Love/Hate Relationship.

This is a Love/Hate list of Ecuador so far. But I'm too much of an upbeat optimist person too actually hate anything. So this is an Enthusiastic For/Not Enthusiastic For list. Hahaha.

Enthusiastic For!
-the emphasis on soups
-ice cream everywhere and at any time!
-walking everywhere
-the mountains/countryside
-multiple ecosystems within small distances
-learning Spanish
-"eternal spring"
-fruit salads at the park
-mists in the mountains
-avocados with meals
-my host family
-scarves
-camilla, the new adorable puppy
-walking through gorgeous cemeteries
-dancing

Not Enthusiastic For
-the stares I get when dancing gringo style
-getting coffee "to go" in a take out bowl
-instant coffee
-having rice, potatoes, bread, and pasta all in one meal
-having to plead to get my package at the post office
-bureaucracy
-hard afternoon rains when I'm walking to school
-appearing to have no personality because I cannot express myself
-stray dog poop
-being a less independent woman

Ok. I do have one hate.

Hate!
-Oregano Tea

As you can see, the Enthusiastic For list is larger than the Not Enthusiastic For list. =)

I'm Baaaaack!

My visit to the U.S. is officially over and I'm now back in the land of "ya es de todos" until August.

I had a really good visit, though it was hectic and shorter than I would have liked. I loved being able to eat Korean food, effortlessly eavesdrop, throw toilet paper in the toilet, and oh yeah, seeing family and friends! There wasn't enough of that (seeing fam and friends, not throwing tp in the toilet. I got enough of that) as far as I was concerned.

My time cruncher was interviews. Fie on you interviews! It was super hectic. As soon as I landed I was off on my first interview. I ended up completing 6 interviews in about 10 days. But they were all really good. Very conversational and surprisingly not stressful. Some of them didn't even ask me the usual expected questions, but were rather a whole conversation on some tangent. However, a couple were a little weird. At one, the interviewer went on about how he hated med students and medical education. Uhhhh.... ok. What do you want me to say to that buddy? That I agree with you and thus am self-loathing? And another one was panel style with more rapid-fire questions (but not in a weird or mean way). But it paid off. Cuz this girl is GOING TO MEDICAL SCHOOL! Got accepted to UVA. WAHOOWA! Not yet sure I'm going to go there, but there's a good chance. So, I can chillllll and do my spanish lessons here, horseback riding, maybe some salsa. Oh, and traveling on weekends!

But after interviews, I prob slept for two days straight and then got some good fam and friend time in. Nice dinners, vino, and talking. Perfecto! Christmas was really chill and it was nice to just mope around the house and eat MOUNTAINS of turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. I knew I would miss some good food, so I brought choc chips, brownie mix, and a can of pumpkin back to Ibarra with me. I expect I'll get some baking in. And I expect I'll probably get some tubbiness with that too. =)

Some happy photos of my visit below.

Gathering at the Jeffer's.

P.F. Chang's Get Together.



Alfie on Christmas.


Seriously playing Jenga with my family. I don't mess around.

Reverse culture shock.

$5 coffee. Dropping money on the ground and someone handing it back to the rightful owner, not taking it. Following traffic laws. 30 degree weather. Chipotle. Ethnic food. No Cumbia on the radio. Driving. Standing in lines and not cutting. Not riding in the back of pickup trucks. No aji. No afternoon rain. No stray dogs. Giant malls. Real coffee. Massive traffic. Eating fruit without washing it.

Yeah. It's a shock.

Got back to the States on the 7th. And on the interview circuit. Wish me luck! Back to Ecuador on the 27th.

Local Celebrity.

And this past Sunday's paper means that I have now been in the Ecuadorian news in some form 4 times. Yup. I'm kind of a big deal.

