Life in Quito.

Last post.

2010-08-08T20:15:00.004-05:00

I write to you from Waunakee, WI.

I have now been home for 4 days, and I still can't believe I'm here. That I'm not going back in a few weeks to see them, that many of them I will never see again at the Center.

My last week in Ecuador was stressful, emotional, and full of hugs, kisses, luggage and tears. I spent a lot of time trying to see people for the last time, go out to lunch here, dinner there. Get things set up for when I'm not there anymore, figure out how we'll keep in touch.

My last day at la Marin was the worst. Tuesday afternoon I went there, just for an hour to say goodbye. I got to see all of my adult students minus one, which was awesome. I got to hug Denis for the last time... I asked him to give me a big hug, he was looking at me like I was crazy because I couldn't stop crying. Then he gave me a big kiss on the cheek, in true Denis form, very sticky from the candy he had in his mouth. I squeezed as many kids as I possibly good for the last time, held their little hands, gave them all big kisses. I had to force myself to just leave or I would have been stuck there forever.

I barely slept that last night, woke up freaking out... but I did make it on the plane and here I am! Just thought I'd share a few notes about my first impressions of the US while I had a few hours to roam about the Miami airport. Thought you might get a kick out of the things I first noticed.

1. There were blondes, EVERYWHERE
2. I kept speaking and answering questions in Spanish, and I got looked at like an alien.
3. I would hear someone say something in English, or see a sweatshirt from a sports team in the US and think it was stange to see, only to realize that I was in Miami and it was completely normal.
4. I bought a peice of pizza and a diet coke (from the fountain, so amazing) for $7... I almost asked them if they could sleep at night charging that much.
5. I was the only one in the airport without a cell phone, I'm pretty sure.
6. There was only one size drink at the pizza place, and it was about the size of a gallon of milk, I've never seen one size fits all soda that large.
7. People have touch screen everything, what were they all doing with their touch screen gadgets?
8. I got asked to see my drivers license, I forgot I even had one.
9. I could pay with a twenty dollar bill and not get a dirty look or complete refusal to make change, because "I just don't have small bills".
10. There were some very tall women walking around.

The best part of my Miami airport stint was that a very cute and old Colombian man heard me speaking spanish, and then offered me a sandwich from his bakery he brought from Colombia. He started talking to me, I think he was greatful to hear South American spanish.

SO that's that, life in WI is weird, but getting better. I start work on the 23rd, which will be nice.

Thanks to everyone for everything over the past 2 years. It's hard to believe I've been gone and now back after 2 years. It was an experience that shaped me as a human being, made me into the woman I am today, and taught me more about life than I could have ever imagined. I'm greatful for the experience, the good and the bad.

So for the last time, I say goodbye... PAZ
Audrey aka Adriana

Random note

2010-07-28T17:47:00.003-05:00

I was traveling this past weekend and after getting off an overnight bus we had an hour wait so we sat down to eat breakfast.

The server asks me if I want chicken or beef with my breakfast-- I think that's odd, but ok chicken I say, not sure of what she is going to bring me.

The server brings me this plate, no plater, of food. It has tons of rice, pasta, and a huge piece of chicken. The dish here is called seco de pollo. She also brought a glass of juice and a coffee, and bread, all for $1.50 in total.

I couldn't stop laughing though, I don't think I could finish that much for a dinner, let alone 6:30 in the morning. It was so typical Ecua, there were tons of other people downing this food like it was no other. I've never been served that much food in the morning before, and not a single breakfast food - except the juice and coffee I suppose.

Anyway, I got a good laugh at that.

See you in a week......

Amusement park

2010-07-20T18:19:00.003-05:00

I had an awesome afternoon with a few of my colegio students, just wanted to share!

I had 6 teenage girls that Laura and I worked with every night for an hour in a study hall, that I invited to take out on a fieldtrip this afternoon. Only 3 of them showed up, and I took them to an amusement park about 20 minutes away from our downtown center, called VulQano Park. So the four of us; me, Aracely Vaca, Jaqueline Soto and Katy Arias spent the afternoon together.

I usually don't like to go to this amusement park because it's so expensive, but with only a few students I told them we could go. They had A BALL... the first roller coaster we went on I had to literally drag Aracely on. I was just going to send the 3 of them (you pay per ride per person, not a big entrance fee, so to save money I didn't go on any rides I just let them go), but Aracely entered, and then stood there, refusing to sit in the cart. So I paid and entered as well... she screamed the whole way, I wasn't sure if she was enjoying it or about to cry. When we got off she was laughing hystericaly, so I think we did alright! After that we had no problems getting her on the rides, the 3 of them had so much fun. There was a slight incident on one of the rides, also with Aracely... she kind of puked at the end of a ride. I felt so bad for her, her pants were all dirty. But I bought her a Sprite, she wrapped her sweatshirt around her waist and she was fine. After that to settle the stomaches we went inside to the table games, the girls won some stuffed animals which they were pretty excited about. Then we ended with what I think they enjoyed the most out of everything: the bumper cars. They were screaming and laughing so hard, it was great. I have never seen them so happy, they were just a bunch of girls, having fun.

I love having these fieldtrips with the kids, to not only do something with them they wouldn't normally be able to do, but to spend time with them outside of the classroom. These girls are 15 years old and by the end of the year, they really started opening up to me, they have so many questions about life, boys, kissing, etc. It's adorable. Today we talked about shaving legs, boyfriends, and how chocolate gives you zits. I love being able to give them at least a little advice, help them through this awkward time of life.

So that's that, my last fieldtrip for my 2 years here... a few more days I'm going to spend at the Center with the summer games, going to do some traveling with the rest of my time. Going to the beach this weekend with Taylor, meeting the boys there... pretty excited about that.

2 weeks left in Quito. Tear, tear. Just a few of us left in the house, it's pretty quiet, but relaxing.

See ya'll soon.
Besos,
Audrey

August 4th, only thing on my mind these days!

2010-07-17T12:44:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone!

Well my date of departure is rapidly arriving... so scary! I couldn't be more excited to be home, but leaving is frightening to me. I'm scared to leave, scared to live in Waunakee again, scared to leave behind the past 2 years of my life. But like it or not it's happening!

The past couple of weeks have been awesome. We are done with classes so we are just playing with the kids, for Summer Games. The Summer Games are pretty chill, we have a few hours in the morning, a few in the afternoon. Not 12 hour days like during the school year! And no teaching, just playing! We are doing things like board games, computers, soccer, ping pong, other fun games. I'm also working in the kitchen like I have all year making products like empanadas, french fries, cevichochos, emborajados, etc to sell to people... but now we're doing it with the boys instead of the girls like we have done all year long! THe boys are so funny, at first being all stubborn saying they don't want to work in the kitchen because it's what the "girls do"... but after we get started they have a ball making the dough and frying the food. It's adorable! We have also gone on a few fieldtrips to various parks, which the kids love. The kids from la Marin don't have a playground at school so going to parks is AMAZING to them! I've really up until now only worked with the downtown center because they have needed more help, and I'm closer to the kids and parents there. We're having a blast with the summer games though, I love hanging out with the kids but in a more relaxed setting, not actually in a classroom. Doing fun art projects, playing outside... just enjoying their company.

Every day at least a few times some kid or mom gets all sappy about me leaving, it's impossible to get through a day without at least the threat of tears if not actual tears. I took down all the pictures in my room so now it's officially the most depressing place to be for me. I don't like being home because so many volunteers have left walking down the hall and seeing their empty rooms is hard. There are only a few of us left now, people are leaving this week too. Constant goodbyes... I don't like it! I'm not just leaving the kids behind, but all my fellow volunteers too. My family, my friends for the past year, a few for 2 years. It's going to kill me to say goodbye to Laura and Jess who I've spent 2 years with. Kill me.

I couldn't be more excited to be hack home. August in Wisconsin (minus the humidity), all my family, friends, anything that comes out of my mom's kitchen, dad's hugs, natalie talking to her cat (haha), Starbucks, good mexican food, boating, bbqs, good beer, brats, driving my car,and much more.

See ya'll in a few weeks!
Besos,
AUD

Despedida

2010-07-05T12:35:00.002-05:00

Goodbyes are no fun at all, I'll just say that right now!

On Saturday we had the Despedida here in the Center, which is like a goodbye for all the yearlong volunteers. It was an amazing day, we had so much fun. I remember it being a really fun day last year, and it was equally great this year. The best part is that both centers are at the Cotocollao center, so all the families are in one place instead of usually having to go downtown to see the other families!

It started Sat morning with soccer games. First it was the volunteer women vs the moms, other female staff. Us girls, there are 9 of us female vols, made uniforms which was fun. We had a bunch of US flags which we sewed on tank tops, wrote numbers, nick names on the back. It's a big US vs. Ecuador rivalry which is a blast. So we showed up with our matching shirts, everyone had a blast with it. My name was "la gigante" which means "the giant" because thats what some drunk old man called me up where we play in our soccer league and everyone has fun with it and jokes about it all the time. So the kids and parents all laughed and had fun with it. The game wasn't very evenly matched, us volunteers beat them pretty badly, I scored 5 goals myself! The ref was a dad in the center, Edison, so he was having fun trying to make calls to help out the Ecuadorian team of course. It was light hearted, fun. After we played, the men played. The male volunteers vs. the dads. Another battle, US vs. Ecuador of course. Since there are only 4 male yearlong vols Jess and I played with the men. They of course don't expect much of us because we're women and the level of play with the men is another world... but I'm proud to say that at halftime our team had scored two goals-- one by myself and the other by Jessica! We ended up able to sit out the second half because the two German volunteers showed up later to take our place (they were watching the German national team play in the world cup at a bar downtown). It was a fun morning, all the kids, parents were watching, cheering on. It's fun for the kids to see us play against their other teachers, parents.

At noon we had a special mass where Padre Juan mentioned all of our names, all the families were there. Then they had a meal in the Center, a bunch of us walked down to the mall to eat some fattening food as we were all tired and starving after playing so much soccer. We all got back to the center for the program for the official goodbye at 3pm. It was adorable, the daycare center kids had a little poem, the elementary kids did a dance, and the best was the highschool girls had a skit were they poked fun at some of us volunteers. They dressed up and acted like some of the directors, and of course us volunteers. We all laughed so hard. The girl who dressed up as me had on a blonde wig (they know I hate it when they call me blonde because they all see me as blonde but I'M NOT!), she had on holey jeans because now all my clothes are torn to shreads after two years of continuous wear and the industrial washer/dryer which as torn them up. She walked on stage and started yelling about "my Billy, my Billy, oh how I love my Billy" because they think it's hilarious to bug me about Billy, a former volunteer who was here this year for awhile who is a good friend of mine and they are obsessed that we are in love. So towards the end of the year I just started going along with it, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? It was funny, everyone laughed really hard at the Billy comments, many asked me about him - "were you dating?" haha. I had to laugh, they had fun with it. The adults put on a dance, one woman sang, it was really sweet. Then they gave us each a gift, Belen Perugachi presented mine, a student of mine in both English and Sales... she is a special student of mine so I appreciated that she was able to present mine.

After that the craziness began... Marco Polo ended the program and it was just a frenzy of hugs, tears, and laughter. There was a huge line of kids, parents, co-workers for each volunteer to hug and say goodbyes. Many of us will be here for much of July but it's different, won't see eachother as much. Many of the parents I won't see because I won't be around at night like I was during the year, and they work during the day so it will be hard not seeing them. The kids were all hugging us, crying. I was holding my own, few tears until I saw Lourdes, a co-worker of mine for the past two years. She works in special ed so I have worked with her every day for two years and have become quite close with her and her kids. I lost it when she hugged me, she started crying too and disappeared because she said she couldn't handle it, haha. Many of the kids were crying, telling me "don't go, don't leave us!!!" One mother, Yolanda, told me "you have been like a mother to my children, no one has ever been so good to me and my family, we don't know what we're going to do without you." How am I supposed to NOT cry when someone says that?! My comadre, the mother of my godson was talking to me about how much the whole family is going to miss me, how I'm going to miss so many things in my godson's life (it's hard because they KNEW I was leaving when they asked me, and I tried to say no, but they didn't take no for an answer...). It was hard, there were so many tears...

It's just hard to think about leaving, to prepare to leave, to actually leave. I've created a life here, created some really amazing friendships, become so close to so many people in the center. I've spent two years of my life devoted to this place, spending all day every day with them, sometimes on the weekends. And now we have to leave it all behind. Hopefully to visit in the future, but it will never be the same, and many families leave and you never get to see them or talk to them again. The Center is all I've known for two years now, and now it's time to move on and start a new life in Waunakee... I don't know how to live in the US anymore! It will be a hard transition, but I'm excited to be home, close to my family and friends. I know I will be really sad for awhile, will feel lost... but I'm sure I'll figure it out. Just hard to leave it all behind. I really have created a life here, how do I just get on a plane and leave it behind and be ok with it?? I know I don't have a choice, and I need to go home, and I WANT to go home... just wish I could have the best of both worlds!

30 days left in this country... trying to make the most of it, spend as much time with families and friends here. Do some traveling, hang out with the kids. Get my hugs in from the kids. Live in the moment, that's what I'm doing. Try not to think too much about the dreaded August 4th date when I have to say goodbye for good.

But that means in 30 days I'll be with all of you! Much love I send your way, besos, and I'll see you soon.

Audrey

Interesting note

2010-06-30T10:48:00.002-05:00

So I've become fairly desensitized (is that even a word? is that how you spell it? my English language skills have dissapeared, it's really sad) with the prices of things here. The fact that everything is so cheap is normal to me, very rarely does it shock me. But today it did, and I thought you might get a kick out of it.

I had the majority of the morning off, because one of my classes ended already. So I went to the beauty shop here in the Center that is affiliated with the CMT itself. I got the works done while I had time, because normally during the week I never have enough time to get anything done, and on Saturdays I'm generally busy. So I got a haircut, my eyebrows waxed, and a pedicure.

The total bill: $8.00

For all you women out there, I know you're jealous.

Much love,
Aud

Another fun couple of weekends!

2010-06-19T10:21:00.001-05:00

Sorry I haven’t updated on the fun things I’ve been doing with my students, but we haven’t had internet in the house… makes is much more challenging to get on the internet.

So the weekend after my overnight house visit started my end of the year field trips! It takes a lot of planning, money, and time – but it’s always worth it. I had an absolute blast!

That Saturday I took my 1st and 2nd graders from the Cotocollao center out. Since for most of them it’s their first fieldtrip with a volunteer they were needless to say pretty excited. We went bowling… so adorable. We got there and they could hardly contain themselves, went running to each get a ball – all matching colors due to the lightest one they had (they still could barely hold on to it). We took turns, rented the lane for an hour, which was plenty of time for the little ones. I helped most of them, as they couldn’t throw the ball hard enough to make it down the lane. So we threw together, counting 1, 2, 3 in English then throwing. They got a huge kick out of the balls coming up out of the machine, out of the pictures on the screen every time they knocked down pins. We of course had bumpers but it was still pretty pathetic. But they truly enjoyed themselves. I only had 5 of them, which was nice; the little ones always make me nervous, going on the bus, crossing streets and such. They just run around like crazy little girls so having only 5 was nice and less stressful. After an hour of bowling we went to KFC (they LOVE LOVE LOVE that place here) and had lunch. They each had a little basket with some french fries and a piece of chicken and a soda. Then we had a little time to play in the play zone (like a McDonalds set up), which was just as great as bowling to them. Most of them slept on the bus ride home, it was pretty cute. I know they had a great time, and I did too!

The next day, Sunday I took out my 1st course girls, or 7th graders. So they’re all like 13 years old and starting to get some attitudes… but still cute as can be. We ended up going to the movie theater down the street in the Condado Shopping Mall. It worked out perfect for me so I could get back in time for my soccer game in the afternoon! We went to some kids movie, Nanny McPhee or something? They loved it, laughed a lot. It was dubbed in Spanish of course, so they were content. They had a huge soda, nachos and tub of popcorn to split between a few of them, also made them pretty darn happy. They were really well behaved throughout the movie, which I was pleased with. After the movie we had Chinese food, which is something they don’t usually get. Bought a bunch of meals and they split them. And of course we had ice cream cones from McDonalds to finish off the afternoon. Spent a little more money on this fieldtrip but the kids were so excited and happy it was all worth it. I love doing things they wouldn’t otherwise EVER get to do.

The following weekend I had my last fieldtrip of my English classes. The following Saturday (this past Saturday, a week ago) I took all my downtown students out. I have a boys and a girls English class and I took them together because they wanted to do the same thing. They weren’t very happy with me, as they wanted their own fieldtrip but they were more than ok once we were going, just happy to be doing something I think! I took them to the pools, which was quite the operation. I ended up having 12 kids in total, 4 boys and 8 girls. Taylor and Laura, 2 other yearlong volunteers, came along to help me as it’s quite a lot of kids! I met the kids at the downtown center, so the three of us had to travel an hour to get down there, and the kids were waiting on the steps outside of the center. When they saw us walking up they started screaming, making a huge scene and ran towards us. It was priceless. You should have seen the looks on the faces of the people walking by. We gathered up all the kids, walked 10 minutes to another bus station, and hopped on a bus where the kids sang church songs the whole way – so hilarious. Good thing there weren’t many people on the bus with us. We got the park with no problems, and got our tickets (I was able to get a discount because of the fact that they were center kids! I had to do the Ecua whine a little bit, explaining how these kids never get this opportunity and how I was a volunteer… and finally he caved. Haha) We then of course had to rent some tubes for the real little kids because they were petrified. And get this – we rented swimming suits! Yes, you can rent a swimming suit for $1… cracks me up. A lot of the kids didn’t have suits so it works out really well that we’re able to do that! We weren’t in the pool for very long by the time we got there and had to get out to eat lunch and leave, but it wasn’t very sunny and actually pretty chilly so it worked out alright I think. What little time they had there they really enjoyed. Most were scared shitless of the slide but once they did it, didn’t want to stop! The boys and girls played really well together, I was very pleased with that. Once we got them all changed (they took forever because they all wanted to shower, there was actually warm water there which they hardly ever get!), we sat under a tree in the park there next to the pool and had lunch – ham and cheese sandwiches, potato chips, apples. Then it was time to get them back. It was a pretty tiring trip but fun, the kids loved it.

Right after we got back from the fieldtrip to the pool we hurried off to a bar downtown to watch the US play England in the World Cup! The World Cup here is REALLY important, everyone is constantly watching or listening to the games. I can’t even imagine if Ecuador was in the Cup. All of us went down there to watch the game, which was fun. Then right after that I went to a soccer game here in Quito, Liga vs. Deportivo Quito which was a pretty big game since they’re both Quito teams. Liga has the stadium a few blocks from my house so we are fans and go to as many games as we can. It was fun, but a busy long day!

So those are the main things I’m doing for the end of the year, a few more things like taking some students out for dinner and such, but it’s hard to believe we have 2 weeks left of school left! And the very last one doesn’t really count in my eyes. I’ll take the kids to the park, hang out…. Not do a whole lot. We’ve been watching the World Cup quite a bit – we all skipped class Friday morning to watch the second US game. It was a blast, we all watched it here in the house and someone had found small US flags so we were screaming and going crazy, waving those flags. We got robbed that game, I tell you… should have won. But we’ve been getting into it which is fun, being all from the US and here in Ecuador we’ve never had so much pride for our country! It’s been a blast though with the World Cup.

Had a meeting this morning for the summer games that take place here in the month of July, which I’m excited for. I’m really ready for classes to be done but looking forward to a month of hanging out with the kids and not having to actually teach. So hard to believe I’m coming home in a month and a half!

Awesome weekend with the families!

2010-05-31T21:25:00.004-05:00

Hi all,

So I want to apologize for not being that great at updating this year... but I'm trying. So I wanted to write about a really great weekend that I just had! It was pretty tiring, but it was well worth it, I truly enjoyed myself.

Saturday I went to a baptism in the afternoon. I actually became a godmother! It was kind of funny how it happened, I was invited to the baptism of the son of a student of mine, not thinking too much of it because I went to the baptisms of her other children... but this time I was told that they wanted me to be the godmother... I tried to protest because I am leaving the country, bla bla bla but somehow I ended up saying yes. My now godson, Cesar Adrian is actually a student of mine as well in my English class. I know the family really well, throughout the year I've grown to know the mother and all her kids very well. My friend Billy ended up being the godfather, as he joined us that night. Billy was a volunteer last year, and was in town the past couple of weeks visiting.

The ceremony was pretty normal, Cesar was pretty cute. Bored, kept asking me if it was over already, haha. He's a pretty average 10 year old boy. My gift to him as a godmother was a new outfit that he BADLY needed, so he was wearing new pants, a new nice collared white shirt, dress socks without holes (that's a big deal for these kids)... he looked so adorable.

After the ceremony we walked down the street and bought some rotissarie chickens to take to the house to have for dinner and then went to wait for the bus. We ended up having to wait over 30 minutes for the bus, and it was freezing outside! Billy and I just played with the two little boys, 4 and 5 years old, who had more energy than I thought was possible, haha. After we finally got on the bus, Billy and I got one of the boys each on our laps and they fell asleep immediately, it was cute. The bus ride to their house is a little over an hour, which means I was over 2 hours from my house! It's amazing how huge the city of Quito is. We took the bus as high up the mountain it would go, and once we got off we had to walk uphill another 20 minuntes or so. In order to enter the small yard area to their house we had to crawl under a barbed wire fence, I kid you not. The kids laughed hysterically as they easily crawled under and of course my big self got caught... having to crawl in the mud to get under the fence I now have a new understanding of why they show up all dirty. We got to the house, or room rather I'd say.

Their house is one of the worst I've seen of the families of the center. I'm sure there is worse, but this one was pretty simple. Just one room, about the size of my room here in the center. There are 9 people living there, in this small room, with 3 beds. There is no running water in the house, although they do have a tap outside of the house. One small propane stove in the corner, a small shelf with very few dishes. The bathroom is like an outdoor outhouse, with a small curtain around it, just a toilet in the ground... no flush just have to pour water down. There are pigs and chickens all around the house, and about 5 stray dogs.

We got to the house and just sat around talking, playing with the kids while the mom, Piedad, prepared the rest of dinner (aka rice). The kids were all excited to have Billy and I there; Mauricio-4 years old, Juan David-5 years old, Cesar-10 years old, Widinson-11 years old, Veronica-14 years old, and Mercy-16 years old. She has 4 other kids that are older that I don't know, but these 6 are in the center. We ate dinner, the chicken we bought, a pasta salad I made earlier that day, and rice. They made some coffee to drink because it is so darn cold up there on the mountainside. They of course as usual gave me about double the amount of food that I'm able to eat, and I was the last one to finish as I painfully managed to finish the plate, not wanting to waste food but unable to tell them I want less -- they're not very good about taking no for an answer.

After we ate, we sat around talking, sharing a few beers. The kids eventually fell asleep and I was amazed how they slept in that same room while we talked, laughed. WE had a great time. Piedad, her ex-husband (who is not in the picture at all, she is raising these 10 kids on her own. The ex was around only because of the baptism), me, Billy, and a few friends of the family... we really laughed a lot. They were very curious about our lives in the States, how we ended up in Quito, etc. We ended up staying up super late, I was so tired! I couldn't believe how they cram the kids in one bed, but I guess they do what they have to do. I ended up having a bed, and slept better than I thought I would-- mainly due to complete exhaustion, haha.

We all ended up sleeping until 10am, when the kids from another family came and woke us up. The Espinoza family lives in the same neighborhood, and we had plans to spend Sunday with them. Adam, Cinthya and Joe were at their house already, so we got up and left right away, with some of the Chela kids (whose house I stayed at), to walk 15 minutes to the other house. We went to my adult student Teresa's house, with her husband and 5 kids. I teach her daughter, Nallely-8 years old (I've taught her for 2 years now), and she has 4 sons: Adonis-3 years old, Kevin-4 years old, Sairi-9 years old, and Cheyan-12 years old. Teresa has been trying to get me over to her house for a day forever and it worked out perfectly with the baptism and them living in the same neighborhood! There were some neighbors there as well, when we got there they had the food ready, music going, dancing already.

We had a fun time, ate fritada (fried pork), potatoes, pasta salad I made, and choclo (corn). Cake to celebrate late for Teresa's birthday. We spent the morning and early afternoon dancing with the kids. We really had a great time! We left kind of early, as we had over 2 hours to travel home... I got home mid afternoon and was so tired! But like I said, it was well worth it.

So I spent a full 24 hours away from the house, left Sat afternoon and got home Sun afternoon. Got to spent some really good quality time with two families I'm really close with, both families I've been wanting to spend an afternoon with but hasn't worked out until this past weekend. It always takes a bit of planning because their houses are so far away! Staying overnight at a family's house was a first for me, and a good experience. I have a new understanding of how they live. Normally we just go and leave after a few hours, but I was there-- I never changed my clothes, brushed my teeth, washed my hands, took out my contacts... Just went to bed as I was, woke up as I was, and left the house. Let's say I enjoyed the shower I took when I got back to my room yesterday afternoon. It was a great weekend, one that I really had been looking forward too and really needed, some great time with these amazing people. I love spending time with the families and am so grateful they are so kind and welcome me into their homes to share a meal, spend some time. It's one of my favorite things to do on a weekend.

Things here are rapidly coming to an end. I can't believe tomorrow is June 1st already! We have a month left of classes, and then I have another month of summer games here at the center. I'm sad that it's coming to an end but I think I'm really getting ready to be home, be with my friends and family, and live in the US again. As much as I love it here, it's not the same, and I'm done being so far away from everyone. I want to be able to talk to people when I want to, see them when I want to, and make some money! I'm obviously sad about leaving these people but with each week that passes I realize more and more that I think when it comes time I'll be ready to be back in the States.

I'll keep you updated with things going on here in the end of the year, I can plan out the end of the year which is crazy, trying to fit in fieldtrips with all my classes, visit with families is a full time job! But it's been great. There have already been tears by some of the mothers here in the Center about me leaving, I can't imagine what it will be like when I actually leave! I'm going to be giving out our phone number, so Mom and Dad be ready to hear some spanish on the other end looking for me until I get a cell phone of my own! haha

Keep in touch, I know I'm not always great at emailing back but I always do my best!

I send my love, missing you all greatly. Only a few more months and I'll be back in Wisconsin! Can you believe 2 years have almost passed already? Oh how time has flown by.

Adriana

A big thank you to my Mom...

2010-05-05T15:15:00.002-05:00

I had a great afternoon, I just had to share.

So many times my 1st course students (same as 7th graders) can drive me nuts -- no offense to any 12 or 13 year old girls out there, but they can me darn difficult to deal with sometimes! Especially now as we approach the end of the year, they are less innocent, less sweet... the older kids are corrupting them. But today was perfect. It was Liliana's birthday, which I completely forgot. Oops... Normally I'm pretty good at remembering their birthdays, and I bring them a piece of cake or something from the bakery. But I just totally forgot. So I reviewed the homework they had due, then we all went to the bakery to celebrate her birthday, it was cute. But the best part of the day was that I was able to bring in a bag of clothes without them noticing. Before we went to the bakery, I gave them all a number, one for each girl, and didn't tell them what it was for. I gave Liliana number 1 since it is her birthday. Then I told them I had a surprise... they were all in suspense. I pulled out the bag I had hidden and they all squeeled with delight. I had nine shirts or little sweaters and then they all picked one out in order of their numbers. They were SO excited, which was so refreshing to see. Girls in our highschool LOVE clothes (as with any girl this age), and because of their economical situation they don't get many new clothes or clothes at all... so this was pretty cool for them. It felt good to be able to give them something they were so excited about! I also had a brand new pair of socks for them, which they were just as excited about... thanks to Mom.

Which brings me to the title of this blog... my mom. She deserves a huge thank you, as she worked hard before coming to visit to fill an entier suitcase of socks and underwear which this week I have been busy handing out. I've been able to give each of my students at least something new either a pair of underwear or socks... all so excited about it. My girls yesterday were rubbing the socks to their face in shock at how soft they were... priceless. The cute little girl underwear is a big deal too, some of it was too big but they informed me that they were going to hide it until it fit so that their older sisters wouldn't wear it. I've also been able to give to a few families the stuff that I didn't think would fit my students. A bunch of little boys underwear for a family with multiple sons, and little girl underwear that are pink, purlple greens for a family of all girls. It's fun to pick out the families and students for this stuff because NEW stuff is hard to come by. They get enough hand-me-downs from donations... but new new clothes, underwear, socks... pretty awesome. I'm so grateful for Mom for being such a good shopper at Kohl's (Department Store, right Godmamma!?) and bringing that all down to Quito with her for me to be able to hand out. She did a great job finding the perfect stuff for these kids, they love it.

So to my Mother... thanks for all your hard work shopping, and of course to my Dad for helping haul the suitcases down to Quito with the two of them! I'm pretty lucky to have those two, they've kept all those donations in their basement for over a year now just waiting to be able to bring it down here. And of course to all of you who donated clothes... thanks! You are bring joy to these people down here, who need these clothes more than you could imagine.

On another note, my favorite little boy, Dennis, who just turned 2 years old is now finally saying my name. I can't tell you how much joy it brings me when I hear him scream my name across the patio. It's a messed up form of Adriana, but it's audible anyway! I'm in love with that little boy, I've known him since he was just 3 months old, and am very close with that whole family, especially the Mom, yolanda. This was the family that I brought Mom and Dad to their house when they were in town last month.

Two months of classes left... scary. I'm starting to be able to plan for pretty much the end of the year which is weird that we're that close that I have enough material planned for the end! My students never cease to surprise me, make me laugh, smile, and sometimes angry of course... but I love them more than words can express. I'm trying to really appreciate and get the most out of these last 3 months at the Center. Can't believe I've almost been here 2 years! I'm in love with these people, they are so good to me. Multiple Moms have started to cry when we start talking about August 4th, the day I leave. I'm truly enjoying my roommates and co-workers too, spending some quality time with all of them. A few Ecuadorian co-workers we have spent time with have been awesome. My fellow volunteers, love them so much.

I'm off to la Marin, the downtown center now to go teach English to the boys. I'm handing out socks to the boys tonight which I'm sure will be funny. They really need socks badly, you should see the wholy mess they wear every day!

So thanks to everyone who was involved in the donations, to Mom and Dad for dragging it all down here, and especially to my Mom who did the shopping and picking everything out. I know I'm missing another MOther's Day, but I hope my Mom knows how much I love her, how much I miss her, how much I appreciate all she's down for me while being down here the past two years and how important she is to me in general. I'm pretty lucky to have such a great Mom, no?

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mothers out there... As children sometimes we're not the best at telling you, but we love you a lot!

3 months from yesterday I'll be in the States, hope ya'll are ready for bear hugs when I get back! Waunakee, here I come!

3 of 'em Raemischs

2010-04-30T07:40:00.000-05:00

Hi ya'll... So I wrote this originaly when Mom and Dad were here, they helped me, and my job was to finish it when they left. WELL... that didn't exactly happen right away due to the fact that I've been busy with other visitors. So I'm sorry for how long it has taken me to finish!

Mom and Dad arrived Saturday evening with no problems. Luckily their beautiful daughter was waiting for them in the airport, although I was given the wrong flight information. Mom accidentally gave me the flight itinerary from last year... isn't quite helpful to know when they arrived this year! Through talking with Natalie and process of elimination I guessed the correct flight... thank goodness.

Easter Sunday morning we went to the "gringo mass", which is a Catholic mass in English given by Padre Juan himself. We rode in with Madre and Padre which was pretty entertaining. After mass we went out for lunch with a former student of mine, Andrea (future blog will explain more on her). We went to the mall to a restaurant there, and were able to hear as soccer fans watched one of the biggest rivalries go down on tv. Many people went to the mall to watch in the food court since the game was on cable and they don't have cable at home! It was funny to listen to all the shouting and screams. Sunday afternoon we had a great dinner at the house made by Madre Cindy.

Monday morning we packed a picnic lunch and headed off to a big park here in Quito with 5 of my colegio girls, all 12 or 13 years old. We walked around the park awhile, which was surprisingly quite entertaining for them. Then we rented paddle boats and let them go wild in the little pond/river they have in the middle of the park.. they were pretty excited about it. Then we found a nice shaddy spot on the park and laid out a blanket for lunch. We played cards and jump rope a little bit, before heading back home. Monday evening Mom and Dad took me to a nice restaurant and bought me a steak dinner... I was in heaven.

Tuesday morning we woke up early and headed to the airport to catch a flight to Lago Agrio, en route to the Jungle trip we had planned. Once we were picked up from the airport, we had a 2 hour bus ride to the entrance of the reserve, then another 2 hour canoe ride to the lodge we stayed at. Right off the bat on our canoe ride in we were able to see some animals... we also got a sneak peak into what the rest of the week would look like -- RAIN!

Although we spent the next 4 days in rain for about 90% of the time, the 3 of us had a great time exploring the Amazon Jungle together. Some highlights were shining caimens for Dad (a little different from the norm of shining deer), a 3 hour hike in the forest for Mom, and relaxing in the hammocks for Audrey. Dad and I swam in the Amazonian River, Mom didn't join because she was convinced it was the same place we had just fished for piranas, but she enjoyed the sunset that we saw the one night it wasn't cloudy! Food was great, no major bug bites reported, and met some really fun people. The only "down side" to the trip was being wet and muddy the entire time, but we learned after the first day that we didn't even mind that! We got great laughs as we tried to walk across a wet log in the forest and after failing, dumping a gallon of water out of our boots. We got sore butts from sitting in the canoe often, but were able to see many snakes, spiders, monkeys and birds as we went up and down the Cuyabeno River.

Friday night we got home from the Jungle with no problems, to a much quieter house than last year. Maybe because it was lacking the Ballwegs and Jill... hmmm...

Saturday was Denis's 2nd birthday party. The three of us were invited to a family from the downtown center's home for the day. We stopped and bought a birthday cake, and brought some other food and gifts for each of the 5 kids (a little more for the birthday boy) as well as the Mom and Dad of the family. The kids were all at the house waiting for us, pretty excited about the visit. After spending some time playing with the kids and chatting with the parents, Mom, Yolanda (the Mom of the famiy) and I went to a local food market to buy some chickens for our lunch. It was quite the experience for Mom... it is a typical South American open air market that is complete chaos. We had a small hike back up the hill to get back to their house -- don't worry, Mom counted the steps we went up -- 140 to be exact. Yolanda prepared us lunch, using the cooked chicken we bought, rice, some egg salad that we brought with us, and an avacado salad with lime and salt. After lunch we had cake time, the birthday boy sat in the corner by himself with cake on his face eating heartily. Then we handed out the gifts which were all in individual gift bags... that was a pretty big deal for them to get their own bag like that. They were pretty excited about their new clothes we had given them (and the tooth brushes- thanks Dr. Paul). Then there was dancing... wish I had taken a video of Mom and Dad attempting to dance to the national music, so funny. Mom looked like she was doing an aerobic video, she actually said - "What? I'm working off my cake!". Dad had fun dancing with Evelyn and Anderson, who were shy as ever but I think they really enjoyed that Dad took her and was dancing around.

Mom and Dad were really grateful for the experience, because now they feel they have a better understanding of the daily life of the people I work with every day. They were surprised at the standards of the house, not realizing the simplicity in which our families of the Center live.

Sunday morning we headed off for Otavalo, a city about 2 hours away that has a big market with jewelery, clothes, pottery and other artesan goods. We felt completely at home after a week in the Amazonian rain, as about an hour into our shopping it started to downpoor, and we stood and watched it under the safety of overhang for over 25 minutes. I braved the rain a little bit, immediately regretting the decision as I came back with a new sweater, but with soaking wet pants and shoes. Such is the rainy season in Ecuador. The bus ride to and from the city of Otavalo has beautiful views of the countryside, and we had the added excitement of our bus driver getting pulled over by the police on the way home! Oh Ecuador.

Monday morning we had a nice breakfast in our bakery which is part of the Center, and then we sent Dad off to keep himself busy (joke of the week was, "what are going to do with Dad when we ______", knowing that many things Mom and I did wouldn't appeal to him...). Mom and I got manicure and pedicures downstairs in the beauty salon that is a part of the Center as well. While Mom and I got beautified, Dad was working hard on his new found hobby of the vacation: SUDOKU. He's determined to become a Sudoku master... hasn't quite got the hang of it quite yet, but maybe after a few hours in the Miami airport on the way home he'll graduate to medium level puzzles. Check in with him in a few weeks for his progress. After lunch downtown we went to the Artisan market in Quito to finish shopping, also stopping at the movie store to stock up on cheap movies to bring home. (We may have found something for my big sister too!) Monday night was relaxed, as Tuesday morning I had to go back to work!

Tuesday was great for me... Mom and Dad could finally understand what a "day in the life of Audrey" is like. For me it was the most important part of their entire vacation, which is why I asked them to specifically stay until Wednesday to make sure they saw some of my classes. I can talk about my classes until I'm blue in the face, but hopefully now they understand a little better about what I'm talking about! A lot of the day they didn't understand exactly what was going on, due to the language barrier. The majority of my day includes no English, and the few English classes I have are in mainly Spanish with random English vocabulary thrown in there.

So on Tuesday they saw Special Education, which they did see last year. Mom sat with Armando (achhooo!!!) again, I think she enjoyed that. Language barrier a challenge, but I managed to translate a little for them. After that I have a Human Relations class in the Sales department, which is also all Spanish... Mom and Dad didn't really understand of course, but the topic was communication so Mom picked up on a few words here and there. The girls I teach all really enjoyed meeting my parents, they were cute. Of course I made them practice their English a little bit, I was surprised they were pretty good! I never speak English with them so I had no idea, I think they did quite well with them, practicing the basic questions.

After that, we left at 11am to head downtown close to the other center to have some lunch before going to classes in the afternoon. It was of course pouring (story of our vacation) so we walked quickly to the restaurant but still ended up soaked... worth it though, we had a great lunch! After lunch, Dad and I were lucky enough to accompany mother to go fabric shopping! Haha, we were able to find quite a few stores within the same sector which was perfect for mom, she went through looking and touching all the fabrics. Just as I remember her doing my entire life, it was cute. She found two pieces, one to make a shirt for Dad (so he got something out of it!), and something to make a jacket for herself. I think she was pleased with her purchases!

