Monday, February 17th, 2003
     Sheraton Hotel, Miami. A two-hour open registration began at 1PM. Various financial matters such as student loan deferments and life insurance policies were settled at this time. Process was very efficient. 4 hours of explanation and demystification of the Peace Corps followed in a nearby meeting room titled "Salon D." 3 instructors with 39 volunteers-to-be were present with 16 other volunteers snowed in at various airports of the northeastern US. In spite of our required dress casual clothing, the event was extremely laid back. The occasion doubled as a mixer and there were activities such as "drawing pictures representing our anxieties" and "finding the person in possession of the other half of typed proverbs" that were passed out among us.

     I found that several other volunteers also had reservations about committing to any organization run by the US government. Common denominators were: a skepticism of the government's true motives for running such a program as the Peace Corps; and a wariness of the bureaucratic grid locking and stonewalling typically associated with governmental agencies. So far, most everyone I've talked to is hostile towards the idea of proselytizing Americanism to the Ecuadorians. However, after 4 hours of scrutiny, I am convinced that the Peace Corps at least has its head in the right place. Instructors at the event drew a sharp distinction between "aid workers" and "development facilitators", railing, as it were, at the former. They seem to have genuine intentions not to be invasive, not to impose outsider prospective, and to assist in projects only after having been expressly invited by the host country. That's the theory anyway, I'm not saying there isn't room for covert political agendas. But the instructors didn't dodge any questions nor did i ever detect attempts to steer or dictate what their audience should think. Great efforts were made to this end. As far as I, and a handful of fellow skeptics can tell, The Peace Corps seems to be exactly who they profess to be -at least in Ecuador's environmental programs.

  Tuesday, February 18th, 2003
     More of the same dissemination of information but far less interesting. All issues were way over-talked. A video on how to manage the excessive attention our presence will stir up was arguably useful, but not much else was. After about 10 hours of this yapping, they finally gave us the logistics of our going to Quito.

  Wednesday, February 19th, 2003
     A series of well-orchestrated busses, planes, and baggage carts saw us arriving in Quito without incident. Peace corps people already in Ecuador stood outside the airport yelling "WOO!" as we exited the airport terminal, causing me immense irritation. Busses then took us to a convent 30 minutes away and down in elevation towards the coast. The convent was very cool, in my opinion. We'll be here a few days. The people we have met here have further inspired confidence in the competence and intentions of the Peace Corps. These people definitely have their heads on straight. Some of us, of whom I am one, were given our own private bedrooms. The rest had 1 roommate. Several people here know other Peace Corps volunteers in other parts of the world, namely African countries. They ran a few horror stories past one of the people running the show here and he said it makes a big difference which country one is stationed in, as each can be run very differently. One should avoid Peace Corps in Kenya, I gathered.

  Thursday, February 20th, 2003
     All day throughout the convent: Language tests (in Spanish), medical interviews, blood drawn, valuables sent to safe, bank account forms filled out. Everyone received a briefcase full of first aid stuff. Malaria meds distributed. Later, there was a lecture on crime and terrorism given by some high-ranking governmental suit somehow linked with security and intelligence. He told us that we are considered "official Americans", and as such, he is required by law to come talk to us about crime, etc. He was shrewd and arrogant and exactly the kind of silver-tongued governmental snake I had been watching out for. The good news is that he clearly distained us, which is a good sign that the shady hacks in intelligence see us as worthless and would therefore be making no attempt to exploit our endeavors. I finally got a chance to slip away to a pay by the minute phone place. Calls to the US were something like 30 cents to place the call and 25 cents each minute.

  Friday, February 21st, 2003
      At this time in Ecuador, there are only 3 Peace Corps programs being put together. Everyone here is in one or the other. They are: Animal Production, Natural Resources, and Sustainable Agriculture. Today, each group met with their respective "tech trainers" to watch PowerPoint presentations about their future work. For unknown reasons, I wound up in Animal Production. Surprisingly enough, it looks very cool. "Animal Production" may center on animals (no animal(s) in particular) but it can involve plants or anything else you want to get into. There isn't any cut and dried job description. Our role is just to bring new eyes to old problems and try to get a little creative where perspectives have long calcified. The Peace Corps maintains a network of experienced people whose sole job is to be up our backsides with big smiles and all the necessary information. These people are both American and Ecuadorian. There seems to be no pressure to satisfy any agenda. There are no quotas. With modernization, the trend for many rural Ecuadorians has been to abandon the ways of life that had been passed down for generations and gravitate towards toxic pesticides, non-native livestock that are less hardy, and generally unsustainable ways of life. Their reward for this has been perpetual poverty, as for many; there is no education to compensate for all the complications their attempts at modernization have brought them. After what I've seen today, I'm convinced that at least the Peace Corps' environmental programs in Ecuador- if nowhere else- are 100% committed to improving the standard of living among rural agri-peoples, while at the same time slowing, if not halting, environmental degradation.

