Monday, April 30, 2012

It's May!

Wow, I can't believe it's May. The year has gone by really quickly. I have just two more months of school, then my family comes to visit for a few weeks. I'm going to show them the gems I've discovered throughout my travels here in Ecuador...and I then return home for a few weeks of R&R in July and August.

May 1 is May Day or Labor Day throughout most of the world. So, we've got a random Tuesday off of school. (I wish it were a Monday, but oh well!)

Why do I love Banos? I come here at least every 6 weeks. It's perfect for me! A tiny little hamlet nestled in the green rolling hills. Full of art, really good restaurants catoring to gringos (hey that's me!), but also a mix of Ecuadorians. Many mestizos and indigenous folk come to Banos for the healing of the baths. You can always hear Quichua being spoken on the streets as well as English, Italian, French and of course Espanol. It's a cool international mix of folks. The people watching is amazing. (Also, I'm always a sucker for a great massage, which Banos has plenty of affordable options). Hammocks are plenty, hiking is great. A wonderful place to unwind for a few days.

What else can I update you on...school is going well! I'm trying not to get to used to having just 11 students (I know, other teachers, please don't hate me!) Our current Unit of Inquiry is all about Global and Local Contributers. The students are researching a famous person who contributed to the world and are going to be doing a Wax Museum for other students and their parents. Also, we organized a Bake Sale to raise funds for a local contributors project. We're going to be reforesting a farm a little bit outside of Quito in a desert area. I figured this would be the most sustainable thing to do with just $130. We had a good conversation with the kids about waht to do with the money. I thought it was great that many of my students offered "Let's give it to the poor kids". OK, so we go out on the streets and give them money. And they buy rice and beans. And they eat for a few weeks. Then what? The kids didn't know...
When I offered the tree planting option that would last for 40-50 years, clean the air and help everyone, they were convinced that perhaps my option was better. I still want to figure out a way for them to connect to "the poor kids" as they call them. But now it not the best time. I'll keep thinking and welcome your ideas too!
We've also got Student-Led conferences this week which I think is a nice change from the typical teacher-led conferences. Students have been collecting work samples, art and other projects in a portfolio to present and showcase to their parents. Even the kids who struggle have a chance to be proud of work they've done.
Happy Spring!
Love,
Rachel

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Not a whole lot new going on here...just want to keep writing to keep you all informed and to keep myself in the routine of writing!

In the world of work...
International Festival was a great success yesterday. We had booths from all over the world including: Jordan, Israel, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, China, USA, Canada, Russia, Chile, Spain. At the booths were foods prepared from the country, parents dressed in typical dress, music, dancing. It was a great celebration of the diversity of the school.

Zoo Trip-I also took my class to the Quito Zoo on Thursday. Although I'm probably ruined forever for zoos because I lived so close to the National Zoo, it was OK for a developing country. There were lots of monkeys and tropical birds. Also a deer exhibit which I thought was really weird. And a random Kangaroo. But my city kids were loving seeing all the animals and any learning outside the classroom is a great day!

Labor Day May 1-That's the next Holiday we have. It's a really big deal here, probably because most people work so hard, so it's nice when the government recognizes them with a rare day off.

Planning the Quito Marathon on July 8. I love running, but it's tough in altitude. I've got a great group of women to run long with so that helps. Also the iPod helps too! It won't be a PR by any means, it wll be a challenge to finish 26.2 miles at altitude...that's the goal right now.

Rain rain go away! I miss the bright blue Quito skies! It's been gray and cloudy for months now. We do get the occasional glimpse of the Andean sky, for about 20 minutes each day...please summer, come soon!

Two more months of school...then summer break :-) I'm excited to plan a great trip for my parents and aunt and uncle. Then I'll spend a few weeks at home and in Colorado. Till then, must finish the school year strong!!!

Love you all!
Rachel

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Spring Break in the Amazon

Spring Break in the Amazon



While others are relaxing on the beach, I’m here in the Amazon for Semana Santa break (Holy Week). I’m at Yachana Lodge, one of the jungle lodges that is accessible by flying (or driving) to Coca, then taking a motorized canoe down the Napo River (a main tributary to the Amazon River) for 2-3 hours, depending on how high the river is. Yachana means “teaching” in Quichua and the main focus of this lodge is on education, both for the tourists as well as for the local community. You might recall, I spent the November holiday at the Amazon Sani Lodge, but that was a completely different experience (primary forest, a lot more isolated, camping in tents). This place, Yachana, is like jungle lodge Hilton. I’ve got a very comfortable room, hot shower, first class bed and pillows, ceiling fan, electricity, even wireless! Beautiful bathroom with views overlooking the Napo River, a hammock on my back porch. So, it turns out to be a relaxing place after all!



