Don't go chasing waterfalls.

About a month ago we had a long weekend so we decided to take a trip to Baños. For those of you who took Spanish in high school and are thinking "doesn't baños mean bathroom?" you are correct. The actual name of the city is Baños de Agua Santa which means "Baths of Sacred Water." 

We woke up early our first morning to go canyoning but our trip had been delayed so we had a few hours to kill. We walked around town which is nestled in the mountains, and took an impromptu trip to the zoo. As far as wildlife goes, the zoo wasn't anything spectacular but the exhibits were primarily outside and provided amazing views of the mountains. At many points throughout our zoo trip, I couldn't help but notice that if any one of these animals wanted to escape, they easily could. The walls weren't exactly un-scalable and there was no netting/roof preventing them from jumping out but alas, we were not privy to a daring jaguar escape that day. 

One of the best views was from a bridge that hung between two parts of the mountain. This particular bridge is known for "bridge jumping" which sounds like bungee jumping except there is no "bungee" chord, it's literally just a rope. Rhiannon had jumped off this bridge last year and said if you jump correctly (a.k.a, actually jump) it is really fun and only mildly uncomfortable (a few bruises where the harness rests) but if you refuse to jump (a.k.a fall straight down like the other volunteer did) it's incredibly painful and not something you'd likely try again. I decided to take a hard pass on the "fancy jump rope swing" and decided to prolong death at least a few more years. I wish I had taken more any pictures during this trip but I never remembered to bring my phone so I only have a few pictures from other people but the plan is to return to Baños when my parents come to visit in February so I'll post some more then, it truly is a beautiful city. 

(Pailón Del Diablo)

Our first big "adventure experience" was repelling down waterfalls, also known as canyoning. Baños is a popular tourist town so many of the streets are lined with shops all promoting fun touristy things. Luckily, Rhiannon is friends with one of the guides so we were able to book things really easily and we had a fun guide to show us around. When we arrived at the shop it was fairly warm outside and we were given wetsuits, shoes, helmets, and harnesses. Squeezing into a wetsuit in front of six other people is essentially my worst nightmare but we were all able to laugh at each other and we are all still alive. The shoes they gave us were basically worn-down Keds which made hiking up the mountain to get to the first waterfall super fun. 

Once we were finally geared up we jumped in the back of a pickup truck and rode halfway up the mountain. We had two guides with us, I can't remember the name of the main guide but the assistant was named Hannah. Hannah is from Germany, looks like she weighs 90 pounds soaking wet, and could easily pass as a well-developed 13-year-old. Adorable forrest-dwelling fairy? Yes. Capable of repelling a fully-grown human down a waterfall? TBD. When I asked Hannah how long she had been leading tours she reassured me that she had done this particular route hundreds of times and that I had nothing to worry about...more on that later. 

We had about 5 minutes of training on land and when I say training, we watched the guide pretend to repel against a tree. We never actually touched the equipment until we were at the top of the first waterfall - safety first! Normally, I'm pretty brave when it comes to these sort of things but when I looked over the edge of the first waterfall, I panicked. Not only was I certain that I had misunderstood the instructions that, by the way, were all said in Spanish, but I couldn't see what I was about to repel down and I had Hannah-the-size-of-a-banana as my lifeline. 

The other volunteers made it down no problem and they also made it look fairly easy. Rhiannon had done this route before and Sean climbs rocks for fun (lame) so they essentially glided down the waterfall like they had done this a million times. When I was finally attached to the safety rope and teetering on the precipice the guide asked me how I was feeling and I managed to blurt out "SCARED!" He laughed and said "good, me too." Oh look everyone, we have a guide AND a comedian! I finally understood the term white-knuckling and I was completely paralyzed in fear. It didn't help that everyone else was already at the bottom yelling words of encouragement. I DON'T WANT YOUR PITY CHEERS, JUST LOOK AWAY AND LEAVE ME HERE TO DIE. 

 (Pretending to be brave)

(Moments before I beefed it and drank half a waterfall)

Knowing that "down" was the only way down, I stepped over the edge and slowly but surely made my way down the waterfall. Apparently, there's a right way to hold onto the rope (one hand in front, one hand behind your back gently guiding you down) and a wrong way to hold the rope (basically everything I was doing - hanging on for dear life with both hands in front with the rope slowly and painfully sliding through my death grip). After what felt like three hours but was more realistically three minutes, I made it to the bottom to the excited/relieved faces of the other volunteers. I thought to myself, "I can be done with this now" but there were still four waterfalls to go. What followed was essentially a how-not-to-repel-down-a-waterfall informational video and I was the leading lady. I only lost my footing once but luckily, Hannah turned out to be more than capable of holding me up and we had a good laugh about it at the bottom. 

When we finally made it down the last waterfall, I gave Hannah a hug and thanked her for a fun day. She laughed and told me she had a confession to make - this was actually her second day on the job. She knew I was scared and didn't want me to be nervous so she "fibbed" and said she had done this hundreds of times. Oh Hannah...YOU HILARIOUS JOKESTER. At that point, my life was no longer in her hands so we were able to laugh about it but for future reference Hannah, that is NEED TO KNOW INFORMATION. 

