The last weeks have been busy, but I am finding I have a bit more free time. The last two wseeks, I took one day off of school and attended 6 hours of Spanish classes which has been very helpful. Instead of getting a glass of rum when I ordered a coca cola zero, this week I got 4 sandwhiches instead of the 3 I thought I ordered...hmm, is that really improvement?
Last weekend Janine, Laura and I took a our around to some of the villages right outside of Otavalo and vistied craftspeople: a number of different types of weavers and hat makers. Since it was just the three of us with the guide, we were able to ask tons of questions and really got a good feel for the economy, history of the crafts, and the people of the area.
This week with school, the teachers had 3 of the 5 days off: 2 for meetings and 1 for a party. Of course the days weren't all in a row. So Monday, we went to our schools as usual as the teachers were there. On Tuesday, since there were no teachers, we had a fun day with the other school where Laura and Janine are. We dropped Janine and Laura off at their usual drop off point, and then continued up to my school. We grabed the dishes, spoons and cups, and all the kids piled into the van (20 of the them) and we drove back down to the other school - about a 40 minute drive. We did a tug of war, soccer, 3-legged race, and sack hop outside and then inside we also had BINGO, pin the tail on the donkey, musical chairs, and coloring. For a special treat at the end of the day, instead of just serving a piece or slice of fruit, we made a fruit salad. (The shopping, the cutting of the fruit and our Spanish classes kept us busy until 7:30 the night before.) Unfortunately, my school lost at both the tug-of-war (even with me helping) and the soccer. (The other school has 32 kids to my school has 20.) We had a fun time though and the kids loved going to the other school.
Wednesday I had Spanish, and Tracey, the project coordinator went to my school for me and handled the whole group since the teacher was out again. The kids made a number of different Christmas things in preparation for the party on Monday.
On Thursday, I was at school again, and the teacher was there. There wasn't much school work done as we prepared songs and more art for the big event. On Friday, no teacher again, and Tracey came up with me to help and to meet with some of the parents about ideas for future projects.
A government health team came to the school on Friday also to give immunizations to the 2nd and 7th graders. Unfortunately, since the teacher wasn't there, the 2nd graders couldn't be immunized as there was a bit of discussion about which of my kids were in 1st or 2nd grade. (Their school system here is different than in the US, so these kids are 5 and 6 years old.) As usual, the community had some fresh cheese and boiled potatoes for the visitors. Unlike the other visitors that have come while I have been there, one man (the driver) spent most of his time taking pictures, another worker asked if she could take a Quichwa language book, and they took with them all the cheese and potatoes that they didn't eat!
Although last week was a bit crazy for me, it was more so for Laura and Janine, as they had to handle 30 kids by themselves one day, and on the other day with one other community member. And, on the day that I stayed in Otavalo, the van got stuck on the road where they are doing road construction, and they all had to get out an push!
We've had a bit of rain this week which is desperately needed. We continue to have regular power outages, and now Tracey has heard they are going to start turning off the water for periods of time as well. There are places on the "road" where the rain has already done a lot of damage and I can't imagine what will happen to the road if we get more rain like we should.
On Friday night, we got together for our Christmas exchange. Since there are just the 4 of us, we decided to draw 2 names each and set the gift limit to $5.00. We went out to dinner, had quite a bit to drink and exchanged gifts. We had a good time, andit was much needed after our crazy busy week. I got a nice pair of earrings and gloves with the finger tips open - perfect for when I am teaching at the school.
Last night we were invited to play BINGO by Jaime, our driver, at a school fundraiser. We did our part to help the fundraising and two of the four of us each won one game! I won a very nice table cloth and Tracey won a car vacuum....I have a sneaking suspicion that Jaime will end up with it!
Today, Janine and I helped Tracey sort the books for gifts for the kids and then did the shopping for the chickens and chicken parts (heads, feet, livers, hearts and stomachs) for the big lunches we will have in each school. The lady in the market that we buy our chicken from studied English at University so we all practice our languages when we visit her. She gave both of us a little bag of candy when we left! Walking down through the market with the little bag, a policeoffice/guard, stopped me and asked for a piece!! I let him pick out his own piece and didn't say anything to him about the woman not washing her hands between handling the raw chicken and putting they candy in the bags!
We've got school Monday and Tuesday and then I head to Quito for two nights before I fly out to the Galapagos. I will be on a boat for 7 nights, and return to Quito in time for New Years eve. I will then have time tovisit Cuenca briefly, before needing to be back in Otavalo for school on January 4th. New volunteers will be coming in January and I think we are all looking forward to having more people here and spreading the work out a bit!
FELIZ NAVIDAD
Margie
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Horrible Day
The community I work in is very small, remote and poor. GVI - the organization I am volunteering with - provides oats for breakfast and other food for lunches for the kids at the school. In return, the mothers take turns preparing the food.
Today was the day for one family who has less than the others and is undergoing a pretty bad time. Often an older sister (about 15 yrs old) who goes to school in Otavalo during the weekends, cooks when it is the family's turn, while the mother works in the field (at least I think that iswhere she is). We had to bring a tank of gas for cooking up with us this morning and when we have to do this, the mother usually makes the "calada" from the oats right away and the kids can have a hot breakfast about 1/2 an hour after we arrive. Well, this morning when I took the food into the kitchen, the door was open, but no mother was there. I asked what was going on, and (of course) didn't quite understand the answer, although the teacher made it clear that there would be no calada that morning. I asked my student, "Susie" from this family where her mother was, but she said she didn't know.
I made an emergency run to the bathroom which is in the kitchen building about 15 minutes later, and Susie's two younger sisters were at the cupboard with the oats, salt and sugar, eating the oats raw. These children are not well kept at all with dirty, matted hair, dirty faces and clothes (the youngest is often not wearing pants, but just a long t-shirt). Each day at lunch Susie always asks for another helping and then runs to her house with the dish -- feeding the younger children. (There are three younger children, but the youngest is usually on her mother's back.) Anyway, I had to tell them to leave and when I came out of the bathroom, they were hiding around the corner, so I had to tell them to go on home. It was the most horrible feeling and thing to do: two kids left to themselves, uncared for and hungry and I had to send them away because the food was not cooked and is for the school children.
About an hour into the day, Susie asked to go to the kitchen and she came back and told me her mother still was not there. I waited another 1/2 hour and then we went together and checked again, and still no one in the kitchen making lunch. Her older sister came in though and said something that I couldn't understand, so Susie and I went and got the teacher. When asked why no one was making lunch, the response from the sister was that they had no matches! The teacher then sent a few students to the closest house and they came back with matches in no time.
The mother then appeared and made the soup for the lunch, although she did not use all of the vegetables or cut the ones she did use up very small. She also made the calada (which has quite a bit of sugar in it!). So, I told the kids they had to eat the soup first and then if they were still hungary, they could have the calada. I made sure every last drop of that soup was served and that Susie got a few bowls full for the younger kids. The thing is, is that Susie is 6 years old and has two older brothers in the school, but it is very apparent that she is responsible for the younger siblings.
This whole situation just broke my heart and then to top it off, when I went to serve the fruit at the end of the day, there was not enough for all of the students, which meant someone had taken a few pieces from the kitchen earlier. I had a few pieces of fruit in my backpack from my lunches from the last few days, so I went and got that and made sure everyone had a piece of fruit. When I hand out the fruit at the end of the day, a couple days a week, I must also give beans or dried peas to the students whose mother will cook the next day. They are then cooked the night before at home and brought into school. I did this and then locked the padlock on the kitchen door on my way out.
Well, guess what? It turns out the kids whose mother is scheduled to cook tomorrow, hadn't been given the kitchen key by today's mother! The kids went and got Susie's mother, who wasn't sure where she had put the key, but thought it was inside the kitchen! This is the only key to the kitchen as the others have been lost by the families previously. The kids opened a window and used a stick to move things on the counter, but we didn't see the key anywhere. The padlock will have to be cut off and a new one bought. This was just a bad way to end an already horrid day.
The situation with this family is a difficult one. The father apparently left a while ago and the family has no food, or source of income. As an organization, GVI does not single out a family to assist, rather they assist all families with children in school by providing volunteers (me in this case) in the schools to reduce the teacher-student ratio and provide additional food that the government does not provide, and provides more food when the supply from the government runs out. They also work closely with the community, but do not get involved in the community "politics" or take responsibility for the school facilites, etc. Anything that is done in/for the community is done in consultation with and the request of the community and it's leaders.
I feel a bit better writing about this and will try to think of the difference I can make, and not what I can not do. There is no school tomorrow, but on Monday I will show up with a smile on my face and encouragment for the five kids I work with.
Today was the day for one family who has less than the others and is undergoing a pretty bad time. Often an older sister (about 15 yrs old) who goes to school in Otavalo during the weekends, cooks when it is the family's turn, while the mother works in the field (at least I think that iswhere she is). We had to bring a tank of gas for cooking up with us this morning and when we have to do this, the mother usually makes the "calada" from the oats right away and the kids can have a hot breakfast about 1/2 an hour after we arrive. Well, this morning when I took the food into the kitchen, the door was open, but no mother was there. I asked what was going on, and (of course) didn't quite understand the answer, although the teacher made it clear that there would be no calada that morning. I asked my student, "Susie" from this family where her mother was, but she said she didn't know.
I made an emergency run to the bathroom which is in the kitchen building about 15 minutes later, and Susie's two younger sisters were at the cupboard with the oats, salt and sugar, eating the oats raw. These children are not well kept at all with dirty, matted hair, dirty faces and clothes (the youngest is often not wearing pants, but just a long t-shirt). Each day at lunch Susie always asks for another helping and then runs to her house with the dish -- feeding the younger children. (There are three younger children, but the youngest is usually on her mother's back.) Anyway, I had to tell them to leave and when I came out of the bathroom, they were hiding around the corner, so I had to tell them to go on home. It was the most horrible feeling and thing to do: two kids left to themselves, uncared for and hungry and I had to send them away because the food was not cooked and is for the school children.
About an hour into the day, Susie asked to go to the kitchen and she came back and told me her mother still was not there. I waited another 1/2 hour and then we went together and checked again, and still no one in the kitchen making lunch. Her older sister came in though and said something that I couldn't understand, so Susie and I went and got the teacher. When asked why no one was making lunch, the response from the sister was that they had no matches! The teacher then sent a few students to the closest house and they came back with matches in no time.