Different times in the News:

1. First time was when we ended up in the small Afro-Ecuadorian town of Salinas and were waiting at the bus stop on the side of the highway for our bus back to Ibarra. Apparently, three gringas on the side of the road in Salinas is a strange sight. We attracted a news crew, which began to film us and ask us questions (why we were there, what we were doing, and of course, what we thought of Ecuador) without ever giving an explanation or asking for permission. They said we would be on the news that night. I never got to see it. And it's probably better that way. They closed in on my face and asked me questions in rapid fire Spanish which I actually tried to answer back in Spanish.
2. El Norte, the major newspaper for the northern region of Ecuador, came to Caribou Bar (Canadian bar in Ibarra) where we went to watch the U.S. election in English on their TV. They asked to take pictures of us, which we thought was for an article on the election. It turned out that when I got the paper, there were big color photos of us in the social section, but that it was all about the bar.
   
3. CECAMI our school took pictures of Debby and I, bien guapa as we are, to make an advertisement. They then put that in the El Norte.
   
4. Another Ibarra newspaper, La Verdad, came to Cafe Arte where we were celebrating my host sister's birthday on Friday night. They asked to take our picture again. Lo and behold, we were in the social pages again on Sunday.
   

I live a glamorous life. Hahaha. That's four times so far. I'll keep counting!

Teaching.... And the Honor Code.

Hip Hip Hooray!

I am finished with my very first module of English classes. And I think they were successes, if I do say so myself! Even though teaching can be really tough (it really is) and can be frustrating when they don't get it or when they have bad behavior, my classes did really well. On the final, a 70% is necessary to pass the class. For my basic class, I only had two students who didn't pass. One was my 75 year old student Luis (the same one who did hip thrusts all down the soul train line). I think he might be slightly illiterate or had a stroke (I notice he has trouble writing and talking). However, he was so endearing as he was always tried so hard in class! Whenever, I shouted out, "What? What? I don't hear you! ENERGY!", Luis would scream back what I wanted them to say over everyone else and would add a "Miss Kristine" to the end. I think he was just too old to keep up with the class. The other student was a girl who just never came to class. I don't think she really cared. As for my intermediate class, they all passed with flying colors!

Now that the first module is done, Debby (the other teacher at CECAMI) and I are rearranging our schedules. For the first module, we each taught a basic and intermediate class (in addition to our conversation class). That was nice since we lesson planned together, but it was overall a lot of work since we were planning for 3 classes in the morning (all morning!!!) then teaching for 5 hours straight ( 3 - 8). Now, we've split it up so that I have both intermediate classes (so I get to keep my intermediate class, who I loved. My beginning class was the naughty one.) and Debby has both basic classes (she gets to keep her basic class that she loved). I hope this cuts down on the work that we do. Lesson planning is hard!

So our last class was a good celebration. We combined all the classes in the biggest classroom for speeches (everything here goes with speeches, so formal!) and a talent show. My intermediate class is so organized. They organized a few songs - Stand by Me and More than Words. I have the videos, I have to upload them. They were also really cute because my intermediate class organized a whole party after in a Karaoke bar. They organized bringing pizza and drinks and splitting the costs. We had a huge table of probably 30 people. We ate, sang Karaoke (Debby and I did a stunning and embarrassing rendition of Barbie Girl and Total Eclipse of the Heart), and then of course, broke out into dancing. It was actually a really fun night! I heart my intermediate class!

So now I start classes afresh (but with many of the same students) tomorrow. I hope it goes well!

Here are some pictures that I took of my beautiful school. I think it's probably the most gorgeous school of all the WT placements.

My classroom

My classroom from the grounds

View from my classroom

Debby and I on the grounds

Things I have learned about teaching (so far):

1. You need a lesson plan. Lesson plans take a long time to make.
   
2. Every Ecuadorian when they come in late will not go quietly to their chair. No, they will yell from the doorway while you are at the front teaching, "Hello! Good Afternoon!", then go to their seat. For us it's rude to interrupt. For them its rude not to say hello. At first, I was wondering what the hell they were doing.
   
