I´m sorry that I have been a bit MIA this month...its been busy busy busy, and we havent had internet at the house for a while. But here I am, happy and healthy.
March was a busy month, with a full house and lots of excitement. I dont have too much time right now, so just a few quick notes.
There were lots of 18-20 year old boys at the house, meaning that rum and ¨jungle adventures¨ were back. We had 2 games of capture the flag (at night, in the middle of the jungle...fun and scary). We have a ping pong table, which has been really fun (I totally suck, but hopefully I still have some time to improve!) Our new garden, planted outside of our house, is starting to sprout, and I may even see a home grown tomato before I leave!
There have been lots of critters and creatures in the house...a tarantula named Terry, plus some of his friends and family, and Leroy, the unidentifiable animal who is most likely some sort of rodent, who lives behind the wall where my bed is. And, of course, the usual insects and crawlies. They are like second nature to me now, I am ready for anything when I get home.
There is a ton of work to do, as the reality that I only have about 5 weeks at the house left begins to hit me. I have started lots of projects that will reorganize our office and restructure how we do lesson planning, so I am (and will be) stressed and busy. But in a good way, since its nice to see my ideas get on paper and start to take shape. I do wish that I had more time here, I would love to make some more longer lasting changes--and actually be here to see them work!--but I am also ready to slowly re-enter civilization, and travel and explore more before heading home. It will be really, really sad to leave what has become my home, (and as real of a home as any apartment I have had in Boston...even more so than many). But it will be the right time.
May 6th is the day that I am planning to leave the house, and July 6th is my flight home! So I have 2 months to travel...i´m pretty set on Colombia and then finishing up back in Ecuador...with hopefully a week in the Galapagos thrown in (it will be the most expensive thing I have ever paid for, but I believe and hope that it will be worth it. A once in a lifetime experience that I would hate to give up! And once I take out my first loan for grad school, a trip to the islands will seem like pocket change).
I finished reading War and Peace!! This took me many months, and I read a few pages each day, but I am very proud of this accomplishment! I am also quite adept at changing tires and push-starting our car (we had a horrendous 2 weeks with nothing in the house working, namely our car and generator. Luckily...knock on wood...things are running much smoother now).
Thinking a lot about what comes next for me, while also trying to enjoy the time I have left here. The trimester ends soon and I am organizing the exams for the kids, plus working on all of my own projects, and in any ¨spare time¨ i´m helping to keep the house working and volunteers happy. I sleep when I can, and am actually (probably) able to take one more week off before I leave, which will be great. I know that my last post was about my vacation, so no one is impressed...but I´ll take my time off whenever I can! And as I had saved up all of my vacation time, I´m taking it back now!!
I´m already starting to think back on my time here, how much it changed me and how much I have learned. I know that despite all of the hardships, I am going to look back on the positive side. Its harder to see it on a daily basis, but when I look at my life here, I try to remind myself how lucky I really am. I don´t quite know how I ended up here, in this country, with this job, with these people, but I am grateful that it happened. Not too many people can look out thier kitchen window straight into the Amazon jungle, can they? I feel totally and completely removed from the news, pop culture, etc etc, and coming home really will be a big change for me. But thats a thougt for another day.
I hope that the snow is melting back home and everyone is looking forward to Spring.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Its only 30 degrees here too! (Just...celcius)
I feel like I begin most of my posts commenting on the date...but can you believe that its already March?! Ay dios, how did that happen?
SO. Me? I´m very happy. I am currently on the last day of my vacation, spent in Cuenca, which is about 10 hours from where I live. It is a beautiful colonial city, declared a UNESCO world heritage site a few years ago...and for good reason. Every building is old and gorgeous, the architecture is incredible, and there is a church on practically every street. Most are centered around parks, filled with trees, flowers, running children, couples of every age, and a fair amount of gringos and ex-pats who have settled here or are passing though. It feels clean, safe, and ahead of the game for Latin America...there seem to be a fair amount of ecofriendly programs, as well as public assistance, social welfare-y type of programs. I was very impressed, and have spent many hours wandering around in the sunshine, reading in parks, sitting near the river (oh yeah, its so clean that the water is actually potable here! yay tap water), and generally enjoying NOT being surrounded by children all the time.
For some awesome pictures, google ¨cuenca.¨
There is no such thing as traveling alone, as all backpackers will understand. I immediately met Natalia, one of my favorite finds of my time here, and she then introduced me to one of her new friends. The three of us...a blend of Russian, French, and American, all speaking Spanish as a common language, headed off to Parque Nacional Cajas early Saturday morning. It is absolutely beautiful, and we got there super early and didnt see another soul (this may also be because we didnt have a guide and totally strayed off the path...oops...but it made for some awesome exploring and climbing and playing).
Google ¨cajas national park¨ for pretty pictures.
