Halloween

Saturday, Halloween, Laura and I got on a bus at 10:30 am to go to Pifo in the countryside! Laura’s mentor teacher Ximena was throwing a birthday party for her son turning 18. Ximena was already at the house in the country side but she hired a school bus driver to bring her son, Nicholas, all his friends, Laura, and I to the party! The bus didn’t leave until nearly 11:15 which was boring and hot but the party was really fun! Laura and I didn’t know too many people but it was great for people watching and observing cultural differences.

To begin with the drinking age is 18 so all of the college students on the bus were pounding back straight Vodka shots at 11:00am and continued to drink throughout the day. At the party there were beer and mojitos.

So when we got to the party about noon everyone was enjoying the outdoors. They had a huge yard with fruit trees and a vegetable or herd garden. People were playing volleyball in the yard and soccer on the field next door at the neighborhood club. There was also a game where you throw a washer into different holes to receive different amounts of points. It was like ski-ball except you don’t roll a ball, you throw a washer. And video games, of course. Laura and I played cards and enjoyed being outside. After awhile it started to rain so some people hung out under the tents and others came inside.

Mid afternoon we had really great barbeque: corn, guacamole, bread, salad, potatoes, and tons of meat! Most people’s plates were filled more than half way with meat! They had chicken and beef. Ximena tired to get me to try the blood sausage. Been there done that and mentally it bothers me too much to eat! Otherwise the food was really delicious!

When it was time for cake the birthday boy and his friends made a huge mess! They slung cake everywhere and put it all over each other’s faces! It was all over the table and floor! That cake was ruined! There were other cakes to eat and I soon discovered that Ximena and her husband bought and extra cake for that purpose! I was very surprised! That was a perfectly good waste of cake! Haha.

The most interesting part of the party was the dancing. Ximena had said that Laura and I could be back in the city around 7pm. So when I got to the party and saw the speakers, disco ball, and spot light I thought who is going to be dancing before 6:00pm? Well since the weather was bad it started to get dark around 5. They turned the lights off, the disco ball on, and the music up! The birthday boy and his friends were all dancing by like 5:30 (and although we left around 7:00 the bus didn’t return for everyone else until around midnight). They started off with some music we were familiar with but switched back and forth between Meringue, Salsa, Cumbia (from Columbia), and Ballinato.

It was amazing to me that almost everyone knew the steps for these dances. I was trying to learn some dance and my partner asked me, “What kind of dancing do you prefer?” I didn’t really know how to answer. I didn’t think it was as simple as Salsa. I guess in the United States we mostly dance to hip-hop. People know other dances like Salsa but there isn´t the variety like in Ecuador. All the guys here can move their hips very well and they are not afraid to. The dancing was so great! Everyone would be doing their own thing when they were listening to songs like “Tonight’s Gonna be a Good Night” and then they instantly all paired up to dance Cumbia or something!

I was also surprised that none of these college students were nervous to dance. The birthday boy’s family was standing around taking pictures and watching the dancing. I’m not just talking parents and siblings. Everyone was there; grandparents, aunts, uncles, everyone… Even Nicholas, Ximena´s son, was making out with his girlfriend while they were dancing! People were actually kissing all over the house. Ecuadorians are not shy about PDA in the least bit. That’s probably a generalization but it’s what I’ve noticed. There’s no way I could imagine that happening at any party in the US. Nor would we really have barbeques that started before noon or dancing like that that starts at 5:30pm. Even the adults were dancing to the Ecuadorian and American music. They started their own little dance floor in the dining room! It was amazing to me that they created this environment where parents and kids alike could have a good time, eat, drink, dance, and be merry!

