Twenty-Four Days

The first and most disheartening piece of news: the kitten is gone. Ella se fue. No se porque. Big bummer. Hypothesis 1 is that she climbed up the curtain (or really, any of the random fixtures on these walls) and escaped out of the window. There is no hypothesis 2. Just 1. I will attach a picture of her to this blog as a tribute to kitties who climb everywhere.

Next on the list of things to report, I'm about 90% sure that I'll be heading to an organic tea farm in the jungle near the city of Puyo. For at least a week, I'll be doing whatever needs to be done on this farm in exchange for free housing. I wasn't sure what I'd be doing during my last month in Ecuador, but this feels like a step in the right direction. There's a part of me that wants this month to fly by so I can be home and get on with my life, then there's another part that doesn't know how to say goodbye. To quote Will Ferrell post tranquilizer dart in the jugular in that memorable Old School moment "You're crazy, you're crazy man. You're crazy... I like you but you're crazy!"

Well, I'm off to grab some food, make some phone calls and enjoy this last day in July!

Hasta luego, teaching!

The teaching portion of my Ecuador experience is over! Tomorrow is the final exam and Monday is the final oral exam. I must admit it is a huge relief. I've been told that I'm a great teacher, but regardless of this praise (which is lovely), it was still something that felt outside of my comfort zone. That said, will I miss teaching? Probably. Or more aptly, I will miss having a job and a routine.

In my last post, I mentioned the possibility of changing my flight. However, that probably won't happen. I just spoke with my travel agent today and my only options are to change my flight to July 29th or August 22nd, both with a $400 fee and neither date really appeals to me. One is too soon and the other is only 2 days before my actual date. So... it looks like I'll be traveling and looking for things to do for an entire month. As most of my friends are leaving, this will either be very difficult or very rewarding. I'm hoping for the latter, obviously.

Other developments include having a new housemate. I don't know her name but she's itty bitty, hairy, and really cute. I just call her kitty or gatita or linda. (No, not Linda like my mother's name.) She's a kitten, in case you were still confused...

Well, that's all for now! I'm currently doing laundry and looking forward to a full weekend of despedidas (or good-bye parties). I miss you all and am looking forward to a beauteous return home in a month.

Chao!

Hey blog world!

It's a sunny Monday morning here in Quito. I just got back from my yoga class and had some time to scribble out some thoughts.

Yesterday some fellow CEC teachers and I celebrated the 4th of July together. It was a pretty great and typical 4th of July gathering, including things like meat, beer, pasta salads, potato salad and the ever-heavenly 7 Layer Dip.

But now it's Monday and I have a full work week to look forward to. Sigh... which bring me to my next thought:

I think I'm ready to be done with this teaching/Ecuador experience. I feel like I'm winded and dragging my feet to the finish line. It has been an epic year, full of ups and downs. But I am tired and craving familiar things and people and missing my good friends from home. I'm even contemplating moving my flight to an earlier date. I have 9 actual teaching days left and I will make it...

If you have any words of encouragement, I will gladly take them.