So This Is Where Things Get Serious

9/3/2011:

View from Turi, Overlooking Cuenca

I arrived on Saturday, October first.  The house was bright and sunny.  There was a large fogged glass ceiling that made everything bright and cheerful.  I had lunch and dinner with the immediate family and an uncle and aunt.  I was quiet, and they were kind.  After dinner we took our first excursion to Turi.  Which is a church high on the south side where you can see the whole city, along with a nicely lit church.





 

View from My Front Door

 I have been in Cuenca for 1 full day.  Today is Monday, 5:45 in the morning.  Today is my first day of teaching at SECAP for the year.  I'm listening to Bluetech, which was introduced to me by James, that regal and yet spoofy man.  I woke up early, but the sun preempted me, as if to say, yes, Cuenca is one step ahead of you, and I'd like to believe in some small way that it is waiting for me.  I'm wearing my black pants, which are all together too short, shirt, sweater and tie.  I'm also wearing a bracelet given to me from Tony from Otavalo.  My room is neat as I have learned to make my bed living in another's house.  Guitar is across the room.  My bed, with it's somewhat garish coloring, is in the center of my room.  Underneath the bright purple, pink and orange coloring lie my warm Ecua-blankets, that keep me warm in the house where there is no heating.  Behind me sits my armoire.  It smells heavily of wood and I think that someday when I am gone, I will smell that smell somewhere else and be transported directly to this house on Mariano Cueva.  I am sitting next to the wall at my desk, which is covered in green felt.  There is also a window that looks out into the courtyard inside.  I say courtyard because the ceiling is all glass, not crystalline clear, but fogged glass, that lets in a lot of light.  A few items are scattered across the desk, but nothing really that I didn’t have while teaching in Arkansas.  Money, Spanish books, camera, pen, water bottle, key, watch, ring, sunglasses, passport and retainer.

Plaza on Calle Larga

I am ready to teach this year.  My last two practice teaching sessions went really well and I got a lot of encouragement from the WT director.  She said I was a great teacher and gave great instructions and that my students were going to rock it out with me this year.  Today Claudia and I are going to pick which classes we are teaching.  I as of yet don’t have a strong preference.  There is going to be a lot of planning done this week, but I have a general idea of what I am doing.  The only fear is not finding SECAP.  My meeting starts in just over an hour.  I am ready.

8/5/2011

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday all passed in relative ease.  At SECAP we just give placement exams, and classes don't really start until Thursday.  So, I've been enjoying my time there, meeting and talking with students.  Getting a chance to listen to them speak and test their listening capabilities.

What is most interesting however is the difference in levels between their writing and speaking abilities.  They do not, most do not, have a well rounded education it seems.  For example, there was on student who scored the lowest of any student that had taken the exam.  19 out of 53.  However, before he took the test he spoke to him for a few minutes and were laughing we were thinking the test was going to be a joke for him. He had lived in Minneapolis for almost 6 years and his English was nearly perfect.  19?  How did that happen.  Many other students scored much higher on the test but were unable to speak as well. 

2 of My Students!

After Eating Quimbolitas

I'm teaching Conversation I.  Which is an advanced conversation class.  I really love my students so far.  They are warm and friendly.  They do their work most of the time and are not behavior problems.  Additionally, they invite me out to hang out with them too.  I am an asset to them and they are an asset to me, I guess we're all assets.  My first weekend I went to Paraiso park with two students.  We walked around the park, laid in the grass, tried to talk about religion which was difficult, and then on our way back we stopped at a small traditional cafe and had coffee and Quimbolita, which I still don't have a picture of. 

I spent the first 2-3 days of the week shopping for a jacket, scarf, food, school supplies and other cosas.  Funny thing, Latinos must have shorter arms.  All the jackets that I tried on fit well in the body, but the sleeves were halfway down my forearms.  I had to shop for 4-5 hours until I found a jacket that I liked and had long enough sleeves.  I also bought a nice alpaca scarf for 5 dollars that keeps me warm during my chilly morning ride to school.  Oh yeah, I also bought 3 pairs of brown socks so I could go a whole extra week without doing wash!

My Co-teacher at a Gringo Cafe

This city.  It's beautiful.  Especially at night.  The architecture is gorgeous.  The streets are old and rugged.  The plazas are clean and lively.  The markets are filled with delicious and unique foods.  The churches dominate. 
There are a few cafes that cater to gringo crowds which are nice because those are the ones that have internet, but there are many other cafes that make coffee just as good and are a little cheaper.  I think pictures will describe the city better than I can.

