Greetings, blog readers. I am writing to you from Chicago, Illinois! That’s right, I am back in the homeland, and it feels pretty good.

            One of the best parts about working in South America, and Ecuador in particular, is the value they put on vacations and holidays. As I mentioned in the last blog, our classes ended in the beginning of this month, and we do not start classes again until the beginning of January. Therefore, we have almost an entire month free to travel. Most of my friends and fellow teachers decided to travel around Ecuador and South America. Therefore, I cannot wait to hear reports and see photos! My parents really wanted me home for Christmas, so I am back in the states until the 30^th. Then it’s back to Cuenca for Año Nuevo. I have to say, I have been in the US for only a few days, and I am already missing certain things about Ecuador. I miss the weather, which is just about perfect all day/year around. I arrived in Chicago, and it is so gloomy, you cannot even see Lake Michigan or the skyline. I am also missing my friends, my previous students, and the kids I volunteer with.

            Overall, Christmas time in Cuenca is very mellow, compared to how it is in the United States, which is surprising. It is almost easy to forget that it is Christmas time when you are in Cuenca because there are no signs of Christmas until nighttime when the lights are lit. Although, this is my opinion as a girl from Ohio (or God’s Land as Mark calls it! Haha) where it is cold and snowy, and there are lights and advertisements about Christmas everywhere you turn! I have to say, I like how much less commercial Cuenca is when it comes to Christmas. I do enjoy the commercial element of Christmas because it is nostalgic every year, but it is nice to take a break from it.

            December was a very easy month because about half of it involved no work! I decided to volunteer a bit more at the Fundación during my free time, and try new restaurants and cafes. If you are interested in coming to Cuenca, I recommend Café Ñucallacta. They have delicious food (including vegan and vegetarian items) and the best dirty chai I have ever tasted!

            As far as the Fundación is concerned, I have been getting closer and closer to the kids. I have many photos to upload, once I find out how to do it. J

             Not much to update you all about for the month of December, as it was a quite slow and chill month in Cuenca. FELICES DIAS A TODOS! <3 Kaitlin 

Some photos of my wonderful pupils! :)

Eddie with his huge Leggo stack. He loves the camera and poses like a natural! 

Lucho has so much energy, and is such a spitfire boy, but at the same time is the softest, gentlest little boy I know. <3 Here, he climbed atop the jungle gym at the local park. 

Cristian with his leggo stack, as well. He is such a smart little boy and so sensitive. 

Almost all of the niños at the Fundación <3 

My niño class from CEDEI and their final projects. They all did so well and learned SO much. Kids rule! 

Every Friday, a local bike company bring by bikes for the kids to ride. They absolutely love it. All the kids at the Fundación know how to ride a bike now. 

All the kids always ask us volunteers to spin them around. Very tiring but worth the smiles we get from them. 

Jacqueline and I <3 She is very attached to me, and I love it. She is such a sweetie. 

Leonel, the youngest of 4 kids at the Fundación. 

Although he is just a little guy, he is learning so much. It's amazing to watch!

Wilson and Veronica. They won the partner contest. They were so impressive and expressive in dancing! 

All the chicos in their dress for the dance competition. 

The winners of the Traditional Cuencano dance competition and their prizes, Beanie Babies. They LOVE these things! They took very long to decide which animal they wanted :) 

Erick with the Beanie Baby he won for doing so well in the traditional Cuencano dance competition!! 

Hello, blog readers! How is it already December 8^th!

:-O November was a very busy month, but I think I have fully officially settled into living in Cuenca. I sometimes don’t feel like I live in another country. Rather, I feel like I’m living in the most beautiful city in the US, where people are more friendly and the pace of life is slower. Overall, I have found it very easy to adapt to my busy schedule. Moreover, I have enjoyed being very busy to the point where when I have free time, I wish I was doing something for school. I have found that in my free time I lesson plan or do something for the Fundación. Last week our regular, ten-week class has ended, and this week our Saturday classes ended. Therefore, the only remaining class is the 5-week intensives, which I only have to administer an exam for on Monday. Therefore, we will not have classes starting Tuesday, which will give me more time to volunteer at the Fundación before I leave for the States on Thursday. That’s right! I am heading home for Christmas. I think my mother couldn’t stand the thought of me being away for the holidays so they decided to help me out financially with a plane ticket! J Although I am sad I will be missing out on all of the travelling fellow teachers will be doing during their 3 week break until classes begin again, I am excited to head home and see my family and friends and restock on some small material goods I cannot get down here.

