Wednesday, May 14, 2003 - 4:57 p.m.
Chris
After returning from the weekend in Lake Quilotoa, nasty rumors that started the night before we left were confirmed true. One of my friends and fellow teachers, Chris from Boston, left CEDEI and Cuenca mid-term. He didn’t tell anyone, it was a surprise to my boss as well as the rest of us teachers. We found out on Monday (May 5th) when we returned to school.
We learned later that when he turned in his mid-term grades, he also turned in all of his textbooks and a note to Bridey (our boss) that wasn’t discovered until the following Monday. His note said that he was leaving CEDEI because he got a teaching job in Japan. However, it didn’t take long for the truth to get out, that he went back to Boston. He had told me that he planned to get a job back in his hometown this summer where he would be making a handsome salary to make up for the money lost down here in Ecuador (we barely make enough to live off of and almost everyone dips into their savings, especially to travel on the weekends & do extracurricular activities).
I had noticed that this term Chris had been isolating himself a bit, and that he wasn’t attending any social events with the other teachers. It’s true that this term (spring) has not been the same with so many teachers having left, especially Berni and Diana. We were a good group, I believe the four of us were really close. I had concerns about whether spring term would be able to hold up to the previous ones, as I had had a lot of fun playing cards, hanging out and traveling with my friends. Also, people were saying that Chris wasn’t enjoying his classes this term, he didn’t like his students and he was always the first to criticize CEDEI and it’s policies.
I am really sad and a little angry that he left without telling anyone or saying goodbye. I know he had no affection for CEDEI, but I really wish I could've hung out with him one more time, or at least been able to say goodbye.
Volunteer work
For spring term I decided to only teach two classes, instead of the conventional three so that I could do some volunteer work, something I’d wanted to do since I got here. My first choice was to work with street kids, I had heard there was a shelter near the bus station. However, I soon learned that the shelters were only open in the evening and that’s when my classes are. I was disappointed but not deterred. The school here helps with volunteer placements, so I looked at my other options and decided to help out in a local elementary school. Since arriving in Ecuador I have been very curious to know what the public schools are like here. I had the impression that the quality wasn’t so great. Also, from teaching ninos at CEDEI I thought perhaps the discipline was lacking as well. After looking at a few schools I decided on one that in fact was a private school, but inexpensive as private schools go. Again, I would’ve preferred to work at a school for poor children, but this school and the Ecuadorian English teacher were very eager to have help and the location was excellent. I agreed to volunteer for 2 hours twice a week. I started the beginning of May.
At this school there is only one English teacher (he actually teaches at several schools), the kids have English class a couple times a week. The classes are large, with about 30 to 40 students (compared to my classes of 9 at CEDEI). My expectation was that I would be assisting the English teacher in class, but I quickly realized, with chalk in hand, being left to myself with 40 squirming little 8 year olds that that was not what the English teacher had in mind. He would give me a real basic idea of what he wanted (‘teach them the alphabet song’) and then disappear for about 15 minutes. One time I even used to cassette tape that went with the book, both resources (and only resources) in my humble opinion being of poor quality. I have also been impressed with how much time the kids get for recess. It’s common for kids here to go to school for half a day (schools have 2 sessions, morning and evening, the evening highschool classes get out at 10pm), and these children appeared to get about an hour of recess a day! Although my volunteer work was not what I wanted, I did learn a lot during those brief few weeks.
Salsa classes
For a little extracurricular activity, I also decided to take some Salsa classes at the local bar and favorite hang out of CEDEI teachers “El Ache” (which means ‘The H’). There were about 5 of us teachers who signed up with the bartender and owner of the bar, Pepe, as our teacher. Far from being a professional dancer or teacher, we knew we weren’t getting top quality lessons, but on the other hand, they were cheap, at about a dollar an hour, 3 days a week for one month. It was a challenge having dance classes directly after work without even having dinner yet (7:30 to 9pm), however it was also fun and I learned a lot. I could say that I already sort of knew how to dance Salsa before the classes, but that really depended on how well the guy could lead! I definitely applied the “Fake it ‘til you make it “ adage when it came to salsa dance. I swear that Latinos are born with an extra set of hip muscles, and also it is so engrained in their culture and their environs it’s no wonder that they can all dance well (they even play salsa music during recess at the school I volunteer at). I’ve always said there’s two things about Ecuadorians: they know how to party and they know how to Salsa!
