Cuenca, Cable Cars, and the South American Cup

Today marks the week countdown left in Ecuador. As this experience comes to a close, it’s hard for me to believe I’ve been here for almost four months.  I look forward to coming home and seeing those people whom I’ve missed for so long, but I’ll also be sad to detach from this way of life that has so amicably taken me in.

First, a few weekends ago our school had a 3K/6K walk and run for students, families, and staff.  My friends and I participated in walking the non-competitive 3K, and watched those more committed runners complete the 6K.  It was a fun day that started off the “juegos internos” or the intramural games for the high school.  

 The high school also had their "entradas" or entrances for juegos internos.  The seniors always go above and beyond every year, and this year was no different. They had chivas, or open-air busses drive them to the field and the came in with fire extinguishers filled with turquoise smoke (their chosen color for their class) with confetti and the whole shebang. It was fun to cheer them on as their student teacher.

 Last Thursday, my friends from Tiputini and I went to the Liga game.  Liga is the popular choice for Ecuadorian soccer fans - and they were getting far in the South American Cup. We watched them beat an Argentinian team 4 to 2! It was so fun to learn the chants and hear all of the Ecua-fans cheer on their team. It was rainy, but a necessary experience. 

The following weekend, Susan and I ventured off to Cuenca, a historical town 10 hours from Quito by bus, but we opted to fly for a modest price, which was worth it when we found ourselves tired and traveling back to Quito.  

 

 Cuenca is filled with beautiful churches and museums that Susan and I walked around appreciating on Friday and Saturday. We ate incredible food and had fun dancing to live music on Friday evening. 

The view from Turi, a viewpoint of Cuenca

Ingapirca ruins

 Sunday we took a bus 2 hours away to the Ingapirca ruins; one site of two Incan ruins left in Ecuador. It was impressive to see the ancient town set up and marked with crumbling walls.  Llamas grazed the site as we lounged in the grass and managed to get a nice, touristy sunburn before heading back into Cuenca.  Our flight left at 6:45pm, so we mosey-ed around Cuenca, ate more food, and waited at the airport for our flight to leave. 

Thanksgiving has come and gone – although without the change in weather and the lack of relatives running around, it didn’t really seem like the holiday to me.  Colegio Menor put on a nice Thanksgiving banquet/potluck for all of the teachers which stifled the nostalgia for home a little bit. I was able to Skype with my family from school as well – it was so nice to hear their voices and imagine my aunt’s house, filled with cousins, babies, and good food, as I talked with them for a short time. (Hi Grammy and Auntie Elaine!)  That evening, the girls on Gonzalez Suarez and I had a nice dinner of ceviche and champagne that was delicious.  We went around the table and tear-ily said what we were thankful for; I thanked all of them for their friendship and compassion, and that they’ve given me a feeling of family so far away from home.  They also had a more open dinner party at their house on Saturday (complete with Christmas music!) with all of the authentic Thanksgiving spread that comforted me and completely filled the holiday void.

Friday my students had a program for the upcoming Fiestas de Quito. Each grade level had been working on a skits and choreography for about three weeks to prepare for this performance. All my kids did great – it was fantastic to finally see what they’ve been working on so arduously for the past month!

Some of the beautiful senior girls before their performance

The studly senior boys with lots and lots of hair gel.

Sunday the census finally happened, so now I have my students back full time.  They all complained a little bit, but they had Monday off of school to recuperate, so I think they’ll be able to work hard this week to wrap up our unit. 

Because my students had yesterday off of school, I took the liberty to give myself a day off, too.  My friend Kristin and I met at 8:30 in the morning to go up the TeleferiQo, a cable-car gondola ride that takes tourists and Ecuadorians alike up the side of Pichincha volcano (it’s the same volcano that’s in all of the view of the city I have – I see it from the terrace in my apartment). We hit the volcano on the perfect morning.   

Up we go!

