This month, Laurel and I made the journey for about the eighth time since we’ve been here. We were attending what the Peace Corps calls “mid-service training” where each of the thirty-three remaining volunteers from our training class met up for almost a week of seminars, medical exams and good food. The striking cool air and light headedness combined with nearly no humidity and the ever present cloud of bus exhaust works together to make head colds a hundred percent probability for those of us in sites “down the mountain”.
Every time we go to Quito, we get a cold – no exceptions. Those volunteers who live in sites in or around the Andes obviously have an easier time. They even think Quito is warmer than their sites as it sits in a valley adorned with copious amounts of cement. For us, it’s like being on another planet, a very cold planet with a different atmosphere and gravity. Even a flight of stairs a burden – and we’ve been working out regularly.
Of course, during the middle of the day the sun will definitely burn you in no time at all. Walking along the downtown streets looking for a bagel shop or DVD store, one can surely become overheated but the shade is a reprieve in the neighborhood of a twenty degree difference. At night, the wind swirls and cuts through our jeans and jacket. I used to love the cool weather. I even used to complain about people who kept their homes or offices higher than 68 Fahrenheit. Now, I guess you could say I’m used to the comfort of the balmy, tropical heat I’ve been living in for the last year.
Quito is a great time though: there are book stores with books in English, there are sushi restaurants, pizza delivered to your hostel, Indian food (I was introduced to a food called shwarma this last time around – kind of like a mix between a gyro and a burrito), bars, night clubs, movie theatres – you name it. And, the NBA finals were going on so of course, we all headed to a sports bar and spent three bucks a beer. This is actually harder to bring yourself to do than one might think. It’s not just the cost compared to our meager salaries; it’s also the size of the beer. In most of the country, beers (Pilsener brand) come in 22 oz bottles. It has a little less “beer flavor” than a Coors Light and in warm climates you have to drink it somewhat faster than one might be used to so that it doesn’t get warm by the time you finish. Add that all together and my measly twelve ounce mug in a Quito restaurant turns into a Dixie cup in my mind. Oh well, it’s not like we make a habit of going to Quito.
So, by the end of the third day people started to filter home, being done with their medical screenings. Some said that they really had to get back to their sites and that they didn’t have time to goof around in Quito but you could tell that we were also starting to get burnt out from all the gringos around us. We’ve all lived fairly solitary English-speaking existences and outgoing Spanish-speaking ones for over a year now. Going to bars and parties was becoming tiresome this time – who would’ve thought? Admittedly, I was feeling the same way. Also, I always yearn for the rain forest climate every time I’m stuck in Quito.
Gotta love Omnibus 101!
As far as our medical screenings go: Laurel and I had no cavities, no parasites, no worms, no amoebas. Of course, I was sure that I would have had something wrong with me if I had taken this medical exam six months ago but it seems I’ve grown accustomed to whatever new power arrangement formed between any new bad-assed bacteria I now have in my gut. Also, the dentist even said “good job with the flossing, hardly any plaque.” I thought he must have been kidding, no matter how clean my teeth are in the States, I feel like I always get the flossing lecture. Maybe it’s a matter of relativity, or salesmanship. After every floss lecture I always have to deal with the “up-sell” of some state-of-the-art new tooth sealant they want me to pay for.
Also, no head-cold. That’s right, hardly a sniffle. Well, Laurel had her usual but I was fine. And by day four, I felt like I was getting used to the altitude – just in time to go back home. Now we’re back and extremely happy about it. Our fun little town is so much more enjoyable than some big polluted city. Working out is always nice when you travel to some place with more oxygen than the place you came, so we got that working for us for a few days.
We have about ten months left in our service. It’s seems like nowhere near enough time to finish all we came here for. I’ve even resigned myself to continue working on my project for a few months after I’m back home in San Diego next year – the stuff I can do via the internet, that is. But ten months will be gone before we know it, especially when you consider it will be more like eight months when you subtract the vacations we’ll be taking in October and December. And, one month gets scratched off for the World Cup. This whole country has shut down during the day and it’s only group play.
Well, there’s lots going on right now and plenty to blog about so we’ll be updating this a little more regularly throughout the next month or so. That’s right, I mean to do a World Cup post. Also we’ll do a story covering the going away party for our German friends, and Laurel has a highly informative post in the works regarding poop. Also there is a new foundation Laurel is working with based out of the States so I’m sure we’ll be doing a little blog post publicity thing here soon, and she might even get around to writing a little bit about the Cacao Fair. Did you know Laurel even helped produce a series of local television shows on climate change a couple weeks ago? Yeah, we got some cool new stuff so stay tuned.
Go USA!
(Much love to Yoni for letting us borrow his picture.)
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