An Observational Blog: Greetings, my family and friends, from the lungs of the Earth. Recently at work a few co-workers and I engaged in a conversation regarding teen pregnancy, a very common phenomenon in Ecuador, and subsequent marriage at a very young age. In many places, including some back in the United States, teen pregnancy carries a…

23 April, 2013

Hola desde Ecuador! Let me get the elephant out of the room: I’ve been worse and worse with communication as the year has progressed because I am so happy and content with my life here that I practically fear communication with people on the “other” America. So I’m extremely sorry for my absence from the e-blogging…

23 April, 2013

Happy Easter from Ecuador. I write to you today to share some of the goings-on of Semana Santa, or Holy Week, here in Ecuador. As many of you might have guessed, Ecuador, like most Latin American countries, consists heavily of Catholics because of Spanish conquest and installation of the Catholic faith hundreds of years ago (Note: exceptions can include…

23 April, 2013

By American standards, I currently live a “poor”, simplistic lifestyle. I boil water from a local river to drink; most of my meals consist of potatoes, rice, yucca, or other high-starch, cheap, local foods; I scrub and scrub the dirt out of my clothes with river water over a large rock; and I live with a mother part-time employed…

15 January, 2013

My family of followers: Let me begin by apologizing for my poor, poor correspondence and updates with my blog. I have no excuse to give but that I’ve found it very easy to become caught up in the perfect weather, beautiful flora and fauna, and lovely people of Ecuador. To understate the last few months,…

05 December, 2012

After almost three weeks of brushing up on Spanish, expanding my Spanglish vocabulary, seeing my fellow Fellows daily, learning about the culture of Ecuador through presentations and speakers, and receiving three authentic Ecuadorian meals a day from my host father, Ivan Bonilla, I have arrived in the rainforest. On Saturday, September 15, 2012, we all split up into our respective…

24 September, 2012

My name is Sam Reeve, and I am ready. I’m ready to embark on the journey of a lifetime; ready to live in and explore the culture of a completely different community; ready to leave my small Southern community with memories, friends, and supporters behind me; ready to see the Amazon; ready to try some…

21 August, 2012