Hello! We are back with another blog post, bringing everyone up to speed with our situation in this ever-changing world.  On May 9th we celebrated being in Ecuador for 10 months, although these last few have not been what we planned for! We have now been in quarantine, with pretty strict regulations, for over two months (starting on March 12th). We still have a curfew of 2pm-5am, parks and business interiors are closed, wearing a mask and gloves in public is obligatory, travel out of the country and between provinces is still difficult and strictly regulated, and driving is heavily restricted based on license plates.  In the morning until 2pm we are able to go out to get groceries if necessary, and some places have begun to operate with extreme caution (small tiendas are open but you cannot enter, you order from outside).  Food delivery services are in operation until after the curfew begins, which has been very helpful to small businesses (and to us on days we don’t want to cook).  Although parks are closed, I did get out to take a walk the other day, which was great for my mental health.  In these times I’m definitely wishing we had a porch or terrace! For now I’m grateful for the sun that shines into my room from my little window. 

The country has moved to a “stoplight” system, in which each province can choose to be in red, yellow, or green, with each color bringing a different level of restrictions.  All provinces started in red, and as they slowly begin their attempts to return to normal, they can choose to go into a state of yellow and then to green.  Cuenca has stayed in red since the announcement, and although this past week we heard some rumors that we might go into yellow on Monday, it was announced that we will stay in red until at least May 24th.  Although this whole time we have understood the importance of protecting the community and staying inside, we did get our hopes up a bit that things might start moving forward. 

Abandoned Plaza de las Flores, usually filled with vendors selling flowers

We have been keeping up with the news from the United States, and everything we see is telling us that for us, the best decision was to stay in Ecuador.  We miss our families so much, but we have been very disturbed by the images from the U.S.  Honestly, the protests against the stay at home orders seem so ridiculous to us, because in comparison to the restrictions we have had here for months the rules there are pretty lax.  Here there have been some protests, but for a completely different reason, and they look very different.  It was announced that government financial aid for university students was to be slashed drastically; and students have been protesting the threat to accessible education, but in a responsible fashion.  Everyone has a mask, and not a single person is armed- unlike the protests we’ve seen from the U.S.  As mentioned, we hope that soon we can move toward some more lenient restrictions in a safe way for everyone- with the heavy reliance on the informal economy here (street vendors, etc), many people and their families are struggling after going so long without work. 

University students protesting

Another protest here in Cuenca- to symbolize killing the education of young people

That said, we are still spending just about all of our time at home.  Now that we are almost halfway through the cycle, we have found a bit more of a rhythm with online teaching.  At first it was really overwhelming having to learn multiple different platforms in a short time, and then in turn help our students learn what we barely understood, all before actually getting to the English part.  Over time, though, it has gotten easier and we have been able to find new ways to make connections with our students, and new ways to make a class fun online.  I am sure that these skills we are developing now will be useful in the future, for example engaging with technology in ways that we never had before! Although it has been nice to have something to do during the day, prepping for online teaching has proven to be more involved than for in-person classes, and though I was super productive at the beginning of the cycle, I am growing more tired as time goes on.  As I’m sure many people can relate to, working from home is hard on us mentally; there is no clear line between work time/space and personal time/space.  All things considered, we feel very lucky to have a job in such an unsure time for so many people. 

How some of my classes look- my students are in the top right side of the screen!

Although we love our students at CEDEI, we definitely feel a hole in our lives here in Ecuador left by our inability to volunteer at our organizations.  We find ourselves thinking about our students a lot, and hoping they are doing okay with all of the changes in daily life.  For me, I am really missing my students from Calasanz.  I was at the school with the students when the initial national 2 week suspension of classes was announced, and I never thought I would have to go this long without seeing them again.  Of course the pandemic and quarantine is a disruption in the lives of everyone, but for students who are differently abled, such a massive disruption of their normal lives and schedules cannot be easy on them or their families.  I have no way to contact or see them outside of the school, so I can’t wait for the first day that classes resume to go give each and every one of them a hug, and to see all of their smiles! 

