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Published: March 8th 2007
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The haggle
Claire is not pleased with the offer of $1 each for a pair of obscene pens. Hola muchachos! Wow, what an exciting and scintillating week! OK, I feel a bit sick and I reckon I need to go to bed soon, so here's the lowdown...
Monday: got up at a reasonable time, had breakfast forced down me (they don't understand appetites here. If you don't want the food they think you don't like it, and there ain't no arguing), then scooted down to the family optician shop. Do you call it a shop? Or a surgery? A centre? I don't know, but it quickly became tiresome. There's only so many times you can look at specacle fashion magazines and still be amused. And glasses aren't any fun unless you can try them on. At 11am en punto I was outside the British Embassy with the other GAPpers, awaiting a tour of the city. Seeing as there were only two of us that had arrived that weekend, it did seem a tad pointless, because most of it was based in the old town, and to be honest, we pretty much know the old town like the back of our hands. We're best buds! But anyway, it whiled away the day nicely until we were back at the Embassy, waiting
The triumph
Satisfied with the offer of two for $1.50, Claire coughed up. for some woman that never turned up until we took the initiative and went in search of our contact. We had to sign in and then go through a bit of an exciting scanner thing, next to a sign that asked us politely to leave all handguns outside of the Embassy. Of course. Oh, and by the way, we took one for the little people and exploited KFC by using their toilets
without buying any food! Oh it felt so rebellious! Then back to the opticians, and I got rained on on the way there, so now I have a cold... The assistant was absolutely horrified - she couldn't believe I'd gone out in flip-flops in such terrible weather. To be honest, it did rain quite hard, but it was still pleasantly mild for us Britons. She made me promise to wear socks from now on. What a wuss!
Tuesday: had more food forced down me, then set off for a slightly earlier start today. For some reason I told my padres that I was going clothes shopping that afternoon, and they assumed that I needed "bluejeans". I didn't, to be honest, just some T-shirts, as I only brought two with
Me and Imo happy on the Panecillo
Despite the fact that our salads had bits of orange in them today. Bizarre. me and I'm already sick of them, and also some jungly trousers because I think the maid at the last house made off with my other pair. Grrr. So my madre insisted on taking me shopping in some really terrible cheapskate Colombian stores, and then followed me around to check I was looking at everything properly. Honestly, I appreciate the gesture, but I don't need help shopping. Anyway, the first stop was the GAP office in Quito, where we handed over our passports for our ID cards (still haven't got them back... feel so vulnerable...) and chatted about our work, etc. Then we passed by a bookshop on the way to the coach and decided to pop in and buy some Harry Potter books in an attempt to improve our Spanish. I have to say, mine is really coming on, especially my favourite tense (the present - original and best). Then to Quicentro, which is like the big, designer/American mall near the Embassy, for some hardcore shopping. We found showergel, St Ives apricot scrub, facial toner, a swimming costume, a swimming hat (apparently necessary around here), three T-shirts, linen trousers and lots of fruit to blitz my cold. OK, my
Happy GAPpers!
Us (minus me) waiting outside the British Embassy, directly after exploiting KFC. To name and shame: back row from left - Emma, Caroline, Matt, Imo, Tamsin, Louisa, Kat, Bel, Ezim, Jack. Front row from left - Georgia, Ben, Sophie B, Sophie G, Claire. madre nearly had a fit when she saw how much the clothes were, and admittedly they look a lot in dollars, but everything was half the price of what it would be in Britain anyway, so I wasn't too fussed. We also had a lovely farewell picnic with the Cuenca chicos, who left this morning at some ungodly hour for their new homes... We were aiming for some massive park, but after climbing a hill for about 20 minutes, laden with our picnic bags, we gave up and stopped on a small strip of grass near some rusty swings. If only we'd persevered - turned out the park was literally just over the next hillock... Anyway, much fun and socialising was had, enhanced by the Club Social biscuits, which, with a mere smattering of cream cheese, can lighten up the dullest of parties. And the boys were happy because they could play on the swings. My elder sister arrived home in the evening after spending some time in Mexico, and she seems lovely, so I at least have someone else to talk to.
Thursday (today): Crawled out of bed at 7am, and was at the Embassy only slightly late (which
doesn't seem to matter in Ecuador anyway) to commence the tour of our schools. Only Quito and Yungilla peeps today, as the Cuenca lot had already left, and tomorrow Ezim and Ben will also be gone... and it'll just be the Quito gals, left to fend for ourselves... So anyway, the first school was Abraham Lincoln, where Imo and I will be teaching. It's an all girls' primary school, and they all stood up and chanted us a welcome, so we were very impressed. We were even more impressed that they could almost pronounce Imogen's name correctly! Next was Tamsin's school, which I didn't pay much attention to because there was a puppy to play with! Emma and I probably have rabies from it, but it was sooo cute! Next was Emma's school, which seemed fine, quite big, but all the kids mistook Emma for the GAPper. Oops. Then to the Conservatorio de Musica, where Imo will spend her afternoons. Very impressively large and burrowlike. I'm sure she'll have loads of fun getting lost in there! It's also situated right behind my house, so I can go and visit in the evenings, and I might be able to get myself
Is it a bird?
Trying to work out what this particular Animal of the Galapagos is... suggestions on the comments page, please. into a band or two. Next was Caroline's school, which is by far the richest, and was in fairness a very sweet school, with good resources and friendly staff. However, not the neediest in terms of English teachers. Then we had lunch in the park that we didn't manage to find yesterday, before a long and shakey bus ride (as are all in Quito) to the south of the city to see Claire and Georgia's school. It was very poor looking, and I'm not sure what they'd done with the children, but the uniform looked fairly funky. Last was CENIT, which is currently run by a very irritating and patronising American woman, and an Ecuadorian woman whom we haven't met. But the former is leaving in a month, and the work sounded quite fun, so the outlook is bright for that placement! Anyway, I'm now feeling both coldy and sick because I've had more food forced down me today than my body was meant for. I have to be up at 6.45am tomorrow, bright and early for my first day at work, so I shall bid ye adios!
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ClaireLouiseRyan
Claire
Oi chicha
Thanks for making the greatest and most indepht travel journal ever, leading all my family and friends to the conclusion that a)I dont love them enough to write b)It is possible to do an amazing journal and I can be bothered, same for adding pictures c)I have run off with a man named Juan and am now living happily as a fruit seller in otovalo! Mucho love xx