Blogs from North, Ecuador, South America - page 226

Sadly, tomorrow is my last day in Otovalo after just five short weeks. I´ve really enjoyed my time here, met some great people, my family could not have been nicer (yes, even the alsatian, bless him!) and the kids at the school are just incredible. Yesterday was my last day at the school, was quite emotional sying ‘Adiós’ insteas of the usual ‘Hasta mañana’ as I left. Many of the kids had made me cards and little letters saying don´t go, we love you, please come back, etc, which was so touching. Had a little ‘moment’ saying good-bye to a couple of my favourites, so sad. Way too many stories to go into, but a few school highlights from the past month... * Heads, shoulders, knees and toes in the playground (see pic) * Buying pencil ... read more

I missed the first day of my last week at the orphanage because of the Cotopaxi trip, but when I came in on Tuesday, I had the whole day to teach and new school supplies to get the kids interested in learning (thanks Nana). They spent the whole morning filling out sheet after sheet copying their letters - which is impressive considering it would normally take all morning to coax them into filling out one page. I think the colored pencils and cartoons on the bottom of each page really helped. On Wendnesday, I decided to head out for an early movie (Closer) before we went to pick up Molly, the girl who´s taking my place at the orphanage. She´s taking a year off before college, and spent the fall caring for children who live in ... read more

Classes at the orphanage were cancelled last week for the Semana Santa (Holy Week) but I still went in Monday - Wednesday to help with the few children who were still there (most spend the night at another location that doesn´t have a school). On Wedenesday, I brought Johanna with me and we spent the day playing Go Fish, helping with math homework, and picking up food donated to the orphanage. On Thursday, I took the day off and Gabby, Julia´s spanish teacher, took us to El Panecillo, a vantage point to the whole city, topped by a statue of the Virgen de Quito (a symbol that combines both Incan sun worship and the Catholicism of the modern city). We were also able to go to the bottom of a well dating back to the spanish ... read more

End of week three - already?! I´ve now successfully booked my Galapagos trip for eight days from the 10th April. That gives me another week here in Otovalo, so I´ll be able to spend an extra few days up at the community, which I´m grateful for, because what with Spanish lessons, Easter, and various other unforeseen situations, the four weeks that I allocated to the project has rapidly shrunk to just a few days of actually teaching my own English lessons, which is a little disappointing after studying so hard for the TEFL before coming out here. Hey ho, all good experience though, and a lot of fun too! So what’s Otovalo like? Well, right now, just sat here in the internet café I’m at twice the height of Ben Nevis (highest mountain in UK), i.e ... read more

This is going to be much easier than sending group emails. A quick overview. I am living in Quito for 2 months, until the beginning of May and then I am going to the Galapagos for a month. I am teaching English at a school near my house. Everymorning I walk down a steep hill and then down another street for two blocks. The kids at my school are between the ages of 2 and 5. It is basically a preschool, but they actually teach them, especially English. The kids know all their colors and numbers up to 10 and other random words and phrases. I like going because no one there speaks English (excpect for the director who speaks a little), and I am not tempted to speak English. Something I am afraid I do ... read more