Quito Round 2

I know, I know. It has been months and months since I have updated this blog. I guess there just reaches a point in your life abroad when you settle in, things aren't so new, and your life resembles a life you would be leading in the States. Exciting things don't happen all the time. The language is less of a mystery and so are the different places in the city or country. I have my bearings and find it harder and harder to find interesting things to write about. I want my readers to be wowed and mesmerized by everything I tell them about living in Ecuador, but most of my life is not so wow-worthy.

I spent an enjoyable summer in the States seeing pretty much every member of my family and extended family and many friends still living in Huntsville. I also had one of my best friends, Sun, visit me for a week in Ecuador. I meant to write a blog about it, but just never seemed to get around to it.

I have now officially started my second round of Quito. The beginning of the school year has come and gone and I am leading a life similar to many of yours (consisting of work, grocery store, and home). This school year is proving to be much easier than last school year. The learning curve is much, much smaller. Thank goodness! I have been getting to know my students and hopefully they are learning a lot in class. With a smaller learning curve, I feel I can focus a lot more on my teaching and things I can do to improve myself as a teacher. It makes me feel a little sorry for my students from last year because I could have been so much of a better teacher if I wasn't worried about learning about Quito, Spanish, the school, and the school's curriculum. There was just too much on my plate last year and not enough time to hone my skills.

I am still contemplating the future but I am fairly confident that I will be spending another year here in Quito. I would like to start my masters degree; however, I am afraid that if I leave Quito after only two years and enter grad school in the States, that my Spanish will not be strong enough to survive not having regular exposure to it. I would really like to greatly improve my Spanish this year and solidify it even more with a third year. It also seems like a nice idea to go a third year without having to change everything in my life again. Maybe I'm getting too old for the constant changes (I did just recently turn the big 3-0, yikes!).

I am looking into schools with a masters program for literacy. I would like to one day become a literacy coach. I feel I could make a greater difference working with a smaller number of students and with students who really struggle with learning how to read or understand what they read. I am only in the research stage. I am looking into schools in Colorado and some northern states. We'll see how it goes.

I have really been getting into yoga lately. There is a woman who has a channel on YouTube named Adriene. I have done two different 30-day programs that she has for yoga. I find that it really helps me focus on the positive things in life, it helps me to de-stress, and meanwhile it helps to continually stretch and tone my body. I recommend her videos if you are interested in yoga. I think making time for it every day really helps you to de-stress and relax more in life.

That's about it for now. I am looking forward to a visit from my brother Shaun for Christmas. He is going to be the very first member of my family to visit me while I have been living abroad! It only took about 7 years, but someone is finally taking advantage of my living in another country! The trip should be fun and hopefully I won't kill him before it's over. ;) Maybe a blog will have to be made about the experience.

I hope you are all doing well and are happy in your individual lives!

Lloa to Mindo: An Ecuadorian Adventure

Last weekend, Lauren, Francisco, Stephen and I decided to try out a hike going from a city named Lloa to a city called Mindo. The hike, we had heard, was pretty easy. It is mostly downhill for the entire trek and incredibly beautiful. Some people actually hike the entire way from one city to the other; however, this takes 3 days. We wanted to finish in one weekend so we decided to have Francisco's cousin drop us off at the beginning of the trail which is actually about 30 minutes from Lloa. This left 41 kilometers for us to accomplish in two days. It seemed like a pretty easy thing to get done despite the fact that it was through a rain forest and supposedly wet.

We arose at 5am on Saturday morning. However, due to the Ecuadorian tendency towards being slow and the obligation for Francisco to sit around talking to his family (we stayed the night at his cousin's hosue), we weren't dropped off to start the trail until about 7:30am. The first 11 kilometers or so were amazing! The landscape was beautiful and it seemed like a pretty simple trail. Just follow it down hill. We were keeping a good pace and enjoying each other's company (though the rain boots that were purchased for this trip were becoming bothersome). We reached our first major river crossing. There was a small swing that one person could sit on and two ropes for the other people to use to help the person cross by pulling on the ropes. I was volunteered to go first and I reached the other side without too much difficulty, though, three Ecuadorian men who were hiking together had to help out a little. It was Lauren's turn to cross. When she was almost across it got a bit difficult to get the person over the flat ground. It went up a little so it was difficult to pull the person. I went over to help try to pull her all the way. Unfortunately, I just added to the weight of her backpack and she tipped backwards. She was hanging onto the swing with her legs as she dangled from the swing. To help correct this, I tried to pull her backpack up quickly and ended up slipping and busting my ass on the rock below us. We were a sight. Lauren dangling from the swing and me sprawled out below her on the ground. I finally got myself back up, managed to right her and bring her across. However, I think I may have done more harm than good and I think I provided a good bit of entertainment to the boys on the other side. Stephen and Francisco were brought across without any trouble.

