Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas!!

I love you all and miss you! I feel very blessed though to have a family and friends that I love enough to miss so much this Christmas. I hope Santa brings you all presents instead of coal...and even better than that happiness and good health. Hugs and kisses from Quito!

So a quick update as well, and I'm very sorry for the long delay. The power has been out at all the wrong times lately and the internet as been very sporatic. I have also been having lots of fun at all kinds of cute Christmas parties and presentations here at the Working Boys' Center.

So to start, last week for a final class with the high school girls before the end of the semester, the other English teacher volunteers and I had a "Gingerbread" House Contest with the girls. Okay, so of course it wasn't gingerbread, and not even graham crackers, but we found some similar cookies, made some frosting, and bought lots of yummy candies. All the girls made "Santa Clause's House" as I think that was there best frame of reference from the movies. It was a lot of fun and the girls got really into it...I will try to add pictures later when I get them from Sarah.

Another fun party was with the special ed kids. There are five kids and I teach one of them, David, every morning. There were a bunch of visitors that came in and gave all the kids brand new outfits and some toys. They really got quite the loot. Also, super funny, we had a clown come in! Usually Santa Clause or Misses Clause comes perhaps, but nope, we had a crazy clown. He was actually pretty entertaining though and the kids loved it! So overall a success!

On Saturday, we had mass at both Centers (both here in Cotocolloa and downtown in La Marin) to celebrate Christmas, and also where the first graders give their hearts to Jesus. It was adorable (especially as I teach a majority of the first grade boys between my 2 English classes in each center). They all made red hearts with their pictures on them and layed them down on the alter. I pray that it really was something more than putting a piece of paper down though, and hopefully they can continue to grown in their faith here at the Center. Then after mass at each center we (the volunteers) handed out big bundles of donated clothes to each family. It was fun as we know the people we were giving things to, and we got a hug and kiss each time we gave a family a bag. Kind of felt like Santa Clause ;)

Then Monday and Tuesday were the preschool presentations at each center. ADORABLE! They were all dressed up to be a living Nativity set (with many angels and some snowmen too) and then did little dances and songs and such. Of course, for the most part they all kind of wander around and wave to the crowd a lot, but it doesn't even matter because they are so darn cute! I was thinking about my Aunt Ginny the whole time and all her little ones.

Four more masses to go in the next two days and two more parties! Then Sunday, Brennan comes! I will be praying for all of your traveling in the States and also keep in your prayers all of our families that our visiting Ecuador this holiday. Feliz Navidad!

Love,

Taylor

VIVA QUITO! VIVA EL CMT!

Long Live Quito! Long Live the Working Boys' Center (El Centro del Muchacho Trabajador)!

Last weekend was the Fiestas of Quito as well as the Center's birthday...meaning it was basically a party weekend! This year was the Working Boys' Center 45th birthday/anniversary. As tradition, every year they have a pancake (very American) breakfast then carnival games and a dance in the afternoon to celebrate. So at 6AM on Saturday morning all the volunteers were over in the kitchen cooking for all the families. Most volunteers were on pancake duty, making hundreds of pancakes, but I ended up cutting fruit with my high school girls. It was AMAZING how much fruit there was. Then I helped in making the plates, which included a pancake, scrammbled eggs (really good), fruit salad, and coffee. Right after breakfast there were festival games outside on the soccer field. I painted faces almost all morning. It was cute too, because some kid came over and asked me to paint the Liga logo and after that I am became the "Liga expert" for most of the time. We also did a "dunk tank" that they ended up dragging almost all the volunteers into doing. It was funny though...and cold. There was an empty soda bottle sitting up on top of a garbage can that the kids had to knock over. If they knocked over the bottle, the volunteer got a big kettle of water poured over them. I got soaked like 7 seven times before they switched me out! Yikes! All the kids thought it was SO funny though, so it was well worth it!

In the afternoon (after a quick nap), we all headed over to the downtown center for a sandwich and cake and then a dance party. I mainly danced with the little girls, especially Belen who is about 5 years old. She was exhausted and really just wanted to be held by the end! It was a really fun day and celebration. Both the Cotocollao Center and Marin Center were together so it was a big event and everyone had a lot of fun!