I was really really ready for this vacation. Yes, I am living abroad, which sounds very romantic and exotic, and yes, on weekends I often stray to nearby towns....but in all honesty, I do work very hard, my job is not easy. I really enjoy it, dont get me wrong, but in 6 months I had not taken off a single day of work when there were classes...and if you remember, the one time that classes were cancelled and we went to the beach, I had food poisining. December and January were two of the most stressful months I have ever experienced...again, I learned a lot and I came out stronger...but lets just say that I was ready to take off for a while. People (hi family) tend to laugh at my seemingly ¨stressful¨ time...after all, I work monday through friday, like the rest of the world, and im still experiencing a new country...so i cant really be working all that hard, right? wrong. I challange anyone who is laughing right now to come out here for one month and try it out.
ANYWAY.
I got into grad school!!! yay me. Boston University is looking like it will be my new home, starting in September. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I may actually be coming home! I´m super conflicted, I would love to travel more and take my time, I dont see the need to jump back into work, school, loans, snow, etc...but I think that it is the best choice. So I should be home sometime in the middle of the summer! Nothing is for sure (welcome to my life, I dont think anyone is surprised by that statement), but I´ll keep everyone posted.
Its funny though...upon arriving here in Cuenca, within 48 hours I had found an apartment ($70 a month in the center of town!! compare THAT to rent in Boston!), a job, a place to do volunteer work, and made some awesome new friends. Its amazing how easily I could just set up a life here, or anywhere, if I chose to do so. It was a nice feeling (and tempting to accept! or to come back!)
We got a photocopier in the house, one of the more exciting things to happen to me (sad? perhaps. but i make no apologies!) This will save us literlly hours of handwriting worksheets for the kids, and make my life so much easier. hurray technology!)
Not too much else to report--lots on my mind, decisions to be made, flights home to be booked, planning to do...but all good things. I head back home tonight on a late bus, and its back to teaching on Thursday. Carnaval starts this weekend, but unfortunately I have to work. Jessie and I are hosting THIRTY ONE people in our house, as a sort of fundraiser for the organization. We have to cook and clean for them, and we are terrified. No, our house is not anywhere near equipped for that many people...we have to sleep in the kitchen (or garden, its still to be decided) so they have more beds. soooo I will let everyone know how the Arajuno Jungle Lodge works out...
and hey! contact me if:
you want to travel in colombia in june
you want to hang out on the east coast later on this summer
you need a roommate in brighton or allston or anywhere near BU starting in August or September.
xoxo
SO. Me? I´m very happy. I am currently on the last day of my vacation, spent in Cuenca, which is about 10 hours from where I live. It is a beautiful colonial city, declared a UNESCO world heritage site a few years ago...and for good reason. Every building is old and gorgeous, the architecture is incredible, and there is a church on practically every street. Most are centered around parks, filled with trees, flowers, running children, couples of every age, and a fair amount of gringos and ex-pats who have settled here or are passing though. It feels clean, safe, and ahead of the game for Latin America...there seem to be a fair amount of ecofriendly programs, as well as public assistance, social welfare-y type of programs. I was very impressed, and have spent many hours wandering around in the sunshine, reading in parks, sitting near the river (oh yeah, its so clean that the water is actually potable here! yay tap water), and generally enjoying NOT being surrounded by children all the time.
For some awesome pictures, google ¨cuenca.¨
There is no such thing as traveling alone, as all backpackers will understand. I immediately met Natalia, one of my favorite finds of my time here, and she then introduced me to one of her new friends. The three of us...a blend of Russian, French, and American, all speaking Spanish as a common language, headed off to Parque Nacional Cajas early Saturday morning. It is absolutely beautiful, and we got there super early and didnt see another soul (this may also be because we didnt have a guide and totally strayed off the path...oops...but it made for some awesome exploring and climbing and playing).
Google ¨cajas national park¨ for pretty pictures.
I was really really ready for this vacation. Yes, I am living abroad, which sounds very romantic and exotic, and yes, on weekends I often stray to nearby towns....but in all honesty, I do work very hard, my job is not easy. I really enjoy it, dont get me wrong, but in 6 months I had not taken off a single day of work when there were classes...and if you remember, the one time that classes were cancelled and we went to the beach, I had food poisining. December and January were two of the most stressful months I have ever experienced...again, I learned a lot and I came out stronger...but lets just say that I was ready to take off for a while. People (hi family) tend to laugh at my seemingly ¨stressful¨ time...after all, I work monday through friday, like the rest of the world, and im still experiencing a new country...so i cant really be working all that hard, right? wrong. I challange anyone who is laughing right now to come out here for one month and try it out.
ANYWAY.
