(Saturday, August 7, Day 47)

"The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps."

Phrase of the day: Verdad?, siete charlas en cinco dias... Really?, 7 presentations in 5 days.

Well, that was a bit ridiculous... During the past week, all of the trainees were sent away in groups on technical trips around the country. My group went to Bahia and Guayaquil on the coast. We all ended up having to give at least 7 presentations in the few days we were away. I guess that doesn't sound too bad when I type it... but then again, when it's in Spanish in front of 20+ twelve year olds... pass!

Bahia (where I will be going to use the post office/bank/faster internet) was nice. It reminded me of Pesaro... well, kind of. It was very calm, safe, and near the beach. The best part was that every night we were able to walk around after dark (Yes, I know, what a luxury). A good number of the roads were paved too (another luxury). There are actually a decenet amount of Americans and Germans who live there too.

In Bahia, we ended up at one of the best schools I have seen so far. (Don't tell the other schools I said that though). Before we gave our charlas, the students(teachers) surprised us with a super long presentation. Yes, normally "super long presentation" would be a bad thing, but this time it meant that they were taking away from our time to speak... great! Their presentation began with food! for us from the coastal region... ceviche, queso fresco(cheese), patacones(fried plantains), maduros(fried ripe bananas), bolas de verde(mashed plantains with cheese)... guess what i'll be eating a lot of for the next two years apparently!?!

After our snack, they presented a few skits and dances for us. The best part though was when an extremely animated boy recited a poem to one of the trainees.
I have like 80 more pictures like this from the week... charlas as normal. We mostly spoke about self-esteem, habits(good/bad), and sex-ed.
We also met the mayor(?) of Bahia while we were there.
After Bahia we traveled to Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador. It was an interesting place. It had really nice areas along the water...
...but besides that, it reminded me of the really busy parts of New York. To no surprise, I don't think I will return, ha. Although, once again, we all found our favorite food stop.
I ordered the most expensive plate ($6.50)... chicken, beef, falafel
Possibly more to come about my week as I remember, but for now... rice crispy treats! (thanks mitch/doug!)

Hope everyone had an amazing weekend!