For three weeks we’ve had rainy season at it’s best – cloudy all afternoon with rain the majority of the late afternoon/evenings.  We got up there at about 9am and the view was clear – and no lines of people! Kristin and I ascended the side of the volcano and walked around at the top. There are some beautiful miradores (viewpoints) along the trails at the top. Patrons can take hiking trails that go on for hours, but be careful, it’s another 3,500 feet higher in elevation! I had to take it slow walking up the hills because of my slowly diminishing flu on top of the thinner air.  Kristin and I walked around and took pictures of ourselves and the view, and eventually made our way back down.  We were ready to say our last words when the cable car STOPPED for about 5 minutes on our way back down. I had read beforehand on an online review that stopping can happen at various points, but it was still a traumatic experience.  I videotaped our goodbyes, and I've uploaded it to YouTube because it didn't load here on the blog. Enjoy! It is quite the comical scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe93R38mN_M

My apartment is down there somewhere...

On the opposite side of Pichincha from Quito.

Well, everyone – seven days left! My kids have a test on Thursday, and an open work-day on Friday.  This weekend is Fiestas de Quito with bull fights and non-stop celebrations.  I’ll be packing soon so I don’t leave it all for my emotional last day in Quito.  Monday we have off from school, so Tuesday is my final day at Menor. Then it’s dinner, drinks, and goodbyes with friends, and off to the airport at 11:00pm that night! I hope to update you all before my final descent out of Quito. Hope everyone is keeping warm at home and it’s buried too far under the snow. Yet.

Besitos a todos.

It's a jungle out there...

Tessa and I at the beach.

I apologize for the delay between posts; school has been keeping me busy, and for a couple weeks I was living out of a suitcase!  October 29-November 3 was the Dia de Disfuntos break (Day of the Dead) for most of Latin America. With the days off of school, I went with my host brother, his girlfriend, my host-cousins, and my friend Tessa from school to the coastal town of Tonsupa. We spent the time on the beach (for the two days of sun we had), eating the best ceviche of my life, and playing cards.  Overall it was relaxing, save a traumatic experience or two, and we enjoyed our time out of the city.  

A little more noteworthy is my most recent adventure to the Amazonian jungle.  We drove back from the beach on Wednesday night, I went to school and taught on Thursday, and Friday morning I was enroute to the Tiputini Biodiversity Station.  I didn’t know any other students who were going, so I was apprehensive about how much fun this would be.  Boy, was I pleasantly surprised.

Friday morning, the 5^th, I arrived to the airport to take a 25 minute flight out of Quito to Coca, a small jungle town that is really about 10 hours from Quito if you drive through the mountains.  I chatted with some of the other students as they arrived; mostly bonding with one girl, Kristin, who is from Wisconsin.  We reminisced about Midwestern pleasantries and how we were loving Ecua, but were ready to see the comforts of home. Anyways, on our flight we pass magnificent views of the volcanoes surrounding Quito. Cotopaxi and Cayambe were at their prime.

You can see three volcanoes here... Cayambe front and center, Antisana to the left in the back, and Cotopaxi far away to the right. Magnifico!

We arrived in Coca to a bus that took us to a boat dock a few minutes away. The city was already substantially warmer than Quito, so we snacked on ice cream and played with the monkeys that entertain the patrons awaiting their boats. As soon as our boat arrived, we motored down the Napo river for two hours.  After docking at another station, we then hauled our backpacks and bags to another open-air bus. We ate lunch and tried to sleep on this bus for another two hours.  Arriving to a bridge over the Tiputini river, we descended the hill to another boat, and we sped along this winding river for another two and a half hours.  Needless to say, this place is remote.

Boat ride #2

We walked up the stairs to find a fantastic facility.  The TB station is about 15 years old, and is a collaborative effort between Universidad San Francisco de Quito (my university here) and Boston University.  This place is one-of-a-kind.  When the world went through its ice age millions of years ago, this section of the Amazon on the equator did not freeze. There are hundreds of species of trees per hectare, where in places like the US, you might find eight.  Over two hundred species of mammals inhabit the entire property of the station, 110 of which are species of bats.  

