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Table of Contents
3 - Editor’s Note by Amanda Morales

4- Mi Media Naranja by RPCV Erin Baldeón Fischer

6- Daughter by Martha Aguirre

8- Mis Vecinos by Molly Miller

10- El Poder de DC3 by Regina Da Silva, Deanna Johnson, and

Melissa Perez

13- Serendipities of Quito by Robert Onstine

15- OPINION by Wolfgang “Lobo” Bucher

18- Farewell Omni 117 by Amada Morales and Shekinah Davis

El Clima is a digital publication written, organized, and

published by Peace Corps Volunteers for the broader Peace
Corps community.

Administrative Editor: Amanda Morales

Copy Editors: Ava Hacker, Peter Amerkhanian
Content Editors: Stephanie Fuentes, Emma Lee Tremblay
Social Media/Recruitment: Sean Speckin
Layout and Photography: Shekinah Davis

Contact Us To Get Involved:

Email: elclimamagazine@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elclimamagazine/

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Editor’s Note
Long after the final VRF is completed,
it’s the relationships that count most in
a Peace Corps Volunteer’s service.

When volunteers pack up and ship out to

post, the one thing they can’t include in
their 50 lbs. baggage limit is the weight
of leaving friends and loved ones behind.
The relationships that have given them the
support to encourage them to take on the
challenge of a Peace Corps service must stay
behind.

What lies ahead is the possibility of creating

and embracing new friendships and
relationships during your time in Ecuador.

Some of these friendships and relationships are built in those first awkward days of staging
before arriving in Ecuador or during Pre-Service Training. Others are developed at site
working alongside compassionate counterparts whose guidance helps to cultivate friendships.
Counterparts and community partners serve as the bridge between cultures for many PCVs.

Then there are the bonds that form between host families and PCVs as they share in holidays
and traditions. There are even some lucky PCVs who find romance during their service.

Who knew the federal government could be such a good matchmaker?

Relationships are what linger long after that final Volunteer Report Form or VRF has been
submitted. If you keep yourself open to it, you may develop relationships that last a lifetime.

-Amanda Morales, Administrative Editor

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Mi Media Naranja
by RPCV Erin Baldeón Fischer

When I joined Peace Corps, I was excited for all the new experiences that were waiting for me.
I imagined bringing a lot home with me after two years (or what turned into three!). From a
new appreciation of mountain climbing to an obsession for Riobamba’s cevichochos to new
relationships with counterparts and host families that had become my second family.

When I joined Peace Corps, what I did not expect to find was my “media naranja”, but I
can’t say I’m complaining! Kike and I met through a mutual friend who wanted to re-pay my
tutoring services by getting me a boyfriend – typical! I was your typical “gringa brava” (think
“I don’t need no man!”) and it’s still a wonder he stuck around in the beginning to give us the
chance to get to know each other!

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We were together for over 2 years in Ecuador and Kike had come back to visit my family three
times during my service, so he was no stranger to Wisconsin beer, cheese, and winter!

In true Ecu-style, Kike proposed to me the night I was leaving Ecuador, four hours before my
plane took off! A mariachi band serenaded me with “Te Lo Pido Por Favor” by Juan Gabriel,
which would also eventually be sung at our wedding. Of course, I said YES! It was a whirlwind
to Facetime all my family members on the way to the airport so we could tell them the great
news together!

Once back in the states, we began the long process through United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services. The year long engagement that we spent apart, waiting for his fiancé
visa, tested our relationship in many ways. The hardest part was the uncertainty of if and when
he would be approved. Ultimately, it brought us closer together and made us even stronger.

Kike finally moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in June 2018 and we married July 7, 2018. We
were blessed that 18 of his family members came to join the celebration. We embarked on our
new life as a married couple and on November 28, 2018 found out we are starting our greatest
adventure yet – as mami and papi! We are expecting our first chiquito/a (little one) July 29,
2019 and couldn’t be happier!