            Overall, November was busy, but I am feeling like I am really becoming a better person through this experience/opportunity. I am really challenging myself in the classroom, and I feel like I am truly growing as a teacher and becoming better every day. I am proud of myself for taking the chance and applying to the Puente Cultural Grant because I think I have learned SO much about myself by moving to another country and starting a new career. Luckily, I think I enjoy teaching so much that I will teach English for a long time to come. Additionally, I am excited to have a schedule change in January where I can begin teaching in the morning and volunteering at the Fundación in the evening. I find it very rewarding volunteering, but especially in the evenings with the big group of children that I have come to know very well J Thanks so much for reading, and I hope that all of these blog posts give real insight into an individual experience with the Puente Cultural Grant in Cuenca, Ecuador. I 100% recommend it.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Finishing cycle 1 + Christmas in Cuenca

Hello, all!

A lot is happening as we enter into the Christmas season here in Cuenca. We're finishing up our last

Cuenca sure gets into the Christmas spirit, especially near
the Rio Tomebamba!

cycle, with Dec. 10 being our last day of classes before our one month of vacations. I've learned a lot in the past 10 weeks about being a teacher, and I know I still have a lot left to learn but I think I made it through pretty ok. For most of this time, I think I felt like I was just pretending to be a teacher because I had zero experience beforehand. But yesterday in my evening intensive class, I had a moment where I thought "Wow, I'm a real teacher."  While I'm definitely excited for a break, I'm also looking forward to starting the next cycle. I have a lot of goals for myself, like being more strict with cell phones (especially with my teenagers!), trying to incorporate more music into my classes, and setting higher expectations for my students that encourage them to not just learn for the tests but to actually learn the language. The latter is particularly challenging in an institution where students are motivated by the need to pass and move on to the next level, and I know will struggle with that for my entire duration here, but it's something I would like to be more conscious about.

Santa Clause lazy susan!

My volunteer work at Calsanz has switched up as all the workshops are working on their Christmas projects. Our 10-week cycle at Calasanz ended 2 weeks ago, so the volunteers changed workshops to get some variety in. Now I'm in the 2 FCT workshops. I have no idea what FCT stands for, but the students work on different projects like decorative boxes, cards, paintings, etc. to either take home to their families or sell. I was a bit bitter about it at first because I really loved being in the sewing workshop, but I really enjoy the work that I'm doing now. I love crafting and don't have much time for it outside of my volunteer and work schedule, so I like having it incorporated into my volunteer work. Some of the projects that I've been working on include painting a Santa Clause-shaped lazy susan, wrapping gift boxes to put on all the workshop doors, and repurposing pizza boxes as gift boxes. We get creative here at Calasanz!

Hard at work wrapping gift boxes for FCT

The beautiful view of Cuenca from the new mirador
at Parque La Libertad

 I've also managed to do a good bit of exploring on the weekends. In the past couple of weeks I've been to the new Parque La Libertad, which just opened a month ago and has a mirador with an amazing view of Cuenca, visited Déleg in the countryside of Azuay Province, went on a day trip to a resort at Yungilla with a language exchange group, and finally took a hiking trip to Cajas, which has been on my to-do list for the past 4 months! It's been easier to make time to explore on the weekends now that planning my classes takes a lot less time. I've had an amazing time meeting new people and getting to know different parts of Ecuador, and I'm excited to do more exploring in my upcoming vacation days. Stay tuned!

I'm definitely having a feliz viaje (photo taken at Déleg)

Chao Chao for now!
Jossel Franco

Extra photo! Llama taking in the wonders of Cajas