Pictures from Quito

My name when I am in Ecuador is Rosa!

     I have not found an equivalent to Daryl in Spanish. Therefore, my name when I am in Ecuador is Rosa.
I hope you all had a joy filled Christmas and are thinking about all your accomplishments in 2010. I like to reflect on the year in this last week and see where I am, where I've been, and think about where I am going.


     A year ago, if you had told me I would go to teach English in Ecuador this year, I would have been skeptical. After I took a prosperity class at my church last winter, I got more clear about my goals for 2010. I got $1100 back from my tax return and while doing dishes at my church, a friend said to me, "There is a 3 weekend class at the U of O we can take that will give us an ESL certificate." I said, "How much is it?" She said, "It's $1100." We agreed to do it and in May we took the Oxford Seminar. I had researched ESL certificates in the past and it sounded like a good way to go, so off we went.

     The class was loads of fun and my 10 classmates were all very interesting folks. We all got a chance to practice teaching and learned much from our fabulous teacher, Doug Grimsly.

     Oxford Seminar helped my get my assignment in Quito with Inlingua. They have language schools in 40 other countries. I am very impressed with the Inlinqua method of teaching adults, English.

It is so nice not to have to think about teaching!

12 more days of vacation.

Back in the US and baby it's cold outside!

   I forgot what winter felt like. I have grown accustomed to 50 to 56 degree weather for the past six weeks. I am enjoying my vacation. Teaching can be so all consuming. It is such a relief to not think about it. Hope you are having a wonderful holiday season. To all you teachers out there, enjoy your break and I hope you pamper yourself during the holidays.

It is a rainy day here in Quito.

     Weather is Quito is 54 degrees and a slight drizzle.

Most days in Quito are in the 50 to 56 degree range.

It seems that if it rains, it happens after 4:00pm. Today is an exception. It was drizzling when I left for work at 6:45 am. It is 11:30am now and it is still drizzling. It averages 3 or 4 days a week with some rain. Not anything like the amount of rain we receive in my town of Eugene, OR. however.


I feel relieved to be done with teaching this year. As I told my sister on Skype today, I am looking forward to a few weeks where I do not constantly have to be figuring things out.

i.e. How to tell the taxi driver where I want to go and to say it with a voice and accent that they can understand. I usually begin the conversation with "No hablo Espanol." This means I do not speak English.

My driver this morning took a wrong turn because he thought I said a different street. I said no, no, no and got him turned around and pulled over to the side of the road. I then showed him the business card for the Inlinqua Language School and he understood completely where to go. 6 weeks I have been here. I will not go out without the business card of the address I need after my experience today.

After the first of the year, I plan to take Spanish lessons at Inlingua for $3.00 / hr. Special rate for teachers. I get paid $7.38 an hour to teach. I spend about $3.00 to $6.00 a day in cab fair for my 2 and 1/2 hours of teaching each day. Bottom line....The last two weeks, I have spent more than I made. I calculated that the last two weeks I have spent about $100 more a week than I have made. January is a new year and I will make some contacts to get more work, then.

My last week of teaching this year.

     Just 3 more days of teaching and I am headed back to the states for Christmas. It does not feel like Christmas because I am missing family and friends. I look forward to bringing back some items from the states that I forgot. I will be back here for my class on Jan. 3rd. I willing be staying until the end of Feb.

Inlingua Language School Card Party

     As part of the Viva Quito Celebration, the game of quarenta is played during the 6 day festival. Inlingua teachers got together on a Friday afternoon for this fun party.

Weekend with Wifi

What a great place to spend the weekend. A hostle where they speak English and I have Wifi. Here it is pronounced "WeeFee." I have such fun creating collages on Google's Picassa 3. Here is one I just made showing my students at Nestle. I find I am really liking teaching adults.

To market, to market to buy a fat pig (guinea pig that is.)

Yes, that's right guinea pig. They eat them here in Otavalo, Ecuador. A fellow traveler tells me he heard from the hostel owner that the ones they sell here are not plump enough.

She has cuy, as it is called, on the menu, by special request.

Otavalo, Ecuador 2 hours outside of Quito

I am on vacation. I left Quito today after my morning class at Nestle and took a $2 bus ride (in Ecuador you can ride a bus for about $1/hr. and you can go all over the country.) It took 2 hours to get here. I am staying at a quaint hostel and the owners speak English. I found it via Lonely Planet guide to Ecuador.

It only cost me 25 cents to get a bus ride to the bus terminal in Quito. The longer I am here, the more I am willing to venture out of my routine and try the public transportation system. I hopped on a bus that was headed North. I saw a sign in the window that said, "Terminal." Since I was looking for the Quito Main bus terminal, I took a chance. It turned out perfectly.

