When May 26 Became Important

For many people the Gregorian calendar (hint that is the name of the calendar you all use every day) is the way you count years.  But something happens when you become a Peace Corps Volunteer.  You no longer count years starting on January 1st but on the day you left the United States, for me May 26th.  My calendar now revolves around May 26th.

So today marks one year since I have left the states. 12 months in Ecuador. To commemorate this year (a year literally incomparable to any past years) this morning while eating breakfast, most notably an egg and piece of bread which will also be my dinner (please refer to  living poor if you don’t understand), I made a list of the first 12 thoughts that come to my mind about being a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador.

  1. This country is the most beautiful country I have ever laid eyes on, landscape and people. The coast, mountains, and the Amazon in one country. In one day you could leave the coast and end up in the Amazon. And the people are loving and caring. They have the most generous hearts I have ever met.
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  2. I have more patience that I ever thought imaginable. I am now an expert at regular five hour meetings. When I hear “ya mismo”, I know I will have to wait anywhere from five minutes to eight hours.
  3. Roller coaster of emotions (almost like the weather in Michigan, every single season in one day). One minute happy, the next sad, the next tired.
  4. Diarrhea, diarrhea, and more diarrhea. When will it stop? How many more times do I have to shit in a cup for you to know I have parasites?
  5. Work is not work when it is something you love. I absolutely adore my job. And work will consist of things you never imagined you would be doing aka making gardens out of organic waste, doing puppet shows, and finger painting? Yeah, that’s my job.
  6. Manual. I cut grass with a machete, not an automatic lawn mower. I arrive to work every morning by walking, not by an automatic car. I make pancakes from scratch, not from the Aunt Jemimia box that only asks you to add water.
  7. Personable. “Hi how are you” is an actual invitation to talk about your life, not just a polite gesture to notice someone’s existence. People do not communicate via phone or email, they walk to their house to chat. And they are real, very real conversations.
  8. Slow. It is okay to take an hour out of my day and just read a book. It is okay to spend two hours eating dinner with my family, because why not. Life is slower. There is time in the day because I am not running around worrying about things that are not important…
  9. Not everything is important. If everything is important, then nothing is important. What is not important; what clothes you wear, if you have the newest iPhone, how much money you make. What is important, depends on you.
  10. Love. I am utterly fascinated by the people in this world and how we have the capability to love one another so deeply without speaking the same language, coming from the same culture, or even living a similar lifestyle.
  11. If you never say “yes”, you will miss out. I could have said no, I don’t want to adopt a dog. Then I wouldn’t have my best friend in Ecuador. I could have said no, when I was woken up at 6am by my host family to go on a trip. Then I wouldn’t have had one of the best days of my year in Ecuador. I could have said no to the ride with five complete strangers who knew me from López because of my dog but I had never seen them. Then I wouldn’t have ever known the amazing friends I have now.
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  12. This was one of the best decisions I have made. There are a lot of highs and many lows that make you consider why you chose to join Peace Corps. I left my family, my friends, and my home in the states. But by leaving I gained so much more than I could have ever imagined; two more families, government issued friends (the best kind of friends there are), Ecuadorean friends, a new home, and a new self.

So here’s to the next year in Ecuador, may it be as wonderful as the first.

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