There seems to be quite a lot to catch up on over the past few days...
So, on Thursday we had an inset day in school to get reports finalised for our accreditation with CIS (International Schools) next March. There was a lot of work to be done. However if you hadn't been there last year and weren't on a committee (i.e. me!) then you got off fairly lightly! A few of us looked over a 'horizontal curriculum', whilst lying on the bean bags in Nicki's room - seemed appropriate somehow! We highlighted the areas that the committee had felt were poor, thought about they could be addressed and how the action plan could be achieved. It gave us time to think about how the school can improve and how we can help it.
So at 10:30 we met back with other members of staff, to find out:
'if it ain't on the action plan, it ain't going in!'
So we made suggestions for the action plan, and felt fairly frustrated. I know that people put a lot of work into this last year, but we're here now and some of us really want to make a difference to this school! It seems like the whole accreditation process is just another example of lots of pieces of paper that are for show and won't actually change anything. (Ho hum!)
After this highly riveting meeting, I looked at my Literacy subject folders and found the policy for Literacy. Well...the policy is like a book and seriously unnecessary and the folders are...okay. There's a lot of work to be done and I discussed having some staff meeting time with Justin to introduce the new primary framework for Literacy.
I then spent the rest of the day on the internet - bit of research and a lot of time spent chatting with my Mum, Dad, Caro and my good friend Gaylie.
I was feeling in a holiday kind of mood because we had Friday off work due to the 'Fiestas de Quito'. Plus the sun was shining and I was looking forward to going to Yvette's after school.
Once at Yvette's, the laughter started to flow fairly instantaneously!
The more I know Yvette, the more I like her! She is amazing and told me about her first teaching post overseas, in Namibia. The more I listened; the more I got to know her; the more I realised that she is an incredible woman - I'm so glad to know her. It's not really my story to tell, but basically she triumphed over huge adversity and made a difference to a school and community in ways that others of us can only dream of. Such a strong lady.
That evening I met some of Yvette and Lazaro's friends, a very lively and lovely bunch of Cubans (Lazaro is Cuban). I also caught up with my friend Adam, who I met in Canoa. He's a sweet guy and spent most of the night telling me about the girl he's met who he's falling for! ( I hope it works out for him!)
On Friday, I got up quite late for me...after a fitful sleep with strange dreams. Santiago (another friend) had arrived whilst I was sleeping, but was out with Lazaro when I got up. They reappeared fairly soon.
Yvette and I had a superb breakfast of choc chip muffins (made by Yvette) and tea - all most delicious! She told me more about her life - growing up in Austraila and her utter determination from the age of 12 to go to Africa and solve it's problems. She also told me the story of how she left home, aged 5, telling her parents that they'd be alright! I am yet to hear the full story of how her and Lazaro met - but I know for sure, I will be enthralled!
For lunch, we went to Santa Clara market - for real Ecuadorian food and not any other 'gringos' in sight. It was great! I took quite a few pics. Santiago was really sweet and went round the market with me. We all had quite a hilarious time - Lazaro was particularly amused by Santiago's efforts to speak to me in English.
We had a spot of bother in the taxi on the way back - a drunk driver pulled out of a side street and almost hit out cab, then wouldn't get out of the way so we could get past (it was our right of way). The taxi driver took control of the situation and moved the guys car off the road and took his keys. We thought he was calling the police, but it turned out he was calling his mechanic to inspect the tiniest of marks on his cab. It was really quite surreal, but we got into another taxi and headed back home.
In the evening we got ready to go out with Gunther and his wife, they were taking us to a club and we had no idea where - but assumed it would be salsa. Santiago gave me a salsa lesson, much to Lazaro's amusement (and mine).
How wrong we were, we ended up at a club called 'Go-Go's'. It was playing lots of 'gringo' music, yet Yvette and I were the only gringas in sight. It was lots of fun and just before midnight a band came out and we all cheered, 'Viva Quito'. They were giving out hats and us girlies both wanted one - Santiago was charged with this task. However he failed and I can't quite remember exactly how I did it, but I acquired two (I think they'd just been left on the side and I picked them up, but my memory is a little hazy, due to the affluence of incohol).
After lots of dancing; laughing; drinking and hat wearing, we headed home, where we watched Lazaro weave his way into the house. (He was also highly affluenced by incohol!)
Late Friday night/Saturday morning I was assailed by memories - this week and last hold quite a few significant dates for me.
Saturday morning was spent in recovery and waiting to catch up with Amy - we planned to go to Otavalo. Annoyingly just as we were about to make plans the phone networks went down. I spent a frustrating 15 or so mins trying to make contact. Luckily though it was only for that amount of time and Yvette and I went to meet her.