After this, we hiked a couple of more kilometers until we hit another river. The Ecuadorian men had passed us and when we arrived they were in the middle of being taken across by a random man with a donkey. We looked up and down the river, but it was wide and a bit of a rager. If we crossed by ourselves, we were bound to get everything completely soaked. So, even though the man was charging the ridiculous price of $5 per person, we paid and were taken across the river on a donkey. By this time, it was around noon and we had made pretty good progress. We stopped and had lunch by the river. We had roughly 16 more kilometers to go before we wanted to set up camp. After chowing down on tuna, bread, and vegetables, we started again in high spirits. We were confident the hike wouldn't be difficult and we could do more than halfway the first day.

After a few more kilometers, we hit the spot where our rain boots finally came in handy. We came across parts of the trail that had a lot of water and mud. Our boots were sinking in to about knee deep. I hit a spot where my boots stuck and I lost my balance a bit. My hand landed in the mud. For the rest of it, I had to keep pulling on my boots to unstick them from the mud. Not really what I had been expecting from the trail, but the mud cleared up and we were able to stop by the river to clean off my hands and feet. The mud made us move a little slower, but we regrouped, hoping the mud was done and continued on our way. We hit a point where it was unclear whether the trail was going left or right. So Francisco pulled out his GPS and determined we should probably go right. We followed the trail right up to a point that led into the actual river. Thinking we took the wrong path, we retraced our steps and went the other way. Eventually we hit a point that was a muddy, 90 degree angle up the mountain. There was no way anyone was making it up that. At this point, a little frustrated, we turned back around to find the correct path. As we were coming down, I hit an especially muddy spot, slipped, and a long stick that was coming out of the ground jabbed into my throat. I was in shock and scared of the damage that could occur. However, Stephen and Lauren reassured me there was no blood and that it was just a scratch. But man, did it hurt and my mood began to sour.

We retraced our steps all the way back to the point where the trail ends at the river. Stephen and Francisco decided to go off into the river to see if they could find the trail. While Lauren and I waited, it started to rain. Rain ponchos came out and we continued to wait. Finally they came back and told us they found the trail. We had to go through the river and then there was a rock. At the rock, we would have to use a rope to help us rock climb up the wall. Stephen said he was confident every one would be okay but mad a joke that if someone falls, they fall into the river and die. Not the best joke to make. We decided to continue with the trail and we waded through the river to the spot with the rock. Stephen climbed up the rock. My fear of heights began to set in, coupled with the fact that the rock was wet and it was still raining and there was a raging river below us. I began to express doubts that I could make it up this rock. Francisco went up another trail next to us to see if there was a way I could go without using the rock. Unfortunately, there was no other way. I had to go up or hike all the back the way we came. Lauren went up and my fear increased to the point that I was shaking. I really started to freak out and feel that I was unable to accomplish this small task. They convinced me to take off my backpack and said that Stephen would come half way down to help me. So I sucked it up and tried. I worked very slowly all the way up and paused frequently to freak out. Did I say that tears were streaming down my face? Unhelpful in the whole being able to see where I was going department. In the end, with Stephen helping to pull me up, I made it all the way up and immediately started hyperventilating.

Let me pause in the story at this point. Let's recap my life:
1) Went to a new school with new students every year of my life until high school
2) Went skydiving on my 18th birthday
3) Moved to Korea (even though Brian was there and I knew him)
4) Ate a live octopus that could suck onto my throat
5) Moved to Turkey where I didn't know a single soul
6) Have been ziplining
7) Have been bungee jumping
8) Have gone through not only a haunted house but also a corn maze

And yet, never in my life have I ever been so scared. It's weird sometimes, the things that catch you off guard. I feel a bit bad for my friends having to spend so much time in that spot because I let fear get the best of me. But, in the end I did it and I can say that I didn't turn around.

