Busy. Think of a cup of instant coffee blended with some grapefruit or the tantalizing tree tomato. That is how I would summarize my time so far here in Ecuador: buzzing by at a frenetic pace while simultaneously being amazed at the juicy elements of learning the fascinations of life in a new country, a tropical one at that. I figure that to be a sound way to begin this first post in nearly three weeks, but perhaps it will become only too often going forward as the reality of life here in Ecuador begins to set in.
I am living in Tumbaco, a middle class town literally a valley down from Quito, whose skyscrapers lay nestled into a mountainous wrinkle to the east of my window. I am definitely not roughing it yet, as I am staying with a wonderful host family in a comfortable house that features a few acres of beans and avocados growing out back. My host family includes 38 year old mother who runs a knitting business in town and her seven year old son who has reminded me of the joy of playing Super Mario on Super Nintendo. They have been extremely gracious in welcoming me to Ecuador and showing me around. I have already done a couple trips with my host mother to Quito exploring its impressive historic center, enjoying indigenous street dances, and strolling through packed parks and gorgeous botanical gardens. I even took my host mother on a five hour hike over Cerro Ilalo, a spectacular mountain on the edge of town that tops out at a little over 3100 meters. 
Peace Corps Training has also done a fantastic job of keeping me well occupied and has ensured the frustration of anyone looking forward to a blog entry on a weekly basis. I spend Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm and Saturdays from 8am to noon at the training center. I often take the 15 minute sardine can of a bus ride in the mornings but tend to opt for the bucolic 45 minute walk back home in the evening. I can say, however, that so far I have found it to be a very pleasant experience as the program is well varied among topics that aim to prepare us for service. My training classes have been roughly divided between technical agriculture themes, safety and security, health, community development, and language and culture.
The agriculture trainings have been the most enjoyable as we have been involved in several hands-on activities. The most amazing day so far took us to visit a nearby master organic farmer in the nearby town of Puembo. There, we learned many of the principles of integrated farm management including effective methods of composting, the role of small animals and the gold that is their manure, harvesting algae as a nitrogen source from irrigation ponds, intercropping, cover crops, enhancing farm biodiversity, fomenting microorganism growth as the farm’s productivity engine, and weed control management. This farmer exhibited to us his knowledge of 28 years of excellent vegetable production without pesticide or herbicide use. 
Our agriculture group has also begun cultivating our own small vegetable plots at the training center and begun raising chickens (which we will harvest, ie kill, at the end of training). We have also had small workshops on vermi-culture (worm composting), biol (an organic fertilizer brewed from a tasty mixture of animal manure and other inputs like ash, hay, etc.), raising guinea pigs (a traditional meat in the Andes), starting seedbeds, creating community banks, and doing community needs assessments.
The safety and security training has centered largely on common sense tactics to avoid being a victim of theft, robberies, and taxi kidnappings. The health training has taught us the variety of intestinal worms and skin diseases we are likely to contract at some point during our service, how to recognize and deal with a bout of dengue fever, and strategies to avoid getting malaria. Lastly, my language training has been fairly enjoyable as I have swung back into the rhythm of speaking Spanish on a daily basis. After three weeks, I am pretty comfortable expressing myself on nearly any topic, however, there are always those days or hours of the day in which my mind becomes lazy and I begin to feel a bit burnt out. 
Going forward, things are going to grow in intensity as next week our agricultural group leaves on a five day technical training trip to the Amazonian town of El Tesoro in the southern part of the region known as El Oriente. The weekend we return will be the Carnaval, a large street festival lasting four days in early March. Shortly after, we will learn of our assigned site locations and leave on a week-long visit to these communities on our own. This trip will prove to be perhaps the greatest climax of all as we will discover firsthand what will be the basis for our Peace Corps experience; the one that we have all imagined about for possibly years or more.
At this point, based on a very rough deduction, I figure I have a 40% chance of ending up in the 
Amazon, 20% in the Andean highlands, and possibly 40% in the Pacific coastal region. I would lie if I didn’t say that I think have a preference for the Andean highlands given my spiritual obsession with majestic mountain ranges, but I am otherwise very open to whatever destiny is meant to be. I think there will be great joys, challenges, and elements of beauty in every region of this fascinating country….
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