Halloween Eve

Halloween is not a big deal in Ecuador; however, it is a big deal at Colegio Americano. We got a half day on Friday! The morning consisted of Halloween crafts and treats then an assembly/parade. Some teachers from the national primary side decided we would dress up and Zombies and do the Thriller dance at the assembly. It turned out great and I had a lot of fun!! They parade was also really cute! All the students from every grade dress up and get to walk across the catwalk! The school decorated the Sume/Assembly hall really well! After the assembly for the few minutes before the students left at 10:45am I was subbing for my friend Jenny who left early for the holiday weekend to go to Columbia. That was a nightmare. I didn’t recognize her student’s faces (especially in costumes) and I didn’t know their names. She has 18 students and from any given time I only had about 5-9 of them. We were traveling to the Sume and back with tons and tons of people. There was just no way I could keep them together. I hope all of them made it home safely to their parents.





Thriller VIDEO TO COME

Since we had a half day and we didn’t know the bus schedule Laura, Lauren (the new student teacher living with me), Katie (the new student teacher from Michigan who lives in Laura’s neighborhood), and I raced out to catch a buss heading to the TeleferiQo. This is the sky bucket that goes to the top of Pichincha Volcano.
** Side note: That made me think of pinch. This week I got my finger pinched in an ATM. I reached out to get the money and the slot where it comes out shut on my finger. I was using all my strength to pull my finger out. Then it reopened and gave me my money the second time. I don’t know why it opened and closed the first time without sending out any money. I’ve sure learned to stay back though! It was so painful! I wanted to cry my whole walk home!
Anyways Pichincha was great! It was so fun riding in the bucket and seeing the views from the top. It was cloudy so we couldn’t see any of the surrounding Volcanoes. Laura and I walked up a little ways to an observation area. We had to stop like 5 times on the way up. The altitude up there was sooo brutal. We were 4,100 meters above sea level I think. Both Lauren and Katie have only been here a week or so and couldn’t walk with us because they are not even adjusted to the altitude at the bottom of the Volcano.





Afterward, we went back to Mercado Artisanal for the second time. It’s the artisans market in La Mariscal. It has all sorts of cool, inexpensive stuff! I’ve decided I’m past the T-Shirt phase! I’d much prefer art or jewelry as a souvenir rather than something saying “ECUADOR” all over it!
That night Isabel threw a small dinner party! She made spaghetti and hot wine for Linda (our neighbor) and the four student teachers! I really like that she switches it up sometimes and we eat Italian food sometimes! Most families here never eat pasta but because Isabel is half Italian she loves to cook Italian food! The hot wine was the best part though! It was really delicious! It’s made by boiling 6 halves of oranges, cinnamon (sticks and ground cinnamon), nutmeg, all spice, cloves, and sugar together. When that is done you add a cheap box of red wine and boil it for only 5 minutes so it hot. After dinner and drinks Isabel started teaching us how to dance: Meringue, Salsa, Cumbia (from Columbia), and Ballinato. It was so much fun and good preparation for the next time.

Isabel making hot wine!


The delicious dinner!


Our guests (left to right): Linda (downstairs neighbor), Isabel (my host mom), Katie (student teacher for Michigan), Lauren (housemate and student teacher from Iowa), and myself. Thanks to Laura for taking the picture!


Laura and I attempting to learn to dance!


After dancing we headed to Laura’s house where we had a slumber party because her host family was out of town! We stayed in all night rocking out to Reggaeton! We intended to go out on Saturday night in costume or at least go people watch (I wish I could have done that in Athens!). We ended up being too tired the next day!

Columbiano

There’s a new international teacher this year from Columbia, Laura Mendes. Her fiancé is Ecuadorian and she moved here to be him right before school started! She was lucky to get a job at Americano on such short notice. She has a daughter is first grade. Her fiancé Andres is fabulous and loves Sophie dearly! She is getting married in December but there were a couple things holding her back. She must be in Ecuador for 90 days before she can get married. She is going to Miami, Florida to visit family on Friday so she had to get married in the courthouse before she leaves. If she leaves her 90 days begins again and she won’t be able to get married in December. So for at least a week they were trying to get their married at the court house. It was very difficult for her and Andres because Laura is from Columbia. They had to have lots of paper work, documents, and I think Sophie complicated issues. So they first time they went they were turned down and not allowed to get married. They are very strict on these matters because there are tons of Cubans trying to get married here right now. They will stand outside the courthouse and offer people $100-$200 to marry them. Then they’ll pay two other people to serve as their witnesses. It’s so sad. I was talking with a couple Ecuadorian teachers and they said it’s often very young girls from the coast who don’t realize what they’re doing. They just need/want the money. They’re not even being paid well. This really breaks my heart. It also angers me because they’ve made it more difficult for people like Laura and Andres who are actually marrying for love! They are just trying to get around the law and be allowed to stay in the country.

