Did I fail to mention....

- there are now 5 guests (2 Sweds, 2 French Canadians, and me) and 3 Ecuadorians in my house?

- I went to Baños last weekend with some friends? We rode bikes, ate some yummy food, and had imprinted t-shirts made (reminded me of the BFF T-shirt I made with my friend Judith when we were kids).

- I´m heading to the jungle this long weekend (no classes on Monday and Tuesday because of Carnival)?

- I keep getting sick? The weather here lately has been horrible and I think the air gets more polluted everyday.

- I am having a very good teaching cycle? Excellent students, it´s really been a blast!

- I´m taking salsa lessons? Yep, I´ve had 8 lessons with Marco who is a great teacher. I have thought about taking lessons when I get back to the States.

- my Spanish is improving little by little? It feels good when Ecuadorians compliment you on your Spanish.

- I´ll be in the Galapagos with my parents in just about 3 weeks? I can´t wait!

- I have a Spanish exam in just about an hour that I haven´t studied for? Ooops!

Mindo is Lindo

Sorry, I know the title is cheesy but it´s true!

Last Saturday, my friend Kristin and I spent a few hours in Mindo hiking and saw a gorgeous waterfall (pictures to follow in the next few months). We left early in the morning and returned to Quito in the late afternoon. We hiked for about two hours and ate a great lunch.

I want to go back at some point because there is so much to do there - tubing, seeing butterflies and birds, etc. Great day trip!!

Living with the Marias

Ok, I am feeling a little left out. All the females in the house except me and another guest in the house (Ingela from Sweden) are named Maria. There is Maria Ines and Maria de la Paz who are identical twins (except for their hair; Maria de la Paz has longer hair right now). Then there is Maria from Sweden - she is volunteering here until March. There were two more Marias (Maria Augusta and Maria Gracias) when I arrived in January, but they just recently moved out of the house. It´s a bit nuts. I can´t say `Maria´; otherwise, 3 or 4 heads turn to respond! Ah, the Marias!

Ecuadorian Survival Words Part 2

On Oct 28th, I posted the first part of my list of Ecuadorian Survival Words. After living with a family for 3 weeks, I have a few more to share.

1) PLENO - This word means the same thing as chevere such as 'cool' or 'awesome' or 'great'. I told my family that I have an easy schedule this time because I am teaching the same level and I don't have too much to prepare. They say, 'Que pleno!' (or 'How great!').

2) QUE BESTIA - This has two meanings and it all depends on your tone. It can mean 'Wonderful, marvelous, wow!' or 'How horrible!'. I have been sick all week with gripes (a cold). On Thursday, I couldn't talk at all and how to teach my class without a voice (new challenge/adventure) and my sister said with a sad tone, 'Que bestia!'.

3) CHUTA - It's the equivalent of 'Crap!' in English. When something bad happens, you say, 'Chuta!'. For example, I decided to share my binder of notes and ideas with other teachers for a level I wasn't teaching at the moment. I left it in the teachers' lounge for everyone to see with a note on the front asking everyone to please return everything to the binder. Two days later, another teacher and I were looking at the binder, and we discovered a bunch of things were missing. At this moment, I said, 'Chuta!'. See if I leave anything in the teachers' lounge again!