The mother then appeared and made the soup for the lunch, although she did not use all of the vegetables or cut the ones she did use up very small. She also made the calada (which has quite a bit of sugar in it!). So, I told the kids they had to eat the soup first and then if they were still hungary, they could have the calada. I made sure every last drop of that soup was served and that Susie got a few bowls full for the younger kids. The thing is, is that Susie is 6 years old and has two older brothers in the school, but it is very apparent that she is responsible for the younger siblings.
This whole situation just broke my heart and then to top it off, when I went to serve the fruit at the end of the day, there was not enough for all of the students, which meant someone had taken a few pieces from the kitchen earlier. I had a few pieces of fruit in my backpack from my lunches from the last few days, so I went and got that and made sure everyone had a piece of fruit. When I hand out the fruit at the end of the day, a couple days a week, I must also give beans or dried peas to the students whose mother will cook the next day. They are then cooked the night before at home and brought into school. I did this and then locked the padlock on the kitchen door on my way out.
Well, guess what? It turns out the kids whose mother is scheduled to cook tomorrow, hadn't been given the kitchen key by today's mother! The kids went and got Susie's mother, who wasn't sure where she had put the key, but thought it was inside the kitchen! This is the only key to the kitchen as the others have been lost by the families previously. The kids opened a window and used a stick to move things on the counter, but we didn't see the key anywhere. The padlock will have to be cut off and a new one bought. This was just a bad way to end an already horrid day.
The situation with this family is a difficult one. The father apparently left a while ago and the family has no food, or source of income. As an organization, GVI does not single out a family to assist, rather they assist all families with children in school by providing volunteers (me in this case) in the schools to reduce the teacher-student ratio and provide additional food that the government does not provide, and provides more food when the supply from the government runs out. They also work closely with the community, but do not get involved in the community "politics" or take responsibility for the school facilites, etc. Anything that is done in/for the community is done in consultation with and the request of the community and it's leaders.
I feel a bit better writing about this and will try to think of the difference I can make, and not what I can not do. There is no school tomorrow, but on Monday I will show up with a smile on my face and encouragment for the five kids I work with.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
What the heck?
Things are just done differently in different cultures...no right, no wrong, just differently:
Ok, well maybe this one is just wrong! How are those firefighters going to use this hydrant?
So, take out food with drinks means the drinks come in plastic bags? Janine is still puzzling over this and Patrick found it quite funny!
And this is the result of the newly installed gutters and drain pipes at the volunteers work house! Hmm, pretty effective, eh?
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Typical day teaching & going to school
Well, not quite, but kind of.
My day began without milk for my nescafe which was a bummer for me...could hardly drink half of it although I needed the caffiene. I was the first to the pickup point (I was on time at 6:45am) for our ride to the schools and tried to get some peanuts at a little store to supplement my lunch, but no luck. Thankfully I did get a small package of small ritz crackers, because then I found out that my salad from the GVI house wasn't put on the van, so for lunch I had with me a banana, an apple and a jelly sandwhich on a day old croissant that I really did not want to eat.
On the way up, I worked hard on reading aloud "Perro Grande, Perro Pequeno" (Big Dog, Little Dog), working on my pronunciation. The book has both English and Spanish, so it was pretty easy to understand anyway. We stopped at a little town so one of the teachers could make a phone call. I think it had something to do with school, so she couldn't make the call earlier in the morning. We were also slowed down a bit by this:
When the other volunteers and teacher got off at the first stop, Patrick ran back and asked Jaime to call Tracey when he got back into reception -- but I didn't understand what it was about. When we were just about to school, the teacher got out at one of the houses and gave me the school keys and said she would be there in about 15 minutes. As we drove off, Jaime very kindly told me that school would only be to 11:30 as the teachers had to go to a meeting in the afternoon. I say "very kindly" as he had to say just key words and say them slowly, but I did understand.
When we arrived at the school, it was the usual: kids waiting for us right where the van stops and calling out Buenos Dias and reaching out to shake our hands as we get off the van. Today was the big food day - most of the food for the rest of the week - and kids took it into the kitchen. When I followed, I found the 15 year old older sister of one of my students doing the cooking - her mother had gone into Otavalo the day before and it was their day to cook. (The 15 year old goes to school on Saturday and Sunday in Otavalo -- it takes longer than going all week, but allows her to help around the house & fields during the week, and not have to pay too much for a place to stay in Otavalo.) I separated out the food to be used for the day and later in the week with the help of another student -- we had fun with the Spanish and English words.
By the time I came out of the kitchen, the rest of the kids were playing in the yard between the two class buildings. The were playing a game much like hopscotch, but the blocks were named the days of the week and they were kicking the stone from one "day" to the next while hopping on one foot the whole time. I got my two students (one is in Otavalo and the other two are sick) started on the new monthly calendar and then let the other students into their classroom. As I was leaving, the teacher arrived, so I was able to go back and work with my students.
They both colored in the day on their calendars and wrote their names on the board which is our usual morning return before going to the Banos and washing our hands. When we returned I decided to give it a go on the book. It turned out well, with identifying colors throughout the book also. I think I only mispronounced a few words to the point of being unintelligable! Since they were getting a bit antsy, I grabbed the tub of colored magnetic plastic letters and we went outside onto the futball pitch and sat on the grass. (Mind you, the futball pitch is in the middle of the road, but no trucks came by while we were there!) We spelled our names, separated them by color, counted them, etc. When we were heading back into the classroom, the teacher came and asked if I could make a phone call on my cell phone. So we walked to one of the places where there is potential of service, but couldn't get it. So we walked up a hill and tried there. Still no luck. Tried again at the magic spot. Still no luck. By this time, it was 10:15 and time for lunch.
A few parents had begun to come and gather at the school -- they did last week also, so wasn't surprised, but didn't really understand what it was about. I dished up the soup for the kids, trying to make sure I got about the same number of pieces of meat into each soup bowl. There were a few extra young kids, so they got soup as well. The teacher never came in for her soup and when I finished serving seconds, I went out and found the teacher was in her classroom with the parents - which was different than the prior week. I went into my room and ate my "lunch" and while there, some of the older kids started wandering in and wanted to play with stuff. So I pulled out the vowel BINGO game I had made for my kids and we played that. They had fun and wanted to keep going. One girl stood there awhile, but there were not enough game boards, so I told the kids to share. That didn't happen and the girl and others wandered in and out. After a bit, the girl came back with two pieces of paper and handed them to me and said something. So, I promptly cut them in two and made more game boards. While I was making her game, I was still calling out vowels for the others, and she kept saying something to me, but I wasn't paying much attention. When I gave it to her, she said no and I finally paid attention. She was asking me for more paper for the teacher!!! I had a good laugh at myself and the kids did too. As the kids left, I had them take this back outside with them:
Our closing up of the school was the usual chaos. My room got partly cleaned; I left to give fruit to the kids; make sure the beans for tomorrow that need to be soaked and cooked were given to the right kid to take home and the kitchen door is locked after all the kids have come in to get the fruit. Heading back out I get the key from the teacher (only today, I was asking her for it, and I had it from opening up) to lock my classroom, gather my stuff and climb into the van. Besides myself and the teacher, there are usually other community members climbing in to catch a ride to town and kids who get a ride back up the mountain a ways towards their houses.
We arrived at the pickup point about 1/2 an hour later and waited for the other volunteers and teacher. Today they were later than usual: we had to wait a half an hour for them. Usually it is just 5-10 minutes. I used the time to study my Spanish and try to read another book to prep for later in the week. We arrived back into Otavalo close to 1pm - about an hour and 15 minutes earlier than usual. I got off early and went to my home stay to change clothes, get my computer and credit card and some dirty laundry, then took a taxi ($1) into the center of town to the laundria. While at home, I told my mom I would not be home for dinner, as I planned to stay in the center and work on my computer. Although my homestay does laundry, I have found I need to do my clothes for the weekend during the week and leave my school clothes for the homestay. From there off I went to get a sandwhich at a favorite place. I then remembered that my favorite place to use the wi-fi and my own computer is closed on Tuesdays!
I went to an internet cafe and phone place and tried to call the travel agency for making my reservation to the Galapagos, but no luck. I decided I would go to the Spanish school early and try to use their wi-fi internet, but they weren't there. So I went to another internet place and posted my earlier post, checked email, etc. and then got to Spanish class by 3pm. I had a good class with my reading yet another story book with my teacher helping with the pronunciation and meaning and then doing some work with grammer.
After the lesson at 5, I headed to the GVI house to think about and get materials together for my classes tomorrow. Decided I didn't need to do much, as I hadn't used my materials from today. But, I do need to prepare for the one hour English lesson I am supposed to have with the older kids on Wednesday -- will see if it happens! I then found out while at the GVI house, that both of the teachers had not done required paperwork for the government regarding the school uniforms for the kids, and that was the reason for all the hubaloo today. My teacher was typing up statments and having the parents "sign" them. (I saw one that was "signed" with a finger print.)
And here I am, at another place I found that has food and wi-fi, allowing me to upload photos from my own computer and uploading blogs I had written previously. But, most important, keeping me up past 8:30 as that is the time I go to bed once I have had dinner!
My day began without milk for my nescafe which was a bummer for me...could hardly drink half of it although I needed the caffiene. I was the first to the pickup point (I was on time at 6:45am) for our ride to the schools and tried to get some peanuts at a little store to supplement my lunch, but no luck. Thankfully I did get a small package of small ritz crackers, because then I found out that my salad from the GVI house wasn't put on the van, so for lunch I had with me a banana, an apple and a jelly sandwhich on a day old croissant that I really did not want to eat.
On the way up, I worked hard on reading aloud "Perro Grande, Perro Pequeno" (Big Dog, Little Dog), working on my pronunciation. The book has both English and Spanish, so it was pretty easy to understand anyway. We stopped at a little town so one of the teachers could make a phone call. I think it had something to do with school, so she couldn't make the call earlier in the morning. We were also slowed down a bit by this:
When the other volunteers and teacher got off at the first stop, Patrick ran back and asked Jaime to call Tracey when he got back into reception -- but I didn't understand what it was about. When we were just about to school, the teacher got out at one of the houses and gave me the school keys and said she would be there in about 15 minutes. As we drove off, Jaime very kindly told me that school would only be to 11:30 as the teachers had to go to a meeting in the afternoon. I say "very kindly" as he had to say just key words and say them slowly, but I did understand.
When we arrived at the school, it was the usual: kids waiting for us right where the van stops and calling out Buenos Dias and reaching out to shake our hands as we get off the van. Today was the big food day - most of the food for the rest of the week - and kids took it into the kitchen. When I followed, I found the 15 year old older sister of one of my students doing the cooking - her mother had gone into Otavalo the day before and it was their day to cook. (The 15 year old goes to school on Saturday and Sunday in Otavalo -- it takes longer than going all week, but allows her to help around the house & fields during the week, and not have to pay too much for a place to stay in Otavalo.) I separated out the food to be used for the day and later in the week with the help of another student -- we had fun with the Spanish and English words.
