Game On

Hey all,

I´ve arrived in Ecuador and life is good. I just ate my first comida típica for lunch, so we´ll see how my stomach is feeling in about an hour. It was a tiny little place that looked like a garage, but the soup was good and I also had a delicious plato de pescado (fish) for $2. Everything is pretty cheap here, but then I remember that I´m also not getting paid so I guess it evens out...to a net loss, haha. So far so good, though.

A few things I´ve learned about Ecuador so far....

1. Toilet paper is scented and can not be thrown in the toilet, or it will result in a major plumbing disaster.
2. Red lights are optional. Don´t ever drive in Quito.
3. Sometimes marching bands roll through the streets in the evenings...AWESOME!
4. Dogs bark at all hours of the day and night and typically live on the roof.
5. At 9,000 feet, you get winded after climbing 5 flights of stairs. Like, really winded.

Even though it´s different, I´m really loving it so far. My fellow volunteers rule and orientation has already been a blast. Already, people call me Smaki. Tonight we will move to our Quito host families´houses, so it will be sad to be split up, but orientation will continue until almost the end of September. I am placed in an apartment complex where there are 2 other vols, so the first day of travel should be a bit less daunting. We´ve had basic health and safety and culture and time to acclimatize thus far, but will get into Spanish lessons and practice teaching very soon.

I guess that´s the basic story so far, but I´ll keep in touch. Thanks for the comments already...it´s awesome to read that stuff from far away.

XOXO - Sara

Almost There

And so the journey to Ecuador is about to begin....

On Thursday 8/28, I will head to Miami to meet up with the other WorldTeach volunteers. I am so excited to get to know everyone! Then, very early 8/29 it's on to Quito. Orientation will be held there until 9/24, where we are bombarded with a ton of information, including teacher training, Spanish language training, cultural awareness, and health & safety info. It will be a tiring 4 weeks, but hopefully it will also be quite helpful. On 9/25, I will move to Ambato, Ecuador and teach at SECAP, a quasi-governmental organization with vocational institutes all over the country. I will teach 20 hours a week, which is a little bit less time than I was putting in at University of Bridgeport. Though it seems like a part-time job, lesson planning and grading will definitely turn the position into a full-time gig. It's only been 3 days since my UB classes ended and I'm already really missing it, so it will be great to get back into teaching.

Ambato is a city of about 300,000 people located right in the center of Ecuador. It's in the Andes mountains, so even though I'll be close to the equator, temperatures are pretty mild up at 2700 meters (almost 9000 feet). The location makes it a great jumping-off point for weekend travel or longer adventures. I'm also very much looking forward to the city's annual Festival of Fruits and Flowers, which coincides with Carnaval. Ambato has little tourism, so I'll be much more in tune with true Ecuadorian culture - for better or worse. The past volunteers found it to be a great home, though, and I couldn't be happier with my placement.

I'm down to the last 2 days at home in CT, so I've started packing and trying to tie up loose ends. There is definitely a lot to think about before moving abroad for a year! The next few days will be frenzied, but I will be back to blogging once I am settled in Ecuador. Hopefully for the next post I will have some good Ecua-stories to tell. Thanks for reading!