Nomad JuanCa's Report

Well, the week is over and my babysitter days too!!! .... God..it is so fucking tiring job. The last days were a bit hard, there were moments when my little niece didn't want to eat and cried all the time...you really need a sixth sense to try to guess what is bothering a year old child....as for me, i tried with food ;) and luckily the chockos were always helpful.

The experience was good, but so fucking tiring, will i ever repeat it? yes, BUT ONLY FOR MY NIECES.... so if you were thinking in asking me something like that...FORGET IT!!! NO WAY!!!.

Like i said to a friend... i would do anything for my little nieces, if their good is on my hands i will definitely give my all. You know... while ending this experience i can understand now how parents feel, how can two little children (also called monsters or guerrilla by others) can become a real reason for living, and how can some people like my mother for exemple can sacrify themselves through hard times just to make their children survive and grow well.....mmm.....ehem.......looks like i'm ready to be a father??? OH MY GOD!!!!

The Nanny
Hi there, here i'm back with a bit more of my news. Guess what... i am doing one of the jobs i never though in taking it.. not that i don't like it but .. it is just... unexpected. I am a Nanny.

Well, it is actually not a job, i am doing a favour to my sister cause my mother decided to attend an international congress of Pediatry here in my city and my sister could not find a babysitter for the two (yeah... TWO) nice nieces i have 8 and 1 years old.... so as i am free during week, i decided to give them a hand.

Today was my first day, and well... i ended up so tired, but lets talk about this from the beginning...

The Serminarium

It was something unexpected to us (my sister, my brother in law and me) that my mother takes this seminary being that she is not working, and well... one might think she might not really need it, but at the end i think we all got the feeling that she needed a break from my nieces, she loves them, but they are so active and the older is so... hyperactive that it is hard to control them. Sometimes when i visit my sister i have to give my mother a hand.

I'm glad that my sister allowed my mother to do it, i also think that when the years come.. one needs sometimes to do stuff to consider you are still important in life, not only for your family but that there are still reasons for living, to study, to work, to meet new people, to contribute, it makes you believe you are alive, and i thank my sister she understood why this seminary is so important to my mother. She will be there the whole week but she is calling me like 3 times per day to see if i'm doing fine with the girls.

My Babysitter Debut

Oh yeah... well... i have never babysitted anyone, but i have seen lot of american movies and my sister and brother in law kindly bought me the dvd of "Vin Diesel, Niñera a prueba de balas" not sure what's the tittle in english. .. yep they have quite a good sense of humour.

Well it all went fine, my older niece had the National Flag day at school so i went there with the youngest one, and believe me.. i swear everybody was looking at me.... specially when everybody was silent and my youngest niece started to scream out loud "EEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!" calling her sister Andrea when i didn't want to give her something... oh my God... i had to inmediatly take her in my arms and tell her... ok Ivanna... i will buy you chewing gun but don't scream.

It was all calmed apart from that, my little niece is very friendly so wherever she finds any kid around her age she stops and try to make new friends... that's nice, and i think other parents think the same except when my little niece tried to take off a rose from another girl robe.... :-/

When back home i had to finish cooking... hey.. i have cooked before... nothing that you could call it with a name, but i have done it. My sister left the soup almost ready, so i had to put some sapayo (yes.. i did ask her... how does sapayo look like?) but if you ask me.... i think the soup was very tasty!!. It is a big fight to make my older niece to eat lunch..... she took 1h30 to take the soup and then asked me her second dish (here we always have 2 dishes at lunch) around 6pm... i almost kill her.

Although the big debut was when my little niece came saying... "caca" it means ... shit. So i knew what was coming, sincerely... i had never done it before.. so i told my older niece... "Andrea bring all implements" i asked her to clean her sister, but she didn't want to.. so........ i did it, it felt SOOOOOOOO STRANGE, i mean i love my nieces but i have never seen them naked or stuff like that and well.. i have never cleaned them... but then i did it in the name of love (yes... like in the U2's song).

Then it was all around playing with them, make the older study for tomorrow, bath the little one, wash dishes (i was a totally housekeeper)... and then the other hardest thing.. to understand the "dialect" of my smallest niece. When i visit i usually have my mother as translator, but today it was bit hard.... here a small sample.