After a short while at Yvette's we decided it was too late for Otavalo and headed back to mine, where we lounged in bed watching DVDs. It was lovely and just what was needed.
On Saturday evening we went out for Mexican and then met up with a guy Amy liked and his cousin. This all felt a bit weird, we went to the pub, but Ricardo (Amy's friend) wanted to go to La Esquina because it might have music and be more lively. Well...there was music (provided by one of Lazaro's friends - nice to see him and another couple who I met on Thursday again), but it was dead. We then moved tables several times which kind of annoyed me a bit. However after an espresso to wake myself up, I did enjoy myself. Ricardo's cousin was very interesting and we enjoyed discussing all sorts of things.
Back at mine, Amy persuaded me to play my guitar and sing - think I'm getting a bit braver on this front. However I really need to extend my repertoire and strumming technique! I need to write more of my own and learn more of other people's!! I did play one of my songs and both her and Ricardo seemed to really like it.
On Sunday we got up and headed to Quito to get the bus to Otavalo. Unfortunately we went to the wrong bus terminal and then had to take a taxi to get to the right one - this set us back a bit on time. Once at Terminal Terrestre we got tickets and found a bus that was just about to leave - hurrah.
The journey took about 2 and a half hours - we got out at the main road and walked down into the town. This was lovely and I wish I had taken more photos, but it had started to rain and I really didn't want to get my camera wet. I didn't really know where we were going, but we found ourselves at the food market and then in a nice restaurant. After lunch we found the artesania market and started Christmas shopping!
The market is at it's largest on a Saturday, but I really enjoyed being there on a Sunday. It was really quiet and there were still lots of lovely things to see and buy. Also with considerably less people, it was much easier to see everything.
I was most impressed by Amy's haggling technique and we both bought quite a few bargains. (I now have to work out how to send them home and hope that they get there in time for Christmas!). I also got myself a gorgeous alpaca blanket, shawl and jumper. They are very snuggly!
About 5pm (ish) I introduced Amy to the pie shop - we had the most enormous pieces of lemon meringue pie I have ever had (and I am a bit of a pudding queen!).
A short taxi ride took us to the bus station where there was a bus just about to leave for Quito. Our timing was excellent!
We snoozed on the way home and were glad to finally get home at about 8pm (ish). We had a chilled evening, which ended watching another episode of 'The Office' on my laptop. Amy bless her fell asleep - not surprising as she hadn't had much sleep for a few nights. We curled up and went to sleep.
So here we are at today - Monday! Had a fairly easy day at school - the kids got on with their DT project and I surfed on the internet (I did do a bit of work, starting to research what I'm teaching next term, in addition to some facebook action!). We also had a play rehearsal - the first time we've actually run through the whole scene. The kids and staff seemed to enjoy watching me line dance! At the end of the day I lead a singing rehearsal.
I got home and enjoyed some more time with Aims, who was undecided as to whether to go to Cuenca tonight or in the morning. After learning that James and Tam were also arriving in Cuenca tonight she decided to get the night bus.
Not long before we left we had a bit of a heart to heart. Aims felt I'd been a bit distant over the weekend - I finally got to explaining about Christmas. A big part of me had wanted to spend it with Amy, Tam and James, but when they decided they wanted to stay in Quito, I thought that maybe I would be intruding on their time together. I hated the idea of possibly waking up on my own on Christmas morning and being reminded of how far I am from the many people I love. I had thought about going to Argentina before and felt that for me it really is the right thing to do. There are other things that have affected my mood this weekend too - mostly memories and tiredness.
I couldn't explain to Aims that I hadn't felt sure whether they really wanted me there. I couldn't say that although all the times we've spent together have been amazing, that I had wanted more. Couldn't explain that I'd wanted to be a bigger part of her adventure here, that I'd felt gutted at the times that she'd been in Quito and I hadn't known. She's been so near and yet it's been really difficult to be in contact - I've had to rely on sending messages through to her friend's phone, but haven't always been sure that Amy received them.
I didn't need to say these things, because very soon I was reassured that she was gutted that I wouldn't be with them at Christmas, although she fully understands my need for Argentina.
And now I'm sitting here and feeling sad that she's gone; annoyed with myself for letting stuff build up in my head and wishing we'd been able to speak about it sooner. But I didn't want her to feel bad - last thing I wanted. However I am glad that I still have one more weekend to spend with her before she leaves Ecuador and I know I have found another truly amazing friend, who I will cherish.
