Mercado Ofelia

    Made another trip to Mercado Ofelia with my landlady and her sister. I think this is my new favorite spot in Quito. The smells, sounds and colors are overwhelming, and it is easy to spend a few hours here. It’s only open Saturday and Sunday, but if you don’t  show up early (we arrive at 7:30 am), you could miss out on some items.

      I came home with two grocery bags worth of fruit and vegetables, and only spent $7 bucks. I got a bag of 4 avocados ($1), 25 medium  oranges ($1.50), 1 pound of small purple potatoes ($1), and 2 large pineapples ($3.50). If you’re like Lourdes and “Berditta”, and you get a large IKEA bag’s worth of produce, you can have an Andean woman strap it to her back, and carry it to your car for $1 dollar.   

    My landlady and her sister always get their produce from the same merchants, and never anyone else. I imagine that this was how things used to be back in the day. Loyalty means a lot here, and getting your vegetables one place, fruits in another, and bread on the way home is just how things are done. There’s something very sacred about all this, which is why I will continue to come back.

Shwarma, U2 Covers, and Christmas in Quito

Finished my second week of school and to celebrate (rather than plan all day) I have decided to designate this weekend to exploring the surrounding neighborhoods,. Today it was Inaquito, a huge market 15 minutes walk from my place. I was told from a co-worker at happy-hour yesterday that I could find Sriracha, sesame oil and other Asian foods here. Unfortunately, I think she lied to me. However, I did manage to find out that there is plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and seafood here. Also there were lots of food stalls selling lunch and snack items. I was just looking today, but I plan on going back soon to try their comidas tipicos ("typical meals").

After Inaquito I scoped out the local malls seeing what they have to offer. Not much really. They're crowded with wealthy Ecuadorians and teenagers, and everything is overpriced. I also stick out like a sore thumb, and everyone stares at me as I walk by. As I made my way through both Quicentro and EL Jardin I noticed that both malls play U2 cover bands through their pa systems (think elevator versions of U2). Not just the hits either, I heard covers from both The Unforgettable Fire and Zooropa albums. Lastly, you might think Christmas comea early in department stores in the US, well it's already arrived here in Quito. Lights, trees, ornaments...everything! After ten minutes in each mall, I couldn't take it anymore.

Finally, I made my way to the east side of La Carolina Park. My apartment is located on the west side of the park, and the entire eastern side is tattooed with middle eastern Shawarma restaurants, so I decide to have lunch in one that caught my eye a few weeks back. I was in heaven! Two shawarma sandwiches and a 22oz. beer set me back a measly $7. Not only that, but the altitude here made that beer seem like it was a 40-oz. Ordering in Spanish, and making small talk with the owner almost made me feel euphoric in a way. Can't wait out get back out there tomorrow and see what else I can find. 

The first week of school is in the books!

Finished my first week yesterday! So far my students are incredibly sweet, caring, and happy. In all honesty, they couldn't be further from the sixth graders I have come to know in the states. Though I can think of many sixth graders from home who remind me of my current group (and who I would teach any day of the week), many North American students grow up much too fast, and are completely engulfed with "Who's the most popular?" "Who's the prettiest?" or "Who has the most friends?" Often times this leads to "cliques", where exclusion is common, and where resentment builds among students.

So far have seen absolutely no trace of this type of behavior...from anyone! I see students willing to help everyone (even if they don't know each other very well), willing to include others, and the school atmosphere is far more relaxed and fun. My students enter the classroom saying hello to me, and ask how I am doing (students who are not even mine do this too). I sometimes ask myself, "When will these guys become jaded?" Hopefully not this year.

Aside from students, I am thoroughly impressed with my school. The campus is pretty, and well-maintained, and my fellow staff members have been incredibly helpful to me. As you could imagine, being an competitive International School, the expectations are extremely high. Each week, myself and the other primary teachers are required to submit a weekly lesson template which outlines all of our lessons for the week, and lists which academic standards are being met with each lesson. Being held accountable for my teaching is great (all educators should be), however the amount of work that goes into simply submitting these weekly templates is overwhelming. Friday afternoon, while my students were at music, I had a brief meltdown when I realized how much I have to plan for next week. This will take some getting used to.   

My First Week at School

Had my first week of school, and I am feeling really exhausted. Meeting after meeting, new names and faces, and finding my way around a gigantic campus has been overwhelming to say the least. To top it all, as teachers at this school, we are required to submit weekly lessons to our coordinators and download these into the school's server. This is so the administrators can see what we are teaching everyday, at the specific time. We also have to include which benchmarks each of our lessons is hitting. This is almost unheard of in the states, but I have no problem doing it. Despite making my work work that much more busy, this process will keep me on my toes.  Subbing for the past 4 years has made me very spoiled in the sense that I have never had to do any of this. However, years of subbing has allowed me to see dozens of classrooms on which to model my own. Bit by bit my classroom is coming together, and it will continue to be a "work in progress" as the the year rolls on.

Monday is supply day, where I will meet my students as they come in with their parents and all of the materials they will need for the year. Unfortunately, I am required to stay in my room all day and cannot leave to prep for the week, or ask questions of my collaborative team. I just hope that my students come in sooner rather than later. One of my team teachers said, "The morning starts off great, but by noon, you're not happy anymore and just want to be alone." We'll see how I do. I'm sure the parents are gonna grill me on every little detail, from "How long have you been teaching?", to "What did you have for breakfast this morning?" All to be expected I suppose.