So my Tuesday afternoon classes, were fun with Mom and Dad there. At 2pm I have girls English, a mixture of 10 girls from 2nd to 6th grade. They are an adorable group, I was worried about the big age difference at first but they all get along really well. It was the first day of a new unit so I had them draw pictures of all the vocabulary words to practice using in a game later in the unit. Mom and Dad of course got them to practice some of their English, asking and answering the main questions the girls know, like "What is your name?", "How old are you?", "How many brothers and sisters do you have?". They were cute, pretty excited about meeting them, as I had been talking about it for weeks. After English I have Girls Program, which is the work program for the elementary age girls they have three afternoons a week. We make products for them to sell, the proceeds go to the girls themselves. This day we made our specialty - empanadas! Empanadas are a fried pastries with fillings - usually cheese, meat, etc. We make them with cheese and onions- so tasty! Dad observed, while Mom got right in there and was rolling the dough and helping the girls out! It was cute. And during this same time the daycare kids come up to the kitchen where we work for their afternoon snack, so Mom and Dad got to see Denis, my favorite little man. (Went to his family's house on Saturday) It was cute. At 5pm I have my adults class, I'm teaching them computers. So Mom and Dad sat with me while we worked on Microsoft Word with the ladies. At 6:45pm I have study hall with high school girls, which of course there wasn't much for Mom and Dad to do, without speaking Spanish. My girls didn't have anything to do being the first day back from vacation so we let them go, and we just went out and played with some kids!

They took the center's bus home with me, like I do every day leaving at about 8pm, arriving home between 8:30 and 8:45pm. We had dinner, and then I had my weekly meeting with the other volunteers so Mom and Dad went to bed and then the next morning we woke up and I had to get them in a taxi to go to the airport!

All in all, it was amazing as it was last year to have my parents in town. It's so special for me to be able to share, if only a week, what life I'm living so differently and far away from WI. This year they got to see some of my classes which was fun, and meet more of my students. Also meet more of the families and see how they live, which I think was good for them. It was really important that they see that side of my life here, as it's the reason I'm still here. Mom and Dad have been my biggest cheer leaders in my journey down here, I wouldn't be here without them. I'm glad I was able to spend at least 10 short days with them, show them more about my life and take them to the jungle, haha. I feel bad that I was already kind of tired and sick from my previous 2 groups of visitors (I had visitors for almost 2 months straight...), but I hope that I showed them a good time.

I'll hopefully write more soon... I'm a little less busy now, I'm in the first week of no visitors so I've spent this entire week SLEEPING! It has been great. This weekend I have nothing planned, so hopefully I'll get some internet time in, catch up with my roommates, and watch movies in bed - that's my plan anyway!

I have just over 3 months left in this country, and I'm starting to freak out a little bit... it's going too fast. Only 2 months of classes, well actually probably a month and a half. My oldest students that are graduating this year only have like 2 weeks left of actual classes - found that out last night. So crazy how fast this second year went. Bear with me as my journey comes to an end, I might go crazy, who knows. I'll probably cry a lot, that's for sure.

Much love from Quito,
Aud

Visitors, visitors and more visitors...

2010-04-12T15:35:00.004-05:00

I have been a busy girl. A lucky and loved girl, but a busy one.

March 17th started the madness! Katie Stalberger, a great friend and former roommate at UWM arrived. She had a short but sweet trip here. We didn't get to do all that we had planned on, but we had a lot of fun and it was so nice to be with her again. It was the most time we had spent together in a few years since I've been here! I forgot how much fun I have with here and it was so nice to have Katie around!

Katie left on a Monday morning, and Friday night Jenny Behrens came into town. So I have a few days there to rest up before the rest of my visitors came! Jenny came in Friday night like I mentioned, from Spain. She is a friend of mine that I studied abroad with in Spain 5 years ago. She is living in Spain now, teaching English. Saturday night Abby Olson and Sarah Swoboda came into town, also friends of mine from study abraod. The 4 of us are rarely together so we were all pretty excited about it. We spent most of the week here in Quito as I had to work, although we were able to go to Mindo for a few days before Swo had to leave back to the States. Jenny and Abby stayed a little bit longer, but as my Parents got here they went to the beach while we went to the jungle. All in all it was amazing to have the 3 of them here... I should also mention that Abby and Jenny are former volunteers so they were also here to visit former students, be back at the Center. Sarah has never been here but it was so nice for her to finally see this place that the 3 of us have been talking about for years! She now understands better what we have done here, what I'm still doing.

Then Mom and Dad got here, there will be a separate blog for that...

All in all it has been so nice to have everyone here, although it has worn me out! Tomorrow I go back to work, hoping that the kids are too crazy after all this time off of school!

As much as I have loved having everyone here, I am looking forward to some normalcy here at the Center after going going going for the past however many weeks. I forgot how much I need that schedule.

Anyway, hope to write again soon. Much love.

Life

2010-03-22T07:40:00.003-05:00

Well, things are going well here... not a whole lot to write about. Things are going well, nothing horribly new.

My good college friend and roommate for 2 years, Katie Salberger was just here for 5 days. It was a short but great time with her, some much needed Katie-Audrey time! We didn't do a whole lot, spent a lot of time just hanging out downtown, getting lunch, shopping at the market. We did take a salsa dancing lesson which was a lot of fun! Something I've never done before, and I knew Katie would like because she loves to dance and had never done it before! I learned some new moves and we went on on Saturday night to try them out.

We were also having a goodbye outing for Cassie, another UWM graduate! Cass was here for 5 weeks to help out, get to know the Center. Looks like she might be returning next year to volunteer for a year too! We had a blast with Cass around, we're sad to see her leave. And it was nice to have another UW-Milwaukee girl around, no one from UWM ever comes here!

Classes are going really well, I'm enjoying my time with all my students. They never fail to make me laugh hysterically each and every day. My relationships continue to grow with the families. I haven't had any fun outings with them lately because I've been busy with other things, but after all my visitors come and go I plan to spend more of my weekend time with them. It's amazing to watch all the babies grow, some of them are starting to talk now! My little Denis is chatting up a storm these days, although half the time I can't understand him. Baby talk in another language, not the easiest thing to understand! But I'm loving it. The daycare center has a snack time every day at 4pm and three days a week I'm in the kitchen for Girls Program and so I always get to say hi and squeeze all the kids. Such a great part of my day. My adults are making such great progress on the computers! I'm working on teaching them to type using the "home row" although they get angry about it, they'd rather peck at the keys. And one of my students, Piedad, is missing the tip of her pointer finger so she always gives me shit and tells me she can't use the home row properly because she's missing a finger, it's so funny. They just like to give me a hard time, they are good to me, love me a lot. My colegio girls are giving me hell as usual, they're all turning 13 which in my opinion is a pretty darn awkward and awful age... but I still love them to pieces. My first graders are cuter than ever, they're really starting to get the concept of learning English! Still can't sit in their seats but that doesn't bother me.

Things in the house are going really well, we're all getting along still! Better than ever actually. I feel like we're continuing to make great friendships within the volunteer community. We're lucky to have eachother, we're the only ones who really understand eachother and the daily problems and stresses we have. So it's nice to have an outlet in eachother.

Sorry I don't have much else to say about life in Quito... things are going better than ever. I love it here, and continue to feel blessed with the ability to have stayed here for a second year. Time is going too quickly and I'm not happy about that, but I'm trying not to worry or stress about it. Trying to focus on being here now and worry about being in the States when I'm in the States. Doesn't help that everyone here keeps reminding me about it though...

Abby, Jenny, and Sarah are coming this weekend which I'm really excited about! They're three girls I studied abroad with in Spain 5 years ago (did I really study abroad that long ago? Man I'm getting old...). Abby and Jenny have both been volunteers here so they're excited to get back and visit the people of the Center as well as me! Sarah has never been here so it will be fun for her to see the Center and Quito for the first time. I'm so lucky with all my visitors! First Kates, now the three of them, and in another week and a half my parents will be here! I really am one lucky girl. Makes me feel loved.

Alright, time to heat up some leftover lasagna and take a nap before my afternoon class. Trying to rest up as much as I can so I'm not too tired when the three girls get here! I've work hard all week so far lesson planning my butt off to have everything done for next week so I can just enjoy my time with the girls.

Miss you all a lot. Take care, enjoy the Spring coming... I miss the seasons.

Much love from QUITO,
Adriana

Thanks to the WHS Student Council!

2010-03-08T21:36:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone, happy March.

Just wanted to give a quick thanks to the Waunakee High School Student Council for their hard work fundraising for the Working Boys' Center! It's much appreciated and I'm honored that you thought of me and the WBC after hearing me speak at St. John's this past summer.

As a graduate of WHS and former member of the Student Council, I'm so proud! Keep up the good work!

On my side here in Quito, it's a fun week. My birthday is on Thursday so I'm throwing myself many parties in class (my students don't have money to throw me a party and well, it's a darn good excuse to have some cake and soda!) and going to enjoy turning 25! I'm getting a lot of crap for being so "old" but I'm 25 and proud!

Sending my love back to the States, hoping it's looking more like Spring!
Audrey

Computer!

2010-02-27T12:29:00.002-05:00

Hi ya'll...
Just wanted to say that things here are going well. I'm keeping busy as usual. I got my computer back yesterday, thanks to Taylor's brother and parents. Internet isn't working in the house right now, which is annoying, but hopefully that gets fixed soon.

So I don't have much new to share, I'll write again when I know more.

Love,
Adri

¨Valentine´s day¨

2010-02-12T12:29:00.002-05:00

I put those words in quotations because I never celebrate Valentine´s Day, and frankly I think it´s stupid. But it´s an excuse to hang out with the kids and take a day off of teaching. So this morning for my 8am girls english class, where I have 7 first and second graders, we hung out and it was great! I bought them each a big heart shaped sugar cooking and a small bag of drinkable yogurt, you would have thought I given them a pound of gold at how excited they were. THat´s why I love the little ones, they are so content with whatever you give them! And so grateful, they were darn adorable, I tell you. I also gave them these heart decorated pencils, they also acted like it was the coolest thing they´d ever seen! Then we went outside and I gave them free range to play in the park here at the Center. They had a blast, we went on the see-saw... all seven of them on one side and me on the other, it was hilarious. These are all the tiniest lightest girls on the planet. They were screaming and laughing like crazy. And basically we just ran around, I pushed them on the swings, help them learn how to do the monkey bars, etc. It was a good morning.

This afternoon we´re going to have some fun too! Abby and Sarah sent me a Valentine´s package and in it was a package of 10 make your own candy necklaces! I´m super excited, I´m going to do that with my girls English class this afternoon downtown. They´ll love it. I have 10 students exactly, so it worked out perfect. I have some pencils for them too, which I´m sure they´ll love. Then in girls program this afternoon I think we´re going to watch a movie and hang out, some of my favorite times with the girls.

As much as I hate V-Day, they girls are all about celebrating it. THey call it Day of Love and Friendship here... so we MUST celebrate it, as they say. Because we love eachother and we´re friends, right? So cute those kids. And I like to spoil them when I can, because they get so excited about things like this, something so small as watching a movie on a Friday afternoon.

Tonight at 11pm I leave for the beach... You have no idea how ready I am for a 4 day weekend on the Coast away from the kids and the noise and everything! As much as I love it here, small vacations are absolutely necessary from time to time. And thank goodness traveling on the coast is fairly cheap so it doesn´t have to break the bank too much! This weekend is a holiday so it´s slightly more expensive, but worth getting out of Quito for a few days! I´m heading out with a bunch of other volunteers, I´m pretty excited about it.

Hope all is well back home, I better get downtown to la Marin! Love and miss you all, think of you all often. Can´t wait for my visitors!!!

Love,
AR

Soto family birthday party

2010-02-12T12:20:00.002-05:00

On Sunday I spent all day with the Soto family, and haven´t had so much fun in a long, long time. Joe, Laura and I met two of the Soto kids at the Center (although it is closed on Sundays, they waited for us on the steps out front to take us to the house) at 10am, which means we left the house at 9am to get to la Marin which is the downtown center about an hour away from our house in Cotocollao. They were having a joint birthday party for three of the kids at the uncle´s house because his house is much bigger than their own. This house we went to was over an hour south of la Marin, so we´re talking over 2 hours from our house… and we´re still in Quito. This city is huge, let me tell you.

The Soto family is one of the crazy, but lovable ones at the Center. The father was around last year, but due to some issues he is no longer allowed to be in the Center and from what I understand isn´t helping with the family much for that matter. So it´s just the mom, Narcisa Calderón, and her 7 kids: Gabriela- 19 years old, Jaqueline- 15 years old, Hitler- 13 years old, Tatiana- 11 years old, Jefferson- 9 years old, Gretty- 7 years old, and Cassandra- 5 years old. Yes, you read that right… the kids´s name is Hitler. He has another name, but informed me that he prefers Hitler. Love it. The mom works in the toy shop here at the Center, making toys to sell in our furniture shop. So at least she has a good job, which you can´t say for many of the Center parents.

So when we got there a little after 11am, there was already a bunch of people there, the aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors. There was also another Center family there, the Tobanda mom and two of the kids- Silvia and Tania. They had three little cakes on the table for the three cumpleañeras Jaqueline turning 15, Gretty turning 7, and Cassandra turning 5. I immediately brought out the goodies I brought – with house visits to the Center families we always try to bring something to play with or to entertain… they can always entertain themselves and us for that matter, but we like to bring them something they wouldn´t have otherwise if we hadn´t come. So I brought out crazy straws to use later on in the day – they thought they were just great! Also I had a ton of little sticky gems and temporary tatoos. Boy were they a hit. The girls were putting little gems all over their faces, they all took turns putting on tatoos, even the boys. They loved it. It was a good activity that took up awhile as well, keeping them all smiles for quite some time.

Then it came time to start up the charcoal grill, that none of them really knew how to do it. So I jumped in and tried to help. Me, two of the aunts, Narcisa (the Soto mom), and the Tobanda mom were working on this for awhile, laughing hysterically. They were convinced that you could light the charcoal with only a candle. I thought otherwise and was trying to use newspaper and stuff. It was super windy and I got no where. Joe came up and told us all to back off and he was going to do it… which made all the women laugh. He did get it lit eventually, with our help or course, and for the record he didn´t do anything much different than what I was doing. We would have gotten it… eventually!

While the moms work on cooking the meat up, finishing up the rest of the food, we all went inside for these birthday games. As I did for Erika Maygua´s birthday party a few months ago, they pop balloons and you have to do whatever the little slip of paper says inside. At Erika´s birthday party I ended up dancing with her dad due to this game. This time it was a little less embarassing. They did have one that said ¨Adriana and José must dance together¨ which made them all laugh. Joe refused so I got out of it too!
Then we all ate. Tons of food. We had a big bowl of soup first (there were all sorts of random pieces of meat that I didnt´know what they were and a chicken foot in mine… I immediately gave them away to some other kid. I almost threw up when I tried to stir my soup to cool it down, looking at the chicken foot. I tried to deal with it, but apparently my line draws at chicken feet in my soup!), followed by a plate of rice, a tomato/onion/lime salad, a few pieces of meat, and a fried banana. So much food, but SO GOOD!

After we ate, things started to get crazy. The kids all started to play CARNAVAL, which means soaking eachother. Carnaval, which is their version of martigra, is this weekend, which is why we don´t have school on Monday or Tuesday (like fat Tuesday). Here, they celebrate by throwing eggs and flour, then water at eachother, spraying foam and silly string…. it´s pretty funny. Well this day, we just had water, and a lot of it. THey were finding ANYTHING they could find to fill with water and we chased eachother around the whole neigborhood to soak with water. I tried to stay out of it, which didn´t last for very long. It was a super hot day ALL DAY… of course until we started to play it was cloudy and pretty cool. Ok we´re talking only like 50 degrees but when you´re wet it´s cold! So I retreated to the house after awhile, although we were having a blast getting the kids wet, them getting us wet. From the house, us three volunteers- Joe, Laura and I- waited for the kids to stand near the window or front door and then we would douse them with a bucket of water from inside the house, shutting the door quickly so they couldn´t retaliate! It was hilarious. They were getting so mad. :o)

After awhile, we realized that it was already almost 5am and we had a long ride home… wet and cold of course… so we decided to leave. The whole Soto family decided to leave with us, as they live right by the marin center. So we all walked down the street to wait for the bus. Turns out we had to wait close to 30 minutes becuase no bus showed up! I was pretty cold, the sun had gone down, it was windy, and my pants were soaking wet. AT least I had taken off my shirt and put on my jacket which was dry. That helped. The kids were all freezing, as they didn´t have any other clothes with them. So the Mom, being a Mom, was digging in her bag trying to find as many articles of clothing that the kids could possibly put on for something dry. She managed to get the two younger girls, Gretty and Cassandra, taken care of. Jaqueline put on a new birthday outfit she had been given. But the two boys, Jefferson and Hitler were FREEZING. Laura lent her jacket to Hitler because she had a pretty dry tshirt on, but Jefferson was a hurting puppy. So then, we convinced him to do the funniest thing: he took of his soaking wet baggy jeans, and put on a pair of thicker girls tights that belong to Gretty. Then as a skirt of sorts, he wrapped a pink longsleeved shirt around his waist, and to top it off he threw on a girls shirt that was about 5 sizes too small. The end result had us all in tears laughing, especially the Mom. She couldn´t stop giggling it was great. Jefferson was embarassed but we reminded him that looking goofy was better than freezing to death. He agreed.

The bus finally came and we all piled in. Joe and I blackmailed Jefferson, saying that if he didn´t behave in class we´d tell all of the boys at school about his girly outfit. He was quick to say that he´d try his best (he´s usually a trouble maker in class). All of the kids fell asleep quickly, they were tired. Jefferson, who usually tries to be so tough, fell asleep on me, and was so adorable and peaceful. It was a little over an hour to la Marin, where we got another bus which was another hour home. We got home at 7:45pm, after a long but great day. We also managed to miss the entire Super Bowl, but none of us minded, we had so much fun in what we did.

So yeah, that´s another good day with the people - I continue to enjoy myself more and more as I spend time with them on the weekends. It ends up being quite time and energy consuming, but WORTH IT!

Sending much love.
Audi

I was attacked in beauty school!

2010-02-12T12:19:00.000-05:00

So last Friday, the funniest thing happened to me. I have a bunch of students in my study hall that I also taught last year in English who are in 2nd course, which is the equivalent to 8th grade. We only go up to 9th grade in our school, but they leave with a technical education which is extremely valuable in this country. Which is where the beauty school attack comes in…

These girls in beauty school, are either 14 or 15 years old. The girls I speak of are Aracely Vaca, Jaqueline Soto, Lorena Troya, Silvia Troya, and Ximena Iza. These girls have been HOUNDING me each week to come in and let them do something to practice. They do manicures, pedicures, haircuts, makeup, hair styles, etc. After this whole school year, over 4 months Silvia finally convinced me to come in and let her cut my hair. SCARIEST IDEA EVER! I can´t believe I actually agreed to it! In the end it ended up perfectly fine, but just the thought of a 15 year old cutting my hair is not the best thing to think of.

I showed up at 9am after my english class, after asking permission to miss out on helping special education for the morning. Right now Darling isn´t coming due to disagreements with Madre and Padre, so we have one extra person every day that isn´t really needed. So I figured they could do without me and I could help these girls out by going and letting them practice on me. It was just that, they weren´t doing me a favor, I was doing THEM a favor by showing up. Every Friday they are required to do at least 6 things on various clients, such as peticures, haircuts, etc. Sometimes they get written up because they didn´t do their homework (which is bring in a client to work on). I feel bad for these girls because it can be hard sometimes to find people to show up during the day to get work done. And most women in this country love their hair so long they never ever cut it. And other people, like me, are afraid to let these girls work on them! But I got over my fear.
When I walked in, all the girls (there are about 12 in this grade) started smiling immediately. I know all of them from english class last year, and still have a pretty good relationship with many of them, especially these girls that I have study hall with every night. They were all excited that I finally showed up, as was their teacher who looked surprised that I showed up. Most volunteers go to the 3rd course girls because they are older and have more practice. I opted for the least experienced girls because they can´t get better without exprience, no?? I told them that Silvia Troya was promised to cut my hair, and since Silvia was working on another client I sat down to wait a little bit. Not 2 minutes later the teacher asked me if I minded if another girl gives me a pedicure while I wait. I thought, alright why not… I was planning on having the works down while there to make sure they got the most practice out of my time there! So Jessica Simbaña got to work on my toes. Another 2 minutes later Aracely Vaca, one of my study hall girls, came over and asked to give me a manicure. I laughed and of course said yes. So this felt ridiculous, like I was being pampered… a manicure and pedicure at the same time. The two girls were all nervous around me, one because they are getting a grade with everything they do, and two because it was me and I´m sure they didn´t want to mess up.

Another 5 minutes later Silvia Troya finished what she was doing and then wanted to give me a haircut. Of course. So I moved chairs into one in front of a mirror and all that (with my feet and hands all wet and in the middle of work, so funny). (Oh and side note: the girls thought my legs felt SO funny because I hadn´t shaved in a few days… a lot of women never shave their legs so they are always really hairy but smooth… well mine were prickly and they just couldn´t get over it. They thought I was so stange.) And Silvia started at my hair. I kept warning her, ¨only a trim, I´m trying to grow out my hair!!!¨ She kept laughing and going, ¨yeah about 5 fingers or so, right? That´s what we call a trim here!¨ I almost killed her. Didn´t help that I was turned in a weird angle due to the pedicure and manicure going on at the same time – so yes, I was getting a haircut, pedicure, AND manicure at the same time… it was sure a sight!! So due to this angle I couldn´t see what she was doing. The other girls across the room kept looking over at me and saying things like ¨Adriana, you should see how much hair is on the floor! She cut so much already!¨ I almost fell for it at first but they all burst into laughter so I knew they were just messing with me. Maybe they could see the look of sheer terror on my face at the thought of a 15 year old cutting my hair?!

Well, in the end, the haircut ended up perfectly fine. The teacher came over every once and awhile to check on all three of them, correct them, help them. She is actually really good at helping them and teaching them the proper way to do it. She cut a little more of my hair to show Silvia how to properly layer it. Aracely in the process of my pedicure cut my finger and so the teacher had to show her a way to stop the bleeding quickly to keep working. The whole time I just couldn´t stop laughing, because this is exactly what I expected. These girls were trying so hard and I just kept telling them they were fine, that this is why they are here to learn. I mean when you go to beauty school when the girls are no older than 16 you can´t expect perfection. But I was plensently surprised.

Well they weren´t done yet… after my pedicure and manicure were finished, Silvia asked after my haircut if she could straighten it. Well not in so many words, she wanted to ´style´ it. I kept being like, you mean straighten it and she just laughed. So while she worked on blowdrying it straight, ANOTHER girl from my study hall, Jaqueline, came up and asked if she could do my makeup. So here I was, again with more than one girl working on me at a time. Silvia ended up doing a really good job on straightening my hair (she got a 20 out of 20). The makeup, well it was ok. Bright green eye shadow, bright red lipstick… not so much my look. But she meant well and I could tell she was really nervous working on me. They all kept asking me to make sure I wasn´t going to change anything and keep my hair like that and my makeup on and stuff… I just smiled and left and told them I´d see them that night in study hall. I left my hair as it was, but the makeup had to go… well most of it anyway. I just lied and told them that it rubbed off throughout the day – not that I went directly to my bathroom and washed my face. Haha. Oh well.
So I spent 2 and a half hours in beauty school. It was great though, I´m really glad I was able to help them out, as they´ve been asking me for months!

Just one of those funny days that I never want to forget, because it is so classic. If you come down to visit, I´ll make sure to get you a beauty school experience. :o)

Update, Happy February!

2010-02-01T15:14:00.002-05:00

Can you believe it's February 1st? I can't, that's for sure. Only 6 more months remain in my time here in Quito at the CMT. That's a depressing thought. I'm going to avoid that one as much as possible.

This past weekend was a busy one! I had some really great experiences with the Center people. Saturday morning I went on a little fieldtrip with my boys' english class. They are ages 7-11... which can make quite the difference. I just started teaching them the first of the calander year, and I love it. They are too funny. Trouble makers, yes. Fight in class, yes. Adorable, yes. I love teaching the boys, I really missed having a boys class at the beginning of the year. So anyway, my class (well the 5 of them that showed up - Luis, Stalin, Israel, Jefferson and Cesar) went with Taylor's class who are mainly in first grade. She had 4 boys show up so we had 9 in total... which doesn't sound like that many but it's plenty to keep track of. These boys have no concept of staying together, looking before crossing the street, etc. So Taylor and I were busy, but we both really enjoyed it. We had a BEAUTIFUL day... as every day is. It's like August in WI right now, with no humidity. Sunny, hot, gorgeous. Anyway, we just walked up to Parque Itchimbia, which is a 15 minute walk straight up, so it's a challenge. We just walked around, stopped at various playgrounds, played soccer a little bit, walked through this little maze, ate some icecream. It was quite an enjoyable morning. And cheap too! We bought each kid a 50 cent icecream and bought a bottle of water for 50 cents for the kids to share. That's my kind of fieldtrip! And the boys had a blast, I could tell they really enjoyed just getting out and playing, running around in the grass - which is a strange concept in the concrete jungle that is Quito. We got back to the Center around noon, gone for about 2 and a half hours, just enough time.

After that, we went right to Doctor Guilianna's house, the main doctor at the CMT. She had invited all of us who work in Special Ed over to her house for lunch, as some of her family was over there to celebrate a birthday. IT was nice, we ate some good food, met her family, chatted a bit. I wasn't looking forward to it as I already had a long day planned, but I'm really glad I went and got to know Dr Guilianna better and spent some time with Dr Elizabeth who I work with every morning in Special Ed as well.

AFter that, I had to take another bus back to the Center to meet a family to go to a baptism. One of my adult students, Piedad, hadn't baptized 3 of her kids yet, so they were all getting baptized on Saturday night at a Catholic church a few minutes away from the Center. The three kids, Juan David - 5 years old, Washington Mauricio - 4 years old, and Veronica - 11 years old, were SO ADORABLE. They all had new outfits on, new haircuts... I couldn't get over how darn cute they all were. The godparents of the two little boys were Center couples so their families were there. So I spent the entire mass (which ended up being over 2 hours long with this introduction about the importance of baptisms, etc.) with the Chicaiza family who I'm really close with. Those that were being baptized were sitting separately so I sat with baby Denis, 1.5 years old. He's like my favorite person in the whole world. When we got there, he was sleeping, and when his dad had to leave to go perform his godfather duties, I took him, still sleeping. I loved it, he was too cute, just had a bath so he smelled like soap (he's normally sticky and smells like whatever food he had just eaten, but I love him anyway). When he woke up in the middle of mass, I was worried he would cry or start complaining for his parents but he looked up at me and giggled. It was so funny. THen he just sat on my lap for another hour while we sat through mass and waited for the actual baptism to begin, he was so good! It was fun bonding time with my favorite little kid.

The family was trying to get us to come to their house for a party after the mass, but at this point it was already 7pm, and they live 1hr south of the Center. Which means over 2 hours from our house... not to mention the buses stop running at 8pm so we would have had to spend the night, etc. So Laura and I decided that we better not and headed home. I got home 12 hours exactly to when I left the house in the morning, not having a single moments rest all day, but enjoying every minute of it.

I feel lucky that I'm getting to know the families so well and that they love me enough to invite me to important events like baptisms! I have plenty other events planned in the future to spend with my students, take them on fieldtrips, and spend the day with other families of the Center. I really enjoy doing these things a lot, although they take a lot of energy and sometimes money. But it's always worth it. Getting to know these people is a main reason I'm here, to know them well enough to be a shoulder to cry on, a support, or anything they need. They are incredible people and I feel blessed to know them.

The past two weeks of classes have FLOWN by... it scares me because people keep talking about the end. And I don't want the end to be here. I'm trying to live in the moment but people keep reminding me that I'm leaving for good... ahhhhh.

Well I'm off to work again, time to hop on a bus to the downtown Center. Teach my boys class! Just finished a middle school english class where I had to lecture my girls because a lot of them are getting really bad homework grades. I hate lecturing and I had yelling. They kept asking if I was mad at them and I kept saying, nope, just REALLY DISSAPOINTED. That I think is worse to them than mad. It's the truth though, these girls have a lot of potential I'm just trying to get them to put a little effort into their work.

Finally talked to my parents yesterday after awhile... so nice. Frustrating with no computer. But my computer is fixed (Thanks to Herb and Patrick) and in Milwaukee waiting to be brought down with someone's parents at the end of this month. I can't wait!

On another HAPPY HAPPY note, my good friends Abby, Jenny, and Sarah bought their tickets to come down and visit me on March 27th. I couldn't be more excited about it. IT looks like another good friend and former roommate, Katie, is coming on March 17th... just waiting for her to buy the ticket!

Much love from Quito!
AUD

I went to the JUNGLE, baby!

2010-01-21T20:44:00.000-05:00

Hey ya´ll, sorry it took so darn long for me to write this, but I´ve been busy! I´m writing this to inform ya´ll what I did, but also mainly for me to have later in life to remember what the heck I did in the jungle… I have such a horrible memory.
So my vacation to the jungle was amazing. I´m so glad I worked as much as I did while I was at home this past summer to be able to take this vacation! All those nights at Fish Tales making that money instead of spending time with people I love wasn´t great… but worth it this time! I went with Jess, another second year volunteer, and Marian a volunteer from last year who has stayed in Quito to work at a different school.

Our trip started the day after Christmas, which was a Saturday. Our bus left at 11pm from downtown. So after dinner at the house Jess and I were off to the bus station to meet Marian. The first bus we took was 8 hours, overnight. It wasn´t as bad as some of the overnight buses I´ve been on. We had the front seats which means more leg room – with my knees of an 80 year old woman it is always nice. Plus I´ve started getting smarter— I took Tylenol PM and I slept on and off for the whole ride! I usually can´t sleep which is VERY annoying for 8 straight hours… but this time, I was able to get a little rest which was much needed for the upcoming days.
We arrived a little after 7am at our destination, Lago Agrio. We had directions from the travel agent we went through to walk 10 minutes through the small town to this hotel to wait to be picked up by our tour. We had to wait around a few hours which wasn´t great, but we all just sat around and closed our eyes a little bit. Marian and I got a coffee closer to our departure to wake up a little bit. I ate Doritos for breakfast… gotta love traveling in Ecuador. Sometimes chips and a coke are your best bet for a meal, even breakfast. Marian and I also went for a walk to go try and buy our bus tickets home from Lago Agrio to Quito for a few days away. Killed another 30 minutes or so on our little excursion. Normally you can only buy your tickets 2 days in advance… and since we were leaving in 3 days he didn’t want to sell them to us. BUT the ¨negotiator¨ was there (Jill, Rick, Judy, Mom and Dad will enjoy that I´m sure) so we got the tickets after a little bit of the ´ol Audrey charm. I just had to sweet talk this old guy a little bit and we had our tickets back home to Quito.

The bus picked us up a little early which was nice, at about 8:45am. We had this little bus to ourselves which was nice. We all slept a little bit, but I was anxious to see all that I could of the area of Ecuador which I had yet to see so I tried to stay awake. The bus trip took about an hour and a half to two hours, to the city of Cuyabeno at the entrance of the reserve we stayed in. We ended up waiting there for a little bit, had to wait for a boat to come back from the lodge so they could go back to the lodge with us. So we had lunch there at a little restaurant, all part of our trip that was paid for. We had fried fish, rice and beans. The fish was whole, head and bones and all. We all had a good laugh trying to figure out how to de-bone the thing, as none of us were used to having to do that. I´m used to nice fillets already done for me! Spoiled girl, I know.
Then our guide for the trip to the lodge got there, named Darwin. We had a canoe with a motor (driven by a man with the nickname ´Frejolito´ which means ´little bean´ haha) and we had an awesome 2-hr trip down the Cuyabeno River to our lodge where we stayed for the 3 days. This part of the trip was in Spanish because I think our guide quickly realized that our Spanish was MUCH better than his English. It was fine though, sometimes I prefer having things like this in Spanish because usually our Spanish is better than their English… so the whole way down the river to our lodge, he was pointing out animals and birds. We saw monkeys, cool birds, some fish too. Our guide was really cool, the 3 of us and him had a good time as we made our way down the river. It´s awesome because the only way to the lodge where we stayed is by boat, as with the rest of the lodges in the Cuyabeno Reserve. I like that idea.

Right when we got to the lodge, a cute little area with huts everywhere, we dropped off our stuff, put on our swimsuits (well the second I put mine on to leave the plastic part in the back snapped off… great way to start a vacation. So I had to swim in a sports bra for the trip, which was fine, just funny how it snapped seconds after arriving at our room), and left right away with our guide for the duration of the vacation, Juan, aka El Gato (means ´the cat´ – they call anyone with green eyes here this). Since we spoke Spanish, we got to know all the guides, boat drivers, and other workers in the lodge well, it was fun. They all had their nicknames which cracked me up. We were grouped with some other people for the rest of the trip too, in an English speaking group: a mother and son from Quito (the son spoke some English but our guide had to translate for them a bunch too, it was silly they weren´t put in a Spanish speaking group), an Indian couple living in Dallas, and a young Dutch girl traveling alone. It was quite the group. Our guide Juan spoke decent English, which was nice. I would have preferred Spanish but it was more than ok.

We all piled in a canoe, with a motor, which took us to the middle of the river and dropped us off alone with paddles. So from there on out we paddled which was a task seeing as none of us have real experience, and some people were real lazy about it. Anyway, he took us to some really cool areas where the motors can´t go where we looked at animals, birds, and fishes and such again. We saw the fin of a pink dolphin which was cool, that was the only one we saw the whole trip, wish we had seen more of them! Also in our boating around we saw the largest snake I´ve ever seen in my life – an anaconda! This thing was probably at least 6 inches in diameter (I´m bad at guesses like that, but that´s my best guess), and wrapped around in a coil just chilling in a tree. Our guide kept telling us to be quiet so we didn´t wake it up. Didn´t want to see what happened if that happened! Then we went to the main lagoon and stopped to watch the sunset which was BEAUTIFUL in the lagoon. Jumped out of the boat and swam around which was fun, refreshing. Kind of scary knowing that there are all sorts of crazy things in the river of the jungle… including piranhas. Then we kept paddling after the sun went down to look for baby caimans, which are in the alligator family. We didn´t have much luck, only could really see the glow of the eyes with the flashlight. At this point it is clear that a major storm is brewing in… we all started to get nervous because we had to paddle home and it was kind of far away. Luckily after paddling for awhile we ran into another boat, with a motor, from the same lodge that hooked us up and took us home. I was grateful for that. We never got a chance to even think about stopping since we arrived in the reserve and the three of us were pretty darn tired. Oh but I almost forgot, before we went home, the rain still threatening to come, we stopped to see a boa. Don´t ask me how on earth when we are flying by the jungle our guide saw a small boa on the tree on the edge of the river but of course we stopped to get a closer look (by this I mean he dangled it over my head to take pictures). Surprisingly enough I wasn´t too freaked out. I´ve never been scared of snakes or anything but I´ve also never been in the jungle with a snake over my head. We got some good pictures, some good laughs, and finally made it home to eat dinner at about 8pm. A good hearty pasta with meat sauce (I´m describing food for my father´s sake, he´ll be going on this same tour and will want to know what he´s eating – we´re Raemischs after all.) After dinner the 3 of us went right to bed, we were so tired.

Oh I should also mention there is no power which was kind of fun. They have solar power for the kitchen to run the fridges and stuff, and also another room in the lodge that has solar power so people can charge camera batteries or whatever, but other than that at night they have candles everywhere. It´s a fun ambiance. Granted we sure had some laughs trying to get around our room at night with no lights (I was the only one who brought a flashlight which came in handy because there was no candle in the bathroom…), but all in all it was nice, simple, the way things should be in the jungle, no?

So they didn´t give us any time to rest, as we had to wake up at 5:30am the next morning, to leave the lodge at a little before 6am for an early morning bird/animal watch. We went out on the canoe with motor this time. We didn´t see too much, but it was so peaceful out there that early. The water wasn´t moving, there were tons of birds and monkeys out and about, the sun was coming up. It was really cool. We were back by 8am for breakfast (Dad we had eggs, bread with butter and jam, fresh juice and fresh fruit… haha).

After breakfast we went back out on the canoe, with a motor, and went further down the river to an indigenous village. It was really cool, these people live there with hardly anything brought in from the city. Live off of the land. They showed us how they make this traditional unleavened bread, made from yuka. We went through all the steps, even going into the jungle to pull the yuka from the ground, stopped and ate some jungle grapes along the way. Pretty darn cool if I say so myself. Our guide had brought us lunch to eat there as well, chicken, rice and beans – so very Ecuadorian. Then we went further down the river to another indigenous village to meet the Shaman. The Shaman is an elder of the village who is like their doctor of sorts. He drinks this hallucinative tea they make from a plant in the jungle which allows him to see what´s wrong with people, or something like that? I don´t even remember very well, but he had on his traditional dress, and showed us an example of a ceremony. He also had some bracelets for sale that the girls from his village made, so I bought one of course as I work with working children as well! Then we had an afternoon hike through the jungle. We walked to the largest tree in the entire jungle… this thing was massive. I´m talking huge. It had just rained so the walk was REALLY muddy, kind of fun sloshing through. They give you big rain boots to use so it was no big deal, quite fun actually.

