Reflection Time

Here we are at the end of the year, the end of 2011. What a year, huh? Tsunamis and earthquakes and occupations and oil spills. Ridiculous. And also probably the most important event of the year: I LIVE IN ECUADOR NOW. How weird is that? It's been an overwhelming transition, but I'm so glad that it happened. I'm happy to be doing this. Of course there are days where I ask myself, "What in the hell was I thinking?!" But you know, those moments pass and then I avoid assessing major life decisions until the next unexpectedly sunny morning. It might not work, but it's my system.

I suppose starting the Peace Corps and all that is my big news of the year, but I also lived in Portland for the first 6 months of 2011, which was pretty fantastic. January through May was mostly filled with work (catering), more work (youth sheltering) and the occasional east-side karaoke excursion, but I also squeezed in trips to Wenatchee, Santa Barbara and New Orleans.

Anyway, to reflect upon 2011, I thought I'd make a list of things I learned or accomplished or things that are just sort of cool. Here are 20:

1. My Spanish is so much better than when I got here!!! Most of this has to do with confidence... and also not caring that I sound like a fool. This numero uno on the list because I have been learning/struggling with Spanish more or less since I was 9, so it really feels fantastic to be able to form sentences and have actual conversations.

2. I'm learning little bits of Kichwa. The indigenous people I use it with occasionally think its funny and endearing (I think). Ashi tutamanta! Good morning!

3. I've learned SO MUCH about maternal health and breastfeeding and baby foods and child development in the first 4 months here its ridiculous... and I just keep reading more and more. I never expected to pick up so much technical information on the job.

4. My first trip to the real south (New Orleans, not Florida) was surprisingly lovely and I look forward to spending more time there in the future.

5. I spent about two weeks volunteering with the Portland Housing Authority in February helping out with the biannual Homeless Street Count, which was many hours of data entry. That was fine with me though, because although I wanted to volunteer with the count, I wasn't super excited about doing the actual surveys. Win win!

6. On a related note, I got a decent amount of experience working at a homeless shelter which provided me with many strange, funny and terrifying stories. I'm not sure if I'd ever consider working at a similar program full-time, but I'm grateful for the experience.

7. My other job catering for McMenamins was ridiculous as always. Particularly Easter and Mother's Day brunches. Yikes! I'm not sure if I'll ever dine out for brunch on those days again, knowing what I know now. The good news is that after those experiences, everything else was a walk in the park.

8. I got my wisdom teeth out! And all I needed was ibuprofen and a couple days of rest. I had a prescription for a stronger pain med, but when you have crappy health insurance and have to pay out of pocket for prescriptions, you think twice about indulging in unecessarily expensive drugs.

9. I learned how to make tamales (yesterday).

10. I learned how to wash clothes by hand on "the rock". I hate it.

11. I ate alligator sausage in New Orleans.

12. I saw Kermit Ruffins perform in NOLA. There was a surprising amount of Black Eyes Peas, which was annoying. I have a couple videos of it somewhere...

13. I participated in a traditional Ecuadorian beauty contest... and lost.

14. I did several 30 minute radio shows about nutrition in Spanish SOLITA! (alone) And survived to tell the tale.

15. I learned how to eat crab out of the shell.

16. I went on a pirate ship booze cruise.

17. I did a 3 day, 2 night backpacking trips through Cajas National Park in Ecuador, which was easily the most difficult and surprising hike of my life.

18. I moved into my first apartment all by myself. So far, so good... although the urge to stay home by myself and do nothing is incredibly strong... And thats not just because I'm in another country.

19. Sang Wilson Phillips "Hold On" with McMenamins coworkers at karaoke. That might be one of the proudest moments of my life. Seriously.

20. I'm thrilled that I have neither suffered from a major parasitic or amoebic infection or been bitten by a dog, both of which are daily possibilities. Knock on wood I'm not jinxing myself for the next 12 months!

Well I suppose thats about it. Not in any way an exhaustive list or summary of the past year, but it will have to do. I hope everyone has a lovely New Year's Eve and I wish you lots of health and happiness and funtivities in 2012.