These are the cabins we stayed in. My roommates were Kristin from Wisconsin, Jacob from Virginia Tech, and Tom from Georgetown.  The station only has electricity from 10 to 1pm in the afternoon, and 6 to 930pm at night. The water is taken out of the river, filtered and cleaned, used, then cleaned again, and returned to the river.  They have their own biodegradable soap that is provided that we used to wash our hands, hair, and bodies with.  One afternoon it rained after our morning caminata (hike) and we all played in the rain outside of our cabins.  We washed our hair outside underneath the rainspouts that water off of the roof. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

Meyer

 

Meyer was our guide. I never asked how old he was, but he was swinging on vines and tiring us out each day we were with him.  He uses medicinal remedies from the jungle whenever he has an ailment or sickness.  His arthritis was cured by a type of tree bark that he took in a tea each morning for a month or two.  He showed us a tree that cured a friend’s prostate cancer. This man knows the jungle, and I think he could save diseases throughout the world with some of his natural concoctions.  He was precious – always wanting pictures of us with his camera too, after we’d ask him for a group shot of ourselves.  I hope we meet again someday.

Animals were everywhere. We saw a tapir (super rare), families of monkeys, tarantulas, caimans (small crocodiles), toucans, various species of spiders, insects, birds, bats, and not to mention the plethora of flora.  The 300 plus year old trees were some of my favorites to admire and photograph.

The Tower

We climbed countless terrifying stairs to the top of the tower that’s built into an impressive tree overlooks the canopy.  There’s a telescope up there that Meyer would magically find birds through and beckon us to see once he focused on them.  I took this picture through the telescope, and then was able to zoom and focus to take the second one.  Two of my favorite pictures ever!!

A similar tower a few hundred meters away brought us up to bridges connected by cables between trees that were higher than the canopy and overlooked the green horizon.  I had to remind myself not to be so terrified and to enjoy the view in front of me as I pushed my carabineer along the cable above my head.  The harnesses seemed secure, but I still couldn’t climb all the way to the top of the ladder onto the platform.  Getting to the top, looking around, and making my way back down was sufficient for me. There were flying, biting ants all around us the entire time that were also distracting.  Overall, incredible and unforgettable.

The group I went with ended up fitting fantastically.  We all got along amazingly well for none of us really knowing each other beforehand.  Some students were from the states, but some were exchange students from Canada, Germany, and Singapore. Meeting kids from around the world was great - even if government and politics did come up a few times. We were all agreeable and sensitive to opinions and learned a lot about one another. 

Monday morning we started our trek back to civilization at 8am, and I arrived back to my host-family's house by 5pm. I've had a lot of catching up to do, but Angela has helped out a lot by taking over most lessons for the week before I start up again tomorrow. 


This past week was spirit week at school, so the following post will show off my kids and their dress-up days. 


I hope the midwestern-ers are enjoying the snow! I heard you all had a rude wake-up call to winter. Stay safe and warm. :) Besos a todos.

Pastelazo

Good evening to all! It's been a while since my last post, I've been lesson planning and grading like it's my job lately! Hmm, wait a second... it pretty much is! 

This week I started my units for all sections.  I'm exhausted already, but exhilarated at the same time. Here's how my week has gone:

Monday I started my very own creation of an AP unit (Funny that it's Frankenstein? I think yes...).  I woke up, got ready, and watched my favorite teaching-pep-talk-video on YouTube a few times (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsOVK4syxU).   I arrived to school to prepare for the day with minimal butterflies and knots in my tummy. My kids did great at completing the homework I assigned over the weekend and seemed like they understood the readings. Most of them paid attention to my powerpoint on Gothic vs Romantic literature.  My C Block, who is usually the worst at focusing, did the best.  They were the most engaged, had the most questions, and laughed the most when I was being silly - because of this I felt the most relaxed with them. My first block, however, I was a mess.  I think I psyched myself out a little too much.  Since then, it's been all about organizing what I have/haven't done with  two of the blocks (because of course, technology and running out of time were two obstacles). I've officially taken over full time; today I started with the 10th graders. They did fantastic as well. With a new seating chart, some of the distractions of neighborly conversations were resolved.  I think The Crucible will be great challenge for them, and myself - I look forward to them acting out a few scenes in the coming weeks. :)

