martes, 25 de diciembre de 2007

Feliz Navidad!

The last thing I should be doing on Christmas day is sitting in the internet cafe, but I thought I´d take a quick second to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! My Christmas has been filled with lots of church (7 masses in 4 days, to be exact).

Although we are all a little "massed" out, the services have been really special...on Saturday we handed out the bags of clothes that we compiled for each family after a mass in both Centers...Yesterday we went to a gringo mass (first time I´ve been to mass in english in 4 months - very strange), then immediately to a very traditional Ecua-mass out in one of the barrios - it was interesting to so closely observe the differences between the two services. The gringo mass was the typical sort of Christmas Eve mass that I have been going to in the U.S. for the past 23 years - beautiful chapel, nice carols, nativity story, pretty but tasteful decorations, everyone dressed to the nines in their new christmas outfits, etc. The Ecua-mass, on the other hand, was absolutely crazy! I wasn´t all that surprised since I´ve learned by now that Ecuadorians know how to celebrate holidays better than anyone else in the world. We walked in (the last ones to arrive, but a benefit of travelling with the priest - mass can´t start until you get there so you´re never actually late!) to extremely loud, exuberant singing and clapping. The church was decorated with tons of flowers, colorful banners, a live nativity scene, candles, and little baby Jesus´dressed up in gold, lace, and sequins by every family. The place was packed! And by place, I mean shed, more or less. Most people stood the entire time because there weren´t enough seats. It literally felt like a party in there. I could go on and on, but I have a feeling that no matter how hard I try to describe every detail, words just won´t do it justice! The final two masses today included the First Communion of our second graders. Three of my students are second graders so it was fun to see them all dressed up and so excited to take communion for the first time - I felt like a proud mama!

Although it´s been wonderful to spend Christmas in Ecuador this year, with these people who have become such an important and special part of my life, it does definitely feel different. First of all, the weather (which I won´t even describe for you because if you´ve been reading, you know what it´s like, and, well, I feel like I shouldn´t rub it in anymore!)...but mostly, it´s strange to not be with family and friends in Minnesota. I miss you all so much and you are in my thoughts and prayers. I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas!

Love,
Keely

lunes, 17 de diciembre de 2007

I ended up staying here last weekend and enjoying 4 days of doing NOTHING...and that included blogging. oops. I have been busy, as usual, though preparing for the end of my first trimester!

Speaking of which, I cannot believe Christmas is one week away! The lack of snow and presence of warm weather in December has made it difficult to get into the Christmas spirit...but the last week has been full of Christmas decorating, cookie making (mom, you´d be proud), and singing carols by the fireplace, so it´s starting to feel a little more like Christmas time in Ecuador! We are teaching our english classes a few holiday songs and it might be the funniest thing I´ve ever heard..."way weeeeesh you a merrrrrrrrrrry chreeeeeeestmas!" They love it though, and we do too (mostly because it means less actual class planning to do...haha).

Six of us are taking salsa dancing lessons on saturday afternoons. It is so fun, and hilariously awkward at the same time. White girls (and boys) were just not made to move their hips! We´ve already learned a lot though in 2 lessons...so much so, that we thought we were good enough (after a few margaritas) to show off our moves at an actual club after our lesson on saturday night. haha. The best part was that our instructor ended up coming to the same club and probably felt like it was his duty to dance with us. That´s when I realized I wasn´t as good as I thought.

Well, I´m out. Thinking about you all a lot lately, and wishing we could be together for Christmas...

Much Love,
Keely

martes, 4 de diciembre de 2007

It´s December 4th...

and I´m wearing flip flops (my current most "favorite thing about life in Quito").

I have also recently come to appreciate the lack of organization, timeliness, preparation, and prompt communication in this city, and particularly, at the Centro del Muchacho Trabajador. Tomorrow is the Center´s 43rd birthday, and this week is Fiestas de Quito, so we´ve known since September 1st that we would not have school Wednesday (birthday party) and Thursday (national holiday for the founding of Quito). Naturally, we all thought it was slightly ridiculous that we have 2 days of school, 2 days off, then 1 day of school, then 2 days off, and were hoping that they would just cancel classes on Friday as well. Rumors have been circluating for the past week...school/no school/school/no school/school/nobody really knows what´s going on at all ever. Last night it was "confirmed" that we would indeed "for sure" be having classes on Friday. A mere 12 hours later, they announce that, oops, actually, we´ve come to our senses, and there won´t be classes on Friday! Woo hoo! Now, you can imagine the skepticism that came with this announcement (especially because it was relayed to us via the 2 most sarcastic, joke-sters in the house), but it has been CONFIRMED by the Madre herself - I have a 4 day weekend!!! (Tomorrow doesn´t really count since we´ll be up at 6am to cook breakfast for all 2,000 members, then organizing and helping (and eating, dancing, and playing) until 10 tomorrow night). Now the question is...what to do with all this free time? Hang out with the kids? Take a trip to the beach? Sleep? Stay home and get some work done? Go climb a mountain somewhere? The options are virtually endless - It´s like Christmas 3 weeks early! Seriously, you should see us, walking around like we just won the lottery or something (or as Stuart much more bluntly put it, "we all have those shitty I-just-got-laid grins on our faces" - sorry if that´s not blog-appropriate).

Anyway, it´s looking like I will have PLENTLY of time to fill you in on the details of the birthday party, fiestas, and free time in the coming days :). Until then, I hope you are all having shitty grin kind of days as well, and please go outside and make a snow angel for me! (As much as I love my flip flops, I do miss the snow a tiny bit).

Love Love Love Love Love,
Keely

jueves, 29 de noviembre de 2007

What. A. Weekend.

I could not have asked for a more memorable Ecua-birthday! The celebration started on Friday night by celebrating one of my student's and her brother's birthday at their house - their mom works at the center and invited 7 of us to join them for the party. After a long week, none of us really felt like doing anything but going home, however, it ended up being a really fun night of eating delicious chicken curry and cake, dancing up a storm, and meeting lots of cool people.

Saturday morning, Emily and I went to the salon below our house (literally - it's part of the center, and run by students who have graduated) to get pedicures - $3 for an hour and a half of scrubbing, massaging, scraping, and polishing...I could get used to this! It was wonderful! Saturday night, we all headed out to Secret Garden, a restaurant set on a garden terrace overlooking the city. It could have been the breathtaking view, or maybe the fact that I was on the verge of turning a year older, or it very possibly could have just been the wine, but I was overcome with emotion for the majority of the evening. It was an odd feeling...to have such an intense longing to be at home, with my friends and family, celebrating the way I've always celebrated...but, at the same time, to feel an overwhelming sense of contentment and joy to be where I was...and to realize that this place now feels like home, and these people are my family.

We were walking to our favorite dance club in gringoland, when everyone suddenly stopped, started singing happy birthday, corked a bottle of champagne, and showered me with chocolates and cigars...I realized, after a few minutes, that it was midnight - officially the day of my birth! It was a pretty special moment - one that I won't soon forget! We proceeded to consume more than enough tequila (my liquor of choice) and dance the night away. Sunday included all of my favorite things - soccer, thanksgiving dinner, football, good company, naps, and lots of laughing.