I learned a lot of other interesting information from Laura and two other Ecuadorian teachers. It’s so common to have big families. Everyone seemed to be the youngest of ten or fifteen or twelve. They had 35 plus cousins. I was shocked. It made me appreciate that I have a small family and we can actually organize to be in one place at one time. Laura said that although she has relatives in the United States most of her family lives in Columbia. One of her sisters was kidnapped and killed by the Guerilla in Columbia and because of this some of her family was able to move to the United States and claim political asylum. We got to talking about how safe Columbia is. She and her family lived in Bogotá, the capital, at the time. She said the Guerilla looks for rich people and important people in big companies to kidnap because they know their loved ones will be able to pay ransoms. Or the Guerilla looks for poor people or children to train and raise to be like them. Again, I was so saddened by this. It really makes me appreciate the safety I feel in my town and my neighborhood. Laura said the Guerilla is ruthless and they will leave notes at your home saying, “Don’t leave your house this weekend because we just might kidnap you.” Or “Don’t leave your children at the bus stop because we just might take them.”

I cannot imagine living in a place like this where I constantly have to be vigilant and cautious. Even in Quito I have to be very careful with my belongings so I’m not pick pocketed. I’m still missing my Old Navy Flip Flops that were stolen. I still need to be smart in the United States but I’m thankful that the dangers are not this prevalent and threatening.

*Dad, I bet after hearing all this you’re extremely happy you said I couldn’t go to Columbia for the holiday. For the record, Laura said the areas I was going to be in were much safer and so beautiful. They had not heard of tourists having any trouble. Although, I know in reality tourists have problems too.

Oct. 19- Oct. 25

There is a new character in this story of mine. She is another student teacher who just flew in from Iowa on Wednesday to live with Isabel and I. Her name is Lauren, not to be confused with Laura, the student teacher from Auburn. I got in touch with her before she arrived and told her I wish I had brought more clothes for cold weather, that we don’t have internet at the house, and anything else I could think of that I would have wanted to know. She’s very nice and she’s a homebody. I don’t think I could sit home as much as she does. It’s so boring around the house. TV is in Spanish and we only have less than 10 channels. Lauren does speak Spanish though so the TV will be a little more entertaining to her. I do a lot of reading but I use my computer too even without internet. I play music, Solitaire, and write my blog entries in Word until I can post them. She didn’t bring her computer because I told her we didn’t have the internet.

I wanted to include her in what I was doing this weekend so she could meet some people. Friday I went home from school with Laura and had a great time at her house as always! Her family is so good to me and very kind! They always feed me well and have a well stocked kitchen. Laura’s host dad, Santiago’s, sister in law, Patty, and nephew, Daniel, were in town from Tampa, Florida. Ironically, they are planning to move to Marietta, Georgia as soon as their house in Tampa sells. When I got to Laura’s house we ate lunch that Maria, their maid, prepared. It was delicious as always. We had sopas de bollas de verde, fried steak, rice, and fresh juice. During lunch we just discovered that Laura has a sauna at her house! Then I discovered she has English television which I hadn’t watched before. So we wasted the afternoon away watching Bones and the Big Bang Theory. I had never seen the Big Bang Theory. It was a hilarious comedy! In their well stocked kitchen Laura and I raided the sweet (Nutella and Ice Cream Sandwiches). We decided after lounging around we didn’t feel like doing much that night. Laura’s host family left but came home around 7 with cheese steaks and papas fritas (French fries). Over dinner we decided to go see My Sister’s Keeper at the movie theatre. In Spanish the title was La Decision Mas Deficil (which means The Hard Decision).We saw it in English with Spanish subtitles. Movies here are so cheap. It was $4.25. Usually it’s $3.25 and Tuesdays it’s only $2.

