Quick Update

Reading: Zen & the Art...

Alright, so seeing as my internet just got a lot more difficult to access, I probably won't be updating this as often (or hardly ever, haha). But I am glad to know that people are actually reading it.

Clitoria ternatea

There's new pictures up under photos... let me know if for some reason you can´t see them. AND my new address is:
Casilla 09-09-021
Milagro, Guayas
Ecuador, South America

Books will always be more than appreciated along with letters :)

Lost In Translation

Reading: How To Grow More Vegetables by John Jeavons

One of the last Spanish classes I took was one on how to work through the art of translating. Basicamente, the gist of the class is that translation is quite difficult, especially when trying to convey the nuances of a culture. This can create a whole host of humorous situations, so others that are frustrating and then a handful of others that are just unfortunate (watching Blade 4 with subtitles). And so I give you – Things That Translate and Things That Don’t:

Translates: Harry Potter Movies
Ecuadorian kids seem to be just as infatuated with HP as Americans (not limited to children). Consequently, I’ve watched HP 1-3 and 7p1 in the last two months. Luckily, it seems to be working as a great integration tool, plus it’s a pleasant reminder that I can actually understand Spanish even though I still don’t understand the coastal butchering of the language.

Doesn’t Translate: The Idea of Reading the Harry Potter Books
Most of us in my generation grew up eagerly anticipating each new release of one of the HP novels. So when they finally hit the big screen, we knew exactly what was going to happen – the movies were just buttresses to the vivid imagery that enchanted us in print. However, the thought of reading a HP novel is completely foreign to most Ecuadorians. Perhaps this is due to the fact that a culture of reading is much more prevalent in the United States then it is in Ecuador. Books here are crazy expensive and I’ve only had one encounter of leisure reading since I’ve been here. This is bad news for HP because not only is British humor lost in translation from English to Spanish, most of the gritty details are lost in the translation from text to film.

Under Oath

Reading: Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig

Omnibus 105 officially sworn-in

As of today, Omnibus 105 is officially sworn in a Peace Corps Volunteers, which means we are all now defenders of the United States of America. You can take that as sarcastically as you see fit. I'm leaving for Guayas tonight and will officially start as a volunteer in my site tomorrow. That being said, leaving my host family here in Tumbaco as well as the rest of the group is going to be much harder then it was leaving the states. Welcome round two of culture shock.

Chimbo de Venecia

Reading: Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig

With training almost over, I figured that I should probably elaborate a little bit more on what I will actually being doing for the next two years…

Bananas, left. Cacao, right.

I have been placed in a small community in the coastal province of Guayas and primarily working with ACDI/VOCA, an international NGO that works specifically with cacao (cocoa) production here in Ecuador. There are seven(ish) of us that are being partnered with ACDI/VOCA and there appears that there will be a surprising amount of structure for Peace Corps projects. We all just returned from a week long training with several of the ingenieros, which was greatly beneficial considering that I have no background in cacao prior to coming here. However, I now able to prune, harvest, dry and even do a little fermenting of cacao.