The former volunteers left last week, so we are officially on our own! We ARE the volunteers :) Here are some little updates on life here in Mt. Sinai, Ecuador so far:
-Work: Tomorrow I start my job as an English teacher at San Felipe Neri elementary school! Wish me luck! This private school is run by Columbian sisters who are absolutely fantastic and serves grades K-4 (Like our preschool-3rd). Here in Ecuador, private schools tend to have a much better reputation for providing a good education than public schools. San Felipe charges $10 a month per student (in addition to buying supplies and materials). They do offer some scholarships in exchange for the mothers coming to help clean the school. My schedule right now includes 6 classes (2nd, 3rd, 4th grades twice a week). To fill the rest of my time (the school day runs from 7:30am-12:30pm), I will be helping out in other classrooms, running errands for the sisters, and playing with the adorable children during recreo (recess). I'm excited to think up songs and fun activites for my students and receive many millions of hugs each day. Side note: On the street the other day, two little girls appeared out of nowhere and attached themselves to my side! They asked when English classes were going to begin again, and despite the fact that they called me "Marita" (the former volunteer's name haha), it was a beautiful moment to be recognized and loved!
-Neighbors: The people here have the most beautiful hearts. We have been welcomed into homes, treated as family, encouraged to visit often, and fed cookies and cola. One of my favorite moments so far was dancing to Spanish music videos in the home of two girls: Lida and Mercedes. They have some serious moves! :) Because I only work in the mornings, my afternoons will be spend visiting with neighbors and establishing relationships within the community. What a wonderful gift it is to spend time talking with and getting to know the families of Monte Sinai.
-Parish: In our neighborhod, there is a life-filled parish called Bautismo de Jesus. There are three churches that have a wide range of activities: Mass, religious education classes, youth groups, womens groups that pray the Rosary together each week, and children's choirs. I'm very much looking forward to getting involved in the parish, especially as a way to form faith-based relationships with neighbors and children in the community. Something I love: everyone claps during the songs at Mass!
-Food: We live on less than $2/day per person, buying from little shops right down the street. We eat bread, rice, lentils, beans, eggs, veggies (onion, tomato, green pepper are staples), and fruit (the pineapple is delicious!). To give you an idea of prices, bananas (guineos in Ecaudor Spanish) are 3/$.10 and peppers-onions are $.10 each. Last night we made spiced lentils and rice for dinner, and we splurged on some choco-bananas that our neighbor Aura makes for dessert...mmmm :)
-Health: Haven't been ill yet! Say some prayers that it stays that way!!! :)
If there is anything else you'd like to know more about, please comment on the post and give me your suggestions! Soon I'll write more stories :)
No comments:
Post a Comment