¡Feliz Navidad de los niños!

Viva, la chiva! ...and other adventures in Quito

In my class last week, we learned the words to a Christmas song that had contractions in it too. The song I chose was none other than ¨All I Want for Christmas is You¨ by Mariah Carey. Come to find out I had to explain a lot of the things I would sometimes take for granted that everyone knows. For example, mistletoe, snow, making a list for Santa, ... They loved the song and wanted it played more than the girls at BC did during the entire month of December (cough, Lisa Schmidt, cough). I started to get a little sad that their version of Christmas was so different and that some of the fun traditions we have in the United States were lost in translation. Then I finally made a trip to El Jardin Centro de Comercio, aka a mall. While it wasn´t quite the same feel I was happy to see all the decorations for Christmas and was even lucky enough to see a gigantic tree lit up at night and a HippoSanta walking around saying hello to children and the occasional 22 year old American girl, who was instantly obsessed. We also put up the Christmas tree in the house last week with the help of the niños, Cesar and David. They were so enchanted by the lights, it took an hour after that to get them to bed. Overall, the differences here haven´t been too bad and I will spend the holidays with Andrew, possibly another friend from BC and close friends from this program on the Coast of Ecuador in a town outside of Montañita.

While Quito doesn´t celebrate the holidays the exactly same way, they do have one very cool tradition of celebrating their city with pride. Every major city in Latin America has a day or weekend that they celebrate their foundation, independence and culture. The people of Quito, on the other hand, spent the past week and a half celebrating just about everything. One afternoon, we were fortunate enough to encounter a free concert in El Plaza Teatro, and yet another free concert in Plaza Foch, after class one night. Another night, we came upon fireworks and a parade. Finally, though, our greatest experience within the Fiestas de Quito was our two hours in the chiva. A chiva is basically a glorified truck/trolley with people on the roof and in cargo and some seats that are benches inside. On top, there is a six person mariachi band, whistles and Viva Quito! flags, as well as canelazo (my new favorite spirited drink). The volunteers that are here with me in Quito were more than ready to embark on this adventure. We were joined by some of our Ecuadorian students and European friends, but for those two hours, we were all Ecuadorian and Quiteños at that. This chiva went around the city, including El Centro Historico and as we passed, everyone on the streets waved and cheered. It was a night to be remembered.

Today, I spent the day and I mean, the whole day, with my students in Parque Metropolitano. This park is HUGE! There was tons to do and was a great chance for my morning and night classes to make some new friends and partake in a friendly (ha, maybe not so friendly) game of soccer. We also did a little nature hike and ate lunch together. It was a very successful day, finished off by a visit to the Mariscal with a few of the twenty-somethings for shwarma and cerveza.

Me and Julio down by the schoolyard...

I´ve been here in Ecuador for close to three months now. And still, there are certain things that don´t quite seem to translate or cross the cultural lines in the same ways...Some of the funniest moments I´ve had here have been while speaking with my students during our ten minute breaks of class.

The first occurred when I gave my students a very broad week-long assignment to write a story of 15 lines, with the only condition being it had to fall under one of seven genres (science fiction, romance, tragedy, etc.) Keep in mind my students are in Basic 1 and for the most part, have never taken an English class before. When I went around correcting some of their papers, I stumbled upon one by Francisco, who is a 20something student, who had recently scored a 60% on his first exam. Needless to say, Francisco was struggling a little with his English thus far. When I read his story, I felt as though I was reading an excerpt of a September 11th article from USA Today written by a well-read journalist. Francisco, the same student who wasn´t able to conjugate verbs in third person singular, all of sudden learned how to use contractions, hyphenated terms and my favorite was the simile of the World Trade Center to a ¨financial mecca¨. I, then, went into a long discussion with my class about plagiarism and pride in your work, etc. Shortly after, Francisco changed his topic entirely and wrote a very simple but adequate story about a ghost and a haunted house. We had learned these words around Halloween and it was something that was easy to produce based on a little work with some of our classnotes. Thankfully, I didn´t have to give him a zero, or take him to the principal´s office or worse...call his mom.

While the last incident was one of uncertainty as to how strict I´d be (apparently some teachers in Ecuador turn a blind eye to cheating), the other students were purely innocent, simply trying to learn as best they could and use what they´ve learned in their writing.

During the first week of class, I introduced what each title meant (Mr., Ms., Mrs., Dr.) I explained that Señor was the equivalent of Mr. and they diligently wrote this down in their notebooks. Fast forward to a few months later and I gave them the assignment to write about their favorite holiday. One girl chose Christmas. She asked me to be certain what Señor was in English and I answer Mister. As I read her holiday paragraph, I couldn´t help but giggle. I suppose 99.9% of the time Señor translates to Mister, unless of course you´re writing about Jesus and want to translate the phrase Señor Jesús, which would be more appropriately Lord Jesus and by no means, Mr. Jesus. The sound of that phrase still makes me laugh.