And the birthday celebration didn't even end there! (As Aaron put it, "apparently you need to clear your schedule for 4 days to appropriately celebrate Keely's birthday."). The birthday tradition in the house is that you get to pick dinner and dessert on your birthday, and since thanksgiving dinner fell on my day, I got to pick dinner for Monday (although, I would have been completely content with considering thanksgiving my birthday meal as well). So, Monday night included fajitas, chocolate cake, and another round of singing and celebrating.

It was a pretty special birhtday indeed, but I owe most of that to my friends and family in Chaska who organized and attended the "Keely's not so in America birthday party." When everyone here found out that my birthday was being celebrated at home, despite my absense, they knew they had A LOT to live up to! Thanks again for all the b-day wishes, cards, and packages! Love you all.

viernes, 23 de noviembre de 2007

Feliz Dia de Gracias!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Mine was filled with trying to explain why exactly we eat turkey on this day in the U.S. and translating the cute stickers my mom sent me (still trying to figure out how to say "gobble gobble" in español...). I also found out why I have been feeling so crappy...well, pretty much since I arrived in Ecuador! Turns out I have parasites and a urinary infection (sorry if that´s too much information, but I know some of you wanted to know what was up as soon as I found out). Both are curable with medication, so hopefully I will be feeling as good as new by the end of next week.

It´s been a great week, but I am pretty excited for this weekend...I will save the details for after the fact, but plans include birthday dinner on a balcony restaurant overlooking the city, football and futbol, thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, and lots of chill time.

That´s the quick update for now. Thank you so much to those who have already sent birthday cards and packages! Not only does your thoughtfulness and generosity mean the world to me, but you helped me win a bet too! Jeff bet me that I wouldn´t get more than 5 packages in the 10 days surrounding my birthday - I´ve already received 7, and it´s only been 4 days! He obviously has no clue what kind of amazing family and friends he´s dealing with here...

Please know that words cannot express how thankful I am for your many forms of support, prayers, thoughts, and generosity over these last 3 months. I would not be able to do this without you.

Love,
Keely

domingo, 18 de noviembre de 2007

My favorite things....

...about life in Quito:

1. I just ate a huge bowl of encebollado (delicious fish/yuca soup) for $1.30.
2. waking up every morning to the view of the mountains out my bedroom window.
3. prefect weather - sunny and cool with no humidity.
4. you can buy wine in a box for $3 and it´s still considered classy (not to mention, delicious).
5. my laundry is done for me.
6. putting ahi (sort of a homemade hot sauce) on EVERYTHING.
7. drinking tea all day long, everyday.
8. sitting on our patio every night, drinking (before mentioned) wine, looking at the stars, chatting with my compañeros, and relaxing.
9. fresh-baked bread is delivered to our door every morning (from the bakery below our house).
10. NO BUGS. (seriously. my windows don´t even have screens).


And that´ll do for now. For those of you who know me well or have ever lived with me, I am a huge list-maker. I make lists constantly, for everything and anything. Thus, I´ve acquired several different lists of several different varieties since I´ve been here, and I´ve recently determined that it´s time to share some of them with the world...hence, the first installment of "my favorite things about life in Quito," with a promise of more to come later.

The last week has been tainted by this odd sort of dizziness/nauseousness/light-headedness/splitting headache/short of breath/you get the idea. I´ve been having dizzy spells and feeling faint off and on for a few weeks, but it would come and go so randomly that I didn´t think much of it...until I was experiencing the feeling last Monday, and it didn´t go away...until, well, I´m still feeling a little "off," to be quite honest. It got so bad by the middle of last week, that I ended up taking a day off (unheard of and nearly impossible to do around here), spent all of my free time in bed for a few days, and had blood tests done last Friday. The doctor I talked to thinks it may have something to do with suddenly having a different diet here than I do at home (ie. anemia, high cholesterol, or something like that), parasites, or just plain emotional and physical exhaustion with the added factor of...dun, dun, dun, ALTITUDE! I am starting to feel much better, but I should find out the test results by Tuesday, so we´ll see...

The hardest part about being sick is feeling like I am seriously letting down my students. One of the most important things we can give our students is a consistent, stable environment, so it´s frustrating when I can´t physically be there for them. Oddly enough, I miss them too when I don´t see them for a single day! (proven by the fact that I would dream about them every time I slept for those few days). Even when I was able to go to class, I did not have the energy or desire to put a whole lot of effort into planning and teaching, causing me to feel quilty and easily irritated by their antics...probably caused, in the first place, by my lack of planning! It´s a vicious cycle, I tell you! Haha, anyway, I am so lucky to have amazing fellow volunteers who take great care of me and cover my responsibilities without hesitation, and students who love and forgive so unconditionally.

Please think of me this week as you all eat your turkey and mashed potatoes! I will be educating the minds of young ecuadorian children, just like every other day of the week :). We do get to have our own little Thanksgiving on Sunday though(which also happens to be the 23rd birthday of yours truly), so you don´t have to feel too bad! I know that this is the beginning of a month or so that will be filled with lots of mixed emotions...as I miss my family and friends during the holidays, remember the traditions that are going on at home, but still get the pretty special opportunity to celebrate here, in a different way. Miss you all.

Love,
Keely

sábado, 10 de noviembre de 2007

Baños, etc.

No, I´m not going to write about Ecuadorian bathrooms, for those of you who know Spanish (that´s what baño literally means), but just in case you are curious...they are generally disgusting, cost 10 cents to use and 20 cents if you want toilet paper, don´t usually include a toilet seat, and never have soap or mirrors.

Anyway, my trip to Baños (in this case, meaning baths) last weekend was excellent, even though I did not set foot on a bike - what I so looked forward to doing while I was there. Instead, we opted to spend Saturday white water rafting! I had never done it before so I couldn´t pass up the chance, and I´m so glad I didn´t! I was a little bit nervous (especially after the 20 minute SPANISH explanation of what to do if you fall out), but it turned out to be a very cool, trilling experience. We had a few close calls (I think everyone ALMOST fell out at one point or another), but luckily I was really good at the "inside!" command and flew into the middle of the raft before our guide even finished yelling the word every single time. For you experienced rafters out there, we mostly took on class 4 rapids...and for those who have no idea what that means, our guide told us at the end that he was "pretty impressed with our skils, since the majority of rafts flip at some point on that course." Good. Thank you for not telling me that beforehand.

Other than that, we spent our time in Baños eating really good food, taking in the nightlife, and riding chivas (open air bus type things that also have "seats" on an attached back platform and the roof), and enjoying the beautiful mountainous scenery. Although it was a really fun trip and I´m glad I went, it was surprisingly nice to be back in Quito on Sunday afternoon. For the first time, I got that feeling that I remember so distinctly after returning from one particular weekend trip in London as well...It´s good to be home.

