It's Quit-astic

So- it's been a long time since my last update- it's just that so much has happened here that I've wanted to take the time to adequately express it all... well... that's not going to happen, but I'll give you the overview.

First of all- December 6 was a holiday for Las Fiestas de Quito- the day where the whole city gets off work and parties just because they're Quitenos! We had 3 days off from school, and it was absolute insanity. The weekend before my school had a big party on campus called La Noche de Liga where there were all sorts of cultural events. First, there was a bullfight in the Plaza de Toros that they have there on campus-- that's right, ON CAMPUS. They bring out 1 year old calves to fight some professional, although not incredibly talented, Torreros, and then the students get to go out - 14, 15, 16 years old- and fight the bulls. I couldn't BELIEVE it! One of my 8th grade students/the bane of my existence (more on him later) got knocked down by the bull and kicked around a bit. His shirt was torn and he had a gash in his side. He cried in the bullpen when one of the parents who was "supervising" distracted the bull and he was able to get away. When I saw him afterwards he told me the fight was "Chevere" (cool) with a big smile on his face while he showed me his battle wounds.

Needless to say, it was insane. Can you imagine what would happen in the states if a 14 year old was gored by a bull at a school function? Here it was hardly cause for concern!

Then they had some of the students do traditional dances, as well as a professional indigenous dance team come in. It was pretty amazing. The other crazy thing- 4 of my students-8th graders as well-- in the same class as the bullfight kid, actually, sat on a wall during the dance exhibition, surrounded by parents and school officials, smoking cigarettes. They sat up there all night- said hello to the principal and vice principals and were left unbothered. It's such a weird experience because I find myself repressing the urge to scold every 30 minutes at least. People are very tranquila here.... not that I'm in favor of letting 14 year olds smoke-- especially not at school-- but it's all different.

The Fiestas de Quito were crazy- we went out every night- Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I got really sick, so I stayed home Saturday night-- but everyone else went out. There were parades and bands on every corner. There were chivas-- party busses where people drink Canelazos- a sweet alcoholic traditional drink- and scream "QUE VIVA QUITO!" and then respond "QUE VIVA!" Or sometimes- "QUE CHUPE QUITO!"- "QUE CHUPE!" "HASTA DONDE?" - "HASTA LAS HUEVAS!" I figure "Viva Quito" is self-explanatory, but "Que chupe Quito" is like "That everyone in Quito drinks!" "That they drink!" and honestly, I still don't understand what "Hasta las huevas" means. Anyway- there are bands on the chivas too- and there's this song called "El Chullo Quiteno" which is almost 150 years old.. it was on non-stop loops on every corner, every stereo, every chiva. The song was in my dreams... I had to cover my head with a pillow just to not hear it... but it was cool.

Other than that- things are going well. I'm working hard- thinking about school all the time, but that's okay! Yesterday, two of my students came into my class during one of my free periods. They asked me "Teacher?" (They all call me "teacher"-- as if it was my name. Sometimes "Teacher Margaret"- but that's about it.) "Teacher, You have class now?" I told them "No"- and they said "You want play with us One?" and I said "What?" and they pulled out a deck of UNO cards!! I laughed for a while and played with them until I realized they were cutting science and I had to kick them out. You'd think that woud be self-explanatory, but here, the school will call meetings where every teacher will be in attendence, and the kids get to have free time for an hour and a half or so. If a teacher doesn't show up, they don't have subs- the kids just have free time... so you never really know- plus, no one really seems to care. I don't mean this in a negative way. Somehow the kids still learn-- but you have to wonder how!

For example- this may be my favorite thing that has happened so far in Ecuadror-- the first trimester just ended, and my department head told me that grades were due at 8:00 Tuesday morning. They don't have grade programs on the computers here- because computers are expensive and hard to come by- so we have a few at school- but almost everything is done by hand... so after I spent all weekend adding and dividing the kids' grades by hand- I wrote up a list of grades. Realize, that every person here has 2 first names and 2 last names (For example: "Daniela Alejandra Ubidia De La Torre" or "Jose Daniel Loaiza Santos".. so for 150 students, that got to be a lot of writing. Also, the grades here are numbers, not letters, and they're out of 20. SO a 18,19,20 is like an A-- a 16 or 17 is like a B, etc. Anything below a 13 is failing, but the kid can earn a 09 or a 04 or a 12 and it comes up as that number of the report card. It's a little confusing. Also- the school here is kind of like Harry Potter. Kids switch classes, but they stay with the same people all day long.. and every grade is divided into 2 parts- A and B. SO the 10th grade is composed of 10A and 10B, and 10A all go to science together, and then reading, then language, then personal development, then aesthetics, then drawing (no I'm not making up these classes), then espanol and lenguage and math.