 (Look! No hands!)

 (We made it!)

 (Hannah)

 (Regretting every life decision I have ever made)

 (Always a lady)

 (Rhiannon and I at the bottom of the "slide")

(Que viva Ecuador!)

That night we ate dinner at a local brewery then went out on the town for some drinks/dancing. We stopped at a "bar" that was fully-lit and had a single pool table in the middle of the room and they literally only sold $.50 tequila shots (only in Ecuador).

The next morning we woke up a little hungover and ready for our next excursion, rafting! Once again we geared up in wetsuits, Keds, and helmets, and boarded a bus to ride down the mountain to the river. Rhiannon's friend was our rafting guide and our group was large enough to fill one of the five boats. We spent the first 30 minutes on land learning the different signals from the guide and then we launched our boat into a calm part of the river to practice paddling. There really were only two rules on this trip, listen to the guide and do not lose your paddle. 

The river was wedged between two different mountains and the scenery was incredible. It felt like we were paddling through Jurassic Park (minus all the dinosaurs). As far as teamwork goes, we did pretty well but our paddling was basically useless. I can't imagine any amount of paddling would make that much of an impact aside from turning the boat but we fought the good fight anyway. We made it through the first couple of rapids no problem but to no one's surprise, I was the first to fall out. In my defense, it was a pretty huge rapid and my foot slipped from under the seat. I did manage to hang on to my paddle and made it back into the boat no problem. The next person to fall out was Rhiannon, in her defense..her friend pushed her (rude...but hilarious). Next up was Janie. For part of the trip, Janie was given the "special privilege" of sitting on the front of the boat with no paddle and only her hands to hang on. She was about as stable as a baby deer on a trampoline, it was only a matter of time. Last but not least, I fell out one more time and this time was a little more harrowing. I got a stomach full of river water and while I did manage to hang on to my paddle, I was quickly floating down river. During our training the guide told us to always keep our feet down river in case we encountered one of the many large rocks/boulders. By the time I turned myself around, I was out of reach from the safety rope. Everyone kept yelling "hold on, we're coming!" as I asked myself for the hundredth time "why the hell am I still holding onto this stupid paddle?" After a few too many waves and what felt like an eternity, the boat finally caught up to me and I was pulled inside. Our guide was wearing a GoPro camera on his helmet and we have lots of pictures but we do not have them in our possession yet, once we do I'll update this post so you can see some of the cool scenery and hopefully some awesome action shots! 

After about an hour in the boat we stopped at a calm part of the river for a quick break and some additional fun. We stopped under a bridge and the guides said if we wanted to, we could jump off. Rhiannon, Shemesh, and I walked up with a few other people from the other boats and I'm not going to lie, this was a lot higher than my waterfall jump in Mindo. The first few people to jump landed fairly gracefully with the occasional back-flop followed by an "OOOHHHHH" from the audience below. The only caveat to jumping off the bridge was that you had to swim back across the river to make it to shore. Since Shemesh didn't go through with his jump in Mindo, he was hellbent on making it this time. He climbed over the rail and took a few seconds to psych himself up and then he jumped and landed like a complete idiot. I don't know if he was in shock or just a horrible swimmer but his arms were not moving nearly fast enough and he started to float away. Everyone was yelling "SWIM! SWIM!" but he wasn't making much progress and getting dangerously close to the next rapid. One of the guides grabbed a safety rope from his boat (the rope is coiled into a bag so when you throw the bag, the rope is supposed to unwind as it falls) but it didn't land anywhere near Shemesh (YOU HAD ONE JOB) so two of the other guides jumped in a boat to go rescue him. Once I knew he was safe, I almost died laughing. Shemesh, if you are reading this, you are as graceful as a swan. There was no way I was following that so I decided to hike back down but Rhiannon made the jump and she was able to make it to shore sans rescue mission. Once everyone was back in the boat, we paddled down the river for another 45 minutes or so. It wasn't a race to the finish but if it were, we would have won. 

Our last fun adventure was to Casa del Arbol (tree house) which has "The Swing At The End Of The World." On our way up the mountain we stopped at a different swing that swung off the face of a cliff and looked far less sturdy. When we arrived, a man had his young daughter on his lap and they were swinging carefree into the abyss. While death isn't guaranteed if you fall off this swing, at the very least you would get horribly horribly injured. We decided to pass but took a group picture to capture the memory. We rode up to the original swing and had a good laugh because there were so many clouds, we couldn't see ten feet in front of the swing. This swing was still exciting but not as dangerous as the first one. If you were to fall off, you would fall pretty far but at least you'd land on a hill before rolling down. The line moved fairly quickly and we were able to take some cool photos anyway. 

 (The first swing. Also, this is pre-haircut...yikes)

 (Baños)

 (What a view!)