We returned to regroup for a few minutes and left again in a motored canoe (they really didn´t give us any time to breathe the first few days!). We went to this area to fish for piranhas! YES, I went piranha fishing! Can you guess what we used as bait? Oh yes, raw red meat! HAHA It was hilarious, when he told us we were going fishing he had a cup of raw meat in his hands and I just laughed. We weren´t overly successful, actually Juan our guide was the only one who caught anything – but it was catch and release anyway. I was just anxious to see one of those things close up. This is why swimming in this lagoon and river is scary knowing that those things are around, not to mention all sorts of other things we never saw. Our fishing poles were just big cane poles with a string hanging off of it. So simple, I love it. After that, we went to the lagoon again, swam for a little bit while we watched the sunset again – so pretty – and then we went on our hunt to see the baby caimans again. This time we were super successful, it was SO COOL. (Keep in mind that every time we are in the boat going up and down the river to our various activities we constantly see awesome birds like macaws, toucans, and monkeys galore) We saw so many caimans it was fun. At first all we could see where their eyes which glow with the flashlights. We went in this little nook where they usually hang out, and then after waiting awhile a bunch of them came. Our guide kept making this sound that attracts them which was hilarious. We watched them swim around, watch us… Juan our guide threw some left over raw meat in the water to get them to come closer to us. It was so fascinating to watch them! After that, an uneventful trip down the river back to the lodge – with a motor thank goodness. Dinner and bed again for these girls, we were TI-OD. (that´s my attempt to say tired like my father… I guess I could have just said ¨ten toes up¨, couldn´t I have?)
Our third morning there, the rest of our group left so it was just the three of us and our guide which was my favorite part of our trip. The 3 of us just let loose, laughed A LOT, and our guide was really fun to just chill with and talk too. Plus we talked a lot in Spanish which I think we all really wanted too, after all that English I was dying. Sounds weird to say that, but I´m so used to speaking Spanish all day! So the 4 of us went to what is called the Enchanted Lagoon, with paddles and no motor, which was fine because we all pulled our weight. It was so ridiculous. It was one of the most beautiful things I´ve ever seen in my entire life. It was this area of little nooks and crannies off of the river that you could only reach by paddling because it was really narrow, and they have laws about certain areas of the reserve and where the motors can´t go. We paddled around, saw some more birds like one called a Stinky Turkey, a wood pecker in action, more toucans, macaws, and others I don´t remember their names. But then the best part of my trip, we paddled to an area where there were over 30 monkeys swinging around. I have a new obsession with monkeys. It was so much fun. We just sat there for at least an hour watching them and taking pictures. We kept moving around to get the best pictures, and the longer we sat there, the closer they came to us! They got so close, it was SO COOL!!! We had seen tons and tons of monkeys throughout the trip, but none this close, and not this many at once! We were all in awe of how many there were, and just watching them interact with each other. What was also fun is our guide got so excited about things like this, like it was the first time he´d seen it, although you know he´s seen it thousands of times. That made it that much more fun. After the monkey hour, we paddled around a little more, and then went swimming again in the river – just the 3 of us which was fun. We laughed a lot. After that we went back to the lodge for lunch (sorry I can´t remember what we ate…hehe). Then we finally had some relaxation! Normally people get an afternoon of relaxation their first day there, but since we joined our group on their second day we jumped right in. So we spent all afternoon laying in hammocks, chatting, and doing nothing. It was beautiful.

At 4pm we left again, this time with a new group – a family of 4 from Alaska. Went on the canoe with motor to the lagoon to watch the sunset one last time, still just as beautiful, and swam around again. The family was funny and jumped right in with us, we got along much better with this second group. Then we took the boat to a different area where we had a night walk through the jungle to look for bugs and such. Surprisingly it wasn’t freaky at all, rather kind of cool. It was quite and all you could hear were animals and bugs. Liked it, as opposed to the constant sounds of the city I hear every other day. We saw some tarantulas, BIG grass hoppers, other bugs and spiders. Not very long, but then we just went back to the lodge for dinner (fried fish and rice and beans – this time with no bones!) After dinner we spent a few hours hanging out with all the guides and other workers, and a few other guests, playing cards and having a few beers. It was fun to relax a little bit and just hang out.

The next morning, our last morning, we just had breakfast and packed up and left the reserve. Not before we got our henna tattoos from this fruit we took from the jungle – we all got matching dolphins which was funny. We took the canoe down the river again back to the entrance of the reserve, this time without stopping to look at things, but it was sunny and just as beautiful. Enjoyable for sure. After that we had to wait around for awhile for our bus to get there to take us back to Lago Agrio, so we just hung out and talked. Then we got back to Lago Agrio and had over 4 hours to kill. And trust me, there isn´t much going on in this town. We walked around for a long time, ate at two different restaurants, and finally waited at the bus station for the last hour playing cards and talking with random locals. It wasn´t as bad as I thought it was going to be actually. Talking to the random people was fun (hey, like my use of the word random? Haha).

The bus back to Quito was uneventful, pretty hot and sticky actually but we got back in once piece. All in all it was an INCREDIBLE trip… I wouldn´t have changed much. Had a blast with Jess and Marian, got some much needed time to hang out with them. Met some really cool people, saw some pretty cool things… can´t wait to go back with my Mom and Dad!

Anxiously waiting for visitors....
AUDREY

Computer, no more.

2010-01-18T11:17:00.000-05:00

So I´m sorry I haven´t written much lately, but I´ve been quite busy. We´ve had two huge college groups visiting that have kept me busy. They shadow us, which occupies a little more time throughout the day and I´ve been running around getting things done this week as well. I´ve been up late talking to the visitors, went with Joe to the airport to pick up his friend one night, and just plain trying to get some sleep!

And my computer broke. I´m not going to lie, after a year and a half here always having a computer… not having one will be very hard. It started a month or two ago, and little by little it has gotten worse and worse. The screen started going out, not showing up all the time, but instead just black and white blobs, and this week it went out completely and I´m not able to see anything. So I sent it back to the States with Taylor´s brother (Taylor is a year-long volunteer as well). Taylor is from Milwaukee but her brother goes to UW so I figured Mom or Dad can easily pick it up one day and try to get it fixed with Herb and Patrick (who have saved my life multiple times over the years).

So I figure I should let you know that, so you know that I won´t be e-mailing or writing blogs as often with no computer. Plenty of people in the house have computers and I can borrow them often, but I hate bugging people about it. So we´ll see how it goes. I think I´m for sure going to read a lot more… because at night I have been watching 20 min or so of a movie or tv show and with no computer I´ll just read before bed. Lately I´ve already gone through two books in the past couple of weeks so I´m just going to keep going! It´s so much fun to enjoy reading again now that I´m so far out of college!

Hope all is well at home, missing you all quite a bit. Katie Stalberger a good friend and roommate from college informed me she was approved for days off at work so hopefully will be buying her plane ticket soon! But I´m sick of waiting! I have seen everyone have family and friends visit and I have to wait another 2 months! But I´m really looking forward to it!

Much love,
AUDREY

Christmas at the CMT

2010-01-18T11:14:00.001-05:00

Well, I had a blog about Christmas almost finished on my computer and never had a chance to take it off before I sent it back to the States, so here I am writing a new one!

Christmas was great, I really enjoyed it. It wasn´t as great as being home with my family and friends, but being here is the next best thing as far as I´m concerned. It started out quite relaxing. We ended classes the week before Christmas, and had very few things going on that week of Christmas.

The Saturday before, the 19th I believe was when we handed out the bultos, or the bundles that we make up each year to give to the Center members as a Christmas present. It is filled with mainly clothes, a pair of shoes or two, usually a bowl or something else for the kitchen. It was so much more fun this year, as I know many more families. The volunteers are always responsible to put the bundles together and also we get the chance to hand them out as well. It was fun, we had mass at both Centers, where the 1st graders gave their hearts to Jesus, and then after each mass at both Centers we handed out the bundles to the families.
The week of Christmas all we really had going on were the day care center´s Christmas pagent. One of the cutest things EVER. They do little dances, sing songs, read poems, and the oldest kids do a re-creation of the birth of Jesus. It´s adorable. Other than that we spent the week relaxing, running some errands, and most of all – watching Christmas movies! I broke down and bought Home Alone 1 and 2 for old times sake (there were a bunch of us that watched them, and laughed so hard at how funny and ridiculous they are), we watched all sorts of other movies. I even got to watch It´s a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve. I had to watch the beginning alone, because everyone was either off with their families or sleeping… Kind of a depressing afternoon, but it was fine because starting 5pm on Christmas Eve I kept quite busy!

On Christmas Eve we left at 5pm to go to the ´gringo mass´ which is a mass said in English by our very own Padre Juan at a church downtown. The kids from the Center came to put on their version of the birth of Jesus which is always cute to see again! I really enjoyed singing the Christmas songs in English, which is the only chance I get to hear them let alone sing them! After that mass, we all piled back into the bus to head to Guangopolo, a town about 45 minutes in the South where Padre gives mass each Sunday. It was really cool to see a legit Christmas celebration here in Ecuador (last year I missed this mass because I was trying to figure out where my sister was! Turns out she was in Miami still…) and see all of their customs. It was a nice mass, lots and lots of people! We then headed back to the house, arriving at like 10:30pm. Madre Cindy had been at home preparing food and snacks for us! We had wine and beer, good fixings for sandwiches, chips, cookies, cake, and more. It was great! After we ate, we had a slide show that Madre Cindy put together for the volunteers. Then we had a little gag gift presentation that Jess, Laura and I put together as the 3 returning volunteers. It was fun, everyone seemed to get a kick out of it. We picked topics that only the volunteers knew about and things we joke about all the time. Madres and Padres really liked it I think, were impressed with just how darn funny we are! I´m really glad we took the time to do that, because it went over well. After that, most people went to bed but Mark suggested that we finish It´s a Wonderful Life since he knew I didn´t have a chance to finish the movie that afternoon (and that I was looking for someone to watch it with and he was gone all afternoon and felt bad!). So we lit the fireplace and watched the rest of the movie. Always a tear jerker, no?

Christmas day was nice. We had mass in both of the Centers, where the 2nd graders recieve their First Communion. I taught the majority of the 2nd graders at both Centers last year in 1st grade so it was fun for me. I played the role of photographer after mass for many of the families to print later for them. I know how much it means to them to have faimly pictures and pictures of moments like First Communion that they wouldn´t otherwise have with out me so I obliged and took all sorts of pictures. Now I just need to wait for a good deal to print them out for everyone, because it can be quite expensive here without a deal like buy 50, get 50 free or something. After masses in both Centers we had a big lunch at the house, where we had something like 30 visitors or something like that. I feel like there were tables all over the house to fit us all! We ate like kings as usual when Madre Cindy cooks – ham and potatoes, corn, beans, corn bread, pies, ice cream, cake, cookies, and so much more. I stuffed my face as usual.

After dinner we had another gag gift with everyone, including the visitors, that Madre Cindy, Madre Miguel and her sister Judy put together each year. Madre Miguel and Padre Juan took turns reading them, the two of them never fail to crack me up. This year they decided to do funny pictures of everyone. It was a riot because there were a bunch of former volunteers from the and 80´s and 90´s who are now married to Ecuadorians and live here who were there. Madre Miguel found old pictures of them when they were volunteers with long shaggy hair and all. It all gave us great laughs. Or some of the people present are former Center members so Madre had pictures of them as kids in the Center. We all had plenty of laughs as they presented all the pictures.

After that, everyone pretty much went off to bed. I went with Colin back to his house to hang out a little bit, it was nice to get away from the house and all the people. Then we went to a bar and played darts and had a beer. I´ve never been in a bar on Christmas Day, it was pretty funny. Lots of other Americans around, also without family. It was nice to hang out with Colin, play some darts which we never do, and relax a little bit. Feels less like you´re alone with no family.

That´s about it... sorry it took so long to get written!

House visits

2010-01-17T10:01:00.000-05:00

I've been on a few house visits over the past couple of weeks. The first one was to the Rochina family on the 23rd of December, the second was to the Chicaiza family on January 2nd.

The Rochina family lives very close to our house which was really nice, and which allowed us to go over there for dinner and still be able to come home later. I haven't actually taught anyone in the family, but I've gotten to know the dad throughout my time here through our runs. He's done all the runs with us, starting with the 15K we did last June to raise money for the Center. He's a really nice guy and always makes sure to say hi to us and asks us how our training is going and when the next run is we're doing. He's an incredible athhelete and kicked all of our butts by like an hour for evey race we've done. So when we ran into him one afternoon he invited us to his house a few blocks away from the Center. We (Jessica and I) went over there with a couple of the kids, which was funny at first because I don't know them that well. But as soon as we brought out a game of UNO it felt like we'd known them all our entire lives. We had so much fun playing cards the whole night. The kids were all in and out doing random chores and going back to the Center for certain things, but for an hour or so we played UNO with the little girls which was a blast. Normally the only time they get to play games like that is during English class so they were pretty excited about it. Later the three older boys of the family came home. We'd never met them since they have already graduated from the Center, but we played cards with them for the rest of the night. They are 16, 19, and 21 so they were pretty excited to have two volunteers over I think. It was cute. We played 40, which is a very popular card game here in Ecuador. Later the dad came home and played with us as well. He's one of the funniest men I've met here - has a super dry sense of humor and always has SOMETHING to say. We laughed A LOT and played for hours. At one point we took a break to eat dinner - chicken, rice, and pasta salad (that Jess and I brought to contribute to the meal). We stayed until around 11pm when we decided we should get to bed since it was a week night and everyone had to work in the morning! It was all in all a great experience, and since then I've run into the parents and they both have said, "When are you and Jess coming back to our house to have dinner!? We had so much fun!" I love getting to know new families!

The second house visit I had during our break was to the Chicaiza family house. They are hands down the family I know the best in either Center, and my favorite family (although I try hard not to have favorites!). I know both of the parents and the 5 kids really well, and have been waiting for them to invite me over to spend some time with them, see where they live. This family is the one who called me while I was in the States between the school years. They love me, and I love them right back. I brought a bunch of presents with me to give them for Christmas as well, which I purchased in advance, thinking I'd end up at their house - thanks to the dollar store in Waunakee it didn't break my budget and they loved the stuff! The family consists of Dad (still haven't learned his name, I call him Papa Chicaiza, which makes them laugh harder and harder each time I say it), Mom - Yolanda (who I got to know really well last year during an hour break I had in the afternoon and would just sit and talk to a group of moms, and this year I taught her for the first three months in my adult class at night), Jonathan (13 years old, great kid, much sweeter and better behaved than all the other little punks his age), Evelyn (the lone lady, 11 years old, an adorable ditzy little girl, super sweet), Joel (9 years old, a rambunctious kid always in trouble, but has a smile that usually gets him out of things), Anderson (8 years old, I've taught him for two years now in English, a excited little kid who usually can't shut up but doesn't mean to talk during class, he's just happier than happy all the time), and finally baby Denis (who the moms at the Center call my boyfriend because I'm constantly squeezing and kissing him. he's always dirty, usually has a funky smell - and I've never loved a kid more. he's hilarious, has such a personality already at the age of 1 and a half). This family has seriously stolen my heart and I love each opportunity I have to get to know them better.

So I met Jonathan, the oldest boy, at 8am at the downtown Center. That means I had to get up super early and leave the house by 7am at the latest. I was nervous they had forgotten and wouldn't be there since I hadn't talked to them in awhile - I had just gotten home from the jungle, but sure enough at 10 to 8am Jonathan was sitting there with a big grin on his face waiting for me! We walked a little and took a car the rest of the way to their house, not too far from the Center itself. I got their and they were cleaning up the house a little bit. Their house was pretty standard for that of a 2nd year family of the Center, a few concrete rooms, 3 beds for 7 people, a small gas stove, a few pots and pans, and a fridge. The longer a family has been in the Center, the better their houses usually are, it's really cool to see. They had this outside patio area as well, which is where it appears they spend most of their time since the rooms are so small. So for the first couple of hours we prepared lunch, I helped a little bit. They had a chicken over the carbon grill, and we peeled potatoes to cook. They were funnier than ever, it was fun to see them in their house, the kids were so excited to have me there. It was fun just to sit there with them while the chicken cooked and I helped peel potatoes. We ate at like 11am, had some national music blaring as we ate - such a typical situation, I loved it.

After we ate I gave them the small gifts I had gotten them in the States. I wrapped them in newspaper, so they had something to open it was cute. Mom and Dad I got some spoons and bowls for the kitchen - I figured something useful was good for them. Jonathan I got a soccer ball, I thought the kid was going to scream by the look on his face. Joel and Anderson I got some games - a nerf football, hand held pinball. Evelyn I got a hairbrush and headbands, she has worn them every day since. And Denis I got some little toy cars that are soft.

Then they informed me that the godfather of someone's godfather passed away and that the funeral was that afternoon. I was like oh alright, well I'll head home then and let you attend that. They were like OH NO, YOU CAN'T LEAVE!!! So that is how I ended up at my first Ecuadorian funeral. So random and weird. They didn't know exactly what time it started (very typical of Ecuador) so at noon we left because they thought there was a mass starting. They quickly got all the kids in some clean clothes (they were all filthy just from being around the house) and we headed down to the cemetery which was only a 5 minute walk down the mountain. The cemeteries they have here are mainly above ground, which I hadn't seen one like this until I moved here. So we walked around the cemetery looking to see if there was a mass or where the family was for about 15 minutes and then someone informed us that since the family isn't Catholic they weren't going to have a mass. So we sat in the entrance of the cemetery for a solid 2 and a half hours waiting for the family to come.

It was hilarious. We just chilled in the shade, playing with some of the toys I had just given them. We got a bottle of soda to share. Denis, the baby, managed to spill an entire glass of orange soda ALL over me. I'm talking in my face, all over my shirt, my pants. I was soaked and sticky. Denis just laughed hysterically. They all started to yell at him and were worried I'd be upset until I started laughing hysterically (how could I possibly be mad at Denis. He's one and a half and adorable. And his laugh is contagious) and then we all erupted in ridiculous laughter.

After waiting for awhile, the family came with the casket (in an old station wagon). Men of the family carry the casket for awhile around and we walked behind. Then we got to the stone slab where the casket would be slid in. They said a few words of thanks for those present, said a few things about the man who died and then came time to slide the casket into this tiny casket formed concrete hole. They had to get on a ladder and lift the casket up and they almost dropped the casket in the process - I kid you not - everyone gasped. Then we sat there while they took a piece of concrete and cemented the slab in front to close it up. It was quite awkward for me, as I had no idea who had passed away, knew no one but the family I showed up there with. The whole thing didn't last very long, and then after that they went with the family to have some sort of a reception so I went home. Someone walked me down to the Center and I took a bus and went home!

All in all the two experiences were really great, I've really enjoyed getting to know families better while spending time with them at their homes. It's also a great way to see how they live, understand things a little better. I've been invited to many other homes and will keep you updated on any other funerals or weddings or anything else I end up at in the next months to come. 6 months left here... can you believe it?

Talked to Mom and Dad today - it was really nice. Haven't been talking to them as much lately with my computer problems, I've missed our chats. Thanks Mom and Dad for being so supportive and helping me with so much while I've been here. You've been an unexplainable support to me. Couldn't do this without you.

Much, much love.
AUDREY

Funny moment.

2010-01-13T09:10:00.003-05:00

So this morning in my 8am English class with first and second grade girls, I had a memorable moment.

My contact was bothering me, I blinked and it popped out. But it didn't leave my eye, it was stuck in there somewhere (those of you who wear soft contacts I think understand what I'm talking about) so I began blinking and such trying to find it. Once I finally got it, I put it back in.

When I looked up, I had five 7-year-old girls staring at me like I was an alien. This was the first time they'd ever seen a contact before. They were litterally staring at me, mouths hanging open, not saying a word. It was hilarious. Then the questions came, all sorts of funny ones. The concept is so foreign to them.

Anyway, it was pretty funny. I just wanted to document it to remember myself later some day, get a good laugh.

Don't worry, I'm still working on blogs on my Christmas and trip to the Jungle... just haven't gotten around to it yet. Plus my computer is going to crap (YIKES) so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get one much until I get that all sorted out. Pray for my computer, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have it and it stops being funcional all together.

MUCH LOVE.

A few reasons I love people of the Centro

2010-01-09T16:41:00.003-05:00

1. Their ability to share: if they have something good, they always give to their family and friends. Like last week, my study hall girls missed dinner at the Center. Only one of them had money to buy food so she bought some cheap food on the street of meat and potatoes and the three of them all shared, even though it wasn't enough food to fill them all up - it was better than nothing. Or every time we have a party in class, the kids always want to save a cookie or a glass of soda to share with their mom, dad, or brothers and sisters. It's adorable. Kids as young as 6 understand this, and share with no questions. They don't have much, but what they do have - they make sure their loved ones get some of it too!

2. Their ability to make the lowest of days better: on Wednesday I was feeling a little homesick, missing people back home (especially my Mother). I was feeling pretty down on the bus ride downtown to go teach my 5pm class. The second I walked in the Marin Center, I was instantly in a good mood. I had dozens of kids screaming my name, 2 year olds hugging my legs, Mothers screaming things out in Quichua (indigenous language) that I didn't understand. They never cease to show me how much they love me, and for that, I'm grateful. They are the most loving and caring people I've ever known, I never feel alone when I'm with the people of the CMT.

3. Their strength: Women in this country are often abused, physically and emotionally. But I would say the majority of the women would never leave their husband or boyfriend because they are scared or because economically they just don;t have the means to leave on their own. But one of the mothers of the Center broke the mold, and I'm so proud of her. Rebeca, one of my adult students, has lived with her chilren, away from her alcoholic and abusive husband for over 2 weeks now. She finally had the strength and will to get away from him and she did it! It's not an easy thing for her to do, but I've never seen her happier. She told me she finally feels safe in her own home, and doesn't have to worry about him coming home and hurting her or her kids. Now she has a whole new set of issues, mainly due to the lack of his income... but she said she'd rather be poor than constantly scared.

4. Their ability to make me the person I am today: I have realized more and more latley how I have become this different person I never thought I'd become. I've changed so much over the past year and a half, and I contribute it all to the center and it's people. They have shown me so much about life, how to love someone unconditionally, and what things are truly important in life. I've learned how to be a more realaxed person, how to get past the small things in life, how to give to others without looking for something in return, how to realize the big picture, how to do a lot with hardly anything. I'm sure there are more things, I just can't think of them at this moment, or maybe I haven't realized it yet! These people are incredible in more ways than one, and I'm truly grateful for all they have shown me - without knowing they were teaching me about life.

Just a few thoughts.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

2009-12-23T14:59:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone,

Won't have internet and power the next couple of days so I wanted to say Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We're busy the next couple of days with Christmas celebrations, so I won't be alone!

On Saturday, the 26th, I head to the Amazon Jungle for a 4 day vacation! I'm pretty excited about that.

I'll write more when I get back. Hope everyone has safe travels and a great time with the family!

Miss you all, much love from Quito.

AUDREY

Last week before break, donation money being used!

2009-12-16T12:50:00.001-05:00

It has been a fun week of class! We aren’t really doing much instruction this week… shhh don’t tell Madres and Padre. We are having parties, watching Christmas movies, and making Christmas ornaments. It has been fun. With my adult students, we’re making ornaments for their homes, they really enjoy it because it’s something creative to do, and they never do things like that. With my sales girls we’re watching movies, Cinthya and I made popcorn and bought a big bottle of soda to share. With my little girls we’re watching a movie, had donuts and juice (it’s an 8am class). With my colegio girls we’re playing soccer, took them to the mall for ice cream. With our study hall girls we watched a movie as well, I bought them french fries. I’ve seen “The Santa Clause” with Tim Allen 3 times in 2 days, the movie “Elf” twice, and eaten more popcorn than I’d like to admit, haha. But it’s been fun, the kids enjoy celebrating a little bit and after a long trimester it’s a fun time to relax and enjoy the time with the kids. Oh and keep in mind the movies are all in Spanish so it’s not nearly as funny or fun as it would be in English… dubbed movies just don’t cut it for me, I hate not having the original voices.

So here is a prime example of where your donation money is going! Of course I should be buying them healthy foods, but what kids want healthy foods? And they never get treats like this at home, so it’s a special treat for them!

Another big thing that I’m using donation money for are little presents for some of my students. I bought earrings made by the girls of the Center for my adult students, who I know will really appreciate it. They are moving on to a different class after Christmas so this is the last week I have with them. And then I also bought a little gift for each of the Special Ed students, as I spend 4 mornings a week with them, and I spent a lot of time with them last year as well – so I know them quite well! For Armando, I bought him this little backpack, as he doesn’t have one. I know he will LOVE it, as he doesn’t really have anything that is HIS. For Bryan, who doesn’t really like toys or doesn’t really need anything, I bought him new t-shirt, as he is a neat freak and is very concerned about his appearance. For Hilda, I bought a hairbrush and some hair things, like a headband and some clips. She’s a girly-girl so she’ll love it. For David, I got a soccer jersey, as he works with Taylor one of the vols who’s a big fan of this team, so I thought it would be cute if he had a jersey too. For Darling, I have goalie gloves that I brought from the States. I got him goalie gloves last year but they have since been worn through and ruined so I got him some better ones from the States that I know he’ll love – he is obsessed with soccer and playing goalie.

So thank you for the donations, it was fun to be able to get something for some of the students I’m really close with – I can’t get something for everyone, as I have over a hundred students in total. But so get something small for some kids is nice to be able to do.

Enjoy the preparations, as we get ready for Christmas! I’m missing home more than ever now, but look forward to all that is going on in the Center in the next couple of weeks. I’ll keep you updated.

Starting to feel more like Christmas... even without snow!

2009-12-16T12:49:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone, happy Christmas season! It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here, which has been fun! Last weekend we did some decorating, celebrating, etc. On Saturday morning at 7:30am (not my favorite time to do something on a Saturday morning, one of my only chances to sleep in!) we made the “bultos”. The bultos are the big potato sacks that we fill up with clothes and shoes and other random things for the families each Christmas. This is what we do with all of your clothes donations! They have a big warehouse where they store the clothes all year long (they use some of them throughout the year when they play BINGO for example they use clothes as prizes – this is a big hit) and then a couple weeks before Christmas, we all get together and stuff the potato sacks! Each bag has a families name written on it, with the ages of each of the kids. For example it will say the Raemisch-Kalscheuer family: mother, father, daughter 27, daughter 24. Then the clothes are all in piles ranging for ages, like it has a pile for adult male, adult female, male/female 18-15, male/female 14-11, etc. So for each family, they got a clock, a bowl, one pair of shoes that would fit someone in the family, and at least one article of clothing for each person in the family. So each family would get those few things, then you would go to the pile for each person and pick out something that you would think would fit. If you don’t know the family you wouldn’t actually know if it would fit or not, but you make a guess based on the age. It was fun this year because I actually knew a lot of the families so you can picture the people of the family and know if they are short, tall, big, small, or whatever. It took us only an hour or so to fill up all the bags, it was actually fun. Some of the donated clothes are straight out of the 80’s so we all had a good laugh or two. After all the bags are stuffed, we take the remaining clothes and find a home for them. We do this to make sure we have enough clothes for all the families and then with what we have left over we try to use up in all the bags so each bag is plump full! So I would stand in the middle of this hug pile of potato sacks filled with clothes, find one that wasn’t quite full and yell out “ teenage boys” and they would throw clothes at me to stuff the bag!

After this, Laura, Jess and I went downtown to a café in the main plaza to have breakfast and work on a project for our Christmas celebration at the house. It was a fun time, the three of us enjoyed going out for breakfast, something we don’t do often at all, and we laughed a lot. We were put in charge, as second year volunteers, for the gag gifts for all the volunteers. So we had to come up with a few sentences about each vol that are funny, some kind of inside joke that we all know, and give them a gag gift. Normally Madre Miguel is in charge of this, but she is pretty tired of doing it and has so much else to worry about so she asked us to work on it this year. We had fun doing it, as we were thinking of funny things about each volunteer to poke fun at. After we had breakfast we walked around downtown and enjoyed a beautiful day.

On Sunday evening, we decorated the house for Christmas! At 5pm Madres and Padres ordered pizza for us, which we all enjoyed greatly and pigged out. Madre Cindy also made us cookies, cake, and bought ice cream for dessert. It was a feast. Then we got out all the decorations from downstairs and put up the tree, hung lights around the house, listened to Christmas music, drank hot chocolate and marshmallows, etc. It was truly a Christmas event. Then we light a fire in the fireplace and sat around with a glass of wine and talked. It was truly a fun day, filled with the Christmas spirit – and the best part was that we all spent it together and laughed a lot, enjoyed ourselves quite a bit.

So now the house is looking very Christmas-like and we’re all getting ready for Christmas AND also a vacation… Only a few more days left of classes and we’re ready to celebrate!

The CMT celebrates 45 years!

2009-12-16T12:48:00.001-05:00

So it’s a little late, but I haven’t gotten around to writing about the Working Boys’ Center’s birthday party we celebrated a few weeks ago. On December 5th, 2009 we at the WBC celebrated 45 years of existence! If I say so myself, 45 years is extremely impressive for a non-profit organization of our kind. Every year on the 5th of December we have a big party for the people of the Center. Last year it was one of my favorite days of the whole year, and I think this year topped it! It’s a great day where both of the Centers (both the one in the North and the one Downtown) come together in our Center in the North (Cotocollao) to celebrate, starting early in the morning.

As volunteers, our day started at 6am. We have a big pancake breakfast for all the members of the Center and the volunteers are responsible for making all the ‘cakes. (I laugh at this seeing as I worked at the Pancake house for 2 years… just can’t stay away from those darn pancakes, huh?) So at 6am all 15 of us were there, along with some others to help us, cutting fruit, and heating up the 2 big grills to flip some cakes. They have pancakes, a fruit salad, scrambled eggs, and coffee for this breakfast – that’s a feast compared to the normal banana and bread. I spent the whole morning flipping pancakes. I am pretty good at it after two years at multiple hours each! We had fun with it, Madre Cindy put on Christmas music, so we sung along, and as the families showed up it was fun to talk with them. It’s especially fun when the families from our Downtown Center come here to Cotocollao because they don’t know many people and when they see the volunteers they get so excited because they are lost at this Center they don’t know.

After 3 hours of flipping pancakes (I was hot and greasy and my arms hurt!) it was time for the games. It’s so funny we have like a carnival type atmosphere, where the soccer field is covered with different games and activities where they can win tickets. Once they have a bunch of tickets from winning games they can go upstairs to the prize room and pick something out. We have prizes ranging from being worth 1 ticket, to more tickets. They can win all sorts of things from shoes (that was the most tickets I think) to small little toys or games. All of this is from donations throughout the year, we save up all the prizes for this day and they can really go home with some great stuff! So anyway, the games were fun, they had things like tossing water balloons (stepping farther and farther away and if you dropped the balloon you got splashed with water), pin the tail on the donkey, musical chairs, relay races, 3-legged race, that game where you put the ball under one cup and have to figure out which of the three it is after moving them around, a greasy pole they tried to climb up, face painting (that you couldn’t win prizes for but the kids love it), and then finally the game I was in charge of – the make-shift dunk tank!

Last year we did this game too, and the kids and parents alike LOVED it, so Jessica and I decided to do it again. Joe and Niko (one of the German volunteers) helped us out as well. This is how it works: one person sits on the chair (that would be me), and next to the person is a bottle sitting on a ledge; the person must throw the nerf football at the bottle, and if they knock the bottle over, the person in the chair gets soaked! We sit outside of a building where there is a window, and since there are no screens on any windows anywhere in Quito (no bugs, too high of altitude), we had Joe and Niko inside the building with giant pots of water, which they dumped out the window onto my head. We had a ball with it, the people loved to see the volunteers get soaked (after I started other volunteers took turns sitting and getting soaked), and Niko and Joe had fun dumping people with water. They would do it really slowly just to bug me, and then when I thought they were done they would dump the whole pot on my face as I was looking up at them. Or they would dump water on me when no one had won, just to be funny. After I was soaked (and wearing normal clothes mind you), I ran around the Center trying to chase kids and hug them to get them wet too, they thought it was so funny. Last year it was super sunny and hot so being soaking wet wasn’t an issue… well this year it wasn’t so sunny, and not so much warm – so after being soaked, drying a little bit, and then getting soaked again; I was freezing. Luckily I could run back to the house and change my clothes before we went on with our day. (And take a hot shower for a few minutes)

After the games, at noon we had a special mass. It was pretty cool to see how many people where there, we had about 3 times the normal number of people attending mass on a daily basis. We sang all my favorite songs, like the ones where everyone gets into it, with hand motions – there is nothing cuter than the kids singing the church songs with such gusto. And I love singing the songs too! I finally know most if not all the words…

After mass they have a special meal – I didn’t stay because I was pretty tired and since there were so many people eating lunch with the people would have taken an hour longer than normal. So I’m not positive what “special meal” means, but I’m almost positive that it means that they had chicken with their lunch, which they never get on a normal day. They usually just get beans, rice, and soup for lunch. But on holidays and special occasions they get meat, which is a treat for them! A bunch of us volunteers treated ourselves to the food court at the mall down the street for lunch after a long morning!

We had an hour or two off in the afternoon, while they shut down the Cotocollao Center in the North, and everyone traveled to the Downtown Center in la Marin for the rest of the party! At la Marin they had sandwiches, chips and juice for everyone, and a DJ! It was hilarious, at first it was totally like a middle school dance – everyone standing around not really dancing, wanting to dance, but not wanting to be the first ones. So cute. Parents and kids alike where dancing after awhile. That’s what I love about this country, so normal to dance, and they are dancing from birth so they all enjoy it and actually can dance! They also had a movie going on a big projector upstairs for the little ones who weren’t so much into dancing. It was a fun afternoon, went from 4 to 8pm, people danced all night! I spent most of my time dancing with the little ones, the cute girls who were having a blast twirling around (most of them wear dresses if they have them on this day for this purpose, so adorable).

And that was that, a long, but great day. The people truly enjoy this day and it’s a chance for the kids to dance, play, and have fun. It’s also great because the parents also have fun with the games in the morning too! AND the parents love to dance, and NEVER ever get the chance to do so, so it’s a really cool opportunity for them all to relax and dance and have fun! I truly enjoyed this day, even more than last year, which I didn’t think was possible. I think it was much more fun because I know a lot more families this year and I knew what I was doing and was able to just truly enjoy the day! I hope to come back and visit the Center in the future on this day, so much fun.

Quinceñera

2009-12-09T07:32:00.001-05:00

The other weekend I was able to participate in a very important day in the life of one of my students. Is with many other countries, the 15th birthday in the Ecuadorian culture is a big deal, called a quinceñera. I have never been to a celebration like this, so it was a fun evening to be a part of. It started at 5pm with a special mass in honor of Luisa. She is a student of mine in the Sales program, I teach her Human Relations. I’m also very close with her Mom, who is a big part of the downtown center. So Luisa shows up to the church in this big puffy pink dress, it was so adorable. Not only does she have a big prom looking dress, but she has 5 friends with her also in cute prom or homecoming looking dresses. The mass was a typical Catholic service, but there were a few moments where they had special blessings for her, things like that. Also a moment when she switched out of these pink slippers into pink high-heeled shoes. I guess that is a big part of the quinceñera, supposedly the first time a woman wears a pair of heels on her 15th birthday. Something along those lines.

After the mass, we all went back to their house, which was the first time I’d been there. It’s a cute flat, small but nice. Much nicer than a lot of other Center families houses which is nice to see a family doing really well. But they’ve been a part of the Center for awhile which always makes such a difference. Just another point that the Center really does change lives. That’s a whole other story though. Anyway, we all crammed in their cute little flat, they had loud music going, passed around little snacks. Then they had like a grand march, pretty much as you would see in a wedding. That’s pretty much what it was – Luisa had an escort, a good childhood friend of hers. Then she had a party – 5 girls and 5 boys, all friends of hers. They had a grand entrance, did a little dance. Then they did the funniest thing I could have imagined. Luisa had like 7 garter belts on. Her friend and escort took them all off, handed them out to the boys in the party, and then the boys then put them on the girls in the party. I couldn’t believe it. I went to the party with Jess and Laura and the three of us were laughing hysterically. The kids were all awkward with it, they’re only 15 at the oldest.

Then we all danced and danced and danced. That’s what I love about this culture – the kids, boys and girls alike, are born dancing. They are dancing from childhood so they all know how to dance well and love to dance. We had fun dancing, watching all the kids dancing. Then after an hour of dancing or so we finally ate! They’re big on doing all the ceremonial things first, eating later – it was the same way at the wedding I went to a few months ago. We had a simple meal, chicken, rice and vegetable salad. We danced some more, and then we all went home – the three of us were pretty tired.

It was a really fun experience, something that I’m glad I was able to be a part of and see how they celebrate. A good cultural afternoon!

AUDREY

Thanksgiving, crazy soccer game

2009-12-09T07:30:00.000-05:00

So although I wasn’t able to celebrate Thanksgiving on the day, we had our celebration the Sunday following. It ended up being a really, really great day, starting with an interesting soccer game…

As I think I’ve mentioned, Jess and I play in a soccer league 10 minutes away in a barrio league. Jess and I have absolutely loved playing in this league, which we started playing just about a year ago. Well our game last week was by far the most exciting game we’ve had yet. It started like any other game, although we were playing a pretty good team, much better than a lot of the other teams we’ve played against. So it was a pretty heated game, if anyone knows me I can get fairly aggressive and competitive, and Jess gets the same way. Well in the second half, what started the craziness was the fact that I got a yellow card for a stupid penalty (some girl lunged at me and on accident I kicked her shin instead of the ball… isn’t that what shin guards are for?!). I was so angry because I shouldn’t have gotten a penalty let alone a yellow card for “rough play”. Jess was trying to calm me down, with little luck. Then, a minute later, Jess – our goalie – saved a ball and her body went out of bounds but the ball didn’t, but the ref said it went out of bounds and Jess got REALLY angry. So they got a corner kick, which didn’t immediately turn into a goal, but a few seconds later the ball got passed and she kicked a long ball right into the goal. Jess was still pretty angry and not really focusing so they scored. That was the goal that made us lose our first game in a long time… That’s not all. We were all pretty fired up at this point, and another minute later a teammate of ours, Julie got a yellow card for a penalty – started screaming at the ref, and then called him some pretty profane words which in return of course got her a red card and kicked out of the game. Now she has to sit out 3 more games as a penalty. This all happened in the last 10 minutes of the game which was pretty intense! The funniest part about it all was that Maria, one of the women that works for the Center in our house was there to watch us play (she also knows Julie – one that got the red card) so she saw an interesting game to say the least! I was so angry during those last 10 minutes but every time I looked over at Maria sitting there with a big grin on her face, it helped calm me down a little bit.

