Ay, where has the time gone? Keeping up with a blog is tougher than one might think! Luckily for me, I have a nice, relaxing evening to retell how life in Cuenca has been going.
So...let's start with teaching. Do I love it? Yes. Although the seasoned teachers here think my outlook is so innocent and rosy. Hah, little do they know I'm used to having no income, so working for less than $10/hour is a welcome change in my life! I still absolutely love my 201 class that I teach Monday-Thursday. The other day I just did not want to go to work. So imagine my joy when I got into my 201 class and an hour and 15 minutes later, I didn't want to leave! That's when you know you have a rewarding job. Obviously, being an Art major in college (before adding a second major in Spanish,) my top priority wasn't a huge paycheck. I love this job...I teach some great kids, I learn more about myself in the process, and uh hello, I'm in ECUADOR. Thankfulness is overflowing my insides right now.
My Saturday 201 class (full of 13-year-olds) is actually pretty fun. Yeah, sometimes they're chatty (and then at other times oddly zombie-like,) but they're good kids, even if they are here against their will. They put forth effort for 4 hours on a Saturday morning, which is more than I can say for the kids in my neighborhood back home. It amazes me here how many parents want to send their children to English classes. These kids go to school in the mornings and afternoons, some have extracurricular activities, not to mention homework and other household chores, and then they come to English school in the evenings or weekends. And they're not super-horrible brats. I find that pretty remarkable.
The childrens class is still a struggle for me. I don't know if the girls just don't like me too much, or if they're painfully shy, or just...not trying. I gave them a quiz on Unit 1, and they scored a 73% and a 47%. So, I reviewed with them and gave them a re-take. Immediately before the re-take, I reviewed the exact verbs and grammar points that would be on the quiz. And they scored a 90% and a 30%. Hmm...there's a disconnect here somewhere...I'm meeting with one of the lead teachers on Monday (the ninos expert,) and I pray that this will help me. Because I feel like a baby chick that jumped from the coop and fell straight down onto the pavement. SPLAT! My only preference for next cycle: No Ninos Classes, Please.
On a lighter note, payday was on Wednesday, and oh my, it feels great to have some moolah in my pocket. I'm trying, really trying, to save money for a December trip to Peru, since there are almost no classes during that month for holiday. I really wish I could pick up some side jobs, but so far, it's been no dice.
I just realized that I said "for holiday." I picked up different sayings and such during my experiences with people from different parts of the world. In the States, that would be "for vacation."
Last weekend, I headed to the zoo with a couple of friends. We heard it would entail a lot of walking, but man oh man, I wasn't expecting the amount of hiking required for this zoo. I'm glad we opted to take a taxi, even if the driver did charge us $5 to get there. Once you get to the zoo, you're actually at the bottom of a mountain. You can spend 30 minutes trekking up the slopeside, or you can use a vehicle (in our case, the taxi.) Then you're at the actual entrance. Sort of. You walk up another little hill and then you get to the main office to buy your ticket. I passed for a joven, or youth (13-17 years old.) Discount, baby! Once we were in the zoo, it started to rain, which is typical Cuenca. We waited it out by eating our packed lunches and chit-chatting about our plans for Peru (I still have to do a lot of investigating into that.) Once the rains subsided, we headed out on our on way through the park.
Now, as sad as I feel for the animals in the zoo, I have to say that I liked seeing all of the animals. I don't like that they're locked up in very small spaces and that they are simply fed (as opposed to actually hunting or searching for their food.) Also, some animals were housed all alone in their exhibits (I don't like calling them that, but that's essentially what they are.) A positive thing about the zoo in Cuenca is that the animals in there are mostly native to the area. There were no rhinos or elephants or zebras or giraffes. But there were lions and tigrillos and bears. Oh my! And lots of birds and monkeys and of course llamas. There was also a puma habitat; what a majestic animal.
A highlight of the visit was the turtle habitat. Okay, I know what you're thinking: "Turtles? Really?" But this was epic. There were two turtles (probably male; I'm not sure how you can tell a turtle's gender.) They were battling over another turtle (the female?) This fight was something else, I tell you. The older turtle took out the younger turtle TWICE, flipping him over. The second time, the capsized turtle just lay there, and luckily a bystander jumped over the fence and put the turtle back on its feet. The female never seemed to mind any of this, by the way. There were also two other turtles getting it on, so I took a pornographic video of it.
