Hello everyone!

This is my first attempt at a blog post, so here it goes!  I am hoping that this will help me to document my time here in Cuenca as well as share it with anyone interested.  I cannot believe we have already been here for almost two months! It has been quite the whirlwind- I had to go back through all of my pictures to make sure I didn’t forget a single detail!

When we first got to Cuenca, our host families picked us up right away, and from there it was a dream! I couldn’t have had a better experience with my host family- they made me feel as if I had a place in a new city.  They are lovely people who genuinely cared about me, and I cared about them! The absolute cherry on top of the almost four weeks I spent with them was my host mom’s amazing food, which was an incredible introduction to Ecuadorian food that always left me feeling as if I had eaten the best meal of my life! When it was time to move out of the house, I was crying, and so was my host mom! Thankfully our apartment is not far from the host family’s house, so hopefully we can stay close! 

My host mom's cooking! Un Churrasco

More good eats at the host family's house- Including Mote (corn) and  fried plantains!

  I mean come on- how did I get so lucky??

At the beginning of this experience, we were warned that the TEFL program would be busy, and that definitely wasn’t an understatement! Coming from a background in Anthropology, not teaching, made the process a bit intimidating- and beginning to teach evening classes almost immediately was definitely a baptism by fire.  Many lunch breaks were spent hurriedly lesson planning, and every evening (especially Thursday) after class we took a large sigh of relief (one more class under our belts)! As time went on, every class felt more natural and easier to plan for. I was so sad when our evening class ended; both groups of students were so lovely! Now that we have completed the course, I feel vastly more prepared and competent for the upcoming cycle and I am looking forward to having my own classes in the future!  I am fortunate enough to come from a family of many strong, beautiful teachers; I have always been in awe of them, but always thought that “teaching wasn’t my thing.” Finding a way that teaching can be integrated with other branches of my path has been so rewarding. 

CEDEI Centro- Center of our daily lives during this month!

Our TEFL class and amazing instructors!

Fiona and I were teaching partners! Here we are with our class

Had to get a photo with both classes! This group was so amazing

TEFL Graduation!

We also got to do a bit of sightseeing during the TEFL course! We went to Ingapirca, which had my inner anthropological nerd absolutely jumping out! On the way to the ruins we also saw the town of Biblian, and stopped at a market, a beautiful church, and tried horneado (pig skin!).  One weekend we did an excursion to Cajas National Park, which was an interesting day in and of itself! Due to a bit of a mix up with the agency, I didn’t have boots for the hike, which caused me to fall maaaaaany times in the muddy conditions. Once I even fell on a plant and ended up with a ton of splinters in my hand!  Despite the falls, we still had a great time and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery! As a part of the TEFL course, we traveled to the town of Principal, where we got to spend some time with the people in the community. We were also lucky enough to get a wonderful tour of the zoo, Amaru, from one of the other students in our TEFL class! 

Biblian

Jhoseline and I at the church in Biblian!

Ingapirca

Ingapirca

Ingapirca

"The face of the Inca" rock formation at Ingapirca

My busted hand and our reaction to Cajas!

Cajas- does this remind anyone else of the Princess Bride?

Climbed to the highest point in Cajas

Llamas at Cajas!

One of the many gorgeous views at Cajas

The TEFL group in Principal!

Principal

Amaru  

We are definitely still adjusting to Cuenca, but in all of the best ways! We went from getting lost on our walk to and from CEDEI from our host family’s house (a ten minute walk, for reference), to walking around and exploring the whole city in our free time! Of course, we still get lost (quite frequently), but we are slowly getting a better grasp of our surroundings. Now that we have moved into an apartment, we have begun grocery shopping at local markets for our groceries! We are definitely trying to work on cooking more at home.  Something of a blessing and a curse is that we have both a great burger AND ice cream place downstairs from the apartment, and sometimes they are too good to resist!

The beautiful Cathedral, from Parque Calderon

Rio Tomebamba

Perks of an early morning- beautiful views

The view from our apartment window!

I have been so eternally grateful that Jhoseline and I were both chosen for this incredible opportunity! Our personalities mesh so well together, which makes constantly exploring so much fun! Being together has made our transition to Cuenca so much easier, because we both have each other to lean on on tough days, to try new things with, and to eat absolutely ALL of the snacks with.  Since completing the course and VISA application, our days have consisted of attempting to learn dances like Salsa and Bachata in the living room and getting lost around the city. We have already made friends here and feel very lucky to call Cuenca home.  

Do you ever see something and think “this cannot be real, it looks too much like a Windows screensaver?”  Though many people questioned my decision to move to a country I had never previously been to for a year, I felt absolutely confident in this transition.  As everything has unfolded this confidence has never wavered- thanks to this miraculous country that I am privileged enough to spend a year in. Ecuador has blown me away every day, from the kindness of everyone that I meet, the vibrant culture that I have been exposed to, the glorious experience of living in the mountains, to the vibrations of everyday life that happens here.  I will not take for granted the position that I am in right now; I am so thankful for every piece of the puzzle that made it happen. Particularly, I am grateful to Mark and Linda Raderstorf for their love for Cuenca that drove them to support students such as Jhoseline and me to fall in love as they did. The next chapter of this experience awaits us, and we approach it with open hearts, minds, and arms.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds, and to share it all here as it unfolds!  

Thanks for reading!

Emily Coleman