I guess it’s officially the start of summer in the US with Memorial Day and all. It’s feeling very summer like here in Quito too! Although we don’t have marked seasons like countries in the Northern Hemisphere, the weather does change…now we’re entering into “verano” where we have bright blue Quito skies, cool nights, intense sun. You don’t really sweat because the air is cool and dry, but the sun beating down on you can get intense. Quitenos always wear hats (a habit I’ve gotten into) when they’re outside in the summer. I did a long run over the weekend, I started when it was still a cool morning, but by the time I finished the sun was so strong and just relentlessly beating down on me! The juice stand at the end of the run was perfect! Fresh squeezed orange juice with carrot juice too.

We had Friday off due to the Batalla de Pichincha holiday, so I went to my favorite little town of Banos. Ecuadorians really take advantage of long weekends, the bus terminal was full! Normally you can just show up, hop on the bus and go. This time, I had to wait and hour and a half for the next empty bus. But once I got there it was well worth it. Good hikes, good weather, nice people watching, great massage, good conversations with new friends.

PARQUE CAROLINA-I’ve written about this place many times…part of living in a concrete jungle is having green space. I am very fortunate to live just blocks from a HUGE public park. It’s my refuge when I need to lie in the grass, listen to the birds, stare up at the trees, go for a run without worrying about traffic. During the work week, the park’s a great place to go, but the weekend is THE place for people watching (one of my favorite pastimes). Just a few highlights:

-AEROBICS-So most Ecuadorians are not big exercisers, taking the tranquilo route most times. Weekends there’s aerobics in the park. Mostly “Jane Fonda” type moves, although lately they’ve been adding in Zumba. I’m not much of an aerobics person, I find it kind of boring, but I love to watch! Young women doing the moves, old men doing the moves, little kids doing the moves. The man leading the moves dressed in a  skintight bright turquoise unitard. It reminds me of a bad comedy movie.

-FOOD STANDS-All this exercise is sure to work up an appetite…and the park’s the best place to get good, cheap, food. Really anything you could ever want is there! Healthy stuff like fresh fruit stands, watermelon, mango, papaya, pineapple, fresh squeezed fruit juices, whole coconuts for coconut water. Then there’s the fried meat, mixed with lupine beans, plantains, and potatoes that’s another favorite. There are also ice creams, cotton candy, even giant hot dogs. Really, if you search for a food at the park, you can find it.

-STREET DANCING-If you are a foreigner, it’s easy to stereotype Ecuadorians, but just like in any country, there are so many sub-cultures. One of them is this small street-dancing street culture. It’s mostly 13-14 year old boys doing these incredible moves, I can’t even describe. Some are robotic, but then they flow. They meet up in the park with their boom box and have these informal competition with other street crews. It’s quite amazing to watch them.

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-FAMILY SOCCER GAMES-Soccer is by far the most popular sport here. Although there are tennis, basketball, volleyball courts, the grassy areas are just flooded with families playing pick-up games of soccer. (Then there are the more organized teams with jerseys). I love that everyone plays the game. For folks that by just looking at them seem very non-athletic, they’ve got the moves! I love watching the indigenous women in their sandals and straight skirts making goals J

planting trees

It’s mid-May…this school year has flown by, although I still have 6 weeks left. We don’t end till the very end of June. I will be ready when it comes, but for now, just trying to finish off the school year strong!

I took my 2^nd graders on a tree planting field trip last week. It was awesome!!! My students are wonderful, I love, them, I really do! But they live such different lives than what I’m used to. It’s so fun to expose them to different ideas, the natural world and to tell them that, “No, Ms. Rachel didn’t have a nanny, driver, body guard or maid and somehow she still survived!” Anyway…our tree planting field trip came out of some great discussions with the kids. Our last unit of inquiry was how we can be local contributors to our world. The kids researched famous world changers…then we made some applications to their lives…anyway. We had a bake sale to raise money for a charity. Then we had to decide what to do with the funds. Some said, “lets give it to the poor kids” OK, well so we give them money, they eat for a month…then what? Then we talked about saving the earth and making a sustainable change…planting trees benefits everyone. They kind of got it, I think! Even if they didn’t, I’m planting some seeds of ideas that they will think about and remember!

On our trip, we traveled about an hour outside of Quito to a deforested area that is being re-forested with native species plants. The holes were already dug for us, (thank goodness!) but the kids got to put in the fertilizer, dirt, mix it all around, put in the seedlings, dump dirt and fill the hole. A city kids’ dream come true!!! I heard all sorts of comments like…there’s so many bugs here, oooh cool, look at this plant, wow, we’re on the top of the world here! that pig stinks! It really was the first time that some of these kids had been out of the city! We will return next year and see the progress of the trees. Great day with the kids.

Love you all! Rachel

I must be pretty well settled in because I’m having a hard time thinking of new topics to write about on this blog! Not much seems “new” to me anymore and thus worth writing about…but in case you’re interested in the minutia of my daily life, here goes a quick post!

-I’m reading a really fascinating book called “Before You Know Kindness.” It’s an actual book, versus a Kindle version, I picked it up at a hostel on one of my weekends away.

-Marathon training is going steady. I have to remind myself to sloooooooooooow down. It’s not about going fast, it’s about going looooooong. I’m up to 16 miles, next weekend is 18. I’m fortunate to have found a core group of 4 women who are also training for marathons around the time of mine. Good conversation on long runs.

-“summer” is finally here in Quito. We’ve got the bright blue skies, beautiful views of the mountains and snow-capped volcanoes. We’re still getting tremendous afternoon downpours,  but at least it’s sunny during the day and not cloudy, gray and cold! Improves my mood greatly J

-My students are great! We just finished our global contributors unit…the kids chose a famous person to research, write a brief report then write a speech in the first person. Then they made costumes and props and we did a wax museum for parents and other students. Great learning going on!

-Hope you all are well and enjoying Spring!

Love,
Rachel

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

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

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.

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.