3. Honor does not exist in Ecuador (at least not in the schools). Cheating is so prevalent here. In total nostalgia for my UVA honor code days, I instituted an honor pledge on all exams. It's been edited to make it easier for my students. They had to write "On my honor as a student, I did not cheat on this exam." I was hoping this would guilt them into being good. Maybe a few. But others, no. I had to watch them like hawks in the exam. There was blatant whispering and mouthing of words across the room. I had to move people several times and I should have cashed in on my threat to rip up papers if I saw cheating, but I couldn't really do it. Sigh. If only the honor code applied here.
   
4. To be an engaging teacher, you must be slightly like a circus animal. Always playing games and being a little goofy, but at the same time strict. It's all so confusing!

Oh well. It was a good first module! Now, I'm looking forward to another one (hopefully with less lesson planning hours a day)!

Weekends.

Ok. So this is going to be a mammoth post. Expect lots of writing and lots and lots of pictures.

2 weekends ago (Nov. 1-2):
A good friend of mine from WT, Melea, visited me from her small town. When she got into the "big city", as she called it, we had a nice leisurely catch up time in a cute cafe that has really good, like really American, apple pie. Then Debby, the other WT volunteer who works with me in Ibarra, caught up with us and we really indulged and got facials (this is because there are no such services where Melea works). Afterwards, more indulgence by going to this awesome Italian restaurant where a real Italian lady, Tiziana, hand makes all the pasta. DE-LI-CI-OUS gnocci! I swear, I usually don't live like this in Ibarra, but I wanted to show Melea a good time. =)

The next morning we took the tourist train, El Tren de la Libertad, from Ibarra to Salinas, this small Afro-Ecuadorian town. We sat on the top of the train (kind of like a double decker bus) and got to get a really good view of the beautiful scenery. We went through the mountains, through several tunnels in the mountains, and then down into the valley where it was much warmer. At the beginning of the ride, we were wearing jackets and by the end, we were wearing tank tops. Ecuadorian weather is very fickle and I will have to write about that another time. Here are some pictures from the train ride.

Me, Debby, and Melea cheezing on top of the train.

The scenery from the bus. You can see some of the tunnels we went through.


Melea and I in front of the train when it got to Salinas.

When we got to Salinas, we decided to get off the train and catch a bus back to Ibarra instead of riding the train back (which took much longer and cost more). So, we got off and walked around Salinas, which is very small and poor. It's very different from Ibarra, which is quite commercial and has many stores and industries. Salinas is almost entirely a town of farmers. And culturally, it's quite different. It's almost entirely Afro-Ecuadorian. Not completely black (or as small) like Santa Ana, but enough so that it felt like a different culture. We walked around a bit, looked at the church, and well that's pretty much all there is to see. We stopped in what looked like the only comedore and ordered Cokes (nothing better than coke in a glass bottle!) and papas fritas. Then, we headed to the "bus terminal", which is essentially a bench on the side of the Panamerica highway. We were sitting there for a while waiting for the next bus when this car with "EV Noticias" on it drove by. They saw us, did a double take, stopped the car and immediately brought out a news camera and started filming us. Not talking or anything. Just nonchalantly started filming us. Being awkward me, I started to wave and make faces. As weird as it was I figured it was Debby's blonde hair that gave us away from the road as gringos and that they wanted to film us. It's funny what you get accustomed to. Finally, someone came out with a microphone and began the first communication. They came up to us with the microphone and camera and began to ask us questions. Mainly, "why are you here?", "what are you doing in Salinas?", "what do you think of Salinas?", "what are you doing in Ecuador?", and the always present question, "what do you think of Ecuador?". We all answered their questions in Spanish and there was a good chunk of time with me struggling to answer back in Spanish. They said they were from a news channel in Quito and that they were going to put it on the news. I never saw it, but I don't really watch TV. So, I'm sure that Debby, Melea, and I were on the news at some point that week, speaking in broken Spanish about how much we love Ecuador. It's probably better that I never see it. They zoomed in on me speaking after a 3 hour dusty ride outside. We flagged down our bus and made it back to Ibarra, where we packed up and caught a ride to Mira, the small town where my host family is from, to celebrate Dia de los Difuntos (Day of the Dead) with them. Yeah, we were busy that weekend.

