One more day...

I fly out tomorrow!! What the heck have I gotten myself into?!

Gone and Away

I have now officially left Victoria, and am en route to Ecuador. My journey includes a lay-over in Vancouver for three days before I fly out on Friday for Quito. The past few weeks have been strange, as I packed up my last 7 years in Victoria and said goodbye to the friends and family I have adopted along the way. The thing is, it doesn't seem real. I feel like I am just going for a short vacation, and will be back sometime next month. The reality is that I don't know WHEN or IF I will return to Victoria, because there is nothing holding me there any longer. I don't have my bloody degree hanging over my head anymore (thank the Lord!), and most of my close friends are moving on to bigger and better things. However, it hasn't seemed to sink in yet that I may be gone for good.

My last night was spent with a good buddy, drinking Tim Hortons and watching the sun set over the Gorge. A truly Victorian experience.

Visa-Vis

I got my visa today! I'm really going to Ecuador!

Getting my visa was the one last big thing I needed to do before I leave, and it's been hanging over my head for MONTHS. What with making sure I had all the injections, doctors notes, a criminal record check, etc, and then the hassle with my passport not being valid long enough, and finally finding out the Consul General for Ecuador was on summer holidays until September, why, I thought my head was going to explode!

The Ecuadorian Consul General is a notorious señor grumpy-pants. I had heard from more than one person that their visa experience was less than savory, and I was prepared for a crotchety old curmudgeon. This assumption was further affirmed when I arrived at the Consul General's house in Richmond and he was yelling at the poor guy who had the appointment before me because he didn't have his papers in order. From what I could surmise from my eavesdropping (the consul was yelling, and the door to his office was open...it wasn't like I was holding a glass to the wall or anything!), the guy had come all the way from Alberta to get a visa because he was volunteering in Ecuador. Apparently the organization he was with didn't give him original documents but had scanned and emailed them instead. Half an hour later, this unfortunate lad walked out with his chin to his chest, visa-less. Oh boy, was I sweating in my seat!

However, apparently my papers were much more satisfactory, and the consul was very friendly to me. I chalk it up to my magnetic smile and cheerful personality, but it may have been my slightly low-cut top... In fact, he spent a long time with me, joking around, showing me pictures and pamphlets of Cuenca. He told me a story about the first time he was asked to participate in a round table discussion with all the big mucky mucks in the Ecuadorian government. Apparently, after they introduced him as the Consul General in Canada, they asked him to suggest ways that the visa process could be improved. His answer? He told them that the stamps he has to lick everyday should be mango-flavoured. He was quickly ushered out of the meeting, and has never been asked back! He also commented on my sense of humour and perception, and was quite disappointed to find out that I wasn't left-handed. He was relieved though, when I told him that my mother was left-handed, and asserted that he hadn't misjudged me!

At any rate, I now have a Intercultural Visa 12-VIII. And I feel like this trip is finally real.

A Hard Goodbye...

I gave my notice to my landlord. I'm so sad! I'm gonna miss this apartment.

Copy of Sponsorship Letter

Just in case I missed anyone:

Dear Friend,

As many of you know, I am leaving very shortly for Ecuador in South America for approximately 6-7 months. While there, I will be teaching English at a language school, and volunteering with various community development projects around Cuenca, Ecuador.

I made the decision about three months ago. At the time, I was looking into teaching in Korea or Japan, because I had heard that you could make a lot of money in a short period of time. However, I wasn’t very excited at the prospect. One day, on a whim, I applied to five different schools in five different countries. The school in Ecuador was not only the first to get back to me and offer me a position, but it was also the most reputable (according to Lonely Planet, and many of the people I’ve spoken to who have traveled there). I had to make a choice; I was about to finish my Bachelors Degree, and was nearly penniless. Should I be responsible and go to an Asian country where they pay a lot of money to English teachers, even though my heart wasn’t in it? Or should I go to a developing country that can barely support it’s own teachers, let alone foreign teachers? Evidently, I chose the latter.

