Reconnecting, Exercising and Thanking…

Hello All!!

So the last few weeks have flown by! I got to go to Quito for our Reconnect training which is basically a week-long training for volunteers and their counterparts after 3 months in site.

When all of us volunteers got together after being separated for so long I was like…

Then after a couple days I was like…

And in the end I was just like…

 

During this training we got to present the results of our Community Assessment to the other volunteers in our program. I felt like my presentation with my counterpart was pretty much like…

And I worry that after 2 years we’re going to be more like…

But at least we have good intentions?

My counterpart also had to leave after the first day so I pretty much got to sit through the rest of the counterpart training like this…

But after the other counterparts left, we actually got to some training specifically for volunteers…

Some of us were like…

others were like…

And the rest of us were like…

While in Quito we also took FULL advantage of being in a big city with big city food and I was pretty much like….

And the other volunteers were just like…

And after all was said and done, I think I gained about 5 pounds…

Once I got back to site, I suddenly started feeling REALLY integrated. I made friends with my counterpart’s aunt, who is actually younger than my counterpart! We went to a fair that was in town and then she invited me to go to bailoterapia with her which is basically free jazzercise (or Zumba) classes that the government provides all over Ecuador.

I went yesterday evening and invited my German volunteer friends to come too and it was sooooo much fun! In my mind I felt like I was dancing around like this…

But I’m sure I looked more like this…

Regardless of my sweet dancing skills, I definitely plan on going back every week so I can get into shape, make some friends and make a fool out of myself all at the same time!

On top of everything great that’s been going on in the last few weeks, I’ve also gotten 2 care packages from my friends! I have now found myself saying this a lot more often than usual…

Tomorrow we are having a super Thanksgiving with other volunteers in my area! I definitely have A LOT to be thankful for, everything seems to be falling into place and getting better and better. I am beyond optimistic for what the future holds and I feel extremely blessed to have such a great support system here and back home.

I hope all of you have a VERY Happy Thanksgiving full of food, football, family and friends and I hope all is well in your part of the world!

Peace Out!