back home with them and continue with GP for another 10 months. It's a really cool program. In Haiti and the Dominican they have had Open Space Dialogues, where they bring youth from both countries together to talk about various issues, such as stereotypes, poverty, education, etc. They hope to do this one day with Costa Rican and Nicaraguan youth, which would be really cool. Check out the global potential website for more details if youre interested, I could go on for a while.
Our students went to visit these youth, along with locals from the community. They live in a little rural (VERY rural) community about 2.5 hours from Granada, so off we went on Saturday morning. Once we were about 10K away, we discovered that the rest of the way was a narrow, windy, rocky dirt road, and our big coach bus would not be able to make it. Awesome. I cannot describe the scene that then took place, it is one of those moments that just does not translate well on paper. We knew we needed to find alternate transportation...and after about 30 seconds, so did all of the locals in the area. Guess they all wanted to help the gringos...and make a few bucks. We all stayed on the bus while Lori and our bus driver went to figure things out...there were options involving rickshaws, pick-up trucks, minivans, taxi's, and less realistically, horses and bikes...we ended up finding a guy with an empty school bus (?) who was willing to take us all for a decent price. It was quite the adventure...and there is NO way our big bus would have made it on that road.
We spent a few hours doing some team-building activities that our students led, and then we gave a bunch of community members and GP students a ride to another village near Granada, so we had more time to chat with them. On the way, we also had a mini-lecture from a woman who talked to us about gender roles in their community, and in her village in particular. She is incredible...the first woman from her area to continue on to get higher education. She shared a lot with us about the current situation, which is improving but still pretty sad. And for our social worker/feminist/psychologist/sociology crowd, it was especially moving. Unfortunately, we didnt get to spend too much time with them due to our limited about of time, but it was still a really interesting experience.
The roads were fixed so our ride back to Costa Rica only took about 9 hours, and now I just cannot believe that it's my last night here! It's been quite the experience.

Pura Vida. Next stop...BOSTON!!! Then NY for a while to get my life in order and hopefully see lots of friends and family. Then the real adventure begins in Ecuador!!!

ayyy dios mio. what a life i lead.

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

hola :)
I hear that everyone is enjoying the heat on the East Coast...I guess this is my payback for last year, when I was on the beach while you all shoveled snow. It´s actually been a little bit warmer and sunnier these past 2 days, but it always manages to rain at some point.
The resort at Punta Leona was nice, and we enjoyed just chilling out and having some time to take it easy. (Kate, I had my avocado and chips on the beach and missed you enormously)! We did have to run for cover a few times, but the weather sort of cooperated.
Julie is a Yoga instructer so she´s led 2 classes thus far, one was at Punta Leona, so thats been really nice.
Also, a raccoon grabbed my finger thinking that it was food. good times. I love bonding with nature. (true story. details in person).
Now we´re back to work for the week, with lots to get done. Just wanted to say hello!

xoxo besos!

Where Does The Time Go??

Per usual, I feel like the time is just flying by! I can´t believe that it´s already the middle of July!!
So far, so good, and I am settled in quite nicely. My days are pretty busy but tasks differ, and the students, my professor, and fellow teaching assistant are all awesome and really fun to work with. In the mornings I usually accompany one group to their service learning placement, either to observe or to do some translation and clarification if there is a need. So far I have been to about half, and will hopefully hit all of them this coming week, and next. I´ve helped out at the municipality where our students are working with Costa Rican high school students who want to learn more english, and will ultimately create a database with the University of Costa Rica, to help assist the teachers. I´ve also gone to an organization called Un Hogar Para Ser Feliz (A Place/Home to be Happy), which works to assist physically disabled and/or mentally handicapped adults. It´s been really interesting, the projects are awesome. And its nice to be on the other side of these trips, as opposed to the one doing all of the direct service. As Julie (the other TA) nicely put it, we get to ¨get our hands in the pot¨ and be involved where needed, but without the full committment or expectations. And its really nice to watch the students brainstorm and problem solve for themselves, with just a little prodding and input from me. And I get to see so many cool nonprofits and NGOs, which is always fun and eye opening for me.
There have also been lectures on some interesting topics, such as healthcare in costa rica, economic and social development, mental health, and related issues.
We do other activities geared towards cultural awareness too--and some just for fun! Last weekend we went to Volcan Poas, which is beautiful, and the coffee plantation that I visited last time. SO delicious, SO much caffeine, SO much money spent on coffee. but worth every penny...!
Sunday was not so cultural, as I went to watch the last game of the world cup with a bunch of my students, and we ended up going to a Fridays! But it was fun...we had a good time, ate tons of food, and it was a nice, non educational way to get to hang with and get to know more people in the group.
Today we went to EBAIS, the main public health institute that has clinics all over Costa Rica. It was interesting, we got to see a clinic and talk to a doctor there, and it complimented some of the health-related lectures really nicely.
This weekend we are going to Punta Leona, a beach in Guanacaste. I am so excited to chill out and do nothing...we just hope that there is finally some sunshine!! Keep your fingers crossed for nice weather and no rain!

Thats it on my end...looking forward to having some time in New York (and Boston for a few days) in August. But for now, I´m enjoying my second home!