Sunday
Hey everyone! It’s Sunday morning and all grey outside my window, so there aren’t many prospects for sight seeing today. It’s a pity, yesterday was absolutely beautiful but I spent the day in Quito. Still, I enjoyed the weather and walked around the city, going to outdoor markets (I found an Ecuadorian natural foods store!! Cool!! And I bought a house plant, fresh produce, and the third season of Grey’s Anatomy on DVD for $4.50!!), and finally watching the sun set on the terrace with my roommates and a bottle of vino. We made a little impromptu fiesta with a miniscule grill and sausages (veggie skewers for me), aguardiente, and LOTS of dancing by tiki torch light. Vali started salsa dancing with me and she’s a really good lead dancer. I made a little treat out of cornflakes and chocolate that everyone enjoyed - everyone being my roommates, one of their sisters and her boyfriend, and a mutual friend, “El Gordo”. Oh, and I forgot the yappy little dog, Agatha, who does NOT seem to be a fan of terrace dance parties. So it was a good night for all minus Agatha.
(Picture: Me with roommates)
Since tomorrow and Tuesday are holidays I hear it’s hard to find a place to stay or get a bus ticket at the last minute because EVERYONE leaves town for Carnaval and goes to the beach where it is sunny and warm. But, tomorrow I have last-minute plans to go to Mindo with some people I met through my roommates. I’ve really got to work on planning ahead for my vacation days so I can take advantage of my time off to visit the rest of Ecuador. There is so much to do and see in Ecuador that I will have plenty to do without going to any other countries.
This week at work was pretty uneventful. Two co-workers got sick. I made a couple of spreadsheets, read disturbing facts about violence against women (VAW), filled out some forms, and spent most of my time preparing a presentation on Results Based Management (RMB) for everyone in my area so that we are all on the same page during the planning phase that is coming up. At the end of the month we are having a two day office retreat for working on the plans made by each area and “team building”. I think that’ll be pretty fun. But I have to say, about this RMB thing, I don’t really enjoy learning about management techniques. I know they are probably important, but I just don’t like them. So, I’m just looking forward to the coming months when I will be able to do some real work in the office, like having my own projects to coordinate. In the meantime, I’m doing pretty fine with the little tasks they give me to keep me busy. I’m still learning a lot, and that’s what I’m here for.