National Protests:
Hola a todos! Thought I'd give an update on the current political situation here in Ecuador. As of last Thursday president Lenin Moreno released/announced a "paquetazo" consisting of multiple changes in the country of Ecuador consisting of double gas prices that will ultimately make everything more expensive here. Additionally, he cut the vacation days of government workers from 30 days per year to 15. Apparently these cuts have been made since Ecuador is in a huge debt to other countries including China, and the moral behind the president's decision is to help with paying back loans Ecuador has taken from other countries. The citizens of Ecuador have since been protesting this decision by the president as of Thursday October 3rd. These protest have consisted of "paro's," or road blockades with burning tires and trees in the street and some have turned violent such as the bigger cities (Guayaquil/Quito), and many bus companies have stopped running. This has created complications with transportation and lack of buses for people to move throughout the country.
Last Thursday we were supposed to have a meeting/training in Riobamba which ended up being cancelled, so my site mate Mary and I ended up getting stranded in Baños for the weekend, which I can't complain since it's a beautiful place. We were very safe in Baños, it was just more towards the town of Riobamba that people could not pass. Thankfully yesterday, Sunday, we were able to catch a bus back to our homes near Tena. Unfortunately many tourists we met were having difficulty getting to Quito to catch flights for their continued vacations. I am now back home and at work, however schools are also being closed. I have planned this week "charlas" at 6 schools in the communities, however will not be able to give them if this "paro" and protest continues. The Peace Corps has a protocol for national emergencies, and we are currently on Standfast, which means we are not allowed to leave our sites for safety purposes until today at noon, when we will receive an update. It's anticipated that protests may worsen as the indigenous population are making their way to the big cities to further protest.
My Projects/Work:
On a lighter note, the last few weeks have been successful in continuing to implement my project Cómo Planear Mi Vida. The last few weeks we talked about Self-Esteem and Healthy Relationships, and this week will continue with talking about Gender Roles (if the schools aren't closed). But overall it's been good- some of the schools are more challenging than others regarding how well kids are listening, but have found that the little guys are super interested and excited about learning :). Hopefully we can continue this week, otherwise I'll continue my "charlas" at the Adulto's Mayores (Senior) club! The other week we discussed high blood pressure, and hoping to talk with them about diabetes this week!
Additionally, since the last post, I had the opportunity to help my coworkers with the preparation of a typical Amazonian dish called Maito de Tilapia. Often times in communities here if something happens to someone and needs money (example medical costs), then everyone works together to fundraise for the family. In this case, a two-year-old had fallen two stories and was hospitalized, so since I work for Disarrollo Social, we were in charge of leading the fundraiser. Maito de Tilapia is a dish that consists of putting tilapia inside of large leaves collected from the jungle called bijao. The night before, we went to one of the communities and collected over 300 leaves for the making of the tilapia, and bought yucca from one of the locals. We started at about 0800 in the morning, and as a group, we peeled yucca, cleaned the fish, and chopped up the tomatoes and onion for the typical Ecuadorian "salad." In order to make the maito, you wrap tilapia covered in salt in the bijao leaf, tie it together with toquilla, another local plant that is also used to make the Panama Hats I talked about in a prior post from when I was in my pre-service training. Once the fish was wrapped up, we put it on a grill over charcoal to cook. The maito is served with yucca and salad as well as a traditional amazonian tea called Huayusa. Very yummy :).
Life outside of Work/Others:
Regarding my daily life, my site mate Mary and I have started a workout plan at my house since we don't have a gym at our site. We have collected various rocks of different sizes since we both like lifting weights, and have been trying to stay fit that way! It's been fun!
This last weekend we made the most of being stuck in Baños, and did a lot of adventuring! It was extra nice since Baños is normally a very touristy town, but with all the transportation issues, tourists were not able to come to Baños, and tourists were trying to get out! So, all the normally populated sites were almost empty or had little tourists. Our first full day we went to Casa del Arbol by hiking up a mountain, which took about 3.5 hours or so. We followed the route on my app maps.me and the trail was a mixture of a trail through the fincas and the local road up the mountain. At the top, there is a view of the volcano Chimborazo (unfortunately was covered by clouds), but nonetheless it was a gorgeous sunny day and at the top of the hike, there is a tree house with swings with an incredible view overlooking the mountains! The last time I was there, there were a ton of tourists but this time there were only maybe another 15 people up there, so it was nice and peaceful!
Later on, our hostel had a billiards/pool tournament which we won. We stayed at Selina's hostel which had some amazing staff! And later enjoyed some dancing since we don't go out much where we live since it's a small town.
Saturday we got the notification that we should try to return to our town and leave Baños, however it wasn't possible to catch a bus, so we ended up staying an extra day/night filled with biking around town. Met some great tour guides who were helpful with our transportation issues and ended up making some other great friends through the tour agency! And of course had to dance some salsa the last night in Baños, which was a blast! Finally Sunday we were able to catch an early bus that was available going towards Tena, and we made it back safely with no problems. However, today once again the protest continues and transportation is limited, thus we are not permitted to leave our "site." Hopefully by the end of the day we will have some more information as to what the situation in the country is. Until then, will keep working as usual in Arosemena
Disclaimer:
“The content of this website is mine alone and does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or the Ecuadorian Government.”