After the game, we went home and got ready for the good food! Holidays are always a lot of fun at the house because we have visitors over for dinner, like former volunteers (Brandon, Billy, Colin and Marian were here) and other Americans affiliated with the Center who live in Quito. We had beer, wine, cheese, sausage and crackers to start out which was nice, we were able to just sit in the living room and chat. At 3:15pm Madre Cindy handed out potholders and we all went downstairs to get the food out of the ovens downstairs in the Bakery. Dinner was so good. All the necessities for a proper Thanksgiving meal. Madre is a great cook and seems to make each meal she makes better than the last. I think I ate an entire pumpkin pie over a few days. So good.

The afternoon after we ate was really relaxing; we just sat around and talked for a while. All in all, it was a great day. The best Thanksgiving I could ask for, if I’m not able to be with my family!

Con amor,
Adri

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T10:45:00.003-05:00

Well here we are, officially in the second round of missing every holiday this year. It does get easier to some extent, not being home for the holidays, but at the same time, the second year is hard as well, with it being longer and longer I've been away.

In case you are wondering, NO, Ecuadorians DO NOT celebrate Thanksgiving. Haha. THerefore tomorrow, being Thursday and Thanksgiving, I will work a normal day. Kind of a bummer. All of you will be with family, eating amazing food and I will be: teaching some special ed kids, trying to teach girls good sales habits, giving a test in English, selling some ice cream with girls, trying to teach adults how to type and use a computer, and finally helping high schoolers with homework. Think about that while you are having your second helping of turkey! :o)

Just kidding, not trying to make you feel bad, because I too get to celebrate Thanksgiving, just not until Sunday. Since we have a normal day of school, we have a big meal on Sunday. Madre Cindy makes a mean Thanksgiving meal, I tell ya! So I'm pretty excited about that meal on Sunday, as with all holidays Madre Cindy cooks some pretty good food, so we don't go without a little turkey and the good stuff!

This weekend we have a BUSY weekend! We have the Open House at the Center to show parents as well as outsiders what we are all doing in our classes. So since I'm a part of many classes I've had some work to get done this week to prepare to show off what we've been working on! I will be VERY glad when this is all over. We have the Open House all day Friday and Saturday, and I will be working at both Centers both days so I still have to travel as well. Saturday night I think I'm going over to a friend's house to have a small Thanksgiving celebration with them, Sunday morning I have a soccer game, a skype date with Grandma and Grandpa Raemisch, and then our house will be filled with 50 or so people to have our Thanksgiving celebration at the house.

On another note, a former student of mine from Special Ed is having open heart surgery today, so please keep Fernando in your prayers. That his surgery goes well and he has a quick and healthy recovery.

Hope everyone had a great day and ate lots of turkey!

Love,
Audrey

A few random (Dad loves it when I used that word) things.

2009-11-23T22:14:00.002-05:00

1. We have been having power outages in Quito. I don’t know EXACTLY why they are going on, but they are planned. I’m pretty sure it’s because of the lack of rain this year. Right now it should be raining quite a bit, as we’re in the “winter” or rainy season here in Ecuador. But it has hardly rained at all. So the ground is super dry and we’ve had a lot of fires on the mountainsides. So I heard that they’re afraid of fires by the electrical plant so they’re cutting back on the electricity used in the city. Every day they cut the electricity in various parts of the city for 4-hour increments. It’s pretty annoying, we never really know when the power is going to go out, although they’ve been better at informing us when it’s going to go out. So about 5 days a week we loose power for 4 hours, at different times of the day. We’re pretty lucky because we have a generator at the house so we always have power in our house but at school we don’t. Plus we don’t have enough gasoline to keep the generator running and there is this whole issue of getting it; you need a special license to get a lot of diesel fuel (like apart from to fill up a truck or something) and we can’t really afford to keep buying it either. Just an interesting fact about life in Quito these days.

2. I had one of those moments today, where I can’t believe I’m here. I was playing soccer with my team up in the barrio league Jess and I play in (we won 3-0 by the way, our team played great!), and I looked up and saw one of the snow-capped mountains. One of the most beautiful things ever. I love Wisconsin and all, but living among the mountains is incredible. You can’t always see the snow capped mountains because of the clouds, but when you can see them, it’s incredible. The mountains in general are pretty great. I really love being able to look out the window and see such a landscape!

3. I had a great afternoon today, Sunday. I went downtown and had a great cup of coffee and an order of french fries. Kind of a funny combination but it was great. I love a good cup of coffee and it’s pretty darn hard to find in these parts. Most coffee is instant and pretty bad. And the french fries, well I love french fries and I was hungry but not hungry enough for a meal so fries it was! Had a fun time, went with Jessica and Lauren, two of the other volunteers. Fun to get out of the house and just chat about life. Got to know Lauren better, as she is one of the new volunteers this year.

4. I’ve really enjoyed my time with the people lately. I’ve been eating dinner with them every night I’m able too, and lately I’ve started going to mass every day. I used to only go once or twice a week because I had other work to get done during my lunch hour but I’ve been working really hard to make sure I get my work done so I can go to mass with the people. I really enjoy going, it’s a perfect opportunity to reflect and have a moment during my day. Plus it’s an opportunity to be a good role model for the people; them seeing me go to mass every day helps get them to go to mass, especially the high school girls. It’s really important to Padre and Madre that we're there to show the people the importance to going.

5. We have an Open House at the Centro this weekend... so we've been crazy busy getting ready for that. We're responsible for getting things ready to show what we're teaching in our various classes. Since I teach in about 7 different departments... you can imagine what it has been like the past week or so getting ready!

OK that's all I have for now... I actually wrote this over a week ago, just haven't had time to finish it and post it! Life is busy, but good. I still thank God every day for this opportunity. Not everyone can find something they are so passionate about.

Thanks for your love and support.

Happy Thanksgiving! I'll be at work all day... hope you all have an enjoyable holiday. I get a big meal on Sunday though, so it's all good! Madre Cindy brought home cranberries and such from the States so we can have a proper meal. :o)

Much love.
Aud

Movie theatre

2009-11-07T17:53:00.001-05:00

Hola a todos,

Happy Saturday! Hard to believe that it’s Saturday already, I feel like I just started the week… which I kind of did! We had the short week due to the long weekend, which was quite nice. I’ve been sick all week which has been annoying, nothing that made me miss class or anything, just annoying. Less energy, uncomfortable, rather be in my bed feeling. But work I did. There were some classes I definitely had less patience because I didn’t feel well (which I think is kind of expected, no?) but the kids were really good about it. They usually behave really well when I’m sick, they give me a break at least when I don’t’ feel well!

Side note: I just made the most wonderful fruit drink: 4 ice cubes, juice from one orange, juice from one grapefruit, one spoonful of blackberries, one banana, a shot of strawberry yogurt... blended to perfection. Highly recommended. We have so much great fresh fruit and a blender, what more could a girl want? I’m addicted to fruit drinks. Could be worse things to be addicted to, no?

I’ve had an amazing day so far. I had nothing really planned for the day, which was my plan. Plan to not plan anything. Fly by the seat of my pants, you know? Well this week I got a note from a former student of mine, Andrea, asking me to meet her sometime this weekend so I wrote back to meet me at 10am at the front gate of the Center. I had no idea if she would show because I never got a response, but 10am on the dot there she was! I have been trying to get together with her for a week or two now, with no luck so I was really glad to see her.

First we went to see where the high school is that she is going to this year, since she no longer goes to the Center. She was in my 7th grade English class last year, but due to the lack of a family present she had to leave the Center. So she pointed out where she goes to school (I’m going to go actually see the school on Monday morning), which is only a few blocks from the Center, so it was a quick walk away. She told me a little bit about her studies, how life is. She’s 16 years old and has too much to deal with already. She no longer can live with anyone in her family so she has been lucky enough to have a family take her in. But she is dealing with living with this other family and the issues with that, dealing with money as she has none and can’t get a job because she’s too young. Every time I see this girl I want to cry because I wish there was more I could do for her, but I know I can’t be her Mom or Dad, I can’t get her a job, I can’t rent her an apartment (nor should she be living on her own either at that age), and I certainly can’t take her in or anything. I just feel so helpless because I want to do everything in my power to help her but there’s just nothing I can really do right now other than be her friend. I can be her friend, her big sister, her support system. So that’s what I’ll do. She has grown to depend on me I think, and as hard as it will be when I leave at the end of the school year, for now she has someone, which is more than she had a year ago. I’ve really grown to love this girl and have so much respect for her and how hard she is working and determined to keep on going, even when it doesn’t look promising.

After she showed me her school (on the walk someone was selling piggy banks – yet another random thing people sell on the streets here – but anyway she got all excited and was telling me how hard she’s been trying to save but without a real income she has nothing to save but whatever she has she wants to save, so I bought her a $1 piggy bank. She loved it, was too excited. It was pretty cute.

Then we walked down the street to the mall. We weren’t quite sure what we were going to do, maybe lunch or something. I thought maybe we’d go to the little game area they have there, kind of like an arcade. Thought she might like to do something like that. When we got there I remembered that there is a movie theatre and figured she’d like that more. So we walked over there and she was pretty excited about it. We took awhile to pick out a movie; eventually she picked one out that started in 20 minutes, which worked out perfectly. Some kids movie that was half animation, half actors… in Spanish. So we bought the tickets ($5 for the 2 of us, beats US prices, no?) and headed to the counter to get some popcorn and soda. You can’t go to a movie without popcorn and soda, right? So for another $5 we got two huge sodas and a big tub of popcorn (so $10 total for two of us to see a movie and a snack, which is the price of one ticket in the States, always cracks me up!). We headed to the theatre and as we were entering she whispered to me that this was the first time she’d been in a movie theatre! It was so cute and innocent. It makes sense, there would be no reason she would have gone in the past, it costs way too much for the majority of Ecuadorian families, especially those that belong to the Center. She was pretty excited for the movie to start, we sat there munching on popcorn and chatting. When it started she got so excited because it was super loud and the screen was one of those jumbo ones so it was clearly bigger than anything she’d ever seen. She loved the movie, it was actually pretty cute. Fun for me too to watch a movie in Spanish without subtitles which is pretty rare for me. I think she really enjoyed herself.

We went to the store afterwards because I was out of coffee, and then we walked back to the Center. I think all in all she really enjoyed herself, and I am so happy I was able to give her a few hours out of the day to be a kid. To just relax and have some fun. That is a rare thing in her life these days. So 3 hours of being a 16 year old girl is the least I can give her. And thanks to all of you who helped me out with donations. This is just one of the many ways that your money is going to not only help the people of the Center but give them a little something to enjoy. It’s the greatest joy to be able to give them something they wouldn’t otherwise ever be able to do. Like a simple late morning movie in the theatre. With popcorn and soda. We would have done lunch but she ate too much popcorn and was full, it was cute.

So anyway, it was a great morning/early afternoon. I truly enjoyed spending time with her and I think she did as well. I really enjoy being able to be there for her and look forward to seeing how our relationship grows throughout the year.

On another note, I was able to hang out with Colin, Brandon and Billy last night, three volunteers from last year who are still in Quito. That was fun. Colin is making decent money these days so he treated me to some Indian food downtown. It was a treat! He’s pretty good about taking care of us second year volunteers!

Nothing else new here, I have a soccer game at 6:45am tomorrow morning (that just isn’t right, is it??) so tonight I’ll be laying low, maybe watching a movie and going to bed early so I’m awake to actually play soccer!

Hasta la próxima,
Adriana

Long weekend, lots of rest and fun!

2009-11-04T12:05:00.003-05:00

Hola,

So we just finished up a long weekend, which was much needed and enjoyed by all! I decided not to go traveling too far, although I felt like I should have since we had 4 days off... BUT I didn't have the urge or energy to get on a bus Friday night and travel for 8-10 hours! So I decided to do a few small trips and rest up.

Saturday I went to Pululahua, a crater about 30 mintues away (right by the Equator). I went with one other volunteer, Joe, early Sat morning. We just take a couple of buses, walk up a road for about 20 minutes and then we are at the top of the crater! It's so beautiful and big! The only inhabitated crater in the world... so they say. So Joe and I hiked down, walked to the other side, went to a hostel thats inside the crater, had a fruit shake, and then hiked out. We packed a lunch to save money, ate that on the way back. The hike up is kind of intense, but a good workout!! We were home by 3pm, it was a perfect day trip and it only costed about $3 in total with the fruit shake and bus fair! That's the price of a day trip I'm talking about. Staying around here this weekend saved me A LOT of money, that's for sure.

Sunday I stayed around the house, woke up late, took a nap, watched movies... it was great. We all bummed around the house and were lazy, it was beautiful.

Monday at 7:30am we went to Mindo, which is 2 hours away. It was the perfect day! I went with Laura, Mark and their friend Nate. The 4 of us had a really fun day. The boys stayed over night and did some more stuff on Tuesday morning but Laura and I left at 5pm so we were only there for the day. We went hiking for a few hours, it was so cool. We'd hike for awhile, stop at a waterfall and swim, then hike a little more, swim at another waterfall, and keep going. We went to probably 6 waterfalls in total and we could have kept going but Laura and I had to catch our bus home. It was super cool, you also take this cable car across a giant river gorge which is so beautiful! There are other things to do there too which I hope to do next time I go, maybe with Mom and Dad! I'm thinking that would be a fun place to take them to.

Tuesday I woke up feeling kind of crummy so I stayed in bed all day. I've got a bad head cold, so I figured since I had the day off I might as well use it to rest! I'm feeling better today, still a little congested with a headache, but much better I think thanks to all the rest and relaxation I got yesterday!

So all in all it was a fun and restful long weekend, really glad I did it like I did. Did some fun active stuff and rested as well. Perfect. Good to get out of the city a bit as well... I love the nature in this country!

Nothing else new around here, back to work today. Have gotten a couple of letters from my Mom, Jeanne/Chris, Heins... love it! Especially the pictures. Makes me happy, so thank you!

Trying to get better at being on-line, returning emails, and blogging. Working on it!

MUCH LOVE,
Adri

I am so lucky.

2009-10-29T11:38:00.001-05:00

Things are going really well around here in Quito. I know I mentioned in my last blog that I was really missing everyone back home but I’m feeling much better. I’ve just kept myself as busy as possible and am throwing everything I have into my work, which has been great. I’ve realized the times I have been sad or lonely or homesick this year is only when I have down time and am not being productive. When I’m with the kids I couldn’t be happier. It’s amazing how much I love these people here. There are days that I’m walking through la Marin, a dirty, ugly part of Quito where we have our downtown Center… and I can’t help but smile because I realize no matter how dirty and ugly and ridiculous this country can be, I love it. I love that I’m here, I love that I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to work with these amazing people for a second year. So I’ve been spending as much time as possible with the people, which has been awesome. I have a short break while the people have dinner and whenever I can (when I’m not tutoring a friend in English) I eat dinner with them and just hang out. Or I’ll go to the downtown Center early and hang out with the kids before class. Mass every day is a great way to spend time with them as well. It has all been great, I’m really enjoying all the extra time I’m making to spend with them, because that’s why I’m here. Sometimes it is nice to have an hour break away from the people because I am with them for 12 hours a day…. BUT they are why I’m here and what gets me through the day. They never cease to remind me why I’m here and why I work so hard.

It’s amazing how a 2-year-old kid can do that just by running towards you with his arms open and showering you with kisses (keep in mind his face is covered in his lunch and he has a sucker in his hand that he just got stuck in my hair as well, haha and I love it.). Or a group of Moms can show you by spending 10 minutes in tears laughing at their ridiculous teacher (that would be me…). Or my colegio girls doing really well on their English test, because they understood what I taught them! Or Beatriz, one of my students, finding her glasses so she can actually read what I give her in class! Or the simple smiles on my adult students faces when I surprise them with a cheese sandwich and hot chocolate at the end of class. Or my first graders FINALLY remembering (without prompt) that the word “name” ends in the M sound, it’s not “My na is…”!! Or Carolina, the smallest third grader alive giggling when I tell her that she is going to play the grandmother in our English play. First graders singing “Jingle Bells” (enough said). Or having my Sales girls get excited about what we’re doing in class because I finally figured out how to get through to them!! Or arriving late to class because a field trip ran late and having 12 girls, 2nd through 6th grade RUNNING towards you, screaming “ADRIANA!!!!!!” because they were THAT excited to see me. Or the pride in the girls’ faces when I tell them that they are doing a good job in girls program. Or being at mass any given day – the kids all singing, doing the hand motions to the songs… makes my heart melt every time. Or walking to class and hearing “Hello Audrey Raemisch, my teacher!” from one of my former students (in perfect English might I add… they even learned how to pronounce my last name!)

Anyway, those are just some things that make me smile and remind me why I’m here. Whey I’m here to teach these people, to love these people, and to help remind them that I’m here for THEM and no one else, because I want to be here. Even if I’m tired most days. Even if they make me want to pull my hair out sometimes. Because I love these people more than I thought would be possible to people who were complete strangers a little over a year ago. People who love me right back, with all their heart and treat me like family. So when I feel like I miss my family, when I want to talk to my Mom, Dad, sister or anyone else… I go to them, because they are my family here. It’s obviously not the same, but it’s a pretty darn good substitute. And I’m just as lucky to have them as they tell me that they are to have me.

paz,
Aud

I caught a fish! Dad would be so proud...

2009-10-29T11:36:00.000-05:00

Last week on Friday we had a Special Ed fieldtrip, which was SO MUCH FUN. We had only one last year with Special Ed, at the very end of the year and I had such a good time I begged them to have more than just one this year! There are only 4 Special Ed kids this year; Bryan, Armando, Hilda and Darling. But there are 5 of us volunteers that work in Special Ed on varying days; Me, Adam, Jenny, Jess, and Mark. Along with Dr. Elizabeth and Lourdes who work in the classroom every day. So we all piled in the van (we were supposed to leave at 7:15 and didn’t leave until 8am… typical Ecuador, haha) and were off. This is a normal mini van, and we had 13 people crammed in the van. 13 people was a TIGHT fit… but we did it.

I was in the back seat with Bryan, Armando, Mark and Adam. Keep in mind Armando normally smells pretty bad, and I was smashed up against the window with Armando basically sitting on my lap. As much as I love Armando, he smells pretty darn awful. It’s really sad because his family does bathe him, but his clothes are always super dirty and that’s where the smell comes from. That and he has a major infection that causes mucus to come out of his ear, and that mucus smells pretty bad. So in a crammed van, hardly any air movement, I was with little adorable, could never be mad at him, Armando. His ear goop was rubbing all over my shirt too. At one point, he stood up and farted in my face. I’m not even kidding. It was the foulest smelling thing in the world. But I love that kid, more than anything. I just felt it was important to tell that part because it definitely made the trip more interesting. Especially because the trip to where we were going took an hour and a half. All the other volunteers thought it was pretty funny, and I did too, which reminds me that I’ve been desensitized to smells, dirt, and uncomfortable situations! Needless to say, I was happy to arrive at our destination.

We went to this reserve of sorts, out in the country. It was beautiful, so great to get out of the city. Mountains, trees, fresh air… It was truly a sight. In this reserve they have a trout pond and we got to go fishing! All the kids got their own poles (with our help of course) and it was hilarious. It was super easy to catch the fish because it was a pond that was full of trout… but none the less the kids kept snatching up the pole before they bit on the hook well or whatever, so it was quite the scene. I worked with Bryan who was scared of the trout, even though they had no way of obviously getting him. It was hysterical. He and I finally caught a trout, and when I pulled it out of the water he was freaking out because it was swinging and flopping around. After we killed it (the owner wacked it with a wrench, so funny) the owner put it back on the hook so we could take a picture. At this point there was blood dripping from the mouth and Bryan was not having it. Bryan is a severe clean freak, he HATES dirt, HATES when things are dirty, especially his hands. So a man handing him a bloody fish was not the best idea. It was pretty funny though. We took a picture, with ME holding the fish instead of him and he kept as far away from the thing as possible. All the other kids, Armando, Hilda and Darling caught at least one fish as well with the help of the other vols.

After we caught the fish we turned them over to the owners of the place to clean and cook them. We paid a few dollars more to have it cooked and served with rice, fried plantains, and a small salad. While they cooked up the trout, we ate the food we brought: popcorn, chips, soda, etc. The kids were funny. Then we ate the fish which was of course a challenge trying to split it up, de-bone as best as possible, and get the kids to eat and eat ourselves! After we ate we were on our way.

The van ride home was just as crowded and I was cozy with Armando once again, who equally smelled pretty bad. He’s just too cute though. I know it’s not his fault and he always means well. I love that kid. All in all it was a great day, I ended up being late to my 2pm class at la Marin but luckily there was someone there that could help me out until I got there.

4 day weekend coming up this weekend, to celebrate the Day of the Dead and the Independence of Cuenca (one of the major cities of Ecuador). Don’t think I’m going anywhere major, might do a few small trips. We’ll see.

Hope all is well at home. Much love,
Adrianita

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

2009-10-18T12:29:00.002-05:00

Life has been hectic! But I have done some fun things lately.

Last weekend we had a 3-day weekend, so a bunch of us decided to head to the beach! It was a much needed break, reason to get out of Quito. As much as I love my job and Quito, I need a little break! Luckily going to the beach is cheap and close to Quito. Well not that close, but closer than say from Madison? Haha. We went to a town called Canoa, which is on the Western coast of Ecuador. It takes about 7-8 hours by bus to get there... which is funny because it really isn't that far away but it takes forever to get out of Quito thanks to the Andes Mountains. We had Friday off of school so Thursday night we took an overnight bus leaving at 9pm. It isn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it's doable. We got to Canoa at like 4:30am and had to wait for the sun to come up and places to open so we could get a hostel, so for a few hours we just layed on the beach with our backpacks as pillows and waited. It was actually kind of fun watching the sun come up and just relaxing a little bit. For three full days I did nothing but relax on the beach which was AMAZING. Jessica brought the yard game ladder ball and we played that a lot, ate some good seafood, read books, and went to bed early! It was perfect and just what I needed. We took another overnight bus on Sunday night and got into Quito at like 5:30am. I got home and slept for an hour and then got up and went to class! Not the most ideal situation, as I was pretty tired the beginning of the week, but if we're going to make the treck to the coast, we might as well stay that third day and make the most of it!

This past week was good. I'm really, really enjoying my adults class. They love to learn and eat up everything I teach them! I did a couple of days on the computers with them and they loved it so much we're going to continue working 2 days a week on computers. We have really good math programs that they work on, specifically word problems which is the hardest for them to do but they love the riddle of it, and then I do dictation with them on Microsoft Word. I just read them sentences and they have to type it in. So they are practicing typing and spelling and punctuation as well. It has been really good and I feel good about what they're learning!

My study hall with middle schoolers cracks me up. I watch them do their beauty school homework all the time, which makes me laugh that I'm involved with it! They practice painting nails, drawing pictures about different haircuts, look for haircuts in magazines. It's great. Can't exactly help them with that homework, can I? I prefer Math and English homework!

My English classes have been fun, I'm starting to prepare for the English skit we must perform at the beginning of December. Each class has to prepare some skit in English to show what they've been learning. So my little girls in first grade are going to sing Jingle Bells like I did with my first graders last year and my level one girls I wrote a little skit. We're practicing the family words, so they are pretending to be a family and say things like "This is my mother, her name is Diana." Hoping to start practicing this week so that we have it down perfect by the first week of December!

My middle school English class has been really great, it's a fun class because they really learn quickly and seem to really like to learn English. We have our Unit 1 test tomorrow, I'm hoping they do well! It's a group of really smart girls, it's been a lot of fun working with them.

My Sales classes have been going well too, getting through some boring information now, not as fun as some other things I hope to do, but they need that factual information as well, especially if I have to give them a test. I need to teach them something that can be tested easier than the practice things we've been working on. I'll continue all year long with the 8th and 9th graders but this is the last week with my 7th graders in Sales, and then I'll get a new group. All the 7th graders rotate to all the different possibilities of the jobs they can focus on in their technical education, so every 6 weeks I get a new group of 7th graders to work with. That will be nice because that means no more new lesson plans, just repeating what I did the first 6 weeks! Less work, YES! It is also fun because I have some of the same girls in English as I do in Sales, they're all such sweet girls.

Special Ed has been better than I could even imagine. We only have 3 kids now, Bryan, Armando and Hilda. They are ridiculous, we have so much fun with them. They are such good kids, apart from their disability which hinders their behavor in some ways. I've been working on some physical therapy with Hilda, to work on her leg muscles which don't get used enough. So we stretch her out, sit on a workout ball and bounce around. She LOVES it. I think part of why she loves it so much is that she gets one-on-one attention, which she normally doesn't get. I've really enjoyed working with Dr. Elizabeth and Lourdes as well, we laugh a lot every day and they teach me all sorts of random words in Spanish and things about Ecuador, give me advice on where to visit while I'm here. They're great.

My girls program at la Marin has been fun. That's my girls work program that I have 3 days a week. The girls learn work lessons, how to buy, make and sell, things like that. I'm in the kitchen so we make food products to sell around the Center and sometimes we go out to the neighborhood and sell to people on the street, etc. Lately I've been working on chocolate. We bought this giant block of chocolate, and we melt it down and make chocolate covered marshmallows, raisins, and then we have these molds to make suckers and little hearts and things. That sells like hotcakes! We sell if around the Center, things worth 5, 10, or 15 cents. The parents sometimes buy a treat, but mostly the workers in the Center, teachers, principles and such. They are good about buying from us because all the profit goes towards the girls. I split any profit up between all the girls and they know that so they try to help our little business! The girls do all the work themselves, wich my supervision and they really enjoy it, enjoy seeing how much we make and then seeing it all sell.

This weekend I was able to go to Cayambe to visit a co-worker. Cayambe is a town just outside of Quito, it took us about an hour and a half from our house by bus. I went there last year as well, to Marcia's house. Marcia has two grown children, so at home it is just her and her husband, Rigo. Last year in November I think I went there with Marian to visit, have a meal, chat. We did this again on Saturday. Marian and I left on Saturday morning and when we got there Marcia had a homemade soup ready for us to eat. We ate some soup and then we went to the market to buy some things to make a bigger meal later in the afternoon. Marian has a good recipe for shrimp so we made shrimp, rice, and fried unripened plantains. It was a great afternoon, we spent all afternoon in the kitchen cooking, Marian, Marcia and I while Rigo worked around the house on some projects. They have an adorable house, small, but just enough for the two of them. They've worked really hard and continue to improve their house. They are considered I suppose "middle class" although they are at the very, very low spectrum of middle class. There isn't really a middle class here, just the rich, the poor, and them people like Marcia who aren't in as bad of a situation as my students but she doesn't have a lot of money by any means. Anyway, it was fun to see the improvements she and Rigo have made on the house since last year. They put in tile flooring, added a nice laundry washing station in the back yard, painted the kitchen bright colors. They're extremely proud of what they have. So after we cooked ALL afternoon, we ate, took a walk around the neighborhood, meet all of their neighbors (I think she wanted to show us off, proud to have visitors and such) and then we went back home. Marcia really wanted us to stay overnight, and we were planning on it, but Marian is getting sick and the volunteers were all hanging out to celebrate one of the vols' birthdays so I wanted to be home for that. It was a good day, filled with lots of food and laughs. Hoping to do it again soon and this time stay over and spend a little more time there.

Today I've been on my computer ALL morning! And now it's past 1pm, hard to believe. I have been awful at being on my computer this year, never finding time to check email and write blogs and such. I'm trying to get better... I talked to Mom which was good, I really miss my Mama. Jeanne and Chris got on skype as well, which was fun to talk to them. And I was able to talk to my friend Katie! We're trying to figure out when she's going to visit me this year!

I think part of the reason I haven't been online much this year (apart from it not working half the time), is feeling kind of homesick this year. Last year I didn't have any issues with being homesick, I missed my family and friends but it wasn't ever something I thought about a lot or was upset about. I’ve never really been homesick before in my life, I’ve always been really happy where I was. But I’ve only ever been away from home for 5 months at a time. One year, wasn’t hard until the end of the year. Now a second year, much harder than I would have thought...

This year is just different. I think it's just because I've been away from home now for over a year... I don't really count those 6 weeks at home because it was just too short of a time and I was crazy trying to fit it all in! Besides, being home for those 6 weeks was just a tease, reminded me how much I enjoy being home and how much I had missed my family and friends. I'm LOVING what I'm doing here, as last year. I haven't second-guessed my decision to come back once. I know I made the right decision and I'm happy and proud to be here for a second year. It has just been harder, more lonely than last year which has been hard. So I think I might be subconsciously avoiding talking to people because it makes me kind of sad. I always enjoy it, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE LOVE hearing from all of you. In fact I need it. Just afraid of getting upset because I do miss a lot of people quite a bit. So I'm hoping to figure out when people are going to visit me because that will help me a lot! And I need to make more phone calls because that cheers me up so much. So yeah, don't get me wrong... I'm happier than happy here as far as my work is concerned, and I haven't thought for once second that I don't want to stay the whole year. Just missing my people back home a lot this year. I'm grateful that I enjoy my work as much as I do, obviously why I came back, but that it keeps me busy enough and fulfills me and makes me feel good about what I'm doing and how I'm spending this year of my life. I'm prouder than proud of what the CMT does, and love being a part of it. I'm lucky in a lot of ways, so I'm trying not to focus on missing people back home, because I don't want it to affect my work here. So far it hasn't though. And the people of the center always find a way every day to remind me why I'm here and that I'm making a difference and it's all worth it. Totally worth everything. I’m homesick, but also content and happy where I am.

I talked to my Mom this morning which helped, she always knows what to say.

So anyway, keep the letters and emails and stuff coming, it is great to hear form people back home. Positive notes to keep me going!

I better go be productive, I've been online for hours! Time to write lesson plans, go to the mall to get some money out of the atm, clean my room, put away laundry... such a long list of things to do!!!

Much love. PAZ.
Adriana

Busy, but having fun.

2009-10-06T11:27:00.001-05:00

Hi all,
So I've been here for over a month and I feel like I've been going non-stop! But it's been great, I've really enjoyed being back. We're in our 5th week of classes already, hard to believe! All my classes are going really well. I'm enjoying my time with Special Ed, I've been working mainly with Armando and Bryan. Two of the funniest human beings I've ever come in contact with. They make me laugh a lot. I've also started helping do physical therapy with Hilda in special ed as well, doing stretches and trying to strenthen her core. First grade English here has been fun, I have 6 little girls who are all eager to learn English and are pretty crazy but behave pretty well. My Human Relations class in the Sales program for HS girls is getting better and better. I had no direction so I've been working hard to figure out what the heck to teach them, which has required a lot of time, but I'm gaining confidence and the girls seem to be responding really well with what we're working on. My English class of girls downtown (2nd grade through 6th grade) has been a blast. They are kind of hard to handle at times... but they have proven to be a lot of fun and are learning quickly! My adults class has been A LOT of fun. I have 4 women who are going to start a nurses aid type course in January, and who are just having class now until that starts. So these women have passed through elementary school and are really smart and just want to learn as much as they can! One of the other volunteers, Maggie, is helping me with health type materials to practice reading and answering questions to make sure they are comprehending what they are reading. It's been fun, they are the sweetest ladies and I've having a good time with them. I bought them a little snack yesterday for class and they were so excited! So we had a little snack (cevichochos for those of you who know Ecua ways) and then I taught them fractions! I'm also really enjoying my last class of the day, study hall with the high school girls. They are a bunch of girls I taught last year and then some others, and we sit in the library and I help them with their homework. If they don't need help I end up getting lesson plans and worksheets done and stuff, so it has been fun and productive!

Two weekends ago I had a very busy weekend! Friday night Marian came over to hang out at the house which was nice. Marian is a volunteer from last year who I became really close with, and has stayed in Quito to work at another school. I have seen her a few times but it is always nice to see her since it's just not the same as living with her like last year! Saturday I woke up early and played and watched soccer all morning/afternoon! On Saturdays the parents have a soccer league within the Center. There are 3 women's games and 3 men's games ever Saturday. It's so adorable, they have a blast, aren't very good at soccer for the most part, but really enjoy themselves. It gives them a sense of pride for their team and brings the whole community together. It's really neat to see. This Saturday all the volunteers either showed up to watch or play in a game or two which was awesome for the parents to see. I played in two of the three games, after which I was so tired I couldn't even think about playing in the third. I got to play with Jess which was fun, as we play soccer together every Sunday too in a league. The women were getting all mad at us because Jess and I were scoring goals and beating them, but it was all in good fun. We ended up tying both games, as when we'd be up by a few goals Jess and I would lay off, haha.

Saturday night we went to an Ecuadorian wedding! It was the wedding of the brother of the director of the downtown center, and the reception was at the Center itself so they invited us all to join! The ceremony was at La Compania church in the old town of Quito, a church that is beautiful and covered in gold everywhere. It's actually where the Center started as well, in a room up in the attic where they let them meet with the original shoe shine boys. The ceremony was the same, just in Spanish. Nothing different from a Catholic wedding ceremony you'd see in the States. Other than the fact that it started at 8pm! This meant we had the reception AFTER that, which didn't really get started until probably 9:30pm. We ate dinner at 10:30pm, and they cut and served the cake at 2am! They had a great time, doing many of the same traditions as we do in the States, dancing, eating and drinking. We had a good time, knew a lot of people there from the Center. Got home late but truly enjoyed ourselves!

This past week FLEW by... I can't believe that right now it's Tuesday, October 6th. I've been trying to finish this blog, write another blog, respond to e-mails, keep up with lesson plans, and sleep (every once and awhile)... Classes are still going really well, I'm keeping super busy but enjoying all of my classes and really starting to get in a rythem. This past weekend I stayed pretty busy as well, spent all day Saturday going to the bus station which takes over 2hours to get to by bus, to buy bus ticekts for this coming weekend. Some of us are going to the coast to relax a little bit, as we have a 3 day weekend (no school Friday due to the celebration of a city in the south). It's great how you can go see the ocean and hang out on the beach for extremely cheap! This is why I worked hard at Fish Tales (thanks again to Randy and Shelly for having me back) this summer to have some spending money to be able to get away and relax a little bit. These little vacations are essential to survival here, breaks are extremely necessary!

I'm sorry I haven't written much this year, I've been kind of non-existant in blogs and emails. Our internet doesn't seem to work the little time I ever have to get online. The internet for whatever reason is extremely touchy this year, works only sometimes, other times it will work for an hour, stop working for an hour, come back on for 20 minutes... it has been quite frustrating to keep in touch with people back in the States. But it isn't the end of the world. Just know I think of ya'll often and am trying as best I can to get online when I can. All my free time has been working on classes or trying to shut my eyes for 20 minutes at lunch to get through the day. I'm trying, I really am.

This second year has been incredible so far, I think I am busier this year because I know what I want and can do to make a difference and I'm working my darnest to make it all happen!!! Long days as with last year, but it's all worth it. Every second of the day. Things are getting easier and easier and I'm enjoying all my classes this year, as I knew I would.

I better head to the downtown center now! I send my love.
ADRIANA

Week one, CHECK!

2009-09-17T12:30:00.000-05:00

Buenas tardes,

Well, we've had more days without internet than with internet which has been quite frustrating. I'm lucky enough to be able to walk up to the office and use the internet here, but they don't really like us hanging around the main office to use the internet which I don't blame them. Right now it is working in the house, but we'll see how long it lasts. So I'm sorry I haven't written yet about classes starting, but without internet it has been slightly challenging!

My first week went great. Amazing actually. Being a second year volunteer has a million advantages, but I think the best one is during the first week of school! No surprises, no struggles, just fun. The first week should be fun because you're just getting to know your new students, reviewing "My name is" and answering, "how are you?" With the older girls just a bunch of review to remind them of what they forgot over summer break. Last year the first week is one big blur because I was so scared and confused pretty much the whole time. This year it was fun! I was able to help out the new volunteers, answer questions, give suggestions.

It is SO good to be back in the classroom. I've really found what I'm meant to do here, meaning teaching. I'm having a blast teaching again and find it easier and easier the more I do it!

So this is what I'm teaching this year:

Intro English, girls - they are ridiculously adorable! I have 6 girls, 4 are 1st graders, 2 are 2nd graders. They are so excited to learn English, and we have a blast. I've been playing games, singing, coloring... I adore 1st grade. So small and scared at first, and now they're coming out of their shells and just so darn cute!

Special Education - Working downstairs in the Special Ed room a few mornings a week, instead of working with Darling. Not working with Darling was a very challenging decision for me, but I figured both he and I were better off not working together another year. So I'm working downstairs with the other kids, Bryan, Armando and Hilda. I get along really well with the teachers, Lourdes and Dr. Elizabeth, which also makes it fun. I'm having such a good time, I love these kids. I constantly have snot on my from Armando, and Bryan may hit me every day, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Human Relations in the Sales program, girls - This is a new class for me, which has been kind of scary and stressful! I have much less direction than I thought I'd have, so I'm making up a curriculum right now, but I think I'm really going to like it. I'm talking specifically about Human Relations as it pertains to Sales and Business. I'm trying to teach these girls now NOT to beg while selling and to be positive and value themselves more, things like that. I'm teaching 3rd, 2nd and 1st course (equivalent to 9th, 8th, and 7th grade), which are the 3 oldest groups in the Center. They are small groups because they've chosen their specialty, their work focus to get their title in upon graduating. Similar to a technical educational program. So I have groups of 6, 9, and 8 which is nice to be able to really focus my attention on these girls and hopefully make a difference.

First level English, girls - This class has been great. It is the first level, meaning the second year of English (Intro being the first). I actually have girls ranging from 2nd grade to 6th grade which I was nervous about at first. But I've found that I'm in love with this class! I'm teaching 4 girls in 2nd grade this year, who I taught last year in 1st grade which is fun having them another year. I also have 3 girls who are completely new to the Center, so they are sweet and love having the volunteers around, as it is new to them. It's a lively group, which keeps me on my toes, but they're fun!