I heard a quote recently that went something like this “true love is when you encounter every
obstacle possible and make it through stronger than ever.” A cross-cultural relationship is not
always the easiest. From the cultural clashes (yes we still have them from time to time) to the
mountains of visa paperwork to one person always being an international plane ride away
from their family, there are many things to consider. Kike and I have pushed through it all and
it has only brought us closer together. I am so thankful for the partner, best friend, Esposito
(hubby), and baby daddy that Peace Corps gave me.

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Daughter
by Martha Aguirre

In Peace Corps, it’s a rule that a volunteer has to live three months with a host family during training
and six months with a host family at site. Afterwards, the volunteer can choose to continue living
with the host family or find a place of their own. A lot of volunteers tend to choose the latter and it’s
completely understandable. We are adults and although living with a host family is a great way to
connect with the culture, we also value our independence. Before coming to Ecuador, I was set on
moving out and getting my own place. I wanted to experience what it was like to live abroad on my
own.

I was so nervous when I got placed with my training host family. I was afraid of not getting along
with them or feeling uncomfortable, but I was extremely lucky. It was a single parent household
with a host mother and two host siblings around my age, where everyone kind of just did their own
thing, similar to my home environment back in the States. I bonded with my training host family by
going out a lot on the weekends and by just getting involved with their day-to-day activities. My host
siblings and cousins became good friends with my volunteer friends as well. When I moved to site,
I was sad that I had to say my goodbyes and I thought that I wasn’t going to have the same luck of
getting placed with an awesome host family in Guayaquil, but I’m glad I was wrong.

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I currently live with a family completely different from my own: retired father, a stay-at-home
mom, four host siblings (the oldest being 25 and the youngest 17, and three small dogs).
Although I am my host family’s first volunteer, they immediately made me feel so welcomed
and loved. This was a new experience for them and for me. The first couple of weeks at site,
I would stay up until one or two in the morning talking and laughing with my host family. I
became really close with my host siblings. We like to go to the movies together, go try different
restaurants and coffee shops, have jam sessions, go to dance classes, etc. My host siblings have
become my best friends at site. My host mother has become someone who I could really trust
even though at first it was tricky opening up. For example, I would feel very shy at first asking
my host mom for favors and she would always jokingly ask me, “Are you or are you not my
daughter?”

There are many factors to why I didn’t move out. First, even though I had a host family, I still
had my privacy and my own space. Second, I hate cooking for myself and I cannot survive
service without my host mom’s encebollados. The third reason is that service would feel a lot
lonelier without them. My host family has been there through my ups and downs of Peace
Corps service and are always supportive of everything I do. However, I think the biggest and
coolest reason I wanted to stay is because of the learning experience, what we learn from
each other. We learn and share each other’s cultures, background knowledge, interests, or
experiences. For example, they taught me how to make patacones and I teach them how to
make guacamole or corn tortillas from scratch!

I think it’s always best to be open-minded when it comes to your host family. It can be
challenging with uncomfortable moments and not every host family will be a perfect fit, but
communication is always important. I think that my relationships with my host families have
really given me a better and deeper understanding of the culture and have helped me feel like
I had a support system outside of my PC volunteer friends. I will forever be grateful for all the
experiences and friendships I have built with both families.

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Mis Vecinos
Sometimes it’s the small interactions that have the biggest impact.
by Molly Miller

Coming from a small town of 6,000 people, I thought integration would be almost
impossible when I stepped off of the bus into my new home and site.

Guayaquil is quite the opposite of my tiny, one traffic light hometown in rural Tennessee,
where everybody knows everybody. With a population of almost 3 million people, Guayaquil
feels like the proverbial big pond to my small fish.

The first six months at site were the hardest, as I struggled to figure out how to integrate and
make friends. I faced language and cultural barriers, and spent most days wondering if I
would ever build the relationships that I dreamt about in Pre-Service Training.

It took a year of living in site, but I finally found my place in the concrete jungle I call home.
Cuidadela Simón Bolívar has served as my “small town,” where everybody knows everybody
and where the people greet you as you pass by. Within my small ciudadela (citadel), which is
essentially only a few blocks wide, I have met the people who are the face of home for me.