Finally my favorite cultural misunderstanding occurred when I was being bombarded by 20 questions from my students. All along the lines of ¨How long are you here for?¨, ¨When do you go back to the United States?¨, ¨Are you going alone?¨, ¨Who are you going with?¨and so on... Bombarded by all these questions, I answered what I thought was a sufficient answer of ¨Julio¨ (July), but alas my students misunderstood and assumed I had met an Ecuadorian boy named Julio, who I´d be taking home to the United States. To this day, they still joke about my new boyfriend Julio.

Other favorites have included confusing farm and pharmacy. For example, the farmer plants vegetables in the pharmacy. Close, but not quite. And of course, there´s certain pronunciation errors that you can´t help but giggle at: for example, bitch vs. beach. ¨I´m going to visit the bitch tonight¨ That very well may be but I think what you meant to say is that you´re visiting the beach tonight.

All in all, with only a month left to go in my first term as a teacher, I have really enjoyed my time with my students. There´s an interesting dynamic of age range from 13-65 years old and they´re great together.

One final note... clearly Thanksgiving isn´t celebrated here but in Quito, I was lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving (two days later, on Saturday) with friends I´ve met here. All in all it was a great blessing to have new friends to share the traditional holiday with and I even gave the first blessing and asked everyone to share something they were thankful for. It was a great day and made me appreciate being here and having a great family back home to be thankful for as well :)

Some things are worth getting up early for..

Having to wake up at 530AM every morning for classes, the idea of getting up yet again at that time on a Saturday doesn´t sound too tempting, but alas, this past Saturday, my friend Jeff and I headed North to Otavalo with his host mother, Marianna, for the weekly artisan markets. Needless to say, the early morning wake-up call was well worth it. It was only a short bus ride away (1 hour and 45 mins, that´s short here...remember Cuenca was 8 hours and Lima is some 27 hours.) When we hopped off the bus, we were greeted by a taxi driver that knew Jeff´s host mother by name. The town was small enough that Marianna, who had family in Otavalo and grew up there, was like a legend in the town.

After we settled some of our belongings in their family´s home, Jeff and I headed out to begin the wild process of bartering. I´ve been to markets before, both in Central America and here in Quito, but never before have I seen so much hustle and bustle with a market. The actual market covered at least 10 blocks and was filled with jewelry, scarves, sweaters, Guayasamin knock'offs and everything in between. It was a great sight to see. The two intrepid gringos were given two pieces of advice--1st) only speak Spanish as you walk through, which to us seemed like a great way to begin practicing and 2nd) when a salesperson offers a price, offer half and work from there. Since Jeff was headed back to the States, he was able to buy Christmas presents for his family and I was lucky enough to ship some stuff back to some friends with him and buy a little drum for my host brother, whose birthday was yesterday (the big numero dos). After four hours, we came back to the house with eight bags and more than we ever could´ve imagined. It´s incredibly tiring and a lot of times, you´ll see much of the same crafts, just different people willing to sell at different prices. Some interesting things we saw were some large funky jewelry crafted from horn, these beautiful colorful bowls with intricate designs, and of course, a water bottle crafted from a cow´s hoof (Can´t even imagine walking around camp with that! ha) All in all, the market was amazing and definitely worth a trip back.

Once we had gathered our things from the market and grabbed a bite to eat, Marianna was able to get us a ride in a camionetta (ie the back of a truck) and we headed to El Lechero. El Lechero is a specific tree that usually most locals just use as a guide that they are half way to the Lake and are headed in the right direction. It´s especially cool because it is of a certain species that produces milk through its leaves, but typically these trees live for 5 years and then dry up and die. Apparently this tree has been there in solitude for 80+ years and has never dried up or deteriorated. It is a sight to see and surrounding the hill it sits on are mountains and an overlook of a lake. It´s absolutely beautiful.

Viva, Cuenca!

This past weekend, six Quito kids (one temporary visitor and five English profs) set out on a 10 hour overnight bus ride to the third largest city in Ecuador: Cuenca. Once we arrived in Cuenca, we trekked through the entire city, at times not knowing exactly where we were going and at times headed to ¨Calle Larga¨(which translates to Loooong Street). Once we arrived in our hostal, where the six of us stayed in a dorm-summer camp setup, we were energized to go. We met up with the other volunteers we knew in the city, some who lived there and some who were passing through as well. It was great to see everyone once again and even better that it was for a 3 day weekend!