After all these events were done, all of us volunteers headed out to celebrate the Fiestas of Quito (founding of Quito). We were all exhausted but found that 2nd (or 3rd) wind to keep going. We first went to La Ronda, a pretty, historic street downtown. It was packed with people, so we had one hot sugar cane alcohol drink (Canelazo) and then headed to La Mariscal. I was planning on heading home shortly after we arrived, but Adam, Cinthya, and I met up with some of our friends from Guayaquil. They are our "fiestas" friends, as we met then during the weekend we went to Cuenca for their fiestas and then they also came for the Fiestas of Quito. I ended up staying out dancing until 3AM! It was a very long day, but a lot of fun and a good time to hang out and connect with my students and also the other volunteers.

Then St. Nick came on Sunday morning ;) so I was up early, but then headed back to sleep until almost 11AM. I took a shower and headed over to my old host family's house for lunch. I hadn't seen them in a while, so it was so good to catch up and see them. They even had a cute little Christmas tree up (Iola Grandma, it kind of reminded me of yours...about the same size). Maria Luisa made a delicious meal and then they even bought me an ice cream cake for my birthday! They know that I LOVE ice cream, so they specially got it for me and sang me Happy Birthday. Cinthya and Norma (cousin and aunt) were there too and got me this really pretty leather wallet too, with my name engraved in it! It was so thoughtful. I ended up hang out over there all day, talking and playing cards. Playing cards was a lot of fun. We played "The" game of Ecuador, called Cuarenta (40). I was taught how to play 2 years ago by Osvaldo (the deaf uncle), so it was fun to play with him again as well as the others.

Sunday night I was in bed my 10pm as I was exhausted, but definitely enjoyed all the events of the weekend! We have Center events every weekend (and during the week) until Christmas, so it will be packed with parties and fun time with all the Center families! Hope you all are in the Christmas spirit...and (for all in Wisconsin) loving the Winter Wonderland! <3 Taylor

A Special Birthday!

Okay, I wanted to just add this quick update because my high school girls are so sweet! I teach 3rd course, which is the highest here at our school (but really an equivalent to freshmen girls). I really enjoy them, but I also get frustrated with them at times too. One example was yesterday. They were basically all at class like 10 minutes late and so I had a discussion with them about how that is not acceptable for life and especially not when working. They were all like silent the rest of class and could tell I was mad. I told them they all had to be on time to class today or I wouldn't let them enter.

Well, they were definitely all on time today.....and then made me leave. I wasn't really sure what was up, but I could tell they were up to something. Well they all lined up outside of the classroom and then quickly entered to be at the front of the class and sing me Happy Birthday in English. Then they gave me this cake with all these Liga (my soccer team here) decorations on it and sang the fight song for me. A majority of them are fans of the other really popular team in Ecuador, Barcelona (big rivals), but they all sang the Liga song for me. It was very sweet as I've been teasing them for the last couple weeks about it. They even lit a soccer ball candle for me and then had me bite the cake...and then smash my face in it! They also bought soda, chips, and sweets. It was very thoughtful and clearly they worked really hard at it.

So to make it even cuter, I was telling another volunteer, Laura, about it tonight and she told me about how they had been trying to make money for the party all week! They bought a couple bags of chocolates and were selling them to their friends and other people in the Center to make money. I guess by yesterday they had enough money for the chips and soda, but then they working really hard today to buy the Liga cake from the bakery. It was clearly from the heart and it is amazing how generous they are despite having a lot less. Pretty special ladies...

Thanksgiving

Well I have now had my first Thanksgiving away from home. On Thursday I had simply a regular work day, and honestly it was kind of weird. I thankfully got to talk to my family though and also got a wonderful package from my amazing friends to brighten my day! And I did have my first grade boys make Turkey hands...just like I did back in about first grade.

Today (Sunday) we had a delicious, all-American Thanksgiving meal though! Madre Cindy made it all...she refused to have any help. She is a great cook and really made an awesome meal. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes (kind of), cranberries, etc. Also pumpkin pie and apple pie with ice cream! Yum! There were other Americans (basically former volunteers who live in Quito) here as well for the festivities. Unfortunately no football and tv specials though...but I am currently watching Love Actually for the second time in 2 days!

Being Thanksgiving, it also got me thinking of all the things I'm thankful for. I really do have a pretty good life. I am so thankful for all of you, my family and friends. You guys are the ones who are sending me emails and notes, listening to me in the hard times, and always there to brighten my spirits. I am also so thankful for people here in Quito. I have definitely been challenged in the last couple months, but also been able to experience such genuine love and an opportunity to understand different ways of life. I know that this month will definitely be hard at times, but I am thankful for a such a huge, loving God that I know will provide me ways to keep my head and positive!