By the time I came out of the kitchen, the rest of the kids were playing in the yard between the two class buildings. The were playing a game much like hopscotch, but the blocks were named the days of the week and they were kicking the stone from one "day" to the next while hopping on one foot the whole time. I got my two students (one is in Otavalo and the other two are sick) started on the new monthly calendar and then let the other students into their classroom. As I was leaving, the teacher arrived, so I was able to go back and work with my students.
They both colored in the day on their calendars and wrote their names on the board which is our usual morning return before going to the Banos and washing our hands. When we returned I decided to give it a go on the book. It turned out well, with identifying colors throughout the book also. I think I only mispronounced a few words to the point of being unintelligable! Since they were getting a bit antsy, I grabbed the tub of colored magnetic plastic letters and we went outside onto the futball pitch and sat on the grass. (Mind you, the futball pitch is in the middle of the road, but no trucks came by while we were there!) We spelled our names, separated them by color, counted them, etc. When we were heading back into the classroom, the teacher came and asked if I could make a phone call on my cell phone. So we walked to one of the places where there is potential of service, but couldn't get it. So we walked up a hill and tried there. Still no luck. Tried again at the magic spot. Still no luck. By this time, it was 10:15 and time for lunch.
A few parents had begun to come and gather at the school -- they did last week also, so wasn't surprised, but didn't really understand what it was about. I dished up the soup for the kids, trying to make sure I got about the same number of pieces of meat into each soup bowl. There were a few extra young kids, so they got soup as well. The teacher never came in for her soup and when I finished serving seconds, I went out and found the teacher was in her classroom with the parents - which was different than the prior week. I went into my room and ate my "lunch" and while there, some of the older kids started wandering in and wanted to play with stuff. So I pulled out the vowel BINGO game I had made for my kids and we played that. They had fun and wanted to keep going. One girl stood there awhile, but there were not enough game boards, so I told the kids to share. That didn't happen and the girl and others wandered in and out. After a bit, the girl came back with two pieces of paper and handed them to me and said something. So, I promptly cut them in two and made more game boards. While I was making her game, I was still calling out vowels for the others, and she kept saying something to me, but I wasn't paying much attention. When I gave it to her, she said no and I finally paid attention. She was asking me for more paper for the teacher!!! I had a good laugh at myself and the kids did too. As the kids left, I had them take this back outside with them:
Our closing up of the school was the usual chaos. My room got partly cleaned; I left to give fruit to the kids; make sure the beans for tomorrow that need to be soaked and cooked were given to the right kid to take home and the kitchen door is locked after all the kids have come in to get the fruit. Heading back out I get the key from the teacher (only today, I was asking her for it, and I had it from opening up) to lock my classroom, gather my stuff and climb into the van. Besides myself and the teacher, there are usually other community members climbing in to catch a ride to town and kids who get a ride back up the mountain a ways towards their houses.
We arrived at the pickup point about 1/2 an hour later and waited for the other volunteers and teacher. Today they were later than usual: we had to wait a half an hour for them. Usually it is just 5-10 minutes. I used the time to study my Spanish and try to read another book to prep for later in the week. We arrived back into Otavalo close to 1pm - about an hour and 15 minutes earlier than usual. I got off early and went to my home stay to change clothes, get my computer and credit card and some dirty laundry, then took a taxi ($1) into the center of town to the laundria. While at home, I told my mom I would not be home for dinner, as I planned to stay in the center and work on my computer. Although my homestay does laundry, I have found I need to do my clothes for the weekend during the week and leave my school clothes for the homestay. From there off I went to get a sandwhich at a favorite place. I then remembered that my favorite place to use the wi-fi and my own computer is closed on Tuesdays!
I went to an internet cafe and phone place and tried to call the travel agency for making my reservation to the Galapagos, but no luck. I decided I would go to the Spanish school early and try to use their wi-fi internet, but they weren't there. So I went to another internet place and posted my earlier post, checked email, etc. and then got to Spanish class by 3pm. I had a good class with my reading yet another story book with my teacher helping with the pronunciation and meaning and then doing some work with grammer.
After the lesson at 5, I headed to the GVI house to think about and get materials together for my classes tomorrow. Decided I didn't need to do much, as I hadn't used my materials from today. But, I do need to prepare for the one hour English lesson I am supposed to have with the older kids on Wednesday -- will see if it happens! I then found out while at the GVI house, that both of the teachers had not done required paperwork for the government regarding the school uniforms for the kids, and that was the reason for all the hubaloo today. My teacher was typing up statments and having the parents "sign" them. (I saw one that was "signed" with a finger print.)
And here I am, at another place I found that has food and wi-fi, allowing me to upload photos from my own computer and uploading blogs I had written previously. But, most important, keeping me up past 8:30 as that is the time I go to bed once I have had dinner!
Mindo
Had a great weekend in Mindo. Jaime, the guy who drives us in his van to school, drove us there. There was the program coordinator and two other volunteers plus myself. We had to drive south through Quito and then towards the coast, about a 3-4 hour drive, much of which was on awindy mountain roads. As we changed from the eastern side of the mountain ridges to the western side, we could see a huge difference in the vegitation. On the eastern slopes everything was dry and not very green and on the western side everything was green and lush. It reminded me of the coastal road we drove in Mexico north of Puerto Vallarta and Johnny said it reminded him of Hondourus.
Mindo has developed itself into a tourism town. There is a waterfall that people can access by hiking or taking a hanging basket on a cable. There are also a number of reserves close by focused on hummingbirds, butterflies and orchads. The main street is lined with small restaurants and bars and travel agencies to sell the above tours and even a place to rent 4 wheelers.
We hiked to the waterfall and then I waded in the pond above it while the others swam in the deeper pool and jumped off the back and even went down the cement slide. There were quite a few people there, both foreign and Ecuadorians. The hike back was almost all uphill and it took me 35 minutes....quite a workout in the humidity!
While we were at the waterfall, I realized I didn´t have my GVI cell phone in the pocket where I had put it. Figured that was it...gone for good. Then, as we got back to the hostal, I thought maybe I had left it on my bed in my room, so I went to get out my keys. No keys! Darwin the hostal manager located the guy we got a ride from up to the waterfall trail and he had both the phone and keys. What a relief. Felt like an idiot.
Most of the restaurants were pizza places, however, there was one place where we went to dinner that is owned by an Ecuadorian-American couple that had a variety of foods. I had an expensive dinner: filet mignon with a garlic mushroom sauce, papa fritas, and vegetables for $9.50. Most main courses were around 6 bucks. We also all had the brownies made with two kinds of Ecuadorian chocolate - oh, so good! After we went to a bar for a bit then headed back to the hostel. And, as I went to get my keys out, I couldn´t find them! I asked Johnny to walk back with me to the restaurant and bar to look for them. No luck. We got back to the hostal and Johnny offered to sleep in the hammock on the porch so I could have his bed. While I was in the bathroom, Janine knocked on the door and apologized! When we left for dinner I had given her my key to put in her purse (so it wouldn´t fall out of the pocket again), and we BOTH forgot I had done that! It was a real relief as I was feeling pretty stupid.
On Sunday the others went on a canopy tour - known at home as a zip line - and I went to a butterfly-hummingbird place right in town. Really enjoyed seeing so many different types of hummingbirds that we don´t have in Alaska and to see the butterflies up close. Took quite a few pics which I will post later. Will also post some more blog entries that I have on my computer.
Mindo has developed itself into a tourism town. There is a waterfall that people can access by hiking or taking a hanging basket on a cable. There are also a number of reserves close by focused on hummingbirds, butterflies and orchads. The main street is lined with small restaurants and bars and travel agencies to sell the above tours and even a place to rent 4 wheelers.
We hiked to the waterfall and then I waded in the pond above it while the others swam in the deeper pool and jumped off the back and even went down the cement slide. There were quite a few people there, both foreign and Ecuadorians. The hike back was almost all uphill and it took me 35 minutes....quite a workout in the humidity!
While we were at the waterfall, I realized I didn´t have my GVI cell phone in the pocket where I had put it. Figured that was it...gone for good. Then, as we got back to the hostal, I thought maybe I had left it on my bed in my room, so I went to get out my keys. No keys! Darwin the hostal manager located the guy we got a ride from up to the waterfall trail and he had both the phone and keys. What a relief. Felt like an idiot.
Most of the restaurants were pizza places, however, there was one place where we went to dinner that is owned by an Ecuadorian-American couple that had a variety of foods. I had an expensive dinner: filet mignon with a garlic mushroom sauce, papa fritas, and vegetables for $9.50. Most main courses were around 6 bucks. We also all had the brownies made with two kinds of Ecuadorian chocolate - oh, so good! After we went to a bar for a bit then headed back to the hostel. And, as I went to get my keys out, I couldn´t find them! I asked Johnny to walk back with me to the restaurant and bar to look for them. No luck. We got back to the hostal and Johnny offered to sleep in the hammock on the porch so I could have his bed. While I was in the bathroom, Janine knocked on the door and apologized! When we left for dinner I had given her my key to put in her purse (so it wouldn´t fall out of the pocket again), and we BOTH forgot I had done that! It was a real relief as I was feeling pretty stupid.
On Sunday the others went on a canopy tour - known at home as a zip line - and I went to a butterfly-hummingbird place right in town. Really enjoyed seeing so many different types of hummingbirds that we don´t have in Alaska and to see the butterflies up close. Took quite a few pics which I will post later. Will also post some more blog entries that I have on my computer.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Noise
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but a picture just can’t convey everything. In some places I have traveled, it is the smells, or the humidity, or something else that just is not captured on film. Well, here it is the noise. Yes, noise.
Sitting in my bedroom the noise can be overwhelming at times. First there are the sounds of an active household with three kids, a mom who always seems to be hurrying everyone, and a housekeeper who works non-stop. ” Por ejemplo”, the other night in a 10 minute span, the phone rang more than once, the front gate buzzer rang at least twice – followed by the jingle of keys and the squeaking noise of the gate opening, the car gate opened and closed repeatedly, someone came by to visit, and everyone was yelling about the problem with the gate. And through it all, the dog was barking. And the dog next door. No exaggeration. And then Pilar knocked on my door and told me my dinner was ready! And these are just the sounds within the house and courtyard.