So when we got to Mira, we immediately went to the family's house where I swear the whole family had gathered. Probably 15 or so people in the house, coming and going. We got some Merienda, coffee, and then headed to my host aunt's house as there was no room in the regular family house for us. So that night we were super lucky and got to sleep 3 girls to one small wooden slat bed. Wooooo! But before we went to sleep. Way before, we got ready to go dancing in Mira. Mira is a really small town, a pueblo, of probably less than 10,000 people. So, our version of pre-gaming was standing under the roof of a bus stop in a circle of probably 12-15 people (mostly all cousins), in the rain, passing around only one cup that was constantly refilled with whisky and sparkling water for each person to drink before being passed to the next person. Melea and I didn't partake because women don't really drink whisky here. But we were standing there in the cold (really high altitude) and in the rain and were starting to get antsy. After what seemed like an eternity we finally went dancing. This is the part in the story where Melea and I gave Americans a bad rep forever in Mira. We were holding our own for all the latin songs, then oddly enough, a rock bands comes out and starts playing. Immediately all the Ecuadorians sit down as I feel they only dance with steps and there are no steps to this music. So there was no one on the dance floor, but Melea and I were already in the dancing mood and started doing crazy hippy dancing, like interpretive dance and stuff. You would not believe the stares we got! And my host sister was literally begging us to stop. Hahaha. Really, it was not that bad. We were just being crazy and free! Oh well! Just reinforcing the idea that gringas are loca!

The next day was Dia de los Difuntos and we went to the cemetary where my host mother's mother had just been buried 3 months ago. This was my very first Day of the Dead and it was really interesting. It's not really a somber occasion at all, but very festive, with people selling flowers, food, little decorations outside of the cemetary. Inside, families were gathered around their graves, cleaning and decorating and some just hanging out. Even some with crates of Pilsener (the local beer). It was really pretty too, looking at all the graves. And there was this one really old indigenous woman. I was watching her and I noticed she kept going to all these different graves and was quietly talking. I thought it was really sort of beautiful, praying for each of the people there. That, or she was crazy.

The cemetary on Dia de los Difuntos. Old indigenous woman is on the right.

After that, we went back to the house where we ate Cuy (Guinea pig) for lunch. From there, to the family's land to pick mandarin oranges and avocados! They have a gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous area of land. I mean gorgeous. Perfectly set in the mountains. With mandarin orange trees and avocados!!!! We spent the whole afternoon climbing trees, picking avocados, and eating on the mountain. I might never come back!

Here are the some of the kids climbing in the trees.

Obligatory picture of me with my avocado, displaying the mountains.

Overall, a really good weekend.

ELECTION NIGHT!
Yup, those of us outside of the U.S. were eagerly watching it too! We wanted to watch the election in English so Debby and I after teaching classes booked it over to Caribou, the Canadian bar in town to meet up with our gringo friends, mostly PC volunteers and other professors at other schools. It was a super exciting night for us and we were glued to watching the TV. We were just a giant group of gringos and the local newspaper, El Norte, came around and took pictures of us. Yeah, what can I say, I'm just a local celebrity. Haha. We thought they were doing a story on the U.S. election, but it was really a social pages thing on the bar we were at. But we did have a giant color photo in the newspaper. Overall, it was an awesome night. Go Obama!

Our gringo group watching history!

Debby and I super excited and pointing to Election stats, which disappeared on the screen just as we took the picture.

Last weekend:
Does this post go on? Yes. Yes, it does. Isn't it exciting? =)

Last weekend, Debby and I were supposed to meet up with some of our Quito friends to go to the La Mama Negra festival in Latacunga. But that was canceled unexpectedly because of a horrible freak accident where when they were getting the floats ready, a school boy died from a fire work going off. Sad. So, we changed our plans and decided to go to Banos, which is a really touristy town in central Ecuador (a good 7 hour ride from us). It's a small town thats set in the mountains and is really pretty. There is a lot of adventure sports and hiking there and they have thermal springs. After spending Friday night at our friend's house in Quito, we set off for Banos, which is a good 4 hour bus ride on some windy mountain roads.