On another note, my soccer team, LIGA, is about to win the South American Cup on Wednesday. They played their first leg here in Quito on Wednesday and won 5-1 making it nearly impossible to lose in Rio de Janiero on Wednesday. Woo hoo. It was awesome as someone at the Center gave me a ticket to the game, because they knew I loved going to the games so much, and I got to experience the hysteria and fun! It was amazing!

Love you all! Happy Thanksgiving (a little late)!
Taylor

Fun Times

Sorry this is going to be just another one of those scattered update blogs. I've had a bunch of fun events lately, but they are really necessarily related...

1 - I did a reading program with my school-age girls for the past month where they would get points for reading, more points for reading with a voluteer, and also points for finishing a book. Well they had an incentive of a field trip if they reached 50 points. So last week almost all the girls got to 50 points (or close), so Adam (the other group leader) and I decided to take them on their field trip. We got permission slips filled out and everything of our 10 girls, but then on Sunday only 4 showed up. We decided to take those 4 girls to the TeleferiQo, which is a tram that took us up to the top of one of the mountains where we could see all of Quito. It was a cool experience, but we had to wait SO long to get on - seriously these girls were so patient though. It was cute to get spend time outside of class with them and just love on these 4 girls.

2 - Also last weekend I went over to Doctor Elizabeth's house, who is the director of special ed and the psychologist at the Center. She had all of the volunteers who work in special ed (6 of us) over to her really nice house. Also her two kids who are close to our age, 17 and 25, were hanging out with us too. We were all just laughing the whole time and having fun all together. Also, there was a ridiculous amount of meat - she FILLED the grill up with sausages, pork tenderloin, hot dogs, and some other long sausage thing...it was a lot! It was good though.

3 - Final big event from this last week was the semifinal South American Cup soccer match that Liga (my team!) played in on Thursday evening. Liga lost the first game in Uruguay to this team, but they always play home and away with aggregate scoring. Well, needless to say they wanted revenge. We won 7-0!!! It was amazing. None of the other volunteers could go, so I was planning on meeting up with Doctora Elizabeth's kids but I got there just in time (and there aren't assigned seats) so I couldn't get a hold of them. Also basically the cell phone companies just get so backed up that I didn't get any of their message and they didn't get any of mine until 40 minutes after the game was over. It was okay though, my first sports event "alone," but with so many goals I was friends with the guys around me by the end of the game! I am super excited for the Finals on Wednesday now!

Well I can't believe it is nearly the end of November already...time flies. I am excited for Brennan now to be coming in just a little over a month! I can't believe it. Hope you all have a lovely fall weekend! Love, Taylor

limiting oneself

"Relationships are never about power, and one way to avoid the will to power is to choose to limit oneself - to serve." (The Shack)

I have recently been reading The Shack again as it really makes me think a lot, and it puts the description of the trinity in such an accessible way. I so often barely even distinguish between God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, but reading this book has allowed me to think of the roles of each while also in perfect unity as One. Of course, it still confuses me quite a bit, but I love to think about it especially the mystery of the Holy Spirit always with us.

Well, anyway this one quote (or actually entire passage on page 106) really stuck out to me about limiting oneself in relationships. The passage is concerning Mack, the main character, talking to God and the Holy Spirit about his family, but questioning why he needs to tell them, as he of course knows that God and the Holy Spirit are already all-knowing. The Holy Spirit responds, "Remember that choosing to stay on the ground is a choice to facilitate a relationship; to honor it. Mackenzie, you do this yourself. You don't play a game or color a picture with a child to show your superiority. Rather, you choose to limit yourself so as to facilitation and honor that relationship. You will even lose a competition to accomplish love. It is not about winning and losing, but about love and respect." I really do believe this is true about God, which is why I pray and know that He listens even if He already knows.

Also, this stuck out to me a lot based on my work. I work with children all day, everyday and often times try to see life in their shoes in order to better connect. Specifically I think about reading with my two teenage boys who are just learning how to read. When reading today, we all took turns reading and then I also asked comprehension questions and expounding on the story. They know that when I ask them questions that I already know the answers to it is not to make fun of them or to prove I'm better, but for them to learn and because I want to know what they are thinking. I am not sure that I am able to communicate this very well exactly, but I do know that I want to be able to limit myself, or put others' first, in all relationships. I think that to be a true servant and loving daughter of God, I need to step back and make sure that I am not trying to gain power through my actions but rather respecting and honoring my relationships through service. I definitely need to rely more on God for such actions to happen, but I pray that I can move more in this direction.

