I'm hoping this will be one of two posts in the next day to basically catch everything up to where it is right now. Why did I drop off the radar last week?
I had just finished the ordeal with my ID card 2 Fridays ago (October 9) and gone to the dance class that the school offers the teachers (for free, which is a nice perk). One my way out of the school I noticed some of the workers watching the Ecuador vs. Venezuela game on a TV downstairs. I joined them and while I was watching the game I drank two glasses of the tap water (It's safe to drink here in Cuenca).
Near the end of the day I finally headed home and had a basic pasta for dinner with tomatoes, onions and tuna fish. I headed to bed...
1:45 AM a house alarm on the street started going off. As I came out of my deep sleep I could tell that I wasn't feeling well. I was pretty sure that I was running a fever. The alarm went off for 45 minutes (yeah, it sounded like it was just outside my room wince the window's here aren't that think) before I was able to go back to bed. As I fell back asleep I told myself that I would feel better in the morning.
8 AM rolled around.. And I was feeling just as miserable. I was able to get dressed and make it out to the living room, but no further. I told one of the other teachers that I live with that I wouldn't be able to go to school and went back to bed. My ordeal with my stomach bug had begun.
All told, between when I went to bed on Friday night and Sunday afternoon (just over 36 hours), I slept for about 27 of those hours. But one thing that I learned during study abroad is that my body is strange. With a stomach bug my biggest symptom tends to be a fever that comes and goes at random (I have no idea why). It's definitely not a symptom that their used to seeing.
I was able to make it to classes on Monday. I thought I was starting to feel better. My appetite still wasn't back, but I was force feeding myself bread to give myself the necessary energy to be out and about each day. Tuesday and was even better, but still only a small appetite and minimal energy. This whole time I was trying to figure out what, exactly, had gotten me sick. I kept saying it was the two cups of tap water that I had had on Friday night. I had myself convinced that this was the case... Until someone asked me what I had had for dinner and I told them, "pasta with canned tuna and... Oh. Tomatoes and Onions I bought at an outdoor market." It finally hit me. I had washed those things like we wash them in the states.. You run water over the for about 2 seconds. Here it's recommended that you either boil the vegetables or you actually use a disinfectant on them.
Here I had been, always being careful of the salads in the restaurants. Always knowing that you had to be careful for fruit and vegetables without a thick skin. And this time I had just completely forgot. And it took me about 4 days to even realize my mistake!
Anyways, Thursday I started to feel miserable again. After coming home to take a nap I could feel that the fever had come back. I made it to my first evening class, but couldn't even make it through that. I stopped at a drug store on my way home and asked for a pill that would help me sleep (it was only about 7 PM and I wanted to go to bed). I bought one pill (you don't have to buy the whole box here) and I spied a white chocolate Toblerone next to the register. It was the price of an entire lunch.. I bought it. I know what some of you are thinking about putting dairy in my stomach while I have a stomach bug. I didn't care. I had finished the entire bar before I had even gotten home. I tasted sooooo good.
The following day I got up early and was at the doctors by 5 minutes after 8 AM (they opened at 8). After standing in line to register I was sent to the Social Services room... To register in their computer system. Then back to the waiting area. I could feel my fever coming back. I felt miserable again.
After a short wait I finally got to see a doctor. I told him my symptoms. I tried to explain to him that the fever had happened before and that it had been a sotmach problem. After a brief inspection he wrote me a prescription saying that he couldn't be sure it was a stomach problem, so the pills would just help with my general sick/bad feeling. It wasn't what I had wanted, but I filled the prescription (10 pills were 50 cents and seeing the doctor had only been about $7.50) and headed home.
At home I hopped on the internet to try to figure out what he had given me. I didn't have to punch anything into Google though... It said 500mg Acetaminophen. He had prescribed me essentially Tylenol. I was furious. This would do nothing for my stomach and, I ALREADY HAD BOTTLE OF THE SAME THING IN MY ROOM. It's called Tylenol.
I wouldn't advise anyone to do what I did next.. I had brought Cipro with me from the States. It's a very strong medication for stomach infections. After thinking for a few minutes and thinking that this fever would just keep coming and going, I self-diagnosed myself and prescribed myself the Cipro.
Within 24 hours I was already feeling better (it's a 5 day course of meds). I guess that moral of the story is that I'll have to lie to the doctor in the future... Maybe that's not the best moral to take away from the story, though. I'll let you be the judge.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
One day, One ID card
With my papers in hand on Friday we headed off at 10 AM to catch a bus to the immigration building on the other side of town. Surprising ourselves by not getting lost, we arrived at 10:30, 30 minutes before the scheduled time (don't worry, though, we were able to pass the time by watching wrestling on the big screen TV at the building. I'm just so proud of some of the things our country is exporting...). 11 AM Ecuadorian time (aka. 11:15 according to everyone else's watches) rolled around and the process began. The first two people went up to the desk and things went smoothly. They had their newly (and still warm) laminated ID cards in hand. I went up with one other teacher. The police officer asked for my passport. I showed it to him. He flipped through the pages. He then asked for my old ID card (the one I had gotten when I studied abroad during the fall of 2009). I told him I didn't have it.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Because it expired almost 2 years ago," I said.