In the background there is always the non-stop barking of one dog or another. There is the incessant honking of horns. The car alarms that are always being set off. Other household gates clanging. The grinding engines of buses. And the cock-a-doodle-do of roosters. (Why do children’s books tell us that they crow at the break of dawn when they do it any time of the day or night that they feel like?)
In the center of town, there are all of these outdoor sounds, plus more car noise, car honking and people yelling. There is the music from the vendors selling CD’s of folklore music, music blasting from a store front here or there, and the occasional car driving by with a speaker on its roof, announcing something – which I can’t understand of course. Early in the day and right before dark in the center, there are the sounds of vendor booths being taken down and the carts of goods being pushed over the cobblestones. (These carts have license plates on them and bicycle horns which they honk just for the fun of it.)
There is a definite protocol for horn honking. If one bus passes another they must honk. If a taxi is passing another, they must honk. If someone looks like they might step into a cross walk, all vehicles must honk to alert the pedestrian not to step out because the vehicles will not slow down. If a taxi is passing a gringo or a group of people, it must honk to see if they want a ride. If a vehicle knows someone on the street or in another vehicle, they must honk. If a bus is approaching a bus stop, they must honk to see if any of the people waiting there are waiting for that bus. If a vehicle is passing a bike rider, the vehicle must honk to warn the rider of their approach. If a dog is anywhere close, they must honk….. If a cow is on the side of the road, they must honk. On the mountain dirt single lane roads, they must honk at every corner. If anyone or anything is within a mile radius, and even if they are not, the vehicle must honk.
Ok, any of my fellow volunteers, is there any noise I missed?
Sitting in my bedroom the noise can be overwhelming at times. First there are the sounds of an active household with three kids, a mom who always seems to be hurrying everyone, and a housekeeper who works non-stop. ” Por ejemplo”, the other night in a 10 minute span, the phone rang more than once, the front gate buzzer rang at least twice – followed by the jingle of keys and the squeaking noise of the gate opening, the car gate opened and closed repeatedly, someone came by to visit, and everyone was yelling about the problem with the gate. And through it all, the dog was barking. And the dog next door. No exaggeration. And then Pilar knocked on my door and told me my dinner was ready! And these are just the sounds within the house and courtyard.
In the background there is always the non-stop barking of one dog or another. There is the incessant honking of horns. The car alarms that are always being set off. Other household gates clanging. The grinding engines of buses. And the cock-a-doodle-do of roosters. (Why do children’s books tell us that they crow at the break of dawn when they do it any time of the day or night that they feel like?)
In the center of town, there are all of these outdoor sounds, plus more car noise, car honking and people yelling. There is the music from the vendors selling CD’s of folklore music, music blasting from a store front here or there, and the occasional car driving by with a speaker on its roof, announcing something – which I can’t understand of course. Early in the day and right before dark in the center, there are the sounds of vendor booths being taken down and the carts of goods being pushed over the cobblestones. (These carts have license plates on them and bicycle horns which they honk just for the fun of it.)
There is a definite protocol for horn honking. If one bus passes another they must honk. If a taxi is passing another, they must honk. If someone looks like they might step into a cross walk, all vehicles must honk to alert the pedestrian not to step out because the vehicles will not slow down. If a taxi is passing a gringo or a group of people, it must honk to see if they want a ride. If a vehicle knows someone on the street or in another vehicle, they must honk. If a bus is approaching a bus stop, they must honk to see if any of the people waiting there are waiting for that bus. If a vehicle is passing a bike rider, the vehicle must honk to warn the rider of their approach. If a dog is anywhere close, they must honk….. If a cow is on the side of the road, they must honk. On the mountain dirt single lane roads, they must honk at every corner. If anyone or anything is within a mile radius, and even if they are not, the vehicle must honk.
Ok, any of my fellow volunteers, is there any noise I missed?
Saturday, November 21
I am finished with my first week of volunteer teaching for GVI. It was a fun, but tough week as I also had Spanish classes two days, a get together with the other volunteers and had to get started with lesson planning. In addition to the busy-ness, there was also the accepting of the living conditions of the children and knowing that all I can do is help educate the children and make sure they are getting plenty to eat at the school.
Tracey did the lessons for the first two days, and then I did for the remaining three days. However, I was to teach cultura fisica (PE) on Thursday, but the lunch-recess time was pretty long and the teacher skipped it and said we would do it on Friday. Well, we didn´t cause we did other fun stuff! My other lessons went well, and we made people out of pipecleaners and glued puff balls onto paper in the shape of the number 1 and glitter on the shape of number 2. We also all used the stamps I brought to stamp out our names on paper which they really liked.
Tracey came to school on Friday and brought with her, at the teacher´s request, the ingridients for making a traditional cake, kimberlita (sp?), that is steamed in banana leaves. The whole school, including Jaime the bus driver, was involved in mixing the batter and stuffing the leaves. We made a huge batch and each student got two at school and then more to take home. There were other visitors to the school as well, and they all got to have some too. I had one and thought it was quite good.
My success at school this week as getting the kids to recognize where to start writting on a page and when forming letters : ¨¿Donde comienzo?" Arriba la ezquierda!" With one of the students, this was quite the task, as she kept turning her page around and being stubborn about where she wanted to start.
Other volunteers went to Baños this weekend, but three of us also stayed back. I wanted to use the weekend to get caught up on little things such as shopping, calling family, becoming more familiar with Otavalo, studying Spanish and getting some lesson plans going. I will have Spanish lessons 3 days this coming week, plus we will have a ¨Thanksgiving" dinner at one of the local gringo restaurants on Wednesday night. My Spanish didn´t progress much this week and I am afraid the little ones in my class are going to learn more English from me than anything else! So, hopefully by focusing on this today and tomorrow, I will get a bit further.
Tracey did the lessons for the first two days, and then I did for the remaining three days. However, I was to teach cultura fisica (PE) on Thursday, but the lunch-recess time was pretty long and the teacher skipped it and said we would do it on Friday. Well, we didn´t cause we did other fun stuff! My other lessons went well, and we made people out of pipecleaners and glued puff balls onto paper in the shape of the number 1 and glitter on the shape of number 2. We also all used the stamps I brought to stamp out our names on paper which they really liked.
Tracey came to school on Friday and brought with her, at the teacher´s request, the ingridients for making a traditional cake, kimberlita (sp?), that is steamed in banana leaves. The whole school, including Jaime the bus driver, was involved in mixing the batter and stuffing the leaves. We made a huge batch and each student got two at school and then more to take home. There were other visitors to the school as well, and they all got to have some too. I had one and thought it was quite good.
My success at school this week as getting the kids to recognize where to start writting on a page and when forming letters : ¨¿Donde comienzo?" Arriba la ezquierda!" With one of the students, this was quite the task, as she kept turning her page around and being stubborn about where she wanted to start.
Other volunteers went to Baños this weekend, but three of us also stayed back. I wanted to use the weekend to get caught up on little things such as shopping, calling family, becoming more familiar with Otavalo, studying Spanish and getting some lesson plans going. I will have Spanish lessons 3 days this coming week, plus we will have a ¨Thanksgiving" dinner at one of the local gringo restaurants on Wednesday night. My Spanish didn´t progress much this week and I am afraid the little ones in my class are going to learn more English from me than anything else! So, hopefully by focusing on this today and tomorrow, I will get a bit further.
Monday, November 16, 2009
First day of school
Today I went to my assigned school with Tracey, the GVI project coordinator here. It isn´t really in a community, as the kids come from around the country side. There are 20 children from 7 families. I will be teahing the 1st and 2nd graders: a total of 6, although one boy often does not come. Tracey did the lesson plan for today and tomorrow and then I will be doing my own.
I have one first grader, a boy and four 2nd graders: 3 girls and 1 boy. All were dressed in their traditional clothing, although some had warmer tops pulled on over their clothes. They are quite small for their ages compared to US kids and are as cute as can be. However, all had runny noses, chapped cheeks (from the wind) and worn/dirty clothes. And all were eager to learn and participate in the activities Tracewy had prepared. At the beginning of class, Tracey asked about their weekends, and one girl asked about breakfast at school (which is usually provided by the gov´t), because she said there was no food in the house and she had not eaten all weekend. She is definately from the poorest family there. (The gov´t provided food was not there, so we had nothing to feed them until the lunch was prepared with the food we brought.)
We did the calendar, the days of the week, numbers, matching, concentration game with numbers, recess after lunch, and then Jack in the Beanstalk reading and activities. We also had them prepare folders for their work to stay in at school. Number recognition was clear for 1 & 2, but hesitant on 3 &4. We didn´t go further for recognition of the number. Their color names are pretty good and their coloring was great. One boy was a perfetionist, while one girl never stopped talking in Quicha. (Spanish is their second language.) Another girl was shy, while I am not sure how much the other one was taking in. The 1st grade boy kept up fairly well, but need a bit more assistance than the others.
The ride up to the school was interesting. GVI has a van (same as is used for school buses around here), and not only did the GVI volunteers ride up to two schools, so did the teachers, and a parent with her baby. Then on the way down two different mothers rode down with us. From my school to get to town for them, they would need to walk at least an hour down to where they would hope to catch a bus --- but no gaurantee the bus would be running --- and then pay .50c for the hour bus ride. So, they don´t come down into Otavalo much, and pretty much live a subsistance life style.
I will have to write more later as I am quite tired and have a full day of school, spanish lessons, and lesson planning for Wednesday. Jst wanted to get in my first impressions.
I have one first grader, a boy and four 2nd graders: 3 girls and 1 boy. All were dressed in their traditional clothing, although some had warmer tops pulled on over their clothes. They are quite small for their ages compared to US kids and are as cute as can be. However, all had runny noses, chapped cheeks (from the wind) and worn/dirty clothes. And all were eager to learn and participate in the activities Tracewy had prepared. At the beginning of class, Tracey asked about their weekends, and one girl asked about breakfast at school (which is usually provided by the gov´t), because she said there was no food in the house and she had not eaten all weekend. She is definately from the poorest family there. (The gov´t provided food was not there, so we had nothing to feed them until the lunch was prepared with the food we brought.)
We did the calendar, the days of the week, numbers, matching, concentration game with numbers, recess after lunch, and then Jack in the Beanstalk reading and activities. We also had them prepare folders for their work to stay in at school. Number recognition was clear for 1 & 2, but hesitant on 3 &4. We didn´t go further for recognition of the number. Their color names are pretty good and their coloring was great. One boy was a perfetionist, while one girl never stopped talking in Quicha. (Spanish is their second language.) Another girl was shy, while I am not sure how much the other one was taking in. The 1st grade boy kept up fairly well, but need a bit more assistance than the others.