I got into grad school!!! yay me. Boston University is looking like it will be my new home, starting in September. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I may actually be coming home! I´m super conflicted, I would love to travel more and take my time, I dont see the need to jump back into work, school, loans, snow, etc...but I think that it is the best choice. So I should be home sometime in the middle of the summer! Nothing is for sure (welcome to my life, I dont think anyone is surprised by that statement), but I´ll keep everyone posted.
Its funny though...upon arriving here in Cuenca, within 48 hours I had found an apartment ($70 a month in the center of town!! compare THAT to rent in Boston!), a job, a place to do volunteer work, and made some awesome new friends. Its amazing how easily I could just set up a life here, or anywhere, if I chose to do so. It was a nice feeling (and tempting to accept! or to come back!)
We got a photocopier in the house, one of the more exciting things to happen to me (sad? perhaps. but i make no apologies!) This will save us literlly hours of handwriting worksheets for the kids, and make my life so much easier. hurray technology!)
Not too much else to report--lots on my mind, decisions to be made, flights home to be booked, planning to do...but all good things. I head back home tonight on a late bus, and its back to teaching on Thursday. Carnaval starts this weekend, but unfortunately I have to work. Jessie and I are hosting THIRTY ONE people in our house, as a sort of fundraiser for the organization. We have to cook and clean for them, and we are terrified. No, our house is not anywhere near equipped for that many people...we have to sleep in the kitchen (or garden, its still to be decided) so they have more beds. soooo I will let everyone know how the Arajuno Jungle Lodge works out...
and hey! contact me if:
you want to travel in colombia in june
you want to hang out on the east coast later on this summer
you need a roommate in brighton or allston or anywhere near BU starting in August or September.
xoxo
Monday, January 10, 2011
Holidays in the Jungle
Happy 2011!! :-)
I hope that everyone is having a happy and a healthy new year so far.
As i´ve said before, being abroad for the holiday season was super strange, but quite an interesting experience as well. I´m trying trying trying to upload some pictures so you can see what the holidays looked like for me in Ecuador, but the internet at this cafe seems to go haywire every time I hit ¨upload.¨ Ill keep trying...sorry for the delay.
Christmas was lovely, I had my first Christmas tree and a lovely dinner at home. We all bought each other little gifts and wrapped them in leaves...exactly how Christmas in the jungle should be. When we decorated the tree it was a Jew, a Christian, and a Muslim...pretty great times.
I was bummed not to really have any time off at all, but we made the best of it. The children had no classes for a while, so we did a few workshops and activities at the schools to keep the kids happy and busy. We had arts and crafts, sports, bobbing for apples, miniature bowling, three legged races, story time, etc etc. It was so nice to interact with the kids in a different way, and have more time to hang out and chill with them, as opposed to just teaching. When it rained for a bit we taught them the macarena, which was pretty epic. We had some prizes, in the form of candy and pencils, so they were thrilled, and it was fun times all around.
We then headed off to Baños, and spent Thursday night doing a fundraiser at our hostel. In the form of a beer pong touranment. As all 18-30 year old Americans will understand, this worked out really well...drunk gringo travelers right before new years were thrilled to come play, and it was a pretty successful night. So yes, I did indeed bring both the macarena and beer pong to Ecuador in one week. Score. The best parts of our culture, no?
New years itself was amazing, probably the coolest celebration i´ve been a part of. There are so many cool traditions here, and it was awesome to be a part of it. For starters, everyone dresses up--its sort of like halloween, but on crack. One of the biggest things is for men to dress up as women and run around town being ridiculous and asking for money. And its a celebration for the whole family, as opposed to at home where kids are put to bed at 12:05 and its all about adults drinking too much. Another theme that I love is that they dont call it New Years Eve, but rather, its ¨año viejo,¨ or literally, ¨old year.¨ As it was explained to me, you cant just jump into the new year without first paying due and saying goodbye to the old year. Then, the celebrations carry on alllll dayyyy into January 1st, and THATS the new year. There are also big puppet-like things that are everywhere, which people stuff with paper filled with their sins and bad things from the year that they want to burn. Families do their own small ones, and then towns have huge ones in the center. At midnight, they are all lit on fire, to signify the start of the new year. It was really cool to see and be a part of...a few minutes before midnight they pull the puppets down to the ground, and I spent 12:00 kicking and beating a massive gorilla that was then lit on fire. Cool stuff.
Since then its just been back to work. My friend Jess has been stuck in Colombia waiting for her visa, so I am still both Teaching Coordinator and Project Manager, which is hard and stressful but overall good. The new semester started off well, we are still just working on getting everything organized. So far, so good though.
I am already shocked at how fast January is moving, and its hard to believe that as of Friday, I will have been here for 5 months. We have a theory here that time has started moving faster...does anyone feel the same way?
I hear that there has been tons of snow at home, and I am happier than ever to be skiping winter. It was odd though to have a 70degree New Years.