"Sorry, we need to see it for you to get your new ID card," he responded.
After a quick back and forth I realized what I needed to do to get my new ID card:
1. I need to go get a lawyer to write a piece of paper saying that I don't have my ID card from when I studied abroad (which expired in December of 2009).
2. I needed to go to another police station and get them to print a new copy of my old ID card which, did I mention, EXPIRED IN DECEMBER OF 2009.
3. I then had to bring that old ID card back here so they could see it and then shred it before they would issue me a new ID card.
I had good directions to a lawyer given to me by the lady at the school making sure that we all got out ID cards...
1. Go to the intersection of "Benigno Malo and Sangurima".
Check. That wasn't too far from where I live.
2. Look for the "old house."
WAIT, WHAT? Just in case you weren't aware... Cuenca was founded by the Spanish in 1557 and many of the buildings close to the center of town can easily date back over 200 years.
"Do you know the address?" I asked.
"Just look for the old house," she replied with the 'it's not that difficult' look on her face.
"Ok. Should I tell the lawyer I'm with the school? Are they connected to the school in anyway?"
"Nope, this is just a lawyer"
"Ok," and I walked away wondering 'there are lawyers every block. Why do I have to go to the old house??'
After finding the intersection I looked around. Exactly as I thought... Every building looks just as old as the one next to it. I started walking into every store asking if they did 'Denuncias'. I finally found one, though I can't tell you if it was the one I had been given directions to.
After telling the young woman what I needed and making sure that the price was what I was told it should be ($5), I took a seat. I explained to the girl that I didn't have my ID card from 2009 and that I had left in at home in the States since I didn't know... She cut me off.
"You have to have lost your ID card here in Cuenca," she told me.
"Umm..." I didn't really know what to say.
"So you have to lie..."
There was a long pause.
"I was robbed the other day," I told her.
"No, it's better if you just lost it. Hold on"
And she started to write my Denuncia completely inventing my lie for me. It completely blew my mind.. I was supposed to get this statement from a lawyer to make sure that it's a truthful statement. It's like getting something notarized in the States. Yet, here the lawyer was writing my lie for me and being complicit in it as well.
"How about you lost it the 28th of August," she asked while stealing a glance at her calender.
"Sure," I said, not knowing what else to say.
She continued to type away.
"Wait, I wasn't in Ecuador on the 28th of August. How about the 15th of September?" I asked her.
"Sure!"
Five minutes later I had my official document in hand... But there was nothing I could do with it yet. I was already lunch time and most everyone goes home for lunch in Ecuador, even the police. I'd have to wait till 2:30 pm or so to do any of this to go to the police station. After cooling my heels at the school preparing for my Saturday class I got a quick bite to eat and was on my way. I wanted to get this done today.
I found the police station and, for some reason, thought it would be best to be directed where to go by the lady selling sweets in the middle courtyard.. After going to the wrong office first, I was directed to a small hole in the wall at the top of the staircase where I presented my Denuncia. The guys took one look at it.
"It's not written correctly, you need to have these words removed," he advised me.
I walked down two doors to the lawyers office and told her my dilemma. She printed off a new copy and, in no time, I was standing back in front of the hole in the wall. I was a little nervous. I was expecting to be asked how I had lost my ID. Well, I actually didn't know what to expect, but I was still a little nervous.
"You're an English teacher? That's cool! I'm learning English," he said with a smile on his face. I smiled back.
"Read me your passport number," he told me. I read it to him in Spanish.
"Oh, I really want to practice my English. Can I read it to you in English?" he asked. He read it to me in English and I told him that it was perfect. He smiled. He signed the piece of paper and I was on my way (yep, that's correct. I was wrong when I said they were going to print me a new old ID card).
Back at the police station I waited in line again and got to watch TV again (this time it was a soccer match, though). There were these two young men sitting next to me, clearly waiting for something. A couple of minutes later a woman walked in and shook all of our hands saying, "it's nice to meet you". I was really confused. Should I stand? The cop glued to the TV had even stood when she came in... Before I did anything, though, the police led her and the two young men away to a side room to talk about their immigration issues. She was a lawyer that was going to help them out... I guess it looked like I had immigration issues myself...
10 minutes later I had my new ID card in hand and was out of the police station. It was 3:40. It had been a long Friday. So much for a day off. I had 20 minutes to make it back to the school to go to my free Salsa dance class.
This post has been a lot longer than I thought it would be... I'll catch you guys up another night. This was just too good a story to pass up. Hopefully the details were worth it.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Because it expired almost 2 years ago," I said.
"Sorry, we need to see it for you to get your new ID card," he responded.
After a quick back and forth I realized what I needed to do to get my new ID card:
1. I need to go get a lawyer to write a piece of paper saying that I don't have my ID card from when I studied abroad (which expired in December of 2009).