Ea = Andrea (her sister)
Tio Uan = Uncle John (that was easy)
sion = television
jico = rico (tasty)
tilla = sandals
mida = lunch
chocko = Choclo (Maiz)
pito = Trapito
Pito tilla = she wants her trapito and the sandals
tilla pito = don't know but it seems to mean something else cause she didn't wanted the sandals and the pito (?)

and much more...

So in the afternoon i decided that as she likes talking but is not good yet at pronoucing i would play with her with sounds cause she likes to imitates so here is how it went...

I said: pin pon
She said: pin pon
I said: pon pun
she said: pon pun
I said: pan pin pon
she said: pan pin pon
I said: pan pen pin pon pun!
she said: .... (she openned wide her eyes when listened me... and started clapping and saying) bravo bravo!!!!

Of couse i know this girl is smart ;). In the afternoon i was very tired, my sister and the rest of the family arrived 20h30 and then when was i could finally sleep, but i dont regret about today... it was nice to be with them and get to know them more and understand them and my mother.... i just hope this week ends up soon...

kisses and hugs, Juan

Well... i had the meeting today with my boss and the supervisor, well... she was not exactly happy (supervisor) anyways she told me she didn't think that i should pay that money and she knows the company won't do it. Later on we found out that there is a policy saying that no refund is possible when a client activates any additional service, cause at the moment of doing it the client commit him/herself to maintain the service monthly fee and also to find out all the aditional info he/she needs despite the info provided at the moment of the sale. So... i am out of that.... but as far as i could see.... i wasn't considered to the promotion to the new store... the new administrator told me he would talk to the supervisor tomorrow and that if i was to be sent there.. they would tell me tomorrow, so lets cross our fingers.

as for the rest, i dedicated today to reorganize a bit my house, and try to make it a place to live... long to explain but the few friends of mine who has been here will understand what i'm saying. Later on i got the news that the crazy girl (as i call her now) that works with me... she is pregnate, something we all knew.. but she had some blood flow today... :( she had to be taken to the hospital by urgency, her children is ok yet, but doctor prescribed total recease of her activities... poor she, my boss asked me to be present to a meeting tomorrow morning in store, lets see what happens.

dosvidanya

Well this weekend was hard thing to me, .. as you know i work for Alegro Pcs a mobile phone company i do client service and sales, well... on saturday we had lot of complains, LOT, not due to the service of the company which is actually good, but due to some problems of some mobile phones we had sold.

At the end, we got 6 mobiles back, to be fixed ... but well.. i had to attend all those clients alone... it is frustrating to see how some people don't understand that troubles sometimes happen but that we are just trying not only to sell, but to provide a service, to really help people to communicate. Whatever... i even got menaced... and i though that would be all...when suddenly Alexandra, my co worker told me... "we have troubles, this client seated over there talking to me, says you sold her a mobile some time ago and you didn't explain her the policy for certain additional service she activated and how she is in debt with the company, she brough a quite strong letter of complains where your name is clearly mentioned".

Then i though... WHAT? what what?? i was doing some sale with a client and i couldn't really focus on that so Alexandra received the letter, talked to my Boss and they agreed they would present the complain to the supervisor of the store in the Alegro's headquarters eventhough they disagree with the complain. At the end of my sale i got to read the letter...and have some things to say....

1. I don't even remember this girl, i didn't really saw her face but she must have recognised me if i did the sale cause i'm red haired why didn't she talked to me directly?

2. They say they bought the mobile over 5 months ago, so??? i mean... how come they come to complain right now?

3. They are complaining cause their debt is for 15 USD????? i mean... they don/t understand that i could be i bigger troubles??? only for 15 usd?? i can lose the promotion i have been working for!!! SHIT!!!

I talked to my mother inmediatly as she is lawyer.. not that i wanted to demand anything, i just got a big a headache and was a bit affraid, Alegro is quite exigent with the client service policy and standards, monthly they fire at least 20 people. I really didn't need a trouble right now, i was also talking to see if i could be promoted to another store where i could earn a bit more.. but with this... what can i expect?.