The ride up to the school was interesting. GVI has a van (same as is used for school buses around here), and not only did the GVI volunteers ride up to two schools, so did the teachers, and a parent with her baby. Then on the way down two different mothers rode down with us. From my school to get to town for them, they would need to walk at least an hour down to where they would hope to catch a bus --- but no gaurantee the bus would be running --- and then pay .50c for the hour bus ride. So, they don´t come down into Otavalo much, and pretty much live a subsistance life style.
I will have to write more later as I am quite tired and have a full day of school, spanish lessons, and lesson planning for Wednesday. Jst wanted to get in my first impressions.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
End of first week. in Otavalo
I've loaded photos to my Picasso site: http://picasaweb.google.com/margie510 Here is further explanation of the activities
On Friday, November 13, for our four hour morning Spanish lesson, Adrienne, Czarina, Janine and I, with both of our Spanish teachers, Fernando & Rocia, hiked about 4 km to a very old tree called El Lechero. This tree is to the east of Otavalo on the top of a hill looking down the other side to Lake San Pablo. There is a legend about this tree and the lake San Pablo in the valley below it. They say there was a pair of young lovers whose parents did not want them to be tighter and he was changed into the tree and she into the lake. They are forever near each other, but not together. (Pretty basic story, but it was told in Spanish and that is what I got from it!) The name of the tree refers to the type of tree it is and not to the legend. When cut, the sap of the tree is like milk (leche; lechero being a milk container). After taking a break at the tree- which included “no English, only Spanish” conversation – we headed down the hill to the north. We ended up coming around to the creek, above the waterfalls that we hiked to on Wednesday. We then hit the same trail and then road back into Otavalo. It was a beautiful hike, and luckily it was overcast, so not quite as hot as it can be. Of course, I was covered in greasy sunblock, sweat and dust when I got back and was in desperate need of a shower!
On Saturday, November 14, the same four of us got up early and went to the Mercado de Animales – the animal market. It was a great reminder that our meats don’t just come in styraphome and plastic containers in the meat section of the supermarket. The market was sectioned of by the different animals for sale: cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, chicks, guinea pigs and the sellers stood around with their animals on ropes or in boxes while buyers wandered between them checking out the animals. There was an area to one side of booths of food being cooked and served – quite a mix of smells for our early morning, empty stomachs.
We then walked into the downtown area of Otavalo and met up with Johnny and our guide to go horseback riding. We piled into the back of a pickup truck and rode about 20 minutes up into the hills southwest of Otavalo – in the opposite direction of our previous hikes. We rode about an hour each way, partly on the road we had just driven on – to a beautiful two-tiered waterfall. I have bruises on the inside of both legs but the ride was worth it because we went through little pueblos and past individual farm houses that we would not have been able to see otherwise. I didn’t feel comfortable taking a picture though of one scene: it looked like the entire pueblo was involved in taking rocks from the river to be hauled away. There were 3-5 groups of people getting the rocks out of the stream and putting them in piles on the “road”. There was a pick-up truck at the first pile with a number of men putting the rocks into the back. Of course I don’t know what the rocks were going to be used for, but I have to wonder if it wasn’t for “paving” some of the roads, as the roads in the countryside are cobblestone.
Today, Sunday, I am recuperating and taking it easy this morning. It has taken quite a bit of time to label the photos and write this blog entry – don’t know if I will have time to do this every weekend! Also, I seem to have eaten something that my stomach wasn’t ready for, so I am sitting here taking Pepto-Bismol tablets and drinking water to stay hydrated. I’ll see what happens when I eat lunch! This afternoon I hope to upload my photos from the past week and post this blog before going to the market with the other volunteers to shop for the groceries for the lunches for the students at the schools this week. I will start at my school in Huayarpungo on Monday with Tracey, the program coordinator and then will be on my own starting on Wednesday! I’m a bit nervous about it, but hopefully will feel more confident after tomorrow.
I’ve found out some more details about my schedule. I will have the week off between Christmas and New Years and will also have 2 weeks off between leaving Otavalo and reporting to Peru. Machu Pichu is not included in this program, so will need to do it during that time. I don’t know the exact dates yet of those two weeks, but will find out soon. I am thinking I will try to do a jungle trip in December, and then the Galapagos and Machu Pichu during that time. My visa for Ecuador runs out on February 3, so I must be out of the country by February 2, but if I use up all that time, then my return flight from Quito in May will be a problem as I can’t come back into the country as I can’t get another visa for some x number of days. Anyway, will start looking at tours and plans for all three of these events.
Anyone interested in joining me? Amazonian Jungle, Galapagos or Machu Pichu????? If so, let me know right away!
On Friday, November 13, for our four hour morning Spanish lesson, Adrienne, Czarina, Janine and I, with both of our Spanish teachers, Fernando & Rocia, hiked about 4 km to a very old tree called El Lechero. This tree is to the east of Otavalo on the top of a hill looking down the other side to Lake San Pablo. There is a legend about this tree and the lake San Pablo in the valley below it. They say there was a pair of young lovers whose parents did not want them to be tighter and he was changed into the tree and she into the lake. They are forever near each other, but not together. (Pretty basic story, but it was told in Spanish and that is what I got from it!) The name of the tree refers to the type of tree it is and not to the legend. When cut, the sap of the tree is like milk (leche; lechero being a milk container). After taking a break at the tree- which included “no English, only Spanish” conversation – we headed down the hill to the north. We ended up coming around to the creek, above the waterfalls that we hiked to on Wednesday. We then hit the same trail and then road back into Otavalo. It was a beautiful hike, and luckily it was overcast, so not quite as hot as it can be. Of course, I was covered in greasy sunblock, sweat and dust when I got back and was in desperate need of a shower!
On Saturday, November 14, the same four of us got up early and went to the Mercado de Animales – the animal market. It was a great reminder that our meats don’t just come in styraphome and plastic containers in the meat section of the supermarket. The market was sectioned of by the different animals for sale: cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, chicks, guinea pigs and the sellers stood around with their animals on ropes or in boxes while buyers wandered between them checking out the animals. There was an area to one side of booths of food being cooked and served – quite a mix of smells for our early morning, empty stomachs.
We then walked into the downtown area of Otavalo and met up with Johnny and our guide to go horseback riding. We piled into the back of a pickup truck and rode about 20 minutes up into the hills southwest of Otavalo – in the opposite direction of our previous hikes. We rode about an hour each way, partly on the road we had just driven on – to a beautiful two-tiered waterfall. I have bruises on the inside of both legs but the ride was worth it because we went through little pueblos and past individual farm houses that we would not have been able to see otherwise. I didn’t feel comfortable taking a picture though of one scene: it looked like the entire pueblo was involved in taking rocks from the river to be hauled away. There were 3-5 groups of people getting the rocks out of the stream and putting them in piles on the “road”. There was a pick-up truck at the first pile with a number of men putting the rocks into the back. Of course I don’t know what the rocks were going to be used for, but I have to wonder if it wasn’t for “paving” some of the roads, as the roads in the countryside are cobblestone.
Today, Sunday, I am recuperating and taking it easy this morning. It has taken quite a bit of time to label the photos and write this blog entry – don’t know if I will have time to do this every weekend! Also, I seem to have eaten something that my stomach wasn’t ready for, so I am sitting here taking Pepto-Bismol tablets and drinking water to stay hydrated. I’ll see what happens when I eat lunch! This afternoon I hope to upload my photos from the past week and post this blog before going to the market with the other volunteers to shop for the groceries for the lunches for the students at the schools this week. I will start at my school in Huayarpungo on Monday with Tracey, the program coordinator and then will be on my own starting on Wednesday! I’m a bit nervous about it, but hopefully will feel more confident after tomorrow.
I’ve found out some more details about my schedule. I will have the week off between Christmas and New Years and will also have 2 weeks off between leaving Otavalo and reporting to Peru. Machu Pichu is not included in this program, so will need to do it during that time. I don’t know the exact dates yet of those two weeks, but will find out soon. I am thinking I will try to do a jungle trip in December, and then the Galapagos and Machu Pichu during that time. My visa for Ecuador runs out on February 3, so I must be out of the country by February 2, but if I use up all that time, then my return flight from Quito in May will be a problem as I can’t come back into the country as I can’t get another visa for some x number of days. Anyway, will start looking at tours and plans for all three of these events.
Anyone interested in joining me? Amazonian Jungle, Galapagos or Machu Pichu????? If so, let me know right away!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Electricity & Spanish Classes
November 12, 2009, Thursday
Electricity
This is supposed to be the rainy season in the central Andes of Ecuador, but they are not having the rain they usually do. It rained one night when I was in Quito, but I have not seen rain since. All of the electricity for the country is produced at a single hydro-electric plant at a dam near Cuanto (a city in the south). Due to the lack of rain, there is an electricity shortage. So, the power is turned off for various hours throughout the day and for various communities and even within the same community. For example, while I was in Quito, the electricity was turned off from 2-4 pm two of the days. Then, the hostal where I stayed was also without power one evening for a couple of hours while we could see whole neighborhoods with electricity.
In Otavalo, there have been power outages each day. Pilar (my host “mom”) has told me everyday what time the power will be out for their neighborhood. It doesn’t seem to be out for the hours that are announced though! Tonight, the power is supposed to be out all night starting sometime in the afternoon! So, tonight’s dinner was early at 5:30 so we didn’t have to eat in the dark. All of the cooking is done with gas, so there isn’t a problem with the cooking, although they had to use candle light while cooking. (It seems the electricity stays on in the center of the city even when it’s out elsewhere.)
When walking down the street, if I get a chance to look into a courtyard, I am still seeing beautiful grass and flowers, so they don’t seem to be conserving water due to the drought.
So here I sit using my computer on battery power for as long as I can tonight and then I guess to bed really early. It has clouded up and it actually looks like it might rain!
Spanish Classes
The Spanish School is a small school, owned by a husband and wife, Fernando and Roci’a. I have had Rocia as my teacher, while Janine has had Fernando. There are other teachers as well who come in for specific one to one lessons. This week I have had lessons 6 hours per day. (I will have a total of 200 hours in the 6 months) A bit much for me! But, they are very willing to get out of the school for the lessons, so that has helped. Yesterday we went to the Cascadia de Peguche in the morning which was a lot of fun. Tomorrow we are going to the “magic tree” La Lucha which will be a longer hike, so we won’t have a lesson in the afternoon. It will be Janine, Adrienn , Czarina and I plus both Fernando and Rocia. If it actually rains tonight, I don’t know how that will be, as there is so much dust right now, there will probably be a lot of mud.