The Shack explains all of this a lot better than me, but it definitely got me thinking a bit. I'd recommend reading it or rereading it if you've got the time.

Dios les bendiga, amigos!

Love,

Taylor

Halloween Fun!

Hello!

Sorry for the slow update time...my computer is once again out of commission.

Last weekend was Halloween! Big deal in the States, especially Madison of course, but not as much here. People know what it is and everything, but it's not like people are trick or treating and carving pumpkins. Well, considering we are 13 American volunteers here at the Center (and love any excuse for a party!) we planned fun activities for the kids. During girls program, we had lots of fun dancing, face painting, playing musical chairs, and decorating the bat cookies. In the picture you can see some of the cute little kitties.

I started off the day dressed up as a soccer play (super creative), but then during girls program some of my high school students came up with their faces painted and convinced me to go with them down to the beauty salon where some of my other high school students painted my face! It was kind of creepy looking on me, but they did a good job so I kept it on for the party with the high school girls - and then because I was busy the whole rest of the day, my face was painted all the way traveling to Banos and even when I went out dancing there for the night!

So beyond all the Halloween celebrations, this past weekend was a long weekend for us as it was the Day of the Dead and then the celebration of the foundation of Cuenca. Therefore, I had a fun traveling adventure. I started off going to Banos with 3 German guys where we danced until 4am, and then road bikes Saturday to the Pailon del Diablo again (I was there a couple weeks ago with other volunteers), but this time we got soaked! Then we went to Rio Bamba in order to catch a bus to Cuenca for the festivals. Well, the last buses were full on Saturday night, so we ended up spending the whole night in a dark, and honestly a bit scary, bus terminal. Praise God we stayed safe and made it out on the 5:30am bus to Cuenca.

In Cuenca, I met up with 4 other volunteers, Cinthya, Adam, Jessica, and Lauren, for the rest of the weekend. We enjoyed hiking in the national park (Cajas) for the day, and also being part of some of festivities and just exploring the town. The best part was dancing along to this crazy, relatively unorganized show in the main plaza in celebration of the city. We even got sprinkled with these makeshift fireworks that shot out right at the crowd. We all were laughing so hard and grabbing onto to whoever was around us to duck. Oh, Ecuador!

On a final note, it is sad how much I miss football and am definitely still following all the Brett Favre news. How crazy! Don't worry you all though, I'm still rooting for the Packers! As an alternative, I have been able to go to 3 Liga soccer games now, which have been fun! Tonight I got home from La Marin (downtown) at 8:55pm and quickly put on jeans and ran over to the stadium for the game with Jess. We had a blast and Liga won so they are in the semifinals for the South American Cup! We sat with La Muerte Blanca (the craziest fans), so it kind of has a college atmosphere and people are standing and chanting the whole game. It was a fun 2-1 victory! Sorry about the very scattered blog, but I'm tired and just wanted to put up a quick update! Life is good though and I am really enjoying what I'm doing.

Much love,
Taylor

Pearly Whites!

Two important things about me, which most of you probably already know (especially those of you who have lived with me):

1. I LOVE to brush my teeth....maybe even slightly obsessed.


2. When I see an opportunity where I can easily make a change, I am going to do it!

Well, I put those two together today. A couple weeks ago I bought an extra bottle of toothpaste at the store, because I noticed that while my girls take showers, they are also supposed to bring toothbrushes. Gloria, the lady that passes out the towels during that time, then would give them paste for their brushes. She always said she didn't have any, so I made it my job to give them the paste. Well, only half of them have brushes and the majority of those brushes were NASTY! Definitely not something I would put into my mouth ever!

I got fed up enough today that I walked the quick 10 minutes over to the mall to buy toothbrushes for the girls. I brought 6 brushes with covers from the US, but I have 10 girls in my group. I found some brushes with these silly little elephant covers, but I bought them. Then while in the toothbrush aisle, I saw a steal! Two toothbrushes in a pack for $0.77 - I am not even sure if that is good in the States, but whatever I was satisfied enough. I decided to buy toothbrushes for all of my students (except the high school girls) and I am going to make it part of my routine to brush our teeth at the beginning or end of every class. I started with my first grade boys in La Marin today and they loved it! They were pretty excited about their new, squeaky clean toothbrushes...and not to mention they all love the taste of toothpaste!

So, hopefully at least 30 kids at the Center will have some pearly whites now!