However, the relief of accomplishing that only lasted for so long. Shortly, we were in a field covered with water and mud. We were back to boots getting stuck in mud and very slow progress. The rain was continuing to beat down on us and at this point, my boots were killing my feet. I sank into a low depression. I was completely wet, my boot kept getting stuck, at one point my foot ended up in the mud while I was trying to pull the boot out. I was freakin' miserable. Added with the recent traumatic stress and I was beating myself up for agreeing to go on this trip. I was also starting to worry about camping. This part of the trail seemed endless, it was getting late, and there was no ground that wasn't covered in muddy pond water. But, finally, out of nowhere, a house appeared. There was a small wooden house and then behind it, a bigger one. We stopped to talk to the guy in the small wooden house. He turned out to be the same guy who had given us a ride on his mule across the river. He lived in the small house and took care of the other house for the owner while he wasn't staying there. He said it was another 45 min hike to the reserve but also offered to let us set up camp on the porch of the bigger house for $5 apiece. At this point, I think we were all miserable. Not just me. So we agreed to pay this guy again. He ended up making $40 off of us in one day. We got to change out of our clothes and start dinner. All spirits rose. Stephen also brought along some rum that we sipped on, which of course, helped to cheer at least myself up if not the others. We found a nice, dry place to camp! I could survive this trip! The guy, I guess was lonely, and stuck around just watching us do our different activities. So we felt bad and ended up offering him dinner. That guy really took us for all we had. Finally he left, we had tea, played a total of two rounds of cards and then fell asleep by like 8pm. Not a joke at all. I wish I could say the sleep was magical, but I didn't have a pad, so I'm sure you can imagine how wonderful the sleep was on a hard ground all night. But, I was dry, so I was happy.

We got up around 6am the next day. We made breakfast and packed everything up. We were a bit nervous because we knew the buses left Mindo kind of early on Sundays and we wanted to make sure we made it on time. Fortunately, there wasn't too much trail left of the mud. Plus, with a new day, most of the water had gone away, so it wasn't quite as miserable. We finally reached a better part of the trail that wasn't too bad to hike. After a couple of hours, we reached a bridge we had to cross and then came upon the road part of the trail. We were ecstatic to change out of our rain boots. At this point, I had the equivalent of rug burns on my legs from where the boot rubbed my bare leg. I also had skin torn off of one ankle where the boot kept rubbing. I wanted to burn the damn boots. It was wonderful having my tennis shoes on again. However, after walking around a bend, we pretty much immediately came across a river. At that point I didn't care anymore and I just walked straight through it with my tennis shoes on. When I was across, I stopped to see how Francisco and Lauren were going to react to the river. They both groaned then bent down to take off their shoes to wade it barefoot. Uhm.....maybe that would have been smarter than charging in with my shoes still on. Probably should have thought that one through a little longer.

We had heard the last part of the trail was a highway. This, ladies and gentlemen, was no highway. It was a gravel road. We were also told that we'd come upon a small town. Apparently small town means a house here and there. Our hopes of hitch hiking from the 'highway' to Mindo were quickly dashed. After an hour or so we stopped and talked to a man at a hostel. He told us it was another 3 hours to Mindo and it was about 12:30 at this point. We groaned in despair. We were tired, the backpacks were heavy, and we were scared of missing the buses. Also, the owner told us we were about to have to hike up a mountain....My spirits were hitting a low point again. Luckily, a little ways up the mountain, a truck pulled up next to us that had the three Ecuadorian men that started their hike at the same time as us. They picked us up and drove us to Mindo. Thank gooooooddddddd! I don't know if I would have made it up that mountain or to Mindo. We bought our bus tickets for the 4pm bus. We were there a little bit after 1. We ate lunch and then quickly realized we should have gone with an earlier bus. We could hardly move. Our bodies hurt and the packs had reached an unbearable point. We didn't want to carry them anymore. So we basically ended up sitting on benches in the park for 2 and a half hours. I'm not kidding. It was almost impossible to walk at all. Everything hurt. 4 o'clock, we were on the bus and two hours later, home sweet home in Quito.