 (You win, clouds)

(Nailed it)

If you are planning a trip to Ecuador, I would definitely suggest going to Baños. It's a beautiful place with plenty of fun things to do!

Katelyn Visits Ecuador!

This post is long overdue but hey...better late than never right? Last month, Katelyn Bleach (my best friend since kindergarten), came to visit for my birthday! I didn't think I would be super emotional when she arrived but when I saw her walk through Customs, I cried. I blame the high altitude. We hugged for about a minute and I can't explain how nice it felt to be able to share my "new life" with someone from back home. 

We arrived back at the Center around 11:00 pm so everyone else was already asleep. I gave her a quick tour of the house, warmed up some leftover llapingachos, and then it was time for bed. We woke up early the next morning and I gave her the grand tour of the Center. It was surreal having someone from back home seeing what I see every day. Since she arrived during a weekend there weren't any kids around but I had fun showing her where I teach and introducing her to the other volunteers. 

Since all of the volunteers had a long vacation for Fall Break, Shemesh, Janie, Katelyn, and I decided to take a trip to the coast. Shemesh and Janie decided to save some money with a nine hour bus ride (KILL ME) while Katelyn and I chose to fly. I am so glad we did because apparently, the winding bus ride through the mountains was merciless, and Shemesh ended up puking six times. "He chose...poorly..."

Katelyn and I weren't sure how bad traffic was going to be since most of the country also had vacations planned for this particular week so we left early and arrived at the airport about two hours before our flight. The flight lasted about 45 minutes and we arrived in Esmeraldas around 4:00 pm. Luckily, Michael had decided to fly home to the United States for break so I was able to borrow his local phone. I tried calling Shemesh and Janie but they weren't answering their phones (always a good sign) so we hopped in a cab and headed toward the hostel. 

Knowing the cab ride would be about 45 minutes, I was relieved when the driver told us he knew where we were staying (he didn't). The drive through Esmeraldas was...how do I put this gently...interesting? According to Lonely Planet "Esmeraldas is ugly, dangerous and dirty, and there's really no reason to stay here. Most tourists just spend the night (if they have to) and continue southwest to the popular beach destinations." Nailed it. We too were planning on going to a popular beach destination, Atacames. 

I wasn't sure how much of what we saw was due to the recent earthquakes and how much of it was just Esmeraldas, but I was growing increasingly anxious and I could tell Katelyn was too. The beautiful sunset slowly descending behind the mountains merely served as a reminder that it would soon be dark and the cab driver was clearly lost. We drove for what felt like forever through the dilapidated city, at one point passing a front lawn that was literally on fire, and we each took turns "finding the humor" in the situation while the other person silently freaked out. I was too nervous to take my phone out so I don't have any pictures, you'll just have to trust me on this one. 

Luckily, I had the number for the hostel written down so the driver was able to ask for directions. About halfway through the ride, Shemesh called and very nonchalantly stated "you should still come to the hostel but it's not where we're staying. Don't freak out. It's a long story. I'll explain everything when you get here." Click. Katelyn and I looked at each other in disbelief. I reassured her that Shemesh was more than capable of finding a solution (she seemed mildly convinced) so we continued our journey with our breaths held and our fingers crossed. 

When we arrived at the hostel where we had originally planned to stay, Shemesh told us the manager had tried e-mailing him a few weeks prior to get partial payment. Despite providing a local phone number where we could have easily been contacted, since Shemesh never responded to the e-mails the manager gave our room away. If you are an intelligent, rational human being, you'll understand why this makes absolutely no sense so I won't bother explaining how angry we were. 

To make a long story short, the manager's wife had a friend who owned a "hostel" a few blocks away and they happened to have a room for us for the low, low, price of $30 a night. Shemesh and Janie hopped in our cab and we drove to our new "hostel" at the corner of "Someone Has Clearly Been Murdered Here" and "Abort...ABORT!" Mr. and Mrs. Bleach, if you are reading this...I apologize. 

What had been described as a hostel was more accurately a temporary low-income apartment complex. There was no sign, no lobby, bars on the doors, and bars on the windows. Despite being one block from the ocean, it felt like we had walked onto the set of Zero Dark Thirty. On the bright side, there was an outdoor pool, it really tied the whole place together. 

 (The abandoned alley where our "hostel" was... what could possibly go wrong?)

 (A room with a view)

 (Zero Dark Dirty)

(Murder free since 2003)

As soon as our door was locked, we all pulled out our phones and began looking for other options but since it was a major holiday, everything was showing up booked. By that point we were all tired and hungry so we decided to walk down the beach toward a more popular area to try to find some dinner. As we were walking, we literally saw someone get robbed. I wish I were kidding. About 15 steps in front of us, someone grabbed a woman's purse that had been sitting on her beach towel, and took off running. The woman's family witnessed this happen and began chasing said robber down the beach and our day continued to get better and better. 

