No Shame: My Adventure in Ecuador: January 2012

I've gotten really bad about the whole "write once a week" thing...sorry about that. :-/ Either I've been really busy or not a lot has happened, so I haven't had much to write. I think it's a bit of both, so maybe more exciting things will happen for me to write about.

Anyway, 3 weeks ago, my second cycle at CEC started (Jan. 10). My schedule for this cycle is 9 am - 11 am as an on-call substitute (at the main building) and 2 pm - 4 pm teaching Intermediate 2 (at the new building, 3 blocks from my house). While there are drawbacks to this schedule, I've come to like it. Now I don't lay in bed all morning, and I'm done at a decent hour. I started with only 10 students in my class, and one switched this week due to scheduling conflicts, so I have only 9 students now. This makes grading extremely easy. It's also fun because the classroom atmosphere is a little bit more relaxed. I really like my students and enjoy being their teacher. :-) One of them drew this poster the other day for his song presentation, and then let me keep it afterward. Pretty awesome, no?

Last weekend was mid-service for WorldTeach. It's hard to believe I'm almost halfway through with my service here. (Technically, it was a little shy of midway for me, but this measure mid-service and end-of-service by the people who finish first.) Anyway, all 35 of us went to Mindo - about 2 hours from Quito, located in a cloud forest - for 48 hours to discuss our experiences so far and teaching techniques that we've used. It was nice to see everyone, but it was also overwhelming because there are so many. If you remember, we started with 41, but obviously some have now quit the program for various reasons. Mid-service definitely gave me some things to think about, though. Apparently there are quite a few people considering extending their service. I know it's too early to really think hard about it, but I'm certainly not closed off to the idea. We'll see how I feel around March/April.

For example, I'm really happy here right now. Ecuador is really relaxed, I have a group of friends (and am making more) and a boyfriend, and I feel comfortable living here. But there are also downsides, I know. After Carnaval and my birthday, I know there will be a stretch of a few months where I'm simply living and working here. It's possible then that I'll start getting really homesick. Also, I've been living with a false sense of security lately. I have yet to be robbed (I know it'll happen sometime), so it's not something I've worried about. However, our director was just robbed outside the CEC building this week while walking with her husband. So things to think about.

Anyway, that's about it for the big things lately. Went to the movies today with Emily Mader because we were both bored out of our minds. We ended up seeing The Immortals (in English, with Spanish subtitles.) It was one of the most ridiculous movies I've ever seen. So much fake blood, and crazy mythological story lines...I wouldn't recommend it unless you wanna laugh. I'm excited for next weekend - I'll either be traveling or watching the Superbowl. There's a bar here where you can watch football games because the owner is an ex-pat. Then the weekend after that, a coworker is having a Mexican food party, so that'll be lots of fun too. (For those of you who don't know, Ecuadorian food is not the same as Mexican food.) Finally, the weekend after that is Carnaval. I still don't know where I'll be for that, but you can be sure it'll be fun. :-)

Enough chatter. Time for pictures from mid-service.

Whole group photo

Iris was taking many pictures. lol

Me and Iris. It looks it was snowing, but it was actually raining.

Cloud forest of Mindo

My table at the group dinner. From left: Robert, Aly, Alan, Sarah L., and Iris

And for those of you who want to know what he looks like, this is Galo:

I'm sorry this took me so long to write about what I did for Christmas and NYE, but as some of you may know, I'm currently working on getting over being sick. I've had a cough since the beginning of December and since it has not gone away on it's own, I finally went to the doctor here. (Technically the ER since the English speaking doctor that WorldTeach recommends doesn't see a lot of patients anymore.) Anyway, they diagnosed me with laryngitis - awesome. So now I have lots of medicine to take, and I have to go back to the clinic for the next few days to get more nebulizer treatments. This wouldn't bother me, except it ruins my travel plans for this weekend. I was planning to visit Mindo - a small, but beautiful town in the mountains here that is really famous for birdwatching - with Galo. But I guess it'll be better to not be sick anymore, so oh well.

Anyway, on to my holiday trip. I left for Esmeraldas the afternoon of Dec. 23. Stupidly, however, I bought a bus ticket for Esmeraldas, not Atacames. (They're close together, but buses between the 2 don't run late at night when I got in.) Luckily, a security guard got me a taxi to Atacames where I met up with the other WorldTeach ladies I was spending the week with. By that point, it was 1 am, so I took a mototaxi (motorcycle taxi) to Sua (5 minutes away) where the hostel was. Here's a map, so you kind of get the idea of where all these places are in relation to each other.

Because I got in so late, I slept pretty late on the 24th and then spent the rest of the day lying around on the beach. On the 25th, the other WT ladies (Iris, Nina, Jessica, and Tara), Tara's friend from the PeaceCorps (Jen), and I cooked Christmas dinner. I can't remember everything we made, but it included chicken with Cajun spices, macaroni and cheese, green beans, potatoes - regular and sweet potatoes mixed together - pasta with shrimp, empanadas, carrot cake, and sweet potato pie. We used the kitchen of a family that Jen knows (she knows everyone in Sua, since it's so small) and then just hung around their house for the rest of the night.

The rest of the days were spent lying around on various beaches. Twice I went to Same (it's on the map above). We also went to Atacames - either to lay on the beach during the day or to go out to the tiki bars at night. It did rain quite a bit for being on the beach. On Wednesday, Iris, Nina, and Jessica went to Mompiche (pretty sure I spelled that wrong, but since I didn't go, I don't know how to spell it) and I stayed in Sua to wait for Sarah to arrive from Quito. On Thursday, the others came back, Nina returned to Machala, and we continued lying on the beach all day.

On Dec. 31, the Machala girls' (that would be Iris, Nina, and Jessica) boyfriends and other assorted friends came up for NYE. Later that night, my friend Israel also came up from Quito with his brother and mom. We went out to Atacames that night to celebrate. It was a lot of fun; lots of music, fireworks, and burning of effigies on the beach.

Finally, on Sunday night, all the Machala people left to go back. (Sarah and I would've gone back on Sunday, but the bus tickets were sold out when we went to look.) Sarah and I took a bus back on Monday morning. The ride was a lot longer than it should have been - about 9 hours when it should've been about 7. As soon as I got back, I threw all my clothes into the laundry since 11 day vacations tend to deplete a really small wardrobe.

Overall, it was a lot of fun. Now I am really tan, even if my Ecuadorian friends don't believe me. (Considering their skin is darker than mine naturally, I guess it makes sense.) The rest of this week I have just been lying around, recuperating. Funny how that happens after long vacations; you're not nearly as relaxed or well-rested as you should be. But classes start again next Tuesday, so soon I will have more things to do. And our Mid-Service conference is at the end of January. And then many more things up until my birthday, so I guess the next couple of months will be busy.

Anyway, here are the pictures I know you've been waiting for of the vacation. Again, thank you to everyone who gave me travel money for Christmas. I still have a lot of it left, so plan to see more pictures of trips around Ecuador. My next big vacation is in March. The upcoming cycle ends on my birthday, and I think Kristen will be coming down from the States to visit me, so hopefully a fun will adventure will be worked out for that 1.5-2 week time span. :-) I hope all of you had a merry Christmas and an awesome NYE. Hopefully it the world won't end and make it the last one ever. :-P

View from the door of our room in the hostel.