Saturday we went to Park El Ejido and shopped around for art then we went to La Mercado Artesanal in La Mariscal. It’s a smaller version of the market in Otavalo. I found a lot of great things! Particularly some really great ceramic vases! I intend to go back and buy one or two. The trouble is how to bring it home. Lauren and I were discussing how when we were younger we used to buy souvenirs that said the name of the place all over it and now we really how much nicer it is to have a piece of art as a memory. Sunday we went to try out a church which ended up being more of a history class than a sermon. It was in English though! After church we strolled around Central Historico.

I “taught” again this week but there weren’t any lessons to do. Mainly, I administered quizzes and supervised Writing Workshop and their Socials Studies Landform projects. I’d like to teach another full week because I want to do more lesson planning I really want to improve my classroom management with this class. I was pleased to see the students were as talkative with Michelle back as when I was alone with them. Michelle and I did co teaching this week. I think if you have two teachers available they might as well both help the students. We both walked around supervising and assisting this week. It was a very chaotic week because grades were due Friday. When I become a teacher I swear I will have things more organized than Michelle. There will be specific places to turn things in and will make sure that those students who miss work or tests make it up. When I looked at grades there were students who had taken 1 out of 4 spelling quizzes. The program for grading, Easy Grade Pro averages the grades but I think it’s only fair that all students have 4 chances to bring their grade up. We were just very rushed to get all the grades in. We accomplished it though for the most part!

I’m really looking forward to next week because of all the Halloween activities we’re doing. It’s all still very educational unlike in Laura’s 1st grade class where they just do arts and crafts for fun! They made orange lanterns, glue ghosts (which are super cute), and sock bats! They also made soup this week since they had been reading a book about it! I have asked her to please let me know when we class is doing fun and yummy things next week so I can make a guest appearance! I’m so excited for candy! I need a costume! We had a half day Friday. It’s hardly even a half day. We get out at 10:40!! Everyone comes in costume and there is a parade and an assembly.

Road Trip

Laura and I took an impromptu road trip with my host brother’s friends, David and Patricio (Pato). We left about 1:30 in the afternoon on Saturday intending to go to Mitad Del Mundo only. This is where the equator is located. It’s about 45 minutes away. Technically, since technology has improved, they’ve used a GPS and found out the actual line is about 240 meters away. It’s fun to see the monument and take the typical picture but I’ve also crossed the real line a couple times now.



So after leaving Mitad Del Mundo David decided we could drive to a place near Mindo (the cloud forest) called Bellavista. It’s a hummingbird reserve. We left Mitad Del Mundo around 3:30 and made it to the reserve around 4:45. This was after a 45 minute drive up a windy, mountainous, dirt road. Laura looked out the window and said, “I feel like we’re in Jurassic Park. We don’t have leaves this big in the United States!” I don’t know about the accuracy of the statement but the leaves were HUGE!

** Important side note: Along the way someone mentioned the beach, jokingly I said, “What, is that our next destination after Mindo?” At this point we were 2 hours closer to the beach….

The hummingbird reserve was very cool. It was very rainy so not as many hummingbirds were out as usual. We still probably saw about 50 flying to and from 4 hummingbird feeders. I saw at least 5 different species. Probably more, I’m just no hummingbird expert. They were incredibly hard to catch on camera but I tried taking a video. The reserve was free to go to. At first I was hesitant to go to Mindo because Laura and I wanted to spend a whole weekend there (which we’re doing over the Halloween Holiday Weekend). I suggested Mitad Del Mundo because it was closer but we ended up in Mindo anyways. I’m glad though because Bellavista is outside Mindo I don’t think Laura and I would have seen it on our trip there.