Debby, my host sister, and our Quito friend, got there, ate, and then by that time most of the day was gone! We decided to take a bike ride to enjoy the mountain scenery and see some of the cascades. Never mind that it was already starting to get late (4 PM), that I hadn't ridden a bike in probably 10 years, and that we had to ride our bikes on the downhill, curvy, and busy highway (still set in the mountains and gorgeous, though). I was being all romantic and thought it was going to so poetic to enjoy the mountain scenery and cascades on a bicycle. I mean, I did. It was really pretty. But I probably would have it enjoyed it more if I had listened to the others and decided to do the ATVs. I was so preoccupied about how to ride a bike and not get hit by cars! And then thats when we biked through the dark tunnel through the mountain, where we had an almost collision between bikes and almost subsequent being hit by cars. Yeah, sometimes I'm not so smart. But don't worry! I'm all safe. =) After that, though we hit a path that cars couldn't come on and we saw some cascades and really enjoyed the biking and scenery at that point. At least, I did. And we also got a little follower. This little 13 year old boy biked with kept talking about how he was only 13, but he had a 15 year old girlfriend. Hahaha. Finally, we hit the highway again, and got a ride on a bus back to Banos with our bikes.

At that point, we got some food, some vino and then hit the thermal springs. I mean thats what you do in Banos. That's why it's called Banos! It was a really nice setting (there was a waterfall right next to it), but I was overall disappointed in the springs. They were really crowded and only luke warm. Papallacta is so much better! After that, I was sleepy and a party pooper. Some of the girls went out dancing. I went to sleep. I live a crazy and dangerous life. what can I say? The next day, we checked out the church, but that was it. We got back on the bus to Ibarra (7 hours on the crazy bus ride back with our driver that kept eating fritada and driving the bus with his elbows). I definitely think that if I go back to Banos, that I will need to spend more time there and do some hiking.

This is our bike riding group in front of one of the cascades. You can see it in the bottom left corner.

And this is me with another cascade. Pretty.

Well, that's pretty much it so far. Tomorrow I'm going to the El Angel Biological Reserve with my host sister. I've heard it's gorgeous. And then on Sunday, going to prepare the final I'm going to give to my students. I hope they do well!!!!

Ahora, estoy feliz!

Halloween.

So I had a good end of week and weekend. But right now I only have time and internet speed to write about the awesome Halloween party. Weekend stuff will come soon, I hope.

On Thursday (Oct. 30), we held our Halloween party. It was a success if I do say so myself. I don't know if I really imparted much cultural knowledge or any English that day, but we succeeded in getting all the students to wear costumes, eat ungodly amounts of candy, pass apples with only their necks, and of course, do a soul train line. It was a good party. We definitely got everyone dancing, including my 75 year old student Luis who dressed as Dracula and did hip thrusts all down the soul train line.

Yup, I came to Ecuador to volunteer and I end up throwing parties. I live a difficult life. Haha. But really, it was a lot of work getting ready! There were all sorts of expectations. As North Americans, we must obviously know how to throw a huge Halloween party and should impart some sort of cultural lesson. We were feeling a little bit of the pressure and tried to make sure we had good decorations, games, and costumes. We went early in the week to the costume shop and ended up getting roped into being costume models. In these costume stores, they take pictures of people in the costumes and put them on the wall. I think they jumped on the chance to get pictures of gringos. So, I ended up wearing a snow white costume, several variations of an indigenous Zuleta costume, and a doll outfit. That was fun and I ended up going as the doll. Not too shabby for a Halloween outside of the U.S.

Here are some pictures of my classes!

My basic class



My intermediate class



Me dancing with Luis, hip thrusts and all


Being my model self, you know, the usual.

More to come soon!

Epiphany.

I had an epiphany. Sort of.

I´m not ready to start the real world in any way, shape, or form. As excited as I am to start med school (sadly, I´m big enough of a dork to really look forward to it), there´s still so much of the world I want to experience and do.