ANYWAY- I show up at 7:30 Tuesday morning and was told to give my 9th graders some work and then leave them alone in my classroom... which seems like a great idea, right? Then I went to this meeting at 8. All the 8th, 9th, and 10th grade teachers were there, so there were 20 of us or so.. which meant that anyone who had class with them got free time. I have my stack of papers with all the kids' all four names and their grades. I sit down feeling prepared and planning my next class when the meeting started (at 8:30 or so because, let's face it, it's Ecuador). So they start: "Let's start with 10 B. Ready?" Then the Tutor of that class (kind of like the homeroom teacher and class advisor rolled into one) gave a little summary of what's going on with the class. How is their group dynamic? What have been their successes and failures? Which particular students are causing problems or particularlay excelling. Etc. Then, when he was done, they said- "Okay. Acosta, Ariana?" Who is the first student on the roll sheet in 10B. I quickly learned, that we were going to discuss each individual student for at least a few seconds- and if a student was earning a 13 or lower, then we had to tell their grade to the whole group while the tutor and principal's secretary wrote them down. Naturally, this wasn't all. Teachers would explain WHY a kid earned a certain grade- or discuss their impressions of a kid- or conversations with a kid's parents. There would be arguments and questions. Then- once we went from Acosta, Ariana to Zamora, Rommel in 10 B, it was time for the Discipline grade- at which point the Inspector- a person in administration whose job it is to discipline the kids- read off the list of kids and gave them a grade based on how many times they'd been written up, not worn their uniform, been late, or been caught doing something bad. Then- this is the best part- the teachers would CHALLENGE the grades. "No no no! Alvaro Ayala can not have a 19! He threw a lit firecracker at a group of teachers! That is disrespect...... (this went on for quite a while- it was a good 7 minute story which, I'm not going to lie, was damn entertaining-- this is a true story. This is also the kid who got run over by the bull during La Noche de la Liga). He deserves a 15." And then the inspector asks: "Who is in favor of a 15 raise your hand?" And we'd vote. Sometimes they'd get into fights. "NO! 17!" "No! 19!" and there was always "Una cosita mas"-- one more little thing to add about a student and how messy their notebook was- or how sweet they were in class.

Every 20 minutes or so I just looked around the room and started laughing. It was, literally, the least efficient thing I've ever seen in my life. But after 6 hours (SIX HOURS-- during which time my students had- you guessed it- FREE TIME!) I was so bored and frustrated that I gave up speaking in Spanish and started calling out my grades in English "De La Cruz, Ulises- Thirteen in Reading!" and then everyone would laugh at me.. and I'd have to repeat myself in Spanish because most people there don't speak English, but I was DELIRIOUS! Plus- I had to attend two meetings at once because I teach primary and secondary school-- and the primary meeting was worse. I spent 45 minutes there during which we discussed 10 students. In that time they'd given grades for all of 8B and half of 8A in the secondary meeting.

The cool thing was, though, that there was REAL communication. There were students that I was worried about, or frustrated with, and I got to see how they were doing in other classes. I made notes about who needs extra support- and empathized with some kids who, when their names were mentioned, everyone rolled their eyes and groaned. There was one kid that I sat down with yesterday and told him flat out that in the meeting teachers expressed worries about him because his grades have fallen and his behavior was so bad. I got to ask him what was going on, and tell him that I would help him- and I think (I don't know yet) that it was effective!

That being said- (I know this is really long, but there's a lot going on)-- there is a real dark side to being here. I had a BRUTAL week at school where I just felt worthless and incapable and disrespected and objectified. My Spanish is getting better, but I'm still not fluent by any means-- and by virtue of being a gringa I am constantly being whistled at, kissed, grabbed and, once on the Trole, petted on the head by a creepy old man. So- students and even some teachers have gotten into the habit of saying things to me, or about me, under their breath and really quickly so that I can't understand. Occasionally when I do catch a word or two all I can figure out is that it's really offensive. I feel like some people don't take me seriously at all- it's just a contest with them to see who can talk to me, sit next to me, dance with me at a school event, Who can make the best little comment to their friends about me without me understanding, etc. It sucks. I have literally never felt this outraged in my life. Thankfully I have some really good Ecuadorian friends who protect me though. On Tuesday I was walking up the street and this guy whistled at me. I grimaced, looked straight ahead, and kept walking. Then my phone rang. It was my friend Andy. "Hey- are you walking up Mariana de Jesus?" he asked me. "Yeah.." I told him. He went on "Did some guy just whistle at you?" and I said "Yeah- where are you?" He said "I'm driving down the street-- I'm going to pull over and talk to him okay?" Apparently (I've heard this part 2nd hand because my phone was stolen in approximately the next 15 minutes)- he pulled over, got out of the car, chased the guys down and yelled at them telling them "That's why people don't want to come to our country because you make them uncomfortable. The guidebooks for Ecuador advise women against walking alone ever... yada yada yada" Then apparently he realized he was yelling at two big men and he got kind of scared so he pointed at his temple and said: "Piensalo bien"- THINK ABOUT IT! and ran away! That cracks me up!!