This was definitely the most challenging hike I've ever been on, but it was totally worth it. It was amazingly beautiful and I accomplished things that I would have previously thought I couldn't do.  I'm so happy I went and I may even go back.....in dry season. Apparently it's wonderful and mud free in that season. Who would have thought?

Routine, Routine, Routine

When you first move to a new country, the first few months are spent in an excited daze. Everything is new and there is so much to explore. It's at times, an overload. But for me, that is my favorite time when I go to live in a new place. I'm addicted to meeting new people, hearing a new language, seeing and trying new foods, and pondering ways in which this new culture is different from my own. I also like that during those few months, I observe enough to begin forming conclusions about the people and their culture. Traveling to a place for a week or two does not allow for that. You have no time to immerse yourself in the culture. I almost don't see the point of traveling if you don't have the time to know what it is like to live there and allow yourself enough time to really get a feel for it.

And yet, time slides by. Pretty soon, you're six months in and comfortable in your new home. This is my least favorite time. I hate losing the excitement and wonder of the first couple of months. I hate having the feeling of boredom slowly seep into each day. Each day becomes like clockwork. Get up, go to school, come home. I have settled into a routine. After a few setbacks, I am finally taking Spanish lessons 2-3 times a week. I have a teacher that was provided by the school and one teacher that has been used by all of the foreigners at my school for years. His name is Jaime and he's fantastic. I don't even feel like I am studying when I have class with him. It's just a conversation and each time, I walk away with a little more Spanish. I wish I had his patience with my own students. Many of you also read that I have started salsa lessons. I am going to have those lessons three times a week. Hence, routine. Monday-Friday could not be any more jam packed for me. It's time to bite the bullet, stop feeling like I'm on a vacation, and make my life here. I am thoroughly enjoying this new country. This time last year I was sending out resume after resume to any school that wasn't in Turkey. This year, I am relaxed in the feeling that I will be here for another year and a half. I am excited to become fluent in Spanish and maybe a pro at salsa dancing? (Fat chance).

The school is the only thing that keeps my happiness at bay. It's not a terrible school or anything, but teaching two groups of 25 students is a big adjustment after only having 8 students in Turkey and no more than 12 at a time in Korea. It takes everything I have to keep order in my classroom for four hours a day with that many students. I have also been feeling that I'm not really influencing the students' lives as much as I would like. That's why I got in to teaching. I have a belief that teachers have the possibility to strongly change the world just by being in the classroom with the people who will take over it one day. There are many reasons for why I feel that I don't make much of a difference at this school and I won't go into it here. I just share it in order to say that it has led me to actually truly consider going back to school. I may try to specialize in something where I can work closely with a few students. Who knows. I'm still thinking. I have a little time until I have to start making plans again (which I'm the worst at).

Coming back to routine. The word for 2016. It's time for me to become a more responsible adult and form better habits for myself. I know resolutions are so cliche, especially ones having to do with health. But, I don't care. Any day is a good day to change yourself for the better. My new year's resolution is to be a better person. I will become fluent in another language, I will start exercising more with salsa being a step in that direction, I will drink less, I will be more organized, and I will overall make better decisions for myself. Feel free to harass me about this. I want to accomplish all of these things and you guys can help.

Well folks, I think that's all I have for you for now. Unfortunately, with routine brings blog posts that aren't so exciting to read. Hopefully you'll stick with me though.

Love you all and miss you (if you are not currently reading this from the home you live in in Ecuador. Then I don't miss you.)

Cotopaxi/Travels

Greetings from the equator!

This first part is mostly targeted at my peeps in the States or those who do not really keep up with things going on around the world....or just not things in Ecuador. Ecuador is the land of volcanoes. It's a small country that houses 30 volcanoes on the mainland. When I first arrived here, all the newbies got a talk about safety in Ecuador and the volcano, Cotopaxi, was brought up. Little did I know before coming here that Cotopaxi was active and showing signs of an eruption. So we got a talk about it. Now don't worry, it's not close enough to Quito to damage the city with lava. However, apparently we will be receiving a lot of ash and I guess a shutdown of the city for a few days. I was told to buy a mask and goggles and keep it on me at all times. I was also told to stock up on food in my apartment for that unavoidable day. I think that it comes as no surprise to most of you that I have yet to buy myself goggles or a mask. I am kind of horrible at taking care of myself. And people think I should have kids... I have managed to actually put some food in my house though! When the volcano erupts, I will be dining on canned peaches, tuna with curry powder, and chocolate pudding. If I just stay inside, I won't need the goggles or mask, right? I hope Cotopaxi holds off long enough for me to stock up on some alcohol too... Anyway, so if you wake up one morning or hear on the news one night over dinner that a volcano has erupted in Ecuador, please don't freak out and start planning my funeral. As long as that is not the day I chose to hike to the top of Cotopaxi, I'll be fine.