On a whim, Shemesh decided to stop into a hotel he thought looked nice, just to see if they had any openings that weren't currently posted online. By some incredible miracle, another group's car had broken down earlier that day so they had to cancel their reservation. We almost screamed in his face "YES WE'LL TAKE IT" when the owner asked if we were interested in the room. At the time, we didn't have enough cash on us to pay the deposit, so we told him we'd walk back to our hostel and come back with our payment in 15 minutes. His response? "Don't get robbed."

Since we had already partially settled into our original room and it was getting dark, we didn't want to lug all of our stuff back down the beach, so we decided to stick it out for one night and move our stuff early the next morning. Once we walked down the beach towards the touristy area, it was actually quite nice. The main street was filled with restaurants, tiki bars on the beach, and an active night life. We ate dinner, had some drinks, headed back to the hostel, took a late night swim, and promptly fell asleep. 

We woke up early the next morning to the gentle call of 1,000 roosters and packed our bags for the new hotel. The new place had clean rooms, a restaurant, a pool, a balcony with hammocks overlooking the ocean, and best of all, there were no bars on the windows. Our room overlooked the pool and the beach and we all sighed a breath of relief that we were no longer "in immediate danger."

We spent our first full day laying by the pool and swimming in the ocean. The ocean felt like bath water it was so warm and we were finally able to relax and start having some fun. We walked down the beach past vendors selling fresh ceviche and tour guides promoting parasailing and whale watching. There were tons of families relaxing on the beach and playing in the waves. We walked to a tiki bar that had swings instead of chairs (so hipster) and cooled down with some blended frozen drinks. 

 (Now we're talking)

 (The view from our new room)

 (Mountains)

(I spy with my little eye...someone getting robbed)

(Obligatory pano)

For dinner, we decided to go to a pizza place on the main street, and the meal was definitely worth writing about. First of all, we were the only people in the restaurant. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because apparently, there was only one person working there. We each ordered a personal-sized pizza and about an hour later, the first one arrived. Katelyn had ordered cheese but wasn't feeling well so the rest of us devoured what she didn't eat. When the plate was empty the waiter/host/bartender/cook/owner took the wooden pizza pan away and about 20 minutes later, Shemesh's pizza arrived. He had ordered pizza with shrimp on it and it was delicious. Again, once the plate was empty the same man came out to collect it and it became very clear that THIS RESTAURANT ONLY HAD ONE PIZZA PAN! Janie and I were so hungry we were ready to eat our own arms. We had ordered what we thought was pizza with peppers, mushrooms, onions, and potatoes but 20 minutes later our pizza arrived covered in hard boiled eggs. OK Spanish...YOU WIN! At that point we didn't even care. We ate the rest of our pizza and got the hell out of Dodge. 

Apart from hanging by the pool or going to the beach, there really wasn't a whole lot of "tourist" things to do. We all needed to stop at an ATM but apparently, the closest ATM was at a bank 15 minutes away - typical Ecuador. We jumped in a "cab" and rode to the bank. I put "cab" in quotation marks because it was more like a rickshaw. The front part was a motorcycle and the back part looked like it was once part of a car/wagon. Was it entirely safe? Who knows? Then again, this whole trip was already an episode of "Missing Abroad" waiting to happen so we just went with it. 

(No seat belts? No problem!)

 (Some photos from our trip to the ATM)

That night, we sat on the balcony and rocked in the hammocks, as we listened to the ocean and laughed about this ridiculous trip. The next day we played in the ocean (I'm not-so-secretly awesome at bodysurfing) and set out to find an Italian restaurant we had passed on the way in. Shemesh and I share a birthday so we didn't mind splurging on a fancy dinner and I'm so glad we did because it was awesome. The restaurant was on a side street about 5 minutes from the beach. It was mostly an outdoor patio with trellises covered in grapes, a brick oven for pizza, and a chef from the United States who had spent many years learning to cook in Italy. We treated ourselves to pizza, pasta, gelato, and wine. Tired and full, we rode back to the hotel with a fresh bottle of wine and ended up playing cards on our bed until we fell asleep. We woke up early the next morning and packed our bags before we made one last stop at the beach. The four of us flew back to Quito and I am proud to say, WE ARE ALL STILL ALIVE! What an adventure. 

 (Boarding the plane like royalty)

(Andes Mountains)

Katelyn still had one more night in Quito so we went to the market in Plaza Foch where we each bought some Christmas presents and then we headed to my favorite craft brewery. Camino Del Sol is one of very few places in Quito that offers beer other than Pilsner so we like to go there as much as possible. Most of the volunteers were still on their own vacations so we ate dinner at home, watched the movie "Sisters", and then talked until we could no longer keep our eyes open and it was time for bed.

(Not Pilsner)

For her final morning here, we took the teleferico up Pichincha (volcano) but we could only stay for 30 minutes because Katelyn had to catch her plane back to the states. We made it back home just in time and Katelyn was able to make it back safe-and-sound-and-Malaria-free. 

 (Pichincha) 

(Teleferico)

(Miss you already!)

Crazy bus, crazy bus, riding on the crazy bus!

