klknight
Kate Knight Joined: May 31st 2009
Logged in: March 20th 2011
Logged in: March 20th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
Well. What can I say? It’s been a while. Anyone who really knows me should have known from the beginning that I would be incapable of actually maintaining a blog (aka contact with anyone). Ha. But I’m ok with that. Everyone has different talents, right? :) So it’s already the end of January. I CANNOT BELIEVE how fast time has flown! I remember thinking that the month of January was going to drag on forever, but low and behold, here we are at the end! So, here goes my best attempt to get you caught up on the last 2 months. December was a crazy month packed full of events. We celebrated the Center’s 45th birthday (how amazing). Volunteers got up at WAY too early and helped prepare a pancake breakfast for the entire center. After ... read more
Ok. So first of all, I think an apology is in order! So I really do mean to write more often but life just takes over and leaves me with no time at all! Anywho, let’s get the update ball rolling! I’m sad to report that I have been sick since Thursday. I think I must have eaten something that didn’t agree with my stomach on Wednesday night. Therefore, I missed classes on Thursday and didn’t go to my morning classes on Friday. Now that it’s Saturday afternoon, I’m finally starting to feel better. So all is well :) School - So I realize that I haven’t given any sort of update on my classes. Cuna - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings I have been working with the two year olds at the center downtown (about ... read more
Two Saturdays ago (the 22nd of August), I left Gringolandia (finally) and moved into the volunteer housing at El Centro del Muchacho Trabajador (CMT). This place is absolutely spectacular. I have a giant bedroom with windows overlooking Quito (right now I’m sitting on my bed at 11:30 pm, typing, listening to music, and looking at the city lights crawling up the mountain sides ) Yes, this is life. Anyway, I don’t nearly have enough stuff to fill up this unnecessarily large room. Seriously, a group of 4 could do yoga in here comfortably… I also have a private bathroom and shower (complete with a never ending supply of hot water!). Also, for any of you who are keeping track… I am so glad that I brought my giant down comforter. It was totally ‘vale la pena’ ... read more
Ok! So after I’ve been in Quito for a whole week, I thought I’d write about some of my first impressions: 1)Right now, I am living in Gringolandia and it really is full of gringos (go figure…) I am so excited to get out of here! I am only taking Spanish classes here through Friday and then will be heading to northern Quito (away from the tourists) to live and work in El Centro del Muchacho Trabajador. 2)Quito is a city of 2 million people but it is very clean (there are even trash cans here !!! :) 3)Cost comparison: 1)Lunch (fresh juice, soup, entrée, and dessert) = $1.50 - 2.00 2)One-on-one Spanish classes = $5.25 per hour 3)Private dance classes = $5.50 per hour 4)Public transportation (el trole or el bus) = $.25 5)Makeup (imported) ... read more
I´m in Quito!!! After an uneventful flight, we (Sarah and I) made it to Quito (with all of our luggage :) at about 11:30pm Monday night. Someone from the language school where we are taking classes came and picked us up and took us to our host family. Our host family is wonderful :) It´s actually just a single woman, Patti, who must be in her early 30s. She is one of the nicest and most helpful people I have ever met! We each have our own bedrooms and there are two other students living with us (one from scotland and one from sweden). I started my language classes yesterday and then had four more hours this morning. My teacher, Licette, is nice, a little timid and closed off, but very helpful. After two days here, ... read more
So. The 'countdown to Quito' has officially transformed into a countdown of hours rather than days. As of right now, I've got a measly 26 hours before I need to be in the car heading for the airport. So I'm now starting to realize that up until this point, I've done a really good job of failing to acknowledge the fact that I'll be away from everything I've known to be comfortable and familiar for an entire year. Well, now that it's dark and I'm alone in the house, that 'sinking/what the hell am I doing/am I really ready for this' feeling has reared its ugly head. Ugh. In the past, I've found that list making totally doubles as an effective therapuetic tool... ahahah that's probably crap, but as some of you know... I just like ... read more
Here I am, May 31st, officially starting the blog that will share with all of you my adventures in Ecuador! I will be flying to Quito, Ecuador August 10th, 2009. After two weeks of Spanish courses, I will be volunteering with an organization called the Working Boys Center (check out their website for more info http://www.workingboyscenter.org/). As the start to my year long trip approaches, I will post more details! ... read more