My mother told me to calm down... but i could not stop thinking about it, got a headache yesterday night and today until midday... it became worst cause the complain is not clearly stated, i had to do some research within the system but could not find the proper information about the client and when she/he really bought the mobile, found houndreds of results of my research... i guess i did something wrong in the research, it all became so confusing... i felt my head would explote and i could not think anymore...

Had to take an aspirin (i hate aspirins) mother was worried and called several times, at the end.. i just found out i have nothing to do, i know the procedures... i think i didn't failed.. but i have no proofs... cause i don't know what's the specific mobile number or client we are talking about cause in the system i got too many results. Tomorrow morning i have a meeting 10am with the sales supervisor and my boss at Alegro's headquarters. I want to stop thinking about this...

I was complaining to God.. i mean.. i had worked so hard to do things right, also.. i'm not in sales and client service for the money... but for the chance it gives me to help others, that has been always first. It's frustrating how people don't understand and they pay you bad... for that client it is only 15 usd... but for me the trouble is bigger... for nothing.

I watched a tv series called "Joanne of Arcadia" about a girl who talks to God, and there was something that shoked me, there was a moment when this girl wanted to do good things but it all went wrong and God said: "do you think it is all wrong? you only have to worry about what you do, if you do things right, then it will go right, it is all happening around you, does not matter if you can see it or not, just make sure you do things right and have a little faith in me" and then they played song i have never heard.. John Hiatt - Have a little faith in me.

When the road gets dark
And you can no longer see
Just let my love throw a spark
And have a little faith in me

And when the tears you cry
Are all you can believe
Just give these loving arms a try
And have a little faith in me
And

Chorus:
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me....

I downloaded the song in mp3... what a beautiful song, i came back to my laptop to write this and as soon as i seated i got an email from Mom saying she is sure it all will go fine, that she knows we are blessed by God and we don't have to worry but keep the faith. ufff....that's too much love all from sudden. Thank you.

It is strange and funny sometimes to see how God talk to us everyday, all the time... just like in the tv series ... and it is sad sometimes how hard is for us to understand it and to trust him, i decided to believe that he has a plan and that everything will be ok... keep the faith is not an easy thing, but it worth working hard on it. it is 3am here.. have you all a good night.

You know... something nice happened to me a week ago, i was at my sister's place and Mom had developed some pics from old rolls and she told me, by the way there are some pics of you there. I went to open it and i found out the most exciting thing... a live souvenir from my MCVP Term in AIESEC in Ecuador, i must have taken this whole roll with me in the trips cause i have pics of almost all places i visited, but then i forgot about it.....so...here is how the story goes.

LC CUENCA

There are few LCs apart from LC Guayaquil where i have devoted myself a lot, and one of them was LC Cuenca, while MCVP i was designed their coach and it was a real challenge.

LC Cuenca was placed in highlands, and by the time i arrived they had about 3 years without realising a single exchange, they were having new members and were very few people from past teams. Although reality i found out was a bit different, i found out lot of potential, but a bad guidance, found out lot of committed members that were told they were not "ready" to make AIESEC Cuenca successful, found out a committed and just arrived LCVP SN who was marginated just because she didn't speak Spanish, Olena Onyshchenko, i found out good friends. To make it short... LC Cuenca made my year, i had to brainwash LCP and other old members to allow newies to join the EB (same i did here in LC Guayaquil a year before).

My year in cuenca was good, they realised 5 or 6 exchanges during the first six months of our term, i still remember when we had an MC meeting and we all as coaches had to express the result of our job done with the lcs... and i proudly said:

JuanCa: Well LC cuenca has 6 exchanges realised
Virginijus: what?
Jaga: huh?
Cynthia: really?
Pepa: six exchanges? in this year or in their whole life?

Yep, they did it, and the trainees you can see in the pics are the proof. I admired those LC Members from Cuenca: Olena, Andrea Siguenza, Paul (Piruli), Pocha, Vanessa Regalado and this girl who had to share her job at his family's company and the aiesec work...sorry for forgetting your name :(

I admire them cause they were committed, they believed in themselves and they believed in LC Cuenca, and they worked so hard for it, leaving even their personal things aside, fighting against their parents who didn't like aiesec, i saw many times poor Andrea punished... but they did it. and i probably never got the chance to tell you guys how proud of you i'm.

