A day is a day is a Day.

Days in the jungle run right into each other. The rhythm of waking up at 5:45, teaching class in the morning, eating lunch, teaching class in the afternoon, eating dinner and going to sleep by 9:30 when the generator is turned off, has come to feel normal. Beyond the day to day routine, the days of the week have little meaning for those of us working and living at the high school. We work on a 5 day rotation: 4 days of normal classes followed by 1"light day" during which we do not teach formal classes. So this week, Day 5 falls on a Sunday while last week Day 5 was on Monday.

My days here are simple, but they are filled with work and play. Teaching is new to me and has proven to be no easy task, although I feel that the majority of my classes have been pretty successful thus far. The most important bits of information I have picked up here and there from the other teachers who have more experience than I are these:

Not every class is good.
Anything I do with the kids is helpful.
Script out your lesson plans.
Always have more than you think you need!

The kids are wonderful for the most part and spending time with them outside of class is the best part of being here. They are experts on the plants and animals that live in the rainforest. Spotting and identifying a poisonous spider or snake is a daily event. They know which trees produce saps or milks that can heal cuts and scars, what leaves can be boiled to make medicinal teas.

The wildlife here is ever-present. At the lodge it seems that we are collecting pets of all sorts. Yolanda is the parrot who has lived here for several years. She and I are getting along pretty well. She lets me pick her up now rather than biting me and then laughing hysterically (literally) when I yell at her. Then we have Yaku, the androgynous baby giant otter. (No one knows if it's a male or female.) Giant otters can grow to be 7 feet in length and people here are dancing around the subject of how big it will get and what we will do with it once it's full grown. There is also the occasional Boa Constrictor that Robert, one of the tour guides at Yachana, frequently wears around his wrist as if it were a big bracelet.

It's funny how normal the lifestyle has become. Waking up and going to bed under a mosquito net, not spending a single dime because there isn't anything to buy or anywhere to buy it unless you take a canoe across the river to one of the biweekly markets, checking under the toilet seats for cockroaches, frogs... or worse. We are pretty adaptable creatures!

It hasn't been a walk in the park. I have felt down many times, and I have felt good many times. When I've felt overwhelmed with the adjustments that I've been going through, and I take an hour to go walk down into the farm, eat a fresh papaya or chirimoya fruit, or up to the mirador that overlooks the Napo River, I'm reminded of where I am reminded of what is really important and feel calm. Yes, what I'm doing is important for both the students of Yachana and for me personally. But there is so much more here to explore and to appreciate here. I think there is no better way to learn to understand yourself and the world besides stepping out of your comfort zone and opening up your eyes to what is there.

The Best

Something I've been thinking about a lot...

The Best

The best, like water,
Benefit all and do not compete.
They dwell in lowly spots that everyone else scorns.
Putting others before themselves,
They find themselves in the foremost place
And come very near to the Tao.
In their dwelling, they love the earth;
In their heart, they love what is deep;
In personal relationships, they love kindness;
In their words, they love truth.
In the world, they love peace.
In personal affairs, they love what is right.
In action, they love choosing the right time.
It is because they do not compete with others
That they are beyond the reproach of the world.

- Lao Tzu

The roaches go marching one by one....

After two days of pampering – delicious meals 3 times a day, comfortable beds, hot water, internet connection – we've been transferred to the high school accommodations. Our rooms are basic. Wooden structure with two bunked beds. We have been given several instructions by the students: don't leave anything on the floor because the cockroaches will crawl all over them, and the best protection for bug bites is Johnson's baby oil (aceite Johnson).

For the first 3 weeks at the high school we have about 20 students. Today we did interviews with them in groups of two, just to get to know them a bit. We first interviewed the girls who, not surprisingly, seemed much more enthusiastic, comfortable and... mature than the boys. In addition to asking the kids about themselves, we asked them about questions or worries they might have about this year which we are calling a Gap Year (because the year does not actually count as credit toward their graduation requirement). The most disheartening thing I kept hearing was the students asking us if we were going to stay here for the whole year. In years past teachers have left Yachana mid-year, causing them to have to start anew with new teachers, teaching styles and expectations. In some cases teachers have not been replaced. We did our best to assure them that we have come with the intention of staying with them for the full year and that we are going to do many activities and effective work to get them to where they want to be, especially in English, math and language arts.