This view can actually be seen from certain parts of the city on a clear day. Cool, huh?

Almost 3 months in and my Spanish is still pretty abysmal. This has not entirely been my fault. Anyone here that knows me can attest to my horrible Ecua-luck. Sometimes I don't even know why I love this country so much, because my run of luck hasn't been that great. My first two cell phones were stolen (I've been on #3 for about a week, keeping fingers crossed) and it was an obstacle to cash my first two paychecks. I think the bank had my picture hanging with a caption, Don't Cash This Girl's Check Under Any Circumstance, except in Spanish. So by the time I had money to pay for a tutor, I didn't have a phone to call. My friend finally helped me out and let me call the tutor from her phone. He would love to be my tutor, but that Sunday he was headed to the States for 3 weeks. So, I'm still waiting for those classes to happen. However, my neighbor above me has graciously offered to do a language exchange with me. She's from Poland but for some reason learned Spanish while she was still in Poland. She works in a college administration office here. She said she would help me with my Spanish if I helped her with her English. Too bad she doesn't know she has the raw end of the deal. My English sucks too. We've only met once, but we are set to meet again tomorrow and hopefully I can see the other tutor soon. I will become fluent! Eventually...

Let's see..what else to share? I've been on three other trips since the last time I blogged. Ecuador is a really beautiful country! For my 29th birthday, we traveled to an area called Banos. Yes....bathroom. It doesn't look like a bathroom though! It's a very outdoorsy area (well, I guess everywhere is outdoorsy here). Mountainy. A long river. Rafting. Canonying. Bicycles. Hiking. Everything! I'm sure you have all already seen the pictures. We took a long bicycle ride, went ziplining, and jumped from a bridge! Ziplining is a story better told in person, but I will concisely share the story. We stopped (our bicycle ride) and Stephen, my heart brother, said we should go first and do it in the Superman position together. Always liking an adventure, I enthusiastically agreed. We got the straps put on and then made our way to the top of the take-off area. My one big downfall is my fear of heights. As soon as I got up there and started looking around, I started having doubts. Stephen was very good, trying to pep me up and reassure me. However, as soon as the guy took one of my legs to put it up in the strap I started really freaking. You just feel so vulnerable just looking down into the valley that you are going to fall to your death in. Stephen reminded me that I lived a great 29 years so it would be okay if I died, but it wasn't quite convincing enough. I told him to go ahead, I just needed to watch someone and then I would come. So Stephen took off. I told the guys I would, but not in the Superman position. So they had to take me down, change all my straps, and put me back in. I finally went and I realized how ridiculous I had been. The view was INCREDIBLE and ziplining along was so much fun. When I got to the other side, I accidentally let my friends overhear me say, "Man, I should have done it in the Superman position." Well, it was my lucky day. Apparently you could zipline back across and not take the cable car and you HAD to do it in the Superman position. My friends easily backed me into a corner and I reluctantly agreed to zipline back across in the Superman position. Sometimes I should keep my thoughts to myself.... The guys warned us that going back across was harder because we are working against the wind. We were instructed to actually keep our arms tight against our bodies and not hold them out. With a deep breath, I went with my friend Linda. Once again, beautiful and sooo much fun! Linda was a bit ahead of me and when she got closer to the other side, they told her to put her arms out. I got confused and thought they wanted me to do so also. As soon as I stuck my arms out my body got slower and slower and slower. Then, stop. I started sliding backwards. My friends were laughing and yelling from the other side to stop myself, but I just couldn't reach up and grab the line (mostly from fear). I slid all the way back to halfway out on the line and just hung there. Over the valley. Pondering my death. Nah, I actually stayed remarkably calm. An employee quickly strapped up and had to come out and get me. The poor guy had to pull me all the way back and it was not easy work for him. Meanwhile, every person within a 25 mile radius showed up to the edge and had their cellphone out, filming and taking pictures of the poor girl stuck in the middle of the zipline. When I do something, I REALLY do it. No regrets.

