One of my first memories here in Ecuador was sitting on the bus ride from Quito to Cayambe, heading to our training site. Looking out the window all I could see is run down buildings, dirty streets and a sad lot of people. I remember thinking, “What did I get myself into?” How would I be to handle all of this? Two years, impossible!
I’ve made it. Two years later I am here. I am still telling of my misadventures here in Ecuador. I have weathered the storms. I have seen the good and bad in people. I have seen the good and bad in myself. I like to think I have come out of this Ecuadorian life of mine a changed (for the better) person.
Was I the most successful volunteer in my time here? The answer is probably a no. However, I fulfilled my personal goals of Peace Corps. It is easy to look back on the entire experience and regret the things that have and have not happened. I could have tried harder to do this, or I could have worked with that group. I have given it all an honest shot, even though I feel that many times is not enough.
The past is past. I need to enjoy the remaining time I have left here. Now, I get to look forward to the next step of my life. A future that is now open to many possibilities. One that is filled with many new friends and my own menagerie of stories to share with everyone.
I guess this is the end of this blog. It has been my journal during my time here. I thank you all for listening to my stories from Ecuador. With that I leave you with the quote from where the name of my blog comes from, “It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy. Let’s go exploring!”
And one last shameless plug for the new Peace Corps website that my friends have gone and made:
http://www.projectsforpeaceecuador.org
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Casi Estoy
Over 2 years in Ecuador. Very little time to go. Excitement building. Updates lacking.
I would like to share some unfinished blog entries that I started to write but I felt were fully capable of being a blog entry on their own. They are somewhat random, but they show some different, weird thoughts that have passed through my mind in the time I have been here.
Bastards
There are honest, decent human beings out there. Everywhere. It really is not too hard to find the good ones. No matter what one- and quite possibly several- person appreciates the work you are doing. Work may be something seemingly trivial or insignificant, but people do appreciate it. In my case, I have a handful of people who are truly grateful for what I have been doing here. Those decent souls are not my problem; the negative individuals seem to be. For every positive person or compliment I receive, the indecency and idiocy of the one person seems to trump all the good.
Personal growth
Is it possible to measure one's own growth as a human being? Sure, there have been many experiences here to shape and change me, but I feel as though I am still the same person as when I started. Reading old entries of blogs and other letters, I do realize that I have learned a great deal while here in Ecuador. I cannot say definitively if I am a different person than when I started. I would like to believe that I have grown, but I guess I will need the opinions of others to formulate the correct answer.
Life and Decisions
It is easy to think of our lives as a straight line. Point A to Point B. A being birth. B being death. The line encompasses all events, significant or not. For some people the line may not seem straight. It may feel like a twisting road, not seeing the one event around the bend. For me life is a reversed NCAA bracket. Birth starts at the championship game. One line. Working backwards from there, we hit a fork in the road. The fork is Decision 1, Decision 2, up to Decision N. What we choose from this set of decisions starts us down a new path. These splits and separate paths fill me with several questions. What is along that other path? Did I choose the right decision at this or that fork? What events in my life have been those splitting moments on my timeline?
I would like to share some unfinished blog entries that I started to write but I felt were fully capable of being a blog entry on their own. They are somewhat random, but they show some different, weird thoughts that have passed through my mind in the time I have been here.
Bastards
There are honest, decent human beings out there. Everywhere. It really is not too hard to find the good ones. No matter what one- and quite possibly several- person appreciates the work you are doing. Work may be something seemingly trivial or insignificant, but people do appreciate it. In my case, I have a handful of people who are truly grateful for what I have been doing here. Those decent souls are not my problem; the negative individuals seem to be. For every positive person or compliment I receive, the indecency and idiocy of the one person seems to trump all the good.
Personal growth
Is it possible to measure one's own growth as a human being? Sure, there have been many experiences here to shape and change me, but I feel as though I am still the same person as when I started. Reading old entries of blogs and other letters, I do realize that I have learned a great deal while here in Ecuador. I cannot say definitively if I am a different person than when I started. I would like to believe that I have grown, but I guess I will need the opinions of others to formulate the correct answer.
Life and Decisions
It is easy to think of our lives as a straight line. Point A to Point B. A being birth. B being death. The line encompasses all events, significant or not. For some people the line may not seem straight. It may feel like a twisting road, not seeing the one event around the bend. For me life is a reversed NCAA bracket. Birth starts at the championship game. One line. Working backwards from there, we hit a fork in the road. The fork is Decision 1, Decision 2, up to Decision N. What we choose from this set of decisions starts us down a new path. These splits and separate paths fill me with several questions. What is along that other path? Did I choose the right decision at this or that fork? What events in my life have been those splitting moments on my timeline?
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