Quito, Oct. 20, 2018

Top left:  Dinner out at a Korean Restaurant-L to R, My boss at Inlingua, Lauren, French teacher at Inlingua, Maria del Carmen, my Spanish teacher at Inlingua, and Carla, English teacher at Inlingua.  Lauren, Maria del Carmen, and Carla have been such a large part of my positive experience here in Quito.  Top centre, dinner out-Italian pasta.  The other three pictures are taken at the beautiful Metropolitan Park.  It is a beautiful, natural park nearby.  In the earlier views of Quito taken from the Telefiriquo, it is the large green area behind Carolina Parque and the area where I live.  It’s about a half hour uphill walk from my place.

I feel very fortunate to be doing what I am doing.  I love my job; it is exactly what I wanted.  It is challenging, rewarding, and gives me an insider’s peek into what life is like for Ecuadorians.  It allows me the flexibility and time to pursue my own interests as clients and myself can mutually agree to change our schedule.  I am very happy with a self-imposed max of 17 teaching hours per week.

The weather is absolutely beautiful here in Quito.  The people tell me this is drier than normal as the wet season usually starts in Oct.  Global warming is a concern here and there are worries about this drought.  The weather is also very changeable and I have been caught without my umbrella, luckily I had a raincoat with me.  The rains have not amounted to much moisture.  The sun is extremely strong here due to the altitude.  I use sunscreen daily and sometimes my umbrella as shade.

Latin American life is more relaxed than that of North America.  My clients are now always on time for our lessons, and if they are going to be late, they contact me.  However, not all clients are like that and it is not uncommon for clients to be 15 to 30 minutes late for a lesson.  I really like all my clients and I learn so much about business and life in Ecuador as they practice their English.  The history of corruption and violence in politics and life goes back centuries and this culture is very difficult to change.  Ecuador appears to be doing okay currently; everyone is in agreement that switching to the American dollar in 2000 helped stabilize the economy.  It did not come without a cost though, as anyone who had more than a certain amount of money in the bank, saw their savings significantly devalued.  Many retirees and those near retirement suffered.  There is a great distrust of banks and it is very much a cash economy.  One of my clients recently upgraded his wife’s vehicle.  The purchase was made in cash.  He and the car dealer had to go to his bank, withdraw the money, take the cash to a notary where all the serial numbers had to be recorded (any bills $100 or greater), then they walked with the cash to the car dealer’s notary, where all bills were again recorded and then the car dealer took the cash to his bank.  Although such a large purchase as a car is not usually done in cash, it does happen.

My Spanish is not progressing as quickly as I’d hoped.  I teach English, so my work life is English.  I am also not forcing myself to stay immersed in the Spanish language.  I do listen to Spanish radio, but understand only the odd word.  I watch a little Spanish TV but again understand only minimally.  Netflix is flexible and depending on my mood, I watch in Spanish with Spanish subtitles, in Spanish with English subtitles, in English with Spanish subtitles or in English only.  The wonders of the internet.  How different my experience was in the early 80’s in French-speaking Quebec.  It is so much less isolating now with almost daily What’s App conversations with home.  I also watch CTV Regina news and read the LeaderPost.  I know more about what’s happening at home that I do of what is happening around me.

A wonderful side-effect of my job and living here is that I am losing weight.  I calculate that I put on roughly 25 or 30 km/week, which is much more that I was doing at home.  I am also eating differently.  I eat a big breakfast, a mid-morning snack, then my large meal mid to late afternoon, and sometimes a snack in the evening.  I am often exhausted by evening and in bed by 9pm as I start my days between 5 and 6 am.  The 6am to 6pm consistent hours of sunlight make it easy to get into a routine.

I am looking forward to Kim’s arrival on Nov. 1!