Vacations!

Wednesday was the first day of vacation so everyone woke up early excited to take advantage of the precious time we could use to explore the island. Even talking to locals here everyone's said that life gets so busy, people get so tired and everyone gets so stuck in a routine that no one goes out enough. You have to be intentional. Well I'm only here for a short time so I want to be twice as intentional. 

Wednesday we caught a taxi to Bellavista and then biked up the mountain towards the "columpio magico", the giant swing that goes out over the trees with a beautiful ocean view as a backdrop. 

The bike ride was no joke! The hills were unforgiving but I fought my way up wearing my brothers biking team hat proudly hahaha Up the mountain the scenery is completely different. Because the mountain is squally covered in a thick cloud of fog there are lush plants everywhere. As I biked with cows on one side and the ocean view on the other I felt so at peace. Once we got to the swing no one wanted to pay for it so Giuliana and I paid and took our pictures. Although it looked pretty terrifying from the swing itself it wasn't actually that high. It made for some cool pictures though. Afterwards we started biking towards the Galapateros but people's bikes started to break down and it was many miles away. So we turned around and biked all the way back to the house. I was pooped. Who knew such a little island could have so many hills! Giuliana and I decided to have ceviche for lunch and thankfully they made a veggie ceviche with palmitos which was delicious! My favorite was the smoothie, or batido, de Maracuya, one of my favorite fruits in Ecuador! We came back and quickly got in our swim gear to head to Las Playas Alemanes (the German beach) but we didn't get in because it was too cold. 

So Tuesday was Jessica's birthday and she didn't tell anyone! So Wednesday night I took her and Ro and to Giardinos for ice cream waffles to celebrate. It was a fun way to end an awesome day! 

Thursday we were all exhausted from the previous day so we slept in and Jessica and Ronald surprised me with Colombian arepas for breakfast. It was delicious! Thursday was so sunny and gorgeous that after breakfast I headed out on my bike to explore and take pictures. I literally couldn't go 5ft without finding another jaw dropping view of the ocean. It was so blue and turquoise it looked surreal!! As I rode around town I ran into other professors taking advantage of the vacation and heading to the beach as well. It's fun to be in a town so small you literally can't leave the house without running into someone. That's why it's so safe! 

Thursday afternoon we all headed to Las Grietas, a water canal between two giant rock walls. The water there is freezing because it's always in the shade but it's also a gorgeous deep blue. I borrowed a snorkeling headset and immediately saw large schools of fish. By the end my core body temperature had dropped dramatically and I was freezing the rest of the day. But we tried to warm up by playing some volleyball on the beach but we kept hitting into the iguana protected zones. To end the night we stopped to get a slice of pizza and continue Jessica's birthday celebration. As we ate an American man set up his stand of chocolate turtles. They looked so cute and good so when he put out a few on a tray I asked if he had samples. He got so upset! "Do they look like samples to you?? Look how big they are!" So I told him they looked like Costco samples to me and he didn't appreciate it. "Am I wearing a red shirt?? Is Ecuador a third world country??" To which I responded "um no it's not" because that such a rude thing to say and he interrupted with "uh yeah we are! Anytime you have people on the street begging for money that's a third world country" I apologized to try and make peace and he turned to another couple and said "I love giving people life lessons and showing them that in Latin America nothing is free." We all were confused by the encounter and laughed as the waitress brought out a free Nutella pizza to sing to Jessica.

Friday we woke up early to go to Tortuga Bay except it was cold and rainy (who would've thought in the Galapagos right? Hahaha). So I spent the morning cleaning, reading, catching up on laundry and lesson planning. 

Mid day I biked with Ronald and Jessica up to Bella vista. It was a solid 45 minutes of incline. I'm pooped once again but super happy at how active I'm staying here. We came back and made a yummy lunch of vegetable rice, stir fried veggies and plata is Fritos while we watched Blood Diamonds on TNT. I have to say that watching movies in Spanish is twice as dramatic. After some quick grocery shopping for the sabbath we stopped by a store to look for shorts for Jessica. All the shorts were skin tight and super short. Extremely unflattering and immodest. So when Jessica came out embarrassed at how short they were it was hilarious to hear the owner argue loudly over the regaton music blaring, that they weren't short, they were liberating. 

It's the little things

Tuesday was the complete opposite of Monday! I came to school apprehensive because of the day before, but for various reasons the students were amazing!

One thing that helped in general is there were a few students missing because the vacations start tomorrow. Another thing is now that I found the teacher manuals I spend the whole morning scavenging the room for props and ideas to keep the kids engaged. 

The biggest thing that helped the preschool class was the little trouble maker wasn't here today. Well he was earlier and even looking at him made me nervous for class (hahaha) but right before class started he had an accident and pooped his pants and smeared it all over the wall. He's grounded and his mom came to pick him up. Darn. Without him running around and hitting the kids they actually paid attention. That was a mini miracle of the day.

Another mini miracle was that the power went out minutes after I finished my last class! It wouldn't be too big of a deal except with the little ones I use the songs on the computer to learn everything!

Today I started teaching preschool a little Christmas song that helps them learn their numbers, they loved it! It's so fun to see the kids wanting to learn and actually learning. In those moments I have to stop and thank God because I literally don't know what I'm doing but the kids are learning despite me! 

The first graders are learning about vacations in their book, which is perfect since the rest of the week is vacation time! I asked the kids what their plans were and they were dying to share. A lot of them are going to the continent, which is super expensive. The professors told me that a lot the families here are on the wealthier side and save up their money for trips. 

I've never seen students who love their teachers so much. As hard as the teachers are on them they also love them and it's reciprocated. 

Today Sarita turned 10 and because the students don't eat lunch at school the parents always through a party for the class during the last period. Sarita ran to get Giuliana and I  to come celebrate. She served us our cake and beamed as she took pictures with us. No matter where you go in town when you run into students they go crazy! They scream "teacher!!" Or "profe!!" And if they can, they tackle you in a bear hug. 

Tuesday night Giuliana and I got ice cream with Valentina for getting a good perfect score on her English test. And the view of the ocean from the restaurant was breath taking! The sun was just setting and it was magical. 

As Giuliana and I said goodbye and started grocery shopping for the up coming vacation we were showered with generosity. One of the fruit stalks is run by Ariana's mom so she gave a discount and oranges for the vacation. Another vender threw in extra avocados after we talked with her for a while and learned her name was Celeste. 

The whole day I felt like I was being showered with blessings!