Blogs from Otavalo, North, Ecuador, South America - page 27

Hola! Where to begin? Well, I left off on Saturday afternoon. After I came to the internet café, I shopped a little more in the market and then we all met up for a late lunch at Buena Vista, this really good, very touristy restaurant. Then we went back to the hostal to talk and such. Honestly I can´t remember all that we did Saturday afternoon, it was really just a relaxing day. I think I took a nap, hehe. Then Saturday night we went back to Buena Vista and watched a movie because they have a TV and we were the only ones there so they let us. We watched Closer (más acerca, in Spanish) which was a really odd movie and I don´t know if I liked it or not, honestly. Oh, and we ... read more

Another week has passed in this lovely paradise of Alto Choco, in good company with people from all over the world. This week we have done exhausting work: chopping wood with machetes, transporting rocks, soil or wood; as well as interesting work: reforestation, making lokal bags, watering the worms, learning how to make tortillas fritas, milking the cows, making beds, treeclimbing and horseback riding. So you see - you don't really get bored here! The week passed enormously fast an for the WE we went to Apuela, the "center" of the mountain region close to Otavalo, after a hard good-bye to some of the volunteers. Saturday night there was supposed to be a great party in the school of Apuela according to the local volunteer coordinator Milton. We went there quite early and to our big ... read more

Hello! I just realized that none of yall know anyone that Im with..so this is a page of introductions and whatnot then i am going to add pictures because i have dinner soon. Katie: Katie is this really cool girl who is just amazing and great (she is sitting next to me right now, i have to write good things). No but really she is funny and is the cofounder of this organization that is the reason im even here! She goes to Swarthmore College and is going to be a senior. She is a Harry S Truman scholar, which I guess is a big deal, but right now she has to write a 1000 plus words essay that is due tomorrow, so i dont know how happy she is about it haha. Also so went ... read more

Hey everyone, it's Wednesday morning but I am going to write about yesterday because I didn't have access to the internet for very long last night, as well as the capability to hook up the camera to the computer, which i think i figured out! Okay, so Monday night we got our luggage!!! YAY!　It was really late at night, and Christopher and Katie had to go out to the airport (which takes about 2 ish hours) and once they got there, they had to wait, etc. but finally at about 12:30 they arrived!! It was so exciting. So, I no longer have to wear the same clothes..I have a choice! Along with getting the luggage, they also got our boxes that had all of the materials for the kids. We have, it seems like, thousands and ... read more

I was paired with Christopher to teach at Chuchuqui, the furthest village from Otavalo. This meant that most or even all our kids would be indigenous-something I was hoping for. Our first day of classes was nerve raking since I had no teaching experience, especially with kids in intermediate. We drove up a dirty road to the school where the principal-a middle-aged indigenous woman welcomed us. The kids were all sitting on the curb and we took attendance while we waited for the classroom to be unlocked. When the children were asked their name, a faint whisper came out of their mouths, and soon I realized the idea of me writing down their names was not a good one. Confidence would definitely be an issue to work on. ... read more