San Blas at Night

My family.  I'm still a little shy to ask them for a photo.  I think taking photos of people is a little strange and a little off putting for them.  Anyway, my mother, Maria Cecilia is a nice, small and quiet woman.  She works a little tienda that is attached to the house selling snacks, chocolates, paper supplies, makes copies and other odds and end tasks that papelarias do around these parts.  She sits with me at dinner when I come home and talks to me which is very nice of her.  I can't say much of what I would like to say so oftentimes we sit quietly.  For dinner there is always the main plate and then some crackers or small cookies along with a warm cup of tea to finish.  For breakfast it is some bread, piece of fruit and a delicious batido.  Think Banana milk shake minus the ice cream.  It's really good.  It's a small breakfast but it's good.

Catedral in the Nighttime

Anyway, mother is helpful.  She has three kids.  Rocio, who is the oldest, is 29 and speaks so fast that I don't understand her.  She is really interesting though.  She is a mountain bike guide, city guide, volunteers with the red cross, teaches high school aged kids and maybe teaches at the university here too?  She also kind of has her own business doing something with computers as well.  I'm not all sure.  She talks to fast.  She was the one who finally gave me a complete tour of the house, making me feel more comfortable about walking around and being downstairs.  The next oldest is Maria Cecelia.  She is quiet and I don't see much of her.  I actually don't see much of any of the children.  They are out and about their own jobs and schooling.  Hernan Santiago, the youngest of the three is 23.  He is extremely quiet.  At lunch he hardly says a word and it makes me shy.  He doesn't talk, so neither do I.  At lunch it is just him, mother and me.  He might say a sentence or two.  At first I thought it might be just me, but then I went out with him and his friends on Friday night and he said hardly a word then too.  He just doesn't talk much.  That's cool.  I get it.

Catedral Daytime, From the Back

On the other hand, I also went out with Rocios friends on Thursday night.  We met at Inca bar and were there for an hour, though I couldn't understand much of what was said, so we decided it would be better if we just go dance some.  We headed over to a club and were some of the only people inside, but it was fun nonetheless.  That night I made a deal with one of Rocio's friends Joan to trade dance lessons for English lessons.  The two of us have gotten together 3 times so far, would have been this Thursday too but she was sick, and it was been fun.  I have felt foolish trying to shake my hips in front of a Latina who really knows how to dance, but it has been great to ask a Cuencana about life, using English.  I can ask a lot better questions that way. 

Flower Market Next to Carmen

Speaking of intercambios, another story.  I was in my office, which I share with other professors at SECAP, when, at 10am, Carlos asked me to join him for his birthday party in his classroom.  I walk in and am immediately taken aback by the smell of smoke and the sight of a bottle of whiskey sitting next to the mostly eaten cake.  I drank their whiskey out of politeness but didn't feel so great after having a shot or two so early in the morning on an empty stomach.  Ah well.  It was fun.  To get to the point, I started talking with Lorena, and we decided to do some Spanish and English speaking as well.  She is in Basic II, which is an early English class and she wants to work on her pronunciation.  We met yesterday and plan to meet everyday in the afternoon speaking some in Spanish and some in English.  Hopefully I can actually converse in Spanish for a half hour, that would be somewhat of a feat for me.

Plaza Outside 9 de Octubre

Now, to finish up, I want to tell you about my favorite place so far in Cuenca, and it is all about food.  It isn't nearly as gorgeous as the churches, or quaint like the streets, kind like the people, but it is Cuenca and it's delicious.  My bus on the way home from school takes me to the Nueve de Octubre mercado.  How absolutely convenient.  I remember walking in for the first time and being overwhelmed at the amount of produce and foods and people and smells that I encountered.  It was amazing!

Floor 1

The first floor is filled with fruits and vegetables and it makes me wish i had a place here that I could use to cook my own food and mess around with.  My favorite part about this floor is the tortillas de harina de choclo.  They are like pancakes, but much thicker, much hardier, a little cheesy and deliciosa.  And they cost 30 cents a piece.  My standard is to get 2 tortillas and morocho.  Morocho is this warm chocolo drink that is made from choclo, which is like a larger version of corn, mixed with milk and with a couple of cinnamon sticks thrown in for good measure.  It's good and filling.  I eat a lot of choclo here....Anyway, I've made friends with some of the ladies who cook up the food there and hopefully I will have a better picture of this delicious food next blog, or maybe take a picture soon and update this one.