Girls Program - This is the elementary age girls work program, where we teach them the value of work, how to work in teams, how to value materials, and try to instill in them a work ethic. I specifically work in the kitchen, so we go to the market together, buy materials to make candy or food products to sell. So I work with them on how much we spent, how many products we think we'll be able to sell, and then figure out a selling price. Teaching them how to use ALL the materials so that we make the biggest profit, because any profit we make is divided among the girls!

Adult program - As with last year, I'm teaching adults which is one of the most enjoyable classes for me. This year I'm working with the highest level adults, which will be a nice change, so these adults (parents of the kids in the school) will be able to read and write, do basic math at least. So I'm going to work with them on reading comprehension, grammar, advanced math, natural science, history and geography. Working with the parents is really enjoyable, they REALLY want to learn and they are SO appreciative of everything you teach them.

Study hall, colegio girls - This is a new class for me, which I'm really excited about. The girls who had bad grades or who had problems turning in homework last year are required to attend a study hall every night for an hour. Laura (another returning volunteer) and I are running a study hall every night for the girls from the downtown center. So we look at their assignment notebooks, help them figure out what they have to do for the night, and help them with their homework! We have 7 girls, 5 of which I taught last year so I know pretty well. Good girls, chatty girls, but I think I'm really going to enjoy working with them. Slightly frustrating seeing the stupid homework other teachers give them, just busy work, but all the same, I help them. Helped someone with some algebra last night, which revived my love for math! It's a nice side to be on, not teaching them but helping them. I have a real opportunity to get through to them, guide them, give them advice, be their friend and someone they can talk to.

So as I am almost finished with week two, I'm loving being here for a second year, for the opportunity to make a difference. I now know why everyone has said that second year volunteers have the best opportunities and make the most difference. I'm loving where I'm at, and trying to be as positive as possible. Be a good friend, positive role model, and of course a good teacher!!

Thanks again for all the positivity and support! Wouldn't be here without all the help and love!

Keep in touch, will write sometime soon!
Much love,
Adriana

First week of school!

2009-09-08T12:08:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone,

Don't have much time to write because I'm in the office of school quickly checking my e-mail, as we haven't had internet at the house for over a week now. Amazing how quickly you get used to having the internet at your fingertips, and then it stops working! Who knows when it will get fixed, I'm not holding my breath.

The first week of school is going really well, as I'm now an experienced CMT volunteer! I'll write more soon about some of the funny happenings, and other things that went on this week.

One THANK YOU I forgot to mention was to Concordia United Methodist Church in Sauk! I can't believe I forgot, and I think it's because it happened right when I got back to the States, and that whole time was a huge whirlwind, as so much was going on and I was trying to adjust to being back. A special thank you to Suzanne, a co-worker of my Mom's who was my connection with Concordia, and to Renee who was my contact at the church while I was still in Quito. I was able to visit service the first Sunday when I got home, speak a little about what I did, and visit afterwards with an icecream social! It was a great experience and I truly enjoyed meeting everyone and sharing some stories about the Center! So thanks to everyone involved and sorry I forgot to mention the first time!

Will write soon, hopefully the internet gets fixed in the near future.

It is so good to be back. I love this place!

AUDREY

Back to school!

2009-09-01T21:05:00.009-05:00

Hi everyone!

So I'm back to life in Quito... and I couldn't be happier.

I got home on Thursday night, at about 8:30pm. Mom and Dad drove me to Chicago to O'Hare to fly out in the morning. Luggage was slightly overweight and the guy wasn't the nicest so I had to shuffle some things but no major issues with luggage, which has been my biggest stressor in leaving for a year. Have you tried packing for a year?! AND bringing donations for the kids? It's not fun and definitely not easy! But I managed to do it successfully for a second year in a row. Saying goodbye to Mom and Dad was not fun, and of course my mother wrote me this lovely letter, which I read in the airport before my first flight, which made me cry pretty hard. Thanks again for that Mom- I knew better to read that in the airport because it would make me cry but I did it anyway! But she of course had some beautiful words for me, and I know she's proud of me. Dad too, of course. Got to Miami just in time, only had a few minutes in between flights, which was fine, then got in the air and landed in Quito at about 7pm. It was beautiful; I watched the sun set over the clouds and over the city as we landed! I forgot how beautiful Ecuador is... I couldn't get the grin off of my face as we were flying over Quito. The mountains, the city sprawled out... I got so excited. My excitement turned to fear as we landed because the landing in the Quito airport is pretty quick and darn scary due to the short runway, but we landed sin problemas.

Arriving at the house was pretty painless, my luggage all arrived in Quito (yay!) and was able to get a cart to help me get to the taxi since I had so much to bring with me! My first argument with the taxi drivers made me laugh, and I had to settle to pay more than I should have because he was stubborn and no one else would go down in price. My negotiator nickname (given by my visitors over Easter) was put to shame that night, but I wasn't too worried about how much money I was spending because I just wanted to get home. After traveling for 14 or 15 hours I was ready to be home. I didn't have any keys, so I rang the doorbell and was pleased when Laura answered! Laura is one of the other returning volunteers for this year, and it was a great reunion.

All the new volunteers where up and in the living room hanging out, so I was able to meet them all right away. There are 10 new volunteers, which makes 13 of us in total with me, Jess and Laura returning. They are all really cool, and so far we all get along really well. I'm really pleased with the group!

Since I've been home I feel like I've been going non-stop! We haven't started school yet, but we've had plenty to keep us occupied. I've had some pretty amazing reunions with students, staff and other Center members. My first night I had to walk across the Center campus to get my keys which Madre Miguel had left with one of the doormen, and I had three of my 7th grade students from last year scream and attack me, shoving me against a wall with excitement. I felt like such a rock star! All joking aside, it was amazing to see the people again. I still haven't seen some of the people I've been dying to see but I've seen a great majority of them. There are still a lot of families that haven't been around the Center for this last week until school starts next week.

I got my schedule, and we've been having meetings with other staff members, with the volunteers, with the Madres and Padres. I'll write more about what I'm teaching this year once I get started and know for sure that my schedule is going to stay the same. Some friends of mine who I volunteered with last year are back in Quito as well, working at another school. I was able to spend some time with them on Friday night at their new apartment, which was fun. Saturday night I ran in a 10K race! It was INCREDIBLE. Laura and I ran it together, and had a blast. It was a race at night, called La Ruta de las Iglesias, or the Route of the Churches. The race started at 7pm so it was dark, and we passed a total of 11 churches, all lit up. So beautiful! The race went through Old Town, the historic part of Quito, which is really cool. There were a few big hills at the beginning, which wasn't the best, but Laura and I survived, mejor dicho better than that, we finished running! I couldn't believe that after 48 hours of being at 9000 feet I was able to run over 6 miles!

On Sunday we did a "minga" which is helping with home building of Center members. The 12 of us (10 new volunteers plus Laura and I, Jess still wasn't in town yet) went up in the mountains to a family's house and helped them prepare for adding a room onto their existing home. We dug these huge holes to put pillars in and other long narrow holes where they will be putting walls in. We also helped them move some materials from one part of their lawn to a pile elsewhere. It was hard work, I have multiple blisters on my hands from shoveling for hours and hours… but it was fun! It was a great bonding experience for all of us. I got to know some of the other new volunteers better, which I was pretty happy about.

So I've been busy. Between staff meetings, home building, planning for classes, and getting to know the new volunteers I haven't had much time, but I've enjoyed every second of it! I really enjoy this new group and they all seem like they are ready to get down to work!

Better get some sleep, we're having another meeting tomorrow with the new volutneers. I'm helping lead it and give them advice on how to start their classes next week. Will write more soon! Thanks again for all the financial support, kind words, and love! I've felt nothing but support and love from everyone around me while I was in the States. Now I'm home, Quito home, and doing well. So don't worry about me, I'm great!

PAZ,
Adriana

THANKS!

2009-08-30T17:39:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone, I'm back!

Before I start talking about the million things going on since I've been back, I have a million thank yous. I can't possibly thank everyone who has suported me, both financially and with kind words, although I wish I could. My 6 weeks in the US went by REALLY quickly, but they were incredible. I feel very lucky to have been able to spend that much time at home, spending time with friends and family, and making a little money.

First of all, to my biggest fans: Mom and Dad. You have been my biggest support, my biggest fans, the best role models a girl could ask for. I love and appreciate everyting you have done for me always, but specifically since I decided to become a volunteer. I wouldn't be here today if I didn't have the unending support from you. You standing by me means the world to me. I loved the time I had at home, and it wouldn't have been the same had you not been so supportive. So thank you, although words can't describe how much I appreciate all you've done for me.

The rest of my family, who are also extremely supportive, thank you. From the financial support to the meals, boat rides, etc. I've had a great time spending time with all of you and wish the time wasn't so short.

To the people of St. John's in Waunakee. I was overwhelmed and stunned at your generosity. You have made a difference in my life not only financially but with your interest, support, and general confidence in me and kind words you've given me throughout my time at home. I couldn't be here without you and am grateful for everything.

To everyone else who supported me financially, local businesses, friends, family, others from Waunakee: thank you!

A special thanks to Randy and Shelly Kaltenberg of Fish Tales in Lodi who gave me a job while I was home! In a time when I really needed to make some money they pulled through and got me plenty of hours to work!

I am lucky to have so much financial generosity to do some really great and fun things for the kids, as well as help out the Center. And I made some good money at Fish Tales so I have some spending money to have a little fun and do some traveling while I'm here for the next year.

So thanks to everyone for a great 6 weeks at home, and for your help and love getting me back here to Quito, working at the Center which is what I love to do!

PAZ,
Adri

In the States

2009-07-18T11:51:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone, just wanted to thank you all for the love and support I recieved throughout my year of service in Quito. I look forward to hearing from you all throughout this coming year, as I return to the Working Boys' Center for a second year of volunteering. I am currntly in Wisconsin, enjoying some time with family and friends, as well as working some to help pay for plane ticekts and such. Don't by shy, send me a message and hopefully I can see everyone while I'm home! I head back to Quito on August 27th, so find me before then.

Until I return to Quito, hasta entonces.
Adriana
araemisch@gmail.com

Last week of life in Quito... until September!

2009-07-05T10:32:00.008-05:00

9 days until I step foot in the States. Happy 4th of July, by the way. I celebrated yesterday at a friend's apartment, a group who are from the US and threw a party for all of us. We actually sang the National Anthem and everything, in honor of the day. It wasn't quite the same as it would be in the US, but we tried to celebrate properly, as we aren't in the US and it is an important holiday!

So this last week has been a good one. I spent the week watching movies with my kids, taking them out for ice cream, hanging out in the park, and watching them destroy the basketball court with sidewalk chalk. There were a lot of hugs and kisses, lots of "when do you leave?" with a sad face, and a big smile when I remind them that I'll be back in August for another year. They all are asking if I'll teach them next year, which for most of them I won't which is hard... but I reassure them that we'll see eachother. There is one group of 1st grade girls, just 5 of them, that I'll teach next year. I'm sure there will be some kids that will join the center who will join our class, but I'm really excited to teach this group of kids again - they some great girls.

Yesterday, Saturday the 4th of July, was the opening of Summer Games and also the goodbye to the volunteers. The Summer Games take place throughout the month of July to keep the kids busy and out of trouble. They work half the day and then have the activities the other half of the day. In the morning, to kick off the summer games they had two big soccer games - the moms vs. the female volunteers and the dads vs. the male volunteers. What a show it was. First of all, there were probably a couple of hundred people there, families from both centers watching. It was a much anticipated thing; kids telling me that their mom was playing, or the trash talking to eachother about who was going to win, the parents or the volunteers. So funny.

The women played first, we had 6 of us volunteers left (Marian and Laura already left to go back to the States) plus Cristina Gomez a friend of ours and a couple of girls visiting. We played against a bunch of Moms I knew, including some Moms from la Marin I'm close with, Darling's mom (which was hilarious, Darling was cracking up the whole time as his mom and I went against eachother the whole game!), and Lourdes (who I work with every morning in Special Ed). The women weren't very good, but we weren't either... some of us had played soccer before, others not. For example every time the ball came near Kat she ran away pretty much and when Jess would give her shit she would just yell "I'm scared of the ball!" It was a pretty friendly contest, I was trying not to be too aggressive (which is really the only way I know how to play soccer) because I didn't want to hurt anyone! We ended up winning, 1-0, and I scored the only goal of the game which was fun. All the kids were screaming and going crazy, although they should have been cheering for the moms they were excited that I scored. After I scored I looked over at Darling and told him it was for him and he all but lost it. He was so happy, soccer is his passion. I was glad I could do that because when he came to one of my league games I never scored! After the game all the kids kept coming up to me and telling me how well I played and taht they saw my "golazo" which means a "big goal". They were so excited about the goal and kids I've never met were all excited and hugging me. It was cute.

After the soccer games, the families had lunch and then they had a presentation as a goodbye to the volunteers. They had a couple of traditional Ecudadorian dances, some poetry reciting by students, and we all got a few little gifts from various secions of the center. It was so beautiful, heartwarming, and sad. Although I'm returning to the center for a second year, it was so hard to say goodbye and see the amount of love these people have for us. Most of the year I just feel unappreciated and work so hard to see nothing in return. I still haven't seen a lot of progress in what I've been teaching for a whole year, but on Saturday I have never felt so loved. Parents of the center whom I've never met were coming up to me, crying, hugging me, telling me how much they appreciate and loved us. The kids were all hugging us and telling us that they were going to miss us, some of which I didn't know. The best were the kids who gave me such a hard time all year, with attitudes and never would talk to me during the year, giving me 4,5,6 hugs, telling me they didn't want me to leave. Those are the reasons I am here. That right there. The love that was shown and the genuine appreciation these people have for what we have done day in and day out without recibing a single penny for our work. Throughout the year they may not know how to show their love and appreciation, but they more than made up for it yesterday. All the volutneers were brought to tears, all of us. It was extremely overwhelming.

The hardest part for me was saying goodbye to Andrea, a student of mine who I have mentioned in the past. She is being kicked out of the center and it breaks my heart not to be able to do anything else for her. It's a long story, but plan and simple her family has abandoned her and she has no one in this world to love her. She is 16 years old and on her own, to start working to pay to rent a room to live in, to feed herself, to somehow finish school. The past two weeks I have told her every day how much I loved her and how much I believe in her and see a future for her. That she is worth something. That she is one of the smartest kids that I've seen in the center, which is without a doubt true. That I want to do whatever it takes to make sure that she gets in school in a year after she has worked and saved to pay for it. That I'm not giving up on her like everyone else in her life has. I know that she takes what I have to say serious, and that she has a good head on her shoulders. But I didn't realize how much of an impact I made until I was walking back to the house after the goodbye program and mass... she ran after me, sobbing, begging me not to leave. It breaks my heart. The two of us sat there crying, hugging for minutes on end. I know that I'm going to see her in the future, and I've worked hard to set it up so that we stay in contact. I just hope that my words have impacted her and she keeps her chin up, even though things in her life just keep getting worse. And I hope that I have taught her half of what she has taught me just by her positive attitude no matter what has happened to her, the love she shows, and the self confidence someone in her situation should never have.

So as I said, I know I'm coming back, and boy does that make a difference. I would have been a PUDDLE of a mess if that weren't the case. But it's still hard. I'm saying goodbye to many volunteers that I don't know when I'll ever see them again, people who have been so important in my life this year. People that have helped me grow, that have shown me how to love, and how to serve. People that have made such an impact on my life, I don't know how to even explain. Some I will see next year, either staying here in the center with me (Jess and Laura), or others who are staying in Quito working in other schools (Marian, Colin, Brandon, Billy). But it just won't be the same. So saying goodbye and the year ending, everyone leaving... it's been hard and will continue to be hard. And knowing that there are many families that may not come back next year is hard too. Pero asi es la vida.

9 days of summer games, hanging out with the kids, and packing. Last minute trips to the market to buy things to bring home, and relaxing. Anxiety about coming home, but overall excitment. Ready to be with my family, friends, and in the comfort of my parents' house.

If I don't write again before being home, see you all in the States! Make sure you e-mail me so that I can see everyone. Much, much love.
PAZ,
Aud

A day of amazing seafood and bulls…

2009-06-29T22:14:00.000-05:00

It was one of the only and last times that all 14 of us spent the day together, and it was a good day. Carlos Gomez, one of the directors at the Center (and also one of the original shoeshine boys when the Center first opened), and his daughter Cristina (who is a good friend of all of us) invited us over to eat seafood. Carlos’s wife is an AMAZING cook, she is also who taught us how to cook the guinea pigs towards the beginning of the year. She made us a feast. We got there around noon, and we ate shortly after that. She had two kinds of ceviche, shrimp and fish. She had sautéed shrimp, baked fish, and fresh whole crab. She also had made about 6 different sauces to use, potatoes, rice, popcorn and chifles for the ceviche, and plenty of beer. All that, we had and only paid $5 and hand money to spare. The food just kept coming. We had enough food to feed a small village, when in reality it was just the 14 of us volunteers, Carlos, his wife, Cristina, and her brother Miguel.

After we ate, with perfect timing, the US-Brazil soccer game started and so we all sat around watching the soccer game (which started out great, but ended in a US loss). We had a blast; the whole Gomez family was cheering for Brazil, and of course the 14 of us cheering for the US so we had some fun rivalry. After the game ended, we headed to the local festival in the suburb of Quito she lives in (in the South), Conocoto. It was a big bull-fighting thing. It wasn’t really a bullfight; because there were no actual matadors… it was a makeshift ring with a bull loose and a bunch of drunk, stupid Ecuadorians running around messing with it. Quite possibly one of the funniest things I’ve seen in awhile. The stands around this “bull ring” were made of a bunch of what looked like scrap wood and rope to hold it together. To get up they had these crappy wooden ladders they obviously threw together for the occasion. It looked like it was about to cave in at any moment, but “when in Ecuador”… so we went up to watch the action!

It was really quite hilarious. There were drunk Ecuadorian men running around pretending to be all brave, but if the bull got anywhere near them they went running as fast as they could to the wall and climbed up out of harms way. I don’t blame them of course, it is just funny because why the heck are they in there if they are just going to scream and run away if the bull even looks like it is headed their way. There were a few men, however, who actually attempted to mess with the bulls like actual matadors do. They were quite successful and entertaining, surprisingly.

After awhile of watching these Ecuadorians run around like crazy men, some of my friends decided it was a good idea to get in there – with protest from the girls of course. The boys went in there; Colin, Brandon, Diego, and Andrew. Then Bridget even went in there, I thought they were all crazy. The boys got close to the bull, even touched it I believe. Jess had a video of Colin going to touch the bull and as soon as he was about to pat it on the back it turned around and Colin went running like crazy to get away from him. Scary at the time, but now it makes me laugh picturing Colin scared to death running like mad from an angry bull. Who does that, seriously?! No one was seriously hurt, everyone survived… I may or may not have had a heart attack in the process of watching them though!

All in all, it was a hilarious day. We got back much later than expected, but it was well WORTH IT. Another day that I can mark in the “only in Ecuador” categories. I’m having some crazy experiences here, which I’m really grateful for!

In other news, my friend Katie was supposed to arrive tonight but isn’t coming anymore. I’m pretty upset about it because I was REALLY looking forward to seeing her and showing her the Center, but I understand Katie is dealing with some things at home that aren’t going to permit her to come. Thank goodness I go home in a few weeks and will be able to see her then!

I leave two weeks from tomorrow, can you believe it? I just had my last Monday morning classes. We have classes really only through Thursday afternoon, and technically Friday morning, although it will be a joke. What last week of school isn’t a joke anywhere around the world? Friday morning we’ll have a goodbye party for us volunteers (although I’m staying) in Special Ed, tomorrow and Wednesday I’m taking my first graders out for ice cream, tomorrow night I’m taking my two adult students out for dinner. It’s a fun week. No night classes so I’m done early, at 6pm some days. Today and Wednesday I’m technically done at noon because I don’t have my colegio classes either, although today I’m working with a student who didn’t pass and Wednesday afternoon we’re going out for ice cream. Sounds like a rough week, right? Hey I’ve work hard all year! Not to mention it’s the longest school year in history.

My last week (next week) will be pretty tranquil. I’m going to do a little hiking with one of the other volunteers, Anna. We also have summer games starting, where we have activities for the kids to keep them busy during the summer break. I’ll be helping out with that. Otherwise just hanging out, packing, going to the market to get some things before leaving the country, etc. It is crazy how things are winding down. Today I took some videos of my students, I plan to do so all week because videos are the way to go if you want to remember something exactly. If you have the chance, ask me to see them – most of them are hilarious! Really capture the ridiculousness of my students, I love it.

I’m so ready to come home, so ready. Can’t wait to see everyone, relax a little, hopefully work as well. Just be back. Be able to call anyone without talking into a computer. Sleep in a double bed – there is still a double bed in the guest room at your house, right mom and dad? Walk barefoot in the grass. SEE GRASS. Get away from pollution for a while. Go running wherever I want, with a destination. Run at sea level, not at 9000 feet. Just a few things I’m thinking of now that I’m looking forward to… just to be home will be nice, although I feel very much at home here, it’s not the same. No family or old friends. I haven’t even officially met my sister’s boyfriend yet because I’ve been here so darn long! That’s just not right. A girl needs to meet her sister’s boyfriend!

I hope you’re as excited to see me as I am to see all of you… the countdown is on: 15 days. See you then!

PAZ, Audrey Kaye Raemisch

House visit

2009-06-22T07:24:00.003-05:00

Happy Monday! I leave THREE WEEKS from tomorrow... can you believe it? And more importantly, KATIE STALBERGER will be here in ONE WEEK from today. Time continues to fly by and I'm sad the year is ending but excited to see Katie and get home to see everyone else!

The past couple of weeks have been a fight with the kids. Tried to teach an actual class last Friday and the boys literally had a riot! We have two weeks left of "classes" but we're all pretty much done teaching because the kids just aren't willing to learn. But it's ok because I'm in need of a break as well! It's a long, long school year. It's so hard to believe that we're so close to the end! So I'm just giving up on trying to teach and just going to enjoy my time with the kiddos.

Yesterday (Sunday) I spent the aftrenoon at a family's house which was so much fun! It's the family whose house I went to with Abby when she was visiting, the Miranda family. I don't teach any of their 11 children, but I got to know them the one time I visited in March so they invited me back along with 4 other volunteers who work with one or more of the kids. It was great, we played with the kids, ate some lunch, and then it was like Christmas at the Miranda house. We all brought tons of clothes and toys for the whole family. Jess literally had suitcase full of clothes and we all added some clothes as well. I brought along a bunch of make-up that had been donated to me for the girls as there are a bunch of teenage girls. They were LOVING it! They made us pull out all the clothes and model them so they could see what clothes were all there. When I gave them the make-up they were so excited they were fighting over who got which shade of lipstick and who got to keep the Clinique bags. It was cute. It felt good to give them something they obviously were pretty excited about! Even the Mom was pretty excited, trying the lipstick on! I also had some toys that had been donated to me as well for the boys, they were pretty happy about the jacks and bouncy ball game.

So thank you to everyone for all the toys donations and make-up and things. I can't remember who gave me what anymore because it's been coming all year long and I can't keep it straight! But those of you who donated things, THANK YOU. I continue to find homes for everything and anything that doesn't get used will get used next year! We always find homes for everything, no worries!

So I'll see Kates in a week and I'll be home in three! So hard to believe... Have I really been here for almost 11 months?!

Love you all, can't wait to be back in Wisco to see all your beautiful faces! I'm looking forward to a summer back home, or 6 weeks of one anyway!

ADRI

Clothes

2009-06-13T18:22:00.002-05:00

So I have been meaning to let ya'll know, that all the clothes that you donated and sent with my parents and Rick/Judy/Jill have gone to good use! I see them ALL over the place, worn by the families I donated to. I most of the clothing to 3 main families, and the rest (still like 4 full garbage bags) went to the general pile of clothes donations that is passed out at Christmas.

The 3 families I donated to were the families of my 2 adult students, Maria Ushco and Maria Cando, and then another family I've gotten very close to, the Chicaiza family from la Marin. By giving to those families, I figure that I affected at least 6 families, because each family took what they needed or fit the kids and then passed it on to the families of their brothers, sisters, and friends of the center. It is so cool to see the clothes that I know came from my donations worn by the kids of the center, it helps me realize that we ARE making a difference by the simple act of donating clothes that we didn't need anymore.

Most of the specific examples of clothes that I see around belonged to my cousins Claire and Carson Patzner, because I have spent a decent amount of time with them in the past so I remember them wearing their clothes, and for other reasons, like camouflage. Anything I see that is camouflage I KNOW that it is from none other than Carson Patzner. I see all these camou fleces running around the center, it's hilarious. There are also camou pants, this orange fleece I remember Carson wearing, it always breaks a smile to my face. Also Carson's shoes, these little velcro blue tennis shoes are worn every day by Armando from Special Ed (Mom, Dad, Judy, Rick and Jill might remember him as the "sneezer"). Some clothes worn that were Miss Claire's include a shirt that has a monkey on it and says "you can have my brother". It makes me laugh out loud every time one of my favorite students wears it, Evelyn. She has 4 brothers and no sisters and it is perfect for her. I've also seen some cute little shirts Claire used to wear on my adult student's little girl, Karina.

Although I really only know the clothes that were from the Patzner's, I know that if I notice these clothes that I know of, then all of the clothes are being put to a good use. So thank you, thank you so much to all that donated. You can always donate more clothes, of ANY size and for ANY use to me or my parents. I'll be taking a suitecase of donations back with me in August and if anyone else visits they can hopefully bring one too!

So thanks!
AUDREY

15K... I did it!

2009-06-09T11:13:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone,

Sorry I know I've been sort of MIA lately... I've been so busy I don't know where the past month has gone! I've been really busy during the week as usual, and on the weekends as I wrote about I've been with the kids on my fieldtrips!

Last weekend was a weekend I'll never forget. Saturday in the morning we had to pick up our chip and race number and stuff for the 15K race on Sunday. We got there and had to stand in line for awhile, but it wasn't too painful. After we got our stuff, some of us girls went out for breakfast! It is something we had done quite a bit earlier in the year, but lately we've all been so busy we haven't had time. It's a simple joy I really like, spending a Sat or Sun morning out and about, getting a good breakfast, relaxing a little, enjoying a walk outside. It was great, we had a really good meal, then went to the DVD store and stocked up on some TV programs we've been wanting to buy! The 5th season of LOST is out, which made me pretty excited, and we bought a few other seasons of some TV shows. It's so easy to get hooked on TV shows here, and they are so cheap to buy!

After buying the DVDs, I came home and watched TV in bed (or the DVDs in my computer) all afternoon. It was great. Just what I needed, some R&R. We all went to bed early because the bus left at 6am on Sunday morning for the race!

Race day: We were all pretty nervous, as we had never done anything this long. 15K is a long time. I have been training, but not extremly hard core or anything. We had to leave at 6am, as the race started in the South of the city (we live in the North). On the way there, the bus broke down, we had to find the belt which popped off and was somewhere on the road (so funny and typical). We eventually got there, pepole where everywhere. I heard somewhere around 15,000 people ran? We had about an hour before the race started, we all went to the bathroom multiple times, tried to warm up a little bit. I was anxious to just get the darn race started, we stood around waiting for what seemed like forever!

Once we started the race, I was like, "Oh shoot, here we go" I knew once we started I would be running for an hour and a half or more... I had planned on staying with Jess as much as I could, but right away she was just a little bit behind me and I was sick of turning around to see if she was still there or trying to stay with her that after the first kilometer I just did my own thing. So I ran 15 kilometers by myself; no music, just my thoughts, knee pains, and thousands of Ecaudorians surrounding me.

The race itself was amazing, I was tired, it was a long run, but it is something I'll never forget. Thousands of people lined the route to cheer everyone on, handing out water and screaming "VIVA QUITO, VIVA ECUADOR". It was funny. There were a few hills at the beginning of the race, but the whole second half of the race was completely flat, which made me pretty happy. There were multiple times I wanted to walk, not run anymore... but I was determined to run the whole way. That was my goal. I had a time in mind, but I wasn't so much determined to finish in a certain time as I was to keep my feet moving and NOT stop to walk! There was more than one occasion where people on the side must have seen the desperate look on my face of "I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!" and started cheering for me. All in all, it really wasn't THAT bad... just seemed like it at times because my knees were killing me most of the race (shocker, right? not like I haven't had knee problems my entire life! eh)

In the end, I crossed the finish line, 15 kilometers later, RUNNING. I never once stopped running which is something I'm really proud of. Not with the knee pain, not up hill, never! I had a finishing time of 1hour, 45minutes exactly... about 11minutes per mile. I had hoped to finish with a shorter time, but I can't complain. I made it! When I saw the 14K marker I almost started crying I was so excited to see the end in sight. And when I crossed that 15K finish line, I was relieved and happy. I'm really proud of what we all did, all 12 of us volunteers, most of which are NOT runners normally but did it to make money for the center.

Thanks for those who donated money on behalf of the race! I'm actually thinking of running a half marathon on November 22nd, which ends crossing the Equator which would be kind of cool... but we'll see!

Be home in 5 weeks! can't wait to see everyone...
love,
AUD

Fieldtrip with Darling

2009-06-09T11:11:00.002-05:00

Well, although I thought I was done with fieldtrips, an opportunity presented itself to have my end of the year little fieldtrip with Darling. I knew that whatever I did I had to invite the whole family because I can’t take him anywhere by myself, nor could I help him to the bathroom or anything like that. So I was trying to figure out what to do with him that was handicap accessible, which was challenging because this country isn’t exactly great with making things accessible for people in wheelchairs. I decided that the best idea would be inviting him to one of my soccer games, followed by lunch at the mall down the street. He LOVED the idea, and as we were leaving class the day I told him about it he saw his Mom and asked her when they could go. Well they decided they could come that coming Sunday, which was the day after my bowling fieldtrip with my two sections of first graders. Here I thought I was going to have a relaxing Sunday! But it all worked out great. I had a 10am game, Darling’s Mom said they’d be at the center to wait for me at 9am. I thought perfect, figuring they’d be late and we’d still have plenty of time to get there one time. I come to find out he was awake at 6:30am ready to get the day going, waiting until the minute they could go. They were at the center waiting for me well before 9am! They were so adorable, Darling came with his Dad, Mom, and two of this sisters, Damaris and Gissela. His brother didn’t come, as I’ve never met him and his mom said he felt weird about coming. I knew his two sisters, although not well just from being around the center. Damaris is in 5th grade and Gissela has graduated from the center and now works at one of the shops associated with the center.

The whole day was great. We got on the bus, which was a challenge in itself. I can have a better appreciation for how hard it is to get anywhere with Darling with no car, no bus system that is accommodating for people in wheelchairs. We have to stop the bus, which is a challenge in itself. They normally just come to a rolling stop and you have to hop on or they’ll leave without you. So we have to stop them, Darling’s Dad throws Darling over his shoulder, Darling’s Mom and sisters worked to fold up the wheelchair and haul it up on the bus. Darling is not a light kid, he’s a small 15 year old, but when you’re talking about picking a kid up and throwing him over your shoulder and walk up the steps to get on a bus, he’s not light.

We got to the soccer field, which is a short 10-minute ride up the mountain. They family is adorable, they are all HUGE soccer fans. I thought it would be fun for Darling to watch me play, but I realized how much the family loved soccer when we were watching the end of the game before me and they were getting into it. It was cute. All throughout my game I could hear all 5 of them screaming their heads off for me. I cut my knee pretty bad during the game and they were so cute, yelling at the ref for not calling a penalty against the other team. After the game, there were a bunch of old drunk guys that wouldn’t leave Jess and I alone (which unfortunately isn’t an unusual scene at our soccer games, we are kind of celebrities there, being gringas that kind of dominate the soccer field), and they all were pushing these guys away and yelling at them to leave us alone. We won the game; although I didn’t score a goal which Darling was very quick to point out at the end of the game! He was hilarious, telling me “Adriana I thought you said you were going to score a goal for me if I came to watch!” I think the whole family genuinely enjoyed the game, especially watching me play.

After the game, we went through the bus ordeal again, back to the center. From there we walked down the street to the big mall to eat in the food court. When I told his Mom we were going to eat there, she was like “Serious? It’s so expensive!” It’s a major treat for them to eat at a place like this, so I was glad to use my donation money to buy them a good meal that they didn’t have to cook. Of course, as most of our families, when faced with choices of food they don’t know what to do. I gave them the choice of eating anywhere in the food court, which is similar to any size food court in the US and they just looked at me and shrugged their shoulders. So we settled on KFC, which is has a monopoly on Ecuador. They all love it. So I got them all a meal with a piece of fried chicken, rice, lentils and a soda. Simple, but perfect for them. It was nice to sit and spend some time with them, talking about their family a little more, how they are from the coast of Ecuador, how they came to Quito and the center. Afterwards we all had an ice cream cone from McDonald’s, Darling had it all over his clothes because he was eating it so slow it was melting all over the place, we were all cracking up.

It was a good day, for all of us. I appreciated spending time with Darling without having to teach him! I realized I’m really going to miss working with him next year, although I know I’m making the right decision for my sanity to not teach him. I was just glad to bring the family a Sunday of happiness. Thanks again for donation money which helped make this possible!

Fieldtrips, fieldtrips and more fieldtrips!

2009-05-30T18:39:00.011-05:00

Well, if anyone was wondering how I was spending the donation money, I can tell you I have spent a lot of it lately! I took all 5 of my English classes on fun fieldtrips throughout the past 3 weekends. I am so tired because I haven't had any breaks on the weekends since I've been with the kids all the time, AND I'm still training for the 15K which is next weekend! So I've been BUSY.

Two weekends ago, I took my first grade girls from Cotocollao bowling. It was a hilarious day. Kat and Laura came along with me, which was much needed! 8 of my 9 girls showed up, so with the three of us volunteers we had no problem managing these girls. Not to mention they are really well behaved all the time anyway! We met the girls at the center when they got out of lunch, and all got on the city bus (the most stressful part of the day, getting the girls on and off the bus alright!) to the bowling alley which is inside of a mall about 30 minutes away. The kids were super goofy and drawing a lot of attention, especially being with 3 gringas! The girls absolutely LOVED bowling. They had bumpers, which as a must, because they really had no concept of how to bowl or had no strength to do so either. We bowled just one game, which took just under an hour, and after bathroom breaks, water breaks, and much giggling, we sat outside and ate some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I packed for them. Most kids had never eaten peanut butter before so of course they complained about what it was and that they didn't like it - but they ate it all anyway! Then we walked down the street to McDonald's for french fries and icecream cones... they were off the wall crazy after eating that! We let them run around in the play area for awhile before heading back to the center. They were hilarious on the bus ride home, singing all the songs I taught them in English and such. Everyone on the bus got a huge kick out of us!

Last weekend I had two fieldtrips, Saturday with my Primero B girls (colegio or junior high age, about 7th grade) to the pool, and Sunday with my Primero A girls (also 7th grade) ice-skating. Saturday morning I met my girls at the center here, only 4 of the 12 showed up which was disappointing, but it was nice because I didn't have any help and there are no lifeguards at the pool so I could relax a bit! We went to a pool that is about 20 minutes from the center, on the way to the Equator so it's nice that it's close! It is really just one outdoor pool and an outdoor baby pool, with an indoor pool and sauna (that we couldn't go to because you need a swim cap in order to swim in there!). BUT the coolest part is it has a pretty big water slide with the outdoor pool that the girls just LOVED. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Wisconsin girl so my standards are pretty high thanks to Noah's Arc, BUT for Ecuador it was pretty cool. Not to mention the girls don't go to the pool every day. 2 of them knew how to swim, the other 2 didn't but the slide went into the shallow end so that was nice. It was a small pool too so I never had to worry about loosing them. It was adorable because I was teaching them all to swim, teaching them how to plug their noses and hold their breath when dropping down from the water slide. Then later when I got out of the pool to just watch them, the two that knew how to swim were working with the other two. It was pretty cute.

The most amazing part of the day was watching one of the girls, Aracely. She is one of the quietest, sweetest, shyest kids in the class. She barely talks, and hardly ever smiles or laughs. In addition, there are some loud outgoing girls in her class so she couldn't get a word in even if she tried. Well I don't think that girls stopped smiling the entire day! She was laughing, smiling, talking a lot the whole day. It was amazing to see. So rewarding that I was able to bring her a day like that, so great to see her act like that... it just took a smaller group. It really made my day, I was so happy for her.

We took a break at one point and got some ice cream, which was when I sat and talked with one of my students who I'm quite fond of. She's my smartest student by far, extremely sweet, and we have a really close relationship. She started telling me her situation which almost brought me to tears... apparently she's living with some woman because her Mother kicked her out, her Dad nowhere to be found. The woman doesn't make her pay any rent which is nice, and she has meals at the center 6 days a week, which is how she survives. She has no communication with anyone in her family at all. This all makes sense because she seems like a very emotional girl and I've seen her upset multiple times, has had panic attacks in my class before, and other things as well that make sense. So I asked her how on earth she entered the Center since you need to enter with the WHOLE family to be a part... she doesn't have anyone? Apparently she entered with a different family (not sure how that works, if they lied that she was a party of their family or what?) and that family has since left the Center. So she's pretty much in a pickle. She won't talk to the Madres or Padre because she is scared of them, to figure out what will happen next year if they will allow her to stay or not. I tried to convince her to go with me and talk to them together, but that didn't work either. So I've spent the past week worrying about this girl, about her future. If she gets kicked out of the Center she for sure won't go to school and who knows what will happen. This girl is so smart and it's been hard to sit back and do nothing but I know that there is little I can do right now...

Anyway, after ice cream we swam some more, and then headed to the big mall by the center for lunch. I told them they could pick anywhere they wanted to eat, and there are quite a bunch of different restaurants there, similar to any American food court... of course they picked KFC chicken, rice, and lentils which is a staple food for them here. I thought they might get something different, but no. So I got them all a big plate of food, they ate it all up, very happily. Then we walked up the street back to the center!

