Monthly Archives: March 2015

Fun in Quito

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Hello! Last weekend was our first full weekend in Ecuador, and it was so much fun! Sarah and I ventured into Quito for the first time (besides when we first flew in). One of the other student teachers from Georgia who is living with my host mom as well led us to the bus station in Cumbayá where we all took the bus into Quito together. Once we got to quito, we had to find our way to La Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the world monument). We had a little trouble at first trying to find our way but on the bright side we got to practice our Spanish a lot 🙂 we finally made it after a long bus ride and it was AMAZING! There was so much more than I expected. There were little shops everywhere, restaurants, museums, and a planetarium. It was very cool! After Mitad del Mundo, we went to El Panecillo, which is a hill in Quito. There is a statue of an angel called La Virgen del Panecillo that overlooks Quito, kind of similar to the Cristo Redentor on Corcovado in Brazil (except not nearly as big and well known). Inside of the statue was two floors of a museum where they had stain glass windows of Mary and Jesus. When we got to the top, which was the bottom of the angel, we had an amazing view of Quito. You could see the whole city and the mountains. It was awesome! After that we got lost (again) but ended up in a really cute park so it wasn’t that bad. We thought we found our way back to the bus station, but it turns out we didn’t so we just have up and took a taxi back to Cumbayá. The great thing about Ecuador is that transportation is very cheap. Overall we had a great time. Can’t wait for our next adventure!

Belize Week 1

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We made it! We have arrived in Belize and have been immersed in their culture for a week. It was a long fight here with only one short layover. Landing in Belize City was a little nerve-racking as we were descending and had no visibility of the tiny, one strip runway. We landed safely but due to our speedy arrival, had to wait about 45 minutes for a staircase to be brought to the plane so we could exit on to the tarmac. The sun was bright and hot as we filed out to a small building to go through customs. Making it through all the logistics, we walked outside and were greeted front and center by Marvin Kellyman, who works in the ministry of education for Belize. He couldn’t have been friendlier, or more welcoming to us. He provided immediate assistance with transportation to the island of Ambergris Caye, and with our housing. Unfortunately we had difficulties arranging housing, and Marvin went out of his way to help us secure the best deal possible. After settling in, we were all exhausted from our long day of traveling, and jet lag, that we went out to dinner and were in bed by 8pm, Belize time.

Since then we have explored more of the island, including the touristy side. We live in the center of town which is full of locals. A little farther out are a bunch of hotels, which “generously” let us use their pools. We would have loved to just swim in the turquoise water but there is a large amount of seaweed washing up from Africa around the coast of the island. The seaweed is smelly and takes up a large amount of the ocean. Workers spend all day trying to clean up the seaweed by raking it ashore into large heaping piles, but every morning more and more pile up. The local restaurants are very delicious with the Blue Water Grill, and Crazy Canucks being our favorite places. When we aren’t exploring or dining out, we are shopping at the local markets. The food is fresh here and also delicious. Unlike America, the fruits and vegetables are cheap, and the junk food is more expensive. Peanut Butter is unbelievably expensive, up to $9US a tiny jar. This makes it a lot easier to cook our own meals full of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Our best day here so far was this past Saturday when we adventured off San Pedro to visit a much smaller, quieter island, Caye Caulker. This island is slow paced and if you walk too fast, the locals will tell you to slow down. It is a 4 mile long island with sandy roads. We took the ferry over and walked along the street to the end of the island called the split. On our walk, we found a small coffee and donut shop. We walked in and were greeted with free samples of freshly made mini donuts and a shot of mocha- vanilla coffee. It was so delicious that we all ordered coffee and enjoyed it as we walked along the beach. We made it to the split, which was created when a hurricane hit the island. It caused a one foot deep hole, which the locals decided to then man make a 20 ft deep area. This is a beautiful area with turquoise water, and no seaweed! We were able to jump off the dock at one end and the current would float you down to the other end where there was a shallow inlet to relax in the water, under palapa’s. We spent most of the morning there enjoying the serine atmosphere, until we got hungry for lunch. We walked back down to where we got off the boat to enjoy a nice restaurant by the water. I would have to say that my favorite park of it was the chairs which were actually swings. After lunch we enjoyed exploring more of the island until we took the ferry back home as the sun was setting. Once home we were greeted by a parade by the UDP political party on the island. Mayor Danny just won elections so there was a party with speeches, raffles, and music blasting from 6pm all the way until 4am. This made sleeping impossible as even with the windows shut, the noise was so loud that it was shaking our door, lamps, and entire apartment.