There’s Monica, my downstairs neighbor, who loves gardening and recycling, and always
greets me with a smile. Saul, my favorite salchipapa vendor, who feeds my dog, Sacha, a few
fries every time we pass by. Briggitte and Alejandro, who own the “chicken place” where I go
to treat myself to a delicious meal and friendly conversation. The elderly woman four houses
down, who came and sat in a booth with me one day while I was having an almuerzo (lunch)
alone and now greets Sacha and me every time we pass by her home.

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The older couple who own the tienda (store) in our neighborhood not only restocked their
Snickers candy bars just for me, but always take time to tell me that Sacha has grown more
since the last time we visited (which is usually just a few days before). And most importantly,
my sitemate and neighbor, Sean Speckin, who has shared the challenges and triumphs of
integration with me, and who throws limes across the balcony when I’m too lazy to walk to
the tienda.

Relationships aren’t built overnight. I have learned over the course of my Peace Corps journey
that it takes time, intentionality, and patience. I am thankful for the weird looks I got when I

first started conversing with and greeting the people I encountered, because those weird looks
eventually turned into genuine smiles and warm greetings in return.

After two years in Guayaquil, I am proud of the home that I have with the people I have
encountered. I celebrate the relationships built, the times shared, the English lessons taught,
and most of all the love given from the hearts of the wonderful people of Ecuador.

My goodbyes will be the hardest within my little neighborhood, but I know that because of
the time I spent being intentional with people, I will always have a second home.

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El Poder de DC3
The Power of DC3
by Regina Da Silva, Deanna Johnson, and Melissa Perez

By chance these three women were selected to be in the same Omnibus. By choice they’ve
cultivated and developed a bond that will last long after they have closed their service. The
friendship, half-jokingly named “DC3,” is a play off the iconic girl group Destiny’s Child and
its three members: Michelle, Beyonce, and Kelly. Regina Da Silva, Deanna Johnson, and
Melissa Perez are the DC3 for Omnibus 117.

Da Silva, Johnson and Perez reflect on their friendship as their 27 months of service comes to
a close.

Regina Da Silva
What started as a joke turned into a true definition of friendship. DC3 became the backbone
of my Peace Corps service. Don’t believe me? The evidence is in the music.

Deanna, also known as (the self-proclaimed) Deeyonce; Melissa, who never really made the
decision on whether she was the Michelle or the Kelly; and me. They became my PICs, RODs,
and forever TTG - and for those not in the know, that’s my Partners in Crime, ready to Ride
or Die, and Trained to Go. The “Soldiers” I needed when the hard days attacked. The ones I
“Lose My Breath” with when hiking crater lakes...or the rest of Ecuador for that matter.

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The DC3 kept the WhatsApp chat, fiestas, and my social life “Jumpin’, Jumpin’.” Supporting
my every “Independent Women”-type decision when it came to post-Peace Corps plans,
they were there to say “No, No, No,” to every Ecua “Bug a Boo.” Together we split the “Bills,
Bills, Bills” for two different almuerzos (lunches) because we’re just golosas (greedy).

They were down from the beginning and have been holding me accountable ever since.

Peace Corps has gifted me with so much these past two years, but the thing I’m most
grateful for is the solid friendship and bond I share with my “Girls.”

The best part about it all, is knowing that although our time together in Ecuador is coming
to an end, there’s still so much to come from DC3. To my girls: thank you for embarking on
this Peace Corps journey with me. You have made it one unforgettable experience. Yes, it’s
the end of one chapter, but you both have become permanent characters in my life. So I’ll be
seeing you both in the next! Love you both!” -Gi/ Reg

Deanna Johnson
For the months leading up to my Peace Corps departure, I grew more and more nervous
every day to step onto the plane and head to Miami.

My nerves came in part because I was worried that I wouldn’t integrate into my community,
that my Spanish level would seriously impede my efficacy at site, and that something
would come up at home or in country forcing me to leave service prematurely. However,
my biggest worry was that I wouldn’t fit in with my Omni and I wouldn’t make any friends
— how could I survive two years in another country without any friends to rejoice and
commiserate with? I never could have imagined that in these two years I would come to
meet and form a friendship with two of the most important people in my life.