Sunday was ice-skating which was a blast! I had 7 of my 13 students show up, this was my 7th grade girls group as well. Laura has taught all of my girls in computer class so she joined me as well to help out. So I spent the afternoon with 7 13 year olds, which was a riot. The girls were all pretty excited about the day. I was going to order them pizza but since there wasn't the whole group there I decided I could afford to take them to McDonald's instead of pizza and they would MUCH rather have that. I bought them all a happy meal, which are called "cajitas felices" here which cracked me up. They were pretty pumped about that, having their own little soda, fries, chicken nuggets, and a toy! They were pretty expensive but I'm glad I did it because darn those girls were happy with the happy meals! Then we went to the ice-skating rink, which has public open skate a few times a day for 90-minute intervals. We got there right on time, the girls got their skates and of course had no idea how to get them on, and then we hit the ice. They all didn't leave the wall for a good 40 minutes and Laura and I took turns skating around with them one by one to build their confidence. By the end of the time, many of them were skating on their own and really had it figured out! It was really cool to see them improve and really out of their comfort zone and need our help. It was funny. We were all laughing, almost falling, and skating around.

Then today, my last big fieldtrip of the year was with my first grade girls and boys from la Marin. I was a little nervous about having both groups together, since usually classes prefer to have their own fieldtrip, but I asked both groups a head of time if they minded, both thought it was ok. So I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone, and do one big fieldtrip to avoid spending two Saturdays on fieldtrips, as the year is now winding down. I met them all at la Marin right after lunch, at 1:30pm. The kids all attacked me once I walked through the door, it was cute. They were pretty fired up about going bowling. Paeter and Kat helped me out on this field trip, which was necessary with the possibility of 15 kids if they all showed up. I ended up with 11 kids, 4 out of my 5 girls and then 7 of my 10 boys. We went to the same bowling alley I took my other first grade class a few weeks back, so I know how this all worked out! It’s cute because my kids all have too small of feet to wear the bowling shoes! They were a crazy group, but fun. They caught on right away the rotation, how it worked. Much faster than my other group. It’s quite interesting how you can tell the differences between the kids from the two different centers. The kids from la Marin (this group) are city kids: much more independent, stand up for themselves more, a tougher group in general. They had fun, worked up an appetite. This time I didn’t bring sandwiches because we didn’t have any food at the house, so we all walked down to the street to McDonald’s. I thought I was going to end up spending a lot of money, but I got it figured out: a couple of 10pc McNuggets, a bunch of large fries, and a couple of large sodas to share. The kids were in heaven. Then of course ice cream afterwards, I thought the guy at the counter was going to die when I ordered 14 twist cones! No time for the play area, which was almost better, although they weren’t able to get rid of any of the energy they just got from food and all the sugar, so the bus ride home was quite the show. All in all, a great day.

Well, there you have it. All 5 of my English classes got a little fun thanks to all of your donations… so thank you. Gracias.

Las Ultimas Noticias 15K

2009-05-20T12:39:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to take the opportunity to let you know about some fundraising we're doing here in Quito for the Working Boys' Center. Myself along with 11 other volunteers and many other people affiliated with the Center are participating a 15K race on June 7th here in Quito. It's a pretty popular race that has been going on in Quito for years and years, and I'm really excited to be a part of it!

It's amazing to think that I'm actually going to do this, and I've been working really hard on training and will be able to actually RUN the whole way! That's about 9.4 miles, which is A LOT. We've all been running quite a bit to prepare, during the week making loops around the Center compound and on the weekends going to a park to run there. I've run up to about 7 miles now and am still working hard to train! Can't wait to run when I get home too, as high-altitude training will make running in flat WI really easy!

If anyone is interested in being a sponsor for the race, here is some more information: They're asking for $2 per kilometer, which would be $30 a runner for the whole race. All the money goes directly to the Working Boys' Center. Please don't feel obligated of course but I just thought I'd let ya'll know if you wanted to help the Center out! You can send a check to the fundraising organization in Milwaukee making the checks out to either THe WBC or the org name at --

Family Unity International, Inc.
12750 Stephen Place
Elm Grove, WI 53122

Again, please don't feel obligated, I just wanted to let you know about the race, mainly because I'm darn proud that I'm actually going to run that much! I've never run this far in my entire life, so this is a big challange - especially like I mentioned to do it at over 9,000 feet!

amor y paz,
ADRIANA

Video of Darling

2009-05-03T12:04:00.004-05:00

So, I took a bunch of videos of Darling my 15 year old student with Cerebral Palsy that I tutor one-on-one every morning around 3 months ago, and meant to post on my blog, but I totally forgot...

So here it is! I know most of you can't understand him, but those of you that have met him now will appreciate it. He's such a goofball. I'm so lucky to work with him.

This isn't even the funniest one, but it's the shortest one, so that's why I posted it. He's saying hello to everyone in the States, hoping you're all well. He also says there is a volunteer who is the best, and I ask what her name is and of course he says Adriana... I totally made him say that, haha. Then he gets nervous and tells me to shut if off, he's so cute.

New pictures!

2009-05-01T23:39:00.002-05:00

So I put all the pictures up from my trip with my family. They are in a crazy order because I put them up from all of us, so sorry. I tried to pick out the best ones! So check them out, they are in a folder called "Adriana +5".

http://picasaweb.google.com/araemisch

1st grade boys are too cute.

2009-05-01T17:01:00.003-05:00

Hola,

I just thought I'd share with you the great afternoon I had with my first grade boys. Well now I have 3 third graders thrown into the mix as well since one of the volunteers left. I have 7 first graders (Anderson, Stalin, Andrés, David, Jefferson, Sixto, and Marlon - thought you might get a kick out of their names) and 3 third graders (Alex, Jhon, and Joel) these days, who normally make me want to pull my hair, but we had a fun day yesterday. They are a day ahead of my other classes due to days off, so in an attempt to have all my classes on the same schedule I decided to take them out to buy them icecream. That in itself was entertaining watching them freak out with excitment when I told them about it. I told one boy before class because he was down about something so I thought it would cheer him up knowing he was getting icecream later in class. I told him it was top secret and he couldn't tell anyone, and I watched him walk away from me and directly go to the other boys and tell them. It was great. I was like "JEFFERSON WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He just smirked and walked away. It was funny.

Well, at 5pm when I have class we grouped up. There were only 8 of them because Anderson and Joel Chicaiza (they're brothers) weren't there since their grandmother died and so they were out of towm. We walked there, it's about a 10 minute walk and the whole time I was laughing hysterically. The boys were just being boys. Plain and simple. Little boys having fun walking to go get icecream. Even better was watching people's faces when they realized there was a gringa with 8 little Ecuadorian boys. Getting icecream was funny because they were so excited they couldn't contain themselves and refused to make a nice line and calm down. The people in the restaurant thought we were the funniest group ever. Not to mention I had been in there at 2pm with 6 little girls too... they got a kick out of me. I made sure they said please and thank you and they were so cute all in unison they yelled "THANK YOU ADRIANA". I was so proud of them being polite to me but even better they said thank you and not gracias! I've taught them well.

The walk back from the icecream shop was the funniest. They were running around and I was just waiting for one of their cones to fall over and to lose their icecream. It of course happened, probably 30 yards from the Center. Jefferson of course picked it off the ground and put it back on his cone. I was horrified and begged him not to eat it but he was stubborn. So I had to sit back and watch him eat icecream that was on the nasty ground in dirty la Marin. We sat on the steps outside of the Center to finish their cones and they kept giving their cones "besitos" or little kisses, putting their cones together to get a little taste of the other person's icecream. So funny. They were just giggly little boys having a great time playing with their icecream cones. Who would have thought. One boy gave too hard of a "besito" and knocked the other guys' icecream off of the cone so there was slight drama, but the boy whose fault it was gladly gave up his icecream to the other boy. They were sitting on my lap, holding my hand, just being the goofiest kids alive.

After they finished their cones, half of it in their bellies, the other half on their face and on their shirts.... we played soccer which is always a favorite of the boys. I played with them and they were fighting over whose team I would be on so I had to switch half way through.

So after reading through what I just wrote, it doesn't sound like an especially fun time at all. But I suppose if you've met these boys and ever spent any time with them you know how hysterical they can really be. It is days like these that I fall in love with them all over again and feel like the luckiest person alive to be able to work with these naughty little boys. During class they drive me nuts but they are seriously funny kids! I'm so glad I have the opportunity to work with some of the boys, because otherwise I'd have all girls (besides Mr. Darling of course).

So anyway, it might not make sense, but hopefully some day I can at least read back on this and remember how I felt. I have never laughed so hard in class before, I feel like I keep having funnier and funnier moments in class with various students. This one ranks up there. Just spending an hour with boys, being boys. Loving every minute of it.

Things are winding down around here at the CMT. Only 2 and a half months and I'll be back in the States, hard to imagine. about 2 months left of classes. Crazy how time flies, huh? I'm sure all of you have been counting down the months, weeks, days until I get back... time doesn't fly when Audrey isn't around, I understand it has been horrible without me. Haha, kidding. But for me, time has just dissapeared. A lot of volunteers are getting ready to go, I'm just getting anxious for next year! I'm REALLY ready to get home and see everyone, spend time with family and friends. But I'm really, really excited about next year. I've been taking stock of the best room in the upstairs hallway to move into next year. I think I have it narrowed down to Bridget's room. Bigger shower, closer to the stairs, next to Jess. :) I'm thinking a change of rooms might be nice, since I have to move everything out anyway and put in storage while I'm in the STates.

My big issues now is that I have to choose classes for next year that I want to teach within the next couple of weeks. Madre Cindy is going to the States to do some fundraising so we have to have a meeting about next year before she leaves. I'm stressing about what to do! I'm thinking I was going to do literally exactly the same thing because I can't think of waht I'd change, but I feel like I will need something a little different. But I can't figure out what I want to get rid of! So I'm stressed. Making a pros and cons list like Mom would tell me to do.

It's so nice not to have to worry abotu the end of the year, moving home, AND having to say goodbye to everyone because I know I'll be back. Although there are a lot of families that don't return year to year, so we'll see. It's really becoming a reality that I'm staying, as we talk about it all the time. I guess there are 9 new volunteers that have already signed on, plus the three of us (Jess, Laura, and I) already. I'm sure more will sign on in the next couple of months so we'll have a full house again.

Another big thing is the race we're doing June 7th, a 15K. I'm kind of scared. I haven't been training much since I strained my quad playing soccer and kept re-injurying it, then I got sick and wasn't eating for awhile... so I started again today. Only 5 weeks left. I'm kind of excited since it has shapped up to be a big fundraising event for the Center. They are working on finding sponsors for each of us. They made posters and such. Should bring in some money, which we need desperately right now. The center is in rough shape, as we have now burned through all of our savings because there is no money coming in right now. So it's a stressful time for the Madres and Padres. So if anyone was thinking about donating to the Center... now is a great time. No pressure, just saying.

Better get going, having a relaxing night in with a few of the volunteers. Most went traveling since we have a 3day weekend, but Jess, Marian, Andrew and I stayed home.

Sending my love.
PAZ,
Adri

Adriana + 5

2009-04-19T19:09:00.009-05:00

Here is our 10-day vacation, as described by the 6 of us together:

The “plus 5” crew arrived safely on Wednesday evening, with nothing special to tell. Flights were all on schedule, luggage arrived to Quito, and they were all happy to see Audrey standing above the stairs in the airport to greet them. The 5 of them were SO happy they were waving their arms like lunatics (exact words from Audrey).

Thursday morning we were up early, as Audrey had class at 8am. The 5 were shown around the kitchen, how to fill water bottles (they grew to realize how important that water bottle was with all the traveling we did!) with drinkable water, and were briefed on the days activities. From 8-10am we all worked with Darling, who was eager to show off what he’s been learning. We played old maid, did multiplication flash cards, showed the 5 how he has been practicing walking, and he wrote everyone’s names. We then went downstairs to meet the rest of the special education staff and students, where Bryan greeted us in safety goggles, and Armando, “the fake sneezer”. Along with Bryan and Armando was Hilda, they lone lady in the group at 24, and David.

From there we took tours of all the “talleres” which are the technical education areas of the school. Rick was intrigued by the wood shop area, Sprock was interested in the auto mechanic shop, and we also checked out the electrician’s area. We also looked at all classrooms that Audrey teaches in at the Cotocollao center (center by house), including the English hallway where we were attacked with hugs and kisses from Audrey’s 1st grade girls. Lots of photos taken, and of course no photo was taken with out the kids seeing the end result.

We ate lunch at a plaza near the downtown center in Old Town (where Jill first discovered the home made aji sauce), and then we checked out the downtown center, otherwise known as “La Marin” where we were greeted and hugged by all. Nearly everyone was expecting the 5 visitors and were eager to meet them all, and to practice their English. For example. “Hello, my name is Maria, what is your name?” At 2pm we had 1st grade English class with the girls, where we ate cookies, drank Coke, and dyed Easter eggs. The girls showed the 5, how they can sing Jingle Bells, as well as “Oh Cecelia”. It was quite the show. Then during girls program, as no one wanted to do actual work on the last day before vacation, we had the girls do skits where they acted out certain staff members of the Center and we had to guess who they were. They had a good time. At 5pm we had class with the 1st grade boys, where they too drank Coke and ate cookies, and although they didn’t dye Easter eggs, Mary did show them how to properly raise their glasses and say CHEERS in English.

After classes we headed to a restaurant that had a great view of the city, called Mosaico which is quite close to the downtown center. With this taxi ride, Audrey was able to show off the reason she is such a stickler with the taxi drivers as they are always trying to charge more for “gringos”, or foreigners (ask Rick, we’re pretty sure he was in the taxi with me!). We were lucky to arrive before the sun set to get a view of the city that way, and then dined as the sun set and were able to see the whole city lit up. Food was good, and we were even able to get the 5 to try some Ecuadorian dishes, such as llapingachos and churrasco. One of the other volunteers joined us, Kathryn, and she enjoyed the humor of the 6 of us. It was a funny evening because Audrey was so paranoid about not bringing too much money (as some areas of Quito can be slightly dangerous), that we had to pool all of our money together to make sure we could pay for dinner the taxi home. We even had to borrow money from the poor volunteers.

Friday morning we went by bus to head to Old Town to see if we could check out the Good Friday celebrations. First we saw the “gold church”, or La Compañia de Jesús, which was where the Center first started, and from there we went to the Panecillo, or “the angel”, to get a great view of the city. The Panecillo can be seen from practically everywhere in the city and was a treat to visit. For an additional story, ask Sprock about the dogs… From the Panecillo, we were able to see the processions going on down below in Old Town. This included the purple-cloaked men (ask Sprock about souvenir) lined up an entire street for over a mile. Then we left the Panecillo to return down to Old Town (ask any one of the 5 about the taxi ride) and very briefly attempted to watch the procession up close. Crowds were too big and we ended up retreating after a few minutes. (It’s a good thing Sprock bought a souvenir). Since the crowds were so big, we left the area to head back to the house to regroup. We did manage to find a pizzeria and some diet cokes to satisfy our hunger before leaving.

Friday afternoon we took the opportunity to visit the “middle of the world”, otherwise known as the Equator. We went to the REAL equator, where there is a museum called Inti ñan, where we had a tour of various indigenous groups of the country and did experiments to show we were actually on the line, such as balancing an egg, showing water movement, and resistance tests. This was also the visitors fist test as public transportation, which was an experience.

Friday evening we stayed in and ordered pizza and spent time with other visiting family and friends. Much laughter to go around… ask Mary about Jill’s hair clip.

Saturday morning we started at the downtown center, taking the Metro bus which Audrey takes every day, to see mass with the people of the Center. They participated in the combined Holy Saturday/Easter Sunday mass (as the Center is closed on Sunday), which was filled with some 300 people, and lots of music and singing.

Saturday afternoon we ate lunch at a little outside café in Old Town where we found a samich, and then headed to the Basilica. We were all in awe by the architecture, beauty, and size of this old piece of Quito history. Ask Rick about the facilities… This was also where the 5 took a break to try their first “batido” which is like a fruit shake.

Not like we didn’t do enough in one day, we headed to the market to try to find some souvenirs to take back. This is where Audrey truly received her nickname of the trip, “THE NEGOTIATOR”. Audrey was able to talk prices down so we could all find goodies to bring back such as purses, table runners, scarves, and of course the most important purchase: the purple man (ask Sprock).

Exhausted from a full day, we headed back to the house but found the energy to SKYPE the Patzner clan left behind, where we found Jerry sweeping and doing laundry. (You didn’t fool us Jerry). Per Audrey’s request, we found ourselves amid our first Center dinner, which was TACO NIGHT. It was enjoyed by all.

By this time, the 5 visitors are now starting to become familiar with the constant barking dogs through the night, and the planes that are so loud and low, Jill ducked multiple times (and she’s the shortest too!).

Sunday morning, Easter morning, we took the Center bus to a local church where we had “gringo mass”, otherwise known as mass in English. This mass was said by Father John Haligan, the founder of the Center. Many of the members of this congregation are US Embassy staff. After Mass all 6 of us (well really most of the time just 5 because Mary was napping… the dogs got the best of her the night before and she needed some shut eye), we called Grandma Theresa to have a quick chat and to wish her a Happy Easter. She was glad to hear from her daughters and favorite son-in-laws. We were running out of time so we made sure to have Grandma T call Grandpa and Grandma Raemisch to make sure they were updated on our fun trip as well.

Sunday afternoon we spent in a barrio called San Enrique de Velasquez, where Audrey (and fellow volunteer Jessica) are in a weekly soccer league. The soccer field (a dirt field full of trash, glass, and wandering dogs) is in a poor village up in the mountains just 10 minutes from Audrey’s house. The visitors (along with Jessica’s parents, Cory and East Coast John), enjoyed taking in the cultural experience that was the soccer game. Jill was even able to hold an adorable Ecuadorian baby, that was the grandchild of the coach of the girls’ team. She enjoyed holding the baby, as long as she kept the face covered… the baby was petrified of the strangers’ faces.

Sunday afternoon at 4pm we had an Easter feast cooked by Madre Cindy, which included all the comfort foods of ham, baked potatoes, corn, and creamy asparagus. Dessert included cupcakes and ice cream. About 60 people were in attendance.

Sunday evening after dinner Madre Miguel and Padre Juan led a slideshow and commentary to explain the Center’s history. Everyone was able to learn a lot about the history and enjoyed the humorous interaction between the two, who have worked together for over 40 years.

Monday morning started our adventures outside of Quito. We were awake and showered to leave the house at 5:30 in the morning to catch an early flight to Cuenca which is in the south of the country. The flight was only 45 minutes long (the other option was a 10 hour bus ride… no gracias), and we arrived at our colorful, quaint hotel by 8am. As luck had it, we were able to catch a private tour leaving shortly before 9am to the national park just 45 minutes away, El Parque Nacional Cajas. This English tour (by much relief of all 5 visitors), included beautiful sights of hills, valleys, mountains, and slippery slopes. We took a short (10 minutes, right?) walk to learn about some plants (ask Sprock about all of his really good questions), and then headed to the hiking portion of the day. The views were absolutely beautiful, including lakes and greenery as well. We took a hike around one of the lakes, which was just a small fraction of the entire area. The tour included a rigorous hike, with several “whoop whoops”, and we all decided that Jill wins the “slippery soles” award for falling the most. During this hike was when we discovered the “altitude giggles”, where all were plagued with non-stop laughter, making our guide nervous and confused why EVERYTHING was so damn funny. No one could even so much as glance at Jill without her losing it once again. During all the tears due to laughter, Sprock added to the fun by pulling his cookies, which he saved a few days prior when running in front of a moving bus to save. The hike was longer than expected, but at the end, we had a very good lunch at a local restaurant. Our timing was once again perfect as it started to rain in the exact moment we got on the bus to go home. We had a beautiful morning to hike and enjoy the weather!

Monday evening we took a much-needed nap before heading out to a long dinner full of great food and even more laughter. Ask Sprock about the cougher, and Mary about the incense. It was a fun-filled evening.

Tuesday we decided to sleep in and started with a cab ride to a lookout point with a good view of the city, and then we took a cab back down to the river where we took a nice stroll along the river walk. We made our way back to the downtown area of the city, which is small and cute and filled with many small shops and beautiful architecture. We checked out the basilica, which was overwhelmingly large with beautiful blue domes. We lit a candle in memory of Grandpa Kenny, and Jill was able to buy a locally made rosary for Carson’s First Communion. Other sites of the city included a flower market and other small local markets to purchase more souvenirs where we found several items of interest for Bridget!

Tuesday for lunch we had the true experience with a local lunch menu of the day. This included a soup, main plate of chicken, rice, and beans, and freshly squeezed juice. Tuesday night we went to a Mexican restaurant with actually authentic Mexican food (with much delight to Audrey), where we dined leisurely with the restaurant to ourselves. When it came time for the bill, the server asked Audrey for her tour guide information, mistaking her for the official tour guide of the 5 visitors. We got a good laugh out of that.

Wednesday morning we had an 8am flight back to Quito, where we quickly stopped at home to regroup once again before leaving by 10:30am. We took the city bus to the only inhabited crater in the world, in Pululahua, near the Equator. The crater is filled with all farmland and is DEEP. Spectacular views from the top, we took our time walking down a windy path, lowering 1,000 feet to the bottom of the crater where we continued a path across to the other side. After crossing the crater we arrived at a little hostel with lunch awaiting us, thank you to Audrey’s call ahead. We were surprised to find one of the other volunteers, Colin, and his brother had the same idea and had arrived to the hostel just minutes before us. We enjoyed a lunch of chicken and MUSHROOMS (ask Mary), at the hostel (La Rinconada de Rolando Vera), and some beverages before taking off to cross the crater to climb back up (couldn’t forget that awaited us as we sat enjoying lunch in the sunshine). Sprock enjoyed the work out, as part of training for the Crazylegs, and we were able to capture with a pedometer that we trekked over 9 miles that day alone. We took our time walking up the mountainside via the path, taking breaks to catch our breath and take in the view. This was also to avoid cardiac arrest on the part of any one of the 6 participants. Audrey was extremely proud of the 5 for making it up the hard climb of 1,000 feet, but relieved to hear “WORTH IT” upon reaching the top.

Once again, luck on our side was apparent as it started POURING on the bus ride home, just after our outdoor activities were over. The 5 now believe Audrey when she kept saying we do outdoor activities in the morning because it rains in the afternoons!

Wednesday night, tired from our hike, we spent a low-key evening at the Center. We made time to sort through the multiple suitcases of donations to find specific homes throughout the Center. Audrey would like to thank everyone who added to the clothes and other donations, such as Greg and Shirley Kalscheuer, Karl and Lisa Hilker, Nancy and Chris Krug, Lynn Adler, Mary and Dean Hein, Paul Maggio, Waunakee Rotary Club, Jane Krogstad, and many others we may have failed to mention. While going through all the clothes, Mary FINALLY FOUND THE SUMMER SAUSAGE! Thought to have been confiscated in the airport, Audrey was very pleased to know what her lunch on Monday will consist of. We dined at the center and were in bed early.

Thursday we decided to sleep in and relax in the morning, not leaving the house until 10am. We got to the crazy bus station, where we were told a bus was leaving in 5 minutes so we quickly bought the tickets, only to be told that the bus ACTUALLY didn’t leave for an hour. Angry and frustrated, Audrey argued with the young lady who sold her the tickets only to get nowhere. Since the bus tickets only cost $3.50 to begin with, the group decided to pay for another set of tickets that really was leaving in a few minutes. The bus had already left, so where snuck out the back door (saving 20 cents each to leave the bus station to get to the platforms) and ran to catch the bus just in time. The bus ended up being much longer than anticipated, taking close to 4 and a half hours when it should have been 3 and a half, due to unnecessary stops.

Thursday afternoon we laid low and checked out the quaint little town of Baños, which is all visible by foot. Our hotel, La Posada del Arte was located right by a waterfall and owned by a couple from Chicago (English speaking was welcomed). Dinner was at a cute, small litter restaurant (ask to see a picture taken in honor of a fellow Kalscheuer), where everyone enjoyed good meals. On our walk back to the hotel, we lined up our tour for the next day with our newfound friend Alfonso.

Friday morning, Alfonso and his driver, showed up right on time at 9am with the “chiva”, which is an open seated bus meant for tours. We didn’t leave without having a huge, delicious, breakfast at the hotel (ask Sprock about the beans). We started at 5,700 feet above sea level and 69 degrees when we left. We think it important to mention that our tour guide brought along his son, David, who couldn’t have been more than 2 years old. This kid was a constant source of entertainment, as he was one of the happiest kids we had ever seen, constantly giggling and dancing. He was, however, quite fearless which created some nerves on the part of all who watched him walk around ledges and cross bridges alone. We took the chiva bus up the winding dirt/stone road, with limited guide rails, up the side of the Tungurahua volcano. At the top, we are now at 10,000 feet and 57 degrees. We start our “10 minute walk”, which was really over an hour, through the side of the volcano, showing us the areas in which the lava flowed just a few years ago. There were breathtaking views and uncertain footing involved, but at the end the phrase was again mentioned, “WORTH IT”.

On the way down, Rick and Sprock contemplated the mechanics of the vehicle, and decided that they were better off to not think about it, and hope for the best. We made it down safely, and traveled back through town to start the waterfall route. We saw beautiful waterfalls and breathtaking views of the mountains as we traveled down the path. We even all braved the cable car (ask Sprock about the mechanics of the operation), which took us over a 500-foot gorge to have an aerial view of the mountains and a waterfall. Again, declaring “WORTH IT!”

Then we continued on the path until we came to the most famous waterfall of the path, called “El Pailón del Diablo” which we took a 45-minute hike down to the views of the waterfall. We crossed a wooden plank bridge, maximum 5 people at a time, to catch a breathtaking view of the roaring waterfall. After taking some pictures of the waterfall, we traveled to a lookout point closer to the waterfall where all 6 of us then continued to climb (pretty much on our hands and knees in a cave-like passage) towards a lookout that is beneath the waterfall. After about all of 50 feet, Audrey had a freak-out moment, due to claustrophobia, and after the rest heard “I can’t do it” found it quite easy to back out immediately. Audrey on the other hand, (with hands over face and still freaking out), was told by Alfonso the tour guide as he grabbed her hand, that he was sending her good energies and that she could do it. Mary was right behind her and stayed with her, as the others retreated, and after some convincing, Jill came back into the cave-like passage to join. So the three ladies and tour guide continued up the route to end up at a look out behind the waterfall that was simply incredible. Although the claustrophobia was intense, all that continued on decided it was worth it, once again. We took our time hiking back away from the waterfall to continue back on the chiva bus, which then took us to our lunch destination. It was a questionable roadside location, where once again the lunch special included chicken, beans and rice. As luck would have it, it started raining once again as we dined, leaving us with beautiful weather for our outdoor activities.

Friday evening we enjoyed walking around the small town once again, before finding a fabulous dining location. We all had excellent meals, which included steaks, shrimp, and pasta, and were left feeling full and satisfied.

Saturday morning, we had another great breakfast at the hotel (this time Sprock made better decisions on his meal), and got on a bus to a pleasant surprise of a shorter bus ride back to Quito of 3 hours. Saturday afternoon comprised of some sunshine on the porch, 3 for $5 DVD purchases, and the writing of what you are currently reading. Tonight we will be enjoying Audrey’s favorite meal again, TACOS, thanks to the sweet-talking she has done with the cooks. Not to mention, her favorite dessert (oreo cheesecake), because Maria (one of the cooks) loves her.

Overall, it was a successful adventure that left all 5 of the visitors with many memories to last a lifetime. They all did things they NEVER dreamed of doing, things they still think they shouldn’t have done, and ate things they are still are praying won’t leave them cursing later.

As I sit here (now it's just Audrey talking again) thinking about all the amazing things I was able to share with my family these past 10 days, I feel lucky and blessed to have spent the time with them and showed them my life. From day one it was really important to me that they see where I'm living, meet my students, and get an opportunity to see some of the incredible things Ecuador has to offer. It was, however, a stressful time trying to plan a trip that would be enjoyed by all... but in the end I think everyone truly LOVED what I picked for them which is a relief. Having them here with me was way better than I could have imagined, and there isn't a whole lot that I would change about the trip. I thought it would be a lot harder translating and traveling throughout the various trips, but it turned out to be much better than I thought. I was constantly nervous about making sure everyone was healthy and having fun, enjoying what we were doing... because if they got sick from the food it was my fault for picking the restaurant and if they weren't having fun it was my fault for picking what we did! So I was under a lot of pressure (pretty much all the pressure I know I put on myself) but was very pleased to have happy guests, who were AWESOME at going with the flow and making sure to remind me that they were having fun and were doing well. I appreciate that, because I did put a lot of pressure on myself. They were perfect guests to have, I loved having them here.

Well, there is so much more that I could say, but it is already quite long and I'm ready for bed anyway. To sum it all up, my experience traveling with my 5 visitors was something I will never forget, and feel blessed to have the opportunity to spend that time with them. It means the world to have my parents here, and then to have Rick and Judy, Jill along as well was even better! The 6 of us laughed more than I would have ever imagined, and I especially want to say I enjoyed my time with my "bunk buddy" Jill Patzner. We laughed and told secrets, just like we were 10 and at a sleepover. It was pretty funny.

I'll also take the opportunity to let you all know that I do have a plane ticket to return to the States! Wednesday, July 14th I'll be back in Waunakee... and I can also tell you that it will only be for around 6 weeks as I have officially decided to come back to the Working Boys' Center to teach for a second year, coming back here to Quito at the end of August. It has been a hard thing to officially decide and admit to everyone, but in reality it was one of the easiest decisions I've ever made. I can't imagine myself anywhere else right now, and I look forward to a second year here, hopefully making even more of an impact than I was able to do this year.

Thanks again for everyone's support and love throughout the past 8 months here. Also thanks for all the donations ya'll sent! To my 5 visitors for dragging it to Quito and for donating, and for everyone else I mentioned earlier. GRACIAS!

Back to work tomorrow... I'll be glad for the normal schedule, but it is always sad to see vacation end.

con mucho amor,
ADRIANA

Visitors coming soon!

2009-04-06T13:04:00.003-05:00

Hola...

I'm getting so excite; Mom, Dad, Rick, Judy, and Jill will be here in TWO DAYS!

We are going to be in Quito for a few days, then travel to Cuenca, Pullulahua, and Baños for the rest of the week.

It is going to be a busy 10 days translating and traveling but I couldn't be more excited to see them, and be able to spend Easter with my family!

I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Easter, as I doubt I'll be on my computer much once they are here. Actually I'm sure they will want to write a blog post from Quito... should be pretty funny so look out for that.

Much love from Quito.
ADRIANA

Article on the Center

2009-04-02T21:50:00.001-05:00

Good article written about the Working Boys' Center...

http://ncronline.org/news/global/center-teaches-entire-families-ecuador

Pictures

2009-03-30T11:05:00.002-05:00

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you know that I updated my pictures on PICASSA... so check them out! Haven't put a ton of new ones up, but I put a few new folders up and updated the folder of "Fotos del Center". My kids are so adorable.

Love,
Aud

Abby's visit, recent news

2009-03-27T11:59:00.015-05:00

Hi all, can you believe it's the end of March already?! I sure can't. Time continues to fly down here... the weeks go by so incredibly fast, which turn into months, and pretty soon will turn into a year! So crazy.

Well, for those of you who don't know Abby, she was my roommate when I studied abroad and lived in Spain 4 years ago. We became quite good friends and have kept in contact, her going to UW-LaCrosse, me going back to UW-Milwaukee. Then after she graduated she moved down HERE to the Working Boys' Center to live and work for two years. So for the past two years she has been down here, so I haven't seen her a whole lot. I did come down to visit her last March, which is how I found out about the Center and decided to return as a full-time volunteer. So anyway, she came back to the Center a few weeks ago, mainly to see old students and friends, but of course to spend time with ME!

I was so anxious for Abby to get here for WEEKS, it was all I talked about. My poor roomamtes had to hear about this "Abby" character... they were ready to meet her as well having heard about her so much from me. She arrived on my birthday, as I mentioned, which wasn't the most amazing day but ended up to be perfect with Abby here! I left shortly after eating dinner to pick her up from the airport, and almost missed her because her flight got on almost 20 minutes early! Immediately upon arriving, Abby and I were right back to how we always have been: talking and laughing non-stop. She brought so many goodies for me; food, prizes for my kids, and some birthday presents from her and our friend Swo. All I asked her for was a bag of jalapeño kettle cooked chips (pretty much the only thing I crave that she was able to bring... the main thing I miss is authentic Mexican food, kind of hard to bring along!), and she went above and beyond big time!

Wednesday night when she arrived we talked, and talked, and talked... which wasn't the greatest idea because I was sick and should have been in bed. But I couldn't help it! She was anxious to hear about my experiance here, about the other volunteers, about my classes, my students, about her old students that I know, etc. Thursday morning she came with me to class first thing in the morning, I tutor Darling from 8-11am and she hung out with us, we played Old Maid (which you just can't play with two people so I was excited to have a third), showed Abby his progress with walking. Then we separated for Abby to visit some of her other students in Cotocollao while I went to la Marin. She met up with me later and was able to hang out at my 5pm first grade boys class (the naughty ones) and help teach. It's pretty funny because I am teaching the same things she was teaching her first graders when I visited last March, as she is visiting the same exact week I visited a year ago! She was also able to spend the hour with my adults class at night, was able to witness first hand Maria Uscho's inability to really speak Spanish and Maria Cando's inability to stay awake... it's quite the class, I tell you.

I was really surprised at how important it was to Abby to spend time with all my classes, I figured she'd have her own agenda and people to see but she went out of her way to meet every single student of mine and spend at least part of the hour with them. It meant a lot to me that she was able to do that.

Friday was similar, she spent the morning at la Marin to see her old students, and stayed there to hang out with me when I got there in the afternoon, was able to meet my first grade girls who are just too darn adorable. Friday night we went out to go dancing, as Abby has missed dancing greatly since her return to the States... aren't too many salsa clubs in LaCrosse, WI. We danced at this one salsa club ALL NIGHT. It was so much fun. We just kept dancing, taking a break, dancing some more, and more, and more!

Saturday Abby spent all day with former students, taking them on a little field trip... I slept in as I was still feeling sick and needed the rest. Saturday night we went dancing again, Abby is the queen of dancing, and I love it!

Sunday we had a great day... we went on a house visit to one of the families from the Center which is something I hadn't done yet. It is a family I didn't know until this day, but Abby was quite close with and had visited their house frequently. We woke up early, made an italian pasta salad to bring along, and were on the bus by 9:30am to arrive at the bus station in their neighborhood at about 10am. The barrio, or neighborhood they live in is one of the poorest in the area, called Pisuli. The Miranda family was who we went to visit, which consists of the parents, 9 children, and one grandchild... all in one house the size of probably my bedroom here. That's 11 and a baby living in this house... it's incredible. It was the first time I'd been to a family's house and I'm really glad that I was finally able to do it... it's eye opening to see the extreme poverty they live in. Now I know why they come to school looking like they do. No running water, they have a big barrel of water they take from for cleaning and cooking. Probably only 4 beds total in the two "bedrooms" they have. One "living room" which is attached to the "kitchen"... all three rooms put together like I mentiond the size of my bedroom in the house here. Granted I have a decently large bedroom, BUT not meant for 11 people!

When we got there, we sat around and talked for a little bit, then went outside to play with all the kids. Mainly just with the younger kids as the older ones were helping their Mother cook lunch. The kids range from 4 years old to 19 years old, the second oldest has the baby, who is proabably 9 months old. So we ended up going to a park on the other side of the barrio to play with the kids, which was fun. They are a hilarious family, all have such senses of humor and love to laugh. The little girls are probably the cutest things I've ever seen in my life. We tired ourselves out quite a bit, running around and then having to walk 30 minutes back to the house from the park... not to mention it was probably 80 degrees out!

We ate lunch when we got back. Very simple, just rice, and some chicken in some sort of sauce. We ate the pasta salad we brought, along with a big bottle of Coke we also all drank. Were forced to eat way more than we could possibly fit in our stomachs of course, but it was good and after lunch we all were so stuffed we couldn't move. It is amazing how on a daily basis they probably eat a quarter of what we ate but they all eat heartily when they have visitors. Abby brought them some toys for the little ones so after lunch we played with the toys a little bit, chatted. I don't know any of the kids because they all have the opposite schedule that I do: morning in the normal classes, afternoon in the special classes that we all teach; and I'm in la Marin (the other center) in the afternoon so I never see them! It was a tiring day, but great day... very good to see how they actually live, spend some time with kids from the Center NOT teaching was fun. We were home around 4pm which wasn't bad, and just hung out around the house for the rest of the day.

Monday Abby spent all day with me which was great. She saw my first graders here in Cotocollao at 8am and then in the afternoon spent some time with my Colegio girls. Abby brought a ton of clothes donations and I was able to give each one of my students a shirt as a prize for playing Jeopardy. Clothes are a BIG deal to 13 year old girls, no matter what country. And since these girls could never afford to buy clothes of their own, they LOVE getting a new shirt once and awhile. Monday night we planned on having dinner at one of the teacher's from la Marin's house (Marcia, whose house I went to at the beginning of the year), but she canceled on us last minute due to a death in the family. I ended up having someone cancel my adult class at night so I was free early so Abby and I just hung out, went up the street and bought some movies for her to bring back to the States (they cost 3 for $5), and ate dinner at home.

Tuesday I actually didn't see Abby all day. It was nice to have a visitor that just did her own thing, although I would have liked to spend a little more time with her. Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day so we ended up going out to celebrate a little bit, just a few of us. Abby had to be at the airport at 5am on Wednesday morning which I'm sure wasn't fun... I didn't wake up to see her off, instead I slept in until 6:30am to get ready for class.

All in all the trip was exactly what I needed, Abs made me think a lot about my time here, what I'm doing, etc. It was fun having her here, a friend from home... and a former volunteer. We all realized while she was here that we were at a disadvantage not having any returning volunteers to show us the ropes and give us advice. She made me realize there is so much more that I'm able and willing to give to my students and the people of the Center, I just need to be proactive about it and actually do the things I keep saying I want to do!

