Maestra for LIFE

I always new the teaching world was where I would end up. Not even a month in Quito and I am already a physical education teacher twice a week and a Spanish teacher when needed. Yesterday Mauricio asked if I would serve as the hostal´s Spanish teacher, giving classes to any guest that requests them and pays 5 dollars an hour. Heather also might be doing the same. He mentioned that she might have a student in the next few days. So, no need to worry now Dad. Not only am I only spending about 13 dollars a day, but I am making 5 for every hour that I teach Spanish. Three hours teaching a day and I am MAKING money by traveling around South America. For all of you who are feeling the effects of the sinking economy in the states, just know that you too could just come on down here to the sunny sights of South America and travel the continent for ¨free¨! Now I know that it is just not that easy but I just felt like I should put that out there for anyone who might be considering a vacation. It would be worth it in every sense of the word.

Yesterday as you read from Heather´s post, we went to the markets at Otavalo. I guess I saw some cash flow coming at me as I was wandering around the stalls because I spent everything I had on me save my bus fare back to Quito. Upon leaving Otavalo, however, I had no regrets on spending three days worth of money on market goods. This might surprise many of you who know me as a frugal pennie pincher, but I left with some really good buys. I bought a hammock for 15$, two bracelets for 2$, a leather woven belt for 7.50$, a woven llama decoration for 4$, four magnets for 3$, a hand woven purse for 9$, and a homeade slice of pineapple pie for a buck. You might be thinking why the heck did I buy a hammock, but let me tell you: there is a hammock on our hostal terrace and more than once I have fallen asleep in it reading a book and gazing at the basilica and the mountains in the distance. It is a must have for whatever home I happen to find for myself next.

This post is not meant to be an example of me tooting my own horn, but I do have some more good news that I want to share with everyone who I do not have the pleasure of keeping in such close contact as I do my immediate family. As most of you know, before I left for Ecuador I finished applying to Latin American Studies programs for graduate school. Much to my excitement, earlier in the week I received my first response from the schools to which I applied. University of Illinois notified me that they are nominating me for a foreign lanuage fellowship to study either Quechua or Portuguese. I chose to write about Portuguese because I thought it would give me a better chance to work from the United States in whatever career I end up. In order to be in the competition to receive one of nine of these fellowships, I had to write an additional essay making a case for why one of these languages is important for research. I contacted Dr. Bocketti to ask exactly what this means as far as being actually accepted to the school and he said that most likely they would like to accept me but are looking for a way to finance my education. The fellowship would take care of tuition and also provide me with 1300 dollars a month as a living stipend. I am not sure when I will find out about this fellowship but I am hopeful to hear from the other universities to which I applied.

If anyone is wondering, cake-making with Lucia was much fun the other night. If I mistakenly am thinking that someone posted about this already, I will explain. Lucia, the hostal ¨mother¨invited us down to the family kitchen to teach us to make her special cake. We had a lot of fun making the cake and Hallye tired herself out hand mixing the butter and flour. The cake is sort of like really sweet and fluffy corn bread. When we took it out of the oven, Sergei and Mauricio had trouble moving the cake from the pan to the tray and it ended up collapsing all over the place. The bad news was that the cake was broken. The good news was that it was unsuitable to serve to the other hostel guests and we had to eat it all ourselves. Lucia promised to teach us to make her special cookies next week but unfortunately she had to leave today for the north of Ecuador because her father is very ill. It could be a while before she returns. But I must have been giving off a super excited attitude about dessert making because Mauricio exclaimed, ¨¿A ella le gusta mucho el dulce, no?¨. (She really likes sweets, doesn´t she). Yes we all know I have a sweet tooth and how lucky I am to be living in a hostal with an owner who loves to teach her guests how to make cookies and cake. GOOD thing I´m walking all over this blasted city every day.

-Katie