Back to School

I forgot how to be a student. Training seems hard but it’s no different than when I would spend a day in class. We learn so much in a day about the language and Ecuadorian culture and about teaching and the school system here.

It was fun to hear about everyone’s host families. I feel very fortunate that my family is young and fun. Some families don’t leave the house much. Though, they have internet… But in a way, I’m glad that I don’t. I don’t have the temptation of spending a lot of my time on the computer when I’m here to learn and help. I just wish I could call home. Javier gave me his SIM card to try in my phone but it didn’t work.

Embarrassing story #2: I can NOT, for the life of me, figure out the shower. As soon as I got to the house, one of my first questions was about hot water (after asking if I can put toilet paper in the toilet- no). They said “oh yes! We have hot water all day!” so we walked into the bathroom so they could demonstrate how to use the faucet. They have a little contraption attached to the shower head, which runs on electricity (which is a little disconcerting as the wires are only covered by electrical tape and surrounded by water). Sonia advised me, “cuando baja la luz, calienta el agua” (“when the light dims, the water is getting hot”). No. I have tried everything. And I have taken 3 cold showers. It’s possible that they truly think the water is hot in comparison to how frigid it usually is.

Funny misunderstanding: My host family thinks that all Americans love pizza, that they eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She said that the pizzerias here have 2-for-1 Tuesdays so she insisted we get pizza tomorrow so that I don’t miss home too much. I will take whatever she gives me as tonight’s meal was AWESOME. She made paella with shrimp and crawfish (which they call shrimp of the river). And some kind of hot water with herbs (yerbabuena) which is supposed to be good for digestion.

Funny baby: Eileen has named me “Beebee”. She has only started saying this word since I’ve been here and when I left this morning, she was looking around every corner saying “Beebee?” Her parents said she has her own language and you have to go along with it because she is la princesa de la casa. Her 1^st birthday is in March. I’m thinking of getting her a little purse because she is always trying to dig through mine. (Just like Cbaby) I wonder how difficult it will be to explain that Colton’s first birthday was monster themed.

Time to do homework. Womp wahhhh

Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring.

Cdub signing off.