First of all, let me start by congratulating anyone who understands the Arthur reference in this blog title, you clearly had an awesome childhood. To put it lightly, riding the bus here in Quito is not my favorite pastime. We are lucky enough to have private transportation on the Center bus to the downtown Center every morning but in the afternoons we have to ride back public. 

There have been many interesting experiences on the bus thus far but here are a few recent gems. One day, I was riding the bus by myself back to the Center and my seat was facing away from the door. I had my headphones in and was drifting in and out of sleep when I heard the most horrifying and alarming scream I have ever heard in my entire life. Honestly, I thought someone had gotten shot. I jolted awake and turned to see what was going on, terrified something truly horrible had just happened. Oftentimes, the bus will begin moving or closing it's doors before everyone is fully in. On this particular day, a woman about my age had just made it onto the platform, but her hand got stuck as the doors slammed shut. The bus has two parts so the driver didn't notice right away and she continued her bloodcurdling screams until the driver finally stopped and opened the doors. Luckily, there was a nurse on board and she was able to assess the situation. In my expert medical opinion, it looked like her fingers were broken but the nurse didn't seem too worried. Everyone else in the bus was silent while I debated how long was appropriate before I could put my headphones back in - Mother Teresa over here. The woman and I ended up getting off at the same stop and while she was still clearly in pain, I think she'll be just fine. Or she died. Who knows?

My second story is far less dramatic but equally seared into my brain. Again, I was riding the particularly crowded bus back to the Center standing next to a seat with a seemingly normal looking man sitting in it when all of a sudden this guy takes two dollar coins, presses them together, and begins pulling stray beard hairs out of his face! GRRROOOSSSSS! After 20 minutes, he had a handful of beard hairs which he promptly dumped on the floor, right before he fell asleep and left me with this image forever. 

Last but not least, one of my favorite bus stories. A few weeks ago I was heading home when the bus pulled up to the station and revealed an enormous group of Ecuador soccer fans. I was reluctant to get in but I didn't feel like waiting 15 minutes for the next bus to arrive so I shoved my way through the crowd and about 10 minutes later I managed to get a seat. The fans were mostly young men and they were having a blast singing their team's fight songs and celebrating a day off work. I tapped the shoulder of one of the guys in front of me and asked what team they were playing. This was an invitation for everyone else to sing louder, ask me a million questions about where I was from, what I was doing in Ecuador, and whether or not I was single. It was all in good fun until we arrived at a bus stop across the street from someone wearing a rival jersey. Some of the guys began yelling out the window and when the seemingly innocent bystander began to engage and yell back, they threw empty soda bottles and garbage at him and he began filming the bus. Just what I need, my face plastered on the front of some newspaper with the title "Gringa Incites Hate Crime." Unfortunately for my "new friends" a police officer also happened to be at that station (apparently things get pretty crazy when these two teams play each other) and before we could make it to the next stop, five police cars had circled our bus and we were forced to pull over. 

The guy sitting in front of me didn't seem too worried but he asked if I would pretend to be his wife so he wouldn't get arrested. So romantic. I politely declined and nervously laughed as the doors opened and three police officers boarded the bus and began telling anyone wearing a jersey that they needed to leave. My "almost future husband" made one last attempt for my hand in fake marriage but since I didn't even remember his name, I wasn't about to go to jail for him. The rest of the passengers cheered as the bus was cleared, mainly because it freed up about 20 seats, and we went on our merry way. I assume those guys eventually made it to the game but I will never know. As we drove away into the sunset, I waived farewell to my almost-Ecuadorian lover. We would have had beautiful delinquent children.

Lice, Lice, Baby

Has it really been over a month since my last blog post?! Yikes. As you can probably tell by the title of this post, I had the good fortune of contracting head lice here in Ecuador...winning! Before this nightmare began, I was blissfully unaware that head lice is actually quite common here. It all started during Girls Program when the mom of one of my girls came in during shower hour and began combing through her daughter's hair with a fine-toothed comb. When I asked her what was going on, the other girls began yelling "Piojos! Piojos!" I grabbed my phone and typed the word "Piojo" into Google Translate and sure enough...Lice. 

No one but me seemed remotely phased by the situation. In America, when someone gets lice, that student is banned from school for a week and every parent in their class gets an alarming letter sent home warning them to CHECK YOUR CHILDREN! Here, honestly no one cares. We continued on with our day and I made a mental note to keep a safe distance from this particular student. Fast forward two days later, we had some time to kill before library so I let a few of the girls braid my hair. Real smart, Kel. About halfway through the second braid I realized my horrible mistake. I turned to look who was playing with my hair and sure enough, ol' lice head was tying her rubber band around my braid and using her lice-filled brush to comb through my hair. NOOOOOOOOOO!

I immediately jumped up and sent a prayer to the hair gods that I would dodge a major lice-filled bullet but about 12 hours later my head started itching and I knew without a doubt that I now had lice. I walked into the doctor's office and tried not to cry as the nurse examined my scalp. As soon as she found one, she wrote down the name of a special shampoo and sent me on my way to the pharmacy. I was grateful the other volunteers were willing to cover my classes, probably because they didn't want to be anywhere near me, and I rode the bus 45 minutes to the mall where I bought myself some new combs and a special new shampoo.  