2. I needed to go to another police station and get them to print a new copy of my old ID card which, did I mention, EXPIRED IN DECEMBER OF 2009.
3. I then had to bring that old ID card back here so they could see it and then shred it before they would issue me a new ID card.
I had good directions to a lawyer given to me by the lady at the school making sure that we all got out ID cards...
1. Go to the intersection of "Benigno Malo and Sangurima".
Check. That wasn't too far from where I live.
2. Look for the "old house."
WAIT, WHAT? Just in case you weren't aware... Cuenca was founded by the Spanish in 1557 and many of the buildings close to the center of town can easily date back over 200 years.
"Do you know the address?" I asked.
"Just look for the old house," she replied with the 'it's not that difficult' look on her face.
"Ok. Should I tell the lawyer I'm with the school? Are they connected to the school in anyway?"
"Nope, this is just a lawyer"
"Ok," and I walked away wondering 'there are lawyers every block. Why do I have to go to the old house??'
After finding the intersection I looked around. Exactly as I thought... Every building looks just as old as the one next to it. I started walking into every store asking if they did 'Denuncias'. I finally found one, though I can't tell you if it was the one I had been given directions to.
After telling the young woman what I needed and making sure that the price was what I was told it should be ($5), I took a seat. I explained to the girl that I didn't have my ID card from 2009 and that I had left in at home in the States since I didn't know... She cut me off.
"You have to have lost your ID card here in Cuenca," she told me.
"Umm..." I didn't really know what to say.
"So you have to lie..."
There was a long pause.
"I was robbed the other day," I told her.
"No, it's better if you just lost it. Hold on"
And she started to write my Denuncia completely inventing my lie for me. It completely blew my mind.. I was supposed to get this statement from a lawyer to make sure that it's a truthful statement. It's like getting something notarized in the States. Yet, here the lawyer was writing my lie for me and being complicit in it as well.
"How about you lost it the 28th of August," she asked while stealing a glance at her calender.
"Sure," I said, not knowing what else to say.
She continued to type away.
"Wait, I wasn't in Ecuador on the 28th of August. How about the 15th of September?" I asked her.
"Sure!"
Five minutes later I had my official document in hand... But there was nothing I could do with it yet. I was already lunch time and most everyone goes home for lunch in Ecuador, even the police. I'd have to wait till 2:30 pm or so to do any of this to go to the police station. After cooling my heels at the school preparing for my Saturday class I got a quick bite to eat and was on my way. I wanted to get this done today.
I found the police station and, for some reason, thought it would be best to be directed where to go by the lady selling sweets in the middle courtyard.. After going to the wrong office first, I was directed to a small hole in the wall at the top of the staircase where I presented my Denuncia. The guys took one look at it.
"It's not written correctly, you need to have these words removed," he advised me.
I walked down two doors to the lawyers office and told her my dilemma. She printed off a new copy and, in no time, I was standing back in front of the hole in the wall. I was a little nervous. I was expecting to be asked how I had lost my ID. Well, I actually didn't know what to expect, but I was still a little nervous.
"You're an English teacher? That's cool! I'm learning English," he said with a smile on his face. I smiled back.
"Read me your passport number," he told me. I read it to him in Spanish.
"Oh, I really want to practice my English. Can I read it to you in English?" he asked. He read it to me in English and I told him that it was perfect. He smiled. He signed the piece of paper and I was on my way (yep, that's correct. I was wrong when I said they were going to print me a new old ID card).
Back at the police station I waited in line again and got to watch TV again (this time it was a soccer match, though). There were these two young men sitting next to me, clearly waiting for something. A couple of minutes later a woman walked in and shook all of our hands saying, "it's nice to meet you". I was really confused. Should I stand? The cop glued to the TV had even stood when she came in... Before I did anything, though, the police led her and the two young men away to a side room to talk about their immigration issues. She was a lawyer that was going to help them out... I guess it looked like I had immigration issues myself...
10 minutes later I had my new ID card in hand and was out of the police station. It was 3:40. It had been a long Friday. So much for a day off. I had 20 minutes to make it back to the school to go to my free Salsa dance class.
This post has been a lot longer than I thought it would be... I'll catch you guys up another night. This was just too good a story to pass up. Hopefully the details were worth it.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
You Make What?? (And, on a Lighter Note - 12 Hours till Life as an Illegal Immigrant)
On Tuesday our first round of paychecks arrived! Did I run to the office to pick it up? Not quite... There always has to be a catch. Starting from the day we arrived in the country we had 30 days to register our visas with the Ecuadorian government. The school, not wanting to cut it close to this 30 day limit promptly sent off our visa papers and... You guessed it. Our passports. And, without our passports we can't cash our paychecks. So here I am with $20 hidden away in my room and $2.58 in my wallet trying to avoid those delightful fees which seem to be handed out indiscriminately by ATM's to foreign debit card holders.
But life isn't that bad. Tomorrow we are all headed over to the Immigration office to complete some paperwork and get both our Ecuadorian ID cards and our passports.