I´ve been sitting here for 5 minutes trying to determine what to write about next and nothing is popping out in my memory as extrememly blog-worthy, so I´m going to spare you and leave it at that for now. Thanks for reading though. Miss you and love you all!

viernes, 2 de noviembre de 2007

P.S.

The madres returned last night, and as much as we enjoyed the freedom of having Padre in charge, it´s great to have them back. Order has been restored and the house is complete again!

I know, I know...

...it´s been forever! And I currently have roughly 16 minutes until I have to catch a bus to leave for the weekend, so here goes nothin...

Happy Halloween/All Saints Day/Day of the Dead! Since they don´t celebrate Halloween in Ecuador, it was up to the 17 of us U.S. born volunteers to bring the holiday of ghosts, goblins, and, most importantly, candy to the Centers´ 2,000 kids and adults. This required lots of planning, hours spent in the kitchen, multiple trips to the mall (a place we all try to avoid!), and way too many spanish explanations of the Historia de Halloween! This resulted in approximately 8 parties over two days, not including individual class parties, and tons of hyper, excited, rambunctious kids! It was really fun though to celebrate Halloween like I never have before, with people who never have before. I have to say, I didn´t miss trying to think of a costume that fits the unique, cool, creative, and slutty college requirements! Instead, I put together my best "teacher dressed from head to toe in black and orange for Halloween" outfit and called it a day.

The focus of celebration here is today, November 2nd, Dia de los Funtos (Day of the Dead)...AKA, day off! and that explains why I am currently at the internet cafe, racing to write this blog before I leave for the weekend. About 14 of us are heading four hours south to Baños - a touristy town known for its natural hotsprings, beautiful waterfalls, and hiking/biking trails. I plan to spend most of my weekend doing the latter (biking) since I haven´t ridden in 2.5 months and I miss it tremendously! As much as I feel like I should spend the weekend at home, resting and preparing for next week, I´m pretty excited to see another part of Ecuador.

Last weekend, three of us took about 10 kids to the big city park to ride paddle boats. It was cool to hang out with some kids I don´t know very well, but the highlight of my day was when one of them spotted a group of gringos across the park and yelled, "Kay-lEE! Kay-lEE! Mire! Otre voluntarios!" (Translation: "Keely! Keely! Look! Other volunteers!" Yep, they think that all white people in this city are volunteers, and that we all know each other. :)

Whew, well, times about up. Hope this will do...at least until next week. I enjoy blogging and receiving comments so much, and I truly wish I had more time to spend on it! I´m constantly thinking of blog ideas and things I´d like to write about, it´s just a matter of finding enough time to do an adequate job. Thanks to all you avid readers who keep me consistent!

Lots of love,
Keely

jueves, 18 de octubre de 2007

Padre's in charge!

You know when you were a little kid and mom would be gone for the weekend, leaving dad in charge...resulting in hot dogs and baked beans for dinner...and a little more freedom (along with slight choas)...and eating while watching wheel of fortune???

Madre Miguel and Madre Cindy both abandoned their flock this week for bigger and better things (the US and Ireland)....haha, just kidding. But the Madres are indeed gone for the next 2 weeks, leaving Padre Juan, also fondly known in our house as "The Dude," to call the shots! And by call the shots, I mean he will not be doing a darn thing, since he usually just does what the Madres tell him to do, and well, since they're not around......for example, at reflection last Tuesday, when the Madres reminded us that they would be leaving, Padre said "So that means I will be, uh, collecting, you know, what are they called....those lesson plan thingys ya'll are supposed to do." When we all laughed, he pretended to be surprised and said "What's so damn funny?" Anyway, I wish I could capture the Padre/Madre complex in words and paint a better picture for you, but I could never do them justice. Nonetheless, the Padre is in charge, and it's pretty sweet. (Don't get me wrong, I love the Madres, but...you know what I mean...).

We had last Friday off, so Thursday night, 6 of us got on a bus around 11pm for the 8 hour drive to the coast! We had a spectacularly relaxing weekend of playing in the ocean, napping in hammocks, napping on the beach, reading books, walking barefoot in the sand, drinking pina coladas (the real kind with pineapples and coconuts picked from the backyard), eating cheap seafood for every meal (the real kind...fished out of the ocean moments before it appears on your plate), and playing beach volleyball/soccer. Since it was a national holiday, we chose the tiny coastal "off the beaten path" town of Muisne to avoid crazy crowds and obnoxious gringos. and avoid we did. We spent 2 days literally "on the beach" - the actual town was a couple miles down the road. The beach was lined with about a dozen hostels and little family-run seafood restaurants. Although it was a little more cloudy than we would have liked, it was much warmer than Quito, and the perfect place to chill out and re-energize.

Even though I teach for 12 hours everyday, I have spent a lot more time actually with the kids in the past 2 weeks. I am at a point now where I can converse well enough to get to know them and connect with them outside the classroom. I have some free time in the evenings and, even though I am usually exhausted and cranky by then, I am surprised to find that dancing, playing, singing, coloring, cuddling, and laughing with the kids is the best way to end my day. Last week, I spent my break from 6-6:30 (usually reserved for a catnap in the break room) sitting on the front steps of the Center. The steps are a pretty important gathering place, always packed with families coming and going. The second I sat down, I had kids on my lap, kids grabbing my hands, kids yelling my name, kids crawling on my back, kids pushing other kids out of the way so they could give me a hug or kiss, kids wanting to introduce me to their moms and dads, and kids telling me to have a good night and they would see me tomorrow. For the first time, I occured to me that I'm getting rather attached to this place and these people and it is going to be very difficult to leave them 10 months from now.

While Tuesdays are my least favorite DAY of the week, they have become my absolute favorite NIGHT of the week. First of all, it's Italian night, which means either pizza, spaghetti or lasagna for dinner - not normally my absolute favorite cuisine, but it's nearly impossible to find decent Italian food in the city of Quito, so I have come to really appreciate the delicious grub Maria and Antonia cook up. Tuesday also happens to be my dish night. Again, not something I would normally look forward to, however, the TLNDB (Team Leave No Dish Behind) has a pretty kick-ass time doing the dishes. Not only do we have a sweet team name (although, not such a time-efficient philosophy, we're finding out...), but we have a team cheer, team slogans, and we're in the process of designing team aprons...AND we have team commradery (not sure hot to spell that) like you wouldn't believe! Dish time is followed by spirituality/reflection with all the volunteers, madres/padres, and any guests we have in the house. It's a nice bonding and sharing time, and always leaves me inspired and motivated to take on the rest of the week. Finally, my favorite night concludes with a bang - literally. It's a thing we like to call "Flaming Plane Tuesdays." Don't ask me how it started, but it has evolved into a select few going up onto the roof of our house and throwing paper airplanes lit on fire at the people sitting on the patio down below. Sounds silly, I know, but it's actually quite fun and entertaining (and don't worry, the planes rarely actually make it near the people sitting on the patio). We predict that it will continue to evolve into a competition of sorts...different roof tops (we have a big house), moving targets, gasoline (haha), "flaming desk tuesdays" perhaps...the posssibilities are endless!

