Lo Siento

I am already failing at this blog eh?
Anyhow, a small update: I am still super busy.
Weeks are long and fast at the same time, Its already been a month since I got here!?? I have done so little and also done SO MUCH.  I have seen nothing of this beautiful country except the inside of the EIL institute where my classes are. However, since we are in a constant state of being behind in our lesson planning and writing of assignments the 10 hour work/school days plus the additional 3-5 work hours at home I have found myself in awe of how much we have done. I have already taught 7 classes for the learners at the institute and have one more next week. As well as critiqued, observed, and brainstormed strategies and lessons with, the others in my teaching group. weekends consist of attempts at going out on fridays, writing papers and stocking up on sleep for the week on saturdays, and planing lessons on sunday. When I'm feeling really motivated (obligated? =]) which is apparently now, while sitting in my bed, post paper writing session with my morning Nescafe (...) I will write a blog post. (You may have gathered through various other means that this isn't very often.. whoops!)
Today I think I'm going to some unknown location with my host sister, but not sure when.. ahh in 30 minutes! haha
My Spanish is getting better. Slowly, it hard though when most of my day is in English, and for some reason the people I have the hardest time understanding on a regular basis are my family.. go figure. However I am getting better at speaking and understanding people in general. On the other side, my English just seems to be getting worse... I talk slow and simply, and mess up sentence structure, and slip in and out of this weird accent... (WTF?) But I am learning a lot about grammar that i never knew before! So thats a plus.
Well I'm off to finish getting ready to leave!
Hasta luego

Some thoughts on Ecuadorian 'drivers'

Every time I get in a car in Ecuador I take a huge deep breath and brace myself for an experience unlike any other. I am hesitant to say the word "drive" to ever describe what people do with cars here. I've yet to discover the verb one might use to describe this action, perhaps I will need to make one up. When I do I will inform you.

The common position on a steering wheel in the states is 10 and 2. Or some variation involving both hands somewhere on the outer rim of the wheel. Perhaps you prefer one hand but usually when turning both hands become available and grip the outer rim to successfully turn the vehicle into the closest lane going our same direction. The emphasis is that we make it into the lane closest to us.

In ecuador the first thing you should know about (insert new verb+ing here) a car is that one should always have one hand on the horn. This means the standard grip of choice is '10 and gripping the horn/hub of the steering wheel.' This position ensures that they can operate the horn every few minutes/seconds with ease. A honk can means many things: move faster, hey! you cut me off, I'm cutting you off!, I'm not stopping for you pedestrian, I'm passing you, I'm switching into your lane, and any other thought that pops into your head while (verb+ing).

Another important aspect of the road here in Ecuador is that lanes are just suggestions. There may be two lanes painted on the street, but there is definitely room for me to just (verb) down the middle occasionally since its easy to just drift side to side randomly.

You should also be aware that no Ecuadorian (verb+er) is aware of the actual size of their car. The car often changes sizes depending on what task it is performing. When stopping on a hill it in not necessary to leave more than 2 feet between you and the other cars (even though they are all manuals, and the hills are steeper than San Fran) because bumpers are meant to help each other keep from sliding back down the hill right? The car is much smaller when weaving in and out of the rest of the traffic in traffic circles and when you should definitely be the first one to go through the light, but had to stop 3 cars back. However every car has the turning radius of a semi-truck when trying take a right turn or when parking.

Finally, parking should always take at least 7 tries no matter how large or small the parking spot is. In addition, if a store is in the middle of a block on a busy street, the sidewalk provides a super convenient parking space. Just be sure to turn on your hazards. And no, it is not necessary to pull completely onto the sidewalk. Everyone can just go around. Besides, your hazards are on!

Ok so i realize it has been over w week since the last update, but 10 hour school days, coupled with nightly readings and planning lessons, have left little time for extraneous activities. I'll do my best to catch you up.

We started our first week of TESOL training already behind. Due to landslides/ road closures our instructors had to travel for many hours at a snails pace, with all the traffic coming from and going to Colombia, to get into Quito, we had no morning classes on Monday. So to take advantage of a free time slot I met up with a couple classmates to explore the Centro Histórico of Quito a bit more. We took a taxi down there and wandered all around the narrow, often steep, and European feeling streets of the historical center of the city. All traffic, including busses, still drive (if you can call what they do with cars here driving..) these streets. So when the sidewalks are barely 2.5 feet wide, and sometimes abruptly non existent, this made for an interesting morning stroll indeed. We trekked our way up an extremely steep hill to the Basílica and explored the beautiful and enormous structure.

 It was steeper in person.. and at 9500ft elevation...

The Small Chapel 

The main aisle and altar

Outside in the square

 Carla and Tito look like ants..

The rest of the week was spent with loads of information and workshops from 8:30am to 6:30pm. On Wednesday we met our students, who are volunteers from the community that are wanting to learn more english and are willing to be taught by people that may or may not have any clue as to how to teach English. The Learners we have are much more advanced at speaking than we had anticipated which resulted in our first lessons having to be tweaked to accommodate a larger vocabulary. We have split into two teaching groups and two groups of students (one higher level and one lower level.) Each group has roughly 10-12 learners, depending on who shows up on any given day. I am in the group teaching the higher level learners first. We will eventually switch. Our age range is from two high school brothers, to three older men who are commercial pilots, studying to take their english proficiency exam to make sure they have correct and effective pronunciation. Teaching has been a fun challenge so far, but we have only taught two 30 min lessons. I start my hour-long sessions on monday. I have enjoyed the teaching because our learners are so easy to work with. These mixed groups all work well together and are enthusiastic and motivated to learn and practice with us which makes the learning process on the teaching end much easier and comfortable. I look forward to working with them more.

Last night we went out for a few much deserved and anticipated drinks in the Plaza Foch with my oldest host sister Mary, where most of the young nightlife is in Quito, it is full of bars, dance clubs, and tons of people.

Until next time,

Chao