Except... There's another catch. To fill out this paperwork we need a photocopy of one of our landlord's utility bills and another photocopy of their ID card. And even though an email was sent out more than 2 days ago I didn't learn any of this until late this afternoon since the school had sent the email to the wrong email address... So now it's 11 PM and I'm waiting up for our landlord to come home in the hope that she has these photocopies that we need. Otherwise 11 AM will roll around I will officially become an US immigrant to Ecuador without papers...
Just kidding!! The school already knows of our dilemma and says that we'll be fine. I just needed a good way to rope you guys in.. But the last thing I need is a bunch of people going around saying that they know the newest illegal immigrant to Ecuador.
So, how has life been going here?? Getting our first paychecks (we'll, you know what I mean) has been a really humbling experience. I might as well put it out there.. Although I haven't seen the exact figure yet, my first paycheck is going to be something very close to $300 (And, even though that's for 3 weeks of work, if you assume that I still need to eat and pay rent during school vacations, that means it's about $300 per month). To put it in context, though, you have to understand Ecuador.
For a full time worker the minimum wage is $240 per month. I'll be the first one to say that I'm lucky. I get my wage with 14 hours of teaching time and, let's say, 14 hours of preparation time per week. It's not that bad once you look at the hours. But, as I said, it's still a humbling experience. Most people here seem to agree that to live on $240 a month would be nearly be impossible.
As you walk around Cuenca one of my favorite parts are the parks scattered around the city. Just today I was able to claim my own bench in the shadows of a old church and read the newspaper for half an hour. But, while loving the parks I always wondered why the parks were always so full of people - most of the time just sitting their quietly and contentedly. Yes, there are some cultural differences that explain part of it, but I would argue that the main reason is economic... Sitting on a bench is an activity that is 100% free.
Disposable income is still a scarce commodity around here. And, it's even stranger being a Gringo, yet trying to convince the locals that I have to pinch pennies where I can. Cuenca is a city that, after a couple of articles about it being a 'retirement paradise' has become a Mecca for, mostly, Americans looking for cheap retirement options (Even if you haven't saved for retirement you can still live like a king down here). Just the other day an American was telling me about this fantastic restaurant... But the meal costs about $15 per person. Three of those and I can say goodbye to doing anything else the other 28 days of the month besides eating, sleeping and, of course, sitting on my bench (but this time without the newspaper).
Maybe it's because of this that I have become paranoid about being ripped off... Just today I was at an outdoor market and saw a small bucket full of onions. I asked how much they cost.. $1. Per onion? Nope, for the whole bucket. I didn't need all of the onions, though, and asked how much one onion and one tomato were. 50 cents. I gave her a strange look, wondering how I had just gone from about 12 onions for $1 to two pieces of fruit for 50 cents. I decided to try my luck with the next vendor.
After some hand wringing with the next vendor I came out with a price that even some of the Ecuadorians I work with were envious of (50 cents for 2 bananas, 3 tomatoes and 3 onions). But, don't forget, these are normal sized onions and tomatoes... And I'm starting to realize that 'normal' sized is a lot smaller than I thought it was.
But, back to me. It's crazy to think that I'm basically through another work week (we get Friday's off, but have work Saturday mornings). And, my mind feels numb by the end of everyday because of all of the Spanish I'm using. I guess that's what 2 hours of Spanish class, an hour lunch with Ecuadorian co-workers and another hour or two of Spanish will do to you. But, life is good. I don't think I would know what to do if I had hours of downtime...
Our landlady just got home. We'll have the papers for tomorrow. I guess that's one thing that I can cross of the 'very important, but for some reason I'm feeling ambivalent about' list.
But life isn't that bad. Tomorrow we are all headed over to the Immigration office to complete some paperwork and get both our Ecuadorian ID cards and our passports.
Except... There's another catch. To fill out this paperwork we need a photocopy of one of our landlord's utility bills and another photocopy of their ID card. And even though an email was sent out more than 2 days ago I didn't learn any of this until late this afternoon since the school had sent the email to the wrong email address... So now it's 11 PM and I'm waiting up for our landlord to come home in the hope that she has these photocopies that we need. Otherwise 11 AM will roll around I will officially become an US immigrant to Ecuador without papers...
Just kidding!! The school already knows of our dilemma and says that we'll be fine. I just needed a good way to rope you guys in.. But the last thing I need is a bunch of people going around saying that they know the newest illegal immigrant to Ecuador.
So, how has life been going here?? Getting our first paychecks (we'll, you know what I mean) has been a really humbling experience. I might as well put it out there.. Although I haven't seen the exact figure yet, my first paycheck is going to be something very close to $300 (And, even though that's for 3 weeks of work, if you assume that I still need to eat and pay rent during school vacations, that means it's about $300 per month). To put it in context, though, you have to understand Ecuador.
For a full time worker the minimum wage is $240 per month. I'll be the first one to say that I'm lucky. I get my wage with 14 hours of teaching time and, let's say, 14 hours of preparation time per week. It's not that bad once you look at the hours. But, as I said, it's still a humbling experience. Most people here seem to agree that to live on $240 a month would be nearly be impossible.