More though, with my students, is that I feel incapable so often because I can't understand them. I don't want to talk to parents because I'm afraid that I'll sound stupid and they won't have any confidence in me. My friend Esteban, who is also a teacher at Liga, tells me that the students talk to him- sometimes I kick them out of class when they "haven't done anything wrong" (That from the kid who pointed a bebe gun at the head of another student in the middle of my SCINTILLATING lecture on plurals). I don't understand them and they don't understand me.. and sometimes I have zero control. But I have support and I'm learning.. I just hope I'm doing a good job.

One more thing and then I'm done- I swear. If you think High School Musical is a big deal in the states- you have NO IDEA! Here- it's all the kids talk about, think about, or do. My sister, Lesley, met Zac Efron- the star of HSM once because she has a friend at UCLA who was friends with him growing up. I told this to 3 or 4 of my 5th graders once before class. Since that day I have students coming up to me 2 or 3 times a week asking me if it's true that my sister knows "Troy" - the character from HSM-- or "Zac Efron". Since Lesley's coming next week (!) I've had groups of students asking me for pictures of Zac Efron- asking me excitedly if my sister really does know him. 4 6th grade boys I've never met before stopped me on the way to class the other day and asked me excitedly: "Profe- well-- we LOVE LOVE LOVE high school musical, and someone told me that your sister knows Troy and- well----" at this point he was so excited he was vibrating. He took a big gulp of air and said in one big, fast, spanish breath "Do you think your sister could bring us some pictures of him?" I told them I would ask here if she could bring some for them to look at, but I'm not sure because she doesn't actually know him- she just met him. At which point the 4 boys jumped up and down, squealed, held hands, and ran away. (A later blog on how Ecuadorian boys never stop touching each other-- and how I've so far made 7 (!) boys cry, but not one girl) I had a group of girls that I don't even know find me at lunch the other day and ask me if my sister was coming and something about Zac Efron that I didn't understand because they spoke so fast. I told them "My sister met Zac Efron once and she has a friend who is friends with him. When she comes next week you can ask her about him!" and they got really disappointed. "You mean," they asked, "He isn't coming with her?" I felt so bad because these kids honestly believed that Zac Efron was coming to Ecuador to visit me. It's amazing how fast a rumor about the gringa teacher's sister's celebrity connections will spread in an Ecuadorian private school- that's all I'm saying.

Okay-I know Herman Melville's got nothing on me after this. Maybe I'll opt for shorter, more frequent updates in the future? I can not WAIT for my mom and sister to come- and Mom's bringing me whiteboard markers!!!!!!!!! The ones here suck and they only come in blue, black, green, and red. I've been promising my students colors now for 2 weeks. They can't wait... okay- so it's no rumor about Hollywood celebrities- but I'm honestly more excited about these markers than if Zac Efron really were coming to visit me. Anyway

Thanksgiving Saturday!

Well, it's been a tough week to be honest. It's been really hard to be away from home over Thanksgiving. It was great that Aunt Mary and Uncle Dan called me on Thursday, and I got to talk to Mom, Dad, Les and Grandma... of course, I had to talk to them all after I got off of work! But it was okay. I explained to my students all about Thanksgiving and we did some work. They are DEFINITELY getting a cultural lesson from me. One of my 8th grade classes asked me about the "Himno Nacional de los Estados Unidos"- so I downloaded and copied lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner, and we spent a class period looking up unknown words (I know... "ramparts" is going to take them far in life. I don't even know what that means!) and SINGING it! It was hilarious!

BUT, this weekend was a blast. On Friday I was required to go to this dance. On Thursday we had a meeting at school for all the teachers to go over what our jobs were going to be at the dance, and to decide if we should sell alcohol to the students who were 18, or just to teachers and parents! They eventually decided that anyone who was 18 could drink.. which meant that a LOT of people who weren't 18 were drinking at the dance, but no one seemed to care! The dance was for the crowning of the Reina del Colegio (Queen of the High School), so each contestant put on a dance for the school on Friday afternoon. Some danced to Salsa and Reggaeton music, while others danced to "Thriller" and "You're the One That I Want" from Grease! Then they had a fashion show- casual and formal wear, and then an interview portion where they discussed their views on the role of women in present society and the solutions for the problem of child labor in Ecuador.

Then, when they crowned Mary Frances the reina, and the dance was on! Teachers, parents and students danced the night away until 2 in the morning. Teachers took shots of whiskey in the back, while parents and students smoked cigarettes on the dance floor. It was a BLAST! My friend Nick and I tried to keep up with them, but at one point we were doing our lame-ass gringo salsa, and I turned around to see one of my students, Kenny, who is 13 and 5 feet tall at most, PULLING OUT the most incredible dance moves with a girl approximately twice his height. I got embarassed, so we sat down.. but it was really fun otherwise!