Our first wandering through the city allowed us to see and experience a different vibe than the hustle and bustle of Quito. Cuenca is more of a colonial town with a great deal of charm and class to it. There were museums on almost every street and interestingly enough, there are an estimated 52 churches in the town. Jeff and I were only lucky enough to count 7 in our time there, apparently some are more hidden than others. The aspect of Cuenca´s festivals I loved most was the gathering of people in different forms of appreciation for art, whether it be paintings, handcrafts or music. The markets were packed with artisans and people willing to make a deal with you. I was fortunate enough to get a very unique and elaborate bracelet out of the situation with a large jade type stone in the center and smaller stones surrounding it, fashioned with a darker string. Impossible to explain but a great gift, nonetheless. My host family was lucky to receive their thank you gift from Andrew as well: a painting. This gift was not easily decided upon and took another volunteer to help make the final decision but is now hanging proudly in our new house that was missing a certain something.

Aside from our uncharacteristic shopping spree in Cuenca, we were able to enjoy an outdoor concert on Friday, with live music, some typical salsa and some Latin fusion mixed in. Jeff, Hilary, Andrew and I were able to escape from the large group and enjoy the smaller group feel with Cuencans and a nice big jar of Sangria. Another favorite moment of the charming town of Cuenca was walking along the riverside (photo above) in one of our many wanderings through town. It was so beautiful and so ¨tranquilo¨. It was just the opposite of what Quito has to offer and beautiful to see a softer side of Ecuador.

Cuenca is where Andrew split off from the Quito pack and will now head to Pisco, Peru to help with the earthquake and Patagonia to work on an organic farm. Today is actually the day, he embarks from Guayaquil (the biggest city in Ecuador) on a 24 hour bus to Lima. Suddenly the 10 hour ride doesn´t seem too bad.

A Breath of Fresh Air

In the past week, I´ve been to the ends of the earth and back. Well, not quite, but the Middle of the World, yes. Last Wednesday, I went with my aunt, uncle (Patricia & Guy) and Andrew to La Mitad del Mundo. We were able to take pictures of each other on different hemispheres and walk to the top of a museum dedicated to the different tribes of Ecuador to see yet another view of surrounding mountains of Quito.

This past weekend, I traveled to Mindo, a small city notorious for its natural life. Here, you can watch as hummingbirds stick their long beaks into exotic flowers, listen to the concertos of a group of frogs and observe some different 30+ species of butterflies. The most interesting type of butterfly being the indigenous Owl Eye Butterfly, which has two large yellow circles on each wing that seem to be carbon copies of a pair of owl eyes, as the name suggests.

Also, in Mindo, we were able to go on a ride on the tarabita, which is similar to a cable car ride at an amusement park (reminiscent of all my time at amusement parks with Teen Travel this summer), but the only difference is this vehicle takes you from one edge of the jungle to the other. From here we were given the choice of two paths: the 1st leading to six different waterfalls that were about 20 minutes away hiking, the 2nd leading to one major waterfall called Cascada Reina that was at least 45 minutes to an hour away. If you know Andrew or I, you know which we chose as compared to the rest of the travelers. The hike to Cascada Reina was really beautiful, partially because we were probably the first tourists through that path in a while, judging by the amount of spiderwebs and the amount of birds we could hear. Once we arrived to the waterfall, we hopped into the water, which must´ve been around 40 degrees farenheit and went for an abbreviated swim. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the hike was in the return back to the cable cars, when we heard a loud scurry through the trees and all I could see run past was a small gray animal, which was difficult to identify but could´ve been anything from a small monkey to a bear cub.



As an update, I am now in my third week of teaching at SECAP. Just to give you an idea of some common pronunciation mistakes made in my English class (things we definitely take for granted.) --Iceland vs. Island--Niece vs. Knees--Uncle vs. Ankle--Beach vs. Bitch (my personal favorite). Another favorite pasttime is realizing the literal meaning of some English words. I would´ve never made the same word associations if I hadn´t been teaching such a Basic level of the language. For example, my classes´two favorites are waterfall, which literally translates ¨aqua se cayo¨/ the water fell down and stepfather, which translates literally as ¨padre que da un paso¨a father who steps in.



It´s been a great first two months so far. This weekend, our family is moving up the street on La Prensa to an area that is more suitable for the family business. The following weekend, I will be heading to Cuenca for the festival with a good number of the other teachers placed in Ecuador.

"Corré, corré, corré..."

An equipo photo of Therese, Jeff, Andrew and me before the Ecuador/Venezuela game on Saturday at the the Stadium in Quito.

I haven't gotten the chance to write in this blog for a while, partially because I've been running, running, running around Quito...