LC Cuenca members became my friends, and they were all very gifted guys, Pocha was so smart, pretty, and strong, Olena was so sensible and hard worker, same with this girl who worked with her family, Andrea was gym trainer and dancer, Piruli also was a dancer and Vanessa was a professional singer. I mean, isn't a dream team?

I had great times there, and i met another good friend Kaire Ilus from Estonia, she was also very helpful there and she worked with them so hard eventhough she was suppoused to be only a trainee, she tried to involve and to help. Kaire... do you remember i was the one who picked you up in quito? and that i took you to cuenca with me?

With them more than with any other LC i tried hard to involve LC members, trainees and alumni in the reception, guys... do you remember our meetings in "Tutto Fredo" ??? it was so nice to meet all of us like friends, chatting, having fun, enjoying our times together.

I had a great time in cuenca, and they did it so nice, pittyfully the last six months their results fallen down again, but if you ask me, i wouldn't say it was member's fault, but they had an LCP who sucked!. I had already said it before, still with it, the LC members i have mentioned above have my FULL RESPECT, and i only respect those people who fight for their dreams with their whole life and succeed, and they did. LC Cuenca had to be closed, but due to some "arrangements" between the LCP and Leonardo who was MCP candidate at that time they were not. As for me, despite all the love i had for them they had to be closed, cause there were rules to follow, and for me the fact of closing them didn't mean they were losers, no, they are still winners for me, but they didn't have a good LCP to guide them. LC cuenca was closed a year after my term and re openned with new members.

LC MANTA

I also had lot of fun in Manta, they did a good job too and there were also highly committed people in that LC like: Irma Munoz, Fanny Tubay, Carlos Chango, Maria Choi, Billy Figueroa, Elena Cordero and my friends forever and alumni at that time Gonzalo Mejia, Gabriel Yazan and others more. There i met friends i still keep until now, as all the mentioned above plus one of most smart and pretty and cute girls i have met: Karina Montalvo (kisses sweety!!) they were always hospitable, always kind and going to Manta has always felt like staying home for me.

It is a long story with them, but i also admire they way they fighted to get their dreams done, and i can say that since long long time ago LC Manta is the one having the strongest partner and most stable one in the country, providing them more incomes than what the MC here has. By the way...when i was starving in my MC term, meaning... everyday...... they were always paying their LC Fees, they were always there to help us and support us... BIG THANK YOU GUYS... THANKS A LOT.

We also had great and cool trainees, like the one who appears in the pic here, he was a very cool guy and a very very very good friend.

My MC Team

Well, my MC team is an story apart, it was composed by Cynthia from my same city, Maria Jose (pepa) from Quito, Virginijus (Lithuania) and Agnieszka (Polland). It wasn't the best team i have had ...better one was my Russian team, just one single reason... my Russian team was REAL, TRUSTWORTHY.... and that was something i could not say from this team (except Cynthia who deserves all my respect).

Still with it, i understand now that God placed them in my way for me to learn something, not to trust too much on people and to learn about how to play the game of the real life. I don't hate them or so, in fact i'm happy still everytime i get to chat with Jaga who is married now in the USA, or with Pepa who will marry boyfriend from all times, i just take them like a part of my dream...

Once i had a dream, my dream was to work for AIESEC in Ecuador and to make it stronger... to make it known within the region and respected internationally, i had the dream that we could really change people's life while changing ours as well. For this dream... i gave all... left my family, left my city, left my university and still dont finish it, for this dream that i made my mother believe it too.. she paid 1,200 usd to send me to ic 2001 in Switzerland, money that i haven't paid back totally yet. For this dream... i was cold in quito, i was starving...literally cause there was no money to pay us salary, for this dream...i used to walk the city looking on the floor and praying God to find 10 cents for at least buy a glass of coke. For this dream... i was and am considered idiot and stupid for the rest of my family until nowadays, cause they don't think this helped me at all.... for this dream i was almost ignored at my first IC 2001 by many of the most important countries within Aiesec... but for this dream.. i gave my life and i remember those days seatting with Cynthia with hunger and promissing we will not give up, we would make it happen and that despite we were the only starving in the team.... we would make our dream rock and come true.

