Anderson's Ethnographic Notes

For nearly three years (Pre-Staging 05/29/2017–06/04/2017, Pre-Service Training 06/05/2017–08/14/2017, Swearing in and Peace Corps Service 08/15/2017–03/31/2020), my wife and I served as Peace Corps Community Health Volunteers in the city of Cuenca, Ecuador, South America. Sometime mid-March 2020, we were given the choice to evacuate to the United States along with nearly 150 other Peace Corps Ecuador Volunteers (due to the Covid-19 emergency) or self-terminate our positions with the Peace Corps. Since we had been making plans to live in Cuenca, Ecuador following the end of our third-year contract extension August 15, 2020, we chose to self-terminate and stay in Cuenca, Ecuador. We have since been forming our own non-profit foundation that will enable us to continue the education projects we had developed the past three years of our service, particularly the “TiNi” program we feel has a tremendous undeveloped potential to be of great benefit to the children of Cuenca.

Prior to my Peace Corps Service, I taught courses in anthropology and philosophy for sixteen or so years as an adjunct instructor and my professional and academic interest in these two major disciplines spans about forty years. I had decided that it was time to share some of the many insights and reflections I developed from wandering the halls of these particular disciplines and to do so in a way that was immediate and inexpensive, not counting the time costs of writing, editing and learning the software applications of such a website. This was why I originally created this website, but soon, other pressing issues caused me to lay it aside (completing my Ph.D. dissertation, Peace Corps Application and service). However, now that our PC service has ended, I have begun to pursue new education opportunities and decided it was time to continue the development of my web page, especially with the new teaching I have been doing for the University of Cuenca.

My aims are to be as uplifting as possible, not pejorative, and I invite my readers to share the same frame of mind; after all, the world is swimming with so many currents and tides of cynicism, pessimism and outright attacks upon the psyche of so many individuals that I would only be adding to this quagmire if I were to let myself be drawn into the same pit. So, I invite you to peruse and enjoy the pages and posts I have made and to return frequently as I add more.

My first post was initiated with the industrious honeybee and the culture of those who care for these amazing creatures. It was, after all, my introduction to these wonderful animals that got me to thinking about writing a blog devoted to them in the first place so it is only fitting that I initiate my entry into the world of blogging from the perspective of ethnography with a short piece dedicated to them and the creative individuals who have been devoting many hours and lifetimes to their study and care in an effort to increase our knowledge, as well as our utilitarian products of this vital segment of our natural world. I hope to return and enlarge this discussion soon.

Among my most recent projects have been the teaching of a workshop for the University of Cuenca on “Communicative Language Theory” back in December 2019. I intend to create a page devoted to this workshop and the materials I disseminated to enrolled students.

Finally, I invite you to browse the page I created for a pending Webinar I am scheduled to teach, “Teaching English Using the TiNi Methodology,” a project that has grown out of my association with the University of Cuenca and the work we did as Peace Corps Volunteers with the TiNi Program. I hope you find it, and these pages, informative and beneficial.

Please like and share my pages with your friends and associates!