Lots of hugs and love to everyone. As soon as I am able, I will upload pictures...I promise.
Send me love in the form of emails, phone calls, or peanut butter.
I hope that everyone is having a happy and a healthy new year so far.
As i´ve said before, being abroad for the holiday season was super strange, but quite an interesting experience as well. I´m trying trying trying to upload some pictures so you can see what the holidays looked like for me in Ecuador, but the internet at this cafe seems to go haywire every time I hit ¨upload.¨ Ill keep trying...sorry for the delay.
Christmas was lovely, I had my first Christmas tree and a lovely dinner at home. We all bought each other little gifts and wrapped them in leaves...exactly how Christmas in the jungle should be. When we decorated the tree it was a Jew, a Christian, and a Muslim...pretty great times.
I was bummed not to really have any time off at all, but we made the best of it. The children had no classes for a while, so we did a few workshops and activities at the schools to keep the kids happy and busy. We had arts and crafts, sports, bobbing for apples, miniature bowling, three legged races, story time, etc etc. It was so nice to interact with the kids in a different way, and have more time to hang out and chill with them, as opposed to just teaching. When it rained for a bit we taught them the macarena, which was pretty epic. We had some prizes, in the form of candy and pencils, so they were thrilled, and it was fun times all around.
We then headed off to Baños, and spent Thursday night doing a fundraiser at our hostel. In the form of a beer pong touranment. As all 18-30 year old Americans will understand, this worked out really well...drunk gringo travelers right before new years were thrilled to come play, and it was a pretty successful night. So yes, I did indeed bring both the macarena and beer pong to Ecuador in one week. Score. The best parts of our culture, no?
New years itself was amazing, probably the coolest celebration i´ve been a part of. There are so many cool traditions here, and it was awesome to be a part of it. For starters, everyone dresses up--its sort of like halloween, but on crack. One of the biggest things is for men to dress up as women and run around town being ridiculous and asking for money. And its a celebration for the whole family, as opposed to at home where kids are put to bed at 12:05 and its all about adults drinking too much. Another theme that I love is that they dont call it New Years Eve, but rather, its ¨año viejo,¨ or literally, ¨old year.¨ As it was explained to me, you cant just jump into the new year without first paying due and saying goodbye to the old year. Then, the celebrations carry on alllll dayyyy into January 1st, and THATS the new year. There are also big puppet-like things that are everywhere, which people stuff with paper filled with their sins and bad things from the year that they want to burn. Families do their own small ones, and then towns have huge ones in the center. At midnight, they are all lit on fire, to signify the start of the new year. It was really cool to see and be a part of...a few minutes before midnight they pull the puppets down to the ground, and I spent 12:00 kicking and beating a massive gorilla that was then lit on fire. Cool stuff.
Since then its just been back to work. My friend Jess has been stuck in Colombia waiting for her visa, so I am still both Teaching Coordinator and Project Manager, which is hard and stressful but overall good. The new semester started off well, we are still just working on getting everything organized. So far, so good though.
I am already shocked at how fast January is moving, and its hard to believe that as of Friday, I will have been here for 5 months. We have a theory here that time has started moving faster...does anyone feel the same way?
I hear that there has been tons of snow at home, and I am happier than ever to be skiping winter. It was odd though to have a 70degree New Years.
Lots of hugs and love to everyone. As soon as I am able, I will upload pictures...I promise.
Send me love in the form of emails, phone calls, or peanut butter.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Maggots. Machetes. Rum.
My life here in the jungle is just about at the halfway point, which I find very hard to believe. Just yesterday it was October, no? The more I think back on this year, the more I realize how much I did and how amazing it has been...I started off in Jamaica playing trivial pursuit in the rain with my family, spent some time in California with some friends and extended family, then graduated college (i guess thats a big one), spent a few weeks in Israel, worked in Costa Rica--with a quick weekend to Nicaragua thrown in--came home, applied to grad school, packed up my bags, and moved to the jungle. Honestly, is this real life?? How lucky can a girl be..?!
Things here are moving along fine, although it feels much less like a vacation and much more like real life...which is what I wanted in the first place, right? I am officially the teaching coordinator, and for the month of December, I was basically the project manager as well. This included: creating and administering end of term exams for the kids (headache #1), making sure the volunteers were happy (headache #2), planning activities for christmas week and next term (headache #3) and keeping the house standing (headaches #4-243254235). That last one might sound easy, but I promise you, a house in the middle of nowhere in the jungle is a project all on its own. I am learning so much and I feel like I am very self sufficient now, which is awesome. However, things like cleaning maggots out of a fridge (a fun task from last night) do not ever need to be repeated.
The exams for the kiddos went well, and was actually really nice and reaffirmined why I am here. I do NOT want to be a teacher, ever ever ever, but now I know that I can do it, and that with some patience and love, kids can be pretty cool.