Otavalo has been a marketplace for Ecuadorian handicrafts for hundreds of years. Many of the women wear the traditional Ecuadorian clothing. I will post a picture later this weekend, after I take pictures of the marketplace.

My hostel room was $10 a night. I have a shared bathroom. They have Wifi here and I forgot to bring my adapter from Quito, so I am working off my battery on my computer. With any luck, I will buy an adapter and have internet all weekend. It is great to be out of the city of 2 million people and here in the little town (45,000) of Otavalo.

I still have a sore throat and the remnants of my cold. I went to the pharmacy and got more medicine. Unfortunately, I got the dosing instructions switched on the 2 sets of meds. I am back to using my meds from 2 weeks ago for my respiratory symptoms. I plan to get lots of rest this weekend. (and do some shopping as well.)

Viva Quito!

The founding of Quito by the Spaniards in 1500 was celebrated for the last 5 days. I especially enjoyed getting together with my fellow Inlingua teachers and playing a traditional card game called cuarenta.

I am thinking of going to Otavalo this weekend for 2 nights. It is a couple of hours from Quito by bus. There is a really good bus system running throughout the country. It only costs about a $ an hour to ride it.

OR vs, OR State Civil War Game

I am wishing I could see this game live. I went to the tourist area(Mariscal) and all I could find was soccer and the Auburn vs. S. Carolina game. Bummer. The best I can do is Oregonlive.com. I did just find a new restaurant in my neighborhood that is very elegant and they have Wifi. They are not even bugging me to order something. It is Ducks 16 and Beavers 7 at the half. Gotta get back to the game.

Kids at play.

I love to watch the kids here play. I must say, I am really enjoying teaching adults, however.

I am enjoying my camera and Picassa 3

The many faces of Daryl in Quito.

Double Exposure

I am fascinated by all the possibilities in Googles' Picassa 3.

Here I am in a double exposure, I created.

These are my friends or coworkers here in Quito.

Room for rent in my Eugene, OR home

My housemate of 5 years just moved out today. I am looking for someone to rent a room from me on a month to month lease. They would pay 1/2 the utilities and share a w/d and have kitchen priviledges. The cost is $300.00 a month with a $100 cleaning deposit. If you know of someone have them email me their phone number. Thanks, Daryl

daryldriskill@gmail.com

There are three students in my Intermediate class,

This morning in class we talked about Peak Oil and the advantages and disadvantages of electric, hydrogen, and bio-fueled cars.
This is my kitchen at my apartment.

Pharmacies are very plentiful here.

With the help of a customer who spoke English, I was able to get the medicine I needed for my illness last week.

I had a cough, diarrhea and laryngitis in the last 7 days. They sell you just the number of pills that you need, rather than the whole bottle.

This week, I have my last 2 hour training with Inlingua There are 5 teachers who have been through an 8 hour training, thus far. We will each present a 10 minute lesson. My two classes and my private lesson with "my family" are going well.

Here is a picture of my family, who are all from Bogota, Columbia.

Buy Nothing Day in the States

I usually participate in "Buy nothing Day" in the States. I stayed home in bed most of the day. I have had a cough, and an upset stomach for a week now. I live at the top of a hill. It takes me about 25 minutes to walk down the hill to the "Ecovia." The Ecovia is a bus with a dedicated lane so it zips thru town.

Tonight I found WiFi after a 90 minute search. It is in a cajun resturant. The owner, Charlos, has been here 27 years. He is married to Elva. My debit card would not go through so Charlos said just bring him the $8.00 I owe him Monday. Now that is service.

Thanksgiving away from home.

The holidays are meant to be spent with friends and family. That's what I love about Thanksgiving and Christmas. I miss my friends and family today. They do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Ecuador.

I have found a resturant, however, that serves a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I am 2 hours away from my meal. The resturant is named Adam's Rib. It is in the Mariscal part of Quito. The

Mariscal is a 20 x 20 block are of resturants, bars, clubs, stores, and other interesting tourist traps. The picture I am including is taken at the main plaza of the Mariscal. Sarah, Laura and I all teach for Inlinqua. Laura was luckly and got on with another school called English First.

After I heard they pay $12.00/hr. vs. my $7.38/hr. I went right down there and applied. EF English First tells me the summer is the time they have the most jobs for teachers. I will try there again after the first of the year.

I printed my business cards this week. I am working about 12 hours a week. I want to get that up to at least 20 hours a week before I leave for vacation on Dec. 15th.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Love ya,

Daryl

Mercado (Market) in Banos

I stopped in to see this market on Sunday afternoon. There were many locals enjoying the great food. I just had the $2.00 plate of the day at my favorite resturant.

