Back to Quito and back to CMSFQ!

Buenos dias a todos!

I've decided to keep blogging during my second stay in Ecuador. For those of you who don't know, I've moved back to Quito, Ecuador for the next 11 months.  I accepted a position at Colegio Menor to teach 6th grade Language Arts and Social Studies for this school year! Last Wednesday was the first day of orientation for new teachers. I had been to this same orientation last year, so it was a lot of information I had already known. My favorite part of Wednesday was getting my classroom assignment! I am in room 218, and I will be posting a picture of it soon. I want to wait so everyone can see the "before" and "after" pictures side by side! I've put so much work into it so far! Since I'm in the Lower School, or elementary school, I have an assistant! She's been a fantastic help getting my boards and desks ready.  There are four teachers in 6th grade, as well as a spanish teacher, art teacher, music teacher, and P.E. teacher. Tina and myself teach LA and SS, and Nick and Jeff teach Math and Science.  That dynamic is wonderful because each student will have a male and female teacher.  We each have a homeroom, which we call a parallel. There are four parallels and each are named after a famous painter. I have Dali, and the others are Monet, Miguel Angel, and Kahlo. The math and science teacher, Nick, has Monet, and we share parallels. Nick is very cool. He's from Ohio, and him and his newlywed wife, Laurel, both now teach at Menor. Laurel is a 4th grade teacher, and a big sweetheart. I look forward to working with Nick and getting to know Laurel!
On the homefront, I'm in love with my roommates.  Claire had two empty rooms in Vista al Valle Sur (the name of our apartment building, meaning View of the Valley, south tower) so I quickly jumped to the opportunity when she asked me to live with her this year.  We asked human resources at Menor to send us email addresses of new hires to see who would be interested in living with us for the year.  We were absolutely blessed with the teacher who took us up on our offer.  Lydia is new to Menor this year, coming to us from Santa Cruz, CA.  I arrived two days after her, and we've been spending lots of time getting to know each other.  I think she fits in to Claire's and my puzzle perfectly. We all know it's going to be a great year. :)
From our apartment, we can see three volcanoes on a clear day. Cayambe, Antizana, and Cotopaxi.  I've never been more appreciative of a view in my life.


This is Cayambe on the left side, which can typically be seen in the morning with the sunrise.

And Cotopaxi is also most clear in the morning before the afternoon clouds roll in.

 Antizana is the most elusive, I've only seen it once in the last two weeks.

Tuesday they took us to Papallacta again, the same hot springs we went to last year. They were wonderful, and all of the new teachers really enjoyed them! 

This weekend we are going to the market for grocery shopping (way cheaper than the supermarkets!) and we're having our house warming party. Sunday we are also going to Parque Metropolitano (the park I was locked in last year!) and have a picnic. It's late so I'm off to bed... 
Besos to all of my friends and family back home. Miss you all!