 

I must say, my students are just fantastic. They make this all worth while! All of the observations, field placements, pedagogy studies - it's all paying off when I have a great class with my students. They laugh at how goofy I am when I get excited about something English-y. Yes, they whine, but as soon as they're reminded it's an AP or an Honors class, they quiet down. I'm always stressing how nice I am at assigning homework, and that I'm available for extra help if they need it. They keep ask me when I'm leaving and say that December is too soon, and I need to come back for the next semester.  I received my first Facebook Friend Request from a student the other day. It's still sitting there unanswered, and it will continue to remain that way until after my unit is over and I'm about to leave the country.  I'd love to stay in contact with them after I leave, especially my seniors, but "Facebook Friends" isn't our dynamic right now. I'm a teacher, not a friend.  I have to remind the 12th graders of this fact when the girls ask me to come party with them on the weekends (18 is their drinking age).  *Sigh* They're great kids, but that's a line I shouldn't and don't want to cross. 

Here's Angela's son, Zach, drawing him and I on the whiteboard after school one day. A masterpiece, I say. :)

This past Saturday was Family Day at Colegio Menor!  It was a huge event - games, big bouncy obstacle courses, a haunted house, food from 20+ vendors, a giant slip n' slide, a stage for student and faculty music performances, and much more. It was fun to see my students outside of the classroom on a beautiful day and meet some of their family.  I had a shift at a game where kids tried to kick a soccer ball into cut out holes on a plastic sign covering a soccer net. If they made three out of their four tries, they won an ipod.  These holes were reasonably small in size, so it was next to impossible.  One kid actually won though! I don't think they were counting on more than one winner, so they had to lower the quality of prizes throughout the day.  My next shift (and yes, I volunteered) was to be pied in the face by students. Pastelazo, they call it.  It. Was. Disgusting.  I felt good showing school spirit, but I'll be staying away from this even at all future school functions. Ever. In my life and future career. They were whipping up this cake-batter-cream-egg-milk stuff, putting it on small plates, and letting students throw it at teachers sitting helpless, four feet way on a chair. I brought goggles.

Cleaning myself off afterward was useless. There's no hot water in the showers or bathroom sinks, so the cream just congealed to my hair and skin, leaving me smelling like spoiled milk until I finally went home to shower. It's probably subconscious, but I still get a whiff of the sugary cream every once in a while...

Students are giving presentations on Thursday and Friday, then it's the Dia de Disfuntos holiday break! Finally!  I have plans to go to the coast with my host brother Hugo, a few of his friends and family, and my friend Tessa is coming along.  These plans are pretty last minute, but should be a great time nonetheless! Updates next week. :) 

Love from the equator, Kaitlyn.

Llama Sweaters, EcuaPants, and the Census

This has been a crazy week, and it's only going to get more insane from here on out! I've been correcting senior's essays since Monday, so I'm just now getting to events from last weekend.

Last Friday after school, Susan, Tessa, JP, and I left for Otavalo. We spent the night there, and went to the famous arts and crafts market the next morning. But first, a note about our amazing hostel. If you ever get to go to Otavalo, Ecuador, I highly recommend staying at La Luna. It's owned and operated by a British woman and her Latino husband. Absolutely gorgeous... you'll see what I mean!

Saturday morning we woke up and had a delicious breakfast at the hostel before heading into town for the day. For about three hours, we shopped around the market and bought gifts for people at home.  For myself, I bought the traditional tourist garb; EcuaPants and a sweater with llamas embroidered on it.  I'll post a picture of this outfit in the future - maybe this week on one of our Spirit/Dress Up Days! Pajama Day perhaps? Anyways, bargaining was one of the most entertaining parts of the experience! I definitely haggled some good deals by walking away from the vendors after they wouldn't take my price. Two seconds after I turned around I'd get a tap on my shoulder and hear, "Senorita, si, si, entonces, $4..."