I leave Canada for Ecuador on September 21^st, 2007, and will begin officially on October 1^st in Cuenca, Ecuador. The school I am teaching at is called Center for Interamerican Studies/Centro de Estudios Interamericanos (CEDEI), and is a language school that teaches English, Spanish, Quichua and Latin American studies. It is a not-for-profit school that combines educational opportunities with social and volunteer opportunities such as working with orphanages, women’s shelters, family services, construction of schools and other necessary buildings, etc.

I am very excited to begin this new adventure. I will once again be able to live among and working with indigenous cultures and Latin American people. Three years ago, as most of you know, I spent 6 months in Guatemala, teaching English and working in a hospital for sick children. This experience changed me, and changed my perception of the world. I know now that armed with compassion and education, I can help enrich the lives of those who have less than I do. My heart has longed to continue in this endeavor, and I am planning to dedicate at least the next few years of my life to pursue this opportunity to work with and in developing countries.

There are three ways I am looking for help.

a) I am looking for financial support while I am in Ecuador. The teaching position I have accepted is called a “paid volunteer” position, which means that the school I am teaching at will pay for a portion of my living expenses, but it is minimal, and will not be enough to cover everything. Thus far, this trip has been a bigger financial undertaking than I had initially expected. I have had to pay all my expenses going down there, such as flight ticket, immunizations, medications, visa applications, etc. I trust that God will take care of me once I am down there.

b) I am also looking for small school supplies and trinkets of Canadiana to give away while I am there. Pens, stickers, erasers, keychains, Canadian flag pins, etc, are greatly appreciated by those who receive them.

c) I am looking for prayers and encouragement while I am preparing to leave, and also when I am living in Ecuador. It is a very emotional time for me, as I pack up my life in Victoria, and get ready to move to a country I don’t know much about. I am both nervous and excited to be embarking on this new adventure, and will cherish any thoughts and prayers that are sent my way.

If you would like to support me in any of the ways mentioned above, please let me know. As well, if you would like updates on my various adventures, please check my blog alwaysemily.blogspot.com. I will try to post at least once a week.

Sincerely,

Emily Raymond

Dread

I read this on the bus, and sat in utter awe of Atwood for the remainder of the bus ride. It is brilliant:

"What I was experiencing was dread, but it was not dread of Richard as such. It was as if the illuminated dome of the Royal York Hotel had been wrenched off and I was being stared at by a malign presence located somewhere above the black spangled empty surface of the sky. It was God, looking down with his blank, ironic searchlight of an eye. He was observing me; he was observing my predicament; he was observing my failure to believe in him. There was no floor to my room: I was suspended in the air, about to plummet. My fall would be endless -- endlessly down.

Such dismal feelings however do not often persist in the clear light of morning, when you are young."

~excerpted from "The Blind Assassin" by Margaret Atwood~

Much Ado About Nothing

It's funny. A few days ago I was certain it was the end of the world as we know it. Then I realized that today is the first day of the rest of our lives. Corny clichés aside, it's funny how quickly life can change with a little bit of perspective. I don't know why I thought the world was going to end. It was a feeling in the pit of my stomach, an unknown dread that something terrible was going to happen. The whole day, I was expecting...something...that never materialized. A phone call, a confrontation, a bus, I don't know. But the point is, nothing happened, it was just a silly melodramatic moment. And today, I woke up feeling great. As if nothing could touch me. I don't know. I certainly don't understand it. I think I survived certain death, and I'm not just talking about the Shakespeare exam I wrote a few days ago.

I haven't thought about my trip much in the past month. I have pretty much gone as far as I can without my visa (which will hopefully magically appear in my hands before I leave). I'm in my last week of my bachelors degree, and am pretty much just focused on passing the course (a decent grade will be an added bonus!). Once I write my final next Monday, I will be able to give my trip the attention it deserves. Until then, I'm just holding on for dear life.

I was thinking about having a fund-raiser or something before I leave. However, after doing a little research, it would probably cost more money then I would raise (or, if it went well, I would just break even). It was a bit disappointing to realize that, considering my current financial state (at the moment, dire), but in the end, it will probably be for the best. A fund-raiser would've just been an added stress. Instead, I think it will be a better idea to just throw a going-away picnic or something, and have everyone else stress about food and refreshments! Plus, it will be good to have one last hurrah before I leave, possibly FOREVER.

Anyway, I have things to do and places to be. Hope everyone is well.