Back from the Dead

Parasite Week

My teaching career was supposed to have started last Monday giving free classes at a school in Quito, but I unfortunately fell ill the night before.  Later that week the doctor would tell me that I had parasites.  Well played Ecuador, well played.

Even though last week was kind of a bummer because I was sick and I didn't get to teach, over the weekend we took a trip to a place about two hours out of Quito called Papallacta.  Papallacta is actually higher than Quito so the temperature is noticeably colder.  On the bus ride up, people gradually put more layers of clothes on as we increased in altitude and the temperature dropped.  The main attraction in Papallacta are the hot springs that people can bathe in while being surrounded by cold mountain air.

I'm not much for relaxing things like spas, but after my experiences so far with Ecuadorian showers feeling hot water on my body again was great.  As it turns out, showers that can consistently provide water at an agreeable temperature are a luxury in this country that no one has.  Take for instance my turbulent relationship with the shower at my house.

The Time Machine

No curtain, no problem

At first glance, the shower at my house appears to be the greatest bathing chamber ever created.  It looks like a time machine and it has a radio built into it.  You can always tell when someone is taking a shower from anywhere in the house because of the Spanish gibberish projecting from the bathroom.  You can also tell who is in the shower because it has absolutely nothing obscuring the person inside from passersby.  In short, the shower is aesthetically appealing and it has provides features beyond what is expected of a conventional shower.  Unfortunately, it does not provide features that are expected of a conventional shower, namely temperature control.

Taking a shower every morning means engaging in an epic battle with the Time Machine.  Sometimes when I keep the water running for a few minutes, out of nowhere I suddenly get hot water.  Very hot water.  Like, "Holy shit my skin is peeling off!" hot water.  A slight twist of the cold water knob results in an equally sudden switch to cold water again.  On these days my battle plan is as follows:

1. Jump in cold water and get wet.
2. Jump out of water and soap up my armpits and crotch.
3. Twist the heat on for a few minutes and in the two or three seconds of transition to scalding hot, rinse off as much of the soap as possible.
4. Turn the water back to cold and repeat step 3 as necessary.

Sometimes I am not so fortunate.  On these days, I keep the water running with my hand under the flow of water waiting for it to get hot.  I keep it there for four or five minutes, after which point the water gets even colder (read: mountain ice-water).  I realize then that the water that had been running for the past few minutes was my hot water.  My battle plan for these day is as follows:

1. Step out of the shower.
2. Put on deodorant.
3. Don't sit next to girls I am trying to impress for the rest of the day.

Recovery

I stayed in and took my parasite meds over this past weekend and I was all better and ready to start teaching solo on Monday.  I actually took my first solid dump in a week and a half today.

Krishna: 1
Ecuador: 58

My group consists of myself and three other teachers.  After the first day of teaching as a group that I missed last week, we have been rotating in two day shifts.  My solo days were this Monday and Tuesday.  My group's class is Beginner I, so my first day I figured I would teach shopping.  It seemed simple enough to teach them a few phrases like "How much is this?" and "I spent __ dollars."  During my lesson, however, the students did not seem to be grasping the material as well as I had hoped.  When we took a 10 minute break in the middle of the class I asked the students what they wanted to learn for the next class, and the unanimous response was "numbers."  Whoops.  I guess I forgot that in a Beginner I class you should probably teach numbers before you try to teach prices and buying things.

As per my class's request, today I taught them numbers and it went well.  To learn how to say the numbers 1-21 we played a drinking game (minus the drinking) called Shoulders.  They were about as good at counting to 21 sober as many Americans are at counting to 21 hammered.  Right now I'm trying to incorporate Beer Pong into my lesson about conditionals...

Ambato Bound

This is my last week in Quito because on Saturday I am moving to Ambato where I will be living and teaching for the rest of the year.  I am excited to meet the host family I will be living with and see what Ambato actually looks like.  Orientation is officially over in a few days and my life in Ecuador begins next week.