Wow, I think that's enough for this one. I had to make up for not writing for a while though. If you made it to the end, congratualtions! Lots of Ecua-love...

Keely

sábado, 6 de octubre de 2007

How the tables have turned...

When I think back about this week, a few moments stand out in my memory...

I tutor a boy who is behind in his class every afternoon. He can do simple addition and subtraction without a problem, but does not recognize and cannot write numbers greater than 20. Thus, I´ve found myself teaching numbers in Spanish to an 11 year old...when I only learned how to say them 7 weeks ago! Needless to say, I am constantly second-guessing myself (am I pronouncing that correctly? why does he have that blank stare on his face? 70 really is setenta in spanish, right?).

We finally split up into our adult classes this week (we´ve been playing games and socializing as a large group until now). I have 3 very sweet ladies who have all completed first grade (and no mas). They can all write their names, read slowly (but not really comprehend), and write some words. However, they don´t know the names of the letters. Yes, like the alphabet. They never learned their ABCs. So, again, I find myself teaching the spanish alphabet to 35 year old ecuadorian mothers. And, again, I just learned it 7 weeks ago. And, AGAIN, I am constantly second-guessing myself and saying the ABCs over and over again in my head to make sure we´re talking about the same letter. Even more tricky, I took German for my first 9 years of schooling and it has reared it´s ugly head as my "default" language when I can´t recall simple spanish words, like letters, numbers and colors. It just so happens that the first 6 letters of the spanish ABCs are the same as the first 6 letters of the german ABCs...thus, but the time we get to "G" who knows if I´m actaully teaching them spanish or german...Nonetheless, they are extremely eager to learn whatever it is I teach them, and my first week with them has already been very rewarding and eye-opening.

I am hungry and in need of a shower, so I will leave you with a funny little tale or two from our book of spanish-speaking woes (ok, we don´t have a book, but between the 17 of us volunteers, we could easily entertain you for hours with our mis-translations and "shit, what did i just say?" moments that occur daily). Jeff (name has not been changed becuase most of you don´t know these people and probably never will...and if you happen to meet them someday, they were already so embarrassed at the time that it doesn´t even matter anymore :)) was collecting his kids from health class to give them directions before they began phy. ed with him. He said "vaya al cuarto de baño y lave las manos, entonces usted puede jugar con mis pelotas" which directly translates to "go to the bathroom and wash your hands, then you can play with my balls." Of course, he was referring to the kickballs he was holding at the time that they would play with in gym class....but still, pretty funny :)

Thanks for reading! Hope all is well in the U.S.!
Keely

lunes, 1 de octubre de 2007

It´s been a while...

I just returned from a splendid little vacation! We had today off because of elections (they´re rewriting the constitution...crazy ecuadorian politics!), so 7 of us left yesterday morning for Papallacta. We stayed at a gorgeous resort in the mountains and spent most of our time soaking (and playing marco polo :))in the natural hot springs, dancing and drinking wine on the porch of our cabana, and trying to figure out how to boil pasta and saute vegetables using a tiny fire pit (where it´s nearly impossible to start a fire because mountains=altitude=no oxygen) and a toaster oven...we were successful (after about 3 hours)! It was probably the best dinner I have ever had. It was great to get out of the city and experience more of Ecuador, but now I have oodles of planning to do for classes this week (funny how I´m at the internet cafe, procrastinating as usual!).

Despite most of us being really sick last week (general consensus in the house? "thank God we have our own bathrooms!"), we did a pretty darn good job of teaching our classes and celebrating 2 birthdays. It was nice to have some idea of what to expect when I stepped into my classrooms, but I also realized that Week 2 means no more nametags and getting to know you games - it´s time to actually crack down and teach! Which also means communicating more...in Spanish...with students, teachers, and administrators. I have found that I can speak and understand enough to get by in most cases, but if there is the slightest distraction (I´m nervous or in a hurry, kids are yelling, etc) it severely hinders my ability to communicate. Thankfully, there are a lot of people around who are more than willing to help in those instances, but I can´t wait for the day when I can have a conversation and walk away KNOWING, 100% for sure, what was just said. The day HAS come for me to start talking to myself in spanish! I noticed repeatedly last week that I would be thinking about something in english, then respond to myself in spanish. It´s very strange.

For some reason, I am really good at cards in Ecuador. My first 2 weeks here, when it was just Dan and I, we played A LOT of cards (to avoid having to talk to each other, as he says...haha). I beat him in almost every game almost every time. I really like to win, but it got kind of boring! Anyway, I thought for sure my luck would run out (or I´d at least encounter better competition ;)) once we started playing cards at the house. Euchre is a favorite (it´s kind of like 500), and so far I am undefeated with one partner and I´ve only lost one game with the other! I´ve had quite a few offers to accompany people to Vegas when we return to the states :)

Other interesting occurrences/observations from this last week:
-watching adults color and cut with scissors for the first time in their lives
-riding home from the downtown Center (approx. 45 minutes) in the back of a pick-up truck because our bus was broken
-running into 4 friends from language school at church yesterday morning, when we live on opposite sides of the city and there are about 85 other churches they could have chosen to attend!
-plans are in the works to build a garden on the rooftop of the downtown Center - it´s going to be awesome.
-I have rediscovered my love for puzzles
-the boy I started tutoring can fiure out the answer to most math equations, but cannot write or recognize most 2 digit and all 3 digit numbers

Well, I suppose, it´s time to crack down and figure out what exactly my girls are going to do for 4 hours in computer class tomorrow...any and all suggestions are welcome! haha. Thanks for reading, and check in again soon!

Keely

viernes, 21 de septiembre de 2007

Pictures

I´ve accumulated quite the collection of fun and interesting pictures in the month that I´ve been here, and I´ve been trying SO hard to post them online for the past 5 days! I put a few up to the right to start with, but I´m hoping to find a better way to post pics in the future. Until then, I hope these help you to better imagine my life here in Quito...(if you or someone you know has facebook, I did just make an album on there - I´m a little more familiar with that site :)).

Although it has been a great first week of teaching, I am so glad it´s Friday! Six hours of sleep a night and 12-14 hours of working each day is proving to take it´s toll. I´ve been pretty sick with a cold and stomach stuff (again! I have a feeling it might be a weekly occurence...) these last few days, so I´m definitely looking forward to resting and recuperating this weekend.

Computacion concluded on a good note on Wednesday, but I was relieved to not have to teach a 4 hour class again until Monday. I absolutely LOVE my english class. The girls are adorable and so fun to teach. They repeat EVERYTHING I say, and I can´t help but laugh sometimes. We´re learning colors right now, and I´m not sure if they´ve actually retained anything yet, but we sure do have fun coloring, dancing, laughing, and trying to understand each other. During every class so far, I have wished that friends and family from home could experience this with me...so, for those of you who are considering visiting (yay!), I cannot wait to take you to my classes and introduce you to my students. I know you will love it/them!

