Last weekend Omnibus 102 had their official Midservice Conference. All 32 (oh no, I've lost count of how many 102ers are left...) ... 32ish ... volunteers met up in Quito for a 3-day conference. First....
Prior to the conference, my %$@* awesome (sorry, inside joke) friend mentioned jumping a 70 foot waterfall to celebrate our mid-point and relieve some stress before going to sit in meetings for three days. It was the best idea ever -- we spent the day 'camioneta surfing', and zip-lining 13 separate lines over the canopies of the sub-tropic Mindo. Then, before sundown, fit in waterfall jumping, swimming and water slides (the kind that end 15 feet above the river and spit you out at terrifying velocities). The waterfall jump was no joke either, the 40 year old man after us took a good 15 minutes (and lots of name calling from his friends) to JUMP. Of course, the day was finished with some Pilsner and a 2 hour ride back to Quito - where we had no seats and squeezed into small corners and ledges on the packed bus.
Midservice marked our mid-point, although technically we've already been in site 13.5 months, and we have our COS (Close of Service) Conference next April ... which means only 6 more months of "work". We had an "Open House", where we got to see everyone's work/ projects/ and a little more about their site and how they've spent the last 13.5 months in site. I was so impressed by everyone's work, and how much people have been able to relate to their communities and make an impact on the people around them. Several people are talking about a third year ... we'll see where they stand in another 6 months. Some of the coolest projects I saw - an HIV and AIDS theater (written, directed) by a PCV, volunteers who are "Wide Awake" and have found a spiritual calmness over the past year, Volunteers putting on community-wide concerts, teaching swimming lessons, starting small businesses ... I could go on for awhile...
Right after we finished Midservice, when I was getting ready to go to the bus terminal, we were told "NOT leave the city and to return to the office". There was some civic unrest in Ecuador ... it was pretty crazy actually. The national police were on strike, they kidnapped the president and were holding him hostage in a hospital. We (my omnibus and some other PCVs) stayed at the PC Office for a few hours, and then we were put in a hostel for the night. People were saying that we were going to have to stay there for a week!!! The hospital where the president was being held was just over a kilometer from our hostel!! We could hear gun shots outside, and then watch the live shoot-out on TV (the had the entire thing live on a local government channel). Even with all this chaos though, Dominos was still delivering - they even had a "Police Riot Special" on their pizza all night long. The military saved the President before midnight and everything returned to "normal" after that. There were a lot of loitering that went on in the bigger cities... but Guaranda is too tranquillo - everyone said the police are too lazy to organize a riot. We all returned to our sites the next day, and except for the fact that we can't travel right now, everything is back to normal.
Now, I'm back in site (we're under 'no-travel' law). Being back is good, but it's been stressful... I have less than a year left ... what do I continue? What can I drop? What is going to succeed? What's worth my time? What do I still want to do before I leave Ecuador (climb Cotopaxi, hike Quilatoa Loop, visit Tena and Esmereldas, climb)???
Sorry, no pics form these adventures (I really need to get better at this, I know my blogs aren't THAT interesting....) Hope you're well - love and miss!