Okay, beyond just my toothbrushing obsession, things have been going well here. I am definitely starting to feel at home and a lot more comfortable. I feel that God has really been just putting people in my life recently to lift me up and give me that extra support here. I have recently connected with two of my Ecuadorian friends from study abroad, and I have been doing a "discussion group" (Bible Study basically) with 3 other volunteers. It is a definite answer to prayer to be feeling that truly there is no where else that I am supposed to be right now (even though I do miss you all at home). In saying this though, please keep praying for all of us here, because there are still some other volunteers here who have not come to that point yet, which makes this job a lot more draining and difficult.

Love you!

Taylor

P.S. I also splurged today and bought a new cell phone - one that actually works! So if you want, I know that Skype is pretty cheap to call Ecuador (well like 12 or 14 cents a minute) I'd love your calls, as often our internet goes out here, so I haven't been the best about calling very often. My number is 593 08 452 1057. I am available weekends, lunch time (11 or 12 until 1:45), and after 8pm CST.

“Baños…un pedazo del cielo”

Hola!

Just got back from a fun, refreshing weekend in Baños! I left Friday morning with Sarah, Kate, and Carl to head out of the city and into this beautiful town completely surrounded by mountains. The advertisement for the city is “Baños…un pedazo del cielo” (Baños – a piece of Heaven) and it surely is.

We got lunch on Friday and then took a little nap. Well everyone else took a 4 hour nap, but I definitely relax better getting outside and being active. So I met up with my friend Cesar, who I met during study abroad, and we hiked up to a big cross where you can see all of Baños and the other mountains. It was a gradual hike, but it had just rained and was very humid, so I was extremely sweaty! It was totally worth it though and helped me get my mind completely off of my work. Then I returned back to the hostel with my friends, and we played some cards and went out for dinner. We ended the night with some hot chocolate on a balcony for some great people watching….I know we’re pretty wild :).

Then Saturday, we got up pretty early to eat breakfast and rent bicycles for $5 for the day to bike through the mountains on “La ruta de las cascadas” (the route of the waterfalls). Wow! It was basically a purely downhill bike ride, so that was fun and absolutely amazing scenery. We walked down to 2 beautiful, huge waterfalls, El Pailón del Diablo and La Cascada de Machay. They were a workout, but amazing to see and explore. We then hopped in the back of a truck with our bikes to get back to Baños! We all took quick showers and then headed out for the Ecuador vs Uruguay World Cup Qualifying Game. Unfortunately, Ecuador lost in a last second penalty quick, but we’ve all still got a little hope alive here for the game on Wednesday versus Chile. Ecuador needs to win in order to straight out qualify or play a Central American team to qualify for next summer’s World Cup. Sí se puede, Ecuador!!

We slept in on Sunday, and then Sarah and Kate got massages while Carl and I did another hike up to a statue of El Virgen de Agua Santa. It’s another fun hike where you can see the entire city from the top and even the snow on the top of Tungurahua (the big volcano). After an afternoon of walking around we took a bus back to Quito, refreshed and ready to be back with the kids. I truly love and care about so many of the kids and families here at the Center, but weekends like this are what keep me going and ready to put 100% more of myself into what I am doing. Weekends away give me time to think and process while enjoying God’s glorious creation! No doubt I am meant for city life, but need my time to breathe in the fresh air every once in a while as well!

Much love!

Taylor

Hold on one second (or week)...

Well sorry it's been a while... sometimes God just says hold on one second and wants you to get your priorities in order I guess. Last week I had a tough week physically, but I think it got me more mentally prepared to be here.

I unfortunately broke my computer two Sundays ago, which was definitely a disappointment. It's been amazing the support and tireless work that Madre Cindy, Hugo, and German have put into getting me a new hard drive and trying to get everything all set up for me. There are just a couple more little things to get figured out and programs to download....and my computer is up and running better than before! What a great example to me of good Christian people that put their work and parts of their lives on hold to help me out without getting anything in return.

Also last week I had the pleasure of having bed bugs! All I ever had heard of beg bugs before last week was the saying my dad always told me before bed: Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite! I have gotten rid of my comforter now though and doused my room with Raid and I've slept so much better. It definitely made last week more challenging without much sleep, but knowing the situation I recognized where I needed to be more conscious about my attitude and actions. Prayer definitely helped!

This week has just felt awesome with everything going smoothly. And to make it even better I got to see my first football game since I've been here! What a ridiculous game!?! I still can't figure out why the Pack didn't take Brett back ;) I'm a Packer fan all the way though, so that was a tough game to watch, but still watching football just made my week! Tomorrow is the end of our week as there is a holiday on Friday, so I will be leaving Quito for the long weekend for Banos. I am excited to get out and into the fresh air!