Things you should all appreciate/Things I used to take for granted and never will again:
cold milk
olive oil
ice
AAA and jumper cables
bug free ______ (fill in the blank however you wish, i promise it will be accurate)
electricity
hot water
tap water
Things you don´t know that you are missing:
machetes
$2 huge delish meals
beautiful, incredible, amazing nature--everywhere
waking up to a symphony of birds instead of car horns
knowing your community members/hospitality (or is this just the cynical new yorker in me?)
I had a haircut the other day, courtesy of friend and volunteer Sirah. She is a hairdresser back home, so it was totally legit. And she did my nails too, so I sort of resemble a girl again. The jungle has not completely taken over...yet.
Spending Christmas eve at a little fiesta in Puyo tonight...(coincedentally there will be Chinese food there)... and tomorrow I will wake up, open some presents under my first ever christmas tree, eat a small christmas dinner, and relax. This is the first year that I dont get a winter/christmas vacation, but we are happy and healthy, so what more do I really need?
Vacation would be nice though...I have a few tricks up my sleeve, and a few trips planned in my head. Actually, if anyone wants to head south between January and June...or everr... let me know. I´m starting to plan some fun adventures. Come with!
December has not had many volunteers, but we have some new faces coming next week, so things should be busy at the house. There is no school but we are planning some workshops and games, and then hopefully a day or two off for new years. It is very strange being away from home during the holiday season, even with my new family here...and I miss you all more than you know.
Have a wonderful Christmas and a very, very happy new year. Wishing everyone nothing but the best, sending warm thoughts, and hoping for only good things in 2011.
BESOS Y AMOR!!! :)
Things here are moving along fine, although it feels much less like a vacation and much more like real life...which is what I wanted in the first place, right? I am officially the teaching coordinator, and for the month of December, I was basically the project manager as well. This included: creating and administering end of term exams for the kids (headache #1), making sure the volunteers were happy (headache #2), planning activities for christmas week and next term (headache #3) and keeping the house standing (headaches #4-243254235). That last one might sound easy, but I promise you, a house in the middle of nowhere in the jungle is a project all on its own. I am learning so much and I feel like I am very self sufficient now, which is awesome. However, things like cleaning maggots out of a fridge (a fun task from last night) do not ever need to be repeated.
The exams for the kiddos went well, and was actually really nice and reaffirmined why I am here. I do NOT want to be a teacher, ever ever ever, but now I know that I can do it, and that with some patience and love, kids can be pretty cool.
Things you should all appreciate/Things I used to take for granted and never will again:
cold milk
olive oil
ice
AAA and jumper cables
bug free ______ (fill in the blank however you wish, i promise it will be accurate)
electricity
hot water
tap water
Things you don´t know that you are missing:
machetes
$2 huge delish meals
beautiful, incredible, amazing nature--everywhere
waking up to a symphony of birds instead of car horns
knowing your community members/hospitality (or is this just the cynical new yorker in me?)
I had a haircut the other day, courtesy of friend and volunteer Sirah. She is a hairdresser back home, so it was totally legit. And she did my nails too, so I sort of resemble a girl again. The jungle has not completely taken over...yet.
Spending Christmas eve at a little fiesta in Puyo tonight...(coincedentally there will be Chinese food there)... and tomorrow I will wake up, open some presents under my first ever christmas tree, eat a small christmas dinner, and relax. This is the first year that I dont get a winter/christmas vacation, but we are happy and healthy, so what more do I really need?
Vacation would be nice though...I have a few tricks up my sleeve, and a few trips planned in my head. Actually, if anyone wants to head south between January and June...or everr... let me know. I´m starting to plan some fun adventures. Come with!
December has not had many volunteers, but we have some new faces coming next week, so things should be busy at the house. There is no school but we are planning some workshops and games, and then hopefully a day or two off for new years. It is very strange being away from home during the holiday season, even with my new family here...and I miss you all more than you know.
Have a wonderful Christmas and a very, very happy new year. Wishing everyone nothing but the best, sending warm thoughts, and hoping for only good things in 2011.
BESOS Y AMOR!!! :)
Monday, November 22, 2010
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
I just wanted to wish everyone at home a very happy thanksgiving. I am super dooper bummed out that I´m not able to make it home for the holidays...especially this one, which is my favorite. We are going to make a bug yummy dinner and teach all the Brits how it´s done...but it obviously wont be the same, and i´ll definitely be bummed out. For those of you who have been talking about ¨calling me soon,¨ Thursday would be a great day to give me a ring! I´ll be thinking of home all day.
All else is well...did a mini jungle trek Fri-Sat and got muddy and hiked to a waterfall...beautiful views and fun to hang out with everyone. Its a busy time at the house with end of term exams coming up, and trying to get the children ready. Lots of changes too, with most people leaving on Friday :( However, as of December I am officially the Teaching Coordinator, which is really nice. Promotions are fun!