So I have a whole new perspective on my last 3 or so months here, I'm going to try to spend a lot more time with the kids on the weekends, even though I'm exaughsted and a break from the kids is exactly what I want... they need my time and love, and I know that once I don't have them around me constantly I'm going to be quite sad. So I'm going to get all the loving from those crazy kids while I can! I've just been squeezing the kids as much as I can... there is nothing like the hugs from the litle ones.

Last Saturday I spent the morning/early afternoon at la Marin (the downtown center). It was one of the best Saturdays I have had yet here! I took my 1st grade boys on a little fieldtrip to a really cool park that overlooks the entire city. I only have 7 boys these days, one was out with the chickenpox, and another didn't get a permission slip from him Mom so I just had 5 boys. It was the perfect number. They were so adorable, so excited. The girls get a chance to go to this park quite often, during Girls' Program... but the boys never get to go. So I was really happy I was able to take them out of the city into a big park to run around in the grass and play on equipment we don't have at the center! We left the Center at 9:30am (you have to go early before the rain comes in the afternoon!), and the boys were so good. I was nervous they wouldn't walk with me, run ahead, etc... because la Marin isn't the best part of Quito and I was nevous taking the boys out as it is. But they were awesome, they were so cute. They kept holding my hands which they NEVER do at the Center (I'm sure they'd get made fun of by the older boys, but they weren't there!), and one boy just kept walking next to me holding onto the sleeve of my sweater. It was the cutest thing ever. We didn't do anything overly exciting at the park, but like I said it is just getting out of the downtown area and having room to run that was the most important. I was able to buy them some icecream in the park, we wandered through all the trails and different areas of the park. I had a big nalgene water bottle they all took turns drinking out of, not sure how to drink out of is because it has a big wide lid and they spilled all over themselves. I tried to explain it's no different than a cup... BUT I suppose it was pretty big for their little hands, haha. On the way home from the park I bought a big bottle of Coke for them to share, they were all little thirsty boys. They had a really good morning I think, and I'm really glad I did that. It cost me hardly any money, and I made their day.

After we go thome from the park I stuck around la Marin and hung out with the people which was so great. They have BINGO on Saturday mornings, and can win prizes like clothes or toys which is really cool for them. I just walked around, talking to everyone I knew until mass at noon where I sat with my boys who were so well behaved which was nice to see. Then I ate lunch with the people which is always an experience. They all sit at these giant lunch tables and wait their turn, we all pray, then they go table by table to a big serving line where they have pre-dished out bowls of soup and plates of food. The food isn't horrible most of the time. The soup was good, the juice was maracuya (passion fruit) which is my absolute favorite! BUT, on that particular day they ate rice, half an avacado (which was good), and this pork skin stuff. It's so disgusting, not only for the taste but for the rubbery texture... I had to force myself to eat it because I couldn't be rude and tell them I didn't like it and they aren't allowed to waste any food. It was rough, let me tell you. During lunch I had some really good conversations with some of the Moms, got to know them a little better which is what I've been wanting to do.

After lunch I hung out for a little bit longer, talked to some of the parents, played with the kids, and then headed out. It is March Madness and so I met some other volunteers and friends downtown to watch the games.

So I wanted to let everyone know that I have been using my donation money on the kids... just a little at a time! I used it on last Saturday for example, on the icecream and soday. The other week I bought my Girls' Program group all icecream for their hard work on making cards. I bought my first grade girls here icecream today and read them stories in English... it was a fun class. They love hearing storeis in English, even if they don't understand. They have fun picking out random words they know like "my name is" or "mother". It's darn adorable. I also bought my first grade girls at la Marin icecream yesterday as well... every time I give them a choice they always want icecream! So thank you for all the donation money, I am putting it towards the smiles and sticky faces of the children!

I plan on taking all my students on a bigger fieldtrip before the end of the year, using donation money as well. I think I'm going to take all 3 of my first grade classes bowling which should be quite humorous. My colegio girls I think I'm going to take them to a movie down the street at the mall at some point. I promised Darling I'd take him and his siblings to a movie when he could earn 15 stickers, which he gets from working hard the whole morning. I've been going a month now with that whole schtick and he only has 8 of the 15 stickers. So if you do the math, that's 8 out of 20 days that he's worked? Maybe that puts into perspective the amount of times a day I say, "alright Darling, lets get to work". It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it! The prize of the movie has helped motivate him at least a little more... And finally I want to do something really nice for Mother's Day for my two adult students, not quite sure what yet. And I plan to take them out for dinner again sometime soon.

So although things are cheap here, and money goes far... I have a lot of students so I'll be able to spend the money no problem! Thank you to everyone for the financial help that allows me to be able to take my kids on fieldtrips and do nice things for my adult students!

Two more things have happened recently! I joined a soccer league which is so much fun. I've only had one game, and at first I was skeptical, but now I'm really excited about it. One of the other volunteers and I, Jessica joined together. It's a team that has two mothers who grew up in the Center and their father is somehow affiliated with the Center still which was how Jess found out about it and got us recruited. It's a woman's league, small dirt field... not super high talent but a lot of fun. It's nice to meet some new Ecuatorians and get some exercise. The league is in this small barrio up in the mountains which is cool too. The other thing is I'm running a 14K race on June 7th apparently?! I don't know HOW I got talked into it... BUT... there are probably 10 of us volunteers all doing it. It's a race they hold every year here in Quito, and this year we're running to raise money for the center. They're finidng sponsors for us and helping us train I guess? So I don't know how this is going to work, but I started running yesterday, got up at 5:45am to run around the center for awhile. Must start somewhere. It will be fun since there are a lot of us doing it, and hopefully I can make it!

Well, my family will be here in like a week and a half... so hard to believe! I can't wait to see them all, show them the Center and have them meet all my students and friends here!

I hello and thank you to Concordia United Methodist Church in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin who are working hard to raise money to the center during Lent. I hope the Penny Wars are continuing to be a success and I look forward to meeting you all in August when I'm home! Thank you for choosing the Center and Renee for all your hard work organizing the event and getting everyone excited about the CMT! Also to Suzanne for thinking of me and introducing everyone to the Center and it's mission.

Hope all is well at home, I hear it is cold today... sorry to hear that! Hope the weather continues to warm up and everyone can get out of the house and get some fresh air! I take that for granted here, the weather that is. Fresh air not so much, the polution is quite bad in Quito. I hope to get more pictures put online sometime soon, just isn't on the top of my to-do list, I have many other things that need to be done first!

Sending much love from Quito to all...
Audrey

My birthday

2009-03-19T11:51:00.003-05:00

Buenas tardes,

So... first of all, thanks to everyone for the birthday cards, e-mails, and wishes. It's the second time I've spent my birthday out of the States, and it was one to remember.

My birthday, although I felt like absolute crap all day, ended up to be an ok day. I started getting sick last Monday, of course two days before Abby got here. I had a pretty bad head cold, was achy all over, and couldn't stop coughing and sneezing. The worst of it unfortunately happened to be on Wednesday... my birthday and day Abby arrived. I didn't sleep hardly at all on Tuesday night because I was coughing all night, so when I woke up on Wednesday I was exaughsted and congested. What a way to start your bithday, huh? I felt funcionable in the morning, but by the time I got home I was miserable. I had my normal 8am English class, and then I have Special Ed from 9-11am on Wednesdays. I took Darling upstairs to our normal classroom at 9am, got a call from the others downstairs to come down at about 10am. There was a bunch of other staff members there to celebrate my birthday. The kids were pretty jacked up. We had cake, donuts, soda, popcorn, choclo and cheese (a type of corn with a cheese sauce on it)... it was quite the feast. It was cute they were pretty excited to celebrate my birthday. I felt bad because I didn't feel well but tried to keep up a smile because they were trying to hard to celebrate.

In the afternoon I have two colegio classes. The first one was normal, they didn't find out until the end of the class that it was my birthday. My second colegio class bought me a cake which was so adorable. They wouldn't let me in the room right away... they had written Happy Birthday Audrey all over the room and had the cake. I was most impressed that they wrote Happy Birthday in English AND they wrote my real name instead of Adriana. They are so adorable. So we ate the cake quickly and proceded to class as normal... until I got interviewed by a news team from Quito which was interesting and a whole other story. So I'm pretty sure I was on the news last week, although I've never watched the news here so I don't know how it ended up.

After that I travel to the other center downtown, where I only have one more class left. It's my adults class and it was cute because we combined all the adult classes at that hour to party. At the center the adults have 3 years of normal classes, and then they can also get a technical degree like the kids can. So there is a bakery shop to get a technical degree in bakery... so the adults in that class made us a giant cake (they have to practice making cakes, right? haha). Then we all ate cake until our stomachs hurt and played JENGA for the rest of the class. The adult students get such a kick out of the game JENGA. It was a pretty fun class. At this point I felt pretty sick and felt bad because they were all like "you can't be sad on your birthday!". They were all trying hard to cheer me up but I felt pretty rotten. I got home at the normal time and got to eat my birthday dinner which was chicken fajitas! It's the one thing we get for our birthday, that we get to choose the dinner for that night. It's not a bad deal, chicken fajitas is by far the best dinner we have here in my opinion. It's not good by Mexican food standards... but for Ecuadorians, it's not bad!

After dinner I left to go to the airport to pick up my friend Abby!

So that's my birthday in a nut shell. I wish I had some great story about how I spent my 24th birthday in Quito, Ecuador... but my day was like any other day I've spent here teaching all day... I guess just with cake! I got a few breaks throughout the day to party a little bit but I did have to teach all day, and being sick teaching all day is pretty exaughsting. Unfortunately I felt like crap all day like I said, but everyone was really nice and tried so hard to cheer me up and help me celebrate being 24 years old.

I'll write about my time with Abby soon...
Thanks again for the birthday wishes.
My guests come in 3 weeks, can you believe it?!

Love,
Adri

My thoughts as I can’t fall asleep.

2009-03-04T11:51:00.000-05:00

As I sit here in bed, unable to fall asleep, I thought I’d write a few things that have been on my mind lately.

First of all, I had a great day with Darling. Good days with Darling lately have been few and far between, and I’ve grown quite frustrated. He seemingly works less and less with each day that passes. It is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, working with him that is. He is such a source of joy some days, and I truly love this kid as I would a brother. But he is a challenge. A big, big challenge. If you aren’t familiar with who Darling is, he is the 15 year old boy I work with each morning that has Cerebral Palsy. He is completely capable to learn as any normal kid, but he started only a few years ago so he is extremely behind and I am still teaching him to read and write (although due to his physical disability writing is extremely challenging for him), and we are now mastering the multiplication table.

Well a few weeks ago he got brand new shoes and leg braces, courtesy of the Center. With the new shoes and braces on his legs it helps him be able to stand up straight and on flat feet. He doesn’t have much control over any of his muscles, and his feet are crooked so standing or walking is near impossible. With the shoes and braces he can stand up and walk with either a bar on the wall or with the help of someone else. So every day I’m supposed to be working on physical therapy of sorts with him, practicing standing straight, walking with assistance, strengthening muscles, etc. It has been weeks and he has YET to really do any of the work with me… until TODAY! It was a small feat that made my day. He was a pain at the beginning of the morning (I work with him from 8-11am), but finally I got him to read some, work on multiplication flash cards… that was a feat in itself, getting him to work. But then it came time to do exercises and not only did he do what I asked, he didn’t complain and we laughed, and laughed, and LAUGHED. There are days when I am in tears because of this kid. Today was one of them. He did awesome at walking with the bar, practiced walking holding my hands, stood up and sat back down with my help, and finally we were doing abdominal work… which was where the tears due to laughter came. He was such a ham, acting like it was the hardest thing he had ever done in his life. Each time he sat up from doing a crunch, he was panting like a dog, being all dramatic. Then once I started laughing hysterically he really started to put on an act. The other special ed teachers were laughing at the fact that I couldn’t stop laughing. Pretty soon Darling and I were lying on the floor in a complete laughing fit, unable to stop.

Another thing that has been on my mind lately has been teaching in general. There are still some days (pretty much every day) that I can’t believe I’m a teacher. I’m a legit (well without a degree or license) teacher. And I love it. Absolutely love it. I was so scared coming here, with no experience at all teaching… only some coaching and what I learned in training and development classes in my HR degree, which is NOTHING like sitting in front of a class, or doing one-on-one tutoring. So I basically came into this year a lost puppy. But I’m better because of it. I have learned more in the past 6 months of my life than I ever have. I have found that I’m pretty darn good at teaching, and like I said, I really enjoy it. Lately I have been toying with the idea of going back to school upon returning back to the States to get licensed to be a teacher. I don’t know, it has just been something I’ve been thinking about. I love teaching and right now I can’t see myself doing anything else. The thought of teaching back in the States (most likely teaching Spanish) excites me. Scary because teaching here is so unbelievably different than any school in the States, and I know this. BUT… they are all just thoughts.

There is nothing like the feeling I get from my students. They are the funniest little people. I have decided that my first graders are seriously just these amazing little humans that have so much character for their age it’s ridiculous. I had a 4 day weekend, and was dreading going back to work, and then when it came down to it, Wednesday morning at 7:45am I was greeted by 10 adorable first grade girls that were SO excited to see me and missed me SO much… how can you ever ask for anything better than that? Every day when I arrive at la Marin (the downtown center) in the afternoon, the kids ATTACK me with excitement because they haven’t seen me all morning. They are seriously that excited to see me, and the days we don’t have class they are always disappointed when I tell them they have to wait until the next afternoon.

One of the other volunteers, Kat, told me today that in her health class she has a bunch of my first graders that I have for English class…. They said multiple times please, thank you, and your welcome IN ENGLISH WITHOUT PROMPT. I am the proudest teacher alive I think! I couldn’t believe it when she told me that. Granted we work on things like that every day. Still, teaching the little ones to actually remember English is tough.

My colegio girls, (middle school aged) are a challenge too, but it is so much FUN being able to actually teach them usable English and see them learn. With the first graders it’s all vocabulary and random sentences, but with the older girls it’s great seeing them put sentences together. I never thought I would enjoy middle school age, but I’m really enjoying my time with them, no matter how much they frustrate me on a daily basis. They too are funny people, so awkward at times, and just starting to figure out who it is that they are, what they want to do, who they want to be. It’s amazing to watch how much they look up to someone like me, a 24-year-old girl from the States.

My feelings about my adult students changes on a daily basis. Most days I just love those women more than I can express. But teaching them and making hardly any progress is a tough thing to take 5 nights a week. They are incredible human beings, women, mothers, wives, community members. They show up EVERY DAY, without fail. One of the women can’t keep her eyes open, falls asleep every 5 mintues, but still shows up. The other has been trying to learn to read and write for 3 years now, and still shows up every day, although after a day without class she forgets everything. We work on the same things every day, and no matter what they keep working hard. They get frustrated of course, but I am amazed daily at how much strength they have to go back and try to learn how to do simple things that most of us learned in 1st grade. To have some American trying to teach you how to read and write in Spanish must be the weirdest thing. It’s my second language and I can read and write perfectly but they still can’t…. there are some days I am in stitches laughing with my adults. They think I’m so ridiculous. I think I’ve mentioned that my main goal is to get them to laugh every day, and boy I’m getting pretty good at it! Random things like tickling Maria Ushco during class to bug her, or racing down the stairs with her. Maria Cando, bless her, can’t stay awake… but when she is, is always is laughing with the giant toothless grin she has that lights my world.

All in all I am daily amazed at the joy these people bring me. My students are incredible people; the teachers I work with are equally incredible. I have created some great relationships with some of my co-workers and directors of the different centers. As hard as it is to get up in the morning, when my room is cold, it’s raining outside, and once and a while have a cold shower…. Once I get that first hug, kiss, kid running up to me screaming HOLA ADRIANA, or holding those tiny hands up to the classroom; it’s worth everything. When Darling makes his ridiculous comments, it’s all worth it. When my colegio girls come up and give me a big hug and kiss on the cheek, it’s worth it; not to mention it helps remind me that they have a short memory and even though they may have been mad at me the other day for giving them a zero for cheating they still love me.

So when people keep asking me here, are you thinking about staying a second year? Claro que sí, absolutely. The question of who is staying for a second year is a big deal around here, as we’re all trying to sort through our feelings and what we want to do, if we can handle it for another year, etc. Am I going to make any concrete decisions any day soon? Nope. I’m going to wait awhile, but as of right now I can’t imagine myself anywhere else but holding the hand of a 6 year old with shoe polish on his face. Still plenty of time left for me to make any decision.

No matter how much I love it here, I miss everyone back home. Don’t forget that for one second. I may not write or call much, but you’re all right here with me. Pictures cover my walls, memories invade my thoughts every day.

Wow, I didn’t plan to write this much. It’s late and I need to get some sleep. Much sleep is needed to make it through the days here. That, and coffee.

Sending hugs, kisses, and lots of love from Quito.
Chao chao,
Adri

The beach

2009-03-01T10:07:00.006-05:00

Hola, buenas tardes!

I just got done talking with a group from Concordia United Methodist Church in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin on SKYPE, I'm really glad I could connect with them! They are doing a fundraising event throughout Lent for the Center, so I'm really excited about it! I'm blessed to have been put in contact with them through Suzanne, we're lucky to have groups and churches like them to help keep the Center going!

Well last weekend we had a 4-day weekend which was amazing. We were all ready for a short break! It is nice because travel within Ecuador takes forever due to the Andes Mountains we must get around (the only complaint in living in the mountains), so we can take trips that we normally wouldn't have time for on a normal 2-day weekend! We went to the coast... the BEACH! It was an incredible weekend. The journey was similar to the one I took to get to the coast last time in the beginning of the year, just much longer. We took an overnight bus, arriving at 8am. The bus situation was kind of up in the air, because all the main roads that travel to the coast were completely destroyed in a land slide, leaving very few options to get west to the coast. Of course the one weekend we want to travel we have this problem, but it all ended up ok, just took a few extra hours as the roads we took only had one lane, etc. and there was a lot of traffic. The first bus we took went to Guayaquil, which I mentioned arrived at 8am. There is no direct bus to where we were going, so from there we took another 3 hour bus to the city where we were staying! The second leg of our journey was kind of funny because we were looking for where we could buy bus tickets at the giant bus terminal in Guayaquil, and this young Ecuadorian came up to us and offered us a direct ride for $10 a person, which is more expensive but otherwise we would have had to wait until that night to get there, so we jumped on it! They were a group of 11 students from Guayaquil (all around 21 or 22 years old), and 5 of their friends couldn't make it anymore so they had rented a big bus and wanted to fill it so they didn't have to pay a lot more. So it worked out for all of us perfectly, they were a fun group, we had a great time singing and dancing the whole trip there!

The town we went to was Montañita, which is as typical of a beach town as it gets! But we loved it. Exactly the opposite of where we live, so it was much welcomed. To be honest, I did nothing but sit on the beach and eat. I had a goal to eat seafood for every meal that I ate and I just about made the goal... I ate pizza one night that didn't include seafood but other than that every other meal included shrimp. I didn't even dabble in any other seafood because I was so obsessed with how good the shrimp was! Fried shrimp, baked shrimp, shrimp covered in an amazing garlic sauce, and finally the most amazing thing ever: shrimp ceviche. (By the way I just felt like that guy on Forest Gump, haha) Ceviche is a cold soup (so it was perfect for lunch on the beach!), that is made of a lot of lime, cilantro, tomatoes, onions, and other goodies... the shrimp is cooked in the acidity of the soup itself. SO GOOD. So I literally for lunch and dinner had some form of shrimp every time, it was great. As for the beach, it wasn't the prettiest, cleanest, or best beach alive... but it was a beach!!! There were 12 of us, of the 15 volunteers that all went. We were all staying at different places and didn't see eachother a lot of the time, which was how we all kind of wanted it... but every day around noon we met up at the same spot on the beach and just made that our meeting ground for the whole afternoon. It was nice that way so we could leave and walk around, go get lunch at one of the huts on teh beach and leave our things there with the others that were there. We also had a bunch of other friends that are also living in Quito (non-volunteers) that came to Montañita as well so it was fun we had a big group hanging out on the beach all day!

To head back to Quito we actually splurged and bought ourselves plane tickets from Guayaquil. So we had to get an 8am bus to head back to Guayaquil (it was the only bus we could get), arriving in Guayaquil at 11am. Our flight wasn't until 6pm so we had all day to hang out in the airport, which luckily it was a really nice airport. We had a lunch, took our time and hung out. Then we found a coffee shop that had super comfortable chairs and the 4 of us slept all afternoon... it was great. Time went by really fast and before we knew it, our flight was taking off! The flight is 45 minutes in total, in the air only about 30 minutes. In comparison with a 10hour bus ride, I'm saying it was money well spent!

All in all it was a great trip, a much needed time away from Quito... we don't get to leave much, so it was really nice to be away for 4 days. Coming home was rough, after having extra days off of work, but luckily I have the cutest first graders at 8am to put a smile on my face as my first class back from vacation.'

I'm so lucky.

Happy March... my Abigail will be here in 10 days! I can't wait for Abby to get here! She's the reason I came down here last year, and the reason I'm back here. For those of you who don't know Abby, she was my roommate in Spain 4 years ago when I studied abroad. We became fast friends and have kept in contact since then (she lives in LaCrosse, WI). She lived here in Quito for the past two years working at the Center so she's anxious to get back here and see her old students (and see me as well of course!!)

Chao chao,
Adriana

Today I ate a guinea pig?!?!

2009-02-15T20:31:00.000-05:00

This is one of the most BLOG WORTHY things I’ve written thus far.

Today, we bought live guinea pigs. We proceeded to kill them, skin and gut them, and finally put them on a rotisserie on the grill. And of course, we ate them.

Guinea pigs, or CUY as they call them here, are like a delicacy. It is one thing that I knew I’d have to try before I left this country, and also something I promised a certain Claire Patzner that I wouldn’t do. Haha, so please don’t tell Claire. I’m so glad we did it this way, instead of buying a cooked cuy at some restaurant or whatever. This was a true Ecua-experience, something I’ll never forget as long as I live.

Cristina Gomez has become a good friend of ours, and daughter of Carlos Gomez who is one of the main directors of the center. Carlos was in the first graduating class of the center 40 some years ago as well, so it’s really cool how a lot of people who grew up in the center have stayed on to work here. We were talking to Cristina one day about cuy and how we all wanted to try it at one point, and she told us that her mother knew how to cook cuy and that we’d have to come over and her mother would make us some cuy. Well somehow it happened to occur today. Cris and I were talking on Friday afternoon and we decided to do it. So Sunday morning Cristina and one of the other volunteers went to the market and bought 9 live cuys, or guinea pigs. The rest of us got there around 11am or so, and soon after we got there, we went to go get the cuy, which were in a big bag in the front yard.

I had no part in the killing part, in fact the only reason I got so close to the area was because I really wanted pictures to remember this ridiculous day. Billy, Andrew, and Cristina’s mother did the killing. It was pretty gross. They broke their necks and smashed their heads into the concrete to push that bone into their brains. It was pretty much the sickest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. It wasn’t as easy as anyone thought it was going to be, so it took kind of a long time. After that, it was time to skin them… to do that they dipped the dead cuy into a pot of boiling water, and then simply pulled the fur out. Again, the same three that killed pulled the fur out while us ladies were in charge of peeling potatoes. I liked my job much better. Once they were done with that, Cristina’s mom put the cuys over the fire of the burner on the stove to burn off any remaining hair that was on the cuy. It smelled like burning hair, rotting blood… it was pretty foul.

Then she had to gut them… her mother did that all on her own and we went out to get the grill ready. It was so disgusting, but necessary for the project at hand. She spiced them up, and then brought them outside to put on a rotisserie over the grill and put us in charge of spinning it slowly and keeping the coals good and hot. She made some potatoes and a really good peanut sauce, some aji sauce, and got out some fresh lettuce to eat with it. It took about an hour or an hour and a half for the cuys to cook up, and then we at them.

This was an all day affair, as by the time we at it was probably 4pm or so. The cuy itself wasn’t the most amazing thing I ate… in fact I didn’t overly like it, but it was fun to eat it after cooking all day! It was challenging to eat what was a furry little pet at the beginning of the day… I just had to keep reminding myself that it is completely normal in this country! It was really interesting to see something live and then end up eating it later in the day… a true experience I must say.

We got home a little after 6pm. They live in the very south of the city, we live in the north… so it was about an hour and a half trip home. I just got a lot accomplished, wrote my lesson plans for the week, made some worksheets for my colegio girls to work on. We’re starting a new unit about where things are, so we’re teaching them how to say: “Where is the post office? It is next to the library.” And things to that nature. Feels good to get all that done! I’m also going to get the following week done at some point this week as we leave for the beach on Friday night and I will be gone all week with no time to do lesson plans so I want to get it all taken care of before I leave!

I brought some things for my students yesterday, with my donation money, so THANK YOU. I bought a radio to keep in Darling’s classroom, as it is always so quiet and it would be really nice to have some background music, something relaxing. Bought a bunch of white board markers, as I go through them so fast in my colegio class. Some cream of tarter for the special ed classroom, as they want to make play dough like Grandma Theresa sent me… they thought it was great. So I gave them the recipe and thought I’d donate the cream of tarter and the rest is easy and cheap to get. Things like this aren’t cheap and it’s nice to be able to get them with the money that all of you have donated to help me out this year! I’m truly blessed with the support, both financially and otherwise.

5 days until I’ll be on the beach for 4 whole days! I can’t wait to get to the coast of Ecuador, it’s so beautiful, HOT, and feels like such a vacation. I don’t plan to do a whole lot that doesn’t involve jumping in the waves or lying in the sand, reading a good book.

I’ve been so lucky with all the mail I’ve received, so thank you to EVERYONE… especially my mother. She’s been so amazing at sending me letters and pictures. Everyone in the house is so jealous. I have a whole dresser drawer full of letters I’ve gotten since I’ve been here. I love getting mail!!!

Hasta pronto, besos y un abrazo fuerte.
AUDREY KAYE

Pululahua

2009-02-10T11:49:00.014-05:00

Buenas tardes, good afternoon...

Thought I'd write about my amazing weekend that I had. I came back extremely tired, but all well worth it. We went to Pululahua, which is near Mitad del Mundo (or the Equator). The Equator is only a half an hour bus ride from our house which is really nice, and from there you hop an another bus for about 10 minutes and you're there! Pululahua has the only volcanic crater in the world that people live in it. It's unbelievably beautiful.

There were 6 of us that went, which was a nice change from always being with the entire volunteer crew of 15. Mike, Bridget, Billy, Jessica, Cristina (an Ecuadorian friend of ours), and I ventured to this place. All of us had been there before, to the crater that is, but not to the hostel we ended up at. We were planning on staying there overnight at this one hostel... so we hiked down the mountain into the crater and started walking across the crater to get to the hostel which is inside the crater. It was a nice day, although it was getting later in the day and rain threatened the skys... so we were anxious to get to the hostel. When we got there, they only had rooms left (due to remodeling) for like $15 a night. We had heard there was another hostel further across the crater so we set off for it... it was quite the hike since we literally crossed the entire crater which is pretty big to get there, but it was SO WORTH IT. The hostel is in this little corner, off on it's own, on the edge of woods and the mountainside. There were two soccer fields, lots of grass which is hard to come by in Quito, and the mountains EVERYWHERE. I can't wait to get my pictures up so you can see everything... I'll let you know when that happens.

When we got there in mid-afternoon it was already starting to get kind of cloudy but still no rain. We sat out on the deck and had a fabulous lunch, played a little soccer, went for a few hikes to explore the area, and then by early evening we were pretty tired. We took a little rest in their common area, they lit a fire for us, we read a little, and then by 7 or 8 o'clock we sat down for a really nice dinner. The owner of the place started talking to us, and he turned out to be a really cool guy, and arguably one of the best athletes in the world, and the most famous athlete for sure in Ecuador! His name is Rolondo Vera, and he is a runner... has run and won many, many marathons all over the world. Set records all over the world. And he has one of the best senses of humor around! He has learned English in all his time running marathons in NY, Boston, etc. so he was speaking English with us to practice. After dinner he lit us a fire in a pit outside. It was a cool night, a perfect night for a bon fire. We sat out there for hours talking, laughing, and listening to music as Billy played the guitar for us.

I was a little annoyed the next morning at first because I had to go to the bathroom, and the bathrooms weren't working in our rooms so we had to use one outside on the other side of the building (our rooms were half off though, so I can't complain. Plus it felt like I was camping, like the good ol days!). But anyway, I was annoyed because I didn't feel like going outside and then it happened to be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my entire life. We were in a crater, completely surrounded by mountains, and the sun was coming up behind one of them. It was breathtaking. I couldn't fall back asleep so I just sat outside on the deck by myself, listening to the sounds of the area. This area is basically all farmland, so it was great. I heard lots of birds, cows, roosters, donkeys, horses, pigs... it was non-stop animal noises, it was great. SO much better than the buses, cars, and stray dogs I usually hear at home.

For the rest of the morning once everyone was up we played outside. Soccer, frisbee, took naps in the sun... it was amazing. We just relaxed around, soaked up the sun and enjoyed the fresh air. We left at about noon or so, since we wanted to get home before it started raining.

All in all it was incredible, the 6 of us had a great time. I cant' wait to get back there with the other volunteers hopefully soon, or with my family when they are here! Such a beautiful place.

My week

2009-02-09T12:22:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

This week has been an interesting mix of frustration and joy. With Darling, I’ve had an extra frustrating week… there have been a few days this week where he won’t talk or do any work. I get really, really frustrated and it’s just hard to sit in a room for over two hours with a kid who refuses to not only work, but talk. It drives me nuts. I’ve had a few good days as well, and who knows what’s going on in that head of his that makes him as he has been… but all I know is it is hard on me. Working one-on-one with a kid is hard enough but he is definitely a challenge every day, but some days impossible to work with. Plus I have the added stress of knowing that I’m his sole resource for education. He doesn’t have class in the afternoon and everything he learns he learns from me. I’m his only teacher, his only class… that’s a lot of pressure to be the only person responsible for a kid learning or not.

With my colegio girls I had another good week. I had another class that I left feeling really, really positive. Most days when I leave that class I want to shoot my left foot, but on Wednesday I left in a great mood. I had oral quizzes with the girls, so I was able to one-on-one talk with them, see where they were at with pronunciation. I hadn’t done any oral grading until Wednesday so it was interesting. It was really easy, or should have been. I just gave them a list of 10 words or sentences written in English and they had to read them, showing the pronunciation. Some girls had no problem at all…. They just read them quickly and were done with it. While others were struggling. I had one girl start crying pretty hard. She’s having a rough time at home, and has been taking care of like 5 siblings pretty much alone. Her Mom hasn’t been doing much, not sure what the case is exactly, but she’s 12 years old. And is taking care of all these little kids because her Mom isn’t around or isn’t doing anything? I don’t know. So anyway, she has sought out help from me with English, is doing pretty badly in my class… so I’ve been trying to help her. I felt so bad because as soon as she sat down to do the quiz she started crying immediately. She is just stressed in life, and doing poorly in English doesn’t help, you know?

Well the positive part of the whole situation was that I had chats with each of the girls. I haven’t been able to really talk to them individually at all this year, so it was really nice. Some girls I talked to about their behavior and how they needed to act better in class, some girls I talked to about their grades and how they were bad because they just weren’t trying, I offered my help outside of class, things like this. The girls were all extremely responsive and those that give me the hardest time in class, have the biggest attitudes were really quiet and said, yes I know and that they understood what I was saying and that they agreed with the changes I needed from them. I tried to be as positive as possible with them, reminding them the potential I see in them, etc. It was so great, seeing how they responded to me. I know they all respect me and think fairly high of me, as they are impressionable girls and I’m a 24-year-old female, American to boot. So I just reminded them what I’ve seen in them, their ability to learn and how they could be great at English if they just put a little more effort in!

Then there were the girls that are really excelling in my class… to those girls I was really able praise for their hard work and how well they’re doing in class. I reminded them that they are doing great in my class, the importance to keep working hard in all classes, not just English, and that English clearly comes pretty easy to some of them and that they need to keep working hard to learn because if they can excel at English they can really go places and use it in the future.

It was incredible to see their reactions. To see the girls who I told were one of the best in the class…. Their face lighting up. No one praises them usually. No one pays attention if they aren’t keeping up, they just let them continue to fail. No one ever tells them they are smart, or that they are doing well. No one recognizes hard work. I tried to be as positive as possible, while still talking to the girls that needed help and were trouble in class to get them to realize what needs to change. The girls that are struggling for me to tell them that I see potential and that they need to work a little harder is big too… like I said, no one pays attention if they are failing usually. Just cut them down even more. It’s amazing how I don’t have any experience with any of this, and I’m learning as I go along. That is why things like this, that are a success are a huge feat for me. A big thing that I’ve figured out on my own works. Every day I have things like this… things that I realize DUH why didn’t I think of that before?

So life as a first year teacher is hard so I hear… life as a first year teacher with no education in education is harder… life as a first year teacher with no education in education in Quito, Ecuador = enough to want to pull your hair out sometimes! We are all definitely learning as we go… teaching has come fairly easy to me for the most part. It’s just things like this that I’m learning as I make mistakes, do things write, get advice. It’s a great situation to be in, I love learning new things!

Sobre todo… it’s all good. As hard as it can be sometimes, as many times as I think I’ve completely run out of patience, as many times as I don’t think I have the energy to travel an hour to teach another 6 hours… I do it. I do it and I love it. Once I’m doing what I do every day I realize that I love it. That these kids are incredible. That no matter how frustrating or hard they are to deal with, they’re kids. Kids aren’t perfect, kids mess up, kids fight, kids act bad in class, kids can’t sit still, don’t want to learn… all of the above.

So overall, everything continues to go well, I’m happy as I can be. Content to be here, excited to be able to work with these kids. I'll write about my incredible weekend soon.

Much love,
Adriana

Great week

2009-01-30T12:23:00.004-05:00

Hi all, I just wanted to write a little bit about some really positive points in my week!

This week FLEW by as usual... I can't believe today is already Friday. And January 30th... where did January go? Time here is going so fast, and although I was warned that would happen, I still can't believe it!

A funny note: The Patzners made me an adorable calander before I left with pictures of me and the kids, with a little tear off note with a little saying for each month that I'm here. I just finally remembered to tear of January, and it said: 2009, the month that Jerry is officially closer to 50 than 40. I thought it was hilarious. Jill, I was cracking up when I read that! (Sorry Jerry, I'm sure you're not horribly thriled with me sharing that news with everyone... haha)

So this week in Colegio, my middle school aged girls, went really well. Well Wednesday at least. All my students got in trouble earlier in the week for some valdalism to the desks in one of the classrooms, and also the director, Marco Polo (yes that's his real name) gave them a big lecture on how they treat the volunteers, and the importance of showing them more respect. So I was wondering if they would act differently in class on Wednesday, as usually I have discipline problems. I had the best class I've ever had with them, both sections. They were great. I felt like I really covered a lot of material and they are really starting to catch on to what we're working on. We played a game at the end, where they had to practice translating sentences and such, and they had a blast. It was just a positive afternoon with them, leaving me feeling really good about the class. Usually after an afternoon with them I'm frustrated and feeling like I never get anything accomplished! So that was amazing.

Also on Wednesday, I had an amazing class with my adults. As I think I've mentioned before, my two adult students, Maria and Maria, are extremely challenging to work with. They have been in class for a few years how, and neither one can really grasp anything. I've got them to be able to recognize the vowels, but apart from that not a whole lot. Well we were working on some worksheets, and I was asking them a letter, which was B... the letter V in Spanish also has the same sound, so whenever there is a letter you have to ask, "b de boca or v de vaca" which means "b of mouth or v of cow"; so you can distinguish which letter it is, as they have the same sound. Well they weren't sure which one it was so I was pointing to one of the Maria's mouth, to show her that we were talking about the b de boca or the b that starts the word "mouth" in Spanish, and she chomped her teeth, pretending she was going to bite my finger. We all DIED laughing... it was absolutely hilarious. She is extremely shy, doesn't speak Spanish very well (Quechua is her first language), and just plain quiet. So for her to do somethign like that is very out of the ordinary. The two Marias and I were just laughing for minutes on end, and after we had calmed down the two of them kept giggling. At one point the Maria that had pretended to bite my finger snorted she was laughing so hard and at that point we all LOST IT... in tears laughing so hard. Then we were just goofy and giggly and I kept tickling them and it was just hilarious. Something I'll never forget... I feel like it was the most successful class I've had with them - not because they learned something, but rather that I completed my goal of every class to the fullest... to make them laugh and enjoy themselves. Since really teaching them to read and write isn't looking like it is going to happen very easily, making them laugh is my main goal every day. I'm usually successful every day, but this day was especially great. Man did we laugh hard the whole hour.

Today, Friday, I had a GREAT morning. I had my English class as normal, and then we had mass at 10am. I took Darling to mass, and it was the best mass I've been to since I've been here. The choir sang which was really cool. They are so adorable. They sang some of my favorite songs... the ones where they have hand motions and the whole center is doing them. It's so cool. I love mass here, it is such a great way to show how much of a community they are, how unified they are as a "family of families".

We have a group visiting right now, and although they aren't staying with us, they are eating dinner with us. Tonight we are having a wine and cheese party before dinner to mingle with them. They try to have a night like that so they can meet all the volunteers, which the groups really like. So we got done with work a little early today which is always nice.

Friday night, another weekend ahead of me! I'm going to Otavalo tomorrow, a town nearby. They are known for their biggest market in Ecuador... I guess it's a beautiful area. Looking into if it's somewhere I want to take my visitors in April! Mom told me I have to look for a fabric store... go figure. haha. I love you Marm.

So yeah, it's been a good week. Hopefully ending well tonight with a good wine/cheese party, good dinner, going out tonight to celebrate Paeter's birthday (another volunteer) with karaoke at a bar a few blocks away... should be pretty funny.

un beso,
Adri

It's blogger time.

2009-01-18T11:03:00.010-05:00

Hola a todos... Hello to all...

I haven't really had the drive to write a blog for awhile, but today is the day to sit down and do it! Nothing too exciting has happened around here in Cotocollao. A few things worth mentioning I suppose.

