Perks of the Peace Corps.

Wednesday, First day of my class
This morning Estella and I discussed the presentation I will give next week concerning the bench/tree project. The project has gone from a couple hundred dollars to around four thousand in the past few weeks. I hope it gets approved! We also discussed the trash project. There are some meetings scheduled next week to talk to the big players in town about what to with their trash. From there, we will reach out to the rest of the people.
We then started talking about the town dogs. Some have owners and some do not. Well, those are the only two options, obviously. I did my best to explain leash laws, collars with names/addresses and the concept of a dog pound/catcher. She liked the idea but thinks some of them will never happen. We agreed that I should go ahead with researching it and doing a feasibility study.
Then it was time to call the people who said they would attend my super-fantastic-informative marketing class. Not one person of the twenty answered. Given it was around lunch time, but still. This got me worried that I would have similar experiences other PCVs have had when they give their first class; a big goose egg for the number of people in attendance.
I ran from the Junta to the class room down the hill in the pouring rain with my laptop and their projector and still managed to get totally soaked. So now I smell like a wet dog and look like one. When I arrived at the Community center I was given a janitor’s size key ring to figure out which key would open the classroom. After going through every key, I used a trick I learned back in my college years. I whipped out my handy-dandy Red Cross card, slid it through the door crack and turned the knob. Abra kadabra, the door opened.
I would not have done this is anyone was around. I would not want them to think I have had a questionable or shady past life as a thief. However, I could tell them without lying that I learned that trick from a successful entrepreneur and one of my closest friends. There is need for anyone to know it was Tim who taught me the trick.
I tried every outlet in the joint and not one functioned. Shit. Game time decision. I would have to use my laptop screen for the PowerPoint. Great, only 40 minute left on my computer battery. With some time to kill, I went to purchase an ice cream bar to clear my thoughts and get ready to teach my first class in Spanish, and in general.
4:15pm three women show up for my class. I was a little surprised, considering it was still raining. One of the women works for herself, another works at a local hostel and the last one is currently looking for work.
The class went pretty well all things considered. I was also informed by one of the students how to make the outlets work at the end of my class. Thank goodness because she said 20 people are coming to my next class…
COUP
Walking down my street back from the Junta seeing kids playing in the street and towns people going out there daily business was strange site today. Their president had just been attacked by the national police because he cut their benefits in half and stopped promotions. Quito, the capital is in complete anarchy along with several other cities. I have yet to see the news, but when I got to my local tienda to get supplies, I saw the news. Chaos, tear gas and tire fires were all I saw. The tienda owner suggested I buy a few beers and get drunk and lay low. I heeded his wise advice and loaded my bag with Doritos and beers. He also told me a Co-op bank down the road was robbed, along with a hardware store. Well, I guess my sleepy town did not want to miss out on the lack of police either.
Later in the day I would peak out my windows expecting rioters with pitchforks. Thank god there were none, just some kids playing on push carts. Much safer. As the day carried on, the situation seemed to get worse and worse. I got word that the airports were taken over by the striking police (what is our exit strategy now?).
9pm there was a shoot out outside of the hospital the president was held up in between police and the striking police. Details are confusing, hard to tell what is real and what is not. What I do know is that the Peace Corps. was on top of this and had every PCV accounted for very quickly and has been giving us updates and instructions. I feel very comfortable with their efforts to keep us safe.
Friday, Day two
I woke up to read the news on CNN and found this “After the meeting [of Latin American Leaders] Chavez accused the U.S of being behind the unrest in Ecuador. ‘The Yankee extreme right is trying right now, through arms and violence, to retake control of the continent,’ Chavez said.”
Now I am little worried seeing as I am American as it gets and I have a big American flag hanging in my window. We have been ordered by the PC to stay in our sites “until the end of the ‘Estado de Exception’ which at this moment is set for a one-week period.”
My bottle of Johnnie Walker is running low and they do not sell it in my site. Sigh.
On a completely unrelated note, I enjoy the sound of the rain on my metal roof.
Lastly, I am in a need of some new songs to learn on my guitar. Please, post suggestions!