Then, Saturday, we had our HUGE Thanksgiving feast! We started cooking at 10 in the morning (as in the picture)-- Angie splurged and bought a turkey, and I made mashed potatoes. She also made vegetables and cranberry sauce. We had two sweet potato dishes, cake, brownies, broccoli, stuffing, garlic bread, more turkey, macaroni and cheese, Kinua salad, Taco dip, mangoes, homemade apple pies from the boys downstairs, soda, beer, rum, and wine. We had invited everone over at 3:00-- but dinner didn't actually go on until 5. It was Thanksgiving Ecuador style-- two hours late but totally worth it!!

We had everyone in our building- Nick, Seth, Summer, Andrew Moose and his Ecuadorian girlfriend Ani, Noah, me, Rozana, Angie, John, Jeff, Sam, their friend Chase, Libby, her Ecuadorian boyfriend William, Jon, Vaughn, Liz, her roommate Jessie, Nicole, Justin, his British girlfriend Helen, Gillian, Rachel, and two American exchange students from Colegio de Liga- Lacey and Weston! That's 27 if you're counting!! We crammed them into our apartment, and amazingly we had enough food to feed everyone!




The food was really good too. It was great. We had everyone go around the table and say what they were thankful for.. and we even had one in Spanish! It felt like Thanksgiving, and it felt good.

As for me- this week I've been frustrated in my job and with my students. I've been homesick and sad... but not once have I been unhappy. Last night was amazing. This morning Nick and I went to this market in Parque Eljido where there are artisans and paintings and children and relaxation. This afternoon, and every Sunday, Angie, Rozana and I went to Plaza Foch and drank coffee while this really cool band played in the plaza as clouds rolled in over the volcano Pichincha. I love it here. My Spanish has definitely turned a corner, too-- and that makes it easier. I miss home, but I am so glad to be here-- and Saturday just reminded me that if I can get 25 people sat and fed at our dining room table, then I can do anything!!

I miss you all very much!

Oh man!

Well-- It has definitely been a while since I updated-- I've gotten at leat one written request for a new blog.. honestly I've just been SO busy I haven't had time or energy. Every day I catch the school bus-- which is really just a yellow van-- at 6:10 and I get home around 6:30 pm, at which point I have lessons to plan and food to eat etc. Plus, for as busy as I've been, nothing too exciting has happened.

Well- Banos was pretty amazing. I posted pictures. The pictures start in Quito when we went out for Andrew's birthday- it was insane.... as you will see-- but there was good dancing and it was FUN! Then we went out to celebrate that we were done with TESOL (teaching english as a second language). That may have been the most fun I've ever had in my life! Finally, we went to Banos, and you'll see pictures there too. We started out by taking this bike ride to el Pailon del Diablo-- I've included all the pictures, but it was one of the most breathtaking things I've ever seen! I even jumped off a bridge! It wasn't bungee jumping because the cord wasn't flexible at all-- it was sort of like swinging. It was a RUSH for sure!

Finally- in this quick update- we had a MASSIVE Halloween party the day after Halloween... but it was Thursday and everyone had work off on Friday because of el Dia de los Fieles Difuntos-- or Day of the Dead. So we threw a house party. We had beer pong and flip cup- and we invited everyone we knew, which meant that there were Americans, Ecuadorians, English and Australians. We had 18 year olds and 60 year olds. It was crazy.... house parties are not really my thing, but it was a blast.

I dressed up as Smurfette (yes I got the idea from Emily Karrs), but I didn't realize that there was no such thing as blue face paint in Ecuador- so I bought blue eyeshadow and face lotion and I coverd myself. The result was that I looked more like a dead nurse than Smurfette, but it was fun. In the picture I'm with my roommates Rozana and Angie who dressed up as the Doublemint Twins!


Things have been going well at work. The Fiestas de Quito are coming up in December. December 6 is the anniversary of the Independence of Quito. Most of the streets here are named for state holidays, and so it actually makes it really easy to remember when things are. For example, one of the best malls is on a street named 6 de Diciembre. I actually live on 9 de Octubre (which I BELIEVE is the independence of Guayaquil- another big Ecuadorian city-- but I'm not sure.)

Finally-- I am starting to get kind of homesick- especially as Thanksgiving is coming up, but it's okay. I FINALLY got on the Skype train, and soon I will be getting my own Skype number where you can call me for CHEAP! For now, I highly recommend that you download it (www.skype.com). It's totally free, but you have to put money on the account to call. You call using your computer, but that means that anyone can call me for two cents a minute!! I talked on the phone for 2 hours today for 2 dollars! (my cell is 98920233. The country code for Ecuador is 593 and the code to dial out of the us is 011-- so to call me you dial 01159398920233... but on skype, just the 098920233 number.. fyi.)

Anyway- kind of laundry listy, but I'll be sure to have some great anecdores for you next time. I miss you all very much! Peace out.

Sometimes it takes me a little longer...