Through training and these past years, Melissa Perez and Regina Da Silva have served
as my biggest support system. Without them, I’m not entirely sure how my Peace Corps
experience would have turned out, or if I would have even made it to this two year mark.
They have been my cheerleaders when I’ve had successes, my sounding boards when I’ve
had to repeat the same idea for the eighteenth time to make sure it’s the right decision, my
rocks when I’ve felt unsure of myself, my therapists when I’ve just needed to vent, and just
overall my best friends these past two years in every way.

I’m incredibly grateful for them, especially as I know in the coming years they’ll still be at
my side watching out for me like big sisters, and the bond and friendship that we’ve formed
in the past two years won’t easily fade as life progresses. I don’t know where I’d be today
without DC3 and for that I am grateful.” - Deanna Johnson

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Melissa Perez
I can honestly say I would not have made it through service without Deanna and Regina
because they helped keep me sane.

I never feel like I have to explain myself to them — they just understand me.

If I’m honest, I’m not afraid of our friendship changing after service because I feel like we’ve
built a lifelong friendship that will survive way past Peace Corps. Deanna and Regina will be
my bridesmaids at my future wedding and they will follow me through this journey called life,
just like I plan to be there for them.

One of my favorite aspects of our friendship is that I never have to question it. There’s
something to be said about people who make you feel special, people who make you feel loved
and appreciated, and they do each and every day. For that I don’t think I could ever thank
them enough.
They inspire me to strive for better, they challenge me to do things I normally would never
have the courage to and they motivate me to be the best possible version of myself. DC3
is a band of sisters who support one another, love one another and accept one another
unconditionally.

What does DC3 mean to me?

DC3 is more than just a friendship or a bond, it’s a sisterhood.” - Melissa Perez

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Serendipities of Quito
Reflections from a three-time Peace Corps Volunteer
by Robert Onstine

Here I am in Quito, Ecuador, South America, the middle of the world, as they say, on the seventh
floor, in a small studio apartment with a large plate glass window, doing my fourth term as a Peace
Corps Volunteer. I wake up every morning and look out at majestic Mount Pichincha. Clouds roll
by. I’m in the cloud. Ecuador is earthquake country and when one occurs, my studio sort of dances
like branches on a tree, swaying softly in the breeze.

Culture shock has become part of my everyday life, again, as it did in Colombia, Morocco and
Moldova. I cherish it, I embrace it. Immersion opens my mind to fresh new ways of seeing things:
the language, the Ecuadorian hugs, the crowded buses, the free cinema. The streets I walk, the
people I meet, the things I do each day broaden and shape my attitude. In the mornings I teach
English, and in the afternoons I work with English teachers in El Centro Histórico. On my own
time, I take advantage of the joys of Quito’s generosity.

In Ecuador, life is full of surprises. I’m learning again to roll with the punches, to accept with an
open mind and heart this strange and exciting world I’m living in. It’s a matter of attitude. I’m
learning to love everything I see around me: the cracks and holes in the sidewalks, the fire- eaters,
jugglers, and acrobats doing gymnastic feats in intersections when the traffic light turns red.

I wonder at the handicapped in their wheelchairs asking for alms in the middle of the intersections
wheeling down between the cars, buses and trucks. I’m thankful for my sight when, on the
bus, I see a blind man with his white cane pushing his way through the crowd, softly changing,
“may God repay you.” If I wander through the park, I can catch a sundry variety of free comedy
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performances, which at times becomes a bit unrefined but funny.

Even when busses are packed like sardines, vendors of the most creative sorts of talent elbow
their way through the throngs of passengers, eloquently chanting the virtues of their wares:
sugarless chewing gum that sweetens your breath and leaves a refreshing taste, delicious
chocolates that melt in your mouth, perfumes that enhance one’s beauty.

Two young men one day boarded the bus. They played music. They flashed me back to
enchanting Cartagena where cumbias saturate the air. On several occasions, I observed a
young man standing in the middle of the bus, with several books in his hands, not to sell but
rather to promote the necessity and value of reading. He said that Ecuadorians don’t read, so
as a remedy, he gave several extended, excellent lessons on Plato and Kant. He didn’t seem to
mind that no one was listening.