After we had spent enough money on Ecuadorian souvenirs, we ate at a well-known pie shop that has been raved about by most people who visit Otavalo. They didn't lie. I had a piece of pie de pina, or pineapple. Amazing! We all ordered different flavors so we could share and try multiple kinds. All were top notch and I couldn't pick a favorite if I had to.

We then made our way back to the hostel to grab our bags and backpacks, and prepared to leave for the bus station. Before we left the hostel, we waited on this hilltop for our taxi. It was certainly an unforgettable view.

Today we were notified that next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday the 10-12 graders are going to be excused from classes.  A selected number of teachers from these grades are required to take seminar classes during these days on how to teach our students how to distribute the census.  The government uses the older school age children to conduct the census every 10 years so they don't have to hire and pay workers. That's Ecuador for you! My concern with this change in schedule is that I was supposed to start my 12th grade unit on Thursday.  After three weeks of planning, I thought my lessons would have to be completely reconfigured.  *Insert Angela to save the day!* We decided that we will still hold class for the seniors on Wednesday (we can do this because they are an AP class, and don't have to abide by the rules of the Ministry! Que Bueno!) so they can take their unit exam, and I can still introduce my unit two syllabus and assign them readings for the extended weekend. Hallelujah! The real adventure is about to begin - I'm using this weekend to mentally prepare for my class takeovers. Updates will come!

As your mother, it is very hard for me to hear the word "coup".

What a week! I have a lot to add from the last week and a half – I hope you find it all interesting!

First, as some of you might have heard, Thursday September 30th, the police in Quito went on strike and protested throughout the city. I will say, however, that as of now everything is restored to normal. Around 11:00am the policia nacional took over the Mariscal Sucre airport, preventing any planes to land or leave the airport. This happened nationwide – in Guayaquil and other cities as well. We were notified of the protests from our school director, including some parents may want to take students out of school, and they would be monitoring the situation closely. We were only able to finish half of the school day because most of our student had left, or were running around gossiping about the state of emergency. Administration announced to teachers that they would not be providing transportation home, however, because large vehicles, like buses, can be targets during protests. Claire, Angie, Susan, and I had to catch a ride home with a fellow teacher because the administration didn’t want us taking taxis either. With the absence of police enforcement, crime was expected to, and did, rise. Although on our way back to the Gonzalez Suarez apartment, Quito seemed comparable to a desolate Sunday afternoon; businesses were closed, people were off the streets, and hardly transportation (public or private) was running. Arriving safely to the girls’ apartment, we locked, padlocked, and dead-bolted ourselves in for the night. We all sat around, ate food, and Skyped with loved ones. A funny comment from Claire's mom via Skype: "Claire, as your mother, it is very hard for me to hear the word 'coup'." We tried our best to calm her. :) But nevertheless, watching the news that night was surreal – we saw a gun fight outside of the hospital where presidente Correa had been sequestered, as well as his passionate public address from the “white house” balcony to the people (once he had been rescued by the military, that is). [The above picture is actually of the president's white house, but I took it during our city your 4 weeks ago. Correa gave his speech from this balcony, and the plaza was filled with people.]
The motive for this police strike is still being debated from all angles of Ecuadorian politics. Some say it was a misunderstanding, others say it was a conspiracy sparked by the ex-presidente Lucio, who was overthrown in 2005, to regain power. Just the other night I had a conversation with my host-brother, Hugo, about what he thought of the situation. He explained to me this way:
In Latin-American countries, about 90% of the wealth is usually controlled by about 5% of the population. This has never been conducive for the lower classes to pull themselves out of poverty, which has lead to such a large crime rate around these countries. Recently, presidente Correa has been trying to re-distribute the wealth among the police profession. The lowest grade of pay that some police receive is $300 a month (this is also why police here aren’t incredibly reliable, and can often be paid off with bribes). Middle-level police are paid around $700 a month. All police, when they are promoted, receive a bonus as well. Correa, in his attempt to even out salaries, wanted to raise the salary of the lower-paid police to $700 a month, but take away the promotion bonuses from the entire policia nacional. As you can imagine then, the police who are already getting paid the middle-wage, are losing their bonuses. These are the police who went on strike and rioted, being somewhat misinformed, and irrationally over-reacting. One aspect of this golpe de estado that was unique was that the military backed the presidente. As seen in the past, the military will side with the police or the people (who also supported Correa this time) and the presidente will be overthrown. (Cite Hugo Bolanos. haha.)