Drink some hot chocolate (with peppermint if you can) to stay warm in Wisconsin!
Much love, Taylor

FIESTAS!

This past weekend has been fun and full of parties, so I thought I should add a quick update!

On Thursday evening after our full day of work, we all went to this event honoring Padre Juan for the 45 years of the Working Boys' Center. It's pretty cool to be part of an evolving mission and live with the founders! Father John started the Center living in the roof of this beautiful Jesuit church downtown, La Compania, with some of the working boys. Then Madre Miguel came and it evolved, and eventually they bought their own building. Now there are 3 Centers (La Marin, Cotocollao, and La Gota de Leche) and whole families are involved in the Centers. This is why I teach classes from 6 years old to parents.

Anyway, the party was a fundraiser for the Center, and it was basically a bunch of rich Ecuadorians and then also some of the teachers and the directors of the Centers. There were some speeches, the chorus sang, and Padre was presented this huge painting of himself. It's actually a really nice picture I think, but huge, and he was joking afterwards with us about "what the hell he was going to do with it." He told us he was going to put it in our rooms! He's a funny guy! After the presentation, there was wine and whiskey with hors deourves....like sushi (we were all laughing), humitas, chicken, and some sweets. It was really a beautiful event, and it was cool to see how many people came out to support the Center.

Then Saturday, I played soccer with a bunch of the Center members. It was mainly moms and then some of the colegio (middle school/high school) girls. Both games I played in ended in a tie. I played goalie in the 2nd game....yikes. They're all pretty bad though, so it is more just a fun, active, social event. I do have some battle wounds though, so it's aggressive just bad! I'll probably try to play most Saturdays if I'm in town.

Saturday night I went to the wedding of the brother of one of La Marin Center directors. The wedding was in the Compania church downtown, which was absolutely gorgeous. Then we walked over to the La Marin Center for the reception. It was a late event though! We didn't eat until about 11:30pm, and then I left at 1:30am as I was exhausted and they hadn't even cut the cake yet! It was cool to be invited to the event though and dress up and such. Today, I went to my first LIGA soccer game of the year! I love the games! It is so much to in the sports arena atmosphere and the fans get really into it. It was a big game too, Liga v Barcelona, which is a big rivalry as they are the two biggest teams from the two biggest cities, Quito and Guayaquil. Liga from Quito won 4-0, which was amazing and a great celebration. Then I got another one of those delicious ice cream cones...raspberrry and chocolate today!

So it was a fun weekend and now time for another week of school. We might not have class tomorrow though as there are supposed to be huge protests by the indigenous population that is supposed to shut down all the ways in and out of the city. We'll see though... Time to watch The Wire and head to bed!

La playita

Last weekend I finally got out of Quito for a bit and went to the beach! It was such an awesome break to totally get away for the weekend. Albeit a little crazy, five of us decided to actually go...leaving Friday night after classes at 12AM for a 6 hours bus ride to Atacames and arriving back Monday morning at 6AM ready to teach at 8AM! You're only young once, right!?!

The beach was an awesome time to connect more with some of the volunteers and just have fun exploring together. We were definitely an active group, which I loved. I took a bunch of long walks up and down the beach, went whale watching on this crazy little boat, drank AMAZING batidos, and danced all night long (despite no sleep), even finishing up dancing on the beach to the music from the ocean side bars! What a great escape! Only effects I'm still feeling are my sunburned chest and legs - and I even reapplied and it was cloudy the whole time.

Well now I'm back in Quito, but things are starting to fall into place. I feel like I am slightly catching on to this teaching thing a bit more, but still there is quite a bit of room for improvement! It's better as I am getting to know my classes better though and understanding their levels and speeds for learning. The first weeks are hard to gauge.

My best story this week was tonight's adult class. It was only our 3rd real class for adults, but it was already one of our (Adam and I) student's birthday. We definitely wanted to celebrate, but still keep the class going and getting into a routine. Adam and I decided to buy a cake from the bakery and a big thing of Pepsi for the party. I got the soda and cake and Adam went and got the cups, napkins, and plates. Super cute: Adam kind of did a typical guy thing, but so thoughtful. He wanted to get party plates so he looked at the options and picked out one with people dancing, because it looked like a party. Well, they were actually wedding plates and they said "Nuestro Matrimonio" (nuestro matrimonio). We all laughed in class; knowing it was super thoughtful.