Not too much else to share...I finally bought a new camera, which is exciting--ive just been stealing everyone elses pictures until now. Hopefully that means I can post some of my own soon too. I hope that everyone is happy at home. Please keep me updated!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!
All else is well...did a mini jungle trek Fri-Sat and got muddy and hiked to a waterfall...beautiful views and fun to hang out with everyone. Its a busy time at the house with end of term exams coming up, and trying to get the children ready. Lots of changes too, with most people leaving on Friday :( However, as of December I am officially the Teaching Coordinator, which is really nice. Promotions are fun!
Not too much else to share...I finally bought a new camera, which is exciting--ive just been stealing everyone elses pictures until now. Hopefully that means I can post some of my own soon too. I hope that everyone is happy at home. Please keep me updated!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Two Months and Counting
It has come to my attention that I am not updating my blog enough for some people´s liking. All I can say is this: YOU move to the jungle and try to find reliable, fast, easy internet connections. OR better yet, give me a call. My cell number is on an earlier post, and I do really really love getting calls. Use skype, its really cheap.
Anyway, hello! Life in Ecuador is moving along just fine, with a few road bumps mixed in here and there, of course. After all, this is Latin America. Ecuador loves its fiesta days, and very frecuently, school is cancelled with no notice, and for seemingly no reason. For example, I once arrived to teach, only to discover that it was ¨flag day.¨ This means exactly what it sounds like...the children drew pictures of the Ecuadorian flag, then went home. Productive. (It is very interesting to compare the culture of education that we have at home, in the western world, versus how education is viewed around the world).
So two weeks ago (i think?) there was no class on Friday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. It is rare to get so much time off for teaching, so a bunch of us decided to use the time to travel a bit and see more of Ecuador. We wanted to go to the coast to relax and take it easy on the beach.
FAIL.
Thursday night we took an overnight bus to Guayaquil (city, big, nothing special). Had a few hours to kill so we napped in a park and walked and walked and walked around the city. Then we took a bus to Monañita, a small beach town. It was a bit trashy and loud (think reggae and techno music blasting from, I am not kidding, about 9am until 7am). The first night we had fun walking on the beach, dancing, eating a yummy dinner, and relaxing. The next day we had an amazing breakfast and then hung out on the beach. Let me add that it was grey and rainy and chilly the entire time, but we tried to make the best of it. We started to take a walk over some rocks far down on the beach, and about halfway to the end point I started feeling a bit nauseous. My friend Shira also stopped walking at about that same time and said she felt the same. We decided to walk back to the hostel and take a quick nap, feel better, and head out for dinner and drinks. Instead, we got back to the hostel just in time for us both to be sick, and then proceeded to be violently ill for the next 14 hours or so. I did not leave my little room for over 20 hours, and only got out of bed to be sick. I will not go into any more detail than that, but lets just say that the term ¨horrendous food poisoning¨ sort of covers how I felt. Remember, this was all after an amazing dinner and breakfast, and all 5 of us on the trip ate the same thing. So we dont really know what happened, but it was not fun. On the upside, I ate white rice and bread only for the next 4 days, and definitely lost a few pounds. Silver lining, I guess.
The next day, halloween, we felt well enough to get on a 30 minute bus ride and went to a much quieter, prettier, relaxed hostel in a different town. I spent most of the time lying down in bed and playing cards, but it was beautiful and calm and a good place to recover. It took a while, but I am finally feeling back to 100%.
and that was my vacation.
These next few weeks are lots of teaching and preparing for the end of year exams for the children. There is a TON of work to be done, but things are good and i´m very happy and busy. Also, as of December 1st I should be promoted to the Teaching Coordinator of the Program. This will add a bunch more responsibilities...and a pàycheck...so overall I am quite pleased with this change. Lots of people are leaving in the next few weeks, which is really upsetting and will change the dynamics of the house a lot...but hopefully cool new people will be coming in soon, and things will keep running smoothly.
We have lots of fun in the house...for example, the other night we had the Puro Puyo Olympics (puro puyo is a type of alcohol that I can only relate to moonshine. It is probably about 101% alcohol). There are currently 4 boys and 4 girls in the house, so we paired up in teams and held various events, such as an egg toss, sumo wrestling, wheelbarrow racing, ping pong ball relay races, trivia questions, etc. We also did this in costume...Adam and I, my teammate, were pirates, and there were also superheros and Greek Trojans. The puro puyo came into play between each activity, when we had to take a drink.
This is what happens when you get bored in the jungle...you make your own fun!!
As promised, some pictures:
This is our beast of a car that I drive. Thats me in the backround working on a leaking radiator under the hood, and the little girl is one of my students.
Our house, outside and part of the inside.
me and some volunteers working on an art project for the schools, in the office of our house.