Thats why this pictures are so important for me... cause they remind me one of the most difficult and critical years of my life, it was a proof until certain level and i feel i past it.

I met good friends, saw great landscapes... travelled my country over twenty times... i still remember those cold nights in the middle of the Andes... while going from Quito to Cuenca, or those sunny days in Manta, those very international nights in Quito... the night i was robbed with a gun two blocks far from home and i didn't know where to go...with none to help me.

And i also remember that during all that year... there was someone whom i loved supporting me, listening to me, believing in me, until almost the end... when we broke up. JP thank you, i loved you a lot..... thanks for sharing this hard times with me, thanks for being here and being my copilot during this trip.

To end.. the only thing i want to say is it was hard, it cost me a lot, there are damages that are not fixed in my life yet... but i DO NOT REGRET, it was my dream ......and ...I FUCKING MADE IT COME TRUE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YUUUUUUPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Few facts about my dream (MCVP TN+SN+Finance Term 2000 - 2001):

- During this year we were for first time awarded by AI with a laptop (which was robbed to me few months later)

- During this year we fixed a huge problem with the SRI (taxes office) here in Ecuador, same problem reappeared on 2005

- During this year i lost lot of weight, but at the same time it was one of the years when LCs were more punctual with their membership fee.

- During this year AIESEC in Ecuador realised 40+ exchanges being one of the three years with highest realisations (if not the highest one) in the over 40 years of existence of AIESEC in Ecuador, not sure but i think these numbers have not been repeated or overpast in the years after my term

- First year that an MCP from AIESEC in Ecuador is invited by AI to facilitate in a Regional Conference (Expro)

- During this year we were several times profiled on the DAAL statistics for our increasing of performance and ended up being one of the FIVE best performing countries in the region (you can check the AI report of that year ;)

- After this year despite not being elected MCP, i was elected as MCVP ER + TNs in AIESEC IN RUSSIA, BELARUS AND KAZAKHSTAN together with Monica Thaker (India) among 18 candidates.....needles to say that by IC 2002 in Canada i was very popular within the Americas Region ;)))))

Hi there, during alumni meeting we were requested to take a picture with some models promoting Grant's Brand, it was already published ;) at mirateaqui.com then choose grant's and there the picture will appear...or see it below ;)

Shortly... it is 4.45am, i'm drunk and i just came back from the Hawaian party that AIESEC Guayaquil organized, pitty that almost none dressed in hawaian way but me and few other guys, but it was cool, not always you go out in shorts and sandals to discos and walk around all the main discos of the city, lol. everybody though i was foreigner

Soon cool pics, i met two trainees, Felix from Switzerland, Kristin from Finland, what a cool pair of guys, there were also tn takers, sns applicants hey guys it was so much fun!!!! Hope my friends send me pics to upload in the website so you can see what i'm talking about.... by the way it is fucking hard to write a blog when you are drunk!!! I like to be in Aiesec again :))) Love it!!!

JuanCa

As i said there have been lot of things cool last week, first one was the ....AIESEC IN ECUADOR ALUMNI MEETING!!!.

Well it was not an official meeting but suddenly we started to email everybody to ask them to meet on September 2nd, we were all emailing for about 2 weeks, about 20 to 50 emails per day ;))) with jokes, arranging details about the meeting until it was setup. We were 17 alumnis meeting at a disco called Praga downtown guayaquil, what a nice experience!! Oh my God a night to remember.

There were several people who did a long trip just to come to the meeting, starting from Cynthia and Giorgio who travelled 8h from Quito just to be here on that weekend, that was so cool.

We also enjoyed the presence of Ericka Ponce, an alumni married 5 years ago with another AIESECer from Dominican Republic and who is currently visiting her family here in Ecuador. Cynthia, Ericka were Aiesec members when i just joined so to meet them was so nice, there was also a huge part of my EB when i was LCP, some recent Alumnis whom i know, we had a GREAT NIGHT!!!.

