Site visit

I don’t want to give a blow by blow of my week so I’m just going to highlight the great things about my site-

I’m right on the beach, claro. There are only a few buildings actually along the beach and then the town goes uphill from there. I can hear the waves from my room, which is what I consider sufficiently close to the ocean. The town is in sort of a cove next to the point and the water stays shallow for a long ways out and is very warm. At low tide I can walk along the beach to the point and there are rocks and tide pools along the way with some big crabs and other creatures. I saw an octopus out there the other day. I’m told that in the summer there are humpback whales in this area. Fishing is the main industry and I think there are 30-something boats, the main catch is dorado and tuna. There are 100 families living here, a few tiendas and restaurants, political offices, a health center, a school and a high school. My counterpart in town is the president of the Junta Parroquial, or town council. My other counterpart works at the USAID office near Atacames on the Sustainable Coasts and Forests project, and Reyes is working with him as well from another site. There are a few other PCVs in the area but I am the first volunteer at my site.

The people I’ve met so far have been very nice and after a couple days I felt like they were really taking me in. I’ve primarily met my counterpart and his family- his wife is great and 2 of her sisters and their families live here too. The secretary for the Junta Parroquial is also friendly. I’ve been spending a lot of time at one of the restaurants, an open air restaurant that’s on the beach, which has been a good way to talk to people and see what’s going on. The woman who runs the restaurant is super chevere and I found out that she is going to be my host sister when I move here in April. I’m not staying at the house this week because it’s not ready but I met my host mom and she seems nice. I’m staying at one of the sister’s places- she has a couple rooms on the first floor. Which is another reason I’ve been at the restaurant, because I’m eating all my meals there.

The marine reserve here is new- it was established in 2008. I am really excited to see what marine reserve management looks like for the fishing communities that live by the reserve, and from the beginning. I have read and written a lot about how it works, from Boston or DC, but seeing what happens on the ground is one of the experiences I was most hoping to gain in Peace Corps. [This is starting to sound like one of the 800 essays I wrote to get here.] There is a German guy living at my site who works with the reserve for Nazca. And there was a meeting here the other day (at the restaurant) of people involved with the park- a guard, fishermen, presidents of the councils from a couple towns. So I will hopefully be getting a firsthand look at how it develops- and figure out my role in working with the community.

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