As you walk around Cuenca one of my favorite parts are the parks scattered around the city. Just today I was able to claim my own bench in the shadows of a old church and read the newspaper for half an hour. But, while loving the parks I always wondered why the parks were always so full of people - most of the time just sitting their quietly and contentedly. Yes, there are some cultural differences that explain part of it, but I would argue that the main reason is economic... Sitting on a bench is an activity that is 100% free.
Disposable income is still a scarce commodity around here. And, it's even stranger being a Gringo, yet trying to convince the locals that I have to pinch pennies where I can. Cuenca is a city that, after a couple of articles about it being a 'retirement paradise' has become a Mecca for, mostly, Americans looking for cheap retirement options (Even if you haven't saved for retirement you can still live like a king down here). Just the other day an American was telling me about this fantastic restaurant... But the meal costs about $15 per person. Three of those and I can say goodbye to doing anything else the other 28 days of the month besides eating, sleeping and, of course, sitting on my bench (but this time without the newspaper).
Maybe it's because of this that I have become paranoid about being ripped off... Just today I was at an outdoor market and saw a small bucket full of onions. I asked how much they cost.. $1. Per onion? Nope, for the whole bucket. I didn't need all of the onions, though, and asked how much one onion and one tomato were. 50 cents. I gave her a strange look, wondering how I had just gone from about 12 onions for $1 to two pieces of fruit for 50 cents. I decided to try my luck with the next vendor.
After some hand wringing with the next vendor I came out with a price that even some of the Ecuadorians I work with were envious of (50 cents for 2 bananas, 3 tomatoes and 3 onions). But, don't forget, these are normal sized onions and tomatoes... And I'm starting to realize that 'normal' sized is a lot smaller than I thought it was.
But, back to me. It's crazy to think that I'm basically through another work week (we get Friday's off, but have work Saturday mornings). And, my mind feels numb by the end of everyday because of all of the Spanish I'm using. I guess that's what 2 hours of Spanish class, an hour lunch with Ecuadorian co-workers and another hour or two of Spanish will do to you. But, life is good. I don't think I would know what to do if I had hours of downtime...
Our landlady just got home. We'll have the papers for tomorrow. I guess that's one thing that I can cross of the 'very important, but for some reason I'm feeling ambivalent about' list.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
CEDEI and Life in Cuenca
Wow, I can't believe that it's already been almost 2 weeks since I last posted. Time has been flying by. Where to start...
The school that I work at is called CEDEI, the Centers for Interamerican Studies. They have three different locations around Cuenca and they have English classes for Ecuadorians and Spanish classes for foreign students that come to Cuenca on their study abroad. The weekday classes that they have are in the early morning and the late afternoon into the night. I am teaching 3 classes total, two during the week and one on Saturday morning. The weekday classes are Monday to Thursday for an hour and fifteen minutes a piece and the Saturday classes are 4 hours. So, I teach two classes a night (6-9 pm) Monday through Thursday and one class each Saturday (8:30am-12:30pm).
As I said in my email, I really like my schedule so far. It's strange that I don't really have 'work' until the end of the day, but it also lets me do a lot of other things during the day.
The first week, though... To put it lightly, was absolute chaos. I'm glad that we had an apartment figured out already, but between getting used to the textbook, writing lesson plans, continuing our adjustment to life in Cuenca, being sick (I managed to get a bad cold for the first couple of days of classes) and actually teaching classes all of us new teachers were completely stressed out and running around like headless chickens. It was bad. I felt like I was treading water, but not much else. You don't think about all of the small things that go into teaching until you're actually... TEACHING! But, as we came out of that first week I was starting to figure things out and feel more comfortable. That first Friday we had off I more than happy to just take it easy and relax!
The one thing that I can say for sure already is that I will have such a greater appreciation for teachers for the rest of my life! At the same time, I'm also starting to realize just how under appreciated they are!! For one of my classes we actually had a lesson on status and it was fascinating to see how the students ranked the status of different careers. One of them was a teacher and all of the groups ranked it as the lowest or the second lowest of all of the professions. Yet, at the same time said that education was important to status. So much for the people that give those kids that good education!! I don't want to make this too serious, but it's just some food for thought..
Other than classes life has been whizzing by. We keep feeling like we've been here for ages, even though it's still been less than three weeks.
The more I get to know Cuenca, the more I come to like it! It's a small city with a lot going on. I still love the fact that I can walk everywhere and you start to see familiar faces in the stores near home, but I'm also always discovering new places to visit.
Realizing that I'm never going to improve my Spanish if I don't get out and.. Well, speak in Spanish! I've been keeping myself pretty busy in that regard. I've started volunteering at an orphanage and I'm trying to get involved at a local after school program. And, through CEDEI the teachers get free Spanish classes. So, I go to the Intermediate class on Monday and Wednesday (from 11 AM till 1 PM) and the Advanced class on Tuesday and Thursday at the same time. Then, after getting quick bit to eat I try to head on over to the orphanage for a couple of hours before I have to go earn my paycheck. It's just strange showing up for work at the time most people are sitting down for dinner. But, as I've said already, it lets me do everything else that I want to do so I can't complain!
