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!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
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 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.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
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!
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!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, August 18, 2008
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!
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!
Monday, August 4, 2008
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! =)
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! =)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