Last week alone, I visited the Guayasamin Art Museum, called the Capilla del Hombre, which examines man's suffering in Ecuador and throughout the world. His paintings are very powerful and are worth taking a look at. (guayasamin.com) We also visited the Panecillo and got a great view of the city of Quito, which stretches from North to South between the mountains. The city itself takes about an hour or so to cross by car and from the view of the large Virgin Mary statue, nothing is left to the imagination. On Thursday, we went to the Jardin Botanico in Parque Carolina (my favorite park to visit). The Gardens featured a number of different species of orchids and indigenous plants that are only found in Ecuador and its surrounding regions. Finally, on Friday, we visited Old City "El Centro" de Quito and were able to walk around and see the President's Palace, the Egas museum and climb to the top of rickety ladders to see the view from the Basilica de Voto Nacional, which stands tall in the center of the city.

Saturday was the big day and as we walked through Old Town, we realized that we should've bought the yellow jerseys and not the white and blue jerseys, but alas, even at 9AM, you were looked at strangely if not wearing some sort of national pride shirt for the Ecuadorian team in their debut in the elimination round of the World Cup 2010. The game's energy was incredible and old men and young girls alike were thrilled for the game to begin. Unfortunately, Ecuador had control of the ball the entire game but never scored and somehow Venezuela was able to make the only goal of the game. All in all, it was still an unforgettable experience of how sporting events should be. [Meanwhile at home, BC went on to beat our rivals Notre Dame and move to the 2nd place position in the country.]

Sunday, we were able to visit my aunt Patricia in her home in Conocoto, some 45 minutes from my home near the Airport. We ate a seafood lunch and played with her dogs. She has her own mini Noah's ark ready, with a variety of dogs, a cat, parakeets (at least 30), a horse, bunnies, chickens and a parrot. This Wednesday, we will visit the Mitad del Mundo with them and experience a little more of Quito's tourism.

Today, I began my second week of classes and will be teaching Time & Weather at SECAP to my two classes of 45 students and 32 students. It has been an interesting ride and I can't wait to continue on exploring.

PS--The headline for this blog entry is a borrowed phrase from the one and only David Naranjo, the 3 year old boy I live with who is obsessed with "dar-ing vueltas" and running through the house...I hope to steal just a bit of his energy to continue on experiencing Quito the way it should be experienced.

An Excursion to the South, Destination: Baños, Ecuador

This past Wednesday, Andrew & I headed off to the city of Baños for my first mini-trip outside of Quito. The bus ride was about 4 hours, but well worth it. We passed through Latacunga and Ambato and when we finally arrived, came to a nice little café for breakfast called ¨Rico Pan¨, which we later found out was one of Lonely Planet´s recommendations for a great $2 meal, similar to the grandiose almuerzos I´ve grown to love in Quito. One of the coolest and most striking elements of the small town of Baños is the waterfall right above la Piscina de la Virgen, the thermal baths. [I have at least 10 snapshots of just the waterfall alone and the visit was amazing.]

On Thursday, we went on a lengthy bike ride through the lush green mountains surrounding the city and wrapping around the paths that would take us toward Puyo, some 70kms away from Baños. While it was close to impossible to make it there in just one day, under the conditions of a hot sun and little nourishment, we got pretty close. In our trek, we saw at least 20 individual waterfalls and on the easy downhill lengths, we were able to take in the greatness of the mountains.

All in all, the first trip away from the bustling city of Quito was tranquilo and a welcomed trip away prior to my teaching, which begins just 2 days from today. I´m very excited and can´t wait to begin my first semester, with two different Basic English classes at SECAP (Iñaquito & Colon). The only difficulty lies in the fact that there will be no Spanish spoken within the walls of the classroom. That is, I will be speaking English to a room full of people who know ¨Hi, My name is...¨which should make for an interesting first few days and force me to be a little more creative in the classroom.

Mi clase de ingles (septiembre 2007)

Here is a photo of the English class I taught during the month of September at SECAP Colon. The class was an overview of what will be covered in a full semester and was offered for only $1. This class was especially fun to teach and a great mix of people, young and old, in all walks of life. It was a great first impression of what teaching will be like here this year.

Qué Chevere!

This is the first entry of many that will hopefully be a fairly accurate account of all the going-ons of my time in Quito, Ecuador, which began just a month ago.

Thus far, I have visited Papallacta (the hot springs), the Guayasamin Art Museum, the churches of Old Town, the TeleferiQo (sky tram) and explored the artisan markets surrounding the Mariscal and Parque Elijido.

I begin teaching English in a week or so: Monday, October 8th. I will be teaching a morning and evening class of Basic English which will be both difficult and rewarding. My students will come from all different walks of life and the school that I teach at is partially subsidized by the Ecuadorian government, and offers classes for a cheap rate. There are three other volunteers at my school as well and nine total that are staying in Quito. Overall, there are 37 volunteer teachers throughout Ecuador, which I´m sure I will go visit as time continues on.

My host family is great and I enjoy spending time with the two little boys: David (4) & Cesare (almost 2). They are always a source of entertainment and allow for more lighthearted conversations in Spanish with the family.

More later... including fotos!

:) Ashley