At dinner last night we sat with the principal of the school, Carlos, and Fredy, one of our students. Somehow the conversation turned to student nicknames. It is pretty common in Latin American countries to use nicknames frequently, sometimes even more frequently than peoples' first names. Fredy's apodo is Guarinda because he is from a town in the Andes called Guarinda. He is our only student from the Andes. Then Carlos began to explain that one of our youngest girls, Johana, is what we might call a diva in the U.S. He flamboiantly explained that Johana attends dinner dressed to the nines, hair flowing, lips balmed, and always walks with an air of confidence and has thus been given the apodo “Sexy-Sensual” (Of course we understand the name because the words are the same in English, but here it is said with a Spanish accent and hearing big old Carlos the principal explain this story had us nearly falling out of our seats). We then met Johana for the first time in her interview. When we asked her how old she was she said she was going to be 16. We excitedly asked when her birthday was and she told us it was mid December. We all looked at each other amused and wrote on our papers under age... 15.

Living at the school is rustic. Our showers are chilly and we share them with little frogs and the occasional cockroach, but at the end of the day the cold water feels refreshing on sticky skin and it's quite liberating to look up and see the trees and moon overhead. The generator for light turns on at 6:00p.m. (if all is in order) and turns off precisely at 9:00p.m. which is not a problem considering we wake up at 6:00a.m. for breakfast.

Today we had a minor predicament when Megan found a cockroach in her backpack. In order to get it out she unfortunately had to reach in and take out a plethora of items (including a hair straightener which we decided won't do her much use here in the middle of the jungle). After a good shake out and a few high pitched screams, the situation ended in a cockroach casualty but a happy Megan with a roach-free backpack. Really, its just that they're so big!

Tomorrow is the first day of classes. I will teach two English classes (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) as the group is split into two groups, and one class of Social Sciences. While I'm nervous about the first day, I'm excited to get things roling and hopful about the program we have put together. I think the kids are going to get a lot of hands on experience, as they are rotating throughout this year from the highschool where they will take their classes, to the lodge where they will get experience in working with tourists and maintaining a lodge, and finally to external internships where they will work in different areas such as at travel agencies, hotels, or animal reserves. Therefore there will always be three groups of students: one at the high school, one at the lodge, and one away at an internship. Every month they will switch and at the end will have completed 4 full cycles. Its an innovative program for Ecuador and especially for the kids in this region. We are excited and optimistic about the opportunities that this kind of experience will lend them in their futures.

Here's to a fresh new set of English-speaking social scientists! Does that sound at all ambitious considering the circumstances?

GoodBYE concrete jungle.. Hello rainforest!

It’s my last night in Quito and tomorrow morning I’ll be off to the jungle! Me and 3 of the other 4 volunteers, Chris, Megan and Ryan, will pile into Daniel’s car, tie our luggage to the roof with rope, and make the 6 hour trip to Mondaña where we will be working for at least the next 3 weeks. The first 3 weeks is what we are calling module #1 (aka: test run). It’s a test run because we don’t actually know what the hell we are doing when we get there. For example we don’t yet know what our schedule will look like, what materials we will be using to teach, or exactly WHAT we will be teaching. Therefore, we will use the first 2 or 3 days to develop a Plan of Action. Basically we are all a bit bewildered, but excited and enthusiastic about getting things put together.

So here’s what I’ve learned since I’ve been in Quito: First of all, never walk from New town to Old town wearing Keen’s, an Ospray backpack and a white tee-shirt – you might get shit thrown on you. If this actually does happen to you, wait for the person who conveniently shows up with a package of tissues and tell them to go to hell. Then get in a taxi before they can tell you you smell and offer them more than the cab fare to get home.

Next, if you decide to move to Quito, you might want to buy multiple cars. Just over a year ago, due to the amount of traffic in the city, a law was implemented in which every driver (or every car) has one day out of the week that they are not allowed to drive. The law is called “Pico y Placa.” Pico means “rush hour” and placa means “licence plate.” The day that you are not allowed to drive during rush hour corresponds with the last number on your licence plate. So, people have solved this problem by purchasing more cars with different licence plate numbers so as to avoid such inconvenience.

Finally, 20 dollar bills are BIG bills. Expect to lose friends (or money) if you throw a 20 on the table after dinner, or buying a bottle of water at the corner store.

So technically I don’t have to ever come to Quito again (until I take my flight out of here). For now I’m off to a new place and a new experience. It will be good to have a home base, unpack my bags, and get this show on the road! (dirt road that is)