Quito Countdown

Tomorrow is my last full day in Quito, and boy has time flown! The goodbyes are already beginning. I just went out to breakfast with my Spanish class- Isaac, John, Ashley, Sara, and our teacher Diego. We basically overthrew Diego and demanded that we go out to eat instead of sitting in class this morning. It was great though! Definitely a nice reward after making it through 2 weeks of Spanish classes from 7 to 9am. And having REAL coffee instead of Nescafé is a great way to start off the morning as well.

Tonight is also our last night of English class with our students. We have overheard them plotting over the last several days about throwing us a surprise party (being discrete isn't one of their strong points), so that should be really nice. Ashley, Josh, and I made certificates for them all yesterday, so we are going to have a little graduation ceremony for them tonight. I will actually be really sad to say goodbye to them all! They could not be more sweet and gracious with us, and I really hope they feel like they have learned something in these last few weeks. I certainly think they have come a long way! The first day they weren't even able to introduce themselves, and yesterday in class they presented 10 sentence-long skits! I hope my students in Ambato are as fabulous as my students in Quito have been!

A quick update on last weekend: Friday night I met up with all the volunteers at a pizzeria owned by the host dad of one of the volunteers. This wasn't just any pizza place though, of course it had an Ecua flare and there was salsa dancing everywhere! So needless to say, we all had a really fun time. Then we tried to meet up with some of our students to go dancing, but we didn't really find any of them, so we just danced a bit ourselves. I ended up spending the night at Eden and Hilary's house because I left my keys at home...but it was fun having a pillamada, or sleepover, with them!

Then the next morning I headed to Andrea's family's house outside of Quito again. We watched some cheesy chick flicks (she had never seen Love Actually) and then we headed out to her sister's friend's going away party. Talk about a cultural experience! First of all, Andrea dressed me from head to toe...jewelry, shoes, shirt, you name it. Ecuadorian women are very well-dressed, and my appearance obviously did not cut it;) Then we went to this backyard party where everyone was just salsa dancing everywhere! And I definitely learned that it is a LOT harder to understand Spanish when there is music, dancing, and fast conversations happening everywhere. But I tried to hold my own! I learned how to dance merengue a bit, which was really fun, and I just sat back in bewilderment of everyone else's amazing salsa moves. I definitely felt like an outsider!

On Sunday, all the volunteers met in Parque Carolina with their families. Unfortunately Juana, my host mom, couldn't come, but it was so nice to see everyone with their families! Little kids were running around with bubbles, people were playing fútbol, everyone was eating delicious Ecuadorian food...definitely a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon! Then Shelby and I headed to the mall and indulged in some good old American food. She had Taco Bell and I had two heaping scoops of ice cream...yum!

Orientation ends tomorrow, and I am experiencing really mixed feelings. It's so weird to think that I won't see my fellow volunteers every day. I have really enjoyed getting to know them all, and I just wish I had some more time with them. At least I have many visits and travels with them to look forward to this year. And I can't wait to get to Ambato and make it my own. So I am definitely excited about all that lies ahead. One funny thing though, I still don't know when I start teaching! All the SECAP schools around the country are supposed to begin the semester on October 8th, by my director told me that I begin the 1st. So basically there is a tug of war going on and hopefully I should find out today if I begin teaching in 6 days or the following week.

Time to head to the second-to-last day in Hotel Embassy for our sessions...hasta Ambato! xo

A Bit of the Quito Flavor

Sorry it's been so long since I have written! It seems like I just never get enough time in front of a computer to write an entry. Well, I have been through two and a half weeks of Orientation, but I need to catch you up to today. Last week was great, except I wasn't feeling very well for much of the week- luckily I seem much better this week! Our days are just so exhausting that there is hardly time to let one's body recuperate. To give you a hint, here is a glance at my usual daily schedule Monday-Friday:

5am- Wake up, get ready, and eat breakfast
6:15- Catch the bus downtown
7-9:00- Attend Spanish class
9-10:00- Break for coffee and internet
10:00- Attend orientation classes on topics such as the Ecuadorian education system, health, teaching grammar, etc.
12-1:00pm- Break for Lunch
2-5:00pm- Attend more Orientation classes
6-8:00- Teach English classes to adults in Quito
8:30- Catch the bus home
9:30- Arrive home, eat dinner, and get to bed!

So as you can see, it's been a bit hectic! But it's been really fun so far as well. I have really enjoyed the various sessions and getting to know all the other volunteers. Eating has also been an adventure- we found this place we call "No Name," for reasons you can probably guess, that has a lunch special with juice, popcorn, soup, usually a meat and rice, and a fruit for $1.50. I am going to be so cheap when I get back to the States!

