End of the First Week

I haven’t blogged in almost a week. I am SO sorry. This week has been so busy! I had a full week of teaching along with sightseeing, so I was left with very little time to blog!

After the first day of teaching, Alex and I continued teaching our 5^th and 10^th graders about confidence and giving. We have bonded with both of our 5^th grade classes and love teaching them. They are all so intelligent and want to learn. When teaching them about giving, we read the book “Rainbow Fish” and asked them to tell us how they can give to others. Many of them had really creative responses like giving love, happiness, friendship as well as toys and candy. I was very surprised by the answers they were giving and was very proud of the way they were contributing to our lesson.

Our 10^th graders also had a lot to say about giving. We had a wonderful discussion about giving and what they have given to others and what others have given to them. A lot of the students said they enjoyed volunteering and giving to the community, something that I loved hearing from them. They are really open to talking to us about various topics and always have something to say. Their English level is very high and they have no trouble speaking their minds!

Besides school, I’ve been very busy being a tourist! In the past week, I have visited churches, the President’s Palace, the City Museum, a bakery, two crafts markets, two lakes and I lived in a resort. By visiting these places, I can say that Ecuador is absolutely beautiful. Pictures don’t do it justice! I’m learning a lot about Ecuador just by visiting all of these tourist sites. I’m excited to come back and share what I have learned. 

I spent the weekend at a resort with the rest of my group- this resort, Casa Mojanda, was the prettiest place I have ever been to in my life. We had a perfect view of the mountains from any part of the resort and had flowers and trees all around our cabin. I lived with five other girls- Kalia, Morgan, Leah, Emorie, and Samantha. We had quite a fun time in the cabin and at the resort!

The view from our cabin in the
resort.

My roommates and I

One of the highlights of my weekend was hiking to go see a waterfall. I have never gone hiking, so I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity of being able to do so! I hiked for about 20 minutes to get to the waterfall at 6 am. It was a wonderful experience and so fulfilling. The sounds of birds chirping and water hitting the rocks were so serene and peaceful. I went with my professor, Neil, and our guide, Humberto. We spent about 30 minutes sitting and admiring the scenery. It was such a great experience, and I hope to hike again sometime in the future.

I hope to blog a lot more next week telling you all about my last day at America Latina and my new journey at Quitumbe school.

Remember that professional development session on special education that I talked about a few blogs ago? Well, I have now been assigned to interpret what Ahnya says in English into Spanish for the teachers to understand! It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to use Spanish in a big setting. I have definitely improved my Spanish and can have conversations with many native speakers. I have never received so many compliments on my Spanish, so that’s a real confidence booster! I’m surprised at how much I have improved in the past week. I’ll take this time to thank my Spanish teachers, Señorita Frenzel, Señora Sebastian, Señora Polin-Silva, and Señorita Saunders for teaching me Spanish in high school and to all my professors in college. I’m glad I took those 8 years of Spanish because it has helped me connect with different types of people during this trip.

I’ll let you all know how my Spanish interpretation goes tomorrow and how the rest of my week goes!