This afternoon’s lesson was fun. Laura was supposed to have Quichiwa language lessons, but her teacher did not show up. So she worked with me and Rocia and both of Rocia’s girls joined us. We played a game *(wish I knew it last year!) and then the girls taught us a couple of kids songs. I also practiced my question words and vocabulary by asking the girls simple questions and then writing down their answers also. It was good practice that I really needed as I don’t think I can take in too many more words – I really have to figure out how to string them all together in the right order!
Electricity
This is supposed to be the rainy season in the central Andes of Ecuador, but they are not having the rain they usually do. It rained one night when I was in Quito, but I have not seen rain since. All of the electricity for the country is produced at a single hydro-electric plant at a dam near Cuanto (a city in the south). Due to the lack of rain, there is an electricity shortage. So, the power is turned off for various hours throughout the day and for various communities and even within the same community. For example, while I was in Quito, the electricity was turned off from 2-4 pm two of the days. Then, the hostal where I stayed was also without power one evening for a couple of hours while we could see whole neighborhoods with electricity.
In Otavalo, there have been power outages each day. Pilar (my host “mom”) has told me everyday what time the power will be out for their neighborhood. It doesn’t seem to be out for the hours that are announced though! Tonight, the power is supposed to be out all night starting sometime in the afternoon! So, tonight’s dinner was early at 5:30 so we didn’t have to eat in the dark. All of the cooking is done with gas, so there isn’t a problem with the cooking, although they had to use candle light while cooking. (It seems the electricity stays on in the center of the city even when it’s out elsewhere.)
When walking down the street, if I get a chance to look into a courtyard, I am still seeing beautiful grass and flowers, so they don’t seem to be conserving water due to the drought.
So here I sit using my computer on battery power for as long as I can tonight and then I guess to bed really early. It has clouded up and it actually looks like it might rain!
Spanish Classes
The Spanish School is a small school, owned by a husband and wife, Fernando and Roci’a. I have had Rocia as my teacher, while Janine has had Fernando. There are other teachers as well who come in for specific one to one lessons. This week I have had lessons 6 hours per day. (I will have a total of 200 hours in the 6 months) A bit much for me! But, they are very willing to get out of the school for the lessons, so that has helped. Yesterday we went to the Cascadia de Peguche in the morning which was a lot of fun. Tomorrow we are going to the “magic tree” La Lucha which will be a longer hike, so we won’t have a lesson in the afternoon. It will be Janine, Adrienn , Czarina and I plus both Fernando and Rocia. If it actually rains tonight, I don’t know how that will be, as there is so much dust right now, there will probably be a lot of mud.
This afternoon’s lesson was fun. Laura was supposed to have Quichiwa language lessons, but her teacher did not show up. So she worked with me and Rocia and both of Rocia’s girls joined us. We played a game *(wish I knew it last year!) and then the girls taught us a couple of kids songs. I also practiced my question words and vocabulary by asking the girls simple questions and then writing down their answers also. It was good practice that I really needed as I don’t think I can take in too many more words – I really have to figure out how to string them all together in the right order!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Long Day
Monday, November 9
Long day. Very long day. And now I am making it longer by writing!
I woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep. It could have been because I was in bed by 8:30. I had my first shower and breakfast at my home stay. It’s a tossup over last year’s shower situation and this one! This year’s pros: shower basin with 6” raised lip AND shower curtain; easy to manage facets, even providing hot water when the electricity is out; wall against my bedroom and the outside instead of against a chapel wall; shower head permanently a foot and a half out from the wall. CONS: Electrical wire that runs catty corner across the top, hanging from the ceiling and resting on the shower curtain rod.
Breakfast: croissant with jelly, juice and Nescafe. I was given a cup of boiled milk (I think unpasteurized) into which I was to stir the instant coffee. (Doesn’t real coffee come from this country?)
I was walked to school this morning for the first time in 45 years! Pilar walked with me to the school and waited until the owner couple/teachers arrived. I was matched with Rosario and Janine with Fredrico. Four hours is a long time for a class. We did take a break about half way through and had real brewed coffee and discussed a couple of things. Fredrico speaks English, but not Rosario. But we figured out what I should say to my host mom regarding a little less rice and fatty foods (croissant) and we decided to take a hike to Le Leguche – a magic tree - on Friday for our lesson. It’s about an hour hike up, so we will see how we do. If I don’t carry anything but water, I should be ok breathing. We also determined they could help me with my GVI issued t-shirt that was of course too small. I will say though that it is a large and not even an extra large. So after lunch, Rosario and I went to three different shops to find someone who could insert a one inch panel on either side. We found someone who could do it no problem for $1.00!! What a deal. (I hope I will still think so tomorrow when I pick it up!)
Lunch was a delicious veggie soup followed by a half plate of fresh peas, half a plate of rice with a thin slice of beef with a small amount of light gravy over it. I really appreciated the half plate of veggies. Hopefully this will continue but maybe not with such a starchy veggie.
After class Janine and I went to Buena Vista, a small café/restaurant that has free Wi-Fi and is a hangout for Gringos. I was able to upload yesterday’s blog from MSWord before we headed over to the GVI House. It was Laura’s birthday (a volunteer from Germany), so we went out to an Italian dinner to celebrate. I had manicotti (3 stuffed with chicken) and a glass of wine. With tax and tip: $10.50. We then went back to the GVI house where we celebrated with a dessert that one of the other volunteers made. It was pretty late when I got home and I felt bad as the dog of course barked like it was supposed to, but the JorgeLuis woke up and came downstairs to turn off the lights. There is no way you can quietly enter the house – which is why they have the dog!
Observations:
The indigenous Quichua women wear a cloth tied on their heads, instead of a hat. It is black with white trim in the back. Some women seem to just place a folded cloth on their head to protect it from the sun.
Either to girls have babies very, very young, or some are carrying around their mothers babies. I know the later is wishful thinking.
The Quichua people are of very small stature. It really throws me to see some tiny kids walking and some that from their size I would guess to be 2 or so, helping out a younger child! I asked Rosaria when we walked what she would guess one little girls age and she said probably around 4, but I swear she couldn’t have been more than 2 by her size.
I see police officers everywhere. And a lot of guards. At banks, money echanges, the supermarket, or anyplace bigger than a small family operated store front, there are guards with guns standing by the doorway. Kind of unsettling.
The commerce in this town is huge. On the weekdays, there is the market at the PPPPP Poncho with the crafts. Then there is another outdoor market along both sides of a street a block long with general needs: clothing, pots and pans, shoes, etc. And then every block is filled with little shops selling one or two items of the above.
There are a number of elementary schools and high schools, technical schools and a University. The elementary school children all wear uniforms. Some of the Quichua children wear their traditional skirts or blouses under the uniform.
There are mucho perros (many dogs) wandering the streets loose. I’ve now seen only two dogs on leashes: a schnauzer and a wiener dog. On the walk home last night, we easily saw 15 dogs.
And the winner: Janine and I were walking down the street and we heard music coming from a big truck. There was a loud speaker on the front and we couldn’t figure it out, because it sounded like an ice cream truck, but it seemed too big and it was kind of late and there weren’t a lot of kids around. As it passed us, we saw it was the garbage truck!
Long day. Very long day. And now I am making it longer by writing!
I woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep. It could have been because I was in bed by 8:30. I had my first shower and breakfast at my home stay. It’s a tossup over last year’s shower situation and this one! This year’s pros: shower basin with 6” raised lip AND shower curtain; easy to manage facets, even providing hot water when the electricity is out; wall against my bedroom and the outside instead of against a chapel wall; shower head permanently a foot and a half out from the wall. CONS: Electrical wire that runs catty corner across the top, hanging from the ceiling and resting on the shower curtain rod.
Breakfast: croissant with jelly, juice and Nescafe. I was given a cup of boiled milk (I think unpasteurized) into which I was to stir the instant coffee. (Doesn’t real coffee come from this country?)
I was walked to school this morning for the first time in 45 years! Pilar walked with me to the school and waited until the owner couple/teachers arrived. I was matched with Rosario and Janine with Fredrico. Four hours is a long time for a class. We did take a break about half way through and had real brewed coffee and discussed a couple of things. Fredrico speaks English, but not Rosario. But we figured out what I should say to my host mom regarding a little less rice and fatty foods (croissant) and we decided to take a hike to Le Leguche – a magic tree - on Friday for our lesson. It’s about an hour hike up, so we will see how we do. If I don’t carry anything but water, I should be ok breathing. We also determined they could help me with my GVI issued t-shirt that was of course too small. I will say though that it is a large and not even an extra large. So after lunch, Rosario and I went to three different shops to find someone who could insert a one inch panel on either side. We found someone who could do it no problem for $1.00!! What a deal. (I hope I will still think so tomorrow when I pick it up!)
Lunch was a delicious veggie soup followed by a half plate of fresh peas, half a plate of rice with a thin slice of beef with a small amount of light gravy over it. I really appreciated the half plate of veggies. Hopefully this will continue but maybe not with such a starchy veggie.
After class Janine and I went to Buena Vista, a small café/restaurant that has free Wi-Fi and is a hangout for Gringos. I was able to upload yesterday’s blog from MSWord before we headed over to the GVI House. It was Laura’s birthday (a volunteer from Germany), so we went out to an Italian dinner to celebrate. I had manicotti (3 stuffed with chicken) and a glass of wine. With tax and tip: $10.50. We then went back to the GVI house where we celebrated with a dessert that one of the other volunteers made. It was pretty late when I got home and I felt bad as the dog of course barked like it was supposed to, but the JorgeLuis woke up and came downstairs to turn off the lights. There is no way you can quietly enter the house – which is why they have the dog!
Observations:
The indigenous Quichua women wear a cloth tied on their heads, instead of a hat. It is black with white trim in the back. Some women seem to just place a folded cloth on their head to protect it from the sun.
Either to girls have babies very, very young, or some are carrying around their mothers babies. I know the later is wishful thinking.
The Quichua people are of very small stature. It really throws me to see some tiny kids walking and some that from their size I would guess to be 2 or so, helping out a younger child! I asked Rosaria when we walked what she would guess one little girls age and she said probably around 4, but I swear she couldn’t have been more than 2 by her size.
I see police officers everywhere. And a lot of guards. At banks, money echanges, the supermarket, or anyplace bigger than a small family operated store front, there are guards with guns standing by the doorway. Kind of unsettling.
The commerce in this town is huge. On the weekdays, there is the market at the PPPPP Poncho with the crafts. Then there is another outdoor market along both sides of a street a block long with general needs: clothing, pots and pans, shoes, etc. And then every block is filled with little shops selling one or two items of the above.
