End of Cycle and Machala Vacation

So as the title implies, last cycle ended 2 weeks ago. Nothing really special - although I did survive a 10 hour teaching day. I agreed to sub for a friend of mine, so I taught her classes 7 - 11 and 12 - 2. Then I subbed for another teacher during my 4 - 6 sub period, and finally, taught my own class 6 - 8. I will probably never agree to do that again. But at least I got extra money for my trip to Machala. :-)

So I've been on break since May 18. On Friday, I went to get my hair cut by my host mom (side note: I successfully avoided the female mullet that so many girls here have). I'm such a horrible person - I hadn't gone to visit them since I moved out. I guess I just felt strange calling them up and asking if I could come over and visit because I knew they would want to feed me, and I felt bad about them spending money after I invited myself over. Anyway, it was great to see her and I did ask if I could come visit the family on Sunday. Another volunteer from the February group has moved in with them, so I didn't want to be in the way if they were going to go do something with her.

On Saturday, I went to the valley with Israel to see a cow competition. Yes, you read that right. Anyway, it was interesting. I didn't really know anything about cows except that they produce milk, but now I know a little bit more. I also met one of Israel's friends who works with bees and tried some wine with honey in it. I'm not a huge fan of wine, but this stuff was pretty good. Then on Sunday, I went to visit my host family. It was amazing to see them all again. Ariel had a chess championship in the morning, so I hung out at the house and talked to Gonzalo. Then we had lunch and watched a movie for a couple hours. Later we went to Itchimbia Park, and Maria and I went to see this book fair while Gonzalo and Ariel played soccer. But it started to get cold, and Maria was worried my cold would get worse, so we left. (I'd had a cold since the end of the cycle, but it's gone now. It's just a small cough occasionally.)

Let's see... then on Wednesday, I made the 11 - 12 hour bus trip to Machala (finally). There are 6 World Teach volunteers who live there right now. The bus ride wasn't anything special, but it was tiring. Machala is located in the south, on the coast, so it's pretty far from Quito (in case you couldn't guess by the length of the bus ride). While there, I stayed at Iris's apartment. It's a cute little apartment, although it sucks that there's only A/C in her bedroom. Machala is very humid and warm, because of it's location. Although don't be fooled - there is no real beach. You have to take a 20 minute boat ride out to a tiny little beach, or so I've been told. I did not actually go to the beach area while I was there.

Most of the time, I just laid around in one of Iris's 2 hammocks because she still had class while I was there. On Thursday evening, I went to see her class and then went out for pizza with her and her students. I had forgotten that not everyone has the same awesome facilities that I have at CEC, so I was surprised by her classroom. Only 2 fans, and the windows are open for a breeze, so it's very noisy. On Friday, we went to a pool that's on a banana plantation about 20 minutes away. That was pretty cool - it was very pretty and there were, of course, banana trees everywhere. Then on Saturday, some of the volunteers who live in Manta came. It was fun to see them, since I haven't seen them in months. We all went out Saturday night, and then just laid around being lazy on Sunday. Monday was pretty chill too...I don't think I really did much of anything but lay around Iris's apartment.

Then yesterday I made the 11 - 12 hour trip back to Quito. Not gonna lie, I was really afraid of traveling by myself, but it wasn't the huge deal that I thought it would be. Israel kindly agreed to pick me up from the bus station so I didn't have to pay $6 - $7 for a taxi back to my house. And then nicely took me to KFC when I realized I had no food in my apartment. (Really good planning on my part, that was.)

So now I'm just working on a couple of things for World Teach's end of service conference, which is next weekend (June 7 - 9). It's hard to believe it's already that time. Everyone left from my group will be coming to Quito, and I don't know what we're going to talk about for those couple of days, but I'm sure it'll be fun to have everyone around. At the same time, my last cycle as a World Teach volunteer starts next week. That means it's my last cycle to only have 2 classes. In case you somehow missed it, I'll be staying another year, but not through World Teach. That means I can teach more classes, which in turn means more money. I plan to stay in the apartment I'm in now. Robert and his girlfriend will move into Robin's room at the beginning of August (Robin's going home almost immediately), and Elizabeth should be staying until sometime in December. I will come home to visit at the beginning of August, but then I'll come back to Ecuador.

Anyway, enough of that. Here are the pictures from my trip to Machala.

Israel gave me some Ecuadorian potatoes. This is what they look like.

Iris's school

Sneakily taking pictures during her class.

A KFC feast after class. (I haven't been eating very healthy the past few days.)

At the pool. From left: Iris, Bryan (Iris's boyfriend), and Jessica

Jessica and Alicia

Playing Ecua-voley (volleyball with 3 people on each team)

It was so beautiful there

Jorge teaching Dani to play some kind of card game (both are Manta volunteers)

View from the balcony at Iris's apartment

Iris on the balcony

The 3 Manta volunteers (Sarah C., Jorge, Dani)

A mix of volunteers (Dani, Nina, Sarah C.)

With Iris

They put everything in bags here - including soda. Anyone with any love for the planet would probably cry if they saw how bad it is.

Time for an Update

Well, it's been weeks since I updated this blog, so I guess it's time that I updated it again. Not a lot has really been happening, however. The current cycle is almost over; the last day of class is May 17. After that, I have a break until June 4 or 5 (I can't remember). Not sure what I'll be doing during the break yet. Everything depends on money. The stipend I make at CEC is enough for me to live, but it's not enough to live and travel. And unfortunately, I seem to have used up what meager savings I had. So I'm thinking I will go to Machala to visit my close friend Iris. This will be much cheaper than anything else because I can take a bus there and back (which will suck, but oh well) and then stay at her apartment.

It's been really rainy lately in Quito. The weather has not done a lot to elevate my mood. I never thought I'd say it, but I actually miss the Texas heat and the Texas sun. (I hope you were sitting down when you read that so you didn't fall over from shock.) I plan to stay here at least another year, but I can't wait to visit in August. I plan to go down to Austin with Ally so I can lounge around Barton Springs and go tubing on the river. If I have enough money and time, I would love to go to Six Flags with Kristen, too, but I don't see that happening. :-(

One thing I will definitely need to do when home: get new clothes. I think the dramatic weight loss has slowed/stopped, but most of my clothes still do not fit. Either that, or they are getting stained from the pollution or stretched out. I also need a heavier jacket. It's sooo cold here right now (when the sun isn't out, which is a lot of the time), that I tend to stay in my bed when I'm at my apartment.

Anyway, I think that's about all I've got right now. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to write in the next couple of weeks from my break. :-)

And because I always include pictures:

On the way back from Otavalo with Israel