Just to prove how different we treat lice in the United States than they do here, the other volunteers wouldn't come near me and I was "jokingly" forced to sit at a separate table for dinner LIKE A LEPER! Thanks, a$$holes. I begrudgingly understood that no one else wanted to share in my misery so I didn't mind taking some extra precautions. The following day I asked Maria, one of our cooks, to please look through my hair and HELP MEEEE! She was so sweet and patient as she combed through my hair. I think she could tell that I was not-so-subtly freaking out because she kept telling me not to worry and reassuring me that lice were not a big deal. Easy for you to say, YOU DON'T HAVE BUGS IN YOUR HAIR! Madre Cindy walked by and let me know that it was safe/encouraged to keep going to class because "half the kids here have lice anyway so you don't have to worry about giving it to them." As sad as this is, it makes sense because most of these families don't have running water and their living conditions are less than ideal. 

After Maria finished combing through my hair, she washed all of my sheets and clothes in extra hot water and I deep-cleaned my room for the next two hours. The following week I diligently showered twice a day, changed my sheets every morning, and begged numerous people to please check my diseased head. Caitlin, a former volunteer, suggested I ask my Girls Program girls to check my scalp because they do it for each other and their tiny fingers are great at finding lice. She was right. Four days in I sat on the floor of the art room as three of my girls eagerly looked through my hair, seemingly elated that I was just like them. The sisterhood of the traveling lice. Caitlin reassured me that getting lice "is actually a compliment because that means the kids hug you and love on you enough to transfer it. Sucks to be popular ya know." Caitlin, my angel. 

I have been lice free for a few weeks now and I have definitely learned my lesson. Now that I've had it, I can recognize a child with lice from a mile away. It's like when you're in the market for a new apartment and suddenly, "for rent" signs become the only thing you see. I see kids casually itching their heads every day here but that doesn't mean I'm going to wear a bag over my head and refuse to give them hugs. I treat all of the kids the same, lice and all, and as with everything else here in Ecuador...lice.goes.on. 

Whew...time flies! Instead of trying to cram the past two weeks into this post, I'll give you the highlights.

Second Grade
I really lucked out being placed in the second grade classroom. Every time I walk into the room I'm greeted with warm smiles, eager waves, and the sound of 20 squealing voices yelling "KELLY!" Except for Nicolas, who can't pronounce my name, so it sounds like a mix between Carley and Carrie..."KRLY!" We'll get there. I'm with second grade every morning for two hours and when I'm there the kids have math, writing, art, and recess. When they're not calling my name, they are yelling "profe!" which is short for professora (teacher). They love showing me their work and I love showering them with compliments and attention. Most of the time I can understand what they're saying but when I don't, it's pretty easy to figure out based on context. If a kid is pointing to his picture and holding a blue colored pencil and looking confused, he most likely wants to know if he should be using the color blue. It's not rocket science. Mostly I just smile and nod and when I can't understand but it seems important, I tell them to ask Roccio. I love hanging out with second grade during recess and I try to take as many pictures as I can. When it's time to leave, they all shout as I leave the classroom "Ciao, Kelly!" except for Daniel who blows me a kiss and yells "Ciao, mi amore!" It cracks me up every time.

 (Looking above the courtyard behind school)

 (Daniel hanging out on the slide)

 (Second grade)

 (Angelica, Eva, and Maria at recess)

 (Jean-Pierre, Santiago, and Nicolas...here comes trouble!)

(Melany and Mary - my two little peanuts!)

Sixth Grade/Seventh Grade English
Rhiannon and I teach 6th and 7th grade English together and it has been so nice having her in class! Rhiannon was a year long volunteer last year so she's back for round two. Her spanish is amazing and since she knows most of the kids she's able to bring class to another level. We have been teaching the kids descriptions this week (tall, old, blonde, blue eyes, etc.) and they seem to be having fun with it. Sometimes it's hard to tell if the entire class is understanding what we're teaching because there are so many kids (7th grade has 37 kids), but we try to make class fun and exciting.

Ninth Grade English
Ninth grade is one of my favorite classes because they understand more english and I can relate to them on a different level. "I'm not like a regular teacher, I'm a cool teacher." Luckily, I only have 22 kids in this class so it's a little bit easier to manage but I'm on my own and sometimes, they can get a little rowdy. I'm lucky that this class is never disrespectful but they love talking, getting up and walking around the classroom, standing at the window, and forgetting their notebooks. I was sick and tired of letting kids leave to go downstairs and get their notebooks so I established a policy if they forget their notebook, it's one point off their final grade. Magically, almost every kid remembered their notebook the next day. Weird. I do have fun with this class and there have only been a few occasions where I've lost my cool. We have a point system where if they have a good class, we get a point for the day and once they reach 30, they will get a movie and a treat. Last Friday I needed a break so I let them play soccer instead of class. The kids all had fun and it was fun for me to watch them just be kids.