Anyway, we started the class learning a little basic English (please, thank you, my name is), then some math review from the day before, and read The Giving Tree (in Spanish) and asked some reading comprehension questions. Then with about 20 minutes left in class, we said we wanted to teach them a couple more English words. I wrote Happy Birthday on the board and asked if anyone knew what it said. One lady knew happy was feliz, but then no one knew what birthday meant. So I asked Luz (the birthday girl) if she perhaps had any idea. Finally someone said "tal vez cumpleanos"....and I of course wrote that on the board "Feliz Cumpleanos Luz." We took out the cake and soda and sang to Luz. She almost cried...it was so sweet! Definitely a success!

God continues to bless me with the most sincere hugs and kisses on the cheek here! I don't know how I would be getting through without them, but still get just as excited and feel just as loved by every one of them! I pray that each of you receive (and possibly even initiate) one of these agape hugs this week! Love you! Taylor

College in Action!

Buenas tardes! (Good Afternoon)

Sorry for the slow update time. Our internet was out yet again…and has been for almost a week now. There is still internet in the main office, but it is scary to go over there at night when all the lights are off and everything. Think about not having a cell phone or internet...in the States, a month ago, I don’t know how I could live without them. It makes your world smaller, but I guess it does lead to better direct communication because you have no other option!

The coolest story from the last week, or at least the most prominent in my mind, happened Monday. I got to see something I learned in college actually put into action. I took Child Psychology last semester, and we watched this video about these street kids in Brazil that were so quick with doing practical math, but had no idea how to do a written math problem. I wrote in my last update about how I have “special ed” in the afternoons, but with no teacher…just me and another volunteer, Sarah. Last week we started with Jasson who had never been to school before and this week Arsenoa also started school for the first time at about the same age (13).

Yesterday, I started going over vowel sounds with Arsenoa and basic reading from that (ma, me, mi, mo, mu, etc). After an hour and a half of reading, I decided to see what he knew about math. I tried to start easy, a simple subtraction problem. I asked Arsenoa to write in his notebook 10-6, but he didn’t even understand how to write a subtraction sign. So I decided to back track a little bit, knowing that all the kids here work on the streets, I asked him what he did. He said he washed cars and that it cost $8 to wash a car (I guess it must be a really good wash ). So I asked him if people ever give him a $10 and he said of course, so I asked him what the change would be, and he quickly replied $2. I told him to write it as a subtraction problem, but he couldn’t, so I showed him how. I was so amazed, so I wanted to see if something similar was true with basic multiplication/division. I asked him what he buys when he goes to the store, and he told me he always buys bread for 10 cents. I asked him how many pieces of bread he could buy with 50 cents, and he quickly replied 5. I was hoping to keep going on this theme, so I asked him how many he could buy with 30 cents….and his answer was 1 piece of bread and 1 yogurt! I just couldn’t stop laughing; his response was so honest and cute. We had to work through how many pieces of bread that would be, but he knew that was exactly enough for bread and yogurt.

Another highlight from last weekend was enjoying lunch over at the Arguello’s (my host family) and then hanging out with them for a while. With them I also discovered the best deal in town (and also possibly my demise), a 2 scoops waffle cone from Crepes and Waffles is $1.45 – and it is delicious! I got a scoop of brownie ice cream and a scoop of caramel! Other than that I am starting to figure out this teaching thing a little bit more and am enjoying knowing more of the kids and hearing my name called all the time. I am still having some rough times, but I appreciate all the prayers and emails and continued support. The plan as of now is to go to the beach with some people this weekend, which I hope will be refreshing and I can enjoy a delicious batido or two!

Amor y paz (love and peace)
Taylor

starting this teacher thing

Hey Everyone! (if anyone is even actually reading this)

I started teaching yesterday! Oh goodness, this is sure going to be interesting. Things are not necessarily the most organized here...and we are all brand new teachers. I am teaching this one boy, David, every morning, which should be cute but also takes a lot of patience. There are 5 kids that are in the "special" special ed...so it is intimate, but also each students takes a lot of personal attention. David is sweet though and shy, but I hope he will warm up after a bit.

I also have to plan activities to do with the girls 3 days a week to sell and make money for their family. I love doing arts and crafts with kids and stuff like that...but making stuff that is actually nice to sell will take some work. Anyone have ideas???

