Well, everybody, the time has finally come…I am currently three days away from flying off the Kazakhstan for two years with the Peace Corps. I know that I haven’t been in the country for long (roughly ten days between Ecuador and Kazakhstan…a new record even for me in regards to traveling) and that there are a lot of people who I should have called or connected with while I’ve been home but life has been more than crazy lately. So I apologize in advance if I don’t see you for 27+ months.
A lot of people have been asking me about my time in Ecuador so I decided that instead of boring you with a list of all of the American junk food I’ve been eating for the last ten days (which is literally the only way I have been preparing for my next trip…you should see the state of my room if you don’t believe me) that I would instead write a little bit about my time in Ecuador.
Ecuador and the Amazon Rainforest were INCREDIBLE. I spent five weeks living, working, and volunteering with a program called GVI (Global Vision International, check them out) and doing environmental research. We worked primarily with maintaining and updated a species list for the reserve and focused mainly on birds, butterflies, and amphibians. We also did vegetation mapping (my absolute favorite), TEFL, and GPS surveys. It was a group of about 25-30 people with a mixture of British, American, Ireland, Scotland, S. Africa, Ecuador, and the Isle of Man, so we experienced our own forms of culture shock. One of the biggest difference was between American and British English which was a running debate the entire 5 weeks I was there. I still maintain that Americans say “puma” correctly (suck it Britain, haha).
One of the most memorable experiences while I was there (of which there are hundreds) was the night Sam fell off a waterfall. It was during our second week at base camp, when we were conducting satellite camps (which is basically where a small group of volunteers goes out into the jungle and camps for the night. You sleep in jungle hammocks and take a night walk to look for amphibians). Most of us were on base camp when we get a call that someone had fallen off the waterfall (which I think was about 50 meters) and that we all needed to gear up, with a spinal board, to carry him out of the rainforest. The entire experience was one of the craziest, difficult, rewarding, and meaningful experiences of my life. Our entire group went above and beyond the call of duty, worked as a flawless machine, and put every ounce of strength we had into making sure our friend made it out of the jungle safely. There were times when it was so muddy that everyone kept losing balance and began to fall over and that is when the people who were not currently carrying Sam would literally be our footholds in the mud. I cannot express in words the love and respect I have for our group that night. And we were all shocked when we finally got out of the jungle and realized that we had been working for over 4 hours–it felt like 30 min. Tops.
But I have hundreds of other moments that I could bring up but for the sake of time I’m not going to. Feel free to check out my facebook photo album for some of the cooler/better of my photos and always feel free to e-mail me about Ecuador (or any of my overseas adventures, Europe, Morocco, etc).
Before I sign out I do want to briefly mention my upcoming trip and what I will be doing there. As many of you know, I am joining the Peace Corps for two years and moving to Kazakhstan to be an English teacher. It is a goal that I have been working towards for the last two years and something that means a lot to me. It feels weird to finally be at the precipice you have worked so hard to come to–I’m still having a hard time believing that it’s finally here. I’m very excited for my trip and I’m actually really glad that it’s coming so closely on the heels of my last international adventure. Its kept me from sitting around bemoaning the fact I’m no longer in the Amazon and it allows me to remind myself what type of person I am.
I began this blog to keep everyone updated on my time in K-stan (otherwise I’m not the biggest fan of creating my own blog, but, when in Central Asia, right?) and I hope to update it as much as possible. I will miss all of you, but I have skype, I have a webcam, I should have pretty consistent internet, so that is no reason not to keep in touch! And, of course, you can always mail me things!!!!
Peace and Love
I'm a firm believer in smiles and travelling. The combination of the two has led me to some pretty crazy places over the last few years and now its sending me to Kazakhstan with the Peace Corps!