We had parent-teacher conferences last weekend which was quite the experience. I talked to many more parents that I had thought... all in all I thought it was a very positive experience. Although I know much of what was said and the concern that was brought up will be forgotten in the next few weeks and the things that they said would be done will not be done... Many students say they want help but don't show up when I offer help, etc. But it was nice to be able to tell some parents the issues I'm having with their students. Most of the issues are a simple lack of effort, paying attention in class, etc.

We got a new full-time volunteer last weekend. His name is Pat, from Michigan (another midwestern volunteer!). Normally they don't allow full-time volunteers to join the crew in the middle of the year, but his family is extremely involved in the center with donations, so they made an exception. He's much younger than us, just turned 19 a month ago, but so far he's gotten along with us really well. A nice addition, someone new to the group.

Yesterday we went for a short hike which was fun. Near the equator is a town called Pululahua that has a trail to go hiking. There is a crater which is the only one in Ecuador that is lived in, it's all farm land which is really interesting. The hike took us up a mountain, around. It was really nice to get out of the city, see trees, grass, plants, etc. Fresh air and some exercise was just what I needed yesterday! It was a beautiful morning to hike as well. Marian, Jess, and Kat were with me, us 4 girls really enjoyed our morning in the wilderness!

Classes are going as normal. Nothing really new to tell... My boys are still giving me a hard time, but are so damn cute. They make me so angry but their little dirty faces make me forgive them immediately. I need to get some more pictures of my little boys... they are always covered in shoe polish (hands, clothes, face). So adorable with shoe polish on their face. My dirty, little, naughty boys. I love them. My two girls classes are adorable, although my one class in la Marin keeps shrinking. I've had a few students leave my class because their family left the center which is always really hard. Colegio classes are going on normally... have a few girls in my class that have developed quite the attitude in the past few weeks which is never fun to deal with. But what do I expect from teenagers, right?

I've been addicted to the TV show "LOST" the past couple of months. I have all 4 seasons on DVD and have been watching episodes whenever I have free time. I can't stop! When I'm done with all the episodes I have now I'm going to be so depressed because right now in the States season 5 just started and I wont' be able to watch it for a long time. But it's a nice way to relax and pass some time when I have a little free time at lunch or after dinner or whatever. All the other volunteers are giving me a hard time for being antisocial and going to my room to watch LOST... I just laugh because I can't help it, it's an addiction!!!

Other than that, nothing new. Classes are going on as normal like I said. Three weeks into the second trimester, can't believe we're at the end of Jan already. One of my favorite people in the world, Abby Olson, my old roommate from when I lived in Spain is coming soon... hopefully. She volunteered here the past two years, and is how I found out about the center when I came to visit her past March. She's looking for plane tickets right now, hopefully mid-March is what we're finding is the cheapest right now. I can't wait!!!

Hope all is well at home, we're planning the trip for Mom and Dad, Rick and Judy, and Jill today over Skype! Should be fun to see everyone and talk... figure out what to do when they're here!

Much, much love from below the equator.
Audrey

HOLA

2009-01-16T12:15:00.001-05:00

Back to school

2009-01-07T11:56:00.002-05:00

So a few days ago, Monday we started up classes again. It was sure hard to wake up to an alarm and get myself out of bed at 6:30 after so many days of sleeping in as I please. I wish I had felt refreshed after such a long vacation but I was sick starting New Year's Eve night, and then pretty sick (stomach issues) Thurs, Fri, and Sat. I started feeling better Sat night and then Sunday I was thinking I was much better...

Well Monday morning we had class, and as I mentioned it was hard to get up and going but it was amazing to see my students that I hadn't seen in so long! The kids were all excited to see us, and I had fun being with them again. I had a good morning, although Darling didn't come to school, and felt back to normal, although still pretty tired as I hadn't been eating much throughout the weekend due to my stomach issues. I ate lunch normally and then about an hour after lunch when I was about to leave for class I started having severe stomach cramps, so bad I was literally lying on my bathroom floor in pain. So I didn't make it to my two afternoon classes, which is the first time I've missed work since I've been here. I don't like missing work and was annoyed but there was no way I would have been able to teach. Luckily I co-teach the class with someone and so they were able to take my section along with theirs and it wasn't too much extra work (remember no substitute teachers here, just extra work for the other volunteers!). I took some pills and started feeling better and went to my night class. Well yesterday morning (Tuesday), Madre Miguel was worried about me and talked to the doctor here at the center, so she called me to her office and I told her about my symptoms and she seems to think I have parasites. Lucky me. So now I'm taking medicene to rid me of these parasites in my body... All part of volunteering at the CMT! We all get sick from time to time, as our bodies aren't used to all the germs in the food here... our food is TOO clean in the US that we can't handle it!

Today is Wednesday and I'm feeling better, but still really cautious of what I eat. Back to work as normal this week... and the week is slightly crawling by. We're all getting back into the swing of things. But the kids are adorable.

I gave out some of the gifts that were given to me for my kids this week, it was a riot. Jane had sent some little headbands for my first grade girls, little toy cars for the first grade boys - they were an absolute HIT! Thank you so much Jane, the kids were all super excited about their gifts! They didn't quite understand when I was trying to explain what glow-in-the-dark was... but they informed me today they tried it out last night and it worked! So the kids were pretty excited about it, loved their gifts. Great ideas Jane! Nat also left some t-shirts and clothes that she had worn here and left behind... I made a little bag of clothes and things for each of my adult students, to use as they wish. I figure someone in their family can wear the clothes or figure out what to do with the items. They were really appreciative. I also had a few extra hair bands from Jane I gave them to give to their daughters. It was really nice to give them something, although not much -- but they really appreciate anything.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's. Happy New Year's to you all, I hope 2009 brings health and happiness.

un beso,
Adriana

The Raemisch sisters reunite in Ecuador

2009-01-02T20:13:00.008-05:00

I'm so happy Nat was able to finally get here and spend some time with me! I'm lucky to have a great sister to come here and take care of me!

Thursday.
So I'm pretty sure I explained the craziness of Nat's journey down here... She finally made it here in the middle of the night.

Friday.
We slept in a little bit, and woke up and went through all the luggage Nat brought for me. I was overwhelmed with everything there was! Nat just went one by one with the things, explaining who they were from. I was so overwhelmed, I can't think of another word to describe the feeling... I felt so loved and missed. Nat and Mom worked so hard on getting a lot of clothes and other products together for me. Everything is dirt cheap here EXCEPT beauty products so I had Nat buy me a bunch of stuff and get some clothes from Mom and Dad's house together for me. So I have all sorts of new stuff, that's fun! Then I opened the present from Natalie: she made me a book from snapfish.com of pictures from my going away party at my parent's house. It is perfect. She captured the best of the pictures, showing all my family and friends perfectly. I love it, it's absolutely perfect. I was immediately brought to tears as well when I opened the calander Mom and Dad made for me - it also is perfect. With pictures from my entire life, of the family, Mom and Dad's wedding day... I love it. There was also presents in there from Katie Stalberger and Jessica Marking, two dear friends! I love you two and am so grateful for your friendship and that you took the time to get those presents to my Mom to send with Natalie. Also in there were a ton of school supplies and things for the kids! A giant ziplock bag of crayons tops my list, as I have three sections of first graders who seem to break crayons like they are going out of style... my aunt Jane sent a bunch of things for my first graders, Grandma Theresa sent some great things for my students as well, Jeanne Raemisch sent a few things for me, and Theresa Raemisch sent some sample beauty products I can give to my colegio students! Everything was great, I'm so appreciative for everything that was sent, and especially to Nat who had to drag all that around through her travels.

After that, we went exploring around my neighborhood... We were in search of something to eat, and also so Nat could just start to see what it's like around Quito. I don't eat out much, so I don't know many restaurants around this area, but we found one and had a typical lunch of chicken and rice. Then I took her back here to the center and showed her around the Cotocollao center, the one by my house. I was able to show her the center as a whole, all the classrooms I teach in and she was able to meet a few of my students. She met a bunch of the staff members I'm close with as well which was really nice. Then we had our dinner here at the house, which was much smaller than usual as most of the volunteers had already left for their vacations. After that we went out with Billy and Kat, two other volunteers, as well as our friend who is the daughter of one of the center directors, Cristina. So I was able to show her around the area in which we go out and dance on the weekends.

Saturday.
In the morning we got all our things together and heading out for Baños. The bus to Baños costs $3.30 and takes about an hour and a half. We arrived in Baños at about 3pm or so. When we got there we walked to our hotel; it's really nice because since it's such a small town you can walk pretty much anywhere! I had been to this hotel in the past with the other volunteers but I had to re-acclimate myself to the area, but eventually we found it easy enough! Once we got rid of all our stuff, we walked around for the afternoon. Found some food to eat at a good restaurant, and stopped by a bunch of tour places to figure out what we all wanted to do the next day. Although it was a tough decision because there are a million things to choose from, we decided and just continued to walk around and check out the town. Later in the night we got some more food (we are such Raemischs) and went out dancing! We met some cool people and it was a fun night to be in a new city with new places to check out.

Sunday.
This was a big day. We started the morning with horseback riding, something Nat and I hadn't done since we were pretty young. We paid for a two hour tour that takes you up in the mountains, but what we didn't know is you have to ride through the town a little bit first! With cars and everything. That was hilarious. Luckily for me anyway, I felt pretty comfortable right away with the horse, and had a great time. We had to cross traffic with the horses running across which was kind of scary, but eventually we got out to the mountain side and went through some really pretty scenery. We stopped about half way through at the base of a waterfall, got off the horses and climbed up the side of the waterfall on the rocks to look at the scenery from up above. That was really cool. Then we got back on the horse, literally, and went back to town where we started. All in all, it was a great experience. I was hesitant at first, it was definately Nat's idea, but I'm really glad she pushed me to do it.

After that we took a few hours off, got some lunch, and then at 2pm we started our next adventure! We rented what they call a "bugy"... looks like a go-cart. We took the same route that I took with the other volunteers a few months ago with the bikes. This was much more comfortable as my butt didn't hurt afterwards (although it did hurt pretty bad from the horse!). So we drove on this route, which includes driving on normal highways... this was pretty scary, but great! It was a fun way to drive out of the city and out in the country to see all the scenery because this city is so beautiful... a little valley city surrounded by the Andes Mountains! We even jumped off a bridge! Nat and I did it together, they clipped us together, which was great. It isn't quite bungee jumping, I think they call it swing jumping... but there was definitely a big drop, a bounce, and then swinging from a bridge! Nat has a video if you get the chance to see it, she's screaming her head off, it's hilarious!

After we returned from driving around, we were exhausted. We got a early dinner (thank you to the money given by our dear aunt Jeanne), some icecream for dessert, and were in the hotel by 8:30pm reading and ready for bed!

Monday.
We got up really early and ate breakfast in the hotel, and got on the first bus we could at about 8:30am to head back to Quito. When we got back we ate quickly at the house, and then headed downtown to the market so Nat could go shopping! Another volunteer, Laura, was home alone and decided to get out of the house and join us! Nat was successful in buying everything she wanted to in the market... it is so easy to spend a lot of time there! We came home and relaxed, ate dinner with the Madres and Padre, and went to bed early.

Tuesday.
This day, we called ourselves "super tourists" because we manged to get a lot done in just one day! Laura, the other volunteer I mentioned, came with us and spent the day with us which was really fun. We started the day with the TeleferiQo, which is a tram that takes you up the side of the mountain to get a really good view of the city. You have to do the TeleferiQo in the morning and on a clear day or it's not worth it, and we had a perfect day! We really lucked out. We weren't there too long, but it was a great view.

Then we headed back to the center so Nat could go to one of our masses, which was at noon. I think she enjoyed seeing that, although she couldn't understand most of if. She was able to meet some more of my students, hang out with the kids a little bit. It's a fun mass to go to, the kids sing, someone always plays the guitar... it's cute.

After that we ate a quick lunch and headed to Mitad del Mundo (The Middle of the World), or the EQUATOR! There is a giant monument which isn't the actual equator... they found that out when GPS came out a decade ago or something like that. So we didn't even bother going to that museum or area with the "fake equator"... We went to this museum that has the GPS calculated equator with all sorts of experiements to prove that it's on the equator. They also give you a guided tour and explain a lot of the indigenous tribes and their customs that were in this area in the past. It is a really great museum, Nat really liked it. There is so much to explain about this museum I just don't have time!

THEN we took a bus and then a cab to go to the other center I teach at in la Marin. I wanted Nat to meet the kids there, and show her around where I teach, meet some of the other staff members and such. That center is my second home, I spend a lot of time there and it's a smaller and much closer center; so I know a lot of people there and it's really important to me. So I was glad to finally be able to show Nat around there. We even got a picture of one of my adult students and her family (although she tried to get away)!

THEN (I know, can you imagine how tired we were? There are a lot of THENS being said here!), we headed to old town, which is right next to the area where we were at in la Marin. We just walk up a giant hill (our legs were already tired before this hill, can you imagine afterwards?), and there we are! It's a really cool area, looks like Spain, as it is the oldest part that was maintained the same from when it was colonized by the Spanish when the city became what it was. Cobble stone streets, old churches and buildings... it's beautiful! We walked around to a few of the main plazas, or little parks, and then we set off to our final destination: the basilica! The basilica is on the other side of where we were, up yet another giant hill, but well worth it. It's a beautiful old church, we were able to walk inside and look around as well.

After this we were beat. We headed back to the house for dinner, which was tacos (everyone's favorite in the house, so Laura and I were pretty excited!), and crashed early.

Wednesday.
New Year's Eve. We spent the afternoon with Cristina, our friend I mentioned earlier. She is the daughter of one of the directors of the center and we hang out with her quite a bit, or as much as we can. She invited us to spend the day with her, and stay overnight at her house to spend New Year's... Nat had a flight early on the 1st and cabs were impossible to get that early in the morning on New Year's day so we couldn't stay overnight but we spent the afternoon with her! We went to this concert she invited us too, in the South of the city. We met her at a bus station and then took another bus to this area I wasn't familiar with to a big park with a concert going on. It was a beautiful day, sun was shining, I actually got sun burnt a little bit! Funny thing was it was a hard rock concert.... everyone was dressed in black and I was wearing a pink tank top and pink shoes. I didn't really fit in to say the least! But it was a fun experience, it was nice to be outside and relax.

After the concert Nat and I headed back to the house, Madre Cindy was making dinner for us, Madre Miguel, her sister Judy, and Padre Juan before heading out to see the craziness that is New Year's Eve. Madre made us breakfast for dinner which was great... with homemade cinnamon roles which were to die for.

Then we left to go downtown to a big street called Amazonas, where they had shut it down for the New Year's celebrations. The Padres and Madres go down every year to look at these floats I guess you'd call them, which are usually kind of jokes... they have for example big paper mache people with talking bubbles on them, saying things to make fun of other governments (like they had one about Bush having a shoe thrown at him? I hadn't even heard about that!) and of their country. All comical for those who understand what is going on in this country and South America in general. We only stayed down there long enough to see all of these floats, and then headed back to the house. A big tradition here for New Year's Eve is for the men to dress up as "the old woman". They are big on getting rid of last year and starting fresh and such, well anyway the men are all dressed as women and dance in front of your car, not letting you pass until you give them something - I think like a dime or a quarter is sufficient. So it took us a long time to get home because these men dressed in drag kept jumping in front of the truck to dance for us! It was pretty comical.

When we got home I wasn't feeling so well, had a severe headache so I ended up going to bed at like 10:30pm... I know, sounds like a wild New Year's Eve, huh? Nat stayed up for awhile longer with everyone but I guess she didn't make it to midnight either. At midnight they have all these dolls they make of paper mache, and at midnight to symbolize getting rid of the bad things of that year, they burn them! So I guess at midnight there are things burning all over the place... but of course I didn't see that because I was sleeping.

Thursday.
Nat's flight was at 7:30am, so we had to leave for the airport pretty early. You can't get a cab at that time when we had to leave because everyone is either drunk or sleeping from the crazy night before... so Madre Cindy was nice enough to drive us to the airport at 5:15am. Nat got through the airport alright, and from what it sounds like she made it back to Madison without any problems!

All in all, Nat and I had a great time together, and I'm super grateful she was able to make it here and spend some time with me... see where and how I live. Although she wasn't able to see me teach at all and meet most of my students, I think she got a pretty good idea of what life is like around these parts... kind of CRAZY, but I love it.

Christmas in Quito!

2009-01-02T20:09:00.002-05:00

(This was started the day after Christmas, when Nat was still here... finished later)
Hi all, It is a surreal moment as I sit here writing a blog in my house, with Nat sitting right next to me.

After days of horrible Christmas traveling, she is finally with me! So Natalie's travels started bad, as she couldn't get a flight out of Milwaukee to Chicago's O'Hare airport. She got on a bus in time to make her flight from Chicago to Miami, which left a few hours late... too late to make her connection from Miami to Quito. It was something I had feared as I knew that the snow would ruin her travels, so unfortunately Nat had to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day, alone, in Miami. They put her up in the Holiday Inn for the night, gave her money for food and such... But she couldn't get on another flight to Quito until 6pm Christmas day.

Christmas Eve here at the center was really cool. We all went to the "gringo mass" at 6pm which is a church in Quito which gives mass in English. Padre Juan gave mass, and all of us volunteers went. Some of the center kids did a nativity scene there as well, they had lines memorized and were dressed up - it was great. Normally they have kids from that parish do it but there are no more young kids so they had our kids do it in Spanish instead. It was darn adorable. After that mass, everyone gets back on the bus and goes to Guangopolo for another mass, this one in Spanish, that Padre Juan also gives. He's a part of this parish and does mass there every once and awhile, but always on Christmas Eve. I didn't go to that mass because at this point I still hadn't heard from Nat so I went home to check her flight on-line. As soon as I left to go home, I got a call from Nat letting me know that she didn't get on her flight and that she would have to stay in Miami... so I was pretty upset. I ended up going to the airport anyway with my friend Marian to pick up her friend. Pretty depressing to be at the airport knowing I should be picking up my sister but instead I was there to pick up someone I didn't know... but it was alright. When we got home and everyone returned from Guangopolo, Madre Cindy had a huge table of food ready for us -- it was quite the spread. She had all the fixings for sandwiches, wine, beer... it was just what we all needed! After eating Madre Cindy had a surprise for us -- she had made a picture slideshow to Christmas music of all the pictures they had taken of us volunteers in our first 4 months here. She made a copy for all of us... it was really neat to see some of these pictures that we always saw the Madres taking but had never seen! We spent the rest of the night playing cards and hanging out... I was pretty upset about Nat not being there so I wasn't in the mood to hang out so I just went to bed early.

Christmas morning we had to get up early because we had our first mass of the day at the downtown center, so we had to leave the house at about 8:30am. It was adorable because the 2nd graders recieved their first communion. They were all dressed up, nervous... it was cute. The mass was nice, they had the center decorated for Christmas. After that mass we had to leave right away to make it home for mass number 2 at the center here in Cotocollao. It was the same mass, just at this center; the 2nd graders here also recieved their first communion. We had our Christmas day dinner at 4pm so inbetween mass and dinner I took myself a nice long nap as I didn't get much sleep on Christmas eve -- I was worried about my sister being alone in Miami. I talked to Nat yesterday afternoon, she was in good spirits and ready to get on her flight (which was leaving as scheduled from Miami) and get herself to QUITO to see me!!! Dinner was great! As with all holidays, Madre Cindy cooks... she's an amazing cook! She made two giant hams, we had corn, other vegetables, corn bread, mashed potatoes, gravy... and a million different kinds of desserts! We had about 60 people in the house... friends of the center, former volunteers that are still living in Quito. Lots of people, lots of little kids running around, it was a lot of fun.

After we ate dinner, before we ate the million desserts Madre Cindy had for us, we had gift time. Instead of giving everyone an actual physical gift we each got an award of sorts. They were all really funny. Madre Miguel writes all these awards for everyone, with a little input from the volunteers. They even had us help come up with ones for our visitors, so I had them write one for Natalie as well, although she wasn't there unfortunately. So Madre Miguel, Padre Juan, and Madre Cindy are extremly whitty, funny people. These awards took Madre Miguel a long time to write, but we really enjoyed them. For example, my award was a joke about how everyone always laughs at my Spanish accent. Since I learned Spanish in Spain, I have a different accent than everyone else here. So my award was something like, "You have been given the award from the government of Barcelona for your excellence in the Spanish language and our Spanish accent" or something like that. It was much funnier if read correctly but the award is upstairs and so I can't read it right now. Other awards were like Paeter is always late so they gave her the "timliness award" along with a clock with a picture of the Virgen Mary, Billy got the "most useful college degree award" because he got his degree in molecular biology or something like that (completely useless for teaching in Ecuador), and things like that. Hard to describe the humor in it all, but it was great. Such a good idea instead of giving actual gifts. THey also gave all of us volunteers an Ecuador t-shirt and all visitors (like Nat) these Christmas ornaments made from this bread dough company they are friends with.

The rest of the day was really mellow. As with Thanksgiving, we spent the rest of the day hanging out, playing games. It's really nice to have a day like that to just be together and hang out. I was on pins and needles, knowing that Nat was in the air and finally going to make it here! Finally it was time to go to the airport to pick up Natalie... I checked her flight and it said it was on time, so I headed out for the airport with two other volunteers, Colin and Brandon. The two of them were great sports the whole night, staying with me as I'll explain our journey to pick up Nat was a long, long night.

Although Nat's flight left and arrived to Quito on time, they weren't able to land in Quito when they arrived here due to the weather... When we got to the airport at 10pm when they were supposed to land, it got really foggy and cloudy -- and when it's cloudy here it's extremely cloudy as the clouds sit right where they need to land since we are at such a high altitude. The Quito airport is one of the most dangerous airports in the world to take off and land because it is in the middle of the city and we're in the middle of the Andes mountains... and because of the weather situation as well. So if they don't have perfect weather they are always extremely hesitant to land. So Nat's flight was circling around the airport, looking for a hole to see though and land, and from my end, the screen announcing the flight arrivals kept delaying the flight by a half an hour at a time... I was getting pretty nervous because we had no idea what was going on. Finally Colin went to ask someone what was going on with the flight, and they told him that because of the weather they weren't able to land and so they flew to Guayaquil, a major city Southwest of Quito, and that they were going to be staying over night there and that we could go to the information desk to find out where each passanger was staying.

At this point I lost it. I felt so horrible already that Nat spent her Christmas Eve and Christmas day in the Miami airport and the Holiday Inn in Miami... and now she would be staying over night in Guayaquil, without knowing Spanish?! Thank God for Colin and Brandon who were such good friends and helped try to keep me staying positive. I felt so bad for them as they had to put up with me and my range of emotions... first so excited I could barely contain myself, then so upset.

Well we went to the information desk only to find out that the guy who had told Colin that they were staying overnight in Guayaquil had lied... they were in Guayaquil, but they hadn't made any decisions on if they were going to stay or not. They were waiting on the word from the pilot to decide. The airport here was completely closed for at least two hours, meaning no flights in or out... so they had to wait to see if the fog and clouds would lift and if they could try flying back yet that night or if it wasn't worth waiting and would stay in Guayaquil and wait until the morning. So I was waiting at the information desk along with about 40 other annoyed and frantic people trying to figure out what was going on... We talked to one guy who said he talked to someone on the flight (while they were sitting in the runway in Guayaquil) and that they were heading back soon, but we were still waiting for word. After about an hour and a half of waiting at the information desk for some kind of word either way, Natalie called my cell phone. She had been sitting next to an Ecuadorian man, who was apparently a tennis player in the States... well he let her use his Ecuadorian cell phone to call my phone. She then told me they had just made an announcement that they would be flying back then, a 45 minute flight back to Quito.
All in all, I spent over 4 hours in the airport that night... Nat finally got in at 1:45am. By some grace from God her luggage even made it on her flight through all the flight changes and staying in Miami and she got out in no time through customs and such. Seeing Nat in the airport was such a relief, such a crazy feeling. We of course attacked eachother, everyone was looking at us as we hugged and cried... it was so nice to have her there and safe with luggage and all.
So after all that my big sister was finally in Quito with me. Christmas was over, but we still had a week to spend together! That night we ended up staying up for a little bit, hung out with Colin and Brandon which was nice because there were few volunteers she was able to meet as everyone is out traveling.

Nat wrote a little note after she got here...
Hi everyone, this is Natalie. I made it to Quito. It is very weird here. Weird but nice. I will have lots of stories to tell when I get back. I even got to call Don today! Happy New Year!

I'll write more later about our trip... it was great. We had a great time, were very busy but really enoyed ourselves, saw a lot. Nat got the true Ecua-experience!

con amor,
Adri

NATALIE IS HERE!

2008-12-29T18:56:00.001-05:00

Hi all, so Nat is here... it was a long, stressful, emotional journey -- but she finally made it. Late, but she's here. We just got back from a short trip and are back in Quito for the next few days. I'll write more about Christmas, Nat's journey, and what we all did after she leaves and I have more time!

Hope everyone has a very Happy New Year!

un beso,
Adri

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T14:50:00.002-05:00

Hi all,

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Today is Christmas Eve, and although it still doesn't feel like it fully, I'm pretty excited.

Today we have nothing going on during the day which is nice. I spent the morning/early afternoon with Kathryn and her Mother and two sisters who are in town for the week. We got some coffee and lunch near our house. Now we're just hanging out until mass tonight.

We have the "gringo mass" which is mass at a church for English speakers which our Padre Juan (Father John Halligan - the founder of the center) gives. We leave for that tonight at 5pm, starts with Christmas carols and then mass. From there everyone goes on the bus to a mass in Guangopolo which is right outside of Quito for another mass. Then we come home and Madre Cindy has made food and desserts for us to eat!

My big sister Natalie is scheduled to fly in tonight, and due to weather we are still unsure if she'll make it tonight or tomorrow, or when... But I'm trying hard to keep the faith and pray for safe travels and that she is able to spend Christmas with me and not in the Miami airport. She just left Chicago and should be in the air on her way to Miami, so I'm waiting to hear what the situation is when she arrives in Miami.

Keep praying for her arrival on time. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty dissapointed that she's having such troubles, as I feel horrible she has to go through that... but she'll make it eventually, right?

So I hope that everyone has a very, very Merry Christmas! I pray for all of you that are traveling these next few days that you are able to be with your family and arrive safely as well.

un besito,
Audrey

Happy Birthday Holly!

2008-12-23T15:31:00.005-05:00

Hi all, the past few days I've been doing pretty much nothing, as our last day of classes was Friday. All weekend we hung out and watched movies, tv shows on DVD, and did a whole lot of sitting around! It has been fabulous.

Today I put up some pictures from the Center's birthday a few weeks ago, so check out my picassa website, listed above at the top.

Most importantly I wanted to wish my great friend Holly Walker a very happy birthday tomorrow! Normally I'm home to see her on her birthday, but this year I'm not... so if you know Hol, make sure you call her and wish her the best on her birthday! I'm also sad I won't be seeing Grandma Betty so she can call me Gloria as usual, haha! I love and miss you Holly!

Natalie comes tomorrow.... can't believe it's already the 23rd of December!
Much love,
Adriana

Week before Christmas activities

2008-12-21T11:35:00.002-05:00

SATURADAY, DECEMBER 20th, 2008

Where do I even begin? Christmas here is incredible, beautiful – plain amazing. I am having the time of my life with these people celebrating an amazing time of year. Christmas here isn’t about Santa or presents; it’s about the birth of baby Jesus. They have these ceremonies where they talk about how excited they are Jesus to come. It’s just a crazy, BUSY time of year and I LOVE IT.

So much as already happened and Christmas is days away. My sister is coming in a few days and I can’t even begin to think about it or realize that it’s that close. First of all – NO SNOW! It’s sunny and in the high 70’s today… not really how I am used to celebrating the holiday season if you know what I mean. I’m a midwestern girl through and through. Born and raised in Waunakee, Wisconsin… I’m used to the cold, ice, snow, sleet, hail. Not sunshine on December 20th. But I can’t complain I suppose, just hard to really picture that Christmas is only days away!

This week of classes, the last week before Christmas was a joke for learning. I think I was more excited for the break than the kids. I literally did no instruction… just partying, singing, and playing. But in my defense everyone did the same. I finished my last unit before Christmas a few weeks ago, which was early so the past few weeks I’ve just been reviewing with my first graders all that we’ve learned in the first three units. So this week we just hung out! Monday we watched Rudolph, in all English which usually they complain about, but they were just excited to watch a movie and they loved it. Tuesday and Wednesday I had my ice cream parties with my first grade classes. I bought a bunch of cartons of ice cream and some cookies, put on some reggeaton music and we danced and sang! My girls are hilarious because they are such good dancers already – it’s in their blood. It was great. The boys weren’t so into dancing so we played some foosball instead. A special thank you again to my aunt Theresa Raemisch for the Christmas donation of money so that I could purchase that ice cream for the kids.

With the elementary kids we also had our English class skits this week so each day we were practicing hard for those. The older kids had to do some sort of play using the vocab and English that they had been learning this year thus far, but since I have the littlest ones, we just sung a song since they haven’t learned how to really say any sentences or anything but vocabulary. So I had my three classes all sing Jingle Bells. Quite possibly the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. I bought some jingle bells for the kids, so each one had to shake throughout the song. I decided against singing with music because it was too fast for them… so we just sung it straight up. I sang with them as they don’t know it THAT well, but we practiced quite a bit so they knew it fairly well! The other skits that the other English classes did were great. The kids have no concept of theatre and how to act or what a skit is, but they tried hard and did a good job.

With my colegio (middle school/high school aged) kids we finished our last test last week Wednesday so this week was just for hanging out and celebrating Christmas. On Monday I had ice cream parties with both classes (again with the money from Theresa)… I have 55 students in total so it was A LOT of ice cream! Plus for these older kids I bought chocolate and strawberry syrup, sprinkles, and cookies to add to the ice cream. They loved it! After we ate our ice cream we played soccer and DANCED. Of course the older girls absolutely love, love, LOVE to dance… and are pretty good too. It was a beautiful day so we just brought the music outside and danced and hung out on the lawn. It was one of the best memories I have thus far with my older girls… it was nice to hang out with them and not be in the classroom where I’m usually yelling at them because they aren’t listening to me!

Yesterday, Friday, we had only a half-day of classes. In the morning we had our Special Education Christmas program which was a blessing and privilege to be a part of. There are 7 special ed kids in total, including the student I work with one-on-one, Darling. There are two other volunteers, Diego and Bridget, who work two days a week with the rest of the special ed kids in their classroom, while I just work with Darling upstairs in our own classroom. The people in attendance were the directors of the Cotocollao center, Maria and Rodolfo, a bunch of the medical staff as they are good friends with Dr. Elizabeth who is the psychiatrist and is in charge of the special ed program, and then the “godparents” of the kids. I’ll explain more of that later… So the two special ed teachers, Sami and Lourdes, had the three of us dress up for the occasion: Diego was Santa, I was Mrs. Claus, and Bridget was Rudolph. It was pretty funny. They found a Mrs. Claus costume in storage so I was dressed up in a red skirt and a homemade jacket too. I’m hoping to get some pictures from other people to show you – we looked pretty ridiculous but it was great. The program started with the three of us making a grand entrance into the classroom – dressed up – singing Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer… in English. We were going to try to learn in Spanish but they decided it would be funnier if we could sing in English since we know it so well already. Everyone was cracking up it was hilarious. After that, the kids did their performances. They had a bunch of kids recite Christmas poems, one sing a song, and then my Darling: he read three coplas, or little poems, and he did such an amazing job. We have been working on those poems, memorizing them, for weeks now in class. Recently we’ve been working on pronunciation, making sure everyone could understand him and I’ve never been more proud in my life hearing him recite them perfectly.

After that, these “godparents” of the kids brought in a bunch of food from a burger place, which is a HUGE treat for the people here. Fast food is for the rich people here, not like it is in the States. Kind of strange how only the rich people eat McDonalds, KFC, etc. It was a fun treat for me too… burgers, fries and a coke. Nothing I ever really crave when I’m living in the States but it was good none the less.

Then came the presents. It was actually kind of disgusting how much these kids got! It is much different from the rest of the center, who get the hand-me-downs in their bultos I explained for Christmas. These kids got SO many gifts, NEW gifts, practical gifts. From what I understand these “godparents” of the kids are really just sponsors. They called them padrinos, or godparents though. I think these quite rich families each had one of the special ed students to sponsor and buy them things for Christmas. One of the families was responsible for buying Hilda her wheelchair in the past for example. The kids each got a nice jacket and such, some clothes, a few toys, teddy bears. I had to leave early so I wasn’t able to see exactly what they all got. But they got taken care of nicely, I must say.

As they began opening their presents I also gave Darling his presents. Since I work one-on-one with him and spend more time with him than anyone else in this country I decided I was going to buy him a gift. His birthday is on Monday the 22nd and then Christmas so I got him two small gifts. I knew exactly what I was going to get him: a soccer ball and goalie gloves for soccer. This kid is obsessed with soccer, especially being goalie. He is so great… they have recreation time every day and he LOVES playing goalie. Although he doesn’t have the use of his legs, he gets down on the ground and plays goalie and is really good at it! It’s hard to explain, one day I’ll get a video of us playing soccer because this kid is so great. So I was so excited for him to get his gift. He pretty much knew he was getting a soccer ball as he had been telling me how bad he wanted one. So I gave him that first, he got so excited; started playing with it immediately. Then I gave him the goalie gloves, and he FREAKED out. He was so excited. He had me put them on him immediately, and we played soccer a little bit in the classroom. He was genuinely excited as I’ve never seen him, and he gets excited a lot. I was slightly nervous about my gifts because he was getting all these other things, but I knew this would mean more to him than any jacket or toy. And I was right. I felt so happy that I was able to give him that… I had to leave right away because I had to get to la Marin for class, but seeing the joy in his face was enough to make my entire time here thus far.

So then, still Friday, I rushed off to la Marin for class at 2pm… only to arrive there to find out they had canceled classes and not informed us. They were supposed to end the day at 3pm after 2pm classes so that they could get ready for the staff party but decided not to have the 2pm class at all. I was pretty upset because I left the special ed party early to make it to class on time, only that I didn’t have class. Plus most of the kids weren’t there to even play with because they all had to leave the center by 3pm so we ended up walking around old town which is near the Marin center to get a coffee and hang out. A few of other volunteers who also had class canceled at 2pm and I, along with one of the directors daughters, Cristina who is our age and really cool, set off and had a fun afternoon. Old town is a really cool part of town, so we just people watched, talked, and drank some coffee. It is always fun hanging out with Cristina – she’s really cool and a GREAT chance to practice Spanish with someone who is willing and able to correct us so we can learn from it!

At 5pm on Friday we had our staff party. It was so hilarious. It was at la Marin center, or the downtown center. They had it in the big dinning room. They had a DJ with great music blaring for dancing and everything. We had wine and toasts, a few of the directions spoke, Padre Juan and such. Then we had dinner, a good roast chicken dinner with rice and vegetables. It was fun to see all the other teachers and staff members outside of a teaching environment. Although I don’t now A LOT of the staff, I’m slowly getting to know more and more and they are all so nice. Then we danced. We danced, and danced, and danced! I love how dancing is such a huge part of culture and life here. They played pretty much the same type of music the whole time but we had a blast. The other staff members were all into the dancing and they have all these dances that are just crazy. The party was only from 5-8pm, but boy was I tired after dancing the whole time practically! We really did enjoy ourselves. After the party we all just went home and hung out, played some cards and went to bed early.

Now Saturday! My first day of vacation included two masses to be attended. The first mass was at 10am at la Marin which meant we had to be on the city bus at 9am to get there. Today was when the first graders gave their hearts to Jesus, to show their devotion, and in return they got a present. Only the little ones in the preschool/kindergarten program get new presents in the center, and then since the first graders are still pretty little they also give them a present if they show up to mass and give their hearts to Jesus. They were so adorable, all dressed up in the front row, going up to the alter with their decorated red construction paper hearts. My heart melted because I have every single one of the first graders at la Marin in English so I know them all really well. After mass they got their presents and were SO excited. The girls all got Barbie doll types, the boys got toy trucks and cars. They were adorable.

Also after the mass we handed out the bultos or bags of gifts for the families that we made last weekend. We read the families names one at a time and one representative came up to get it. It was really special for me as I know the great majority of families at la Marin. There were only about 65 families in total that received the bultos, as I think I mentioned that they had to meet certain requirements to get bultos and some didn’t do that so they didn’t get the gifts. It was also really cool because a family from Texas is here right now, and donated new socks, underwear, and t-shirts to each family. So they helped us pass out the bultos to the families. They were all so excited to open them and see what was in there once they were all handed out!

Then we headed back to Cotocollao after getting some lunch in old town for mass number 2. It was the same thing, also really cool for me because I have a section of first graders in Cotocollao as well, although I didn’t know all the first graders like I did in la Marin. The mass is MUCH bigger here, there are so many more families that attend this center. We handed out the bultos again, but it wasn’t as special since I really don’t know any families here in Cotocollao. I have less students and I’m here a lot less and have less time to get to know the families like I do in la Marin. Also la Marin is much smaller space wise and so everyone is around all the time and so you are always in contact with people where here it’s a huge compound and you don’t see people as much.

My first day of Christmas vacation ended extremely relaxing. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV series on DVD in bed. It was great. No lesson planning, grading, or anything to do. I just sat in my room by myself and relaxed! Then we had tacos for dinner so naturally I was extremely excited and it was just the icing on the cake!

So there is my last week… a lot to write about because a lot has happened! It’s been extremely eventful already and I look forward to what is yet to come! Tomorrow, Sunday, we have nothing to do and I’m pretty excited about that. Tonight I’m going with Kathryn to the airport to pick up her Mom and two sisters and going to bed early. Tomorrow I think I’m going to go on an adventure and find a new place to eat a good brunch with my friend Marian as a treat. I’m actually dreading once Christmas is over because everyone is pretty much leaving me and going traveling or going back to the States. I’m with them every day and I’m going to miss them! Good thing I have my big sister here for some of that time. Natalie Kaye, I can’t wait to show you my life.

Everyone please say a prayer for Natalie that the weather permits her to make it here on time and safely!

ADRI