Part of me wants to say ¨Forget med school, I´m going to be a gypsy.¨ and just go with the flow and take whatever opportunity that comes up. Live in France, live in a park in Big Sur, work my way around the world by taking small odd jobs.

So far in Ecuador I´ve met a lot of cool and crazy gringos with lives I secretly and not so secretly covet. They take off and travel the world, moving to different destinations as they meet people and opportunities arrive. Or people who come to visit a friend in Ecuador and decide to stay and make it work and then see where things will take them next.

What´s next in my list of opportunities to take? Living in Europe? You better believe I will make it happen (if even for a short while). Working my way through India (We shall see!)? Southeast Asia? Or maybe I´ll just stay in South America longer. We shall see. But I refuse to just ¨settle down¨ once I am done with Ecuador.

Now, to incorporate that with med school...

HALLELUJAH!!!

The skies parted and God said, ¨There shall be internet!¨ and it came to pass.

I have internet in my house!!! This is super special. Now, I shouldn´t have to pay to use the internet all the time and even more special, I can use the internet after 5 PM! HOOORAY!

Expect more posts and pictures soon! Maybe, if I can stop being lazy and stop leaving the house early to make a stop by the yummy bakery for a galleta or roll.

Also important, I am coming home. After a day of fiesta on the 6th of December in Quito, I will be flying home on the 7th and be staying until the 27th. Unfortunately, I don´t have a ton of time to hang out (but I will make time for you, if I like you!) because I will be doing interviews. On that note, WOOP! I have interviews from VCU, EVMS, Temple, Georgetown, and Einstein so far.

Coming up, a halloween fiesta for my class. Can I pull off a giant party for my Ecuadorian students and impart upon them the importance of Halloween, candy, scandalous costumes, and jack'o'lanterns? TBD.

I hate computers.

I just wrote a long blog post with pictures and witty descriptions and then the computer just turned off. I was about to push "publish".

Because I am angry and I refuse to rewrite and computers suck, you all miss out. I will write it again another day. Le sigh. If I ever have time! Hahaha.

Oh well, here´s one picture of this rich blonde Ecuadorian girl from the Caceria del Zorro. I was a big time creeper and took a million pictures of her. She´s just so adorable with her riding jacket and crop!
As a side note, there is no movie theater in Ibarra. How will I ever watch Batman!?

Oh well, I´m enjoying my time here! Yay!

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

This was the post I tried to post when I posted "I hate computers". I thought I deleted it, but really it was saved. I'm just that technologically challenged. Well, here you go.


The glamorous side of Ibarra.
On the 4th of October, we had the Caceria del Zorro which is this festival/event thing where there are Zorros, dressed as Zorro (hat, mask, cape, everything black) on horses. The point of the festival is to crown the next Zorro. At Yahuarcocha lake, in the afternoon, the Zorro races and there are a bunch of other people on horses who chase after him to catch the flag at the back of his horse. Whoever catches it is the Zorro for next year. It´s an event that happens every year and it really is just an excuse for all the Ibarreños to go out and drink and socialize at the race track. But earlier in the morning, the Zorros and the competitors have a parade on Bolivar street. That part is for all the rich Ibarreños to come out and show off their expensive horses, designer clothes, and very European looking children. I´ve never seen so many blonde and red headed Ecuadorians or so many popped collars outside of UVA. Talk about feeling like I was in a Ralph Lauren advertisement. But it was really fun and really pretty. I don´t want to write anymore, so here are pictures.

Zorro on Bolivar street.

A cute little Ecuadorian blonde rich girl. I took many pictures of her. I´m a creeper.

The actual race track with a female Zorro, not a zorra...

The Nonglamorous side of Ibarra.
That would be me. Yeah, I was a sick little gringa during the Caceria. I will not disgust you with details.

