I have so much to say, this journey is absolutely amazing. Everyday is an adventure, and I´m definitely soaking in every moment here. I can´t believe June is just around the corner!
So here is a collection of random timbits for you...
-Eggs are not refrigerated.
-I am woken up by our rooster at 5am every morning, which is proceeded by my entire family getting up.
-I have lost track of how many times I have hitched a ride on the back of a pick-up truck. It´s one of my favourite modes of transportation here in the mountains.
-Jhon loves playing the radio and every odd song is in English. Some popular ones: Black Eyed Peas ¨I gotta a feeling¨, Taylor Swift ¨You belong to me¨, K´naan ¨Waving flag¨ (this song just came out and is sung partly in English). And then some American artists like Beyonce and Jason Mraz have Spanish versions of their songs as well. Now usually I don´t listen to mainstream music but its definitely a treat to hear or speak English in this community high in the mountains in Ecuador!
-I love the way some of my students mispronounce English words because they will pronounce every letter. For example, pronounce every letter of the words ¨five¨ or ¨pineapple¨. ha! Claudio in grade 4 will jokingly mispronounce ¨five¨ because he loves my response to him and the whole class laughs. He´s such a funny boy.
- It´s pitch dark by 6:30pm!
-The weather: the sun has a high intensity in the afternoon, but when the sun sets around 6pm, it´s COLD! Now I know I am Canadian and the coldness should not be an issue but its actually really cold! I often wear two sweaters at night and I sleep in a sleeping bag with two blankets, in jogs and a sweater. Ya, its that cold.
-Here in Convalecencia, many families have motorbikes, they call them motorbikes but in our eyes they are dirt bikes! And dirt bikes are the perfect vehicle for where I am living. I really only see dirt bikes, pick-up truckes and the bus, if there is a different vehicle driving through, we know that they don´t live here....Imagine sitting on the back of a dirt bike driving through the mountains, the sun is setting, and in the distance you can see lights from different small communities in the mountains....its phenomenal.
-Took my first hot shower this morning. It was glorious! Dear friends, please never take for granted your hot showers in Canada, mine are rare.
-Stray dogs....everywhere!!
-Go figure I get my first sunburn while I am hanging out on the equator! My host family laughed because I got it when I was with Letty and Maria at Letty´s school. They were fine, but I was burnt as ever. My professors at school thought it was funny, too. Why is being burnt funny?! Suncreen in now being generously applied everyday.
-I always find myself on unexpected adventures which I absolutely love. For example, just yesterday I went to visit my friend Alanna, Alanna was going to help her host father, Juan with his cows, so I was like, ¨Chao!¨ And Juan invited me to come along. So Alanna jumped on the back of his dirt bike, and I jumped on the back rack of the bike. The three of us rode of into an isolated part of the mountain. It was breathtaking, then Juan whipped out three bags for us to collect blackberries. So there we were, Juan, Alanna and myself, just picking blackberries surrounded by mountains.
So pretty much Ecuador couldn´t be more beautiful and I couldn´t be more happier.
Thank you for reading my blog...its so comforting knowing that I have all your support back home in Canada. Next blog post, stories from my work placement.
-m
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Mi casa es tu casa
The kindness of my host family can be summed in this story:
The first Sunday at breakfast I sneezed a couple times, and my host father, Fabian, kept saying, ¨gripa¨. After breakfast he told me to follow him, we took the compost up to feed our pig. Fabian then showed me all the plants they grow. Fun fact: cilantro is actually a Spanish word. He asked me what it was in English and I was like, ¨Si, cilantro!¨ He then took me to an aromatherapueatic plant. He instructed me to rub it in my hands then to breathe it in. So I did, and it smelt exactly like Vick´s! It felt so good to breathe it in. It was such a nice gesture and I was just taken aback by the kindness of my family. At that moment I knew that I am going to be okay this summer. It´s a struggle at times but I have a family here and they will always make me laugh.
Where I am living:
I live in Convalecencia, Cayambe. Downtown Cayambe is located at the foot of the mountain and the small community that I reside in is located up the mountain. Once you leave the downtown area of Cayambe and get to Convalecencia, the roads have no names, the houses no addresses. (Seriously, no street names or addresses!) Convalecencia is a farming community. My family has four cows, one pig, one horse, and 2 outdoor dogs. Being on a hill, everything is planted on a slant, which is interesting. Yesterday you would have found me digging for potatoes with a giant hoe on the side of a mountain! ha! My family grows potatoes, cilantro, some other herbs like mint and possibly some other vegetables. My family also has a small store that is attached to their house, there is just a window where people buy what they want. And Fabian built volleyball courts, it just sucks when the ball is thrown out of bounds and you have to run down the hill to get it. The view from my front door is just mountains and mountains, on a clear day you can see the snow covered top of Mount Cayambe, which is the highest point on the Equator.