I'm going to try to be better from here on out with the posts. It's difficult to write when I'm doing an update about the previous two weeks... We'll see how it goes!
The school that I work at is called CEDEI, the Centers for Interamerican Studies. They have three different locations around Cuenca and they have English classes for Ecuadorians and Spanish classes for foreign students that come to Cuenca on their study abroad. The weekday classes that they have are in the early morning and the late afternoon into the night. I am teaching 3 classes total, two during the week and one on Saturday morning. The weekday classes are Monday to Thursday for an hour and fifteen minutes a piece and the Saturday classes are 4 hours. So, I teach two classes a night (6-9 pm) Monday through Thursday and one class each Saturday (8:30am-12:30pm).
As I said in my email, I really like my schedule so far. It's strange that I don't really have 'work' until the end of the day, but it also lets me do a lot of other things during the day.
The first week, though... To put it lightly, was absolute chaos. I'm glad that we had an apartment figured out already, but between getting used to the textbook, writing lesson plans, continuing our adjustment to life in Cuenca, being sick (I managed to get a bad cold for the first couple of days of classes) and actually teaching classes all of us new teachers were completely stressed out and running around like headless chickens. It was bad. I felt like I was treading water, but not much else. You don't think about all of the small things that go into teaching until you're actually... TEACHING! But, as we came out of that first week I was starting to figure things out and feel more comfortable. That first Friday we had off I more than happy to just take it easy and relax!
The one thing that I can say for sure already is that I will have such a greater appreciation for teachers for the rest of my life! At the same time, I'm also starting to realize just how under appreciated they are!! For one of my classes we actually had a lesson on status and it was fascinating to see how the students ranked the status of different careers. One of them was a teacher and all of the groups ranked it as the lowest or the second lowest of all of the professions. Yet, at the same time said that education was important to status. So much for the people that give those kids that good education!! I don't want to make this too serious, but it's just some food for thought..
Other than classes life has been whizzing by. We keep feeling like we've been here for ages, even though it's still been less than three weeks.
The more I get to know Cuenca, the more I come to like it! It's a small city with a lot going on. I still love the fact that I can walk everywhere and you start to see familiar faces in the stores near home, but I'm also always discovering new places to visit.
Realizing that I'm never going to improve my Spanish if I don't get out and.. Well, speak in Spanish! I've been keeping myself pretty busy in that regard. I've started volunteering at an orphanage and I'm trying to get involved at a local after school program. And, through CEDEI the teachers get free Spanish classes. So, I go to the Intermediate class on Monday and Wednesday (from 11 AM till 1 PM) and the Advanced class on Tuesday and Thursday at the same time. Then, after getting quick bit to eat I try to head on over to the orphanage for a couple of hours before I have to go earn my paycheck. It's just strange showing up for work at the time most people are sitting down for dinner. But, as I've said already, it lets me do everything else that I want to do so I can't complain!
I'm going to try to be better from here on out with the posts. It's difficult to write when I'm doing an update about the previous two weeks... We'll see how it goes!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Apartment Hunting and the First Night of Classes
Wow. It's incredible to believe that it's already been almost a week since I've arrived here in Ecuador. And, let me tell you... A lot has been going on. I learned how I was sort of spoiled when I came here for study abroad. Everything was organized for me and all I had to do was go where they told me when they told me. It's not quite the same this time. I guess that's life as an adult, though!
First, though, I need to tell you about my bus ride from Quito to Cuenca... At first I was tempted to fly. It would have been about $63 (including taxes) for a 45 minute flight between the two cities. But I wasn't sure if I would have to pay extra for my luggage or not.. And I knew that it would only cost about $10 to take the bus and I wouldn't have to pay any extra for luggage. So, some of you might think I'm stingy, but I consider myself a bargain hunter and I went with the bus. What was the drawback? It's a 9 hour bus ride between the two cities! So when I got up Wednesday morning I had a quick breakfast and then took a taxi to the bus terminal (It's sort of ironic that the cab fare across town was only $2 less than the bus fare partway across the country). I don't regret my decision to take the bus, but I quickly realized some of the drawbacks to my decision. First, when I got dropped off at the station I had to walk about 200 yards with 2 large suitcases and one small duffel bag (all weighing about 100 pounds together). I wouldn't advise anyone to bring that on themselves! And then the bus... It's cheap, but I didn't get out of my seat for the whole 9 hours (10 am till 7 pm). I had some snacks with me, but that was it! No lunch. I don't even know if there was a bathroom (I made sure no to drink too much). But I made it all in one piece and could start my adventures in Cuenca!
