My Ecuadorian Life

Where to begin?

The last three weeks (since my last blog) have been incredibly busy but wonderful all the same!

I have been in Quito for over 10 weeks now and have less than 2 weeks left!  This is a truly unbelievable feeling.  In some regards I feel as if this is my life now and I have been here forever.  However, at the same time, the past 3 months have just flown by and I can't believe it is already (almost) time to head back to the States.

Reading Group

I finished four weeks of full-time teaching last week and am teaching just a few subjects this week and tapering off even more next week.  Full-time teaching was a big challenge with tons of work and lesson planning but I loved every minute of it.  My students are so wonderful and I love each of them very much.  They made all the long nights of planning worth it!  Those four weeks (along with my entire time teaching here) have taught me so much about myself, my students, being a teacher, behavior plans, and much more!  At times I felt as if I was teaching in a "normal" (whatever that means) school in the States but then there would be moments where it would hit me.  I would have this ah-ha moment of shock that I am actually living and teaching in SOUTH AMERICA!  I know this sounds so obvious as I have been preparing for this time for so long and have been here for 2 and a half months but it would still hit me at random moments.  I am incredibly thankful for this experience and know I will carry all of these moments with me wherever I go.

All my Latino kids got the futbol moves!

As I prepare to leave I have realized that I am ready to be back, yet I am not ready to leave.  This leaves me in quite a conundrum.  This week I had to begin telling my students that I only have 2 more weeks with them.  This led to questions like "why do you have to go?" "who will be Mrs. Bastidas' other teacher?" "can I come with you?" and so on.  These questions tug at my heart as I know that I do not want to leave these precious students.  As my remaining days here in this beautiful city fly by, my schedule is filling up with last-minute to-dos like concerts, parties, shopping, and dinners!  I am so thankful for all of the friendships and experiences I have had here and plan to soak up the next week and a half too!

Two of the sweetest kids!

A quick recap of the last few weeks...

* We had a long 3 day weekend a few weeks back so we indulged and went to stay at the Marriott in Quito!  Three other teachers and myself went for a relaxing weekend laying by the pool, going to the spa, and sleeping in.  We also went out to a little Italian restaurant where we ended up meeting the owner and he made us our own special meals and gave us free calamari!  The weekend was also full of movies, Chinese food, disaster brownies, and manicures and pedicures!

 

* Mariah, another student teacher and my roommate, went back to the States two weeks ago.  We were able to have a big goodbye dinner with a group of people from the school.  It was a great night to just reflect on how blessed I have been to meet so many wonderful people!







* I went out to a small town called Nono and stayed at my supervisor's new ranch house for a weekend trip.  We were completely secluded from our normal city-life and were surrounded by mountains and valleys and the great outdoors!  We hung out by the fireplace, had great conversations, read a great book, and went horse-back riding.  I was able to step back from the normal busyness of life and take time to rest.


* Last Saturday was Parent Teacher Conferences.  This made for a long day (7:30am-2:15pm) but was very rewarding.  It was great to meet all of my students' parents and hear from them.  Talking with the parents made me realize how much I have learned about each of my students individually and how much I care about them.

"Teacher, teacher!"

I am unsure whether the idea of "eyes in the back of her head" first originated in regards to a mother or a teacher, but this I have learned: it is true for teachers!

In the past few weeks as I have immersed myself in my soon-to-be profession, I have truly grown those eyes in the back of my head.  I know which voice is calling out my name when I am working at my desk.  I see which student is spacing out as opposed to eagerly engaged in my lesson.  I see the first grade girls passing notes.  I see the boys hiding their toy cars in their desks.

I multitask like none other... helping one student with a math even-number timeline, while explaining exclamation points to another, while telling one to sit down, while thinking of which lesson is coming next, while pleading one to stop eating crayons.

I can guess which students will need to use the bathroom after Spanish versus those that need to go during math versus those that seem to need to go every five minutes!
I know which students will ask me a million times when lunch is, and I know the precious students that will begin asking "when time to go home?" even when we have only been in the classroom for 1 hour!

Yet even in all of these crazy moments... I can't help but to be thankful and overjoyed with my privilege to be here with them.

It is them running up to me during their after-school soccer practice to give me a quick hug or to tell me they are beating the other team 2-0!
It is the drying of sad tears when a student has to take the bus instead of being picked up by her mom.
It is the joy in hearing one say to another, "It is okay, you're never alone, Jesus is with you!"
It is the delight of them learning those big, English words or those tricky addition problems.
It is the cringing at ALL of those loose teeth hanging out of their mouths!
It is the reoccurring event of cutting dozens of students' lunch during my lunch duty.
It is my sweet boy always asking me, "You can tie my shoe?"
It is the quick thank-yous when I pass out a paper.
It is the relief that comes with finally challenging my advanced student.
It is reading their sentence saying "I lik mrs copeland techng me at skl." (translation = I like Miss Copeland teaching me at school.")
It is the constant translation of their misspelled words and messy handwriting.

It is every moment they smile and I have no doubts of where I am supposed to be.

Teaching is such a joy.
I already know how hard the goodbyes are going to be.  When my students ask me why I'm leaving or why I can't stay all year, I wish I didn't have to say goodbye in just four short weeks.

As this is my second week of full-time teaching (with two more to go), I am incredibly busy, filling my afternoons and evenings with endless lesson planning.

This four-day week definitely is a blessing.  I am looking forward to refueling this weekend and getting my energy up to finish the next four weeks well!



As for my weekend adventures...

Last Saturday, I went with some friends to Teleferico.  Teleferico is a gondola (cable-car) ride beginning at 9,678 feet and going up to 13,297 feet!  From the top of Pinchincha volcano, you get a beautiful, breath-taking view of the city.

 Once at the top, we continued to climb leading us to meet three Germans (traveling in Ecuador/Galapagos Islands for 3 weeks).  A bit later, we met a wonderful family of 4 who had just months ago sold everything they owned, packed 1 suitcase plus a carry-on, bought round-the-world tickets and are traveling/teaching their kids for 1 year!

Following our decent back down to oxygen, we took a cab over to La Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World).  This is where the equator is (only about 30 minutes from where I am living)!  We learned about indigenous people in Ecuador, saw tons of beautiful artifacts, and got to stand on the equator!

 

A few cool experiments from the equator were...
* while draining water on equator, the water went straight down
   while draining water in the Northern hemisphere, the water went counter-clockwise
   while draining water in the Southern hemisphere, the water went clockwise
* an egg can balance on a nail (I didn't have enough patience to accomplish this)
* you loose your balance while walking on equator with eyes closed (such a weird feeling)

 That's the extent of my adventures for now.  I best be getting back to planning math lessons... yay subtraction!

Blessings!