There are a number of elementary schools and high schools, technical schools and a University. The elementary school children all wear uniforms. Some of the Quichua children wear their traditional skirts or blouses under the uniform.
There are mucho perros (many dogs) wandering the streets loose. I’ve now seen only two dogs on leashes: a schnauzer and a wiener dog. On the walk home last night, we easily saw 15 dogs.
And the winner: Janine and I were walking down the street and we heard music coming from a big truck. There was a loud speaker on the front and we couldn’t figure it out, because it sounded like an ice cream truck, but it seemed too big and it was kind of late and there weren’t a lot of kids around. As it passed us, we saw it was the garbage truck!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Fun filled day - Sunday November 8
Today we started with breakfast and then a meeting over mochas at a coffee shop in the Mariscal District of Quito, not far from our hostal. Around 9:30, the GVI driver (having difficulties with names) picked us and our luggage up from the hostal and we headed to La Mitad del Mundo – the Ecuador. There is a small outdoor museum which we toured with a guide and we tried walking a straight line on the Ecuador line with our eyes closed and arms out and tried to balance an egg. I did pretty good with the walking, but was not successful with the egg! I wasn’t the only one though, and when I met some of the other volunteers who were already here, one guy said he went a second time and finally got it! Of course they showed us the water vortex going in opposite directions and straight down when the drain was right over the equator line. One thing I really liked was this sign:
We stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant where I had trout, a wee bit of veggies and a delicious smoothie made with blackberries – or mora – which was really good.
The landscape on the way to Otavalo was quite dramatic. We were quite high up and looked down over multiple hills and valleys. Otavalo is actually a couple hundred meters lower than Quito, but my village is higher than Quito by about 200 meters.
My family is: Pilar, Alfredo, JorgeLuis (11) and Mabel (9) and then Maria who helps around the house and her little daughter Maria. It is an easy 20 minute walk into the center of town – Plaza de Ponchos – although I must cross the Pan Americana highway. I shared a bag of tropical fruit jelly belly’s with the kids and they helped me say the color names and they identified the fruits. Jorge studies English in school, but I am sure it is not many hours a week, although he has helped me a bit to figure things out.
This first week I will have Spanish lessons from 8:30 to 12:30 and from 2:00 – 4:00. Don’t ask me how I will remember anything after 6 hours! I am looking forward to it though.
Observations:
People wear coats and vests and warm hats, even when it is 80+ outside!
The buses put out horrible noxious fumes and black smoke. Instead of moving out of the way so you don’t get splashed with water, you move out of the way so you don’t have to breath too many of the fumes.
I love it here that the STOP signs are red and octagonal, but say PARE instead of STOP like they did in Hungary!
They love fried chicken here – it is served quite often and is available at every other shop!
You can’t put toilet paper – any – in the toilet as the water pressure and system is too weak to handle it.
They use American dollars and coins, although they also mint their own coins and they have Ecuadorian historical figures and much larger print of the denomination. You literally can’t use or change anything higher than a $20. Even in a bank. ATM’s give out 20’s, 10’s and some 5’s.50cent pieces are quite common.
They are in the middle of the worst drought in over 50 years, so electricity (of which 70% is hydro and comes from one dam near Cuenca) is expensive. And they are not able to produce enough. So there are daily power outages in the middle of the afternoon in Quito and I am not sure yet about Otavalo.
There are internet café’s everywhere in Otavalo and reasonably priced.
Eighty percent of the population of Otavalo is Mormon! The second highest religious population is the Jehovah Witnesses!!
Hasta Luego
We stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant where I had trout, a wee bit of veggies and a delicious smoothie made with blackberries – or mora – which was really good.
The landscape on the way to Otavalo was quite dramatic. We were quite high up and looked down over multiple hills and valleys. Otavalo is actually a couple hundred meters lower than Quito, but my village is higher than Quito by about 200 meters.
My family is: Pilar, Alfredo, JorgeLuis (11) and Mabel (9) and then Maria who helps around the house and her little daughter Maria. It is an easy 20 minute walk into the center of town – Plaza de Ponchos – although I must cross the Pan Americana highway. I shared a bag of tropical fruit jelly belly’s with the kids and they helped me say the color names and they identified the fruits. Jorge studies English in school, but I am sure it is not many hours a week, although he has helped me a bit to figure things out.
This first week I will have Spanish lessons from 8:30 to 12:30 and from 2:00 – 4:00. Don’t ask me how I will remember anything after 6 hours! I am looking forward to it though.
Observations:
People wear coats and vests and warm hats, even when it is 80+ outside!
The buses put out horrible noxious fumes and black smoke. Instead of moving out of the way so you don’t get splashed with water, you move out of the way so you don’t have to breath too many of the fumes.
I love it here that the STOP signs are red and octagonal, but say PARE instead of STOP like they did in Hungary!
They love fried chicken here – it is served quite often and is available at every other shop!
You can’t put toilet paper – any – in the toilet as the water pressure and system is too weak to handle it.
They use American dollars and coins, although they also mint their own coins and they have Ecuadorian historical figures and much larger print of the denomination. You literally can’t use or change anything higher than a $20. Even in a bank. ATM’s give out 20’s, 10’s and some 5’s.50cent pieces are quite common.
They are in the middle of the worst drought in over 50 years, so electricity (of which 70% is hydro and comes from one dam near Cuenca) is expensive. And they are not able to produce enough. So there are daily power outages in the middle of the afternoon in Quito and I am not sure yet about Otavalo.
There are internet café’s everywhere in Otavalo and reasonably priced.
Eighty percent of the population of Otavalo is Mormon! The second highest religious population is the Jehovah Witnesses!!
Hasta Luego
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Quito Day Two
Ok, you're getting two posts in a row, as I leave for Otavalo tomorrow and have no idea how easy/hard my internet access will be.
Maybe I should call it day one since I barely made it out of the hostal (Ecuadorian for small hotel) yesterday. I decided the meds that the Dr. gave me must have caused me to be so fatigued, because I did not take one last night or today and I feel much better. Also drank a gallon of water in the last 24 hours.
This morning I forayed out by taxi to the panecilla - a small (big) hill at the southern end of the city with a statue of a huge winged virgin Mary, holding a chained serpent while she is standing on them.... I could see the Volcano Cotapaxi from the hill and the city sprawled out north to south between the huge mountains on either side. I had the taxi wait for me and then take me to the old town. I walked around there for awhile and saw some of the sights, but will need to go back and go into a few of the places I just wasn't up to today. There were shoeshine boys. By their size I would say they were 5 or 6, but the people here are of smaller stature, so they may have been older. A lot of people selling their wares, musicians playing, families sitting around, people shopping, etc., etc., as you would find in a public square in many countries.
With my limited Spanish, I flagged down a taxi to go back to the hostal. It was a great ride with the taxi driver and I conversing in broken Spanish. He told me he had learned some English many years ago in school, so we traded, "how old are you" "como te llama", etc. I lied to him though when he asked if I had a companion - I explained I did and he was back at the hostal sleeping!
I then walked to the Mariscal district - two blocks away - also known as Gringoland due to the high number of hotels/hostals and restarurants and travel agencies. As I sat eating my lunch and drinking a beer I remembered that I shouldn't drink alcohol for a few days because of the altitude...oh, well, I drank it anyway.
I stopped at the supermarket again. Can't get over the prices. I bought a gallon of water, a tomato, a papaya and two rolls, all for under $2.50. The gallon of water didn't even cost a dollar!
Anyway, off to nap, exercise, shower, eat dinner, visit with other travelers, etc.
Maybe I should call it day one since I barely made it out of the hostal (Ecuadorian for small hotel) yesterday. I decided the meds that the Dr. gave me must have caused me to be so fatigued, because I did not take one last night or today and I feel much better. Also drank a gallon of water in the last 24 hours.
This morning I forayed out by taxi to the panecilla - a small (big) hill at the southern end of the city with a statue of a huge winged virgin Mary, holding a chained serpent while she is standing on them.... I could see the Volcano Cotapaxi from the hill and the city sprawled out north to south between the huge mountains on either side. I had the taxi wait for me and then take me to the old town. I walked around there for awhile and saw some of the sights, but will need to go back and go into a few of the places I just wasn't up to today. There were shoeshine boys. By their size I would say they were 5 or 6, but the people here are of smaller stature, so they may have been older. A lot of people selling their wares, musicians playing, families sitting around, people shopping, etc., etc., as you would find in a public square in many countries.
With my limited Spanish, I flagged down a taxi to go back to the hostal. It was a great ride with the taxi driver and I conversing in broken Spanish. He told me he had learned some English many years ago in school, so we traded, "how old are you" "como te llama", etc. I lied to him though when he asked if I had a companion - I explained I did and he was back at the hostal sleeping!
I then walked to the Mariscal district - two blocks away - also known as Gringoland due to the high number of hotels/hostals and restarurants and travel agencies. As I sat eating my lunch and drinking a beer I remembered that I shouldn't drink alcohol for a few days because of the altitude...oh, well, I drank it anyway.
I stopped at the supermarket again. Can't get over the prices. I bought a gallon of water, a tomato, a papaya and two rolls, all for under $2.50. The gallon of water didn't even cost a dollar!
Anyway, off to nap, exercise, shower, eat dinner, visit with other travelers, etc.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Hola Ecuador!
Arrived last night, Thursday, into Quito after a bit of a bumpy flight from Miami. Everything went smoothly - from going through customs and immigration, collecting my bags, and being met and put into a cab for Villa Nancy Hostel. In line at immigration they gave us a third form to fill out and the guy behind me asked if he could use my pen. When I gave it to him, he asked what it said - it was from my credit union, Denali Alaskan. He proceeded to quiz me as to where I was from and it turns out he is a biologist who works on the fish wheel for F&G up the Taku River every summer!
I've been concerned about adjusting to the altitude, but it seems I'm adjusting ok. Not great, but ok. I was horribly tired today - and slept most of the day. Some of that may be from traveling and the stress of getting ready, but some of it is surely the altitude. I am been drinking tons of water ,not doing much.
I walked a few blocks to the Super Maxi to buy a few groceries and water. The prices were low for the most part - I bought a box of Nature Valley granola bars which cost a bit over $6, but figured it was worth it as I don't know if I can get that kind of a snack in Otavalo and I like to have something with me that I can just grab if I need to.
I paid .28 for a 1/2 kilogram (about 1 lb) of bananas(4) compared to just about a dollar a pound at home.
