I dislike titles.

Before I forget, here are some random things I wanted to mention about Quito:

• As a safety precaution, we roll our car windows up at red lights.
• I hate driving behind (or near) busses and taxi-vans because their exhaust comes out very thick and black and that’s all you can smell. It makes me feel like my lungs are dying. And to make matters worse… busses and vans are everywhere.
• Fruit is extremely cheap here. A huge melon (like cantaloupe) is only $1.08.
• Quito’s police are bad and don’t really do much, but Marga tells me the kidnapping squad is fantastic.
• Which brings me to another point. It is forbidden to require students to work together outside of school. There are a lot of problems with kidnapping because the students are the “cream of the crop” (as my teacher put it).

Moving on! Every Wednesday los estudiantes have a late start. The maestros have “professional activities” from 8-9 and then los estudiantes start a las 9:20. Yesterday we worked on grading their expository essays. These are an official showing of their English and their ability to write because los maestros weren’t supposed to help them. This time isn’t usually spent grading things but just because it was an official thing.

So, this might sound very racist (and maybe it is…), but the first few days in my class I had a difficult time with something. There are plenty of kids who don’t “look” Ecuadorian. In fact, a handful of them could have come straight from mi escuela at Centennial. And the first few days, it was weird hearing them struggle speaking in English. When I thought about it I realized that subconsciously I was thinking, You’re white. Shouldn’t you be able to speak English? I mean, in no way was I thinking harshly towards them or feeling angry or treating them differently, but it was just an instant reaction that it just felt weird! Now I’m getting used to it and it’s not as strange as it was in the beginning.

I really, really like my kiddos. The segund dia I read to them for their read-aloud time and after a little chico came up to me and said, “You’re a really good reader!” And then later a couple of chicas told me how beautiful I was. Gosh! That’s all you need! Just a few 3^rd graders to boost your self esteem! Haha they are so fantastic J

Today I met dos amigos. Se llaman Vincent (Vince) and Emeka. They came to our clase to speak about Nigeria (we are doing a unit on Africa) because that’s where they are from. They seemed very nice! They have both traveled a lot and they are amigos with Cathy’s hijo. They both speak Inglés as their primer idoma but they know Español tambien. Vince has my number and he said he would call me tomorrow. I’m so glad I will finally have something to do!!!! And another plus… something I have been worried about is doing stuff in the city and being social and going out and having fun just because of all the robbery that goes on… but Vince and Emeka are very large. So I think I will feel safe with them. Which is a very good thing.

Another good thing happened hoy. The LD maestra came in and said the TA knows a lot of young teachers who work in the secondary part of school. She said she might introduce me so they can include me in their fun carnival plans or something. So maybe that will happen!

Anyway, all is well here and fairly uneventful. I still miss you all mucho!

Con mucho amor,
annmarie

My first days

So, I definitely need to start blogging so I can remember all about my time here! Haha as I’m writing this in Marga’s classroom after school, Bernardo just turned on “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey… and all I can think of is Chayna’s birthday at the Shout House when this song came on…

But anyway! My flight here was good. Seeing Frannie and the family was such a wonderful blessing : ) I cannot wait to hopefully see them again on my way back! Upon arrival, I was welcomed by Marga and her two boys (Bernardo – 13 y Matías – 9). They were holding a white board sign con mi nombre. I was so happy to see them because I just had no idea how I was supposed to find them! They led me to their coche (a very pleasant surprise because the majority of people in Ecuador no tiene coches) and we drove to their apartment, which has a guard at the gate and another guard at the entrance of their building (another pleasant surprise). Their apartamento was beautiful!! I walked in and there was an amazing vista of the city : ) Marga also gave up her master bedroom and is staying with her boys so I have a room of my own. I couldn’t have asked for a better situacion.

Monday was mi primer dia en la escuela. Mi maestra is Cathy Serrano. She’s from Manchester, England. She’s worked at the school for 21 años. She is a wonderful teacher and I’m so glad I was placed in her classroom. Los estudiantes are a little locos. The school day goes from 7:55 until 2:10 and the teachers are not required to be there any longer than the normal school hours. I think this is probably because some teachers take the bus (the same busses that the students take) to and from escuela. I met the director of the primary school and she is actually Marga’s hermana! That might me a good “in” if I decide I’d like to get a job here… I also found out la escuela does workout things with los maestros after school. Monday is Pilates. There’s also cardio, aerobics, and maybe more… but I can’t remember them or los dias). We have our first group in the class from 7:55 until 10:55. The second class arrives at 11:25 and we have them until 2:10. They have two ten-minute recesses (uno en la mañana y uno en la tarde) and one 30 minute recess after lunch. Lunch is eaten in the classroom from about 10:40 until 10:55.

Today was mi segund dia. Mi maestra prepares for three subjects each dia. Language Arts, Maté, y SS or Science. Sounds like a pretty good gig to me… So, today after lunch my teacher told me she had a meeting after the kids’ recess break (because they had music right after) so I could go back to the classroom if I wanted. So I did and at 11:25 the students started coming back into the classroom… I told them they should head straight to music and they started telling me they didn’t have music until segund hora. We checked the schedule and turns out, they were right! So I had this class full of estudiantes on mi segund dia – with no maestra! Luckily, the next thing on the schedule was read aloud so I had them all sit on the carpet so we could finish their libro. Cathy returned as the estudiantes were getting settled to tell them to head to music but then discovered they didn’t have music, and her meeting wasn’t until then! She still had me read el libro, which was fine and los estudiantes behaved well with me. Overall, it was a good lesson and then I walked the students to music. What an adventure for mi segund dia!

Also! I met una maestra who was a student teacher last fall (2008) and who has a job here now! She is la maestra de música. Her name is Hannah and she is from Wisconsin. She went to the University of Kentucky. I’m hoping I can talk to her about her experience.

All the Español is still very overwhelming and I don’t understand mucho, pero I hope it will get better (although that’s very difficult to imagine). Es muy difícil en social situaciones but in other conversations, where I know the context and can focus and know what’s going on, then I understand better. I just looked at Bernardo en el compu y he is playing a game on the Internet… and yes, Kathryn… none other than Bloons!!!!! Hahaha

Pues, tengo que irme. This is very long… lo siento. Just know, I’m doing well, adjusting to the climate (although sometimes I still get winded from nothing and I miss all my oxygen), enjoying the very warm weather (I haven’t checked but I’m guessing 70s during the day), and am living luxuriously (with a maid, who does my laundry for me!, and a beautiful vista every morning y noche).

I miss you all but hope you are getting along well without me. xoxo

con amor,
annmarie