Anyways, order seemed to be restored over the weekend, and currently, we have settled back into everyday life. I don't have any more pictures, but I think that's a good thing because I was far enough away from the action.

The day after this fiasco, I was invited to my cooperating teacher, Angela’s house in Tumbaco for the evening and to stay the night. We spent the afternoon with her two boys, Zachary (6) and Nathan (3) and had a great day! Zach had horseback riding lessons that we all went to; Nathan and I fed carrots to the other horses in the stables. Angela and her husband, Marcelo, had some friends over for a barbecue that night which was a great time. I liked meeting her other friends; they were very welcoming, asking questions about my home life and experiences thus far in Ecuador. We all had great wine, food, and conversation as the boys (a couple who came to dinner has two boys the same ages as Angela’s) wreaked havoc on the house. Below are Zach and Nathan - but this is not from the same evening I stayed at their house. It describes their demeanors perfectly :)...



I stayed the night at their home, and the next morning we had about six students over for a “coffeehouse”. We decided to hold these coffeehouses every so often for students to come and informally discuss their essays. They can get help from us teachers, as well as other students to develop their essay ideas and content. It was really successful! All the students came with great initial ideas, and we brainstormed approaches they could take to make them unique. Students are turning in rough drafts on Monday, so I’m eager to see how these topics are being developed.

Last Wednesday I had my first university supervisor observation! Nascira came and watched my lesson with the 10th grade honors group. We had a small quiz, then a discussion on the assigned reading. I was really proud of my kids – about 90% of them did their reading and participated well. Some of them, however, participated too much, too often. One of my criticisms from Nascira was to not let my students talk out of turn, and to raise their hands during discussions. This is our policy, but alas, it is not always followed by the students. SO, we have recently implemented a participation system where they are given two bookmarks with their names on them, and they are required to use those when they want to contribute to a discussion. We collect them after they’ve said their comment, and they get counted at the end of each day. It’s helpful for those who don’t participate by requiring them to talk once or twice during class, and it’s useful for those who talk too often by limiting their responses. It’s worked well so far – we’ll see how it’s going after a few weeks. The rest of the observation was successful. I was given some great compliments, and a few areas where I can improve.

Saturday night a group called Las Tres Marias played at a restaurant called El Pobre Diablo. These three women in their seventies have been singing together since they were three years old. They’ve played around the US at venues priced at $50, and I was able to see them in Ecuador for $6. I felt lucky to have heard them perform – who knows how much longer they’ll be touring? The woman on the left is 73, the woman in the middle is 76, and the woman on the right end is 79. Que bestia?!


Finally, today the seniors were given their chompas, or jackets for being in sexto curso (12th grade). The entire grade is traditionally called “the sextos”. All of our blocks couldn’t focus because of the anticipation of getting their class sweatshirts and jackets. After getting the sweatshirts, they all paraded down to the bleachers for their “entrada” or entrance. Then they put on their jackets and I snapped some pictures. They all look so cute!





These pictures are from the "bautizo" or baptism that involves the seniors and the freshmen. It's basically school-sanctioned hazing, including shaving cream pies, a mud tunnel, flouring, and a slip'n'slide. Very fun to watch!



This weekend is Otavalo - where a huge market is located. Susan, Tessa, JP, and I are leaving after school today. Updates next week!