                                    This is not when I was stuck. It was the first time, when it was fun. ;)

                 Even after the adrenaline rush of ziplining, I was still convinced to jump off a bridge...
                                                      I like to kick my fears in the butt...

I also went on a challenging but enjoyable hike around a crater lake. It's called cuicocha. Cui is the word for guinea pig. In the middle of the lake there is an uninhabited island where the guinea pigs roam free. A very beautiful place!

Then this past weekend I went to the biggest city in Ecuador called Guayaquil. We only spent one day there so we didn't do a whole lot. We went to an iguana park and hiked up a hill to a lookout. Then we continued on to a beach town called Mantanita. Mantanita is basically the Panama City Beach of Ecuador. Huge beach town with Ecuadorians and foreigners alike. You lay on the beach, drink beer, take a nap, then go out at night. The city doesn't sleep. A Sunday night and music is still going at 4am. It was a great time, but I'm probably getting a little too old for spring breaks. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures right now. I didn't want to bring my iPod Touch on the vacation in fear of being robbed again. I will steal my friends' pictures soon and show them off.

I also had a friend visit me at the beginning of October. We met while we were both teaching in South Korea. We haven't seen each other in about 2 and a half years. It was definitely surreal having him here. It was a short visit, so we hung around Quito. We did try Cui though. Pop quiz! What is Cui? That's right, guinea pig!! Not the best thing I've ever tasted. Pretty fatty....

                                                                         It's smiling!

                                                     He's not sure what to do with it...

Anyway. That's about all I'm going to write for now. Sorry if it's too much of a repeat of what you've seen on Facebook. I can't think of any interesting anecdotes right now. Each day I'm just trying to take in a little more of the culture. We were on a bus ride coming back to Quito yesterday and I just stared out the window of the bus, transfixed by the beautiful coast line. Today is All Soul's Day in Ecuador, so every so often, on the drive, we passed a cemetry. They were covered with people and lit candles. It was actually a really cool sight from afar. It is a lot of fun being an observer of another culture. And a part-time participator. It's definitely a fulfilling experience. 

That's all for now. I mostly just wanted to keep in practice with this blog so I don't stop. I'm well and happy and wishing the same for you, wherever you are! 

One Month In

Three cheers for Karisa sitting down to write a new post! It's unbelievable to me that I'm 5 weeks in. It actually feels like it's been a lot longer. So, after 5 weeks, I have finally found myself with no plans on a Friday night. What better to do than to write a new post while drinking a Pilsener (the name of an Ecuadorian beer)?

I know I left you all anxiously awaiting news about my acquisition of an apartment. Well, I'm happy to say I finally picked one out. It's not in an apartment building. It's more of a renovated house behind someone else's house. My landlady lives in the main house and then you have to pass through three gates (gets kind of annoying) to get into my courtyard where my front door is. My apartment is on the bottom level and then a lady lives above me. I have a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom styled with some 70s looking furniture. It's cute and way too spacious for me. I have plenty of room for visitors, hint hint. It's not too bad and I've grown pretty fond of it. If you want to see it, come visit!

There's so much I could say about school, but I don't wanna. Haha. It's Friday and I don't really want to think about it. I will just say that it is a lot more work than I have ever done and the students sap more energy from me than any other students I've had before. I have two groups that have 25 students in each. I also have a student that I'm pretty positive has special needs but he's never been tested. He has been a real challenge. Thank god I have an amazing assistant (shout out to you Dani!! Much love!) who helps me a lot. My co-workers are still super awesome, so all in all, I'm surviving.