Thursday I got up knowing that I had a day to kill before the first teachers meeting, but wasn't willing to sit around doing nothing! I had been email back and forth with a guy from Scotland who is a new teacher here as well. After a couple of emails I knew he was staying on my floor in the hostel and I had a good guess which room it was. After a hearty breakfast of rice and chicken (you can never eat enough rice down here!) I decided that I could keep emailing him, or I could take a leap of faith and knock on the door. I did and it did turn out to be the other teachers room. We hit it off right away and ended up checking out the city together for most of the rest of the day. I had made my first friend in Cuenca!!
Things started to quickly move forward. We meet some of the other new teachers at another hostel a couple of blocks away (and I met a returning teacher just walking around town. This place definitely has the feel of a small town). It was great meeting new people, but we didn't want to waste any time to go apartment hunting. At the new teacher meeting on Friday we met a girl from California named Jenny and our apartment hunting group solidified. It was me, the Scottish guy (Stephen), a young teacher from Seattle (Will), the girl from California who's also taught English in Japan (Jennifer) and tutor from Chicago who looks like he just walked off of the set of a documentary about hippies (Steve). The next couple of days we walked around town looking at different places of all shapes and sizes.
So, how did we find the place that we're currently living in? Complete and utter luck on the first Wednesday we were here! We just didn't know it at the time... That first Wednesday we walked into the school to say hi to the administrators and bumped into an Ecuadorian lady who was on her way out. Her name was Yolanda and she took beginner classes at CEDEI (the school where I teach). We struck up a conversation (in Spanish) and she told us that she had 3 bedrooms free and she liked to house CEDEI teachers. We tromped across town (those first couple of days we walked a ton!) to take a look. We liked it, but stored it away in the back of our heads.
By Saturday we had had very little luck finding a place to live. We had seen a place we liked, but there wasn't space for two weeks and we were getting antsy. Out rooms at the hostel were literally like large closets. Mine was about 7 ft by 6 ft. Enough space for the bed, my luggage and floor space for the door to open. Nothing else. On top of that the refrigerator in the communal kitchen had a nasty habit of eating or food. Stephen had some nice meats disappear. I had eggs, bread and cheese disappear. And, on top of that the warm water in the shower was hit or miss. The more we thought about it the more the first place we looked at started to grow on us. Sunday morning we called Yolanda back. We could look at her place at 2 pm. This time we went with Jen (she hadn't seen it the other time). Two minutes after walking back through the door we had decided. We had a home! It looked like a home, it felt like a home and the rooms were spacious. The one interesting twist is that the landlady lives in one of the other rooms, but we just saw this as a chance to practice our Spanish. We left at 2:30 Sunday and we had moved in by 5 pm. I'm not fully unpacked yet, but we were all happy to have a place to unpack and call home.
I don't want this post to be too long, so I'll talk more about classes and the school in my next post. But, yesterday we had a meeting for all of the teachers (new and returning) and received our class assignments. I'm teaching 3 classes (Monday through Thursday 6 - 7:15 pm and 7:30 - 8:45 pm and Saturday 8:30 am - 12:30 pm). I love my schedule and, so far, love the classes (I just had the first two classes tonight). There will be plenty more about classes and the school to come. Now, though, it's time to call it a night.
First, though, I need to tell you about my bus ride from Quito to Cuenca... At first I was tempted to fly. It would have been about $63 (including taxes) for a 45 minute flight between the two cities. But I wasn't sure if I would have to pay extra for my luggage or not.. And I knew that it would only cost about $10 to take the bus and I wouldn't have to pay any extra for luggage. So, some of you might think I'm stingy, but I consider myself a bargain hunter and I went with the bus. What was the drawback? It's a 9 hour bus ride between the two cities! So when I got up Wednesday morning I had a quick breakfast and then took a taxi to the bus terminal (It's sort of ironic that the cab fare across town was only $2 less than the bus fare partway across the country). I don't regret my decision to take the bus, but I quickly realized some of the drawbacks to my decision. First, when I got dropped off at the station I had to walk about 200 yards with 2 large suitcases and one small duffel bag (all weighing about 100 pounds together). I wouldn't advise anyone to bring that on themselves! And then the bus... It's cheap, but I didn't get out of my seat for the whole 9 hours (10 am till 7 pm). I had some snacks with me, but that was it! No lunch. I don't even know if there was a bathroom (I made sure no to drink too much). But I made it all in one piece and could start my adventures in Cuenca!
Thursday I got up knowing that I had a day to kill before the first teachers meeting, but wasn't willing to sit around doing nothing! I had been email back and forth with a guy from Scotland who is a new teacher here as well. After a couple of emails I knew he was staying on my floor in the hostel and I had a good guess which room it was. After a hearty breakfast of rice and chicken (you can never eat enough rice down here!) I decided that I could keep emailing him, or I could take a leap of faith and knock on the door. I did and it did turn out to be the other teachers room. We hit it off right away and ended up checking out the city together for most of the rest of the day. I had made my first friend in Cuenca!!
