Pichincha, teaching and the evil cold

So, I didn't post anything last week. This was mostly because 2 weeks ago, I got a silly cold. It kind of knocked me out, I missed some school and stayed in for a weekend. I am all better now! On the academic end of things, life has been good. I got to teach a whole week with my own lessons to my 7th graders. Things went very well, and I loved the final product the students made. We spoke about the purposes of government, and I was surprised to see how politically minded my students are. They had a lot of opinions when I asked the question "What does the Ecuadorian government do for the people of Ecuador?" So many, in fact, that I changed the question to "What should the Ecuadorian government do for the people of Ecuador?" in order to get my lesson back on track, and talk about why governments exist at all. Despite causing my lesson to take unexpected turns, I found the conversations brought up from asking my students these questions fascinating.

This week marks the beginning of my transition from 7th grade to 8th grade. It is amazing how quickly I can get attached to a group of students, and I will miss working with them. I'm sure I will feel the same way about my 8th graders as we get to know each other. I am also working with a new collaborating teacher. I'm sure she will be wonderful to work with, but I know I will miss Mercedes, my original CT, who is now on maternity leave. I learned a great deal from her, and I know that I am much closer to becoming the teacher I want to be because of the time I had with her. She blew me away, and she was constantly supportive.

Okay, on with the sight seeing. This weekend, the roomies and I went to the volcano! We took a cable car up, followed by a hike (holy cow, the elevation of Quito is nothing compared to what it was like after the cable car, it took many stops to go a short distance.) We hiked to a space where it is possible to rent a horse, and get photos taken with llamas. Kristi and I rode for 45 very pretty minutes, then headed back down to meet the others. In such a beautiful place, we decided to take some photos, and even tried to get a little artsy with them (many "gazing pensively in the distance" pictures were taken). We had a delicious meal back in Quito, then went out for a few drinks. It was a great day, full of roommate bonding. Here are some photos:

There was a theme park just before the cable cars. Theme park on a volcano!

Cars going up!

Ready for my ride!

Though fast and a little bumpy, the ride was amazing!

Look at how Quito sprawls throughout the valley

I love the juxtaposition of country and city

Up in the clouds

You can't beat the scenery

Jessica trying to get a shot

roommate bonding

I told you that we got artsy. I love this shot though

Oh, did I mention that we are high up? There were random satellite gardens in a few places

My horse looks like she's laughing! She's actually trying to convince me to let her eat grass

50 cents for llama photos, they even lend you a pancho and hat

Can you tell they were a little scared?

Out for drinks that night

My mom comes next week! I'm very excited about taking her to Mindo next weekend, and traveling to the Galapagos the following week. You're jealous, I know you are!