      I had originally feared that the Peace Corps might march into closed communities, herd all the locals into the streets and assign them new lives under the assumption they were "helping". But it's quite unlike that, I'm happy to report. The Peace Corps gringos here are not instruments of the corporate colonization, but are rather hell-bent on promoting greater health and autonomy. Kind of curious the US government allows this to continue. Maybe the empire needs a little P.R.?

  Saturday, February 22nd, 2003
      An assignment today had us searching thru a local marketplace for specific items. The market was bustling and had everything one could want, but was neither hectic nor without propriety. After this escapade, we were instructed to bus to one of the Peace Corps' medical officer's home for an all day health fare. We learned that Ecuador has all manner of disease and pestilence waiting to corrupt our health. Add to this, that dogs here are fairly out of their minds and will eventually force all of us to bust out an occasional can of whoop ass on them. 1 Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) per month is attacked by unhinged dogs.

      Also present at the health fair were several PCV's nearing the end of their terms in Ecuador who were there to dole out advice and tell us about how all the development theories we kick around have played out in their specific sites. Guinea pig was served at lunch. I knew what was coming when i smelled burnt hair in the kitchen. The rodent was splayed open like a mini bear rug with its mouth gaping open as if frozen in mid scream. I and a fellow cretin stood before the roached guinea pig and mocked it for being hideous, but most everyone else tried a piece.

  Sunday, February 23rd, 2003
      All the gringos left Quito by bus today for Santo Domingo. The ride was 3-4 hours long and the mountain scenery was top-drawer. The bus driver was clearly rabid and repeatedly passed other busses and trucks on blind curves where going off the road would have meant a substantial freefall.

      In Santo Domingo, I and 3 other gringos were handed over to our "language facilitator" (the Ecuadorian woman who would teach us Spanish) who was charged with getting us to our new homes. She took us by yet another bus to the nearby town of Buenos Aires, where we would be living for the next 3 months. The Ecuadorian woman knew nothing about where we were. She asked every person she came to for directions- even if they were only 50 feet away from the last one. Along the way, several locals warned us that the house where I was supposed to live was in a seriously dangerous neighborhood.

      The house, itself, looked ready to collapse. It was a filthy rubbish heap. I walked through the door and gave the 5 or 6 people present a hearty "Buenos dias!" They all looked at me for a moment and then went back to watching television without a word. After ignoring me for a long time, a girl walked in and asked me a question. I didn't understand and asked her to repeat it. She did, but I still couldn't understand. She threw up her arms histrionically and rushed out of the house. A man sitting nearby then shouted the same question at me, only extremely slowly, as if it were my stupidity and not their ghetto Spanish to blame. I didn't understand his rendition of the question so they all went back to ignoring me for another half hour or so. I was fuming at the Peace Corps for making such a careless selection of places to deposit a gringo. The people in this house weren't the slightest bit interested in the foreigner that had arrived. They were only interested in the money the Peace Corps would give them for tolerating me.

      When the Peace Corps vehicle arrived to deliver my suitcase, I told the 4 or so people inside it, in no uncertain terms, that I would not stay at this house. Had they proffered any resistance, I would've been on the next plane home. This was NOT a negotiation. They would undo their mistake or I would do it for them. The family was told I had to go speak to some other American who was elsewhere and I and my bags left in the vehicle.

      I then rode along to deliver the rest of the suitcases to the other towns where people were staying. Each person came to retrieve their bags with big smiles and couldn't say enough nice things about their new homes. A smiling and well-put-together Ecuadorian would then come down the path from the house to help carry stuff and away they would go. I watched the same scenario unfold 8 or more times. Vile people in rubbish heaps were not the norm.

      The PC vehicle then headed back to Santo Domingo to ask the top brass what to do with me. They sent me to a house in San Miguel, which was extremely upscale by Ecuadorian standards. I was more than pleased. The news began spreading thru town that another gringo had arrived and soon, 2 other gringos came to see who it was. They roared in celebration when I walked out of the house. They were in high spirits from the festive occasion our arrival had spawned. They listened to my brief explanation of what had happened and then immediately took me away on a whirlwind tour of the town. A few kids and a 60-year-old cartoon character of a woman took us laughing and shrieking up to anyone we saw. We entered homes and met kids and pets and parents and anything with a pulse.

      I arrived back at my house late and got stuck hanging out with visiting Ecuadorian family members, who if nothing else, were amused and inquisitive and friendly. They played along with the Spanish version of "Who wants to be a millionaire" until I dragged myself away to bed. I heard an unknown animal land atop my tin roof and fish around with its arm for a few minutes in the space between the wall and ceiling.

WEEK 2

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