I am officially halfway through my time in Ecuador which is pretty unbelievable!
I am into our 5th week of school here at Alliance and the rhythm of day to day life is becoming routine and I am figuring everything out more and more. Currently I am teaching Bible, Grammar, Writing, Handwriting, Math, Social Studies, and Science. I am loving my classroom and all of my students. It is great to continue to get to know them in an academic setting and as individual children. Figuring out classroom management for the class as a whole as well as for individual students is always a challenge but is becoming more natural. Combining that with a classroom full of English Language Learners and every day has its own unique vibe to it!
My daily schedule during the week typically looks like:
6:15 am - wake up (and hopefully the showers are working... 50/50 chance)
7:00 am - breakfast with the dorm
7:30 am - arrive to my classroom and take a deep breath before the day begins
7:40 am - students begin arriving and doing seat work (somewhat) independently
8:00 am - school officially begins and all students have arrived
teach, teach, teach
12:00 pm - lunch break (twice a week I have lunch duty for the elementary kids)
1:00 pm - back to the classroom
teach, teach, teach
3:15 pm - dismissal begins
3:30 pm - all students are dismissed or go wait in the atrium for their parents
4:00 pm - leave school and head back to the dorm to lesson plan until dinner (at 6pm)
With getting up early and going all day long, I usually hit the hay about 10 pm for some much needed sleep!
Beginning next week, I am full time teaching all day for three weeks. It will continue to get busier but I am excited to take on the challenge.
Some highlights (and some low-lights) over the last few weeks of my life in Ecuador:
* one friday afternoon about 2 and a half weeks ago, my phone was stolen while I was at the local grocery store :( not a good experience at all... very stressful, emotional, and kind of made me feel like I was really alone here in this foreign country
* faculty/staff and family retreat for the day at Calacali (rural land owned by the school) - full of good conversation, people, and delicious food!
* visit from my professor, Dr. Egeland, from Wheaton College - he was here for 2 days and did some observations of my teaching and touring the school
* went to the Ecuadorian symphony (for free!) with some other teachers from the school
* Open House Saturday where all the parents and students came to school on a Saturday (kind of like back-to-school night)
* going to Mercado Artesenal, a local market, to buy more souvenirs
* Quito Bus Tour - a 4 hour tour of the city! We stopped at La Basilica (a Gothic-style church) and climbed to the top of the church!
* attending La Fuente weekly - a great Spanish church where I am practicing my Spanish and learning a lot!
My apologies for the somewhat longer post but thanks for sticking through and reading it!
Hitting the halfway point in my time here is a very odd feeling! Loving the people and places here but also missing all my wonderful family and friends back home.
I am so thankful for each one of you and your constant communication, encouragement, and support while I am here!
A few pictures for you:
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