Who I am living with:
I live with the Pullamarin Family, who are beautiful people.
Fabian is my host father, he is 35. He works as a farmer. He is genuinely a kind person and has the greatest laugh. My family loves to laugh which has made me feel very comfortable. Fabian speaks no english but he is interested in learning, often he will ask how to say some thing in English. He now knows all our farm animals names in English! His effort to learn is really comforting. He congratulated me the other night on how much my Spanish has improved since I got here, it was a proud moment for me.
Maria is my host mother, she is 33. She helps with the farm and running the store. I thoroughly enjoy her cooking. And she is a great mother to her two children. She also has an infectious smile! At first she spoke to me so quickly in Spanish, I often had to ask her to speak slowly in order for me to understand. Maria tries to learn English too but she just can´t pick up the English tongue, which is completely fine. It makes me laugh just when I try and speak their language but make a million mistakes!
Letty or Leticia is 12 years old. She is amazing! We come down to Cayambe together and run errands for her parents all the time. It is through Letty that I am learning Spanish. She is learning English in school and wants to learn more from me, its a great partnership. She had her English exam this morning and yesterday I was helping her out, it made me realize how challenging English actually is. Proud moment: last week she asked me to help her with math and well I have not done math in four years. I helped her anyhow, its a challenge for me to do math, let alone explain it to someone in Spanish but I was successful, I was so happy she understood me. It was proud moment because I am definitely grasping Spanish now (slowly but surely). Letty has a great disposition, and we spend lots of time together.
Jhon is 8 years old. His parents and sister always joke about how he is loco! And he is. He loves playing the radio loudly, he knows the words to all the songs and shouts them out. He is a fun loving 8 year old boy! He´s hilarious actually. His craziness reminds me of my 8 year old sister, Isabel (who I dearly miss). Letty and Jhon often bring me into their sibling rivarly, which always involves a lot of laughing.
So that´s a quick overview of my family. They are spectacular and I couldn´t be more blessed!! My first week at school was overwhelming but coming home I felt so relaxed, hanging out, playing volleyball, helping Letty with her homework, etc. This trip is very much about being with people, and the time I have spent with my family thus far is something I will always treasure.
love from the equator
mar
The first Sunday at breakfast I sneezed a couple times, and my host father, Fabian, kept saying, ¨gripa¨. After breakfast he told me to follow him, we took the compost up to feed our pig. Fabian then showed me all the plants they grow. Fun fact: cilantro is actually a Spanish word. He asked me what it was in English and I was like, ¨Si, cilantro!¨ He then took me to an aromatherapueatic plant. He instructed me to rub it in my hands then to breathe it in. So I did, and it smelt exactly like Vick´s! It felt so good to breathe it in. It was such a nice gesture and I was just taken aback by the kindness of my family. At that moment I knew that I am going to be okay this summer. It´s a struggle at times but I have a family here and they will always make me laugh.
Where I am living:
I live in Convalecencia, Cayambe. Downtown Cayambe is located at the foot of the mountain and the small community that I reside in is located up the mountain. Once you leave the downtown area of Cayambe and get to Convalecencia, the roads have no names, the houses no addresses. (Seriously, no street names or addresses!) Convalecencia is a farming community. My family has four cows, one pig, one horse, and 2 outdoor dogs. Being on a hill, everything is planted on a slant, which is interesting. Yesterday you would have found me digging for potatoes with a giant hoe on the side of a mountain! ha! My family grows potatoes, cilantro, some other herbs like mint and possibly some other vegetables. My family also has a small store that is attached to their house, there is just a window where people buy what they want. And Fabian built volleyball courts, it just sucks when the ball is thrown out of bounds and you have to run down the hill to get it. The view from my front door is just mountains and mountains, on a clear day you can see the snow covered top of Mount Cayambe, which is the highest point on the Equator.
Who I am living with:
I live with the Pullamarin Family, who are beautiful people.
