Another trek to Mitad del Mundo


With the arrival of summer session two, we PDs found ourselves revving up for another week of orientation. Of course, since I am notoriously bad at opening email attachments, I didn't end up signing up for an orientation spot until the last minute, at which point I realized that, oh, the only spots available are for...Mitad del Mundo! Again!

If Mark were reading over my shoulder he would say something along the lines of "Well, this is what happens when you don't open attachments or answer your cell phone or..." (ok, so I have a slight cell phone problem, as my family can also attest to).

We missed Fiona and Mari, who were feeling a little under the weather and opted out of the 4+ hours of busing, but overall had a funny day out on the equatorial line. It's always a strange feeling to realize that you're standing in both the northern and southern hemisphere at the same time...

Until tomorrow,
Holly


(getting the talk about the sundial and shadows and equatorial lines and all that jazz)

(Michael tries an Andean mask on for size)

The Wonder of New

Today we kicked off Summer Session Two in true MPIE style; a big morning meeting, freshly baked banana bread, and a detailed run-through of the next 4 weeks. After getting the logistical stuff out of the way (typical greetings, safety guidelines, dress code, how to work the water filter, toilet paper rules, etc.) Dana, Eliah and Dunc led the summer vols on a tour of 'downtown' (term used lightly) Conocoto. Mark, Jos and I met the crew for lunch at Sazon de la Abuela, the nicest almuerzo restaurant we can walk to, before heading out to the library space together.

After walking through the different parts of the library and giving them a crash course in it's day to day functioning, we moved couches, beanbags, and office chairs into a small circle in the teen center and got comfortable for another, less formal talk.

As led by Bibi (our new country director who arrived Monday, did I forget to mention that? Don't worry, she'll get her own SERIES of posts she's that amazing), we started digging into some big topics: the reasons we participate in service, our motivations and intentions, hang-ups and successes, and overarching feelings on the entire concept of "community development". I found myself looking around at our group, made up of students from Brown, Middlebury, Vanderbilt and Georgetown (and a few in between which I've currently forgotten) with such a sense of pride and excitement. Here we were, having just met last night, all engaged in a discussion about grass-roots community organizing, the current Ecuadorian economic situation, and different stages of development. It's exciting to have new voices to add to the dialogue. New perspectives. New ideas. New Challenges.

Good things are going to happen with this group, I can feel it in my bones.

~Holly

Wait, what day is it...

Ahh!

Summer!

Summer Two!

Summer Two is!

Summer Two is, is, is COMING!!

TODAY?!?

Quick! Strip the beds in the apartment, wash the towels, mop the kitchen, print out the welcome booklets, find the lost apartment keys, refill the gas, sweep the upstairs, restock the firewood, draft an email for nervous parents, buy new water jugs, wipe down the showers, empty the recycling, print out flight schedules, shop for the cook, sweep the front steps, get the parasite medication, re-hang the hammocks!!!

Shower. Must remember to shower.

Interviews: In Summation

A few wrap-ups:

1. Of course, 20 minutes after making fun of Dana for having pink eye, guess who was smote for her mockery...that's right. We both will be wearing our glasses from here on out of abject fear of recurrence.

2. Yes, I realize I spelled chef incorrectly in my interview video (thanks for pointing that one out, Craig)... what can I say, other than I will never win any awards when it comes to spelling.

3. Want to know what happened to the extra footage from all the interviews? Oh, I have plans (besides using some of it as future blackmail for any of our politically-interested PDs, cough cough Eliah), and these plans involve putting together random segments each week. Live in fear, other PDs, live in fear.

That's all :)
(oh, and Happy Sunday, too!)
~Holly