A couple of weekends ago I had one of the best nights ever at a festival called Fiesta de Guapalo. Guapalo is an area in Quito that has more old style buildings and homes and an amazing view. But it goes down a steep hill and if you go down, you have to climb back up. Most taxis won't bother even going down there at all. And, of course, the festival was located at the very bottom of the hill where an old church is located. A band plays, people drink, and they dance A LOT. During the night, they have these huge wooden structures that have sparklers and fireworks attached. At different points, they light these on fire and people dance in circles around it while it is burning. Also, people in the crowd carry structures that are on fire and follow along with the people in the crowd. So you have to be careful not to get trampled to death and to not allow your hair to get set on fire. After the big wooden structure burns to the top, it sets off fireworks. Completely amazing experience. I loved every minute of it. However, there was one downfall. When we first got here, everyone warned us that petty theft is huge here and to just accept the fact that our cell phones would be stolen at least once, so be very careful. Well of course after a few drinks, I decided I had been careful and would periodically pull out my phone and use it. I guess someone was watching me because at some point, someone reached down into the INSIDE pocket of my coat and snatched the phone out. :( Oh well. Still a great night in my book!

Last weekend was my first trip to an Ecuadorian  beach for my friend's birthday. It's in an area called Esmereldas and the beach and a small town there are called Tonsupa. There was a big group of us, I guess about 8. We took a bus there right after school on Friday and arrived around midnight. The weekend basically consisted of drinking, laughing, inappropriate jokes, sunbathing, eating, parasailing, whale watching (I didn't partake), eating, drinking, laughing, and eating. Oh yeah, we went out and shook our booties one night at a bar on the beach. Super fantastic time. We also had off the Monday and Tuesday so that was great. Some of our friends headed back on Monday. My friend Ruby and I decided to head to the beach that day while our other friends Martha and Stephen went to the bus station to buy our tickets to leave the next day. The beach was empty since everyone was back at school or work. I had been given a cell phone by a friend after my first one was stolen. I brought it along to take a few photos because it was Ruby's birthday. Out of nowhere, two Ecuadorian guys plop down beside us. I sigh expecting to have these two guys hit on us and I was just wondering how long it was going to take before they left us alone when all of the sudden one of the guys pulls out a knife and sets it down next to my friend. The whole convo was taking place in Spanish (Ruby knows it quite well) but I was definitely getting the gist. They took our bags. Luckily they only took out my phone and $20 and set the bags back down, but still....My second phone in two weeks! I was feeling pretty stupid. However, now that I've spent 4 days bitching about it to everyone who would listen, and some who wouldn't, I've decided to look at the positive side that nothing worse happened to us (which it easily could have) and that I didn't have anything more valuable on me.

I didn't tell this story to discourage anyone from visiting Ecuador. This is an amazing place and it's not really dangerous. Cell phones just get taken a lot. So don't worry about me and don't put Ecuador down on your black list. I'm just trying to give you the facts of my life. If you can't handle them, let me know and I'll stop telling you. ;)

Okay, I'm going to end here. I'm sending lots of love to you, where ever you may be. I hope you are all enjoying life as much as I am at this moment. Peace out!

Ready to dance!

My adopted brother, Stephen!

Yummy yummy ceviche!!

Parasailing

New City, New Blog

So, here we go again. I move to a new country, people ask me to blog, I say I'll try. Here is my first attempt. I have many new goals for my new life in Quito and actually keeping up with a blog for more than 3 months is one of those goals. Maybe I'll write "Blog Today!" on the wall of my new apartment (if I ever find one). I am not promising you anything, but I do hope to be a better blogger this year. The trouble is finding enough things in my life that seem exciting enough to write about.

I have officially been in Quito 11 days. The time has completely flown by. It's been a great experience thus far. I arrived in Quito at 12:45am on Thursday August 13th. The passport control was WAY too long and then you had to put your luggage through a security scan after you picked it up. So it took about an hour and a half to get all the way through. As I exited, I immediately spotted a woman with an "Einstein Teachers" sign. In case I haven't told you, my new school is called Colegio de Alberto Einstein. I walked over and said, "Hey! I'm one of them." There were a few adults slouched in chairs sleeping and a couple of them standing up. Sandy, the woman who was holding the sign and who I had been in contact with before I came, introduced me to them all. I didn't retain a single name and they were too tired to remember mine. We waited for one more new teacher to get out who had actually been on the same flight as me. Sandy led us all to two taxi vans. All of our luggage went in one and we went in the other. It was a pretty long ride to the hotel, about 45 minutes or so. For awhile, the van was full of the chatter of small talk amongst my new co-workers and I. I was very happy to hear I was on the same page as most of them. They didn't have experience with PYP (the curriculum used at the school) and some of them didn't have any Spanish at all. I wasn't as behind as I thought I might be! We arrived at the hotel and were each assigned a separate room. Inside each room was a welcome basket of fruit, chips, beer, water, and cookies. This is where I would like to stop and compare my experience in Turkey and my experience in Ecuador:

