Better Late than Never

Wow, sorry I let so much time go by between my last post and now. Let's see, where was I...the new volunteering job is great! The kids are (still) really cute and I have a lot of fun with them. So far I've spent almost all my time with the preschool kids, so ages 4 and 5, but I think soon I'm going to start helping with English in the other classes. The preschool class here is more similar to the preschool I worked at in the US than it is different. The activities are what one would expect: the kids learn English, do drawing and art projects, sing songs, put on plays, practice their letters, reading, and writing, and learn about different themes within the curriculum that are constantly changing (right now we're on the ¨plants¨ segment). It's also great that the school is a bilingual school, and I wish more schools were like that in the US. I think two of the main differences I see between this preschool and the other one I worked at before is that at the school here there is definitely less money (not very surprising, even though it is a private school), and there also seems to be a little less discipline, although on the other hand maybe a little more affection. Oh, one more thing: the preschoolers have workbooks that they work in and even have homework! They get down to business here early...

Let's see, what else is new? The coast here is in a state of emergency because of the torrential rains that have been taking over the country. Quito hasn't been affected much, but unfortunately certain regions of the coast got pounded. The water was waist high or higher in some parts, and a lot of people (mostly poor) have had to leave their homes or have lost their homes altogether. It's pretty sad.

This weekend the weather finally shifted and there was a tremendous amount of sun yesterday. I went to watch Alejandro's pick up soccer game, which was a lot of fun, but unfortunately there was no shade at the field and I got a wicked sunburn. I keep forgetting how freaking strong the sun is here, something that is definitely better not forgotten. Luckily Mayory has some sort of strange burn-relief cream from Germany and it appears to be working and erasing the burn. Let's hope it keeps up the good work because this mess hurts!

For the next week I'll be making sure to stay out of the sun because this Friday I'll be leaving for the beach to celebrate my birthday. Sooo psyched for that! So don't y'all be surprised if another entry is a long time coming. : P

xoxo