Self-Employment
Ahh it´s been awhile, so here´s the latest: I´m officially employed! Well, in a freelancy sort of way. I took Manuel´s advice and put an ad in the paper here offering 1-to-1 conversational English classes. A lot of people here apparently want to practice conversing and listening in English, so I got a bunch of responses. I´m still figuring out schedules and responding to calls, but so far it seems like a good gig and more relaxed than lots of other jobs would be. So I guess I´m sort of an ¨independent professional¨ or something to that extent.
Friday was a holiday, El Día de los Muertos (day of the dead). I went with Alejandro and Manuel to the town center (Quito Colonial) to visit the church where Manuel´s parents, grandmother, and aunts are buried. We left flowers in the catacombs and they said prayers. The weather was nice that day so we walked around a bit and I got to see the house that Manuel grew up in, as well as the house the family used to own 20 years ago. The colonial-style houses are amazing: they´re huuuge, often with an open patio in the middle where you could park 4 or 5 cars, and a ton of rooms. The style of the houses obviously has a very rustic and historic feel because they were built in the 1600´s (at least some of them). We also visited a museum in the town center that´s in the building that was the first hospital not only in Ecuador, but in all of Central and South America. Very informative, but I was about to pass out from information overload by the end of the tour. Later in the afternoon we went to a family-owned ice cream shop that Manuel used to go to when he was 5, so it´s been around for about 3 generations or more. They specialize in ¨helado de paila,¨which is ice cream made in a special kind of pot. I suppose it´s sort of like sorbet--the ice cream is made with fruit, ice and sugar, but not with any cream or milk. It was delish!
Saturday I went to the Quito zoo (which is actually outside the actual city) with the family and the new host student that´s staying with them (she´s actually in her 50´s or 60´s and is from Michigan). There was an abundance of silly monkeys and big cats, but also some stranger animals that are native to South America. As always, it was a little sad to see wild animals cooped up, but also cool because they´re pretty amazing, and how often do you get to see them in person?
Ahh I forgot about the trip we went on last weekend to the town of Cumbayá in the valley Tumbaco. It´s only about 45 min from where we live in Quito. I went with Alejandro, Mayory, the exchange student, and Alejandro´s aunt, Tia Giomar (pronounced Yo-MAR). Tia Giomar is building a country house in Cumbaya and she wanted to check out the progress. They have a nice piece of land with some fruit trees and a lot of space to use for basically whatever they feel like. The house itself is gorgeous and humongo. It´s basically done being built, so I´m hoping she has some sweet parties out there for the fam soon, hehe. After seeing the house we did a little wandering around the town, visited the church and town square, and did a bit of window shopping. It´s a very quaint town and definitely a good place to get away from the city once in awhile.
Well, time to jet: from 3-7 I´ll be busy giving classes, one of my first more full days. Hopefully I´ll be better about updating this here blog and do it more often than every 2 weeks. : P
Friday was a holiday, El Día de los Muertos (day of the dead). I went with Alejandro and Manuel to the town center (Quito Colonial) to visit the church where Manuel´s parents, grandmother, and aunts are buried. We left flowers in the catacombs and they said prayers. The weather was nice that day so we walked around a bit and I got to see the house that Manuel grew up in, as well as the house the family used to own 20 years ago. The colonial-style houses are amazing: they´re huuuge, often with an open patio in the middle where you could park 4 or 5 cars, and a ton of rooms. The style of the houses obviously has a very rustic and historic feel because they were built in the 1600´s (at least some of them). We also visited a museum in the town center that´s in the building that was the first hospital not only in Ecuador, but in all of Central and South America. Very informative, but I was about to pass out from information overload by the end of the tour. Later in the afternoon we went to a family-owned ice cream shop that Manuel used to go to when he was 5, so it´s been around for about 3 generations or more. They specialize in ¨helado de paila,¨which is ice cream made in a special kind of pot. I suppose it´s sort of like sorbet--the ice cream is made with fruit, ice and sugar, but not with any cream or milk. It was delish!
Saturday I went to the Quito zoo (which is actually outside the actual city) with the family and the new host student that´s staying with them (she´s actually in her 50´s or 60´s and is from Michigan). There was an abundance of silly monkeys and big cats, but also some stranger animals that are native to South America. As always, it was a little sad to see wild animals cooped up, but also cool because they´re pretty amazing, and how often do you get to see them in person?
Ahh I forgot about the trip we went on last weekend to the town of Cumbayá in the valley Tumbaco. It´s only about 45 min from where we live in Quito. I went with Alejandro, Mayory, the exchange student, and Alejandro´s aunt, Tia Giomar (pronounced Yo-MAR). Tia Giomar is building a country house in Cumbaya and she wanted to check out the progress. They have a nice piece of land with some fruit trees and a lot of space to use for basically whatever they feel like. The house itself is gorgeous and humongo. It´s basically done being built, so I´m hoping she has some sweet parties out there for the fam soon, hehe. After seeing the house we did a little wandering around the town, visited the church and town square, and did a bit of window shopping. It´s a very quaint town and definitely a good place to get away from the city once in awhile.
Well, time to jet: from 3-7 I´ll be busy giving classes, one of my first more full days. Hopefully I´ll be better about updating this here blog and do it more often than every 2 weeks. : P
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