Turkey:
Arrive 12:30 am. One piece of luggage lost. Call company that is supposed to pick me up and that supposedly speaks English. They hang up on me because they are only speaking Turkish. Finally get it straightened out and am told a driver is waiting outside. No driver is outside. Long conversation using my hands with a man that doesn't speak English. Finally he calls the company and the driver shows up. Driver gets lost. Am finally dropped off at another teacher's apartment who had to stay up until 3am for me to arrive. She was told the day before I had to stay with her.

Ecuador:
Arrive 12:30 am. No luggage lost. Someone waiting for me right outside the door. Other teachers there to get to know. Taxi doesn't get lost. We are dropped off at a very nice hotel that is paid for by the school. Snacks are in the room from the school saying, 'Welcome to Quito'.

Sometimes you have to go through the hard stuff to get to the good stuff.

There are 7 other new teachers besides myself. We became like a family those first four days. We walked around and got a lay of the land, shared all our meals together, swapped life stories, and bonded. Monday morning we started our first official week of school. However, we didn't actually have to see students. It was full of touring the school, meetings, and putting together classrooms. I have never had so much time to adjust to a new city and new school before having to see students. I don't actually even see any students until Thursday. I feel very spoiled. So we spent a busy week of taking in WAY too much info and going around looking for apartments. Originally a girl asked me to share an apartment with her, so we spent a good amount of time looking at apartments together. But after about a week she decided to live by herself so I was stuck at square one. Therefore, today, I am the only one left at the hotel. :( Everyone else slowly moved out over the course of the week. I did look at an apartment today that I think I'm going to take though. It's a little more than what I wanted to spend but it's nice, I'll be by myself, and it won't break the bank. I will give pictures as soon as I have some.

One other super awesome thing the school did was take all of the new teachers on a city tour yesterday. It was 9 1/2 hours! It was exhausting, but so much fun! We toured two different churches first and got to go up on top of the church. No one else is allowed to do it, but our tour guide had a good relationship with both churches so they let us. Quito is an absolutely beautiful city! Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes and colorful houses. It was amazing to get up and see the city from the church tops. We were also taken to a really nice restaurant for lunch where our bowls of soup came out over salt that was on fire. It was really cool. We also got to see how chocolate is made in Ecuador and taken to a unique ice cream shop. They had flavors of quesadilla, avocado, quinoa, and even caca de perro (dog poop). It was all super delicious. In the afternoon we got to go to a church that was decorated with gold on the inside. Absolutely the most beautiful cathedral I've ever been in, and that's saying A LOT! You guys have to come visit me and go see this cathedral! Towards the end of the tour, our tour guide said she had a special treat for us. We were all exhausted and just wanted to go home, but we couldn't be unappreciative, now could we? So we followed her to the top of a government building, all wondering what in the world we were doing. She pulls out a colorful paper lamp and she said we were going to fill the lamp with our hopes and dreams, light the bottom, and send it off into the air. Ok, cool, right? Maybe not... She asked for a couple of the guys to help her and after they lit the bottom, they all just kind of let go, expecting it to fill with air and go. It didn't. It stayed close to the ground and flew towards some of the teachers. They all scattered and it flew up onto the roof top of the next building, caught on fire, and burned up. Thank goodness the building was made from bricks! We all looked with wide eyes at the burning lamp and kind of busted out laughing. "Well, there goes our hopes and dreams," someone said. Then the lady pulled out another one! We tried to convince her we shouldn't do it again, but she insisted. This time they tried to hold on to the lamp for a bit before letting go. But the flame got too big and started burning people's hands and then the side caught on fire. They dropped it on the ground and had to stamp out the fire with their feet. Apparently the tour guide has ZERO experience with lighting these kinds of lamps. Our first week in Ecuador and we almost became accomplices to burning down part of Quito. Thank god nothing caught on fire.

Now I've once again rambled on for too long. I'll give you an extra big hug next time I see you if you actually made it this far. Hopefully next time I can update you about a new apartment! Love and miss you all!!

Cheers from Quito!