Electronic beeping pulls me from a dream involving lots of snow, and I blindly grope around my pillow for my phone, randomly pressing buttons until the noise stops. I turn over and curl up again under my heavy blankets, savoring the warmth for a few more minutes. When I open my eyes I can see beams of light streaming through the chinks in my door and single window. Knowing I won´t have the willpower much longer to get out of bed, I throw off the covers and hop over to the light switch. Changing into running clothes, I open my door to bright sun and a town already awake. The run up the mountain is painful, but the view at the top and downhill descent are well worth my sore muscles. A hot shower followed by a steaming cup of coffee (sadly, instant. Quality coffee is hard to come by here in Ecuador. Go figure.) complete my morning routine.
Sound like a typical morning in the coast of Ecuador?
No?
Well, that´s because it isn´t.
Wait a second, you say, wasn´t the plan to spend the next two years enjoying the beach and sun? It was, until an unfortunate incident caused the evacuation of all of the volunteers in my area, and a change of site for me. In a matter of two days I found myself temporarily homeless in Quito, with a hastily packed suitcase and the knowledge that I would probably never see my host family or new friends again. After two longs weeks in Ecuador´s capital I found a new home: high in the Andes and as cold as the coast is hot. Hello again to fleeces (slightly moldy and musty after a month in storage), Spanish I can actually understand, and the campo shuffle.
In my new home I don´t live with a host family. Instead, I share an old house with the director of the local school and her two year old daughter.
My bedroom is downstairs, she sleeps upstairs, and we both share a kitchen and bathroom with the father of our landlady (whose house this used to be until his wife died and he became too frail to live on his own), who you can find shuffling slowly around the property on his crutches. He and I apparently have the same schedule, and you can bet that when I need to use the bathroom it´s already occupied. I think he shaved for about two hours yesterday, emerging from the bathroom only when I had given up hope of a shower before catching the bus to Quito.
The kitchen is outfitted with a full size fridge, oven and stove, microwave, toaster, and plenty of counter space, which I put to good use as I spend a ridiculous amount of time cooking, baking , and listening to world cup games on an ancient radio. One perk of living independently is the ability to make my own food (adios to white rice three times a day!),which has been a source of amusement and curiosity on the part of my landlady, who usually finds the time to drop by during breakfast or dinner to see what´s cooking.Starting over in a new site is tough, and I´m still in the process of once again convincing myself that I can live and work for the next two years in my new home, which not only differs climatically from the coast but culturally as well. My month at my old site taught my at least one thing, which is what to expect those first few weeks on my own in an unknown place!