Anyway…Yachana was founded by Douglas McMeekin, a businessman from Kentucky who went bankrupt in the 1980’s, became depressed and disillusioned, came to the Amazon to visit friends, met Juan, a native guide and founded Yachana. The foundation he started has many parts. The most important for income generation is the tourism (which I’m a part of). It’s not for profit, so all the money from the tours goes to support Yachana Technical High School, a boarding school for jungle kids. The school is top quality, teaching eco-tourism, English, among other subjects. I believe many of the teachers are from the US and UK. The kids who graduate from Yachana High School go onto work in tourism around the Amazon and all over Ecuador. Some of them have also won scholarships to do a semester abroad in the US or Europe, almost unheard of for students in the Amazon, where schools are the worst in the country. So, Douglas has done amazing things for the community. The funds also support the medical clinic in the neighboring community. I’m glad all the money I’m paying for this trip is going to a good cause.



So, let me give you an overview of my tour. Day 1-I took a short flight from Quito to Coca. Coca is an oil boom city in the Amazon. Hot, humid, dirty, mostly oil workers live there (in other words, not a place a tourist wants to visit!) Getting out of Coca is a relief when you board the motorized canoe. Even though it’s hot, the canoe is going at such a speed that the breeze feels great! I was even able to take a short snooze…anyway once you arrive at Yachana Lodge, you are greeted with hot towels and passion fruit juice and little snacks (in our case, fried plantains with avocado and cheese). Then we were shown our rooms and given the chance to unpack and rest. After that was a short hike to the Mirador or overlook where you could see the forest and the huge Napo River. Then was a delicious three course dinner and time for conversation after dinner. It’s usually an early bed and early wake up in order to beat the sun on the excursions.



Day 2 you visit a Shaman or traditional medicine man/healer. I’ve gotten “cleansed” before so it wasn’t really anything new for me, but for the others in the group, they were very into it. He chants and brushes you with leaves. I don’t really feel like I’ve got any ailments (a good thing!), so I didn’t feel anything different after words, but one elderly man in the group with back problems reported later that his back felt so much better after the shaman worked his magic. Let’s see what else…we took some more hikes through the jungle our guide told us the medicinal properties of all the plants. We saw a pack of tamarins (small “pocket monkeys”) scurrying through the trees, playing with each other. So cute! Also some prehistoric birds, parrots, toucans. Pretty amazing stuff.



Day 3-It was an early wake up (they blew through a conch shell as our alarm clock) for breakfast and hiking. We hiked through the Yachana reserve which Douglas bought up. His plan is to keep buying it, in order to preserve more of the jungle. Although it is not primary forest, you still see an amazing variety of plants and animals, insects, reptiles, etc. They say that the Yasuni National Park is one of the most bio-diverse area in the entire world. After our long, hot sweaty hike, we got the traditional meal. Fish steamed in banana leaves, yuca cooked over the fire, hearts of palm. Delicious and fresh.



It’s pretty common for a nap in the hammock after lunch. Then we did tubing down the Napo River. They tied up a bunch of inter tubes and we went floating down the current. It wasn’t very strong current so very relaxing. Our last meal together was spaghetti with bolognese sauce. Surprisingly good!



We again had an early morning wake up, a shorter canoe ride down the Napo, a taxi ride to the airport and a 20 minute flight back to Quito.



It was a great trip, I feel very relaxed, recharged and ready to tackle the last few months of school! J Check out my photos on Facebook.

Monday, April 2, 2012

the BEACH

For Spring Break, I’m here at Hosteria Alandaluz in the province of Manabi. It’s best described as an eco-lodge right on the beach. I’m here with a few friends…we’ve got the whole wild, deserted beach to ourselves! It kind of reminds me of the California Pacific Coast in the US, with huge waves, rocky shoreline.

Working Ecuadorians get Thursday and Friday off work, so only lucky folks like teachers are off the whole week! In a bit I’ll post some photos on my facebook page. Anyway…the beach is about a 3 mile stretch of beautiful sand, pebbles and on either side of the three mile stretch the waves crash against the rocks. It’s increbilly beautiful.

The Hosteria itself is not in its hay day. I got recommendations from a friend to come here. It’s fine, but not the best place I’ve stayed. Seems they’ve come under new management recently. The electricity was on and off, the food was mediocre at best (meat and rice and bread), no hot water the first day, the swimming pools were dirty. But the positives…The layout itself is gorgeous. There are cabanas tucked away in the forest, there’s a beautifully constructed main room with wireless access, comfy couches, hammocks, the landscaping is beautiful with coastal tropical plants and flowers, bridges, lots of butterflies and tropical birds.


I’m heading back to Quito tomorrow to repack then it’s off to the Amazon for another jungle adventure. I won’t have internet access (obviously!) but will be blogging about my trip and will post that plus photos when I return.