Overview of the last weeks in November

Things are going pretty well here, though I have been very busy. I finally received a visa, though it is a Comercio visa, and not an Intercambio visa, and therefore I will need to go back to the Edificio Astudillo (office where visas are granted in Cuenca) in May to have my visa extended. As it turns out, every organization which hosts internationals in Ecuador for cultural exchange is currently being investigated. According to the visa regulations, an Intercambio visa is only supposed to be granted to International persons who live in Ecuador to teach a language (and/or other aspects of culture) and in exchange learn Spanish and experience Ecuadorian culture.  Furthermore, this is considered to be a volunteer-type of exchange rather than a form of employment, and therefore those granted Intercambio visas are only supposed to receive a living stipend, rather than wages, for their work. However, it has recently come to the Ecuadorian government's attention that some organizations were employing people (paying them wages and all) but asking them to get an Intercambio visa instead of a work visa, since it's so much easier to obtain. So long story short, no Intercambio visas are being granted right now. While this is somewhat annoying, I am grateful to have been given a Comercio visa for the mean-time, and to be able to continue my big adventure.

In other news, the last two weekends in a row I went hiking in Cajas (the national park in the mountains that I posted about previously).  On the 18th I went to Tres Cruces (Three Crosses) with a motley crew of various Internationals and Cuencanos. Tres Cruces is fairly high up in the mountains, and there were times when I was very easily winded and needed to stop to more fully catch my breath or drink water. The hike lasted about five hours in total, and afterwards we ate fresh rainbow trout at a restaurant in the mountains. It was probably the most delicious meal I have had since being here, and I enjoyed it all the more after having completed what I consider to be a fairly intense hike. On the 25th I went to Cajas again but this time I was in the company of all my fellow teachers, our students, and their parents. This time we walked a lower level loop around a lake next to an abandoned brewery. This was much less intense, and while I was not enamored with the fact that I had to go in to work on a Sunday morning, it was fun to watch my students interact with their parents, and to have the opportunity to play with my students without needing to be mindful of class time or curriculum.

Cajas from my November 18th trip.

An Alpaca hanging out at the top of a mountain

Standing on the top of a mountain.

Another view of the mountainside.
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My professional life this month was somewhat crazy. But, every month I feel like I fall that much more in love with my students, and that helps me to deal with whatever the chaos brings. I have had a student teacher for the past two months, from White Water Wisconsin. It was a very interesting experience to be given a student teacher after having only one month of professional teaching experience, but we managed to figure out how to work together.  From our first weeks together I told her that while I lacked sage wisdom and experience, I could offer her independence and the opportunity to be my professional peer, instead of my professional understudy. She was a very big help to me when I was sick and when I had to miss school to meet with visa officials, because she took over all my classes without hesitation. Anyway, this last week was not only the end of the current grading period, but also my student teacher's last week. And just to add a little more chaos, the entire school performed in a Christmas program at the local mall yesterday, but practice for each grade level's part of the program was held during school. On top of all of that, the boys soccer team had a game this week which was held during school hours (and the whole school was mandated to watch), and practices for this game were also held during school hours. 

Needless to say, there was a lot to keep track of and a limited amount of actual class time, despite the fact that it was the end of the grading period and our student evaluations needed to be completed by Friday of this week. Tension was high throughout the whole school, this week, but as far as I know, everything ended up working out and everything got done, in one way or another. Working at CEDEI is definitely a test of my flexibility and patience. When I worked for Seton Home, I was often told these were two traits I possessed that benefited my team of co-workers.  Here, I feel like I am forced to develop these traits in a much more concrete and sometimes extreme way. I think I am rising to the challenge, though I do not always do this gracefully.  I will be the first to say I was extremely frustrated this week, and had to do a lot of self-care at home in order to successfully let go of the way I wanted things to go, and let them happen as they actually did.  It was also extremely helpful that this week was peppered with many moments which provided the opportunity to bond with students, and during which students revealed their genuine kindness and tenderness over and over again.

In case you are interested, this is the link to CEDEI School's Facebook page.  For confidentiality purposes I would never post photos of my students on my blog or personal Facebook page.  However, the parents have given CEDEI permission to post photos of their children on the school's page, and if you are interested in a visual overview of everything we do at school, you should check It out.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/CEDEI-School/302520179765496?fref=ts