Another side to Ecuador.
On Saturday, Debby and I went to an AfroEcuadorian town of Santa Ana with some PC vols. They were nice enough to invite us to experience the different culture of an AfroEcuadorian town while they distributed eyeglasses from a project they had worked on earlier. We took a bus to Santa Ana and helped with the distribution. It´s a small town of about 600 in the Sierra and it really is very different culturally. It is a much smaller, poorer town, but the people were so personable and warm. And the town itself was small and rural, but the area around it was gorgeous. We couldn´t get a bus out of the town so we got a ride on the back of a truck to the Panamerica highway. That was a pretty ride. Then we flagged a bus down on the highway and got back to Ibarra. Good day.

The end.

Well, Orientation has come and gone. Yesterday was the last day. It was spent doing evaluations and saying "goodbye" at dinner and dancing. It´s funny because it feels like something is over. But it´s not. It is literally just the beginning.

I´ve already said goodbye to a bunch of the other volunteers. And in a couple hours, I will be leaving for Ibarra. I will say goodbye to my precious Quito host parents and then say hello to my new host family in Ibarra. Pretty crazy. We´ll see how it goes!

Ecuador - 2, Kristine - 0

So Ecuador is an interesting place. Too bad I haven´t had too much time to explore with our 16 hour days of orientation. For 16 hours, I´m practice teaching, taking classes on teaching and Ecuador in a hotel with 40 other gringos, and then off to Spanish class. Can we say intense?

In all this intensity, Ecuador has scored the first few points in our epic battle (our friendly epic battle, but battle nonetheless). Yes. When I went to visit Ibarra (which I will write about when I have time and internet cafe money), I had my jacket, camera, and cell phone stolen. Nothing scary or anything. Rather me being careless. So yes, that is a point to Ecuador and shame head shake for Kristine. It´s ok, I´m getting it all replaced. So, smile!

Then in the intensity of our schedule, I got something with a little bit of a fever, aches, and tummy unhappiness. That´s spread to everyone now. But I was one of the first. So, again, when the other volunteers went dancing, I lay in bed like the awesome person I am. Ecuador, you get another point. And an obligatory laugh at my gringo weakness.

But all in all, it´s a friendly battle. Because every day Ecuador, you give me an awesome 4 course almuerzo for under 2 bucks, I see the Andes, am surrounded by cool people and get to see things like La Compania. So, Ecuador, thats why you and I are friends.

In Quito.

I am officially in Quito. Well, I have been for the last few days.

It´s been pretty awesome, but also really busy. There are 37 of us and everyone is really cool. But we´re talking about 12 hours of work a day.

A typical day consists of waking up at 6:15, having desayuno with my very old and precious host parents (which consists of pan, bananas, cafe con leche y jugo), taking the bus to the hotel for classes, almuerzo of a couple hours (at a lot of places 3 courses - soup, main entree with rice, meat, and vegetables, and postre, and juice - all for about 2 or 3 dollars), classes for a couple hours, go home on the bus, have dinner with Victor y Mercedes (host families), struggle to speak Spanish with them, have Victor demonstrate how ladrones steal on the bus, watch some Spanish TV, have Victor y Mercedes laugh at my attempts to speak spanish and then pass out.

Today we saw Old Quito, which is gorgeous. I´ll try to post pictures soon (when I don´t have to go to an internet cafe - who knows when that will be). Tomorrow, I´m taking the bus to Ibarra to speak to my host family and the director of the school. I´m pretty nervous. But stay there for most of the weekend and then return to Quito.

I also got an Ecuadorian cell phone. Email me for the number.

So far I´m loving Ecuador and I haven´t gotten any altitude sickness or stomach issues. YAY! Go me! And I´m loving seeing the Andes every morning. They´re right there and beautiful.

Missing everyone!

Awesome host family in quito.

Ok. Already I'm a hopeless loser blogger person - this being my second blog of the day. But, how awesome is this!? It's the description of my host family in Quito.

