Catching up from last week 7/28-8/1

I´m not sure where the time goes but I sure do have a hard time keeping up, especially when I have very limited internet access. Just when I´m getting used to things here...I´ll be leaving. As I type, I have only 11 more days here in Ecuador.

Last week...
School is school. My students continue to work hard at improving their English. I have to decide this week which students ¨pass¨or ¨fail¨. It is so subjective...oh the joys of teaching. We don´t have a curriculum and I don´t assign homework and they don´t have any formal evaluation like tests or quizzes. I am given free reign to teach them what I want. In a way that is good but it has also been frustrating at times as well. I´ve put in a lot of time preparing lessons with many games and activities. Watch out students! We´re going to have fun this coming year with all of the new ideas I´ll be bringing home!

Working out has been a great release. Claire and I continue to go to the gym. I also went running yesterday OUTSIDE in Parque Carolina. It was a beautiful day. So, there I was just minding my own business (ok, trying to not keel over from lack of oxygen) and this Ecuadorian guy comes up along side of me and starts talking in Spanish. If it wasn´t enough that I couldn´t breathe without talking, imagine me sucking air as I TRY to speak to him in Español. Hah!! That lasted about 200 yds and I had to stop and walk. He was very nice and went on his merry way. Good thing I brought my $.15 again...you know why!!!

WEDNESDAY...
I was ECUA-napped!! This is a way of saying that some Ecuadorian, usually a member of your host family ¨kidnapps¨you and makes you do something that they say will take an hour but ends up taking all day. This was my first time and at an inconvenient time. We didn´t GO anywhere but LIGA (the best South American soccer team and happens to be from Quito) was playing some team from Spain and it was on TV at 2pm last Wednesday. Ana Maria´s son, Juan Carlos, who by the way is crazy, ¨ecua-napped¨me into watching the game. Mind you that Ana does not have a TV in the living room...only the kitchen, her bedroom and the extra bedroom. So, there we were, sitting on her bed watching the game. It was the first time that I actually watched TV since I´ve been here (I don´t miss it at all). They were hoopin´n hollerin´. LIGA ended up losing but that was besides the point. I couldn´t leave and my only excuse was that I had to go get my laundry and go to class. Juan Carlos, being the kind man that he is, walked me to get my laundry and then to school. He is hilarious and talks so fast that I get maybe a quarter of what he is saying. Unlike some of the other volunteers, this has been my only time being "ecua-napped". Some of the others have great stories, especially Claire with Eddie and Dorita. She lives with a CRAZY, ZANY family and has the funniest stories. She is on the go with them all the time and at all hours of the night. Part of me would find that great fun but I´m glad I have the peace and quiet of Ana Maria and no other family around. I can actually get work done at the apartment.

THURSDAY...
Day trip to Mt Cotopaxi. See separate post tomorrow.

FRIDAY...
After my night class, I went home, ate dinner and wanted to pass out from exhaustion. However, being the "more-organized-since-coming-to-Ecuador" self, I actually started packing for the journey back home. Good thing I went out and bought another piece of luggage...I don´t think that will even be enough. UGH! I better save some $$ for overweight charges, just in case.

More later...hope you are all well!
Chao!
Jayne