As much fun as it is exploring around Belize, we absolutely love working at the San Pedro Roman Catholic School. We would all agree that it is very different than American school systems. Below, we each wrote about our own experiences in our classrooms.

Jen- I am working in a standard two classroom which is equivalent to a fourth grade classroom. The students in the classroom are beautiful and so full of energy. I love working with them every day. The part of school that surprised me the most was the selling of materials. The students buy soda and candy from the business around the school before school starts. Once the bell rings, they line up outside their classroom and walk into their seats. They do a morning prayer and then great the teacher and their classmates. Then the teachers walk around selling items from usually about the next half hour. They sell all types of candy, gum, cupcakes, and games, in which the students all buy and eat. If a teacher does make it to your classroom at that time, then they will walk in at any other time to sell the sweets. The students see them and jump out of their seats, and swarm around the teacher selling the item. This causes disturbance in the classroom but is just a part of their regular day that the teacher doesn’t mind. All the money they are raising goes to the teachers for the teacher appreciation day. This is a few days in May in which the teachers take a trip to Mexico, paid with the profit from the sweets.

The day has two fifteen minute breaks, one at the beginning of the day and one at the end of the day. These breaks are great for the students to run around and grab a snack. We also have an hour and a half break for lunch in which all the students and teachers go home to enjoy. While in school they have religion class, language arts, and math before lunch. After lunch they have Spanish, social studies, science, reading comprehension, D.E.A.R., or art depending on the day. The students have a notebook for each subject in which the teacher writes notes on the board and the students copy down. The school does not have enough materials to supply the students with paper handouts, books, pencils, or any other supplies. The students have to buy everything themselves. I have did not teach this week, but I did observe and get to know the students. I am still trying to learn all their names but they love to ask me if I can remember their name. I did run gym class one afternoon which the students loved because I taught them a new game, Fishy Fishy Cross my Ocean. I taught that along with Emily and Emma, and students from their class too. Next week I will be teaching science and social studies in the afternoon.

Maddie- At the Roman Catholic school, I was placed in Infant 2, which I believe is the equivalent to first grade in the United States. My class consists of thirty-one six or seven year olds, and more boys than girls. I adore my students, they are so cute and sweet and are absolutely so excited to have a visitor in their class. The teacher and the school as a whole is definitely not what I am used to and I will have to continue to adjust to the teaching style that she has. I have noticed that the school is more strict and harsh towards the students. I am also getting used to the deeply religious aspects intertwined in daily school life.
This first week I have been teaching my teacher’s lessons which included lessons on the “-th” and “-sh” sounds and many health lessons. They call health here “H.F.L.E.” which stands for Health Family Life Education. H.F.L.E is in each of the different grades and a variety of topics are covered. In my Infant 2 class we talk about good hygiene and tools that help you keep good hygiene. I taught the students about traffic signs that are around town, and made sure that they knew what they meant. I think this upcoming week I will be helping the teacher with Easter baskets that she is making for each of the kids. I will also help her teach whatever lessons that she has in store for this week.

Emily- Hello! So far, I am enjoying my experience at San Pedro Roman Catholic School. My favorite part of each day is the students and their enthusiasm, smiling faces, and how they are so loving and welcoming. As soon as I walked into the standard II classroom, (4th grade) all 32 students were eager to know who I was and did not treat me like a stranger but as part of their community. So far I have taught HFLE, language arts, and math. I have also been coerced into speaking some Spanish with the students! My teacher is very welcoming and I feel so lucky that I can experience education in such a unique place – I am learning so much as well as realizing what I have learned back in the U.S.!

Emma- I have been placed in a Standard 1 classroom. Standard 1 is equivalent to second grade class in the United States. I have 29 students in my classroom, ranging from ages 6 to 8. Currently, the students are learning about measurement, constant blends, weather instruments and weather in Belize. All of the students are so welcoming and excited to have a visitor in their class. My teacher, Luis, is an extremely dedicated and hardworking teacher. He put so much effort into everything he does. This past week I have observed the students and his classroom routine. Beginning this week, I will teach H.F.L.E and Social Studies. Can’t wait to see what this week has in store!

We are having an un-Belize-able time so far!

My original first post, but there’s more to come!