Family Members: Mercedes (late 70s), Victor (late 70s), Francia and Juan Carlos (30's) live behind house

This is a wonderful family that has been hosting WT and PC vols for 30 years! Despite their age, they are still pretty active. They make vols. feel like special guests. Both have a great sense of humor and will probably tease you about falling in love with an Ecuadorian. They are warm people and offer good meals. Mercedes is a former soap opera star! You will have lots of independence and privacy. The location of the house is pretty centrally located and only about 20 minutes by bus to the orientation site. Their daughter, Francia, lives very close by and will be over often, with her husband, Juan Carlos.

Yeah. That's right. I'm living with a 70 year old soap opera star. Be jealous!

Some thoughts on English.

While teaching English, I've come to realize that it's a difficult language. This probably stems from the fact that it's a hybrid of many other languages, but it's hard when you're teaching someone that "seen" has a long "e" sound but "been" has a short "i" sound or why "two" sounds the same as "too" and "to".

Languages are always changing and I guess that reflects the fact that cultures are constantly evolving. I had this thought while I was teaching contractions. It's interesting that we can interchangeably say, "No, she is not", "No, she's not", and "No, she isn't", by choosing which words to contract.

I hope Spanish is easier than English.

Ibarra or bust.

Only 10 more days until I leave DC! Crazy!

I've just found out where I'll be living for the next year! And it is...... IBARRA!!! I'm very excited. It seems like the just the sort of place I want to be for the next 11 months - medium-sized city, teaching at a community school, in the Sierra, with lots of hiking and backpacking opportunities. Here are some snippets from my email about my placement:

"Ibarra is a small or medium, proudly 402-year-old city in the sierra, about 3 bus hours north of Quito. We're actually just north of the equator. It's very handy to be this close to Quito, but at the same time, it's nice that it's lower than Quito. That makes the weather a little warmer and the oxygen a little less scarce. It's also just more attractive and safer than Quito and some other cities. "

On my teaching assignment:
"You'll be working for a little municipal-run capacity-building center, El Centro de Capacitación del Municipio de Ibarra. It's a really cute little campus with a nice garden. "

"CECAMI accepts any student age 12 and up, so your classroom age-range can really vary from teenagers to middle-aged adults. "

My thoughts on it: AWESOME!!!

Well, things are winding down now. I've finished work, finished all but two secondaries (Temple and Georgetown), and gotten most of my things in order. So now is the time to enjoy and have fun and shop! I've had a few fun days and I'm looking forward to more.

Some pictures from some happy days!

Wow. First Blog Experience Ever!

Wow. I've never had a blog before. So, this is a new experience for me. In fact, I've always considered myself "technologically challenged", so bear with me! Since I will be soon leaving for a year of teaching in Ecuador, I thought that starting a blog would be a good way of recording adventures, keeping in touch with friends, writing down thoughts (if I have them!), yada, yada, yada.

It's been really busy this summer with getting ready for Ecuador and applying to med schools. I've gotten to the point where I'm starting to feel CRAZY/hertmit-ish/want to write "just accept me!!!!" on my applications. I have less than 4 weeks before I leave for a year! My departure date is August 29th. I'll be leaving DC on the 28th. Before that time, expect me to be SCRAMBLING to do 5 secondaries, teaching, volunteering, seeing people, drinking wine, learning Spanish, working, raising money, and overall preparing for Ecuador. Yeah, I don't sleep much. But who needs that? I'm excited!

I think I've gotten to the point where things are starting to fall in to place (I think I've fundraised most of my fee - thanks to the wonderful donations from family, friends, and my wonderful co-workers at work! Thank you guys! You know who you are. :D ). All I have to do is keep doing what I'm doing and focus on the secondaries to crank them out. Once I'm done with UVA and EVMS, I think most of them will be easy after that. This is what I've finished so far:
-GWU
-VCU
-UPENN
-NYMC
-Albert Einstein
-Mount Sinai
And those that have yet to be done:
-UVA
-EVMS
-Georgetown
-Cornell
-Temple

But who cares about that? I'm supposed to be living the life (which I haven't)! So, if you are a friend, kick me in the butt so that I go out with you and spend time with you before I go traipsing off to Ecuador! But yes, time is now limited, so get in line! =)