The coordinators! Thats Jessie, me, Jeremy, and a creepy picture of Adam.
If you want to read a bit more, Jess and I wrote a blog post for the October Newsletter for Great Aves, our organization. Go to www.youvolunteer.org to check it out, its pretty short.
Love and kisses!
Anyway, hello! Life in Ecuador is moving along just fine, with a few road bumps mixed in here and there, of course. After all, this is Latin America. Ecuador loves its fiesta days, and very frecuently, school is cancelled with no notice, and for seemingly no reason. For example, I once arrived to teach, only to discover that it was ¨flag day.¨ This means exactly what it sounds like...the children drew pictures of the Ecuadorian flag, then went home. Productive. (It is very interesting to compare the culture of education that we have at home, in the western world, versus how education is viewed around the world).
So two weeks ago (i think?) there was no class on Friday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. It is rare to get so much time off for teaching, so a bunch of us decided to use the time to travel a bit and see more of Ecuador. We wanted to go to the coast to relax and take it easy on the beach.
FAIL.
Thursday night we took an overnight bus to Guayaquil (city, big, nothing special). Had a few hours to kill so we napped in a park and walked and walked and walked around the city. Then we took a bus to Monañita, a small beach town. It was a bit trashy and loud (think reggae and techno music blasting from, I am not kidding, about 9am until 7am). The first night we had fun walking on the beach, dancing, eating a yummy dinner, and relaxing. The next day we had an amazing breakfast and then hung out on the beach. Let me add that it was grey and rainy and chilly the entire time, but we tried to make the best of it. We started to take a walk over some rocks far down on the beach, and about halfway to the end point I started feeling a bit nauseous. My friend Shira also stopped walking at about that same time and said she felt the same. We decided to walk back to the hostel and take a quick nap, feel better, and head out for dinner and drinks. Instead, we got back to the hostel just in time for us both to be sick, and then proceeded to be violently ill for the next 14 hours or so. I did not leave my little room for over 20 hours, and only got out of bed to be sick. I will not go into any more detail than that, but lets just say that the term ¨horrendous food poisoning¨ sort of covers how I felt. Remember, this was all after an amazing dinner and breakfast, and all 5 of us on the trip ate the same thing. So we dont really know what happened, but it was not fun. On the upside, I ate white rice and bread only for the next 4 days, and definitely lost a few pounds. Silver lining, I guess.
The next day, halloween, we felt well enough to get on a 30 minute bus ride and went to a much quieter, prettier, relaxed hostel in a different town. I spent most of the time lying down in bed and playing cards, but it was beautiful and calm and a good place to recover. It took a while, but I am finally feeling back to 100%.
and that was my vacation.
These next few weeks are lots of teaching and preparing for the end of year exams for the children. There is a TON of work to be done, but things are good and i´m very happy and busy. Also, as of December 1st I should be promoted to the Teaching Coordinator of the Program. This will add a bunch more responsibilities...and a pàycheck...so overall I am quite pleased with this change. Lots of people are leaving in the next few weeks, which is really upsetting and will change the dynamics of the house a lot...but hopefully cool new people will be coming in soon, and things will keep running smoothly.
We have lots of fun in the house...for example, the other night we had the Puro Puyo Olympics (puro puyo is a type of alcohol that I can only relate to moonshine. It is probably about 101% alcohol). There are currently 4 boys and 4 girls in the house, so we paired up in teams and held various events, such as an egg toss, sumo wrestling, wheelbarrow racing, ping pong ball relay races, trivia questions, etc. We also did this in costume...Adam and I, my teammate, were pirates, and there were also superheros and Greek Trojans. The puro puyo came into play between each activity, when we had to take a drink.
This is what happens when you get bored in the jungle...you make your own fun!!
As promised, some pictures:
This is our beast of a car that I drive. Thats me in the backround working on a leaking radiator under the hood, and the little girl is one of my students.
Our house, outside and part of the inside.
me and some volunteers working on an art project for the schools, in the office of our house.
The coordinators! Thats Jessie, me, Jeremy, and a creepy picture of Adam.
If you want to read a bit more, Jess and I wrote a blog post for the October Newsletter for Great Aves, our organization. Go to www.youvolunteer.org to check it out, its pretty short.
Love and kisses!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Did you know that cockroaches can fly?
Hola, shalom, and hello to everyone!
I'm finally feeling like i'm really settled in, and that this is actually my new home for a while. I've spent a great deal of time in Latin America, but having so long in one place, and really getting to know the locals and this one little area of the world is quite a different experience. I teach until the afternoon on Fridays, and the last bus back to my house leaves Puyo at 8pm, so our weekends do not give us very much time to explore. This has obvious downsides...ie not being able to travel very much, or very far. On the other hand, we spend a lot of time hanging out together at the house, which is really nice and definitely helps my wallet! I do hope to do more travel...Ecuador is amazing and has so much to offer and tons to see...but for now, it is nice to really get settled in one place.
