Book News

So, in case you've been waiting on the edge of your seat, here's my books news. I finished 'Seeing' by Saramago and I hated it. I started and finished 'La Aventura del Tocador de Señoras' by the Catalan author Eduardo Mendoza, and I loved it. I'm now reading a collection of travel essays called 'The Best American Travel Writing' edited by Bill Bryson, which seems good so far. In case you're keeping track, I've made it to somewhere around 30 books read during my Peace Corps service (in addition to the 20-some Newsweeks that I've read cover-to-cover). The only sad thing is that this whole 'work' business is starting to slow down my reading pace. Anyone have an electronic speed-reading course they could send me?

In other news, I had a 'Reconnect' conference in the jungle last week and was able to get a couple days of Kichwa classes in there. That was exciting and has inspired me to keep studying my Kichwa materials. Sumakmi! (loose translation of 'cool' in Kichwa) I'll get some pictures of the Reconnect talent show on here one of the days.

Just so that none of you worry if my blog posts start to slow down, I thought I'd let you know that my ability to come to Riobamba to check email and such has been resticted by a new (temporary) policy in which I have to ask permission from Peace Corps every time I leave my site (in other words, any time I walk more than 3 blocks in any direction from my house). Grounded!

My "Job Decription"

Well, this is officially my 51st blog post...that's a lot of blogging. That's approximately 8 blog posts per month, 2 per week, not bad. I hope you've all enjoyed the first 50 and will enjoy the following 3000 posts even more (If I ever get to 3000 posts, someone please shoot me, or pay me lots of money for it). Anyhow, I've realized that very few of you have any idea of what I've been doing down here in my 'job' in Licto. The reason for that is that I only write about the interesting parts of my life down here, and work hasn't really been all that interesting compared to volcanoes, jungles, and the like. So, in light of this I decided to post a bio I recently had to submit to Peace Corps of what I've been doing for the last 4 months in my site (coming up on 5). So, in short, here's what I've been doing in Licto, Riobamba, Chimborazo, Ecuador, South America (those aren't various locations, that's just the long version of where I live):

As of August 2006, Ryan has been living and working in the province of Chimborazo in the small, semi-indigenous town of Licto. On the outskirts of Cantón Riobamba, nearly all economic activity in Licto is of an agricultural nature. With very few family farms able to invest in mechanized equipment, low productivity keeps most families at a level of subsistence farming. From child workers who daily go to Riobamba to sell candy or shine shoes to adolescents and adults who go as far as Quito, the United States or Europe in search of better living conditions, migration is becoming a major problem in Licto.
Ryan has been spending most of his time collaborating with INNFA (Instituto Nacional de la Niñez y la Familia) in and around Licto. INNFA, a non-governmental organization, provides impoverished families with scholarships which allow their children to finish their high school-level studies. INNFA employs hundreds of educators across Ecuador, who, in addition to the administrative collaboration with scholarship families, also develop youth groups in marginal communities, both urban and rural. One of Ryan’s primary work areas has been that of helping these youth cope with the daily problems they face, from the threat of coyoterismo (human trafficking) to a simple lack of employable skills. Ryan works with youth groups within Licto and in nearby indigenous communities to help them gain skills which will make them more attractive to potential future employers, including basic information technology skills and life skills. In addition, Ryan has recently presented a proposal to a local high school-level academy to begin giving talks on sexual education to a group of at-risk adolescents in the academy. In addition to his work with youth, he has also been working in the area of micro-finance, facilitating the successful operation and growth of community banks in and around Licto.
Ryan also recently began developing a strategy to improve the availability of public computers and internet in Licto and its surrounding indigenous communities. The lack of information technology knowledge among Licto’s population undermines their search for greater employment opportunities. Ryan’s endeavor to combat this weakness includes both soliciting grants for the purchase of hardware and the development of sustainable frameworks under which these systems can operate in the long-term.

So, if any of you are interested in this type of work, come on down and help or sign up for Peace Corps.
Disclaimer: My work is by no means what all Peace Corps Volunteers do, even within Ecuador, but it's also not anything that's never been done before by a Peace Corps volunteer.

Mark Twain

So I finally finished Mark Twain's 500-page travelogue about Europe and the Holy Land, The Innocents Abroad. In the last chapter there was a quote that I really liked and I figured I'd share it with you all:

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

Anyways, I don't think a commentary is necessary so I'll leave it at that.

I'm now reading "Seeing" by José Saramago (thanks for the Christmas present, Dan) which is supposedly the sequel to "Blindness". So far it's slightly above mediocre, I'm hoping it'll pick up...

Colombian Holidays

So you got a brief summary of my holidays in Colombia in my last blog entry, but now that I'm back home and have had a few minutes to get my proverbial act together, here are some photos to fill in the blanks of my last blog. (Note: if you've ever done photo-linking in blogger you'll know how much a pain it is to get photos in the right order, so ignore the order of these photos).

Sisters Annette and Daniela pose on New Year's Eve.

In case you thought I wasn't doing anything worthwhile during my time in Ecuador, here's a little something I've picked up...

The young'ns of the group all decked out before midnight

The dads of the gorup had the brilliant idea of getting a picture of the gringo with a bunch of beautiful Colombian girls. I will be forever grateful to the dads...

The grandma of the family we celebrated New Year's with (in other words, not Dan's grandma). Contrary to the typical laws of genetic heredity, this dear woman was able to pass on every OUNCE of good-looking genes down to these 6 beautiful grand-daughters.

This is my Cary Grant "I'm cool" shot. I also look way more like my brother Aaron than I ever realized.

Last year I forgot to get a photo with Dan's mom in it. This year I made sure that didn't happen. Dan's mom (Sonia) on the left and a friend of the family who spent the week with us in Peñalisa (Carmen Beatriz).

The young'ns again, playing Mexican-train dominoes, our favorite activity of the week.
From L to R: Me, Nicole, Dan, Veronica, Nico (Dan's bro), Camilo (Dan's other bro), Carlos Guillermo, Annette, Andrea, Daniela, and Jessica

The dads playing Liar's Dice for hours in the pool...cigars and whiskey included.

We didn't agree on making weird faces for this pictures, we both just think on the same wavelength...

Dan, in his house in Bogotá, with his Airdale Terrier, Sasha (who, despite Dan's opinion, is not as good of a dog as Killu...also, let be known that while Sahsa is cute, she's not as cute as Killu)

Dan's family: Nico, Dan, Sonia, Germán, Camilo

Hanging with Dan and friends in Bogotá: Me, María Claudia, Mariana, Dan