So, on Thursday we had an inset day in school to get reports finalised for our accreditation with CIS (International Schools) next March. There was a lot of work to be done. However if you hadn't been there last year and weren't on a committee (i.e. me!) then you got off fairly lightly! A few of us looked over a 'horizontal curriculum', whilst lying on the bean bags in Nicki's room - seemed appropriate somehow! We highlighted the areas that the committee had felt were poor, thought about they could be addressed and how the action plan could be achieved. It gave us time to think about how the school can improve and how we can help it.
So at 10:30 we met back with other members of staff, to find out:
'if it ain't on the action plan, it ain't going in!'
So we made suggestions for the action plan, and felt fairly frustrated. I know that people put a lot of work into this last year, but we're here now and some of us really want to make a difference to this school! It seems like the whole accreditation process is just another example of lots of pieces of paper that are for show and won't actually change anything. (Ho hum!)
After this highly riveting meeting, I looked at my Literacy subject folders and found the policy for Literacy. Well...the policy is like a book and seriously unnecessary and the folders are...okay. There's a lot of work to be done and I discussed having some staff meeting time with Justin to introduce the new primary framework for Literacy.
I then spent the rest of the day on the internet - bit of research and a lot of time spent chatting with my Mum, Dad, Caro and my good friend Gaylie.
I was feeling in a holiday kind of mood because we had Friday off work due to the 'Fiestas de Quito'. Plus the sun was shining and I was looking forward to going to Yvette's after school.
Once at Yvette's, the laughter started to flow fairly instantaneously!
The more I know Yvette, the more I like her! She is amazing and told me about her first teaching post overseas, in Namibia. The more I listened; the more I got to know her; the more I realised that she is an incredible woman - I'm so glad to know her. It's not really my story to tell, but basically she triumphed over huge adversity and made a difference to a school and community in ways that others of us can only dream of. Such a strong lady.
That evening I met some of Yvette and Lazaro's friends, a very lively and lovely bunch of Cubans (Lazaro is Cuban). I also caught up with my friend Adam, who I met in Canoa. He's a sweet guy and spent most of the night telling me about the girl he's met who he's falling for! ( I hope it works out for him!)
On Friday, I got up quite late for me...after a fitful sleep with strange dreams. Santiago (another friend) had arrived whilst I was sleeping, but was out with Lazaro when I got up. They reappeared fairly soon.
Yvette and I had a superb breakfast of choc chip muffins (made by Yvette) and tea - all most delicious! She told me more about her life - growing up in Austraila and her utter determination from the age of 12 to go to Africa and solve it's problems. She also told me the story of how she left home, aged 5, telling her parents that they'd be alright! I am yet to hear the full story of how her and Lazaro met - but I know for sure, I will be enthralled!
For lunch, we went to Santa Clara market - for real Ecuadorian food and not any other 'gringos' in sight. It was great! I took quite a few pics. Santiago was really sweet and went round the market with me. We all had quite a hilarious time - Lazaro was particularly amused by Santiago's efforts to speak to me in English.
We had a spot of bother in the taxi on the way back - a drunk driver pulled out of a side street and almost hit out cab, then wouldn't get out of the way so we could get past (it was our right of way). The taxi driver took control of the situation and moved the guys car off the road and took his keys. We thought he was calling the police, but it turned out he was calling his mechanic to inspect the tiniest of marks on his cab. It was really quite surreal, but we got into another taxi and headed back home.
In the evening we got ready to go out with Gunther and his wife, they were taking us to a club and we had no idea where - but assumed it would be salsa. Santiago gave me a salsa lesson, much to Lazaro's amusement (and mine).
How wrong we were, we ended up at a club called 'Go-Go's'. It was playing lots of 'gringo' music, yet Yvette and I were the only gringas in sight. It was lots of fun and just before midnight a band came out and we all cheered, 'Viva Quito'. They were giving out hats and us girlies both wanted one - Santiago was charged with this task. However he failed and I can't quite remember exactly how I did it, but I acquired two (I think they'd just been left on the side and I picked them up, but my memory is a little hazy, due to the affluence of incohol).
After lots of dancing; laughing; drinking and hat wearing, we headed home, where we watched Lazaro weave his way into the house. (He was also highly affluenced by incohol!)
Late Friday night/Saturday morning I was assailed by memories - this week and last hold quite a few significant dates for me.
Saturday morning was spent in recovery and waiting to catch up with Amy - we planned to go to Otavalo. Annoyingly just as we were about to make plans the phone networks went down. I spent a frustrating 15 or so mins trying to make contact. Luckily though it was only for that amount of time and Yvette and I went to meet her.
