new post from Ariana, that great Woman of the World, during her adventures in Ecuadar with the Peace Corps. this post is entitled 'if you like snakes...':

"Hola! I hope you´re all doing well. I have been in Ecuador for 5 weeks now, and I thought it was time to write another update. I got my site assignment yesterday, and I am going to La Asuncion/Valle Hermoso, which is in the province of Pinchincha. I will be 3 hours west of Quito and 3 hours east of the beach, in the Costa region of the country. When the tech trainer was talking about this site, he said "If you love snakes, you´ll love this site." I will need rubber boots and a snake bite kit. I think that is pretty cool, but I probably won´t think it is so cool if I actually do get bitten by a snake. I think they gave me this site because they know I am a herpetologist.

" My primary activities will be assisting the local ecological association (15 members) in the development of their projects, like an ecological swimming hole, urban reforestation/renewal, and the flower group. I will also be helping with a potable water project, supporting the local flower nursery, and maybe doing some environmental education and supporting the local community banks. I´m happy there are a variety projects, so hopefully I´ll learn a lot.

" The town is small, with only 400 people, but I think there are 7000 people in the surrounding area. I will live in Valle Hermosa in an apartment with "all the basic utilities" and then I will bike to La Asuncion (15 minute bike ride). The community is well organized and they´re had Peace Corps volunteers in the past. Plus, my cell phone will work and I will have internet access in Valle Hermosa. So, the location seems ideal and I think I will be living a cushy Peace Corps lifestyle. But I didn´t have many other options because of my site restriction.

" I don´t know if there is much tropical forest left in the area because a lot of it has been cut down for agricultural development. There must be some forest if there are a lot of snakes! The climate is supposed to be warm, 18C -25C (I haven´t quite figured out celcius yet). My closest friend here, Maggie, is going to be pretty far from me, near Cuenca. I´m bummed about that, but at least I´ll have someone to visit in Cuenca. Another one of my good friends Michelle is going to be on the beach 3 hours from me, so that´s nice. Plus another friend will be in the Galapagos, so I´ll have a place to stay when I go there. And some other cool people are going to be in the Amazon (the Oriente), so I´ll have people to visit there too. So, whenever you want to visit me, we can go anywhere in the country, and someone should be able to show us around!

" The other exciting thing that happened yesterday is that I had my second Language Placement exam, and the language facilitator, Sonia, told me that my level is now Intermediate intermediate, which is the level I need to be at to be sworn is as a volunteer. So now I don´t have to worry about that! I jumped two levels in 5 weeks, so that made me happy. I learned that the key to those exams is just to talk a lot, which I did. Maggie and I talk to each other in Spanish on the bus, just like Julia and Jen Wolfson used to do in Columbia. I´m sure it is pretty amusing to all the people around us.

" Things are going well with my host family, though sometimes I don´t like my host mom. But I like the rest of the family. It is also just hard to not have as much independence. I have to be home every night at 6:30 for dinner, and I can´t really go out after that. The 12 year old daughter Rubi is my best friend in the house. We watch Jeff Corwin together and eat Nutella and animal crackers.

" The food is okay. Sometimes it is really good, but I am really sick of white rice. The grossest thing I´ve been served so far is soup with 3 chicken feet floating in it. I ate the soup, but I didn´t even try the chicken feet. Some of the people in the group have tried guinea pig, but I have thus far avoided that. Since I don´t have control over what I eat for breakfast and dinner (my host family makes it for me) I have picked up some bad habits. When I get a chance to buy what I want, I will get ice cream, or cookies, or bread. Hopefully I will drop that bad habit when I have more control over my diet.

" 2 people from our training group have left already. One girl left after the first week, I guess because she missed her boyfriend or something. Then another guy left after the second week because of a weird medical reason. Maybe he can return later. So now there are 33 of us.

" This week and last week have been a little bit more exciting because of strikes and road blocks. I guess people are protesting the free trade agreement that Ecuador is negotiating with the US, and I think the public works people want more money, and people are protesting against Occidental, a US owned petroleum company. I haven´t witnessed any anti-American sentiment, but the giant trees, rocks, and burning tires in the middle of the road have made it impossible to get to some places. Yesterday we had to walk through a roadblock that had just been cleared after our general meeting. There were 7 of us trainees, and one of the language facilitators. We were totally fine, but it was a little scary walking by the police wearing full riot gear and holding tear gas and semi-automatic weapons. We didn´t have any problems in the morning because we left really early. Our bus drove over a tire in the middle of the road, and after we passed it, someone poured lighter fluid on it. I am not sure how long the roadblocks and strikes will last. I´m not scared for my safety or anything, I am just worried that we won´t be able to go on our site visits next week. I think the Peace Corps people are going to make a decision about that tomorrow.

" I am getting used to washing my clothes by hand and taking bucket baths. At least the water is warm! Plus I fought and won my first major battle against fleas. And I haven´t gotten sick yet, so that´s good.

" We went on our first trip the other week to Mindo and Pedro Vicente Maldonado. We went to a frog zoo (saposauria) and a wildlife rehabilitation center and hiked through a cloud forest, so that was cool.

" I´m so glad I got a cell phone. I get to talk to Pierre 2-4 times a week, and I make my family and Cindy call me once every 2 weeks, whether they want to or not...

" Just about every other day I talk to someone on the bus, or at a school, and I am always amazed at how friendly and kind people are. I am getting used to attracting more attention from people, though 3 of the girls in the group have told me that they think I am the only one in our training group that could pass as an Ecuadorian. Most people just want to know where I´m from, what I´m doing in Ecuador.

" Thanks for all your supportive emails, letters, and calls! It means a lot to me. Thanks also for telling me that you´re proud of me. I don´t think I´ve done much yet, but hopefully I will do something more productive in the next 2 years other than support the ice cream, bread and cookie industry of Ecuador and get 12 year olds addicted to Nutella. =)

" Email or write back when you get a chance! Sorry for the mass email. The strikes have made it harder for me to have regular email access, but I know I owe some people personal emails and I will write back soon =)

" Mucho amor,
Ariana"