Tortillas, Ho-cho, and Morocho

Next, on the basement floor there is nothing but raw meat.  It smells a little funny and it really took me back the first time I traveled down those steps, but it is interesting nonetheless, how all their meat is just out in the open, not refridgerated, chopped and sold in front of your eyes.

50 Cents Each, Take Your Pick

On the 2nd story there are many delights too.  Much better than the basement.  My first discovery was the batidos.  Like my mother makes me for breakfast but many different flavors.  Blackberry, coconut, strawberry, pineapple, apple, tamarind (which I need to try yet) and a few others...a green one too, which I'm not sure what it is, cause I haven't seen any kiwi around...avocado perhaps.  Anyway, they make these batidos with milk, ice and a raw egg! Can't wait to have other people try this stuff.

Hmm, Hornado? Not for the Faint of Heart

Next on this level I ate hornado.  Which is cooked pork, and laid over with spices, sauces and put on top of choclo, of course.  Then I had corvina and llapingachos, which are chessy potato balls, half fried.  So good.  

I'm doing well and loving Cuenca so far.  Until next time:

Ciao!

The First of Many Months

It doesn't, well it didn't, feel as though I were in a totally foreign country.  Surrounded daily by 41 other gringos gives one the feeling that I was merely entering back into freshman year of college.  I had imagined feelings of homesickness and sadness to be leaving the states for so long but I only struggled with that nostalgia once this entire month, while Beth and I were reminiscing about everything pumpkin: pies, coffee, cheesecake, Halloween, etc.  But it only lasted for a night.  Next morning I was with my circus troupe of gringos again marching through the city in our large groups, attracting attention and overwhelming restaurants and clubs due to the sheer number of us.

I was living with 5 other guys during the month of September.  Los Liones.  Coined by Issac, the name I think described his demeanor more than any of us, but the name stuck regardless.  Los Liones: Issac, James, Ethan, Tony, Isaaquino (Isaac dos), and I.  We were put up in a maze of a house.  Upon our arrival, we were given a tour of the place and I got more than a little turned around.  There was the main section of the house, a few porches, the upstairs, and then two other apartments with balconies, kitchens and their own views of the city.  It was a really wonderful place to live for the month.  Each of us had our own bedroom, some resembling Harry Potter's room under the stairs while mine was much more spacious, with complementary transformers, wooden dinosaurs, every episode of Stargate one could ask for, a beautiful view of the city and warm blankets. I think most of all that is was I loved about my room.  The houses in Ecuador have no heating or air conditioning, much like the rest of the world, so that at night, at 9000 feet above sea level it tends to become more than a little chilly.  But I slip under my covers, heavy fleece blankets, and quietly fall asleep in the warmth that my body and blankets summon.  In the morning the sun and roosters usually wake me up, but they wake me up to the intense sun shining on the foot of my bed, warming my toes up, for by that time I have usually messed up a few of the covers so that my feet are chill upon waking up. 

Next to my bedroom are the rooms of Tony and Isaac dos.  Good guys for sure.  Isaac2 is a historian from Connecticut with interests in Quakers and all things historical.  Easy to talk to and quite brave, coming out to Ecuador with nil Spanish skills and heading out to Esmeraldas, which is a town in the Northwest of Ecuador where no English is spoken.  Tony is also a good guy to live with.  Shares his jump rope, quick to help and to laugh, and is the oldest of us all by 2 years at the ripe age of 27. 

Ethan, James and Issac all live in another apartment on the far side of the house.  They have their own little space over there, to which we would go to hang out together and watch movies.

Los Liones were a force to be reckoned with as the name implies.  Isaac was the main connector among the group as far as going to into the city to have a good time.  With the lions behind him, the 6 of us as well as usually 15 other WT volunteers would head out into the Mariscal for a good time at whatever discoteque happened to find us.  I have done more dancing here than I have done probably in my whole life, and at 9000+ feet in altitude that's a bit of a feat.  A couple of time, after some rather spastic moments I felt like collapsing, but managed to regain my breath, though like a boxer after a couple of rounds, had less and less stamina, unless some really good Shakira came on obviously...or "Gett'n Jiggy With It."  I don't know if anything else needs to be said about the Mariscal...it's touristy, we danced a ton, some people drank more than they danced, James got drugged, oops, but was carried home before anything serious happened.