That´s it for this one. I have to hurry back to the Center to teach my adult classes at 5 and 6:30, then it´s out on the town to meet up with the other volunteers for dinner and drinks (yeah, so much for resting and recuperating...we have to celebrate a successful first week though!).

BIG hugs,
Keely

miércoles, 19 de septiembre de 2007

Jumping Right In...

Well, I survived my first 2.5 days of teaching! Not only did I survive, but things went much better than I expected! Other than a bit of a troublesome 4 hour class yesterday (the computers are so old and outdated, I couldn't figure out how to turn half of them on!), here are some highlights...

1. my students only laughed once at my pronunciation during roll call on the first day
2. turns out I DO know enough spanish now to communicate decently (and the girls don't show even a tiny bit of frustration when I ask them to repeat their question for the 4th time!)
3. throughout my day, I have a nice balance of 13-14 year old girls and first grade girls - sooo different, but both so fun!
4. it finally dawned on me that all of the pressure I've been feeling to know spanish and be an amazing teacher is only pressure I've been putting on myself - everyone, adults and children, is so understanding and welcoming. The fact that they are entrusting me with my own classes when they KNOW that I am not a teacher nor fluent in their language shows how confident they are in me - and I'm starting to feed off of that.
5. In my adult class (proving to be one of my favorite times of the day), one lady called me "Kinky" on the first day...haha, all the volunteers in the room were laughing pretty hard, so we had to try to explain to them what kinky means...the name saga continues!
6. although I don't think I've really taught my students a whole lot yet, I really feel like I am part of something significant and worthwhile here. Just walking around during the day, hearing kids yell my name (or some version of it), and being greeted by administrators, I am no longer a gringo just hanging in Ecuador. I live here. I work here. I have a place here.

I guess those highlights turned out to be less about actually teaching and more about the insights I've had since beginning to teach...but now that I've finally started doing what I came here to do, and the anticipation is over, my attitude and perspective has shifted a bit. On that note, I have to take the bus to the downtown center now for my 5pm adult class! As always, I have so much more to write, but not enough time, darnit! Thanks for reading, and thanks to those who have been sending thoughts and prayers and messages (and mail, Jill! my first package! yay!).

Love, Keely

lunes, 10 de septiembre de 2007

What the heck was I thinking?

Not only did I sign up to be a teacher (with no previous experience, mind you), but I am supposed to teach in Spanish (also very little previous experience)??? WHAT???

Yes, I knew this coming in, but I don´t think I thought it through ent¡rely. Either way, here I am, CMT´s newest Computacion (computers/marketing) teacher, whether I am ready or not! When I was here for spring break I mostly shadowed volunteers´ English classes, so naturally, I figured that is what I would spend the majority of my time doing. WRONG. As of next Monday, I will teach above mentioned computer class to colegio (high school - 13 to 20 year olds) students 3 mornings a week, tutor every afternoon, teach adults every evening, then teach ONE english class to 2nd grade girls on Friday mornings. I was quite taken aback (and slightly disappointed) with my schedule, but the more I think about it (and get nervous about it), the more I realize I have no choice but to put it in God´s hands. I am still sure that I was called to spend a year of my life here for a reason, and it´s not up to me to determine that reason. I am here to serve the people of CMT in whatever way they see fit!

So, the last week has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I feel indescribably comfortable and at home at CMT, but I have also been challenged mentally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally in ways I´ve never experienced before. I had to introduce myself in front of 50+ Ecuadorian teachers and pray out loud in Spanish the other day. Yesterday, we spent 6 hours digging holes, shoveling rocks, and mixing cement to help one of our families build their new house. Every time I attempt to get one of my many questions answered, I find that I either ask the wrong person or receive an entirely unexpected (and often wrong, I´ve come to find out) answer. I´m sure many of you can imagine how this aggravates me, a not so patient person who likes to be "in the know" all the time! I just had a meeting with the 2 Ecuadorian Computacion teachers I will be working with...2 of them, 1 of me, all in Spanish! Halfway through, God answered my prayers and one of my fellow, and much more fluent, LTVs (long term volunteers) walked in the classroom and translated the tricky parts for us. Those are just a few of many examples I could rattle off!

As exhausting and frustrating as these daily challenges can be, the people I have met and gotten to know here make up for it. I truly love the volunteers I live with and I don´t know how I would have survived the last week without them! A whole lot of bonding took place this past weekend - shopping trips, cooking together, decorating our rooms, watching movies, exploring and discovering Quito, playing cards, going out on the town, getting lost, and many heart to hearts. The Ecuadorians at the Center are wonderful, as well. They are kind, caring people, and extrememly patient when it comes to communicating!

I have so much work to do in the next week to prepare for classes and improve my speaking skills. We only have a few meetings here and there, so it will be nice to have a little down time before things get crazy next week! I am definitely excited to be around the kids more though....and on that note, I will leave you with a funny little story...

My name is very difficult for them to pronounce here, mostly because they don´t have a double "e" sound in Spanish. I usually introduce myself, then they respond with anything from "pele?" to "willy?" to "kayla?" This morning, we spent time shadowing Ecuadorian teachers to get an idea of how they run their classrooms. Six of us were lined up in front of the room introducing ourselves. I was the 4th one to go and when it was my turn, I pronounced my name very clearly and they repeated it back over and over until it sounded like they got it. Then the teacher called on students to repeat all of our names out loud. The little 4th grader was doing a fantastic job...."patricio, elizabeth, matheo, persona...numero cuatro!"...until she called me "person number 4" without missing a beat! Of course, everyone thought it was pretty funny and that´s what I was called for the rest of the day. So, thank you mom and dad, for the "unique" (troublesome) name!

Oh, I want to throw in a little shoutout to all my friends who have September birthdays (seriously, there are like 12 of them...so, thank you to THEIR moms and dads...for making it impossible to keep them all straight!) Anyway, I love you all and I wish I could be in CO, MN, IL, WI, etc. to help you celebrate!

Mucho amor,
Keely

viernes, 7 de septiembre de 2007

Contact Info CORRECTION

Hopefully none of you raced to the mailbox yesterday...since, I AM IN ECUADOR and the mail carrier would probably appreciate it if the address was written in Spanish! Therefore, you should write "Centro del Muchacho Trabajador" and "articulos religiosos" (instead of "Working Boys Center" and "religious goods"). I'm sure they could probably figure it out, but I don't want to risk missing out on any of the mail that you're all going to send me ;) haha.

All right, I'm currently on my laptop and it has been turning off randomly so I'm going to post this before I lose it AGAIN! (p.s. if anyone has any idea as to why my computer might be doing this and how to fix it, let me know!!!).

love you and miss you!

jueves, 6 de septiembre de 2007

Contact Info...

I just wanted to post my address and phone number here quick:

Working Boys Center
c/o Keely Schallock
Apartado 17-01-3112
Quito, Ecuador, S.A.

011-593-22-532-002

If you send mail, it must be in a regular or manilla envelope to reach me (packages are really complicated to get). Also, write "religious goods" on manilla envelopes to guarantee their arrival! The phone number goes directly to my house, so go buy a cheap calling card and call me :) (If the phone number doesn´t work, take out one of the middle 2s).