So we all get back in the car and we’re hungry because we skipped lunch on this little excursion. So we make the 45 minute trip back down the mountain and 30 more minutes to the town of Mindo and settle down for dinner. We all got fresh fish! Laura and I had tilapia and the boys got trout. The trout was simple to eat, however, our tilapia was the entire fish fried. The head and tail were still attached and we had to strategically eat around alllll the bones. It was delicious but very hard work. We also had Bolon. It’s a tennis ball sized ball of green bananas and cheese. Sometimes it has meat as well but these didn’t. It’s also very common for breakfast with coffee.

So as we ate we all sat contemplating whether we could really go to the beach! At this point it was about 4 hours away. David had to find someone to feed his dog and the rest of us didn’t have anything holding us back! Laura and I were especially keen because David was driving us for free and the company was good. I was the most prepared. The night before I spent the night with Laura and I brought my bookbag in the car so that when we got back from Mitad Del Mundo David could drop me off at home with my stuff. I had pajamas, a tooth brush, a bathing suit, sun screen, and the clothes and shoes I wore to school Friday (which turns out to be important). I was ready to go to the beach. I’m not sure what the rest of them were thinking!



So in Mindo we bought some super cheap (3 for $1) Reggaeton CDs and at 8pm we set off for the beach.

**Side note: when we were buying the CDs I looked inside the building/house and saw a baby chewing on scissors. That’s most definitely not safe. I tried to stealthily take a picture but it didn’t turn out well enough for the blog. You’ll just have to take my word for it.

According to UrbanDictionary.com I have what’s called Carcolepsy. I fall asleep every time I get into a car for a trip. So when I wasn’t jamming out to Reggaeton I was taking a little nap on an off for the 4 hour ride. We finally got there at 12:30 am! As we drove into Esmeraldas everything looked close so we weren’t too sure about the possibility of a hotel. Since we went for the beach, that’s exactly where we headed first.

There were some beach bars open so we sat down at a table in the sand. We talked for a moment then decided to go down to the water. We all kicked off our flip flops, except David who had on dress shoes. He wasn’t quite prepared for the beach. The water was a lot warmer than in Mantañita which is further south. Esmeraldas was a lot more developed. There were high rise hotels with pools. It was more like the beach I was expecting in Mantañita. Anyways, so after enjoying the water for only about 15 minutes we returned to the table to grab our shoes before moving out to sit on the sand. My flip flops were M.I.A. and so were Pato’s. Everyone thought maybe I just misplaced my shoes but I was convinced I knew exactly where they had been. I thought for sure they had been stolen. I was so angry. They were only $5 Old Navy flip flops but still they were the only flip flops I brought to Ecuador.


The scene where my flip flops were stolen. :(

So we enjoyed hanging out on the beach until about 4:00 am and then retired to our car for a restful night of sleep…. yah right. We really did sleep in the car but no it was not restful! I was awake by 7:00am and anxious to get out of the car! I wanted to go searching for breakfast. About that time Laura woke up also. She and I set off in search of a bathroom. They restaurant across the street had just opened. I walked inside in my rolled up pajama pants, the shirt I had been wearing the day before, and my gold flats I had worn to school on Friday. It was really a classy outfit. The owner was using the bathroom when we got inside so we stood around waiting. This restaurant was also a hostel and some customers came in and asked me if we had rooms available. I wanted to laugh. Never would I ever come to work in rolled up pajama pants. I’m not sure why he thought I worked there. After this ordeal Laura and I returned to the car where she fell asleep again and I sat there wide awake for another hour until everyone else woke up. It was too light and people around us were starting to bustle. I just couldn’t sleep.

It didn’t take long at all to find breakfast once everyone was awake. Luckily, we had a great restaurant right behind our “hotel”. Laura and I ate a typical breakfast here: eggs, bread, fresh squeezed juice (this morning it was tree tomato juice), and coffee. The boys had something I never would have considered for breakfast: fish. After eating we set off for the beach. Laura and David just enjoyed the sand and the sun. Pato and I got in the water. I was so lucky to have a bathing suit! I kept finding sand dollars with my feet!! These were not the type of sand dollars I found on Fripp Island this summer. They were huge and black!



