This morning we woke up to a bright breakfast of the usual rolls with jam with the addition of some fresh pineapple. After breakfast and getting ready, we went to the place where we teach our class and were surprised that many kids had already arrived and were waiting for us at 9am. We started the day off by teaching some food and drink vocabulary to the kids. To help enforce the lesson with writing, we played hangman where the words were english but the guessing was in Spanish.
We then wanted to work on the speaking, so we would ask questions in Spanish and asked for the answers in English. At this point, the kids were getting a little restless so we decided to take a short break, where the UBELONG staff provided jello for the kids. During the break, Nidia, one of the girls who came to lesson today, asked Lauren to help her with her English homework to prepare for her exam tomorrow. (Some of the kids take English classes during the summer through their school.) Lauren was impressed with the level of difficulty of the homework and gladly assisted Nidia. After the break, the kids had SO MUCH ENERGY – which meant a game of duck, duck, goose was necessary to continue. After 20 minutes of physical activity, the kids were ready to get back to lessons. With two more new verbs under their belts, we played a game of hot potato to finish off the lessons for the day. In Ecuador, they use “Tingo, Tingo, Tingo…Tengo!” and whoever has the ball when the leader yells “Tengo” needs to answer the question. This was definitely a day of learning for all of us, because Erik, Lauren and Andrew also participated in the game, only they had to answer in Spanish instead. It definitely helped the kids have more trust in us when we participated with them. Justin and Ben continued working with Ismael on vocabulary and conversational topics including scenario such as selling a house, giving directions, or giving a job interview. After a long morning of teaching, the kids left to go home, with excitement to come back tomorrow.
We sat down to a wonderful lunch of chicken, rice, and a radish/tomato salad. Lauren and Justin have now taken up a habit of drinking coffee at the end of each meal too. The team also has a routine of pairing off for dishes to make the process quicker (and the kitchen less crowded!). After lunch, we decided to take the day to hang out around the house and bond with each other. This mainly consisted of napping, and then speaking with one of the girls who lives at the house, Carla. She’s an eleven year old who speaks her mind, but was awesome to practice Spanish with while we exchanged tastes in music.
We learned a lot about the types of music that is typical to listen to in Ecuador and found songs in common that we both knew the words to. She also introduced us to the ostriches and alpaca in the neighboring yard. We got up close and personal, as we tried to feed them lettuce from over the wall.
Around 6:30pm, we decided that we wanted to explore the area of Tumbaco and go to the local grocery store. The walk was pleasant and filled with the sounds of the town, as we meandered our way based on verbal directions from other volunteers. We arrived to the equivalent of a Meijer store, with many colors and foods we hadn’t seen before. We came up with chips, animal crackers, ice cream, and Gatorade…most of which got broken into on the walk home. When we arrived back home, we sat down to dinner of soup, chicken, rice, small rolls, and cold broccoli salad. And we didn’t forget the after dinner coffee! We talked to Geovanna, the main UBELONG contact, about our weekend travels to set up transportation with her father, Luis. After dinner, we sat around, enjoying each others company over movies, music, and our newly purchased snacks. We are eager to see the kids again tomorrow!
EGL Family Abroad 