Hello to everyone from Cuenca!

It is now November and I cannot believe the time has flown by so quickly! This now makes four months here in Ecuador. For an update, I am teaching 4 classes at CEDEI and volunteering in the mornings. Although the teaching is challenging, it is amazing how much easier it has become for me. Every week I feel as though I get better at what I do, and I am thankful that CEDEI has plenty of resources for us as teachers. It makes my life so much easier. My volunteer sight is great, and Maribel is very appreciative of all help I have been able to give to them. I am going to begin to try to incorporate more games with the students in the mornings, so that we are fully utilizing our time together and learning at all times.

As far as my social life, I am very happy here. I have met so many other fellow teachers and am getting along very well with everyone. I am thankful for new friends to do things with. This weekend was Fiestas de Cuenca, and boy, was that fun! We had Thursday and Friday off from teaching, and the free time was nothing short of perfection. For Fiestas de Cuenca there were a million “ferias” or fairs selling different things not always available in Cuenca. There were merchants and visitors in town from all over the continent, and it was amazing to be able to see new art, clothes, food, and music all around town. It was a shopper’s (AKA my) heaven! I was able to buy unique Christmas presents for my whole family at really good prices. Other than shopping and spending time on the town at night with friends, we took a day trip to Girón, just a couple hours outside of Cuenca on Saturday. The bus trip was $1, and getting to the Waterfalls in Girón was very simple. After seeing the first waterfall, we decided to take the long hike up to the second lookout to see the second waterfall that is there. We hiked upwards for about an hour, and although it was difficult, nothing is better or can beat the fresh air in the Andes here. I could have hiked forever. One of the best parts of living in Cuenca is the easy access to other small mountain towns for a quick, outdoorsy getaway! I am certainly enjoying my time here. What a refreshing weekend. I am certainly feeling at home here. J

Five Weeks Teaching + FIESTAS DE CUENCA!

Feria tents near La Catedral

It's party time for the next few days in Cuenca, as it's Fiestas de Cuenca season, which celebrates Cuenca's 198th year of independence from the Spanish on November 3. Ferias, fiestas, and food are in the lineup for the weekend, as well as the Ricky Martin concert on Saturday, and I'm so excited. Today is only day one, so I have yet to see even a glimpse of what's going on for Fiestas, but I have visited some of the ferias where local, national, and international artisanal goods are sold. The streets are lined with white tents where people sell their goods, anything from jewelry to masks to kitchen utensils. I haven't bought anything yet, but it seems like a good time to get my Christmas shopping done.

Coloada morada y guagua de pan

Instituto Jose de Calasanz also had some festivities this week to celebrate both Fiestas de Cuenca and Día de los Disfuntos (All Souls Day), which is on November 2nd. We had guagua de pan (bread babies) and colada morada, which is a sweet, purple drink that has chunks of fruit in it. The guaguas de pan commemorate the souls of our loved ones who have passed away. I've actually had guaguas de pan and colada morada quite a few times because it's sold all over the place around this time of year. It's a delicious combination. Calasanz also had a vaca loca and castillo, which are traditionally fireworks displays in the street. The vaca loca is a paper mache cow that is set off, and a person dances around as the vaca loca while the fireworks are going off, and castillos are castles made of fireworks that are usually around 4-6 levels high. Calasanz didn't have the real fireworks for obvious reasons, but they had cardboard versions, and music, and a student dancing as the vaca loca. It was fun to watch, and I hope I get to see the real thing in the next couple of days.

La vaca loca  and el castillo at Instituto Jose de Calasanz

While Fiestas de Cuenca is meant to celebrate Cuenca's independence, for me it also celebrates 2 months volunteering at Calasanz and 5 weeks teaching at CEDEI. It's the halfway point for the first cycle, and while it's been a challenge I've learned a lot about teaching and the English language. My favorite part of volunteering and teaching is getting to know the students on a more personal level. It took time, but it's made teaching a lot easier. I still struggle to find a balance between making sure my students are ready for their exams and trying to make their classes relatable and meaningful. I'm hoping to observe some other teachers in the next couple of weeks to get ideas, and we do get a lot of support from the English program in terms of getting resources and answers to questions. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it takes time and experience to be a good teacher, and that I have to struggle and make mistakes to learn what does and doesn't work.

Painting ceramic nativity scene pieces

My volunteering work is easier in that I don't have to be responsible for planning classes, but they sure keep me busy! I have a fun time every time I go in, and we're doing a lot of cool things in the workshops. Right now in sewing and ceramics the students are working on Christmas projects. I help out by drawing out faces for sewing projects, teaching students how to do the stitches that they need, and helping out painting ceramic parts for nativity scene wall-hangings. The students are participating in a parade of artisanal goods on Monday. It gives the students a chance to show off what they've been working on, so I'm very excited for them to participate.  We switch workshops in the middle of November, so I'm looking forward to trying out a new workshop and getting to know different students a little more.

Me trying on the apron made for the artesanal parade.

Overall, I'm having a great time here in Cuenca. I'm definitely busy, but I find a lot of my work rewarding. Let's see what happens in the next month when I switch workshops and pick up a new intensive class!

Chao chao for now!
JOSSEL FRANCO