All in all it was a very fun spur of the moment road trip! It’s things like that trip that make traveling so fun and memorable. If my flip flops are the only thing stolen from me while I’m here I guess I can deal with that. We left for Quito around 12:30 pm. I was hoping we could get back quickly. Turns out the woman downstairs who lets me use her internet got locked out of her house Saturday evening. She spent a good 24 hours with Isabel in my apartment because both me and the other person who had her spare keys were out of town for the weekend. Talk about bad luck.

Student Teaching

I have the kids all to myself this week. My mentor teacher is at a conference in the Dominican Republic. I´ve enjoyed this week to myself to run things as I might in my own classroom. However, the kids know I´m the STUDENT teacher and are a bit chattier than normal. They are exhausting me and I´ve exhausted them this week. We are working on the writing process and they´ve been writing all week long for writing workshop and social studies. I rewarded them with time to work on their social studies poster at the end of the day! It was much needed for all of us. They really are excited about their projects on landforms!

I anticipate that when I´m doing my next two weeks of teaching and Michelle is back that the students will be a bit better behaved. One of my students was gone for a week on a trip to Cuba. She came back today and brought me a bracelet. That was very sweet. Yesterday I used the sentence ¨Someone should bring me some chocolate tomorrow.¨ I´m still waiting to see if this will happen. :)

I don´t have many plans for this weekend except maybe a 4 hour long game of Ecuadorian Monopoly. I´m hoping to just hang around Quito and possible see Mitad Del Mundo (the equator) or the Teleferico (a sky bucket up Volcan Pinchincha, the one I can see from my window). I may be on Skype Sunday afternoon so look out for me.

Random fact: Last weekend some teachers and I went bar hopping in LA Mariscal. At No Bar I heard the bartender say something and instantly knew he was from Australia. So, of course, I started chatting with him about where we was from. He said he´d only been in Ecuador a week! I thought that was a really short time to find a job. He said he was here for three months on a bartender exchange program.... did you know there was such a thing? He doesn´t speak any Spanish. He told me he typically doesn´t understand what drinks people are ordering so he just makes something random and they usually don´t come back complaining that it is not what they ordered.

Montañita

This weekend I went to Montañita. It is a beach on the coast of Ecuador. It’s about 10 hours southwest of Quito. I went with the other student teacher, Laura, and another American teacher, Andrea. We left at 8:45 pm Thursday night and took an 8 hour bus ride to Guayaquil (the largest city in Ecuador). Then we took a 5:00 am bus to Montañita which took another 2.5 hours. I really enjoyed the movies in Spanish along the way. As we drove it got lighter and lighter outside and I wanted to look around rather than sleep.
As I looked out the window I saw the ocean on one side and on the other side I saw very arid land with cacti and brown shrubs, very primitive housing, lots of stray dogs, roosters missing lots of feathers, horses and donkeys grazing by the roads, and people lying in hammocks on their porches. It was a strange sight and it made me a little sad. I was expecting the scenery to change and we’d arrive in this developed beach town with disco techs, hostels, and restaurants.

