Life is calling...

So, this past week we had what is called the "Site Fair." Basically, the counterparts (or our direct contacts at our sites) come in and present information on their sites and the programs they are working on. Then, we smooze shamelessly with them in horrible Spanish grammer to get them to want us to work there. Here is how it went down:

The Thursday before last we were told that it was optional for us to make up our resumes in Spanish to hand out to the counterparts. Given that it was an option, I sided with the not doing it decision. Basically, my Spanish has improved majorly, but I still sound pretty gringa stupid, and I was not trying to call myself out like that. Well, the next day on Friday, we were told that the resumes were mandatory and that the counterparts really look highly upon those who have them (even if the Spanish is sub-par). So I made one, of course not until the last minute on Sunday, but hey, better than nothing. It cost me $3 to print of the copies. That might sound like a good deal, but a full lunch of chicken breast, rice, beans, a fried banana and a drink costs $1.50; so $3 for a stack of 10 pages is pretty expensive! Of course my language facilitator totally crapped all over my resume with his red pen...so money essentially wasted, but I handed them out anyhow.

The Site Fair was super informative! We had sites from all over the sierra (middle) and coastal region of Ecuador, and 2 sites in the Amazon! (that exclamaion mark has nothing to do with my desire to live in the Amazon, its just exciting that someone else will be and I will look at pictures). There were a handful of sites that I was interested in, but my top ones were a kick-ass Women´s Rights organization in Machala, a super rad group of youth who are working on bettering thier city in Sua, and a really chill artisan Afro-Ecuadorian group in Mascarilla. I liked the Mascarilla, its a small town where they are working on some super rad artisan projects to increase tourism in their area to generate revenue for the town and the folks who live there. We were given the chance to talk to our program manager about which sites were were most interested in because she and the PC team here are the ones who make the choice in the end. So I told her that I really wanted to go to Mascarilla, and she was like, "Yeah....no." What? Appearantly she sees me in a large city going into the barrios seeking out new leadership. Come again? Large city? You realize I lived in the suburbs even in Green Bay, right? What? I am scared....

She kept saying that her stronger volunteers need to go to the tougher sites, so she needs to use my skills in the tough cities. It seems that I was determined to be a "strong volunteer" even before the site fair, so I am not sure that my $3 spent on resumes even mattered if I will be sent to a site in a scary city that I did not hand out my resume to anyhow... We´ll see. Site assignment is on Tuesday; so on Tuesday, I will know where it has be determined that I will live for the next 2 years...

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

peace,
theresa