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Beautiful. Serene. Gorgeous. And very quiet. That’s life at Cotapaxi.
Sitting at the foot of a 5km high volcano with sweeping views of it and 2 others from my hammock it feels much like heaven might be (well, sans internet of course).
Life is slow and cosy, curled up by the fire reading, studying, playing board games or chatting. At night, the candles come out and we share a communal meal for the 16 or so residents at the hostel I´m staying in.
In the morning I teach English at the local school. The school population consists of 3 teachers and 23 kids aged from four to eleven in around 5 different age based classes. The classes involve 3-6 students and the English syllabus is non-existent ;(
My first day was incredibly daunting, with no experience, only basic Spanish and no concept of what was required of me.
I soon learnt that none of this was important. In fact, the staff and students were so grateful for my presence that I had little time to worry about such things.
I quickly learned that just the presence of a native speaker was a bonus and
I was greeted by hugs and kisses from many of the children, particularly the girls.
My first (and favourite) group was 3 eight-year-old girls who were very conscientous and just loved hearing and speaking English. Their greeting to me was a gorgeous rendition of Jingle Bells after which they gave me a lyric sheet to ‘The road to Gundagai’ which they wanted to sing next! I’m guessing a few Australians had preceded me .)
As the school day finished at 1, I had plenty of time to myself. Probably my favourite way to pass time was Poppy the Pig who lives about 200 metres from the dorms vigorously tilling the soil. She is very social and always grunts happily away to you whenever you go to visit. The grunting only ceases when she rolls over on her back for a tummy rub which causes a bit of a thud considering she weighs more then 120 kgs.
Poppy’s brother was bought at the same time as she was, but soon ended up as dinner for the family at the hostel. Thankfully, since I have started taking Poppy for walks the family has begun to advertise ‘walking the pig’
as one of the attractions of a visit to the hostel. I have been assured that, because of this, her value as a ‘tourist attraction’ now outweighs her potential tastiness and she shall be spared the fate of her sibling 😉 Yup.. that’s me.. saving the world one pig at a time 😉
Goodbyes were incredibly hard with both Poppy and the kids. The day after my last day we went to collect Tarquin´s son Thomas from school but we arrived an hour after school had closed for the day. All the children were still there waiting for me with at least 20 flowers, cards, pictures and presents for me. I was very overwhelmed but it was lovely and I´ll miss them all.
From here my plans are vague but I think I will head down to Peru and on to Bolivia going from project to project as there are many to choose from in most towns. The ultimate goal is Comminidad Issy Wasi - a wildlife rehabilitation centre 6 hours from the nearest city in Bolivia. They save animals from poachers, circuses and worse and prepare them to return to their natural lives.
Initially you work
with the monkeys, but if you commit for more than a month they train you to work with the big cats - jaguars and pumas!! I have enjoyed working with kids and I will certainly do more but I’m coming to learn that the animals are where its at for me. I can’t wait!!!!
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Cath
non-member comment
poppy's fanclub
WOOOOOWWW!!! How bloody marvellous!!! The kids seem like they are lapping up every moment with you, not to mention poppy! Bec you look so happy, the shot on the back of the truck cracked me up. Athough in Tokyo, i am so inspired and there with you all the way. xoxo