Ecuador offers many excellent cultural events, open to the general public, more than I’ve ever
discovered in the U.S. Here, in the midst of our commercialized world, I feel the humanitarian
vibes of community. My favorite hangout is the cinema, located in La Casa de la Cultura,
where every week they show a series of excellent Ecuadorian and foreign films. This week,
they’re celebrating a festival of the best of Latin American cinema, films produced in nearly
every country in Latin and Central America, from Chile to Mexico, all free.

This past year I’ve seen: Italian, Catalonian, Russian, African, Iranian, experimental, and
documentary films. They even dedicated a week to the best of Woody Allen films, films
like “Midnight in Paris,” with Spanish subtitles and a beautiful version of Tolstoy’s “Anna
Karenina.” These are brilliant films. They open up a world of cultural diversity. They’re
serendipity of my Peace Corps service.

One day the doctor took me aside and asked me: “Why are you putting yourself through the
stress of living in a foreign country and meeting the demands of PC service when you could be
enjoying retirement?” I’ve asked myself that same question.

After serving two full terms and one partial, thirty years of teaching, a Ph.D., three grown
Colombian-American children and two retirements, I still have an insatiable urge to expand
my world of experience, knowledge and understanding of myself as a part of the human
family.

I love the Peace Corps, its philosophy of reaching out to other people in other lands, of
immersion into diverse cultures and languages. For me, to see others as fellow human beings is
a moral issue of the highest order. It’s what keeps me human. It’s what drives me.

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OPINION
by Wolfgang “Lobo” Bucher

If you Google “drugs in Montañita,” the first link comes up with “safety.” The third lists why it
isn’t for the faint of heart, which leads me to a point of critical thought: between what I know
about drugs and their adverse effects on the lives of Ecuadorians and my role here as Peace Corps
Volunteer in the Youth and Families program, why would I support this culture? And how do I
help address the problem?

Montañita is a destination for many PCVs. It’s a weekly getaway from site and a chance to meet
people from all over the world. It’s a chance to find escape, an opportunity to meet up with a
lover or a friend with benefits, and a respite from the difficult work of integration, especially if
the site is isolated. The town is vibrant and alive, filled with bars and dancing and music and
drugs. And few visit without some knowledge of drugs being present, especially marijuana.

In recent months, news of problems with drugs in Peace Corps have surfaced. Drug use is on the
rise, leading to more administrative separations and situations of trauma for and violence against
PCVs. PCVs know our contract has a zero tolerance policy, but the realities of service stand in
stark contrast.

In the U.S., marijuana is a gray area. State by state it is being legalized, though illegal federally,
and I have many friends that swear by it. My neighbor sold it to support himself and his single

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mother for years. It seemed harmless. I grew up with a parent who was a regular consumer
of marijuana. My sister and I joke that our father’s own regular consumption demystified the
allure of drugs when we encountered them in high school. I’ve never been in a situation where
I’ve witnessed the adverse and indirect effects of the drug trade on the lives of people – until
coming to Ecuador.

My host dad, Marcos Figueroa, goes out every afternoon around 4:00 with his younger brother
Ángel and one other person to fish. The work usually happens overnight: in the late afternoon
light, they set lines in a couple of familiar fishing spots, and they spend the rest of the night
going back and forth checking the lines. There are the usual risks that come with the work:
bad weather, the fish aren’t biting, or occasional larger boats on autopilot that run through the
lines.

Every morning, they return in the early light with their catch to sell on the beach filled with
other fishermen and frigate birds. I ask Marco daily at lunch, “Como fue anoche?” (How was
last night?) He’ll usually say, “No hay bueno, no hay mál.” (“Not too good, not too bad.”) There
are some moments a wide smile spreads across his face and he gives me a thumbs up. “Muy,
muy bien!”

