Pictures from Quito

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.

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.

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

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

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."