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Hi! I’m sorry that I haven’t blogged before actually arriving to Quito, there was just so much to do before leaving (STA, PPA, packing, and jut getting organized and ready for my next two months.)

However, I’m here and it still hasn’t hit me that I’m actually here. I arrived to Quito at 10:10 (I thought it was 11:10, because at home it said there wasn’t a time difference, but that’s fine, I’m just an hour behind from everyone at home.) I was greeted by my host mom, Alexandra and her two daughters, Camila and Andrea. They are very sweet, I recieved a hug, a kiss, chatted a little bit, and before I knew it, we were traveling to Cumbayá.

As Alexandra was driving, Camila was answering my millions of questions. The most important answers are that, I live about a street away from Colegio Menor and Helen lives about 3-4 streets away!

When I arrived at the house (it was about a 30 minute drive from the airport) I didn’t know what to expect. But all I can say is that the house is BEUTIFUL! Andrea showed me around and led me to my room, it’s simply perfect (just the amount of space I need!) Before I knew it, I showered, unpacked, slept, and then it wad daytime.

I received instructions to relax and sleep in till 9-10. But I couldnt, I slept so much on the plane that I woke up at 8. I helped Alexandra make breakfast by juicing 12 oranges. For breakfast, I had orange juice, eggs, little hot dogs, a slice of tomato, yogurt with delicious apples, bananas, and strawberries. After breakfast, Camilla and I were looking for dresses for her graduation. Now I’m off to have lunch with Alexandra’s mom!

Hola from Ecuador

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Today is my third day at Colegio Menor CMSFQ. I love it here!! My students are very sweet. I have felt so welcomed here these past three days. The school is so different than my school in the states, but in some ways it’s very similar as well. A lot of the things they are learning here are similar to the things that my students in the states were learning as well. For example, the students at Colegio Menor are learning about the genre fiction, personal narratives, regions of the country, etc. The first day, we played the game Around the World with multiplication facts, which was something I played often with my students in the states.
​The class is made up of all Ecuadorean students. There are 20 students in all. There are 9 girls and 11 boys in the class. The students sit in tables of four students. The core teacher´s name is Margarita. The class also has an assistant teacher named Mari E. The class is a self-contained class, although they go to a different class for Spanish and specials.
​The schedule is different than I´ve ever experienced. The students have three periods at the beginning of the day. Then, there is break, which is a 20-minute break in the day where the students are able to freely go outside and play. There are two more periods after break then it is time for lunch and recess. After recess, there is two more periods then the day is over. School starts at 8 am and ends at 2:45 pm. The schedule itself is different every day. The students have math, writing, Spanish, and reading every day. Social Studies is once a week, however they have Social Studies in Spanish as well. Science is three times a week. They also have specials just like in the states, like P.E., library, computers, art, and music. On Thursday, there is CT or Community Time. Tomorrow, I will be sharing more about my life with the students during this time so I´m really excited about that.
​I have had some really good conversations with the students. For example, yesterday during Social Studies, we learned about the continents. When we talked about North America, I got to talk about how I live in North America and some of the students who had never been there were asking me questions about what it´s like. I told them all the places I´ve been because they are starting a landmark project. One of the landmarks they can do it the Statue of Liberty, so I told them about the time I went there.
​One thing that I find so interesting is that the students here call the teachers by their first names. I actually like it, although it is taking some time to get used to it. It´s also interesting that the students get spoken to if they are speaking in Spanish. They are only allowed to speak English in class and it is considered breaking a class rule if they speak Spanish to one another. I completely understand why it´s a rule. The students use Spanish as a safety net when speaking to each other. They feel more comfortable speaking Spanish so they try to do it whenever they can. However, they need the practice in English, hence why it is a rule. I also understand where the students are coming from, since I am in a Spanish speaking country and although I speak Spanish, I am much more comfortable with English.
​The best thing that has happened to me was the first day I got here. When we had a morning meeting and I introduced myself, the students cheered. It felt so good to see how excited they were that I was there. It made me feel so comfortable. I also got to experience a parent teacher conference. It was completely in Spanish, so I did my best to follow. I think I did a really good job though. I understood the majority of what they were saying, and whatever I didn´t understand I was able to infer what was being said based on words I did understand.
​Overall, I´m having an excellent experience here so far. The school is beautiful and the people I have meet have been so kind to me. I am excited to get started doing more in the classroom and getting more involved with my students and fellow teachers!