Andrea had been to Montañita before. All of a sudden she said, “Ready to get off? We’re here.” I looked around and thought, “Uh…No, I’m not ready to get off. We can’t possibly be here.” Oh but we were. It WAS a town with disco techs, hostels, and restaurants. It just wasn’t nearly as developed as I imagined. We got off the bus on the side of the road. There was kind of a bus station but it was more like a small roofed area, with no seating, and a small ticket window which no one worked until it was about an hour before a bus arrived or departed. So we just walked right by the station and down the dirt road into town. We weren’t sure where our hostel was but supposedly our room had an ocean front view so we headed toward the ocean. Our hostel was also supposedly on the edge of town where it was a little quieter at night. The guy I spoke with on the phone had given me the impression that this location would be very good because the disco techs were loud at night. This is why I expected Montañita to be bigger and more developed. When we reached the ocean we turned left and headed down the dirt road away from the main street. It took us less than 10 minutes, maybe less than 5, to walk through the town and out of it to our hostel. Small, beachy, hippie, town was my first impression. At our hostel they tried to charge us $15 instead of $10 per night (like we were told on the phone) because it was a holiday weekend. So we left and shopped around. The hostel owner was wrong… we were able to find hostels for cheaper than $15. However, he was right…. he had a good location and the best quality for the price. So we wandered back in there angry that we still wanted it for the higher price.

The view from our hostel.

Nothing much was going on in Montañita at this point because it was still very early. I would also venture to guess most of its surfer or backpacker residents were still drunk or stoned from the previous night. However we found a good looking place for breakfast and sat down. A local scuba diver kind of called us over and said it was the best place to eat. It was called Café Hola Ola. Turns out it was one of the best and I think we ate there 3 times this weekend! I had French Toast for breakfast which is a nice alternative to just regular toast.

Eventually everyone was up. There were people selling crafts on the side of the roads, people walking around barefoot, people selling fresh juice, and fresh ceviche (like seafood cocktail). The crafts included jewelry, headbands, and drugs paraphernalia. The town had a lot of character and a lot of foreigners.

It was kind of dreary on Friday and Saturday because it was very cloudy. We spent most of our time Friday walking around exploring or lounging in the hammocks at our hostel. We swung in those for hours, reading, and enjoying the view of the ocean. Friday we laid out for about 30 minutes and we braved the chill.

Laura and Andrea walking on the beach Friday. That point in the distance is how Montañita got it´s name- little mountain.

Saturday we spent time in the hammocks again and watched the ECUADOR VS. URAGUAY soccer match at Café Hola Ola. Sadly, we lost 2-1. I’m not sure how it happened. Uruguay scored immediately after we got the first goal and then they scored seconds before the end of the match to pull ahead. It was very disappointing but it didn’t stop us from going out and experiencing the night life. We tried to go out Friday but after the all night bus ride we were in bed by 9pm. So we had to make up for it on Saturday. We still only made it to about 1 am. There was one particular road that had tons of drink stands. They made fresh daiquiris for $2. Mom and Dad, I was just getting my fruit servings for the day ☺ They would have maybe 6 chairs set up in front so you could sit while you had a drink. Also at the end of this alley was the beach. Many people were enjoying themselves out there because they could hear the music from the disco techs. There were small fires on the beach and groups of people gathered around each.

Cafe Hola Ola

Laura sporting her Ecuador jersey!

I loved the night life in Montañita. Everything was very laid back. However, I can’t imagine myself ever living there. There were stray dogs everywhere! My heart was constantly breaking for them. At dinner one night I couldn’t finish my pizza and so I took the last slice and once we were outside divided it up among 3 hungry looking dogs. All the restaurants were open in the front and dogs would wonder in and out of them looking for food- certainly not the most sanitary thing I’ve ever seen. Also people selling jewelry and henna tattoos would walk through and try to sell you things during your meals. Probably 5 or more per meal; It was quite annoying.

I was a unique town. I was glad we made the choice to bus both ways which was about $30 roundtrip vs. $120 round trip airfare. The ride home was certainly eventful. I sat next to a pregnant woman. She cried the first 30 minutes which I didn’t understand but I just chalked it up to her being an emotional pregnant lady. The police stopped us at some point and we had to leave the bus while they searched it for things, drugs and weapons, I’m assuming. The ride was blazing hot and the bus attendants refused to open the windows or turn on their air. So all in all busing was cheaper and we traveled at night to maximize our beach time, but it was not nearly as pleasant or speedy as flying. I enjoyed the weekend but it was not at all what I expected nor was it the best beach I’ve ever been to.


