The day started with a crisp 5:45 wake up call. Following that exciting event we rode taxis to the school where we shadowed students. This was by far my favorite thing we have done in our first few days. Talking with the students not only gave me a greater cultural understanding but also really improved my Spanish. With students ages 10-13 peppering  me with questions from describing my boyfriend in detail to “is your hair fake?” there was never a dull moment. Another thing I really appreciated was the students’ willingness to use examples and implement creative ways to work around the Spanish or Kichwa words I didn’t understand. Overall, shadowing the students gave me a deeper understanding into Ecuadorian culture, lifestyle, and education system.

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Yesterday evening we taught our first English class. (My fellow teachers and kids 10-13 beginners shown above.) I really can’t explain how exciting and fun our class was. From Pete bouncing off the walls finding numbers and colors for the class to shout out, Bryan singing the alphabet, to Carson ripping his stylish new shoes in a hilarious game of duck duck goose, it truly was a blast. A big goal for our class was to speak almost completely in English giving students an opportunity to stray away from their typical English book work and instead have one-on-one conversations with native English speakers. Our experiences for the first day English classes definitely varied.

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From lesson plans being too easy, to kids showing up Ecuadorian late it was a learning experience for all. Per usual, Frisbee was a super intense as girl vs guys played a nail bitter game. Girls came in hot… first 5 min 6-0, sadly we got a little too confident as guys drove down comeback road and pulled off the win 11-10. They were playing one player up not that I’m competitive or anything. And lastly we are having very nice and meaningful nightly reflections in small groups where we are able to talk about pretty deep stuff getting to know one another more and more. That’s that for today! Adios 🙂

English Tutoring Inauguration

Inauguration Speech by Mikaela Hernandez