The absolute best part of this month was my birthday on April 27th.  Of course since Jhoseline’s birthday, we had talked about mine and how we wanted to celebrate with all of the friends that we have made here this year.  I even had a dress picked out!  When quarantine started I, like many, didn’t realize how long it would last and hoped it would end in time for my birthday.  Unfortunately it didn’t, but we still had the best day EVER, and I felt super special and happy, all thanks to Jhoseline! When I woke up that morning and went into the kitchen to make a coffee, as I do every morning, I was immediately greeted by the house absolutely COVERED in gorgeous balloons and decorations.  It was all so colorful- there was a 23, FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS, a rainbow, hearts, and more multi-colored balloons.  There was even a Coco table cover, my favorite movie!  She was so thoughtful, and I couldn’t have ever anticipated having such an incredible person by my side for this birthday before I met her in the Cleveland airport in July.  Throughout the day there were more surprises- she had bought my favorite wine and the face cream I use everyday but was basically out of (how she knew that, I have no idea).  Then, she surprised me by ordering lunch (for delivery) from my favorite Mexican restaurant here in Cuenca.  It has been so long since we’ve been able to eat there, and the food was even better than I remembered! Later, we received another delivery (another surprise), which was this incredible, decadent chocolate cake.  Later, we put the candles on it, and just before we cut it and sang happy birthday, Jhoseline surprised me by having set up a Zoom call with my family so they could sing with us as we cut the cake!  She truly thought of everything, and did so much to make the day special.  All of the surprises were amazing, but the most meaningful part of it all was us making the day special together.  She knew how excited I was, and went above and beyond to make it an amazing day!  I didn’t feel like the day lacked a single thing- which is quite a seal of approval for a quarantine birthday.  So many other friends reached out with sweet messages, so many that I didn’t expect, and I truly felt loved.  Hopefully when this all starts to get back to normal we will be able to see our friends again to celebrate- whether for my birthday, or just life.  Jhoseline and I have definitely experienced more than our fair share of ups and downs in our time here, but I couldn’t have even pictured in my mind a better person to experience it all with.  I’m so thankful for her and this life we’ve created together here.  Although it looks like it will be a process, we are excited to get back to that life we love so much.  If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

The decorations were absolutely gorgeous!

Coco tablecloth, my favorite wine, a birthday crown, and my favorite face cream! Jhoseline thought of everything!

Super thoughtful birthday gesture! Shout out to Ryan, Erin, Becca, Erin, and Baylee :) 

       

Hello again and welcome to another blog. Nothing much has happened here and I am sad to say that the days are very similar. It is frustrating being stuck at home all day and I find myself spending much time wishing the quarantine was over. However, it is necessary to stay inside and follow the measures put in place to maintain health and take care of one another. 

Plaza San Francisco without vendors and tourist 

The best thing that happened last month was celebrating Emily’s birthday. Her birthday was April 27th and although is not how we had planned to celebrate we had an amazing day. While she was sleeping I decorated the house with lots of colorful balloons including a Feliz Cumpleanos, a 23, rainbow, hearts, happy birthdays, and different color plain balloons. The house looked beautiful and when she woke up she was so surprised to see the house all decorated. I also ordered her favorite Mexican food for lunch, a chocolate cake that was very delicious, and got her some gifts.  It was great celebrating her on her special day and I loved seeing her so happy. A huge shout out to her mom Donna for all the help, without her this process would have been much more difficult. Emily was so happy and it was great to do something out of the ordinary. I am grateful to have her by my side every day and I am happy I was able to do something special for her and show her how much she means to me. When things go back to normal we will celebrate her birthday again with friends and have a great time.

Birthday decorations for Emily 

  

Teaching online has been challenging. I must admit I am not a very technological person and it was hard to get used to the 3 platforms. Besides, we only got a 2-hour training for all the platforms on the same day which was not enough time. The students as well-received little training and to this day technological issues continue which is very frustrating. I find myself moving at such a slow pace and way behind. I also spend so much time on lesson planning way more than before. This might be because this cycle I was given all niños classes which I have never taught before. It has been challenging teaching little kids because the curriculum is way different and the pace is different. Also, it is more interactive which requires a lot of planning and is so hard to be interactive when teaching online. Parents are also very involved which can get frustrating. I miss teaching Intensives and teens/adult classes. Little kids, however, are very cute and bring joy to my life. Over the past couple of weeks, I have felt little support from CEDEI and to be honest, it has been hard to feel like teachers matter,  like I matter. There have been a lot of changes in the staff and we are unsure as to who to contact when problems arise. New staff have joined CEDEI coming with great ideas and with the best intentions but fail to ask us teachers, who at the end of the day are the ones who have to teach, what we want, and our opinions on how the program can be better. Instead, they want to change the curriculum already put in place, disregard the help Lead teachers offered so that they can understand the program, and dictate our way of teaching as if the way we teach is the problem. There is no transparency and it sucks that we teachers are not taken into consideration when making big decisions and at the end of the day are the ones that get affected by changes the most. Despite all the frustration, I am grateful to have a job and to be learning new skills that are preparing me to be a better teacher. 