Things started to quickly move forward. We meet some of the other new teachers at another hostel a couple of blocks away (and I met a returning teacher just walking around town. This place definitely has the feel of a small town). It was great meeting new people, but we didn't want to waste any time to go apartment hunting. At the new teacher meeting on Friday we met a girl from California named Jenny and our apartment hunting group solidified. It was me, the Scottish guy (Stephen), a young teacher from Seattle (Will), the girl from California who's also taught English in Japan (Jennifer) and tutor from Chicago who looks like he just walked off of the set of a documentary about hippies (Steve). The next couple of days we walked around town looking at different places of all shapes and sizes.
So, how did we find the place that we're currently living in? Complete and utter luck on the first Wednesday we were here! We just didn't know it at the time... That first Wednesday we walked into the school to say hi to the administrators and bumped into an Ecuadorian lady who was on her way out. Her name was Yolanda and she took beginner classes at CEDEI (the school where I teach). We struck up a conversation (in Spanish) and she told us that she had 3 bedrooms free and she liked to house CEDEI teachers. We tromped across town (those first couple of days we walked a ton!) to take a look. We liked it, but stored it away in the back of our heads.
By Saturday we had had very little luck finding a place to live. We had seen a place we liked, but there wasn't space for two weeks and we were getting antsy. Out rooms at the hostel were literally like large closets. Mine was about 7 ft by 6 ft. Enough space for the bed, my luggage and floor space for the door to open. Nothing else. On top of that the refrigerator in the communal kitchen had a nasty habit of eating or food. Stephen had some nice meats disappear. I had eggs, bread and cheese disappear. And, on top of that the warm water in the shower was hit or miss. The more we thought about it the more the first place we looked at started to grow on us. Sunday morning we called Yolanda back. We could look at her place at 2 pm. This time we went with Jen (she hadn't seen it the other time). Two minutes after walking back through the door we had decided. We had a home! It looked like a home, it felt like a home and the rooms were spacious. The one interesting twist is that the landlady lives in one of the other rooms, but we just saw this as a chance to practice our Spanish. We left at 2:30 Sunday and we had moved in by 5 pm. I'm not fully unpacked yet, but we were all happy to have a place to unpack and call home.
I don't want this post to be too long, so I'll talk more about classes and the school in my next post. But, yesterday we had a meeting for all of the teachers (new and returning) and received our class assignments. I'm teaching 3 classes (Monday through Thursday 6 - 7:15 pm and 7:30 - 8:45 pm and Saturday 8:30 am - 12:30 pm). I love my schedule and, so far, love the classes (I just had the first two classes tonight). There will be plenty more about classes and the school to come. Now, though, it's time to call it a night.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Arrived in Quito!!!
I´m here!!! Just a couple of hours ago my plane touched down at the airport in Quito after what can only be described as a long 36 hours..
The chaos started on Monday morning when I started to finalize the things I was going to take with me. After a couple of last minute errands and a final dinner with some friends the night had only begun (it was actually almost 11pm by that point, but my night had hardly begun). What followed has almost become a routine for me before long trips... Long, very long nights of last minute packing and cleaing up my stuff around the house (if you´ve seen our house in DC you knowa that I have a lot of stuff around the house!). But, by Tuesday morning I was finally ready to go and piled my stuff in the car for the drive to the airport.
I´m not sure that I can say that it has entirely hit me yet. I still tried to speak to the immigration officers at the arrivals terminal in English. But, as we drove down the streets to the hostel my Spanish started to kick in... Not soon enough to stop me from probably paying the taxi driver too much (we negotiated the price right at the beginning of the trip), but in enough time to start having a real conversation with the driver (I actually think he felt a little bad about the price he was charging me by the time we arrived at the hotel).
My home for the night is La Casa Bambu, a small hostel with a great view overlooking the city. But tomorrow I head to Cuenca, a city 9 hours south of here by bus (but the trip only costs $8) where I will start the process of finding an apartment and living a normal life.. We´ll, normal in a loose sense of the word that I will define and shape during the days, weeks and months to come.
The chaos started on Monday morning when I started to finalize the things I was going to take with me. After a couple of last minute errands and a final dinner with some friends the night had only begun (it was actually almost 11pm by that point, but my night had hardly begun). What followed has almost become a routine for me before long trips... Long, very long nights of last minute packing and cleaing up my stuff around the house (if you´ve seen our house in DC you knowa that I have a lot of stuff around the house!). But, by Tuesday morning I was finally ready to go and piled my stuff in the car for the drive to the airport.
I´m not sure that I can say that it has entirely hit me yet. I still tried to speak to the immigration officers at the arrivals terminal in English. But, as we drove down the streets to the hostel my Spanish started to kick in... Not soon enough to stop me from probably paying the taxi driver too much (we negotiated the price right at the beginning of the trip), but in enough time to start having a real conversation with the driver (I actually think he felt a little bad about the price he was charging me by the time we arrived at the hotel).
My home for the night is La Casa Bambu, a small hostel with a great view overlooking the city. But tomorrow I head to Cuenca, a city 9 hours south of here by bus (but the trip only costs $8) where I will start the process of finding an apartment and living a normal life.. We´ll, normal in a loose sense of the word that I will define and shape during the days, weeks and months to come.
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