Also, I have to say I’m pretty bummed about Georgia’s record so far. I’m especially unhappy we lost to my brother’s school this past weekend- at least we beat UT last year though. If we could at least beat Auburn on November 14 that would be great! Laura’s been trash talking UGA for a couple weeks now, wishing and hoping LSU would beat us, well really that everyone would beat us.

Go DAWGS!

Bread Babies...

4 Things:

1. Today I ate a baby made of bread. They're called Guaguas de Pan. Guaguas means "baby" in Quechua which is the language spoken by the indigenous people here. My host mom took me to Fybeca (the pharmacy) and conveniently they have a bakey attached- incase you need to pick up some q-tips and fresh bread in the same trip. The bakey is called Cerano's. We go into the bakey and my host mom has me pick out my Guaguas de Pan. So I reach into one of the baskets and pick out the bread baby like I was at the cabbage patch or something. It was an unreal experience. The baby tasted very good though :) Isabel warned me I better not start with the head.


Also, we got some Colada Morada. This is like a chunky, warm smoothie.... right up my alley. It was actually good cold if I avoided the chunks! Anyways, I appreciated that Isabel wanted to buy me these things to try. In Ecuador they are eaten to celebrate Finados on November 2nd.

2. Today I found out that I'll be teaching completely by my self next week! My mentor teacher, Michelle, is going to a conference in the Dominican Republic! I'm very excited for this chance to have "my own" classroom for the week!

3. Since Anita moved out of the apartment here, Isabel contacted Ligia at the school and said she had another room available. We'll be getting another student from the US from October 18- November 30! This is very exciting for me! I will hopefully be able to show her around and help her because I'll know exactly how she's feeling. Isabel made me promise I would speak more Spanish in front of the new girl, Lauren.

4. I'm obsessed with Harry Potter and I finally understand what all the fuss is about. I just finished the 3rd book in a week (which is record time for me). I checked out the 4th from the primary library and I plan to read it on the 20 hour bus ride to and from Mantanita this holiday weekend and on the beach! Jealous?


Wait, 5

5. I'm very sad that Georgia lost to LSU :(

Skype Date

I´ll be on Skype Tuesday from about 7:00-8:30pm. Hopefully I´ll get to talk with some of you!

Bilingual Workouts

I workout after school two or three days a week. Cathy is a teacher and also a certified instructor and she runs workouts in her classroom 3 days a week. We do Pilates, Yoga, High/Lo, and dance. It´s usually a group of 8-10 teachers. The funniest part is it´s bilingual which is really interesting! Yesterday I did Yoga for the first time ever. I only really went to confirm that I didn´t like yoga. Turns out I do! It was so great and relaxing. I seriously need to work on my balance however. I was falling all over the place. It thought it was funny. I had trouble being as serious as the others. Laura and I have plans to go to a Yoga brunch on Saturday!


Tuesday I went with a friend, David, to Cafe Guapalo. Guapalo is a little neighborhood on the edge of Quito. It used to be outside Quito until the city grew. The neighborhood is known for artists, musicians, hippies, and circus people. I could definitely tell. It had a lot of character! We sat on the patio outside and looked out at the view at night! It was great! I tried a traditional Ecuadorian drink for cold weather: Canelazo. It´s sugarcane alcohol, cinnamon, and naranjilla ( an Ecuadorian fruit).

This week Laura and I have been trying to organize a trip for next weekend. We´re hoping to go to Montanita, a beautiful beach. It´s Guayaquil weekend (to celebrate their independence) and we have a holiday on Friday. It´s going to be a very long bus ride (10 hours or so each way) but it should be a fun road trip. Hopefully this will be a successful trip! I´m very excited to see this beach and the surfers :)!

David taught me that Ecuador celebrates their independence with three different holidays, one for each main city: Guayaquil, Quito, and Cuenca. Personally I think we should try that approach in the US. We´d get a lot more time off work and school!

This morning on the way to school I saw a man walking his goats on a leash in the city. Gotta love Quito!

Go DAWGS tomorrow!!!!