I saw many familiar brands throughout the store and nothing too unusual really stuck out. Now, having the cheddar cheese in the gourmet cheese case was a bit different, but....
My Spanish sucks. It sure is different hearing a word than reading it -- which I know is the case, but is quite frustrating. I was able to communicate - barely - with the hostal worker and she was very patient and helped me with a few words.
Most of the other guests here speak Spanish as well as their native language and thankfully English. There are a few German gals, another from Switzerland and a couple that just came in tonight that I haven't talked with yet.
I hope to go up to the La Panecilla tomorrow - a hill in the center of the city with a statue of the Virgin Mary and a great view of the city and the mountains and volcano. A taxi there only costs $2 each way and is the safest way to go.
I've been concerned about adjusting to the altitude, but it seems I'm adjusting ok. Not great, but ok. I was horribly tired today - and slept most of the day. Some of that may be from traveling and the stress of getting ready, but some of it is surely the altitude. I am been drinking tons of water ,not doing much.
I walked a few blocks to the Super Maxi to buy a few groceries and water. The prices were low for the most part - I bought a box of Nature Valley granola bars which cost a bit over $6, but figured it was worth it as I don't know if I can get that kind of a snack in Otavalo and I like to have something with me that I can just grab if I need to.
I paid .28 for a 1/2 kilogram (about 1 lb) of bananas(4) compared to just about a dollar a pound at home.
I saw many familiar brands throughout the store and nothing too unusual really stuck out. Now, having the cheddar cheese in the gourmet cheese case was a bit different, but....
My Spanish sucks. It sure is different hearing a word than reading it -- which I know is the case, but is quite frustrating. I was able to communicate - barely - with the hostal worker and she was very patient and helped me with a few words.
Most of the other guests here speak Spanish as well as their native language and thankfully English. There are a few German gals, another from Switzerland and a couple that just came in tonight that I haven't talked with yet.
I hope to go up to the La Panecilla tomorrow - a hill in the center of the city with a statue of the Virgin Mary and a great view of the city and the mountains and volcano. A taxi there only costs $2 each way and is the safest way to go.
Friday, October 30, 2009
50 pounds! That's it?!
I have two full suitcases and things still on the floor next to them and more on my "to buy" list! What am I to do? This is so typical of me, but what is not typical is that this is not the night before my flight when I am trying to cram too much into too small of space. So, now I have time to pull everything out and re-assess what I really need to take. Of course, at this point I really think I need to take it all and fear that whatever I take out will be the one thing that I wish I had! I have one suitcase of my clothes, toiletries, etc., and one of school supplies including craft materials, glue, colored pencils, math games, coloring books, oragami paper, etc. I had wanted to take puppets, but couldn't find any! I'm sure if I had, they would have been out of my price range anyway.
I still haven't received an email regarding my home stay family. I am looking forward to hearing about the family as I want to take small gifts for each family member and of course, that's one more thing to go in the suitcases!
I have heard from another intern who is from the states and is starting at the same time as I am. She will arrive in Quito two days after me, but we will still meet up there at the hotel/hostel before heading out to Otavalo on Sunday morning. She took Spanish at University, so I am hoping for some help from her. Should be nice to have someone who is going through the same things as I to share adventures with. I am just hoping that she will be willing and able to travel a bit on the weekends to explore other parts of Ecuador.
Tomorrow I must continue to put my life either into the suitcases or into tubs and boxes for the storage unit. I pulled a few haphazardly packed boxes/tubs out of there today to sort through again to take some of the stuff to goodwill. I just don't understand where it all comes from: everytime I've been home I take at least one box to goodwill and yet they keep coming - maybe I won't need a storage unit soon!
I still haven't received an email regarding my home stay family. I am looking forward to hearing about the family as I want to take small gifts for each family member and of course, that's one more thing to go in the suitcases!
I have heard from another intern who is from the states and is starting at the same time as I am. She will arrive in Quito two days after me, but we will still meet up there at the hotel/hostel before heading out to Otavalo on Sunday morning. She took Spanish at University, so I am hoping for some help from her. Should be nice to have someone who is going through the same things as I to share adventures with. I am just hoping that she will be willing and able to travel a bit on the weekends to explore other parts of Ecuador.
Tomorrow I must continue to put my life either into the suitcases or into tubs and boxes for the storage unit. I pulled a few haphazardly packed boxes/tubs out of there today to sort through again to take some of the stuff to goodwill. I just don't understand where it all comes from: everytime I've been home I take at least one box to goodwill and yet they keep coming - maybe I won't need a storage unit soon!
Monday, October 26, 2009
I'll be teaching in Huayrapunga
I just got an email from the Ecuador Project leader, Tracey, with more information about my stay. I will be with the Ecuador project from November 7 - January 30. I will have a weekend trip with other volunteers November 28 & 29 to Mindo. The info on the family I will stay with will come soon, and here is the info on the school/community where I will be.
Off to study my spanish! Yikes - hope it starts getting a little easier to remember things!!!
Community
I have chosen our Huayrapungo community for your teaching experience. The school has 20 children over 7 grades and is run by a really kind and helpful local teacher, Zoila. Huayrapungo is a very rural community, situated high in the mountains well away from any other communities. The children are quiet spoken, hardworking and friendly. The scenery around the school and the view across the mountains is simply breathtaking and it is hard not to have an awe-inspired smile on your face on the drive up to the school in the mornings!
Project timetable and directions when working up in the communities
We leave Otavalo by minibus at 6.45am from the Petrol Station in Imbaya (where you will meet) Monday to Friday. We arrive at the track leading to Muenala School at 7.30am and then it is a further 25 minutes on to your school in Huayrapungo. There are breaks during the school day to allow for lunch and play. We return to Otavalo at around 2.30pm.
I haven't been able to find much on the internet on Huayrapunga, but did find this previous intern's photo album! Kind of cool, 'cause I get to see what the school and village and surrounding area look like in advance! http://blogs.statravel.co.uk/patrickandkat/albums/huayrapungo-kats-school
It is expected that volunteers spend some time in the afternoons or evenings lesson planning for school and helping with shopping and colegio classes when needed. Other than that, generally the rest of the day is yours to spend as you please, unless you have Spanish classes!
About your class
You will be working with the local teacher, but it is anticipated that after the first few days, you will be allocated a young grade to plan for and teach. You will be our only volunteer at the school, but I will be up there regularly, so you won’t be alone! It will be challenging, but it is a vital role for us to keep a presence at the school and help out Zoila who is on her own – I think you will find it a rewarding experience and great as part of your intern trainee programme.
Adventure Weekend to Mindo
We have provisionally scheduled your trip to the picturesque town of Mindo in the cloud forest on the western slope of the Andes Mountains for the weekend of 28th / 29th November. Mindo is a peaceful little town famous for its orchids and humming birds with endless options of adventure activities (such as tubing, hiking, biking, horseback riding, etc.) or plenty of chances just to lay back and relax in a hammock.
Off to study my spanish! Yikes - hope it starts getting a little easier to remember things!!!
Monday, October 19, 2009
On to new adventures
I'm going to Ecuador and Peru! I found a program that looks exactly right for me: I will have Spanish lessons, will volunteer in schools in indigenous villages high in the Andes, and will intern in the operations of the programs. The program is with Global Visions International, and you can read about them and the program here: http://www.gvi.co.uk/internships/South%20America/Peru/South-America-Spanish-Internship-Scheme/home or here is an excerpt from the page:
GVI's education efforts within Central and South America is called GVI Phoenix Project. They are working in five different countries. You can read the blog here:
http://gviphoenix.blogspot.com/ The latest entry, on October 18, is about one of the schools in Ecuador where I will be. They work in four different villages/schools outside of Otavalo. The blog will give you a good idea of the actual schools, communities and kids.
I will arrive in Quito, Ecuador on November 5th and will continue on to Otavalo on November 8th with two volunteers and another intern. Quito is nearly two miles high, so it will take a few days to adjust to the higher altitude. Otavalo is about the same altitude, but the villages will be higher still! I will live in Otavalo in a "homestay": I will have my own room, most likely a shared bath, and will be provided three meals a day. I will receive info on the specifics on the homestay before I leave.
In the meantime I am in Seattle getting ready, but that is another post.
"The first 12 weeks of your internship programme are spent learning Spanish and assisting on GVI's community development projects in Peru and Ecuador. This is a fun and very effective way to Learn Spanish by complete immersion and of course a way to give something back as well. You will learn how to live and work with a community development team in sometimes remote environments and attain skills essential for your work for the following weeks. During this phase you will undertake 200 hours of one-on-one Spanish classes, teach in the communities and shadow GVI field staff, be involved in teaching workshops and assist with the running of the program. You will also learn how to build energy efficient stoves, going through each stage to the finished product....
The teaching you will undertake will range from literacy, numeracy, English, art, geography and sport. Full curriculums, class subjects and help from the local teachers is provided. As class sizes are so large, there are many children who find it difficult to keep up. Therefore you will take smaller groups of children, helping them with the work in hand whilst the teachers can continue with normal class. You will do most of the teaching, obviously aided for the first few days by the formal teacher, existing intern and the GVI project manager. The ‘aulas abiertas’ will be split into two areas. The first is dedicated to those children who need reinforcement and help with homework from the morning’s classes, as well as children and adults who have never been to school or have had to leave school prematurely due to financial constraints or work related reasons. The second aim of the ‘aula abierta’ is to offer English classes to increase chances of employment in the growing tourist industry."
(As you read the info on the link above, remember that the word "scheme" in British English doesn't have the negative connotation as it does in American English! Maybe a better word in American English would be "program".) Also, I will be going to Ecuador first, and then on to Peru. I am hoping this will provide me with new skills which will make me competitive in the international job market, allowing me to make a decision regarding returning to Alaska to work, or to continue this type of work elsewhere. Who knows where things will lead in six months!GVI's education efforts within Central and South America is called GVI Phoenix Project. They are working in five different countries. You can read the blog here:
http://gviphoenix.blogspot.com/ The latest entry, on October 18, is about one of the schools in Ecuador where I will be. They work in four different villages/schools outside of Otavalo. The blog will give you a good idea of the actual schools, communities and kids.
I will arrive in Quito, Ecuador on November 5th and will continue on to Otavalo on November 8th with two volunteers and another intern. Quito is nearly two miles high, so it will take a few days to adjust to the higher altitude. Otavalo is about the same altitude, but the villages will be higher still! I will live in Otavalo in a "homestay": I will have my own room, most likely a shared bath, and will be provided three meals a day. I will receive info on the specifics on the homestay before I leave.
In the meantime I am in Seattle getting ready, but that is another post.
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