I'm finally feeling like i'm really settled in, and that this is actually my new home for a while. I've spent a great deal of time in Latin America, but having so long in one place, and really getting to know the locals and this one little area of the world is quite a different experience. I teach until the afternoon on Fridays, and the last bus back to my house leaves Puyo at 8pm, so our weekends do not give us very much time to explore. This has obvious downsides...ie not being able to travel very much, or very far. On the other hand, we spend a lot of time hanging out together at the house, which is really nice and definitely helps my wallet! I do hope to do more travel...Ecuador is amazing and has so much to offer and tons to see...but for now, it is nice to really get settled in one place.
There are seven of us in the house now, five of us teaching and two working on the community development piece. Next week two more teachers come...its going to be a full house again! This means that Jess and I will be teaching less and observing and supervising more. It is definitely nice to have more helping hands and fresh ideas...its hard teaching so much, and in Spanish!! But its also a bit weird...I feel like these are my kids, and my classes...its odd to sort of be giving that up, especially when we are finally getting to know each other better and set up stronger relationships. Some of the kiddos are crazy though and hard to manage, and to actually have a day off once in a while does sound nice.
My birthday last week was lovely, albeit a bit strange to be away from home. My new little family here in Ecuador made it really nice though, and I had a good time ringing in my 23rd year. I spent the morning teaching at what is probably my easiest and calmest school, and after classes I discovered some of the cutest, most perfect, most adorable puppies to ever be created. Needless to say, I spent a great deal of time playing and cuddling them, and attempting to purchase/steal one. I am still hot on the pursuit, and am secretly hoping to bring one home when I go back tomorrow to teach again. I spent some time that afternoon dozing and reading in a hammock, and receiving phone calls from the northern hemisphere. Thanks to everyone who called me, its so amazingly nice to get calls from loved ones back at home. It really made my day. Then I was cooked a delicious Mexican-ish dinner, followed by some drinks, card games—we play a LOT of card games here—and general merriment. My friends also surprised me by turning on “in the jungle” and performing a dance for me, wearing nothing but leaves. I guess theres nothing quite like a birthday in the jungle.
We spent Saturday and Sunday doing a jungle trek with local guides who are students of ours at the adult english class. We trekked for a few hours each day, stopping to swim in some waterfalls and rivers, to pick and eat papayas and lemons, and to check out some cool snakes and other crawlies. Its a lot nicer to see insects outside, as opposed to your house, I can tell you that for sure. Spent the night camping out ...I always love roasting marshmallows and chatting around a fire, and this was no exception. We slept out under the stars...it was horribly uncomfortable and I kept thinking of my family sleeping that very same night at a Sheraton in Boston to celebrate MY birthday...but it was a good time all around. I was eaten alive by many creatures...I never in a million years thought that I would ever hate ants more than tarantulas, but I really really did for those two days. Your priorities change while living in the jungle! It was a challenging hike and we all returned muddy and sweaty and exhausted, but it was a really nice weekend.
What else is there to share....damn I was about to say that I finally found the question mark key on this computer...because I HAVE successfully used it in the past...but it just disappeared again. sad.
I am learning to drive stick...or manual, for those of you non americans who get confused when I say that. I’m very proud...still a bit shaky of course—literally—but ive put in probably close to 60 kilometers or so, maybe more, and im feeling confident that I will get better. Our truck is an absolute beast but I am learning to tame her. Terry, I look forward to trying to drive your car again when I get home, and we can see if i’ve really learned anything!
I have a new kitten named Medusa. She is tiny and, for the most part, cute. No one really wants her around, especially our other animals, but she is growing on me and makes pretty good and entertaining company. I think that I am slightly allergic to cats, but I choose to ignore that.
I am becomming a lot more self sufficient while living out here. You have to be creative and flexible, and need to rely on yourself and your wits a lot more. Ive learned so many little things and am learning to think much quicker on my feet...when you dont have a lot of resources, you need to manage somehow. Its still a learning process, but I should come back able to understand what i'm seeing under the hood of a car, how to change a gas tank, fix a generator, short wires and refuse them together, siphon gas from a car, cook meals with a great deal of improvization and great lack of ingredients...and thats just what ive been doing so far!! Im also hoping to learn to play poker, chess, and the guitar, and perfect the deceptive and seemingly simple art of cooking white rice--so much harder than it looks!! We've managed to make rice thats both mushy and crunchy all at once...and I even turned it a spectacular shade of purple once. Anyway, I hope to come home with lots of new tricks up my sleeve.
I miss you all loads. Is it a pretty fall? Step on an extra crunchy leaf for me! (ill step on an extra crunchy bug for you in return...)
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