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Published: August 18th 2005
At the Equator
I know it's a very touristy picture, but you just have to do it ;-) Hola! Que tal? I can¨t believe that I am finally in Ecuador! I only left the UK on Saturday but already I feel that I have seen so much. The flight was ok and I was met by the project manager at the airport in Quito - thank God! We stayed in a hotel and stopped at the Mitad del Mundo on our way to Otavalo the next day. Obviously, I had the very touristy photograph taken when standing with one leg on each hemisphere.
Mi familia
I arrived in Otavalo yesterday and was very pleased to find that my host family is very nice and tries to understand my Spanish to the best of their ability. There is Huana, my host mother and her husband (?) whose name I still cannot remember! They run a small restaurant and also have a minibus. Their two children Juan and Tatjana also seem very nice - I feel very bad because I can´t really talk to them as yet! The house is quite big but lacks carpets and wallpaper in every room so it looks incredibly grey. From the "roof terrace" (again just concrete) one can see four mountains over 4000m -
the house of my host family
I am really glad to live with this family who do their best to feed me. the view is simply magnificient! There is also a Swiss girl staying with the family and the opportunity to speak some German so far away from home is quite comforting!
Otavalo
I have been to town a few times now, but I am afraid, it doesn't get any prettier. I imagined Otavalo to be a sleepy little town inmidst the mountains with the Inidgenas (the Indians in Otavalo) minding their own business - unfortunately, the town is quite dirty and dusty and the Indigeneous seem a little lost inbetween the western shops and pick up trucks. They are very small, as expected, and have beautiful long, black hair. The women especially are very pretty and their traditional outfits are stunning. Hopefully, I will be able to add some pictures soon. There are so many little children running around - they are all quite dirty and nobody seems to look after them. However, they are all very smiley and the town seems safe enough for them to play in the streets.
Mi clasa de espagnol
Today I had my first Spanish lesson with Senor Fernando. He raced me through what seemed like 50% of the entire Spanish grammar but
view from the top of the house
With four mountains over 4000 metres around you, I just can't get enough of the view! luckily I was able to follow most of what he said. He occasionally looked up and asked "Claro?" to which I replied "Si" before being confronted with the next grammatical item. I really enjoyed speaking Spanish, although the thought of teaching next week is still a little scary. Nicky, an English girl from Guildford, arrived at the same time as me and her Spanish is equally bad. The two of us are down to run an entire school next week with her teaching the younger ones and me the teenagers. I am down to teach Maths, General Knowledge, Creative Writing in Spanish(Arrrgh) and English (phew...). Que sera, sera!
So, this week I won´t be able to see the schools high up in the mountains but I can completely understand that I need to learn some more Spanish first. Still, I can¨t wait to meet the kids and decorate the school! Apparently, there is only three days of teaching and two days of DIY...We are eight volunteers all together - from America, Ireland, the UK and Switzerland. I met them last night and they are very friendly and encouraging. They all love teaching so much that some of them are
trying to extend their visas in order to stay on.
Luckily, I saw a few more tourists in town today and I have even spotted a few people who are blond and approximately my hight! The town is full of salsa and pan flute music everywhere and I would be quite tempted to take some salsa lessons...I just can´t imagine finding a male partner who is tall enough!
Hope all is well. Lots of love, Steffi
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suzy
non-member comment
steffi's dance partner
dear steffi, i can imagine there are lots of advantages to a smaller dance partner, for example: 1) he is closer to the ground and so can avoid stepping on your toes 2) if you like him, he's just the right height to give you a saucy nuzzle...3) if you dont like him , his groin will only be thrust in your knees.... happy days to you, my darling! Looking forward to reading more.