That´s all I´ve got for now. We´ve been very busy with orientation these last few days, but everything is coming together and I´m getting excited to begin teaching! I promise to write a decent entry soon...

Keely

lunes, 3 de septiembre de 2007

All Moved In!

Hey there! I don´t have a ton of time, but I just wanted to write quickly to let you know that I am all moved in at el Centro del Muchacho Trabajador and things are going well!

Dan, Stuart, and I (and ALL of our luggage) made the 30 minute trek across across the city on Saturday afternoon. The second we pulled into the driveway, I felt like I was finally "home." At the same time, it was very surreal to be back here after trying to imagine that very moment since I left CMT last March. More than anything, it just felt "right" (I know, I´m throwing out cliche after cliche, but there really is no other way to describe it!).

We moved into our very spacious rooms, and I encountered a problem that I´ve never had before in my life...I didn´t have enough stuff to fill the shelves, or enough clothes to fill the closet, or enough junk to fill the drawers, or enough things to hang on the walls! Stuart and I spent yesterday shopping at every market in town though, so my room is starting to feel a little less like an insane asylum.

Over the course of Saturday night and Sunday, the other volunteers slowly trickled in. We spent both evenings getting each others´stories, and it truly is amazing what a small world it is and how paths cross. For example, Patrick has been to the same Guatemalan village that I spent my Sophomore spring break in, and it turns out I met a few of his friends from Loyola Marymount when I was there! I could tell you about 15 stories of a similar nature....but alas, dinner awaits :). So far, there are 10 volunteers moved in, and about 6 more to come. Most of the returning volunteers whom I met when I was here for spring break are arriving on Wednesday, so I am super pumped to see them again!

The directors of the Center, Madre Miguel and Padre Juan, are just as wonderful, energetic, and witty as I remember them. Madre Cindy also helps run the show (the 3 of them all live in the house with us) and it is hilarious to watch the 2 madres constantly gang up on Padre. Poor guy!

Today was our first day of orientation and we spent most of the time talking about procedures, house rules, meeting people, eating with the kids, touring the Centers, and going to church (not kidding - we went twice...guess that makes up for not going the past 2 weeks, right mom?!). It was a fun and exhausting day. I definitely have an advantage in that I´ve been here before though. Everyone else is feeling major information overload! We have orientation the rest of this week, then we will mostly be shadowing teachers next week when classes begin.

I apologize for the discombobulated entry! There is so much I want to tell you, and not nearly enough time right now! I promise to write again soon. Thank you so much for all your thoughts, prayers, and words of encouragment!

Keely

jueves, 30 de agosto de 2007

I hate thinking of titulos (titles).

Here´s a quick recap of the exciting happenings from the past few days:

1. Had a blast dancing the night away on Tuesday. I learned how to salsa and swing, and broke my favorite flip-flop in the process!
2. Met a crazy dude from Eagan, MN at a shawarma restaurant at 2am after night of dancing.
3. Got to go to 2 markets for spanish class on Wednesday - convenient timing, since I was feeling the affects from aforementioned night of dancing.
4. Went to local soccer game last night with friends from school - Liga, the team most people here cheer for, won 5-0. Also risked my life by eating stadium food for the first time - so far, so good (and by good, i mean alive, since the empanada (fried stuffed tortilla concoction) really wasn´t that great).
5. Took another field trip for class today - our teachers took all of us to Palacio de Presidente (Ecua-version of the White House). It was pretty cool to see, and the fact that we had to sneak 2 of our friends in because they had no form of ID made it quite exciting (it´s funny - and also a bit frightening - how they appear to have such tight security, yet didn´t even question the 2 passport/license sets with identical names and pictures within our small group).
6. Last day of clase de espanol tomorrow! I´m not sure if I´m happy or sad or excited or scared out of my mind for that to end...but alas, it is reality whether I´m ready or not!
7. Big move to the CMT volunteer house is Saturday! I´m looking forward to finally being there and meeting everyone I´ll be hanging with for the next year.
8. Love you and miss you all!

Keely

martes, 28 de agosto de 2007

Back to School, Back to School...

Hello loves! I am back in action and finally starting to feel much better. I still feel sick after I eat, but most of the other weird symptoms (fatigue/insomnia, aches and pains, shivering, tingly limbs, etc.) are gone! I can deal with a funny tummy, as I have most of my life, but I´m just glad I can stop worrying about it being something more serious.

We had a nice relaxing Sunday on Engleterra (England, the street I live on - odd coincidence?) Road. I started (and almost finished) a new book, studied español, and Dan and I went back to our favorite little British pub to use their wi-fi and hang out. I beat Dan in every card game we played, yet again. I don´t know what it is about Quito, but apparently I should start playing cards for money here!

Yesterday, it was time to get back to the grind of Spanish classes. We switch professors every week so I now study with Hipatia. I was nervous about switching because I had a feeling that my professor last week was pretty lenient in comparison to the others. However, I was looking forward to more of a challenge (I can´t believe I´m saying this...) and a more structured class. Hipatia definitely fits the bill! We spent 3.5 of the 4 hours yesterday just talking. Sounds nice and easy, right? I have come to realize in the last week that I understand, read, comprehend, and write Spanish much better than I speak it, so talking for that long was extremely challenging! She´s a nice lady though and I´ve already learned a lot from her. Either way, it´s my last week of class so I really have to make the best of it and learn as much as I can.

After class, we came home to eat lunch (tacos! my favorite meal here so far), then Dan and I went to CineMark - a huge complex with a movie theatre, restaurants, coffee shops, stores....and wireless internet! It was so nice to have semi-normal coffee. Most people here only drink instant coffee - surprising, considering Ecuador is one of the biggest coffee bean producers in the world. However, they export most of what they grow here to earn greater profit...so we´re stuck with the not very good instant crap. Last night, we met up with Stuart at a bar and played cards and hung out for a while (longer (and more beers) than we had intended! oops!).

Sorry, I feel ike this is just a day by day record of what I did - BORING. I´ll try to spice things up a little bit...

Lately, I´ve been dreading meals, especially breakfast, because I feel so sick all the time and eating is the last thing I want to do. This morning, I cannot begin to explain how excited I was to walk into the kitchen and find bread, peanut butter (that actually tasted similar to american PB!), normal colored juice (yesterday it was green), whole fruit on a communal plate (usually it´s cut up for us on our own plate and we HAVE to eat it all), and self-serve yogurt (again, usually breakfast is portioned for us and we have to eat what we´re given). Ruth left the kitchen for a minute and Dan and I had a flipping hay-day! We were so excited to be able to choose what and how much we wanted to eat....oh, the small joys of Ecua-life :)

We hopped in a taxi for our morning commute to school and for some reason the cab driver had no idea where he was going...we tried telling him, then just resorted to getting out and finding it ourselves by foot. We navigated quite well, considering we´ve only been going to Vida Verde for one week, and we weren´t even too late for class. Everyday is full of little adventures!

