Hi everyone! Welcome to the LAST blog of this experience. I cannot believe those words are even true! Of course if you would have asked us what we thought the last month of our year in Cuenca would look like, we could never have predicted this! The pandemic changed life for everyone in the world, and we definitely felt the change in the last few months of our life here.  

\As is happening in many places, things are finally starting to look more normal around here.  We have moved into "yellow" in the stoplight system, meaning the curfew has been shortened from 2pm-5am to now 9pm-5am, which has given us more of a chance to just get out and get some fresh air.  Masks are still mandatory in public, but the custom of wearing gloves has started to fade out and be replaced by consistent use of anti-bacterial spray or gel. Some restaurants and public transportation have been able to open at a limited capacity with extreme precautions.  The long awaited Tranvía even finally opened here in Cuenca, and will be free to the public for the first few months.  We got to get on the other day, and it was super cool! We are still trying to take as much precaution as possible, while also getting a few minutes of fresh air during the day! It has been a great help to our mental health. I’ve been walking a lot around the city in my free time, reminiscing on all of the layered memories I have made in different places. 

Finally made it out to take a walk!

Our first lunch out of the house!

We even painted our masks!

The Tranvía

We are just wrapping up our third cycle teaching with CEDEI! This cycle has been entirely online and presented a monumental learning curve to all of us.  Although it was extremely frustrating at the beginning, we eventually found our own rhythm and were able to bond with our students and give classes we are proud of, even though they looked different from what we were used to with face to face learning.  The last day of class, though, was hard for me, because I normally have a party with my students and we have a fun ending to the class, something we didn’t get to do in an online format.  Regardless, I was so thankful for awesome students this cycle that motivated me to learn and grow so that I could give them the best possible class experience!  I am definitely ready for a bit of a break though now that the cycle is coming to a close.  In fact, I am planning to visit my family in July in the United States!  I hope that all goes well, because many things are still up in the air as far as travel both domestically and internationally.  I will definitely be extremely careful with that process, but I am so excited to see my family and friends! 

I still made balloons for the last day of class! 

Last day of class

Although as I said, this year didn't end how we expected, it has still been one of the most dynamic years of our lives, and this last blog is a good time to reflect on all of it- the good, and the unexpected. 

Coming up on this experience, I loved the feeling of the unknown; when your brain has no reference for predicting what is to come.  It was a blank slate, and I was excited for all of the life to be lived in the coming year.  I am so grateful for Jhoseline, who has been the best since the moment we met in the Cleveland airport on July 9th. We got to do and see so much, even including the Paro and the pandemic!  

Living with two different families in the beginning was such a great experience.  It brought us into the life of the people here in a way we couldn’t have seen it otherwise; from eating typical (and delicious) meals to having someone to go to with questions about the city.  I’ll never forget my host mom showing me the route to CEDEI and taking me out for ice cream on my first day.   

Conquering the TEFL course was a huge learning experience- it had some serious ups and downs and had me questioning if I was cut out for teaching. Now, almost a full year later, we are wrapping up another cycle with CEDEI and I am loving it.  I love the students so much, and it has been extremely rewarding to grow into my role and improve every day. Not to mention the amazing people we work with that have become lifelong friends!

Unfortunately, the pandemic ended both of our volunteer positions much earlier than we anticipated. Before it ended, though, I loved going to San Jose de Calasanz every morning bright and early to be greeted by all of the hugs and smiles from the students.  When I first started, I felt too unqualified to really be of help, but was able to build a strong connection with the students that I will cherish forever.  I really miss them and think about them all the time with all that is going on! I’m still holding out hope that there may be some way for me to see them again before I leave Ecuador and begin another chapter. 

Committing to at least a year in one place gives an insight that a short visit never could.  In the past year we had the opportunity to experience Fiestas de Cuenca, Carnaval, Baños de Ambato, the Paro, multiple new apartments, a variety of friends, and just everyday life. I remember saying to Jhoseline that before the grant, I am sure I would have liked to visit Ecuador, but I wasn’t really thinking about living here.  Without this experience I never would have come to know this beautiful country so well, and wouldn’t have had so many of the amazing times and insights that we have now.  Now Cuenca will always feel like a home to us. 

We all know that it is difficult to check every item off of a bucket list, and leaving a few things is normal.  For us, there are definitely still some things we haven’t gotten to experience that we would like to! For example, we never did get to try cuy (guinea pig), although it is a typical special dish here.  We definitely wish we could have traveled more, but considering our busy schedules and other blocks to travel (the paro and the pandemic), our only big trip out of Cuenca was to Baños de Ambato before we started teaching, sprinkled with smaller trips in the area to places like Yungilla, Ingapirca, Cajas National Park, and Baños.  We would like to someday get to travel a bit more around Ecuador, to the beaches for example, and also around more of South America!

We knew going into this experience that it would change our lives, but we didn’t know how that would look a year later.  Now, it has been so rewarding to reflect back on our year, filled with color, memories, friends, warm moments, growing, learning, triumphs,  and more.  I am so thankful for all of the people we have met, things we have seen, and ways we have grown.

Looking toward the future, there are still a lot of question marks.  COVID has made it hard to plan, but has also shown us that we can trust our guts in questionable times.  As I mentioned, I am going to visit my family in July, but after that I plan to come back to Cuenca to teach with CEDEI for the August cycle.  I don’t know exactly what the future will hold, but that excites me! I have my eye on the future and I’m definitely looking forward to the next adventure! I can’t wait for things to continue to unfold and to see what is next.  Without a doubt, this year has been a milestone that I will carry into everything else that I am able to do… I want to thank Mark and Linda again for not only the grant but all of their support- I hope you guys are proud of us, the grantees for 2019-2020. I am eternally grateful.  To anyone reading- thank you for coming on this journey with us! We have certainly had some ups and downs, but recounting it all in this blog has been a special experience.  Thank you!

Our first day in Cuenca