Fabian is my host father, he is 35. He works as a farmer. He is genuinely a kind person and has the greatest laugh. My family loves to laugh which has made me feel very comfortable. Fabian speaks no english but he is interested in learning, often he will ask how to say some thing in English. He now knows all our farm animals names in English! His effort to learn is really comforting. He congratulated me the other night on how much my Spanish has improved since I got here, it was a proud moment for me.
Maria is my host mother, she is 33. She helps with the farm and running the store. I thoroughly enjoy her cooking. And she is a great mother to her two children. She also has an infectious smile! At first she spoke to me so quickly in Spanish, I often had to ask her to speak slowly in order for me to understand. Maria tries to learn English too but she just can´t pick up the English tongue, which is completely fine. It makes me laugh just when I try and speak their language but make a million mistakes!
Letty or Leticia is 12 years old. She is amazing! We come down to Cayambe together and run errands for her parents all the time. It is through Letty that I am learning Spanish. She is learning English in school and wants to learn more from me, its a great partnership. She had her English exam this morning and yesterday I was helping her out, it made me realize how challenging English actually is. Proud moment: last week she asked me to help her with math and well I have not done math in four years. I helped her anyhow, its a challenge for me to do math, let alone explain it to someone in Spanish but I was successful, I was so happy she understood me. It was proud moment because I am definitely grasping Spanish now (slowly but surely). Letty has a great disposition, and we spend lots of time together.
Jhon is 8 years old. His parents and sister always joke about how he is loco! And he is. He loves playing the radio loudly, he knows the words to all the songs and shouts them out. He is a fun loving 8 year old boy! He´s hilarious actually. His craziness reminds me of my 8 year old sister, Isabel (who I dearly miss). Letty and Jhon often bring me into their sibling rivarly, which always involves a lot of laughing.
So that´s a quick overview of my family. They are spectacular and I couldn´t be more blessed!! My first week at school was overwhelming but coming home I felt so relaxed, hanging out, playing volleyball, helping Letty with her homework, etc. This trip is very much about being with people, and the time I have spent with my family thus far is something I will always treasure.
love from the equator
mar
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Here are the whiteboard markers....teach.
Friday May 6, I started my placement which at a school in Juan Montalvo. My host mother, Maria took me on the bus there. There are no designated bus stops, we just waved it down and as soon as my foot stepped on the bus, the driver hit the gas. It was packed with many people. The road is windy and as I look at the window, all I see is mountains, its absolutely breathtaking. The commute is worth it. I live in Convalecencia, Cayambe, its located in the Northern Highlands.
I arrive at the school and the children are getting ready for a March to the National Anthem. After announcements, one of the professors takes me to the grade 7 classroom, introduces me, hands me whiteboard markers and says ¨Uno hora¨then leaves. I have one hour with the grade 7 class to teach English, my response, ¨errrr.....!?!?¨ I was not prepared for this whatsoever. But okay, I start with, ¨What is your name?¨ One hour passes by, my heart ponding the entire time. In the afternoon, I was given the grade one and two class and it was harder, as they were restless. After playing soccer, the school day ended at two, where I caught the bus home. I was happy to see my family after an mentally exhausting day.
My host father has built out of the mountain a platform for volleyball nets, I played ball with my host sister, Letty, my host brother, Jhon. The sun was shining down on us, and the skyline is just mountains and mountains, its simply majestic. My host father, Fabian and I were playing volleyball and I was just taken away at the beauty here in Cayambe.
Spanish......right now is a huge barrier and is extremely challenging, but I am working on it.
More to come about my host family.....
I arrive at the school and the children are getting ready for a March to the National Anthem. After announcements, one of the professors takes me to the grade 7 classroom, introduces me, hands me whiteboard markers and says ¨Uno hora¨then leaves. I have one hour with the grade 7 class to teach English, my response, ¨errrr.....!?!?¨ I was not prepared for this whatsoever. But okay, I start with, ¨What is your name?¨ One hour passes by, my heart ponding the entire time. In the afternoon, I was given the grade one and two class and it was harder, as they were restless. After playing soccer, the school day ended at two, where I caught the bus home. I was happy to see my family after an mentally exhausting day.
My host father has built out of the mountain a platform for volleyball nets, I played ball with my host sister, Letty, my host brother, Jhon. The sun was shining down on us, and the skyline is just mountains and mountains, its simply majestic. My host father, Fabian and I were playing volleyball and I was just taken away at the beauty here in Cayambe.
Spanish......right now is a huge barrier and is extremely challenging, but I am working on it.
More to come about my host family.....
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