Hello, all!
A lot is happening as we enter into the Christmas season here in Cuenca. We're finishing up our last
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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.
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| 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!
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| Hard at work wrapping gift boxes for FCT |
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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!
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| I'm definitely having a feliz viaje (photo taken at Déleg) |
Chao Chao for now!
Jossel Franco
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| Extra photo! Llama taking in the wonders of Cajas |
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