Familiarity

The past few days have been full of adventures, new discoveries, and the familiarity of old routines.

Monday, we had our teacher's meeting and received class schedules and materials. I am teaching Advanced 2, which means that my students have some fluency and are focusing on learning more vocabulary and grammar. These students put my feeble attempts at learning Spanish to shame.

Tuesday was our first day of classes. I start teaching bright and early at 7am, so nothing new there. One difference is actually getting to work. Since I live pretty far away- by Quiteño standards- I have been catching a taxi to the school. These rides are not cheap but, until I figure out the bus schedule, they are necessary. Traffic in Quito is terrible, so meter prices can tick by pretty quickly. A taxi ride to school can cost anywhere from $2.75-$4.00 while a bus ride is just $.25. Each afternoon,  I have been experimenting with different bus routes. So far, I haven't figured out how to get directly to my neighborhood, but I've made friends!

On Tuesday I didn't pick the right bus (I mean, it got me sort of close..ish), but I still felt okay about the experience. I got to see different parts of Quito and was entertained by an adorable 4 year old named Mateo. As soon as he got on the bus, Mateo began vying for my attention. He sat directly behind me and began singing. Every time I glanced in his direction he squealed with delight and paused until I looked away. Eventually, he began questioning me... "Como te llamas?" What's your name? "Cuantos años tienes?" How old am I? What are my parents names? Where do I live? Before long, we were drawing pictures on the foggy windows and giggling together.

Wednesday, I took a bus closer to my apartment and then hopped in a taxi. Unfortunately, it was monsooning that day, so my clothes were pretty wet and every car that passed by through the three inches of water on the road made a big splash. To cut back on the cost of the taxi, I had the driver let me out across the street, rather than trying to fight through traffic and go down and back again to get me to the correct side. While I was waiting to cross, more cars splashed by, but a very nice Ecua started holding his umbrella out in front of us so we wouldn't get soaked. It's the little things like this that happen that make me smile at the kindness of some people.

Thursday and Friday passed without my much incident... I made it through my first week of school and came to Riobamba with Joha to visit my host family from this summer (and hopefully catch up with some friends!). I haven't had any exciting adventures yet, but I'm enjoying being back in Ecuador where I can soak in the language and culture. Life is beautiful.



Live and love ❤️
Katey