Then I had "special ed" again in the afternoon for 2 hours....well, no special ed exists in the afternoon. So, I spent a while walking around with the elementary school director trying to figure out what I should do. She ended up pulling these two boys out of their 4th grade class, Jasson and Sebastian. They both were old for their grade, 12 and 13, so that is why they got pulled out. When I got them for 1.5 hours alone, well actually Sarah another volunteer came for a while too, (neither of us knowing at all what to do) I started to find out more about them. Yesterday was Jasson's first day of school ever! And yes he is 13 years old. He is smart and really knows math, but can't read at all. It's hard pulling him out though too, because today we were talking and he was saying that he hadn't really met any friends yet. Talk about a totally different life...school, a home with more than 1 room/ 1 bed for 7 people, and not working as a child are things that I completely took for granted!

Also I give out towels for an hour a day....everyone in the Center is required to take a shower everyday (but then still put on dirty clothes, so often don't appear that much cleaner). Well I thought this would be a super easy job...yikes. It probably will become an easy job and fun to get to talk to a bunch of people, but these past 2 days it has been super confusing trying to figure out everyone's last name to X them off and making sure they get their towel back, which need to be counted so they don't get stolen. Some of the little ones don't even know their names or don't pronounce it very clearly which made it even more confusing. I'm glad it's been busy though, otherwise it would be boring just sitting there.

I haven't started my adult classes yet, but I will be teaching the highest level..level 3. I guess this is actual grammar and such...really wish I had my high school Spanish material here with me to bust out!

Well, some parts of these past couple weeks have been a difficult adjustment, but I still definitely believe that God has me here in Ecuador for a reason. It is a lot of different cultures for me to adjust to (some unexpected), which has been at times lonely, but I think it will make me stronger over all and I will find 'home' here in Ecuador. Also the amount of hugs I receive in a day can't keep me down too long!

I love and miss you all!
Abrazos (hugs),
Taylor

Algunos Photos

Here are a couple pictures of where I live and a quick weekend update.

This is my room:






And my own little bathroom - not too shabby though.


On Friday night, all the volunteers went out after our day of orientation. We first went to awesome apartment of some volunteers from last year who decided to stay in Quito another year, but get paid teaching positions. Then all us "newbies" went down to La Mariscal to dance for a while and then take a CRAZY taxi ride home....red lights here a suggestion - and let's just say on the way home our taxi driver decided not to take any of the suggestions ;).

On Sunday, we did a Minga (which means work gang, a Native American word). The Center works together as a big family to each individual family pull themselves out of poverty. One of these steps is helping people save money and build a home. We worked at a family's house that has been in the Center for 4 years and they are now adding on a second room to their home. We dug big holes for the supports all morning. It was fun to hang out as a team in accomplishing this goal and to do some physical labor!






The boys thought it would be funny to make this picture as awkward as possible....





This week will be spent meeting with the other Ecuadorian staff and planning our first week of classes. Please pray that all of us will feel confident in our Spanish to start teaching next week. Also pray that our students come ready to learn and for patience in all of us in handling the beginning of the school year and possible confussion due to the language.

Much love!
Taylor

SCHEDULES!!

I finally got my teaching schedule today! We all have been waiting very (im)patiently to find out what we will be teaching. Basically, I will be teaching a lot of special ed classes and begin every morning with an hour with one specific kid. Also I will be teaching some English to boys and high school girls. Every evening I end at the downtown school teaching adults basic literacy. I am for the most part pretty excited for my schedule. I am a little sad that I won't be spending as much time downtown in La Marin, so I probably won't meet those kids as well but also that means I will hopefully get to know the Cotocollao kids really well.

I have attached my schedule below as a picture. It might still change a bit though...already have had a couple changes today in the couple hours of having a schedule.

Time to rest before our first night out in Quito!
Abrazos (Hugs),
Taylor

Primera Semana

I'm in Quito! It is so awesome to be back in Ecuador starting this totally new adventure. I have already had the opportunity to eat lunch with my amazing host family from study abroad, seen many parts of the city for the first time, and eat lots of delicious, very fresh fruit.


I am living at El Centro del Muchacho Trabajador in Quito where I will also be teaching. There are 10 other new volunteers, all around my age, that will also be here for the year. It has been a lot of fun playing games with them and really just spending getting to know each other. Even after 4 days of orientation none of us really know what we will be doing and are just on information overload, but it is awesome to be all together in everything. We have been laughing so much at nights playing games like Celebrity, Psychiatrist, Mad Gab, Apples to Apples, and a variation of telephone.


The children are so open to love and all their hugs have been an amazing blessing this week...making it almost impossible to feel too lonesome. Praise God for children!


Love you all!
Taylor