I think I thought that when I first got to Quito I would be overwhelmed with culture shock- that the Ecuadorian-ness, or South American-ness, or Latin-ness would be overwhelming, confusing, and exotic- and that eventually it would become normal to me. Maybe that's culture shock for most people- but for me, although there were definitely marked differences, I was most overwhelmed by the sameness. Many of you got emails in which I told you that Quito was just like any other city except the street signs were in Spanish and there were a lot of KFCs! Lately, the more used to Quito I get, the more Latin it becomes. Maybe as I learn and assimilate more, the small things are beginning to jump out at me. Today, for example, I was in a taxi coming home with all my school stuff, and the cab driver was playing salsa music. I told him where to go in Spanish and made some inane small talk-- and was struck by how NORMAL it felt!

Point being-- I love it here and I love my apartment and I love my job. On Friday, at school, I was overwhelmed by how much I love it here. I love being in Quito, but the city is dirty and really really polluted. I take a school bus every morning at 6:15 and we arrive at La Mitad del Mundo (i.e.-the Equator) at 7:30 or so. The ride is long, but it's so worth it to be out of the city. At Liga there are trees everywhere. Also- I don't know if I've mentioned before, but the school is affiliated with Liga University and the professional Ecuadorian football team- Liga. In fact, the pro team practices on a field right outside my classroom.. so between classes sometimes I head out and watch them play. It's AMAZING to watch!

Plus, the students are SO sweet. It's a sports high school, so the students wear Track Suits as their uniforms and the They call me "Teacher Margaret", "Teacher", or "Profe"- short for "Profesora". Everywhere I go, the students greet me. Even at lunch they greet us: "Buen provecho, profe." (Buen provecho = bon appetite! It's super polite here to say that whenever anyone's eating ever) I LOVE IT!

Also- on Friday I taught a lesson on contractions and we listened to the song "Breakin' Free" from High School Musical. Since about 70% of my students are boys between 12 and 14 there were a LOT of moans and groans, but one of my classes sang along enthusiastically. I also downloaded the new Juanes CD, so I put it on afterwards and the kids went nuts.

Man oh man- this entry took me the whole weekend to write, but I wanted to communicate my contentment. We spent this weekend in Banos. It was incredible. When I write my entry, you will not believe the things I did. I'll include pictures to prove it.

Haircut

So this week I had an exciting and terrifying experience. I decided last week that I was going to get my hair cut.. so I was looking around for places to get it done. There's this place on the walk to school called BEYONCE and they advertise $2 haircuts. I don't know that I've ever seen anyone in there, so I kept joking that I would go there to get my hair cut.

Long story short- I got impatient, and since I only wanted my hair trimmed- and you can't REALLY ruin a trim (once I let a 17 year old at SSP trim my hair because she was bored), I decided to head over to BEYONCE during lunch hour. Now, my Spanish is far FAR from perfect, but I get around okay. I can generally argue with taxi drivers and I can talk to my host mom, so I figured it would be no big deal to get my hair done. Right? Wrong. I swear, I had no idea what these women were saying to me, but at one point, one of them pointed to the other one and nodded. I nodded too. Apparently, I had then agreed to getting her haircut. Then she started to trim my hair, paused, and asked me a question. I nodded, and she said "Tres dolares." Then she washed my hair and started to cut it. It was pretty terrifying, but I had no choice but to just let them go with it. At one point the woman asked me how I wanted my hair brushed (? I don't know.. that's the best I can come up with) and I told her "No tengo mucho tiempo en las mananas." She promptly proceeded to cut me bangs (side bangs).... (but they're better than the time I let Kacey cut me bangs after she came home drunk from a party and told me she totally could do it.)

Anyway- I totally dig my $3 haircut-- that's it in the picture.... but that was one of those experiences where my hair's soaking wet and she's going to TOWN with the scissors, and all I can think is: "I wish I'd put a little more thought into this decision!"

(This was deep and inspiring, I know. If you're looking for something more intellectual to read, check out Jessica's blog- hers has Bolivian deities and elaborate metaphors.)

Profesora

Hola! Well, I got the job at Colegio de la Liga. Tonight I met with the guy who's been teaching there for the last four weeks and will continue to teach until I finish my TESOL course and take over. He is this British guy who seems really nice, but totally overwhelmed. He kept blaming things on Latin America. He said, "This whole continent is mad!" about 8 times!

It looks like I'll be teaching 7 different classes. "What?" you say. "Seven periods?" No. SEVEN CLASSES. A 5th grade Language Course, 8th grade A and B, 9th grade A and B, and 10th grade A and B. Also, they are one year behind the states, so 5th graders are 9 years old, 8th graders are 12, 9th graders 13 and 10th graders 14. SOOOOOO-- it will definitely be a different experience. But whatever. I am really excited.. but definitely overwhelmed! It looks like a lot of work.

