Bert has been in contact with the director of the Benedict School for about a month.
We walk in.. fill out some paperwork, take a grammar test..
"Sally went to the store and she _____"
a. buy fruit b. bought fruit c. buy fruits d. bought fruits
We sit down for an interview. All they really want is to hear us speak for a moment, and the job is ours. We have the exact same schedule and work 30 hours a week at 4.55 an hour. Most teachers here make between 2 and 7 dollars an hour, so our pay is pretty decent considering that we opted not to pay for the TEFL (teach English as a foreign language) certification. What's more, most teaching jobs offer about 10 hours a week, so working full time is fortunate. Considering our meager cost of living, we should have a decent surplus to work with. Lesson plans are fixed, and we have the option of taking 6 free hours of Spanish lessons per week. Orientation is tomorrow, work starts Wednesday.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
The Artisan Market of New Town.
Mercado Artesan De MariscalMariscal an older term for 'New Town', and has been referred to as gringolandia by Bert. - the terms are interchangeable. Also of note: gringos not the majority here, at all, but are perhaps most dense in this area.
We live a couple of blocks from this market, where indigenous people sell their wares.
Chess pieces carved into natives and conquistadors.
Reproduction of a painting by Guyasamin, perhaps Ecuador's most famous painter. His artwork is pervasive here.Pub Reina Victoria
For the lovely British and British aficionados, may I present the Pub Reina Victoria.
This is the first place we had good pizza in Ecuador.. out of four attempts in less than a week. The place is dark and accommodating with decorations that serve to 'cozy the place up' . We had the pleasure of meeting the owner, a jovial man from London, happy to share what he's learned in his twenty-four years here.
Newsweek rated this pub one of the twenty-two best places to meet up with people in the Americas a few years ago. The beer is cold enough to be eaten with a spoon, and the free popcorn is hot and slightly buttered. We will probably be attending the bi-monthly quiz nights, one of which promises to test our knowledge of Ecuador herself.
This is the first place we had good pizza in Ecuador.. out of four attempts in less than a week. The place is dark and accommodating with decorations that serve to 'cozy the place up' . We had the pleasure of meeting the owner, a jovial man from London, happy to share what he's learned in his twenty-four years here.
Newsweek rated this pub one of the twenty-two best places to meet up with people in the Americas a few years ago. The beer is cold enough to be eaten with a spoon, and the free popcorn is hot and slightly buttered. We will probably be attending the bi-monthly quiz nights, one of which promises to test our knowledge of Ecuador herself.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Electricity
The electricity goes out everyday from roughly 9 am to 11am in our neighborhood. It goes off at different times in other sectors of the city. I first discovered this while in the middle of a hot shower, which suddenly became ice cold.
Food!
Since we live in the "Mariscal" district, otherwise known as "grindolandia", the culinary options are widely varied. There are Indian places, hot-dog stands, pizzerias, burger joints, all kinds of options. As far as Ecuadorian food, it consists mostly of shrimp, rice, beans, fried fish, bread, and potato soup.
We avoid the uncooked vegetables when we go out to eat, as the sanitation standards here are not up to the standards our systems are used to. So, we buy bananas, oranges, and canned vegetables at the "Supermaxi"... Eventually we will need to eat a fresh salad, and have asked around for a good method of disinfecting the raw vegetables we can buy at the grocery store. On the advice of the owner of the Reina Victoria Pub, we think we have found an effective method of cleaning vegetables. In fact, we are thinking about spaghetti and salad tonight!
Even though we are very careful about what we consume, the food often upsets our fragile systems, so we eat a TON of bread... there are "panaderias" everywhere, and a basketful of fresh baked "pan" costs a small handful of change... (Eileen loves the cinnamon rolls).
The fire roasted guinea pig will have to wait until we venture out into the more rural areas. Quito is a huge city, with about 1.6 million residents, and a sizable "gringo" population, so as long as we stick to "la Mariscal" we don't have much trouble keeping ourselves well fed and safe.
We wish we could post more pictures on this Blog, but we are very cautious about walking around with fancy digital devices on display after hearing of the mugging/robbery of some residents of our former hostel. The local punks do check us out pretty hard, and I think would take advantage of any perceived weakness, so I wear my USMC boots (which add a couple inches) and we keep our valuables well hidden.
Well, i'm getting hungry, so I think we will head up to the grocery and see about some comida.
Hasta luego!
-Bert
We avoid the uncooked vegetables when we go out to eat, as the sanitation standards here are not up to the standards our systems are used to. So, we buy bananas, oranges, and canned vegetables at the "Supermaxi"... Eventually we will need to eat a fresh salad, and have asked around for a good method of disinfecting the raw vegetables we can buy at the grocery store. On the advice of the owner of the Reina Victoria Pub, we think we have found an effective method of cleaning vegetables. In fact, we are thinking about spaghetti and salad tonight!
Even though we are very careful about what we consume, the food often upsets our fragile systems, so we eat a TON of bread... there are "panaderias" everywhere, and a basketful of fresh baked "pan" costs a small handful of change... (Eileen loves the cinnamon rolls).
The fire roasted guinea pig will have to wait until we venture out into the more rural areas. Quito is a huge city, with about 1.6 million residents, and a sizable "gringo" population, so as long as we stick to "la Mariscal" we don't have much trouble keeping ourselves well fed and safe.
We wish we could post more pictures on this Blog, but we are very cautious about walking around with fancy digital devices on display after hearing of the mugging/robbery of some residents of our former hostel. The local punks do check us out pretty hard, and I think would take advantage of any perceived weakness, so I wear my USMC boots (which add a couple inches) and we keep our valuables well hidden.
Well, i'm getting hungry, so I think we will head up to the grocery and see about some comida.
Hasta luego!
-Bert
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Out of the Hostel
We moved out of the hostel today, and really landed on our feet this time! We were paying $11.20 for both of us per night. Now our rate is $4.00 a day! It is a very tiny space, technically a maid's quarters. We think that the actual maid may live within the door to the right of Bert in this photo.
Our home is part of the South American Explorers Club House, and sits within it's tall gates. The house itself is huge: electricity, wifi, 3 bathrooms (one outdoors), kitchen, ping pong table, dvd library, and a book library. All the current travel guide books are here, along with volumes of essays written by club members on various topics regarding travel all over this continent.
Normally people join the club by way of a fee. Members are entitled to come during the day to utilize the resources here. We have not paid that fee. After 5pm on weekdays, and virtually all weekend, the house belongs to us and the two employees who live upstairs.
There is an alarm system: on the main doors, as motion detectors and in dog form. The dog is not tied down, seems to choose his barks wisely, and doesn't seek affection from us.
There are also weekly cultural events which are held in the living room. Today, for example, an Ecuadorian film critic, along with a local film maker, presented several films and lectured on the local industry. Opportunities Abound!-Eileen
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