Roasted Guinee Pig, Anyone.

I understand it is a delicasy here in Ecuador. It is $17.00 a plate.

I just confirmed that these are in fact, guinee pigs roasted over an open pit.

I took this picture on my weekend getaway to Banos, Ecuador 2 weeks ago.

My friend, Fabio, tells me I can get it here in Quito. I may just try it.

Apartment with a view.

This is the view out of the back of my apartment. As you can see, I live in a very nice neighborhood with other very nice homes. I pay $230/month to share the apartment with Severine, who teaches Literature at the French school. She teaches the President of Ecuador's daughter.

There is a huge park just at the top of the hill. Many people enjoy mountain biking in this Metropolitan Park. I was headed for the park yesterday and it started raining. I did not have my umbrella with me. I will not let that happen, again.

I decided to take a taxi and find the Fellowship church, instead. I found it and I will go to church in two weeks. No church this Sunday, due to Census Day.

These are two of my teacher friends, Sarah and Laura. We went out for breakfast in the Mariscal. This is a popular tourist destination in Quito. There are wonderful resturants, bars, and shops here. I really like the coffee shops in Quito. I am drinking many delicious Mochas.

This shot was taken in Old Town Quito. Severine, my housemate, showed me around the first Sunday I was here.

Census Day in Quito, Ecuador

Sunday, November 27, 2010 is census day here. They do it once every 10 years. Unlike the US, they hire high school students to come to one's house and record the data. Everything shuts down including planes, trains, buses, shops, and you name it. One can not leave their home until 5:00pm on census day.

A dozen roses for $1.00

That is what I said. 1 dollar. They look a bit spent, however they were definitely worth a dollar. Ecuador exports many roses. When I worked for Horizon Air, I would often see roses coming in to Eugene, OR from Ecuador.

I bought them for the family I teach.

I am going to stop by the flower stand on my way home and find out how much the really fresh ones cost.

No day old bakery items, here. There is a pastry shop right across from where I teach English at Nestle. I asked the employees if they had any "day old" pastries. The did not speak English. A 24 year old girl eating at the shop translated my request into Spanish for me. No they do not have them here. The girl, Gabriela, went to Converse University in South Carolina. She is from Guayaquil, Ecuador and is here in Quito for a week attending an architecture conference. We chatted over breakfast.

I am done teaching for the day. I teach Monday-Friday from 7:30am to 9:00am. I teach Monday -Thursday at night from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. I have plans to go out with my teacher friends tomorrow night.

Today, I saw a Berlitz language school when I visited Miquel's office. I am going to stop by and see if they need my services. I am looking to add more teaching to my schedule.

This week I worked about 13 hours. It is a real luxury to have so much free time.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I know I will,.

Have you thought of teaching English to people who speak another language?

I considered this possibility for about 10 years before I finally took the actions that made it happen. I am here to tell you, I am really enjoying teaching. I am learning so much. The family that I teach is sooooooooooo delightful. Keki, the 8 year old boy, greets me at the door with a smile and ¨Hello, teacher!¨ It is so fun to see their progression. I will teach them ¨I feel ....¨ (mad, sad, glad, scared) tonight. It is their 5th class. The song I will teach them at 1/2 time is, ¨If you´re happy and you know it clap your hands.¨They are a fun loving group. Last night I traded 2 and 1/2 English lessons for Keki´s cell phone.

Now, I am at the Mall getting a ¨cim¨card for it and putting $6.00 on my account. If I use my cell phone from Oregon it costs about $3.00/min.

More later....

Marketing

I will be making business cards this week and marketing my English teaching skills here in Quito, Ecuador.

Internet Cafe found for $1.00 an hour

The prices in Ecuador are good. The best values are massages, fresh fruits and vegetables, manicures, and transportation by Taxi or bus. With the dollar as their currency, it makes it easy to do the $ thing. They use centavos as well as American coins. I have challenged my students to find quarters with the states on the back. Since my challenge, I have found only 1 quarter from Massachusettes.

At Inlingua, where I am employed, they have a small library of paperback books. I checked out the Prince of Tides. I like Pat Conroy´s books and it has been many years since I saw the movie and read the book. Pat is from the marshland near Charleston, S.C. I have read every book he has written. I also have read every book John Grissolm has written. What do you enjoy reading?

Are you on Skype? I really enjoy talking to and seeing my friends while out of the country. I have been here 19 days now. Each day, I come to the realization I need to learn Spanish. I have very interesting conversations with the Taxi drivers. I found one today who spoke some English. We laughed and laughed at our attempts at each others language. I AM LEARNING MUCH EACH DAY!

Hot mineral water is just what I needed.