Also, it looks like we found an apartment. I'm living with a girl, Rozana, from my program, and this girl Angie from North Carolina who is working at the same daycare as Rozana. We'll be living in the Mariscal-- kind of the cool downtown where all the clubs and bars are. So that should be cool. They call it "Gringo-landia" because all the extranjeros (foreigners) live in the Mariscal- which is not something I'm necessarily stoked about, but we'll be living in the same building as some of the guys from my program, so that will be nice. Plus, I'm going to be working in authentically Ecuadorian school with an almost entirely Ecuadorian staff, so I think/hope that I'll be adequately immersed in Ecuadorian culture!

The cool thing about the apartment- it's 3 bedrooms, four bathrooms. There's a guard outside the building (which is standard- even in safe neighborhoods). Gas, Electricity, Water and Wireless internet included, and furnished-- $490/ month!!! Of course- I'm going to be making $600 dollars a month... so everything is relative, but it's pretty sweet.

This weekend we're off to Papayacta. I have no idea what it is, but it should be cool!

Asi Es La Vida (not the telenovela)

This has been week two of the TESOL (Teaching English as a Second or Other Language) class, and the work is definitely starting to pick up. Every day we have class from 8:30-6:30. The last two hours, though, are comprised of an English class that we teach. Students are offered a free (or very very cheap) English course, and in return, we hone our teaching skills on these poor middle aged women and teenagers who aren't lucky enough to go to an expensive private school where they learn English. It's actually pretty fun, and- somehow- they're learning a heck of a lot. After every class we teach one woman, Ines, says "Congratulations! Good job!" It's so funny!

On the Spanish end of things- I am getting really frustrated with my level of Spanish. When I was sick I had zero energy to even try to speak Spanish, and I wish I'd taken advantage of that week and a half now. So, to improve my skills, I've begun reading the newspaper. The goal is to read the paper every day, but I'm slow, so I'm reading one every two days. I'm also taking every opportunity to speak Spanish or be around people speaking Spanish that I can. This has led to interesting discoveries, ridiculous mistakes, and an observation which I will discuss.

First- this might be my favorite thing I learned this week:

Si asi es de verde, como sera de madura?

Basically it's a compliment to someone wearing green. Our 60-something teacher said it to a girl in class today, and it's apparently pretty platonic-- but when translated it sounds like a bad pickup line-- so next time you're at a bar tell someone:

If you look this good green, how are you going to look when you're ripe?

Second- I had a gigantic pimple on my face this week, and when my host mom saw it she asked "Margaret! What happened to your face?" I realized at that moment that I didn't have the slightest idea how to say "pimple" so I said "Wait a minute, I'll look it up!" So I grab my dictionary and flip to the english side and through the Ps. Meanwhile she's asking me some question, so I'm trying to look fast. Finally, I was at the right page- I saw the word- I scanned to the translation and I confidently told her: "Es un chulo." She looked at me very confused for half a second before I remembered that "chulo" means "pimp". Then I started laughing and tried to explain to her that in english, those words were very close together- and I meant that it was "una espinilla." I'm not sure if she got it, but it was pretty funny. (I also asked a waiter for the cheque yesterday instead of the "cuenta"- or bill. That not only got me a raised eyebrow from the waiter, but the 10 people at our table made fun of me mercilessly.)

Finally- I'd heard that Ecuador is very class-based and that the color of your skin really determines the way you're treated, the job you get, the life you live. Naturally, this is a concept we're familiar with in the United States, but here it's out in the open and treated like a natural fact. For example, in one of my Spanish classes the teacher explained to us, very matter-of-factly, that although it was a nice idea for Bolivia to elect an indigenous government, the indigenas are incapable of running a country because they just don't think the same way we do. Today, as part of my, be-around-as-much-spanish-as-possible plan, I went to get lunch with my host mom at her friend's house. There were a lot of people there and a man starts reading off a peice of paper and everyone started laughing. I didn't understand half the words he was saying, so though I smiled politely, it was clear that I had no idea what was going on.

He asked my host mom if I spoke Spanish, and when she affirmed that I did, but I didn't know the words, they explained to me that these were jokes about two people- a Pelucon - or good upper-class guy- and a Cholo -or lower class guy (my dictioary traslates "cholo" as "half-breed" btw- which I find incredibly offensive). The jokes then go like this-

If a Pelucon goes to a brothel, it's because he's looking for pleasure. If a Cholo goes to a brothel it's because he's looking for his sister.
If a Pelucon is running it's because he's an athelete. If a Cholo is running it's because he's a thief.

If a Pelucon is wearing white it's because he's a doctor. If a Cholo is wearing white it's because he's a milkman.