Tonight, we´re meeting a bunch of people from school at a bar. I´m looking forward to it because they´re all really cool people but we really only get a chance to chat during our 20 minute break from class. I have lots of homework to get done before then though so it´s probably time to head out.

As always, thanks for reading (sorry that this one was a little on the dry side)!

Keely

sábado, 25 de agosto de 2007

Blah...

Not much new here, except that it´s raining for the first time since I´ve been in Quito and I´ve been pretty sick since the last time I wrote (I knew my quick and flawless adjustment to the altitude, food, and water was too good to be true!). I haven´t been able to eat or drink much for the past 2 days without becoming grossly sick afterwards. I´m exhausted, but I can´t sleep very well, and my whole body aches. I also banged my forehead pretty good yesterday (there´s even a nice goose egg to prove it!) so that´s contributing to my throbbing head. Ah well, I´m sure most of you expected this report just as much as I did, considering my tummy has not been cooperating for the past year!

Now that I feel like one of those people who uses their Christmas letter merely as a medical update, let´s move on...Last night, Ruth and Dayla took us on a tour of the Old Town. We saw a lot of the churches last time we were here, but it was cool to drive around at night and see all the people out and about. We stopped at a little cafe that overlooked the city. It was so cool! It´s difficult to describe, so I´ll just say this...I cannot wait to bring family and friends there when they come to visit :) (sounds enticing, doesn´t it?!)

After our tour of the Old Town (despite laying in bed all afternoon and against my better judgement), we experienced the nightlife in Quito for the first time. Estefen, Dan, and I left the house around 10:30pm and picked up Stuart, our friend from Vida Verde who will be volunteering with us at CMT. We headed to Estefen´s club, The Velvet Room, and received the royal treatment all night. We didn´t end up getting home until almost 5am! It was really fun, and I´m all about having a good time, but I don´t know how the locals stay out that late every weekend! Needless to say, Dan and I took advantage of our Saturday and slept until early afternoon today.

I think we´re just going to lay low tonight and maybe go see a movie. I should probably be studying spanish so that I don´t forget everything by Monday, but that´s what Sundays are for, right?

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend! I hear it finally stopped raining there, so hopefully you´re taking advantage of the weather change. Thanks for checking in!

Love, Keely

jueves, 23 de agosto de 2007

español, español, español!

Hola!

My life is now consumed by spanish. Classes are going much better than they did the first two days, and I have learned more in 4 days than I did in my entire semester of college spanish. I still have a long, long way to go, but I can pretty much understand (or get the gist) of anything I hear. I could also probably say most things that I want to say, but I´m not quite confident or comfortable enough yet. Dan keeps telling me that I will only get there if I try...and he´s right, as much as I hate to admit it! It´s strange...as I learn more spanish, I seem to forget english, little by little! The line separating english from spanish is becoming fuzzy...for example, when I think, about every 4th or 5th word is in spanish. As I´m writing this, quite often the spanish word for something enters my head before the english word does. This is a very good thing, but it´s also very odd - spanish is taking over!

We´ve been playing cards the past few nights with our host family. It´s really neat because we teach them a game, then they teach us a game. It´s very difficult to explain (and understand)rules in a foreign language, so we all engage in a jumble of english-spanish explanations and translations (ie. Ruth and Esefan need explanations in spanish, Dan and I need enlgish explanations, and Dayla often goes back and forth for all of us). I love nothing more than this exchange of teaching and learning across languages, no matter what the topic at hand may be.

Ok, enough about spanish...Last night, Estefan took Dan and I to the Ecuador v. Bolivia National futbol (soccer) game! It was such a cool experience - one I´ve been looking forward to since I knew I´d be living in Quito for a year. Soccer is very different in other countries (especially S. America and Europe) than it is in America. It is a significant part of their culture, history, and daily life. Ecuadorians take it very seriously and get very involved in the sport on all levels. Being at the game was like being at a playoff baseball game and the MN state fair at the same time. The place was packed and people just go crazy! Qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup start next month here, so I am super excited about that...I can´t wait to go to another game!

After the game, Estefan gave us a great tour of "gringolandia" - the part of town where all the bars and clubs are. He owns a club there, so we´ll have some great connections. We stopped at one club where every shot in the house is 1.25! We weren´t really out to party last night, but it was fun to see what it´s like down there and it makes me very excited for this weekend!

A few random tidbits you might enjoy:
-it takes 5 keys, 2 codes, and 1 phone call to get in and out of our house. can you say, security?! When Dan and I left to come to the internet cafe, it took us 10 minutes to get from the front door out to the sidewalk!
-on our way here, i got hit on for the first time since I´ve been in Ecuador...and it´s because Dan was walking on the upper level of the sidewalk (about 5 feet away from me), rather than right next to me like usual! We got a good laugh out of that.
-ever since Ruth found out that I studied nutrition in college, she takes the opportunity at every meal to tell me that everything we´re eating is organic and "muy sano!" (very healthy). haha, I love it!
-Last night, we were asking Estefan about weather changes here...He said "weather is same as girls in Quito: sunny in the morning and cloudy by the afternoon, all year round." and he was completely serious. haha.
-Janet Jackson "i will always love you" is playing in the internet cafe right now. I don´t think I´ve heard this song since I was obsessed with it in 5th grade after I saw "The Bodyguard" (is that correct spelling??)!

I don´t know if you can tell, but I´m struggling to find the words to write somewhat eloquently right now, so I think I´m going to call it a blog entry and peace out :). Either my brain is still fried from 4 hours of class this morning, or I haven´t quite woken up from the nap I took earlier, or I really am forgetting english! Thank you so much for reading though (the 3 of you who do ;)), and I will be back again soon!

Hugs and Kisses,
Keely

p.s. when you comment on a blog entry, make sure to check back later (click on commentarios at the bottom of the entry you commented on) to see if\what i comment back! I love the comments, so I want to respond and I can´t really think of a better way to do it.

martes, 21 de agosto de 2007

Day 4...

Ahhhh, day 4 of life in a foreign country. For those of you who haven´t experienced day 4 syndrome before (either because I just pretty much named it right now, or you´ve never lived in a foreign country), I can sum it up in 2 words - SENSORY OVERLOAD. I remember it vividly from when I lived in London, and it´s pretty similar this time around.

I´ve moved into a new house, adopted a new family, made new friends, started learning a new language. I´m eating new food, sleeping in a new bed, adjusting to a new schedule, mastering a new transportation system, shopping in new stores, and the list goes on...basically, I´ve had a headache for the past 2 days (and it´s hardly the altitude´s fault anymore) and I pretty much feel like I could take a nice long, 14 hour nap!

That said, I´m doing great and still loving every minute (almost) of life in Quito. I know this is all just part of the transition, and I will continue to adjust as time goes on. I also have to remind myself to embrace the new and unfamiliar surroundings because, all too soon, they will become dangerously familiar and comfortable - where I no longer experience the awe and wonder from merely stepping outside in the morning or glancing out the window at an internet cafe to see the beautiful mountains straight ahead (as I am now).