Art Class
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I assist in the art room for three hours in the afternoon. Art is so hit or miss for me. Some days I really enjoy it but other days it's complete chaos. The art teacher is a very talented artist but he struggles with classroom management. Some of the classes are so huge that there are 40 kids running around and it's impossible to get anything done. Last week I suggested we split the class into boys/girls and I would take the girls into another room and he would stay with the boys. It worked surprisingly well and we have stuck with this system thus far. One of my biggest frustrations with art class is that the projects are boring and don't take up enough time. Every week it's the same thing, here's a half sheet of white paper and some crayons/colored pencils, draw your house, draw some shapes, draw your favorite sport, draw whatever you want. The kids finish their drawing (assuming they started it in the first place) in about ten minutes and then they have 40 minutes of boredom or mischief. I do my best to sit down and draw with them because most of them end up copying what I'm doing anyway so if I can drag the process out, I do. Here's a picture of the rowdy 6th grade boys after I started drawing a dream catcher and they all wanted to try...love it!

Thursday was "draw whatever you want" day so the 5th grade girls decided to have a singing/dancing party. I asked them if they liked the movie Frozen and was treated to 25 minutes of "Let It Go." The girl in the gray shirt cracks me up. 

Girls Program
Fourth grade is a notoriously difficult grade and like I wrote before, I have all 19 girls in my Girls Program. We are just finishing up our first project (headbands) and we're about to start our second project, hand-made christmas ornaments. For a few weeks now I have been struggling with Girls Program because there's just so many of them. Trying to teach them all how to sew, getting them to sit down, getting them to line up, getting them showered and dressed in 30 minutes, and getting them to the library is REALLY DIFFICULT. After a really long day I reached out to the directors and asked for backup and I'm so happy I did because they sent me Laura, my angel! Laura used to coordinate the shower program but now she is helping me and she is awesome. Laura is excellent at crafts and since she's local, she obviously speaks fluent spanish. The whole vibe of Girls Program changed when Laura came and now it's quite enjoyable. I also implemented a new point system for the girls. If they line up on time, behave, shower quickly, and respect the rules, they get green circles for the day. If they are late, goofing around, or not listening, they get red circles. 20 green circles = one sucker. My favorite is seeing how fast they shower now, the first person to finish showering and get dressed gets 3 points. Two girls who I literally had to drag out of the bathroom because they were so slow now race each other to be the first one done. It's amazing what a little bribery will do. 

Computer Class
On Tuesdays Shemesh and I teach a computer class to 10 teachers/staff. This has been one of my favorite classes because they are so fun to work with and eager to learn. It's amazing what we take for granted back home. Some of the students didn't know how to turn on the computer much less how to use a mouse. We have spent the first few weeks learning the basics of Microsoft Word and it has been so fun and rewarding seeing their progress! My students always greet me with a warm hug or polite kiss on the cheek. I need to practice receiving a kiss on the cheek because I always get nervous and try to go in for the hug so the other person ends up kissing my ear or hitting their nose on my cheek. I'd like to think it's a cultural thing but it's really just me being bad at life. 

Irfeyal
This is the class that I wrote about hating and feeling like a total failure. Now that the classes are split into two manageable sizes, I actually like teaching this one. This week we learned numbers and practiced writing out equations. Sometimes I feel intimidated because a lot of my students are older than me and they speak NO ENGLISH but we are learning together and I'm excited to see how far I can get them in a year. 

Overall I am enjoying my time here but I would be lying if I said it was all easy and fun. Teaching in a second language is really challenging and the schedule here is incredibly demanding. I wake up at 6:00 am every morning and most nights, I don't stop teaching until 7:00 pm. My first two months have taught me flexibility and patience. Every day has its own unique ups and downs and there is never a dull moment. My time at the center has challenged me in more ways than I could have ever imagined but with those challenges comes a newfound strength and personal growth. While I'm learning a lot about my students and the culture here, I'm learning even more about myself, mostly that I can do anything I set my mind to. Even though they sometimes push my buttons, I love my students and want nothing but good things for them. I'm looking forward to the year ahead and all that it will bring!

Mindo.

It's been a while since my last blog so thanks for sticking with me! School has been going well, this is week three already and I'm starting to get into a routine. The days are really long and teaching so many classes is a lot of hard work but the good times have been outweighing the bad so I'm happy. 

(Having fun at recess)

This weekend, seven of us took a trip to Mindo. The Mindo Valley is among the most heavily visited locations in Ecuador. Nearly 200,000 tourists visit the area annually to enjoy activities such as rafting, tubing, trekking, mountain biking, canyoning, horseback riding, and birdwatching. **Thanks, Wikipedia!

