Primeros Días en La Calera

Well, I have made it to my internship, even though Monday I thought I was going to die from a horrible vomit/diarrhea virus. I am living in La Calera which is a community right outside of Cotacachi. I am living with a wonderful woman named Ines Bonilla and her 5-year-old son Kairik. Her husband, Rodrigo, is in the US right now selling crafts for the next three months. I am kind of bummed I won´t get to know him but I am happy that I am around to keep Ines company. She thanked me tonight at dinner for keeping her company and I told her I was more than happy to spend my time with her. I think she is so cool. She is the president of the community so people come to her all the time with problems. She is like big mama except lil mama because she is a tiny indigenous woman. It is also really nice that she and her husband own an internet cafe that is right next door to my bedroom. I am happy that I won´t have a problem if I need to work on school work or my monografia. The house is really pretty and they have chickens and pigs and puppies! Their dog Chaqui had puppies about 2 weeks ago and they are adorable. I can´t wait until I can play with them.

I am really excited about teaching English and I am really happy that I don´t start until next Monday. I am spending this week observing and seeing how things work at the school. Today I met with Carlos Alta, my supervisor who is really nice and very excited to have me teach and write a monograph on bilingual education. Que suerte que el tiene fondo en la area de educacion bilingue. (How lucky that he has a background in bilingual education). He wrote his thesis on bilingual education I believe. I hope that I am able to get a hold of his work. Anyway, today I introduced myself to the 4 and 5th grade classes and I helped out with a math class. They have a different way of teaching division here that seems a lot more complicated that the way I was taught. Carlos had me teach my way and thought it was very cool that I had another way of doing it. I hope I do as well with teaching English.

There are definitely some things I have realized since getting to La Calera. First off, life is a lot slower and much more tranquilo as they say. I really like it on the one hand but on the other hand I kind of miss the faster pace of city life. The kids here are super fun and outgoing and never refuse if asked to play soccer. I will have to make sure to wear sunscreen every day because the sun is super strong here especially if I am playing a bunch of soccer with my students.

I am feeling a bit lonely right now but I think it is because I haven´t met anyone my age yet and I have to adjust to a completely diferent lifestyle. I hope that I adjust quickly. I also have to keep in mind that my role here is very different from my role in Quito. In Quito I was a student while here I am considered a teacher even though I am still a student. I am looking forward to an interesting and hopefully enlightening experience.