So that was a fabulous weekend outing! That was on Saturday, and now it's Friday night, and in true Kait fashion, I am relaxing in my bed. Very cozy. Belly full of food and heart full of happy thoughts. How corny. Today was the first Friday of the month, which means First Friday Art at a local gallery. This month's exhibit was phenomenal...two different artists. One was a watercolorist, and his works were just incredible. He had such control over the medium, but he also experimented in his backgrounds with splatters and drips. The way the colors blended and bled together was so gorgeous, and I have mad respect for people who can do that with watercolor (especially since when I do watercolor, it's just a wad of soggy paper.) His subject matter included lots of hummingbirds, but also turtles (with attitude, I'm telling you, turtles here are INTENSE,) and plants and trees. And a fabulous pineapple! That was my personal favorite. The other artist was a photographer, and his photographs were so touching, especially when accompanied by his wife's poems. My favorite photograph was a portrait of an elderly woman smiling at the camera. Her faces was covered in deep, harsh wrinkles, but in true Ecuadorian fashion, there was a serene happiness to her face. The accompanying poem described how we can't let bad times and struggles keep us down, because we're worth more than that. How beautiful! I also really loved a photograph of an indigenous woman carrying a huge bundle of crops through a dim city street. Very moving.
Another cool thing about First Friday Art? Free food. Delicous free food (but doesn't food always taste more delicious when it's free?) Sorry, not to be greedy, but yeah, I pigged out. That explains the belly full of food I mentioned earlier. I also met some nice and interesting people at the gallery, as is customary in an art gallery. Mostly gringos such as myself, usually expats who are retiring here. They always have some good tips and tricks to share with me. And they're usually awfully insightful about things here. I love talking to people who can teach me something. Although I think everyone teaches us something in one way or another. On the walk back home, my friends and I came across a band playing traditional music in Parque Calderon. We pulled a gringo, and tried dancing to the music. It was a good time.
Wish I could say the same for my Spanish classes. I am really getting bored with them. I love that it's great conversation and speaking practice. Still, it's dull and slow. I lose focus after 45 minutes, and class is an hour and a half, so I struggle. We just sit there for the whole time and talk, and the topic usually gets old after a half hour or so. I think I need to ask my teacher if we can do more activites. I need to be more engaged. The good thing is that taking Spanish classes gives me some more insight into how my own students probably feel in class. So I try to not make my classes feel like my Spanish classes, heh heh. I think another thing is just that I'm so over being a student. It's been almost 20 years straight of being a student in school; I'm just tired of it. I think it's fair to take a break, eh?
Anyway, since it was Friday, that also meant salsa dancing lessons! Let me tell you, we all work up a sweat in that class. Today we worked on bachata, and the class is going to be split into 2 groups: beginners (me!) and intermediate students (lots of my friends.) I have a good time in salsa class. It's a really fun activity, and I'd love to learn enough to go to a salsa club and dance with some locals! Right now, it's me dancing along to the music with my teacher and the other students, all while the teacher shouts "shake your heeps, use your arms!"
Oh, and I almost forgot...I joined a conversation exchange website, and I'm getting in touch with lots of native Spanish-speakers. Some of them live in Cuenca, and I met with one of them on Monday. He's a 19-year-old student at the University of Cuenca, and he was very nice to talk to. We spoke mostly in Spanish, which was great practice for me. I suppose next time we should converse in English for him. I also plan to meet up with 2 more language partners this weekend!
It's nice to talk to the people who live and breathe Cuenca. As for the local Ecuadorians, they are a hard-working people, to say the least. And the women are TOUGH. They carry bundles on their backs, along with their babies in a sling, all while wearing shawls, skirts, sweaters, and little shoes. The people work from early in the morning to late at night, taking a break for a siesta, as is the culture here.
Tomorrow I teach my Saturday class in the morning. Then the plan is to meet up with some of my friends and head to a vegetarian restaurant I haven't tried yet and then head over to see my friend's new apartment, since she's finally all settled in. Looking forward to it.
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