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.
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