Maroon 5 was playing as I packed my things to move out of my host parent's home and right as I put away the last of my things, Adam sang the “I can't believe that it's over” line in “Just a Feeling”. Crazy coincidence, huh? I honestly cannot believe that my time with them is over…that my time in Quito is over. It's been just about six weeks since I've arrived here. In those six weeks, I've traveled to a few different places, seen many beautiful things, taken Spanish classes, gotten TESOL certified, met amazing people, and formed a bond with this family. Here's a picture of my TESOL group!
Back to my host family! They have been so great to me and even to my family back in San Antonio. As we all know, mothers worry…a lot, and my mom is far from an exception. Señora Laura has talked to my parents on a few occasions, and talking to my Ecuadorian family is comforting to my real family. I don't completely understand why, but I'm also not a parent. Maybe one day I'll end up with a rambunctious little girl that decides to move far away from home and worries me just as much as I worry my mother and maybe then I'll know how she feels right now. Maybe. Anywho, the Badillo family welcomed me to Ecuador and they took me in as one of their own. Having them as a family definitely eased my transition from the States to Ecuador and I will always have a spot in my heart for them. Here's the closest to normal picture of them that I have of them (we took some pictures on photobooth, but I don't think I ever got just a normal one…oops!)
Although my time in Quito is over, my Ecuadorian adventures still continue. I'm going to be in Ambato, a city about 2 to 3 hours (depending on transportation, rain, and traffic) south of Quito, from now until around July or August of 2012. A few days ago I got the news that I was “sort of” hired as a teacher at Atenas, which is a private colegio (or K12 school) in Ambato. I say “sort of” hired because although it was kind of confirmed, it wasn't really. I can go on and on about this, but basically, it's the way Ecuador (and most of Latin America, for that matter) functions – everything is very laid-back. Always. We United-Statesians are quite spoiled in that regard. We have deadlines and we either expect people to follow them or others expect us to follow them. Deadlines do exist here, but if someone says that they'll have an answer to you by today, you probably won't get that answer until one or two weeks later. And even if you keep on pestering people about it, their seemingly automatic response is: “oh, don't worry about it, things will work out” Thankfully, things have worked out quite well so far. I went to the school yesterday, and things were finally confirmed for real. I start my job as a conversation teacher for 8th, 9th, 10th, 1st year IB, 2nd year IB, and 3rd year IB this coming Monday. Phew! I'm excited but also ridiculously nervous to start this new stage in my life.
Three of my friends are going to live here in Ambato, too. They will be working at my rival school, CEBI, but we're all going to, hopefully (if things work out), live together. Mark and I were looking for apartments for a good while yesterday. Let me tell you, finding a furnished apartment that people are willing to rent out to complete strangers is far from an easy task. I called about 15 different people yesterday and no luck. Mark and I kept going on our research though, and we found a listing for a seemingly amazing furnished apartment. Upon further investigation, however, we learned that the listing was posted on September 12th, almost a month ago! I called a few times anyway, but I kept on getting voicemail. I called again this morning, though, AND IT'S AVAILABLE!! We're going to go look at it today after the lady gets off work. Please please please keep your fingers crossed for us!! For the time being, we are living in a hotel. Which is a pain on so many levels.
Also, when still in Quito, we visited this absolutely gorgeous basilica. We got to climb up its towers and see it's amazing architecture. The entrance was definitely worth $2!
This is a picture of the four of us from the top of the bell tower. And that's Quito in the background!
Like I mentioned earlier, I start my job on Monday. I wasn't given any sort of assignment, so I have no idea how it's going to work out. I'm probably going to plan some lessons on greetings because it's what seems to be the most fit for the circumstances. I'll definitely keep y'all updated on how things go!
Tata for now!
Steph
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