What a great weekend I am having in Banos, Ecuado!
Getting up at 4:30am when I could not sleep, and going to the warm baths was invigorating. I seemed to be the only person in the pool of about 50 people who spoke English. I got by, relying on gestures and watching what others were doing. I really want to learn Spanish. I will take some action in that regard this week.

Hott, Hot, Hot Water---Icy cold water

I just saw the sun rise from the fantastic Banos, Ecuador mineral baths. What an experience. I learned "bonita" is beautiful. A 100 yd. waterfall right beside the mineral bath and it is a "bonita cascada." 50 people in the pool at 5:00 am, 80 at 6:00 am. What a morning. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Vacation this weekend in the Middle of Ecuador

After my first week of work, I decided it was time for a little R and R in Banos, Ecuador. That is a 3 and 1/2 hour ride on a comfortable bus for $3.75. I met a nice friend, Laura, who practiced English with me the whole trip.

I love Banos. It is known for its warm mineral baths. I have yet to partake in the baths, however, I had a wonderful fish lunch with a delicious Cappuccino. I took a Saturday night stroll around town and decided this is a very good place. It is at the base of a volcano that was active as recently as the 90's. I am staying at the backpacker hostel. I met 3 girls at the bus station who were headed to this hostel, so I said why not? For $7 a night it is a great place to stay. Eat, pray, love was on in the common area. I love that movie. I am on a eat, pray, love journey, too.

Teaching feels very rewarding. I have 1 student who is a controller at Nestle. I see him 3 times a week. I have a family that I am teaching that are pre beginners. It is fun. I see them Tues. Wed. and Thurs. nights from 6:30 t0 7:30. I start my 2nd class this week with 3 other Nestle employees. They are at the Intermediate level.

My employer, Inlingua, offers a free 10 hour course in how to teach the Inlingua way. It is excellent. The class is an added bonus I had not anticipated. Next week I teach for 12 hours. It is great to have free time. I hope to learn more Spanish this next week. I will inquire at Inlingua on Monday about their Spanish classes. I applied this last week at the Wall St. Institute of English Language and at Education First (EF.) I will contact them again this week.

The weather here in Ecuador suits me well. It is usually about 65 to 70 during the day. It has only rained 2 of the 17 days I have been here.

Keyboards for different languages

I live with a French woman. Her name is Severine. I "couch surfed" at her house my first night in Quito. (See couchsurfing.com) After only 1 night, I knew I wanted to live in her flat. She decided to have me pay half the rent and the deal was done. All is good at the flat except, I continue to struggle to find wireless internet. For some reason her wireless does not work for my computer. Sometimes I use Severine's computer, although more often, I just go downtown to the Mall and use the internet cafe.

I did not realize keyboards were not "standard" for English, French and Spanish. i.e. On a French keyboard the "q" is where the "a" is. On a Spanish keyboard the @ symbol can be used if you enter Alt and 64. Who knew?

My Oxford Seminar teacher said 1 year teaching abroad is like 10 years teaching in the US. I am beginning to understand that statement more and more each day. I am forced out of my comfort zone and the learning is invigorating.

I made name tents for my 4 students today. I am getting ready for my initial class on Monday. Now that I figured out how to add new posts to my blog, I hope to keep you abreast of my adventures in teaching abroad. Ciao!

Quito, Ecuador on a Friday night. I start teaching Monday.

How comfortable are you right now where you are?

My last 9 days have been so jam-packed with newness that I feel out of my comfort zone anytime I leave my wonderful flat. For example today, I rode the bus for the first time. After 3 taxi rides that finally got me to the immigration office, I decided to pull out my map and go for it. I had been warned. They are very crowded. Watch out for thieves. Hold on, the bus makes jolting stops.

With caution, I paid my 25 cents and hopped aboard. I will definitely travel by bus to my job once I figure out where the Nestle plant is located. Yes, it is true, I actually begin work on Monday. There were 6 prospective teachers at the Inlingua "induction" today. I felt fortunate to come out of the meeting with 9 hours of work next week. The other 3 women and 1 man have no previous teaching experience.

Thanks for following my blog. My computer says low battery....gotta go.

Last minute details before flying out tomorrow.

Did your parents ever tell you to "be careful?" What does that look like for you?

For me, it means:
1. Look before you leap.
2. Keep your students in front of you at all times.
3. Have a checklist for packing and use it.
4. Buy "thief resistant" money belt. ( I went to the AAA store and easily dropped $130.00.)
5. Agree to the price of the taxi ride before getting in the taxi. (Fortunately Ecuador uses the dollar.)
As I approach my last few hours of packing, I am contemplating what is really valuable to me and it is not "things."