We had so much fun and everything was really inexpensive so it would be great to go back with more friends. We woke up early Saturday morning and took a two hour bus ride through the mountains ($3.10). When we arrived, the weather was sunny and beautiful. We could walk across the main part of town in less than 10 minutes and we were surrounded by shops dedicated to tourist activities. We found our hostel ($13) and settled in. The hostel was owned by a nice family who lived there year round. The building reminded me a lot of a treehouse. Five hammocks hung from the balcony giving us a beautiful view of the mountains and a perfect spot to relax. 

 (Michael relaxing at the hostel)

(A view of town)

We ended up booking all of our adventures through one family business so they gave us a few discounts throughout the weekend. Our first activity was tubing ($5)! We rode in the back of a pickup truck through town and up the mountain until we reached the river. There were a few guides from different companies waiting for their groups, this was clearly the spot to launch. Our guide's name was Jefferson and while I swear he looked 16, everyone else thought he was older than that. I'm still not convinced.We suited up with helmets and lifejackets and jumped in seven rubber tubes that were tied together with rope. The water wasn't too cold and we spent the next hour laughing and screaming as we made our way down the river. If there was a rock within ten miles, my side of the tube found it. Our solution to getting stuck on a rock was rocking back and forth while Jefferson jumped out and pushed. Ohh, Jefferson!

(Tubing with Jefferson - not pictured - not because he drowned)

After we finished tubing we drove back into town and had lunch ($3.50). Next, we drove to another part of the mountain ($3) and hiked through the forest to some waterfalls. There was a waterslide coming off the side of the mountain which ended up being a lot of fun until Sean took a turn a little too fast and ended up scraping his arm and back pretty badly. He was a trooper but it looked really painful. After a few rides down the waterslide we found a place to cliff jump. "When in Ecuador." Three of us were brave stupid enough try it out, I was first. 

The cliff was next to a waterfall and I later confirmed the jumping point was 26 feet above the water. My harness and lifejacket were tied to a rope and I tried not to vomit as the lifeguard man holding the rope instructed me to "stay straight as a pencil" and some other things I can't remember. Safety first :) He threw a handful of dirt into the swirling water below and pointed..."that's where you want to land." PERFECT. What a perfectly antiquated rescue system, we all feel much safer. I took about 30 seconds to psych myself up, reconfirmed that the rope holder was ready, and jumped into the freezing cold water. After a quick inventory for any missing limbs, I was so happy I jumped! What a rush. Shemesh was next but after a few minutes of inner turmoil, he decided to pass. Robby was last and landed like an idiot (sorry, Robby). The guy with the rope pointed at me and said "you did great...him...not so much.) Luckily, Robby survived and we all had a good laugh. 

(Water...fall?)

 (Post jump)

 (1,000 photo credits to Michael for bringing his camera, and for guilting me into never giving him photo credits)

 (Hiking down to the water)

(Suit up!)

We had pizza and beers for dinner ($10) and played cards at the hostel until the rest of the group went on a "night walk" into the woods. The night walk was led by some Canadian guides and they looked for spiders, snakes, bats, etc. Not my idea of a fun time. I ended up hanging out at the hostel with a girl named Anna from Germany. We talked in the hammocks for a while and then walked down the street where an impromptu drum circle was happening (wow, that's the most hipster sentence I have ever written, I apologize). Once everyone returned from the hike, we went out to the two local bars and met two girls who were halfway through their Peace Corps contract. They were super nice and fun to hang out with. We also made friends with a stray dog someone named "Nicely". 

(Drum circle)

The next day, we ate breakfast and went ziplining ($21). There were ten ziplines and we were grouped with a mom and her two young sons. This was my first time ziplining and it was fun but I'm not sure I would want to do it again. Don't get me wrong, it was a lot of fun but I feel like I get the gist. The bugs were horrible as we hiked through the woods and my legs are covered in what feels like 100 mosquito bites. Lesson learned, wear pants. I made it through the first nine ziplines no problem but on the last and fastest one, I lost control and ended up spinning around and scraping my neck against the wire. I didn't cry but it hurt a lot and I was super embarrassed. I was the second to last person to go and apparently, when he saw I had lost hold of the wire, the guide at the top radio'd down and told the guide at the bottom to catch me. Luckily, Michael was standing by with his gloves and the guide was able to stop me with no broken bones. Winning! 

(Ziplining)

(Winning at life)

(ALL the mosquito bites and rope burn)

Our bus was leaving at 4:00 pm so we had time for lunch and one more activity. We had lunch on a cute little street with a bunch of gourmet restaurants. I had spaghetti bolognese, lemonade, a bottle of water, and fried ice cream ($10) and it was amazing. Our last stop was to the butterfly garden ($4). It wasn't very impressive but it was still interesting. We saw some butterflies, a sad looking Koi pond, some very angry geese, and a garden filled with hummingbirds. Attached to the hummingbird garden was a nice porch with hammocks so we relaxed there until it was time to leave. 

 (Flowers in the butterfly garden)

 (Eye spy)

 (Flower canopy)

(The saddest Koi pond ever)

All-in-all I thought Mido was amazing and I would definitely go back again! It was nice to forget about school for a while and just explore.