My favorite aspect so far, though, has been the student teaching. I have a beginner's class with Josh and Ashley, and our class is so great! We have already gone over the alphabet, numbers, time, clothes, basic descriptive adjectives, birthdays, family, some basic verbs, and today we are doing money exchanges and travel. We are about half-way through with the class, and hopefully all of our students have enjoyed it! It has been great getting to know them over the last week, and it has definitely gotten me excited about having my own classroom in Ambato. One of my favorite students is this little 11 year old girl named Jocelyn who gives me candy every day. I think she likes Josh best though;)

So even though our weeks are fun, we were definitely all craving a break this past weekend, and we sure got it! We all went out dancing with our directors on Friday and it was so much fun. We had all taken a salsa class earlier in the day, and it was so great to let loose and practice our new moves. It was really the first time all the vols were out together in a social situation, so it was so great to really feel like a cohesive group and to have fun together. Then on Saturday afternoon we all boarded a bus and headed to the Papallacta hot springs. It was amazing! I went on this incredible hike in the misty mountains with all these gorgeous waterfalls.  We went back and we all hung out in these natural hot tubs, and it was soooo relaxing. Then we grabbed a bite to eat before heading back to Quito.

Sunday was wonderful as well! I hopped on a bus and headed out of town to meet up with Daniel's good friend Andrea from Hungary. She and her family could not have been more welcoming. The funniest part was when the whole family and I watched home videos of Daniel when he visited them a few years ago. Talk about a surreal experience! They also gave me the most amazing food ever. It was so nice to just relax and be in a family setting again. They drove me back to my house that night and Andrea and I have plans to get together again this coming Friday.

I can't believe there are only 5 days of Orientation left! In some ways it feels like I´ve been here for months and in other ways it seems like I only just arrived. We definitely have done a lot in our 2 and a half weeks here, though, and I hope week 3 proves even better. Check out the pics I loaded of Papallacta....more to come in a few days!

Please send emails too, I promise to write back soon:) xoxo

A Week Come and Gone

I'm sorry I haven´t been able to write sooner! I have been so busy since I've been here, but I am certainly thinking about you all a lot! Oh gosh, so where to begin?

I met the other volunteers in the Miami airport on Sunday, and I could already tell that they were going to be a great group to get to know over the course of the year. Once we arrived in Quito, we pretty much went straight to our hotel and went to bed on Sunday night! We were in training pretty much from 7am-7pm Monday through Wednesday, with all sorts of classes about health, safety, Ecuadorian culture, the Education systems here, and much more! We took a bus tour of the old part of the city one day and really had only about 3 other free hours over the course of the 3 days to walk around and use the internet! So it has been quite a whirlwind so far, but it´s been great. The directors are really young, fun, and so on top of things, and orientation, though long, has been very enjoyable. I am living with another volunteer, Shelby, about 45 minutes away from class by bus in a really nice house. We share a big room and we have an awesome rooftop view of the entire city. Juana, my Quito host mom, has been great so far as well!

Right now I am actually sitting in an internet cafe (attached to my house!!) in Ambato, my new home for the year. Thursday morning the other 2 Ambato volunteers, Eden and Aubrey, and I boarded a bus to Ambato (everyone is visiting their sites this weekend). On the way we found out we had gotten on the wrong bus, but as we have learned already, being flexible is the best trait someone can have in Ecuador. So we got in touch with my host brother, Marcelo, and my Ambato family were waiting to meet us all on the outskirts of town! My Ambato family is great- they are so excited about having me and they have already done so much out of their way. They are already calling me "mija," or, my daughter. My house is really great and my bedroom window has an incredible view of the mountains! I also had my meeting with my new school director Thursday and that went really well. It's a really laid back school and I think I am really going to enjoy it. I'll be teaching basic English though, so it will be quite a challenge!

Thursday night Eden and I took part in one of the most common Ecuadorian past times- dar vueltas. It literally means to go around in circles- young people here walk around and drive around in circles for fun. So Eden's host brother and my host brother took us driving, which was great because we got to see so much of Ambato! Friday morning we three gals met up for breakfast with a current WT volunteer here in Ambato, Dan, who is actually teaching at my same school. Dan and I just walked around a bit more and I got to see some of the more scenic parts of modern Ambato, which was great. I think I am really going to like getting to know Ambato as the year progresses!

Yesterday I hung out a lot with my family- we went to Supermaxi, the Ecuadorian version of Walmart, for groceries. Then I drove around with mi padres as they ran errands. We went to get a birthday cake for their oldest son, Daniel, and they got me my own little piece of cake as a surprise. I am already fearing gaining the Ecua-15...eek! Then Eden and Aubrey came over and we hung out until we had a little fiesta for Daniel's birthday. He lives in Quito so he just came in for the weekend. We all sat around the table and had cake and sparkling wine. Then we all sat around in the living room and chatted it up a bit before we went to meet up with WorldTeach Dan (as he recently been dubbed) to partake in some hot wine downtown. So after wine, the whole group went dancing...it was so great! I definitely need to hit up some salsa lessons, though.

Today I am heading back to Quito with Daniel my host brother and Eden's host brother who is also named Daniel. (I didn´t even mention the two Daniellas hanging out with us last night too.) Until then I am just going to hang out at the house. I am excited about getting back to Quito tomorrow and hearing about everyone else's site visits! I also start Spanish class at 7am tomorrow morning before our normal orientation classes, so that should be fun.

So just to let you all know, I am indeed alive and well in Ecuador! Please let me know what you have been up to!! Miss you all so much.