But lately, he’s been coming home and saying again and again with a shake of his head, “Mál,
Lobo, muy mál.” (“Bad, very bad.”) The kind of fish people will buy are not biting. Recent
tremors have made the water murky. Some populations have been fished too hard. Larger
fishing boats farther off affect school migrations, and that leads fishermen to contemplate
alternative sources of income.

Marco came home over the weekend and hasn’t been out to fish in two days. “The fish aren’t
biting,” he says. And now, Ángel has started working in a small tienda (shop) in the mercado
(market) that can guarantee him a steady weekly check. That leaves Marco down an essential
person for work. He needs three people; he can get by with two. His oldest son, Josue, is in his
last semester of high school and he doesn’t want him to lose focus. “I could see if my Spanish
friend has work for me, maybe” Marco says, with a heavy sigh. The work would be an hour
away, and no one has a car.

Over a recent lunch, Marco and I started to talk about the kinds of dangers artisanal fishermen
face in Puerto Lopez. It’s in these difficult times, Marco has told me, that fishermen become
tempted to take on another kind of work – the kind that seems an answer to financial woes,
but comes with unseen hooks and barbs.

Narcotics traffickers are always looking for eager or desperate fishermen to run drugs for
them. They tell them it’s an easy $50,000. But Marco has a couple of friends who’ve tried this.
He tells me neither of them cashed in that much money. One ended up in prison in Florida,
and the other was given only a small percentage of what he was offered, and was then told he
had to make two more runs for the Narcos if he wanted to make the rest. They went so far as to
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threaten his family if he wouldn’t keep running the drugs. I ask Marco if he thinks Montañita
is part of the problem. He shrugs his shoulders and moves his head back in the direction of
the town. Ángela, his wife, nods knowingly. Marco, with his calm and caring voice replies,
“Mientras la gente quiera tomar drogas, el problema existirá.” (As long as people want to take
drugs, there will be a problem.)

As Peace Corps training taught me, I took Marco’s anecdotal information to heart and spent
some time online looking for articles and data that supported his stories, and I found plenty.
The presence of the drug trade in Ecuador has an insidious, direct and daily effect on the lives
of artisanal fishermen.

According to US State Department reports, Ecuador is not a producer of drugs, but rather a
transit country “due to weak public institutions, permeable borders and corruption.” Recently,
Ecuador has beefed up police presence and closed off overland transport routes, making the
coast and its fishermen a logical choice to move cocaine and marijuana. According to my
research, the presence of
drug trafficking in Ecuador
brings with it human and
sex trafficking and has made
fishing, an already hard life of
labor, even more dangerous.

I’ve spent weeks thinking

critically about the issue,
especially as it applies to my
service to Ecuador and the
role of PCVs. The simplest
response is, “you signed
up to serve, drugs are not
allowed and if you are caught
it’s on you.” But the simplest
answer doesn’t resolve the
issue completely. How do we as PCVs consider our own culpability in the drug problem in
Ecuador? Or rather, how can we choose to consume marijuana or cocaine and ignore or
disconnect from that culpability? Why do we forget the impact our consumption of drugs has
on the lives of Ecuadorians who we came here to serve? Shouldn’t the contradiction – between
our values in service, especially as Youth and Families Volunteers, and the choice to consume
recreational drugs – be obvious?

It’s an issue that can’t be solved by a hard rule without critical thought and discussion. It takes
owning our part in the problem. Personally, whenever the issue comes up, I choose to see
Marcos, looking at me from the dining room table, saying “Mientras la gente quiera tomar
drogas, el problema existirá.” I choose to be one less person that is a part of the problem. It
reminds me why I chose to serve.
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 Farewell Omni 117
With 30 volunteers remaining, Omni 117 closed out service with their early February conference.
RPCVs were asked if they had any advice to impart for the next incoming group of trainees.

Here are their words of wisdom:

“Learn from and accept failures, talk to new people and eat what you’re offered, even if you don’t want to.”

“You’re much more resilient than you think! Give yourself a fighting chance!”

“Keep your chin up. Exercise!”

“Don’t rush your service.”

Omni members will be departing Ecuador between early February and April 11th, so make sure to say
your goodbyes!

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