I miss my kids at the Fundacion a lot and I am so sad that I do not get to see them. Without volunteering at El Arenal I am having a hard time feeling like I have a purpose. I miss not being able to help with homework, talk to the parents, and hear how my kids are doing.  Teaching has become more frustrating and I wish I could be doing something I enjoy a lot like spending time with my kids. I think about them and their families a lot and wish I could do more. I know a lot of the families are struggling with paying rent and keeping food on the table and it is hard to sit here and not be able to do anything to help them. Some of my kids are also worried about their parents who continue to work to make ends meet. They are afraid their mom will get sick from the virus and although they understand she is doing what she has to, to have food on the table they are very worried and wish she did not have to work. I am grateful that despite not being able to see them  I can communicate with them on a regular base via Facebook and help them with their homework. I am blessed to have gained their trust and care. My kids tell me they miss me a lot and trust me enough to tell me how this crisis is affecting them and their families. Although I am not there physically with them and at times feel like I can not do much or that I am not doing much, I can bring comfort to their life by listening to them and giving them advice. I know this is something my kids need a lot, someone to listen to them and show them that they care. As mentioned I am grateful to have them in my life and I can not wait until I get to see them again. 

My kids having fun. I miss them!!!!

Like I mentioned not much has changed here in Ecuador. We continue to be in quarantine and the strict measures remain in place. We still have a curfew from 2 pm until 5 am, traveling out of the country and to different provinces is very limited, vehicular transportation still is dependent on your license plate and we are only able to be out of the house if it is to buy groceries, buy medicine or go to the hospital. I have not been out of the house for a while now and it is overwhelming being in my apartment all the time. Like most people, I have my ups and downs and am taking life one day at a time. There is hope things will change and I do wish things will go back to normal soon. The president of Ecuador mentioned back in April that the transition from isolation to social distancing started on May 4th. To execute this well a traffic light system was put in place. This means that provinces in red remain with strict measures, provinces in yellow/orange will experience fewer restrictions, and provinces in green will either have restrictions lifted or very relaxed restrictions. Each governor of the province will decide the color which it will operate under. This is all dependent on data and the number of cases of coronavirus in the providence. Everyone began in red and over time provinces with fewer cases have changed colors. We heard rumors that Cuenca would change to yellow soon and fewer restrictions would be in place. Both Emily and I got very excited about this but we were sad to find out that our governor decided to keep Cuenca in red until May 24th. Although I understand the importance of staying at home I have hope that things will change soon and everything will go back to normal. All things said I am grateful to be in a country that is taking the virus seriously and is taking the right measures to keep its citizens safe. I am very disturbed by looking at the news from the United  States. I have a hard time understanding the protests going on when in my opinion the United States has done very little to stop the virus from spreading and has not taken the right measures. In Cuenca, there are also protests going on, but these are from totally different reasons and in my opinion more valid reasons than the protests going on in the United States. Students are protesting because the government has cut down funding for the public University threatening their education. Everyone protesting wore masks and gloves, and there were no riffles on site. I hope the United States can learn some things from Ecuador and apply them to keep its citizens safe. 

Protest by University Students 

Protesters wearing masks and gloves 

These times are hard for everyone and it is sad to see how much the world is suffering due to the crisis at hand. Things have not been easy for us mentally and we struggle with all the changes that we have gone through recently. We both miss our families a lot and wish things will go back to normal soon. I am so grateful to have Emily by my side and I know I could not have done this without her constant support and care. One thing I do know is that I have to allow myself to feel all the feelings and validate them. I hope everyone reading this is doing well and I encourage everyone to not lose hope and faith. We will get out of this and come back stronger than ever before. Like always thank you, Mark and Linda, for all of your support and this amazing opportunity. Take care everyone and thank you for reading.