Etc. The jokes went on and on-- particularly the ones about occupations- if a Pelucon is driving a car, it's because he owns it. If a Cholo is driving a car he's a chauffeur. Each was met by peals of laughter and delight. There was no shame- no explanation- no qualifiers: "I have a friend who's a Cholo, so this is okay." Nothing. I'm trying really hard to see the other side of this- to see how this could be (and apparently is) culturally acceptable, but the more I see and hear, the more it seems like social inequality here is not a problem to them. How do you refrain from ethnocentrism, but maintain a sense of right and wrong? and is it bad to think that, in this particular case they're about 150 years behind the US? I think I've always been under the impression that racism used to be socially acceptable, but in our modern world is a sign of extreme ignorance/stupidity/worthlessness. I'm not sure quite how that jives with what I'm seeing here. I don't have an answer, a metaphor, or nice words with which to wrap this up-- it's just something on my mind. Not to end on a negative note- on the whole, I am so happy here. I don't mean that to sound too harsh.. but it's definitely given me some food for thought.

Two more weeks to go, and then I've got to get a job and an apartment and be a grown up. It looks like Colegio de la Liga will probably work out- so more on that when I know more. (PS- I was offered the position at that elementary school in Cumbaya, but I made up my mind way before that I couldn't do it. It was a good decision to say no.)

Yo Amo Mindo!!

-- To see the whole photo album, go here: http://gwu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2120365&l=c1bef&id=5305703


This weekend was unbelievable! I'm so glad I got better, because I went to the best place in the world this weekend. On Saturday we left for our trip to Mindo, a city to the north east of Quito. We had a two hour bus ride that took us to a tiny little Latin American town where we all piled into the back of Andy's (our Corps advocate) pickup truck on a ten minute drive down dirt roads and into a primary rainforest! (In the picture, Seth, Rachel and I forced smiles as we drove over potholes and piles of rocks in the back of a pickuptruck).This isn't the big bad daddy jungle- but it was a rainforest nonetheless. We did a zip-line course through over the canopy. It was absolutely amazing.

We finally got back into Mindo and it was amazing! This town is wonderful. This is a store we went to where there were just branches of platanos chilling on the ground. (I can't get it right side up!)People played soccer in the dirt streets as the fog rolled in over the mountains. We stayed in a hostel called "Jardin de los Pajaros"- or "Garden of the Birds." It was beautiful with a huge balcony and a hammock overlooking the street.

The big thing in Ecuador this weekend was the election. They had a vote to change their constitution which they had last done in 1997. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what was going on, but here's the interesting thing. Voting in Ecuador is mandatory! Remember Paris Hilton's "Vote or Die" faux pas (she joined the campaign, and then didn't vote)? Here it's not really an option. Of course, they don't kill people who don't vote, but they do penalize people. There's a big fine for those who don't vote, and it goes on their record somehow so that it's harder for non-voters to get loans, and non-voters can't enroll in a university until they pay some additional fine. I personally think there are some cool things about this system, but on the other hand, this election LITERALLY had over 3,200 candidates- so the country is basically forcing people to make uneducated guesses. If you want to read more, this is the BBC news link about the election. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7020420.stm (Most people I've met don't like Correa, but I asked my host mom this afternoon and she told me that she'd voted for Correa. Seeing my surprise she said: "Margaret, soy una socialista!" (Margaret, I'm a socialist.) It was pretty funny.)

SO back to the point: Because it's mandatory that everyone vote on Sunday, starting Friday at noon before an election the "Ley de Seca" (the dry law) comes into effect. After 12:00 pm Friday it is illegal to sell or consume alcohol in Ecuador because the government doesn't want people to get drunk and forget to vote. SO, of course, everywhere we went on Thursday and Friday morning, people were buying liquor by the cart-full. And, because we're not Ecuadorian, Rozana set up our own little speakeasy at the hostel where Seth and Andrew had their fill of vodka and cranberry. As for me, I obeyed the Ley de Seca partly because I believe in respecting the rules and cultural practices of the society I'm in.... and because I can't drink any alcohol with my antibiotics.

Anyway- it was a great weekend. This morning we went on a hike through the rainforest and spent some time at beautiful waterfalls. I'm not especially excited about getting back into class tomorrow, but que sera sera. It was a beautiful weekend.

Bacteria AND parasites?

That's right! These little guys (picture from Google images, not my "estomago" or stomach) have been making my life pretty difficult. Basically I've been really sick for the past week.. and when I went to the doctor on Friday he told me I had a mixed infection of bacteria and parasites-- so the pills I'm taking are GIGANTIC and making me sicker than the actual bugs, but whatever. On the plus side, I've lost approximately ten pounds and I think I drank more Gatorade this week than I did in 23 years in the US.

Any new awareness about cultural differences are mostly medicine/sickness related- so bear with me. Prescriptions here are subsidized, so I've spent approximately $15 on the four different prescriptions I've gotten in the last week. Also- you don't need a prescription to go to the pharmacy-- you just go up to the counter and ask for 8 cipros or 6 fasigyns (those are the antibiotics I'm on in case anyone feels like doing a little detective work). When I was really sick this weekend my host mom just called her cousin, who is a doctor, and told him I was sick, and then called the pharmacy and had them deliver the pills. Talk abut scary! Maybe it's just because my mom would grill us as to the necessity of taking an Advil growing up, but to me, taking 50 milligrams of anything without ever having actually spoken to a doctor a new experience.