That's the thing about Quito, it isn't exactly the safest city on the planet.  One thing I never researched about Ecuador was the safety of those traveling there, and apparently, it isn't safe.  During our month there, 2 people got their bags stolen, 1 person got her bag slashed open but nothing of value was taken.  James was drugged and someone at another time tried to steal his bag, but got nothing but a fist in the face.  Our first few days at Orientation in Ecuador was filled with safety sessions given by government workers, nurses and first hand experience from the director of the WT Ecua program.  Some stories are too...extreme to tell here, but needless to say, they told us to be wary of certain parts of Edor.  However, no need to fear, as long as you take some precautions you don't really have that much to fear.  Granted, 75% of us volunteers will probably be robbed or assaulted this year, it isn't that serious, again, as long as you take certain precautions.  Don't be out at night in parks, don't take overnight buses, don't carry more than 10$ on your person if you don't need too.  Don't carry around credit cards.  That way, when you do get held up, you can give the ladones a few dollars and be on your merry way.  When most of Edor lives on less than what, 1 a dollar a day, the people just want a few dollars to help them get by, really not so bad.  So don't worry mom, I'll be alright. 

Actually more than alright.  I've been enjoying my stay here.  I've made good friends and am learning Spanish, what more do I need ahora?  Much of this month I spent with a volunteer named Beth.  She had been here for the past 7 months and teaches in Quito, so she was not only a great friend but a great tour guide as well.  The first weekend that I was in Quito, the 2 of us climbed up the towers of the basilica in the historic district.

I wish I had taken my camera, but Beth took some photos, so hopefully they will be forthcoming.  We climbed staircase after staircase, got up to the top of the church, had to walk across a bridge suspended across the nave of the church, up a steep ladder to reach the outside, and then up a few more ladders positioned at approximately 85 degrees to get up into the bell towers, from which we could see the entire city.  It was breathtaking.  To the north we could see the newer part of the city and to the south the Panacillo and the old city.  The second weekend we hit up the Teleferrico.  Which is a gondola that takes you up to about 12 thousand feet or maybe more.  The day we went up it happened to be a bit cloudy, but we decided we were going to enjoy ourselves despite the weather conditions, so even though visibility was about 10 feet, we were going to have a good time and walk around the mountain top in the fog.  We walked out about 10 minutes when it began to sprinkle, then to rain, then to sleet and hail.  The ground turned white and we turned around and hustled back to the bodega where we had some hot chocolate and canelazo, which is a lightly alcoholic spicy cider drink that is popular among Ecuas here.  The next weekend was spent celebrating Beth's room-mates 6 year wedding anniversary at Tapas y Vino.  We drank a lot of wine and had lots of delicious food.  A great place to go if your willing to spend 25 dollars.  We then went back to her house and made a fire in her fireplace and made some smores.  The last really cool thing we did was go to a restaurant at night overlooking the historic district.  Beautiful.

To give a more comprehensive overview of Orientation I should say that we had class from 10 am until noon.  Then I had Spanish class for 1 hour each day, then a break for lunch, then class from 3 until 5.  The day felt quite full.  For we had an hour commute there and an hour commute back, so that we stayed busy from 8am til 6pm every day.  We would come home eat and hang out with our family and by that time it would be 10 O'clock and nearly bedtime.  Additionally, after the first week passed, we began to teach classes and do observations of other teachers.  This made our schedule a bit more hectic and busy but not overwhelming.  We each had to teacher 2 days of 2 hour classes. I taught my class on the 28th and 29th, the last 2 days.  My lessons went rather well.  The students were all adults and all very well behaved.  Adults are great.  Not as much energy as students but very interested in learning and very easy to get along with.

Teaching English is a lot different than teaching middle school science in many ways but I think I can get used to it.  The first thing that hit me was the fact that English classes comprise mostly, almost exclusively of conversation activities.  It seemed that all our classes that we volunteers were taking during orientation were centered around teaching us new activities to implement in our classroom.  So for my class I filled up the 2 hours with nearly 7-8 activities.  Additionally, these classes were very different because they were much longer than I am used to, 2 hours instead of teh standards 45 minutes in the states.  However, they did end up going by rather quickly.  For the last day of class with the students they took us out to a discoteque...also different than teaching middle school students.

And now it's getting late and I can't remember if there is anything else I wanted to discuss.  The goal is to add to the blog more than once a month, so hopefully the posts won't continue to be so long and scattered.  Until then. 

Here's another picture!  They forced us to go to hot springs called Papallacta.  sigh