After a rocky start to yesterday morning, we arrived at Vida Verde Spanish Language school 2 hours late! Luckily, they were extrememly welcoming and accomidating, and matched us up with tutors right away. We have one-on-one tutoring from 8:30 to 12:30 everyday, with a 20 minute break in the middle. My tutor for this week is Priscilla. The first 2 days have been frustrating and overwhelming, just as I expected! However, I feel like I have already learning so much, and Priscilla is very patient with me. Dan and I spent 2 hours studying last night and I after today´s class, I don´t think that was enough. I´m pretty sure I will be studying more in the next two weeks (and thereafter) than I did my entire senior year of college combined! Oh, I also met 2 guys at the school who I´ll be living and volunteering with for the next year at CMT. They both seem very cool, and it will be nice to already have those connections before we move in Sept. 1.

Dan and I moved in with the family we´ll be staying with for the next 2 weeks last night. The family consists of aunt Ruth, her son Estefan, and his cousin Dayla. Dayla picked us up and immidiately started speaking english with us - she viewed our presence as a way for her to practice her english. Well, let me tell you, aunt Ruth has an entirely different agenda in mind! She understands english perfectly fine, but made it clear from the start that we are not to speak english in the house - not to her, not to Dayla or Estefan, and not to each other! She really is a very very sweet, energetic, loving, fun lady, and we are so lucky to have her. She took us grocery shopping last night, and it turned into one big spanish lesson. We ended up spending almost 2 hours at the grocery store! I loved it though. Since Dan knows more conversational spanish than I do, the two of them dominate most conversations, but Ruth encourages me to participate and puts me on the spot from time to time. It´s tough, but so helpful.

All in all, the unknowns are definitely turning out to be blessings. I still can´t believe that I am actually here and doing the things I´ve been talking about and planning for the last 6 months! Thank you all for your emails, thoughts, and prayers. They really are bright spots in my day.

Until next time,
Keely


P.S. After hearing from a few of you, I realized that my blog website shows up in Spanish to you at home, as well (duh, keely). I apologize for that - thank you to those who tried to comment and couldn´t quite figure it out, and mucho thanks to those (Beth) who tried and succeeded! I´m not sure if I can fix it, so I guess we´ll just look at it as a learning experience for all of us. I want you all to be as much a part of my cultural immersion as possible ;), and, believe me, I´ve definitely had to break out the pocket dictionary a few times to figure out what I´m trying to do on here...

domingo, 19 de agosto de 2007

I made it!

(pre-script: the computer I'm using right now is all in Spanish, so bear with me...I figure it's good practice for what's to come!)

Thanks for checking in! I'm new to this whole blogging thing...and I tend to get really long-winded when I tell stories and write emails, so skim if you wish, read every word, or just wait and ask my mom for an update next time you see her :)

I've been in Quito for 2 days now, and things could not be going better! After a long day of travelling, I arrived Friday around 10 pm. I was really nervous about going through customs (mostly because I was by myself and had no way of convincing them to let me into the country, if need be) but they hardly glanced at my passport/visa before stamping and waving me through. I collected ALL my luggage and immidiately spotted Dan (guy from St. John's who is also volunteering down here) waiting on the other side of security - we were both pretty happy to see each other, considering he's been down here by himself for 2 weeks and I'd be on my own with no place to go if he didn't show!

We caught a cab and chatted a mile a minute, catching up on everything. I'm pretty sure I had a huge grin on my face the entire ride - I was so happy and relieved to finally be here. The Sheraton his company put him up in is probably one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in. We were both starving and exhausted, so we ordered room service and called it a night.

It's strange not to have anything we have to do, especially considering the crazy schedule we'll have once we start at the CMT (Centro del Muchacho Trabajador = Working Boys Center). We took full advantage of this and slept in until 11 yesterday and today - I don't think I slept that late once this summer, it was so nice! The altitude takes a lot of you too (Quito sits at almost 10,000 feet - twice the elevation of Denver). When I was here for spring break it really affected me, so I got some drugs from the travel clinic this time. The adjustment hasn't been too bad so far, but I've still been really tired, light-headed, out of breath, and my hands, feet, and face are tingly. It's really strange - especially when we're strolling down the street, talking, and both of us have to stop to catch our breath!

Yesterday we mostly just walked around and explored the city. We saw a lot of churches and buildings we had toured when we were here before. It's nice to have some familiarity! Although, I'm realizing that we really never had to navigate or find our own way during our spring break trip. We had guides from the Center who took us everywhere. In fact, I don't think I looked at a map once that entire week (unbelievable, for those of you who have travelled with me before, right?!)

We found a really cool little British Pub (I know, weird.) last night and had a few beers and played cribbage (for two people who love cribbage, we both forgot our cribbage boards! We can't find one here, soooo the first person to visit...you know what to bring :)). We made do though and had a great time....or, I had a great time, seeing as I beat Dan 6 out of 7 games. I had to let him win the last one just to guarantee that I would have a bed to sleep in last night! haha. We met some really cool people there though, and I loved discovering a little piece of London...in Ecuador, of all places!

Today, we took it easy - went over to the mall and Megamaxi (Ecua version of Target, right down to the red carts), ate chicken shawarma (yummmm!), and tried to get into a soccer game (our hotel is right behind their huge olympic soccer stadium). Dan did some work for his internship (he's been researching the social and political situation in Ecuador all summer for a wealthy mining investor in MN) and I journaled/napped (some things will never change...).

I had my first language barrier frustrations before I even entered the country! I sat next to an adorable little Ecuadorian girl and her mom on the plane from Atlanta to Quito. They were both so friendly and I wanted to be able to talk to them so badly. The little girl kept wanting to sleep on my shoulder and her mom kept trying to move her. I did my best to communicate that she was fine and she could lay on me. I'm not sure if the mom actually kind of understood or just finally gave up and let her daughter sleep peacefully in my lap. It was pretty precious and (a) made me so excited to get to work with little kids on a daily basis and (b) motivated me to spend a few hours of the flight reading my spanish phrase book!

We start spanish language school tomorrow. I'm so excited and ready! I have had such a desire to learn spanish since I was in Guatemala 2+ years ago, and now I'm in circumstances conducive to learning it effectively and efficiently. Dan knows a little more spanish than I do, but it's been fun working together to try to communicate in stores and restaurants. I've realized I know more than I thought I did, but I still have SO far to go.

Well, I think that's probably good for my first blog. If you made it to the end, congratulations! I promise, they will start to get more exciting soon. Let me know at any time if you have questions, or if something isn't clear. Although, I feel like I explained CMT and life in Ecuador to everyone and their brother before I left, I know I probably missed something here or there. I want to paint the clearest and most accurate pictures of my experiences as I can for you (that would be the anal, communication major side of me :)).

It sounds like I'll have pretty good access to internet most of the time, so comment here or send me an email at keschallock@gmail.com. I'd LOVE to hear from you! Take care, God bless, love you and miss you!

Keely