San Feipe's 1st Ever "CASA ABIERTA"!

I know some of you are dying to see some of my students, so here are a few photos from the open house we had in September! It was a huge success with all the kids showing off projects they'd done :) They were so proud of themselves!!

 María, the 2nd grade teacher, with some of the kiddos!

Some of my 4th graders proudly showing off their "7 types of soil" project

A la finca!

After Mass a few Sundays ago, 5 of us traveled with our friends Victor, Damian, and Alejandra to the "campo" (the country) where Victor´s grandparents have a finca (farm). It was an absolute blessing to spend the afternoon chatting with the abuelitos and other family, eating delicious grilled plantains and menestra (a lentils and veggie dish), exploring the river, and swatting the ever persistant mosquitos :) All around us were plaintain, cacao, grapefruit, and papaya trees. The river was beautiful and peaceful. What a contrast to the city! Many thanks to Victor for inviting us and to his family for their generous hospitality.

Visiting with Victor´s grandparents, aunts, and cousins

 Us with Victor!

 Walking through the "wilderness" of plantain and fruit trees (and mosquitos!)

Lessons from the Ecua classroom

What I´m learning (and re-learning) as an Ecua teacher :)

-Jumping into life in a new country and speaking a different language all day is quite a transition! One of my biggest and most frequent challenges is trying to express myself and really be who I am in Spanish. (I can´t even tell you how many jokes I´ve had fail due to a lack of vocabulary on my part!) Those of you who know me understand that I can be pretty ridiculous :) So imagine my despair when I realized last week that my students had yet to encounter the goofy side of Señorita Elisa (that´s me). What a tragedy! The constant energy it takes to give directions and manage a classroom in Español was preventing me from letting loose and having more fun! One of my main goals this year is to instill a LOVE of LANGUAGE in my students. I want them to enjoy learning English and feel motivated to continue studying it. Whether or not they all know that "head" means "cabeza" or that "The jacket is blue" means "La chaqueta es azul" becomes much less important in comparison. And a main factor in creating that excitement is doing fun activities and having a passionate teacher. So having had this total "wow, duh" moment, I´ve started hamming it up and letting my inner dorky goofball shine. Last week during a lesson on clothes, I may have worn socks on my ears and barked like a dog (to my students´ glee), and I definitely threw myself dramatically to the ground in feigned agony after bumping heads with a student (you should have seen the looks of shock on their faces haha). And you know what? My students are having more fun and so am I!

-Storybooks are magical in Ecuador. Seriously. It´s incredible. Most kids don´t have books in their homes and there are no libraries here, so when I bring a "cuento" to school with me, the students are beyond excited. They hang on every word and then chant "otro, otro!" when the story ends. It´s a special treat for them to be read to because it happens so rarely. Last week, the magic of the "cuento" came to my rescue. The 2nd grade teacher had a meeting with parents that lasted 50 minutes longer than anticipated (this is not at all uncommon here, as time is a very fluid concept). So instead of spending 40 minutes with 27 super energetic, often totally loco, second graders, I had a whole 1.5 hours. Yikes! The attention span of a 6 year old is definitely NOT that long haha. Thankfully I had a handful of storybooks in my bag. I had never read to this class before and was unsure of how they would respond or how long they would stay attentive. But wow. It was absolutely SILENT in the salón (a sound I wasn´t sure ever existed in this particular classroom), and not a single student budged from their seat through all three stories I read. I will definitely be bringing stories more often to use as motivation for good behavior and to share the joy of reading with these crazy kids :)

-I supposedly have some "bad" kids in my classes. The first week, I was warned that a couple of the boys were a "dolor de cabeza", a real headache. And it´s not that I disagree. I can definitely see how these squirrely niños could really wreak havoc on a classroom. However, I have had quite the opposite experience with them so far (prayers for this to continue would be much appreciated!). Part of it is probably because I´m new and interesting and because I teach English, which the kids tend to like (because we play games instead of sitting and copying from the board like they often do the rest of the day). But I also think it´s because I give them responsibilities and keep them engaged. When they´re bored, they get themselves into trouble, bothering other students and picking fights. So my "bad" kids become diligent score keepers and teacher assistants when we play games or pass out materials. They´re bright students and enjoy being involved! And I hope that they also can tell that I didn´t immediately write them off because of their reputation. And I´m glad I didn´t because they´re quickly becoming students who I most look forward to seeing each day.

-One of the most unique and special parts of being a teacher in Monte Sinai is living in the same neighborhood as my students. I often see them out and about with their parents while walking down the street. Last weekend I was even invited to the 3rd birthday party of my student´s little brother! (Did you know that after blowing out the candles, everyone chants "que la muerde" which means "bite it!" and the birthday person has to bite the cake and usually get their face shoved into the frosting? :) ) It was such a blessing to share family time and be welcomed into the home of Niurka. Another cool moment was making a house visit when one of my students was sick and missed a day of English. Knowing where they lived, I stopped by and gave a quick catch-up lesson, chatting with the mom and getting a chance to learn more about the home life of Miguel. Forming relationships with the parents is a great support and also just a beautiful opportunity to be involved in my students´ lives outside the walls of San Felipe.

My community mates are ROCKSTARS!

This past weekend, Hogar de Cristo (a big foundation here in Ecuador that works with community organizing, health, housing, education, etc), put on a concert to raise awareness and fight child labor. A big Ecuadorian reggaeton singer, Au-D, was the headliner. Kind of a big deal! What was a bigger deal (for us gringos) was that Belén and Mateo performed with one of the openning acts, a band called Grupo Eclipse from our neighborhood! Mateo played the drums, and Belén sang "Zombie" by the Cranberries. They were AWESOME! How funny that after less than a month in Ecuador, two of us volunteers were rocking out in downtown Guayaquil at the Malecón (a popular tourist spot). The rest of us cheered from the audience and even had a dance party with some mimes :)

Mateo killing it on the drums

Dancing with mimes!

So proud of our community mates :)

Pulling at my heart strings

Working at San Felipe Neri is truely a gift. This week, a beautiful little 5 year old girl came bounding over and attached herself to my side (this is a major trend haha). She looked up at me with big, brown eyes and a wide grin and declared, "Te amo" :) Such loving hearts these children have! I don´t even teach in this particular niña´s classroom (and I´m pretty sure she always called me Melissa), but she greets me every day with open arms and a huge smile. This kind of uninhibited love is something we can all learn from, I think. A love that forms instantly and is given without reservation. How beautiful.

There are also moments that break my heart. After I finish teaching my one or two English classes in the morning, I meander over to one of the 1st grade classrooms where an extra set of hands is always more than welcome. This week, one of the sweetest and most adorable boys started sobbing, sobbing. Esequiel was inconsolable, his face soaked with tears. So upset he couldn´t speak. Some of his classmates explained to me that someone had told him, "tu casa es mala" (your house is bad). It´s amazing and so incredibly sad that in a neighborhood where ALL of the children live in cane or block houses, where ALL live in poverty, there still exists the biting perception that "yours is worse" and "mine is better". And that this distinction cuts deep.

As I could only have hoped and prayed for, my days are filled with the smiles and hugs (and tears) of children. In their eyes I see God. I see hope. I see love. What a beautiful life I have been gifted here in Ecuador!

Officially on our own :)

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 :)

Here and SAFE!

Just a quick hello to let everyone know that I made it to Ecuador safe and sound. I am LOVING it!!! The people are incredibly welcoming, and I am of course soaking up the Spanish like a sponge! :) I cannot wait to write more details, so hopefully soon!