Going Home

Today I bought a ticket to go to Cleveland for Christmas! I'm excited! And it's a good thing because I found out today my family is going to Santo Domingo (not my favorite place) for Christmas.

So last week I went to Cuicocha with a few friends. It is this beautiful crater lake near a town called Cotacachi, which is known for leather goods. I'll definitely have to take anyone who visits me to Cotacachi. Cuicocha is cool but I'd rather go see Quilotoa (a much bigger and prettier crater lake). Hopefully my sister, max, and I can go there.

Then I headed to Quito for the weekend. On Friday I caught up with some WorldTeach friends. We all seem to be having a good time and having similar experiences. We all have a hard time making friends with locals and miss a lot about the United States. I also had a meeting with Kate about Ambato and SECAP. Ambato seems to really want me to move there. Maybe it could be a good thing for me. It's a lot more central which means I could see more of Ecuador. And it is a bigger city so I could meet more people. Perhaps Ibarra is getting to small for me. I will keep you updated on any news about me moving. I also played a very long game of monopoly on Friday night and lost after 4 hours. Sad game. But I did find an Ecuadorian Monopoly! It's $30 but I'm thinking it's worth it.

On Saturday I went out for Kate's Birthday in a Chiva. It is a large bus/truck combination with no seats and a dance floor. You drive around the city drinking canelazo (the hot drink with a special alcohol) and dance. It was so much fun! Then we went out to other clubs to dance some more.

On Monday I had my first classes of the new module. I had 8 in my basic class and 0 in my intermediate. On Tuesday I had 11 in my basic and 1 (who showed up 45 minutes late) in my intermediate. And today I had 9 in my basic and 2 in my intermediate (one still showed up 45 minutes late). This is why I need to leave Cecami. I have NO students! I came here to teach... not to putz around and hope I have students.

Tomorrow Shari and I are going to judge an English spelling bee at a high school. I'm excited! But spanish speakers always mess up P, B, and V. I hope I don't kick a kid out of the competition because I heard him/her wrong!