After a short while at Yvette's we decided it was too late for Otavalo and headed back to mine, where we lounged in bed watching DVDs. It was lovely and just what was needed.
On Saturday evening we went out for Mexican and then met up with a guy Amy liked and his cousin. This all felt a bit weird, we went to the pub, but Ricardo (Amy's friend) wanted to go to La Esquina because it might have music and be more lively. Well...there was music (provided by one of Lazaro's friends - nice to see him and another couple who I met on Thursday again), but it was dead. We then moved tables several times which kind of annoyed me a bit. However after an espresso to wake myself up, I did enjoy myself. Ricardo's cousin was very interesting and we enjoyed discussing all sorts of things.
Back at mine, Amy persuaded me to play my guitar and sing - think I'm getting a bit braver on this front. However I really need to extend my repertoire and strumming technique! I need to write more of my own and learn more of other people's!! I did play one of my songs and both her and Ricardo seemed to really like it.
On Sunday we got up and headed to Quito to get the bus to Otavalo. Unfortunately we went to the wrong bus terminal and then had to take a taxi to get to the right one - this set us back a bit on time. Once at Terminal Terrestre we got tickets and found a bus that was just about to leave - hurrah.
The journey took about 2 and a half hours - we got out at the main road and walked down into the town. This was lovely and I wish I had taken more photos, but it had started to rain and I really didn't want to get my camera wet. I didn't really know where we were going, but we found ourselves at the food market and then in a nice restaurant. After lunch we found the artesania market and started Christmas shopping!
The market is at it's largest on a Saturday, but I really enjoyed being there on a Sunday. It was really quiet and there were still lots of lovely things to see and buy. Also with considerably less people, it was much easier to see everything.
I was most impressed by Amy's haggling technique and we both bought quite a few bargains. (I now have to work out how to send them home and hope that they get there in time for Christmas!). I also got myself a gorgeous alpaca blanket, shawl and jumper. They are very snuggly!
About 5pm (ish) I introduced Amy to the pie shop - we had the most enormous pieces of lemon meringue pie I have ever had (and I am a bit of a pudding queen!).
A short taxi ride took us to the bus station where there was a bus just about to leave for Quito. Our timing was excellent!
We snoozed on the way home and were glad to finally get home at about 8pm (ish). We had a chilled evening, which ended watching another episode of 'The Office' on my laptop. Amy bless her fell asleep - not surprising as she hadn't had much sleep for a few nights. We curled up and went to sleep.
So here we are at today - Monday! Had a fairly easy day at school - the kids got on with their DT project and I surfed on the internet (I did do a bit of work, starting to research what I'm teaching next term, in addition to some facebook action!). We also had a play rehearsal - the first time we've actually run through the whole scene. The kids and staff seemed to enjoy watching me line dance! At the end of the day I lead a singing rehearsal.
I got home and enjoyed some more time with Aims, who was undecided as to whether to go to Cuenca tonight or in the morning. After learning that James and Tam were also arriving in Cuenca tonight she decided to get the night bus.
Not long before we left we had a bit of a heart to heart. Aims felt I'd been a bit distant over the weekend - I finally got to explaining about Christmas. A big part of me had wanted to spend it with Amy, Tam and James, but when they decided they wanted to stay in Quito, I thought that maybe I would be intruding on their time together. I hated the idea of possibly waking up on my own on Christmas morning and being reminded of how far I am from the many people I love. I had thought about going to Argentina before and felt that for me it really is the right thing to do. There are other things that have affected my mood this weekend too - mostly memories and tiredness.
I couldn't explain to Aims that I hadn't felt sure whether they really wanted me there. I couldn't say that although all the times we've spent together have been amazing, that I had wanted more. Couldn't explain that I'd wanted to be a bigger part of her adventure here, that I'd felt gutted at the times that she'd been in Quito and I hadn't known. She's been so near and yet it's been really difficult to be in contact - I've had to rely on sending messages through to her friend's phone, but haven't always been sure that Amy received them.
I didn't need to say these things, because very soon I was reassured that she was gutted that I wouldn't be with them at Christmas, although she fully understands my need for Argentina.
And now I'm sitting here and feeling sad that she's gone; annoyed with myself for letting stuff build up in my head and wishing we'd been able to speak about it sooner. But I didn't want her to feel bad - last thing I wanted. However I am glad that I still have one more weekend to spend with her before she leaves Ecuador and I know I have found another truly amazing friend, who I will cherish.
No comments:
Post a Comment