Work or Mini Vacation?

So here I am again. This time, four weeks in Ecuador. The time is going by so fast for me. At this rate, I'll be home in a blink of an eye. But I do not wish for it to move so fast. With time moving fast, work and much of what needs to be finished soon will soon be upon me.

What do I mean by the title of this blog? Well for starters, I really haven't done much work. School orientation for the teachers has begun and we are working hard to clean the school, arrange classes, write out lesson plans, revise rules for the students, etc. but I have not begun teaching. Schools everywhere in Ecuador begin September 6th in two weeks; including the universities.

A few weeks ago, you read that I had been doing work at a church in a neighborhood in Quito but was only for a weekend with a visiting missionary group from the United States. Well that following weekend, I traveled with that missionary group to a community by the name of Otovalo where we spent some time seeing the native people of Qichwa origin. Here at this community, is one of the largest Artisan craft fairs in all of Latin America. The native Qichwa people come from all over Ecudor and sell their hand made crafts of silver jewelry, llama and alpaca clothing and blankets, etc. It was beautiful. It's history goes back centuries and it was incredible to see. We were welcomed and did some work at a church there in the community however, it felt more like a small vacation. The missionary group and I, I felt, did more sightseeing and shopping at the market than we did work. We even stayed in a hotel with beautiful accomodations. It probably would have been considered four stars in the United States.

Upon my return, I met with the bishop. He asked how my 'short vacation' was. I expressed my concerns with how I am here to work. He assured me that it was necessary for me to have a little respite because when work begins, I will be incredibly busy I will wish I have a vacation coming. The bishop handed me a tentative schedule of the year and all the traveling to various parts of the country I will be doing. I can't wait! My first trip is next month to Pullo (Puyo), a community in the Amazons or near the amazons of native Ecuadorians. Much more to follow. The meeting with the bishop made me feel better.

I have also been continuing my classes of Spanish everyday M-F four hours a day. I have had two oral exams thus far and have scored a 95% on each exam. So apparently I'm learning the language, but it sure doesn't feel like it. When I talk with my fellow professors, I feel like I don't know what they are saying they are talking so fast. I pick up every second or third word despite my asking them to speak more slowly. My trouble with the language thus far is hearing where one word ends and the next begins. The way the Ecuadorian people speak here sounds like one long word; to me it seems like they don't enunciate. My tutor assures me I'm doing incredibly well and that with time it will come more easily and naturally. I guess I'm just a little impatient and worried I won't ever get it. But in reality, I really have seen an improvement in my language skills. I can now give directions to a taxi driver without looking like a gringo. Now I have a greater chance of not being taken advantage of with the price of a taxi.

My fellow professors are amazing. For the most part, we're all young. I'm not even the youngest teacher. Of the nine of us, six of us are under thirty and I'm the third youngest youngest professor. The three younger than me are 22 years old, a year younger than me. But they are well learned and love working at the school. Together, with the Rector/Director of the Cathedral School, we are preparing for classes to begin on the sixth of September. I working hard to design lesson plans and exercises for the students. I'm a little worried that my lack of experience teaching will affect my work. However, I do have textbooks to teach out of as well, but I need to add my own style as well.

Well, like I said, until school starts, there isn't much to report. Hence the briefness and lack of new information in this blog. I look forward to writing more when there is more to report on. Until then, God's peace my friends.