The place was very cool, two floors, nice environment, good music, good food, good drinks (Vodka and Tequila) and good friendship :) oh guys it was amazing!!!!!

We had lot of talking among us, remembering the good and bad things we faced in Aiesec and just being together... doing the so famous "AIESEC Cheers" and dacing and dancing and dancing and chupando (drinking) until morning. We also celebrated Mayda's birthday, we had cake and all, hey what a nice day to celebrate birthday, with your friends :) old but good friends :))

There is so much to say about that night ,but there are just no words to express all that we felt, and how good it was. so.....let the images speak for us.

In the pics: Gina Salinas, Mayda Mera, Francheska Ross (MCP) and her sister, Cristina Pilla, Noralma Chimbo, Juan Calderon, Jorge (Giorgio) Garcia, Silvia Perez, Francisco (Panchito) Silva, Monica (Amorcito) Alvarez, etc. Missing: Ericka Ponce, Elison Tejada, Miguel Silva, and more. We will meet again soon, so be ready to see more pictures of this great night!!!

Hi there, here is another update about how my nomad life is going on here.

These last two weeks have been exciting, nice and frustrating, with tests... but with lot of learnings.

It all started last week, i went to visit Mom at my sister's place, and she got a phone call from an aunt-in-law (if it is properly said).. there was an older uncle (whom i didn't know) who had birthday and he wanted to meet all his brothers. He was having his 92th or 82th birthday, ok...sorry i forgot how old he is :(.

It was late when we got visit him, about 10pm... in a place far from where my sister lives, but we arrived, it was shocking... and touching... he was so touched in seeing my mother and my uncle, my brother-in-law and me. He was happy, he is very mature now but you know... when you are that age it is nice to see your family, despite they are close or not.

This uncle and his wife met me when i was a kid, i didnt remember them but they said i'm so alike my father. The night itself was calmed, talking about families, about how many brothers there are in my mother's family, talking about they dont see themselves often... and even some of them stopped remembering this uncle's birthday.

For Mom to visit this uncle was important, she was really In... got dressed, was motivated, we had a fight for something stupid and i said i wasn't going, and she said she would not go if i wasn't there. I did, i was there cause for me Mom is the most important now in my life and now more than ever i have learnt to understand what is important in life for her. I just sent her an sms :)).

The night was calmed until the point that a son-in-law of this uncle started to talk to me about University, which i havent finished after my coming back from Moscow, i know ....i know...i should have finished it,but things haven't been easy. I havent had good jobs and i have spent a lot of money, i guess it all stopped being a priority for me.... but for sure i have to do it. This man started to sort of attack me, saying things like why i'm back to Ecuador, why not staying there if here there is no future... and my other uncle who was present said... "well where he was (Russia) there is was no future anyways".

That got me very angry, i mean... they dont understand what Russia means and meant for me, they dont know how important my time there was, and the place of that specific country in my heart. I was pissed off... and at last... why should they care about what do i do with my life? isn't it mine?. I spoke...took the chance to tell them;;"i've heard everything you've said but i have to say i disagree with you". I have lived my life the way i have wanted since long time ago, i guess that gives me the right to contradict anyone's who dares to talk about the way i handle my life, cause it's mine, those were my choices and i assumed them, i did it and took the risk, none is allowed to judge anything i did in the past, just myself.

I guess i made my point but well they looked not so satisfied, i guess they were not expecting nor used that a guy 29 years old contradict to 2 men of about 40 or 45 years old each one. But i did it and i liked it, one has to fight for what we believe. When we left, my sister told me: "I liked the way you spoke, you must apply for president!!" :). Here some pics of that night.

Later on that week i got good news :) one of them is that I'm the ALUMNI COORDINATOR OF AIESEC IN ECUADOR, Yupppieee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Long time without having an AIESEC related position :) but it feels good.

I am happy for that, there are lot of things i want to do, i know alumnis are not always easy but i think we have so much to contribute to in AIESEC, i'll have the first meeting with the NST this weekend which is creating me a problem cause i work on weekends, to say true.... i work only weekends, i dont want to miss this one, but God will have to do something, as for the beginning i have told MCP i cant miss the working day at my job, hope they understand. So this was the first good thing and the other one will come in the next post.