Mid-Service, Mindo, Quito

I know I haven´t updated in a while, but I have been traveling for most of the past week. There is a lot to update on, so I apologize in advance...

Classes:
I only taught for two days last week because I left for my Mid-Service conference on Wednesday, but those two days were jam packed with vocab and grammar. Students were not happy that I told them I wanted to give another test this week sometime, but they lost that battle. However, they all really seem to be learning, and the new activities that I have been using seem to be effective. I can´t wait to see all of the long-term results at the end of the summer. Also, the student that had the huge Gringa-crush on me finally got a new girlfriend. It is hilarious to watch that unfold, but it has also lessened the awkwardness in class. However, my second class seems to be picking up the slack where the first one left off. It´s a strange situation, but it makes me laugh all the time and it hasn´t gotten awkward with the second class so that´s always good. In addition to all of that, I actually don´t have classes today because there is a chance that one of the dentistry students at the university has swine flu. Ecuador is nuts about swine flu and super paranoid, so any confirmed case means that the school doesn´t have classes for a week. Right now the girl is getting tested, so I won´t know anything for sure until later tonight.

Mindo:
Our mid-service conference was held in Mindo this year, and in general it was a lot of fun. It was awesome to see all of the other volunteers! I have seen some of them several times, but others are too far away to see on the weekends, so this conference was a perfect opportunity to swap stories with everyone. It is absolutely hilarious to hear everyone´s stories... so many people have similar stories, but they are all different at the same time. Everyone has done lots of traveling and has great teaching stories. I don´t think I´ve laughed so hard the whole time I´ve been here. During the actual conference there was lots of group bonding time where we were able to share experiences, and then there were also plenty of sessions that dealt with teaching and the different struggles that we are all facing at our sites. We had some free time during the day on Friday and so there were a few of us that went zip-lining between the mountains in Mindo. It was absolutely gorgeous! I have definitely become more adventurous since coming here, and that certainly helped me when I was zip-lining. The views were incredible and it was a great way to spend some time with other volunteers. We also went to the butterfly farm that Mindo is famous for on Saturday before we left. All of the butterflies were beautiful and it was something that I really wanted to see while I was in Mindo.

Quito:
On Wednesday we went to Quito for the day before leaving for Mindo. We got to spend some time with some of the other volunteers that came in early climbing the Basilica and wandering around Quito. Some volunteers who don´t have access to internet or phones took the opportunity to call family and friends back in the States. We had some good meals and on Saturday night we went to see "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." We tried to see it on Wednesday, but even the English version was sold out all night. Ecuadorians love Harry Potter just as much as Americans. Thankfully on Saturday we were able to get tickets in English. I actually ran into my host brother and his wife at the theater too. It was such a weird coincidence. Other than that, it was just a great relaxing time with everyone.

It feels great to be back in Riobamba and spending time with my family here. I definitely miss everyone back home too, but I know the next four weeks will go by even faster than the previous six. Some of our friends are coming to Riobamba this weekend and it will be great to show them around and let them see where we spend our days.

Again, sorry for the length, I will try and update more than once a week!

Chao!

Quito: