I have discovered the 4,719th reason that I love living here (there are at least that many reasons... I may have lost count along the way)... I've spent the past 6 days going to the orphanage that I volunteered at last year, this time teaching intensive English to kids who are about to be adopted by English speaking families. I LOVE it. LOVE LOVE LOVE it! In the weeks to come, I plan to go out there 3 times a week. The orphanage is in the north part of the city... usually 30-40 minutes by bus and 15-25 minutes in a taxi, depending on the traffic. The whole experience is lovely and unexpected. Sometimes the bus is packed full, so I struggle to find something to hold on to as we fly down the highway, with my arms full of games and activities for the kids. Sometimes there is live music, provided by somebody who wants to collect a few coins from the passengers, there are always vendors, with various goods to be sold, including gum, hard candy, and burned copies of cds and dvds. On the ride home from the orphanage, there are spectacular views of the sunset over the city, with the Pichincha mountain range in the background. Traveling daily on the bus I have joined a new realm of Ecuadorian culture... I am a working class person whose punctuality depends on the amount of traffic there is.
I'm learning a lot as I work with the kids. My goal is to make each time that I spend with them a fun experience. They've already spent the whole day in school and doing homework, so my job is to make learning English fun for them. We play all kinds of games. The two kids that I've been working with this week are so kind to each other... if one starts winning in a game, they immediately do poorly on the next turn, so they other one will have a chance to catch up. They are most happy if they are tied. But they love winning against me. Why is that! We spend a lot of time in the small play house shown in the picture behind Jessica and I.