Also- I had a job interview in a place called, no joke, Cumbaya-- say it out loud. Cumbaya is this beautiful little suburb of Quito where all the best private schools are. To get there, I had to take a bus, which was a new experience for me.. and when I was having a tough time getting the 25 cents I needed to get off the bus, the driver got tired of waiting and just took off. Luckily, the man who hangs outside the bus and calls the destination kept me from falling off.. so I sat on the steps, found my quarter, and was ready to go. Anyway- the interview was an experience, but I had to do some serious soul searching. The pay at this job is almost twice what I'll get anywhere else- and as I look at having to pay rent in a few weeks that's looking good.. but do I really want to teach rich Ecuadorian kids? Plus, I'd be teaching third grade --all the private schools in Cumbaya only offer instruction in English, so it would be just like teaching the third grade in the US to kids with money and accents. I think not. So I'm really hoping for this job at another high school- Colegio de la Liga.. I think it's private (apparently the public schools here are really really really bad).. but it's for more of the middle class. Plus- it's in Quito- which is preferable.

So- that's an update-- I'll try to write once a week or so... maybe more when I'm healthy and have more to say besides the price of prescriptions-- exciting, I know. Please email me-- let me know what you all are up to!!!

Adios!

Actually- no one says "adios"-- they say ciao! So... CIAO!

Estoy Aqui (not the Shakira song!)

Well- it has been an exhausting few days. On Friday I literally felt every emotion possible- from panic and sadness to exhiliration and excitment, confusion and security. But everything worked out fine. My host family is wonderful. Fanny, the mom, is an artist and a single mom. She has taken in tons of foreign students in the past- and she's very helpful. She keeps introducing me to new fruit I've never heard of before. Yesterday she made me "jugo de tomate" which translates to "tomato juice." Interestingly enough, though, it wasn't tomato juice. It was a totally different juice.. which was good for me because I hate tomato juice, and I didn't want to begin my homestay by being picky. Andres, the son, just turned 16. He speaks really good English, which is helpful, and last night he snuck out with his friends and so he's grounded.. but he's a good kid with a good sense of humor and he's very kind.

Quito is just like any other city- except everything's in Spanish. It's fun to see a red octagonal Stop sign that says PARE, or a black and white One Way sign that says "Una via". They also have more KFCs than I've seen anywhere else! In addition to that, there's Pizza Hut, Burger King, Papa John's, Tony Roma's, and TGI FRIDAYS! Maybe I should be upset by the Americanization of the world, but to be honest, a little familiarity is very welcome- not that I plan on going to KFC any time soon!

Two funny things and then I'm done for the day- one, is that I've realized that regardless of the language, you can ALWAYS identify the product of a commercial by sound alone. I was listening to the TV yesterday and could tell if they were hawking children's cereal or, more surprisingly, insurance!

Also- this one made me laugh all day long... my host mother made me breakfast yesterday (remember the jugo de tomate mystery?), and I was seated with my back to a large window overlooking a street. All of a sudden I heard a loud megaphone voice yelling "FRUTA! MANZANABANANAPINATOMATE... etc" I was startled, and asked Fanny what it was. She ran to the window and said "Margaret!"
I started to get up to come over, but she waved toward the wall, with her palm down- moving her hand at the wrist rapidly upwards and away from her body- which I took as "don't look." So I turned away.
"Margaret!" she called. I turned again, but once again, she waved me away- this time with more vehemence.
Finally she said "Margaret, VEN aqui!" - Margaret, come here.- and I realized that here, they wave "come here" the way we wave "go away". I didn't explain it to her at the time, but later on, when I was having desert with Fanny, Andres, Fanny's brother, her sister, and her neice, I started laughing when I thought about it. WIth the help of Andres and Maria Andrea (the neice) I was able to tell them the story, and they all thought it was pretty funny.

So- my family has wireless internet, but it's a little touchy. Hopefully I'll be able to access it regularly. Also- I'm going to get a phone tonight, so I will have my number available for anyone who is DYING to call me :)

Not yet...

So--

I'm not technically in Ecuador yet.. but I decided to follow in the footsteps of my illustrious roommates who are already in Bolivia and Mali, and make a blog so those who are interested (or have a few minutes to kill) could check up on my experience in Ecuador and keep in touch!

I leave on September 14th, flying to Houston, then to Panama, then to Quito!! I'll be there until June 1 so that I can have the summer to interview for jobs (or POSSIBLY work at the marina with Vanessa.... we'll see).

So that's it for now... next entry should be more interesting and multicultural!

TONIGHT on the Travel Channel at 8:30, Samantha Brown's Passport to Latin America goes to Quito! I'm definitely going to watch, and it might be fun for you too!