Ecuador Round 2. Officially 5 weeks in.

So far, so good. At first the going was a little slow. It was hard adjusting to a new group of people, as I previously mentioned, and I didn't have the good fortune to be quite as exhilarated as they were at the novelty of Ecuador. It was no longer a novelty for me. I've now readjusted my thinking, knowing that this semester is going to be just as good as the last one, only much different.

Things have started picking up though- we went to the beach this weekend. No one wanted to go with me and my friend Dani. We couldn't even get 'maybes' out of anyone, only definitive 'nos.' Wednesday night I wrote a desperate email to the group explaining why the beach is awesome (which shouldn't have needed explaining) and why they had to take advantage of this time in the semester to travel, as well as a few other things. Then, at the end, I offered to buy everyone a beer (what? I told you I was desperate!) Anyway, I was more persuasive than I thought I could possibly be because ELEVEN people came!It ended up being a blast and I think that everyone really enjoyed themselves. This weekend I also discovered (since I am already bragging a bit) that I am a natural boogie-boarder. I just kept catching wave after wave in to the shore! It was awesome, and a little like sledding, I've decided. Sledding is great when you're flying down the hill, but it doesn't seem like such a good idea when you're plodding back up the hill through feet of snow, dragging your increasingly heavier sled behind you. Boogie-boarding is great when the wave is lifting you into the air and you're riding on a pillow of foam, but it's an incredible hassle when you have to fight through a couple of hundred yards of powerful surf to return to the breaking point, board yanking on your wrist every few steps. But anyway, I'm giving lessons. I have references. Let me know.

I don't know how many of you I've told, but I'm also teaching English classes this semester. I'm only taking four classes instead of the required five (I couldn't find one that I liked and fit into my schedule and I'm not short on credits, so my advisor kindly wrote me an exemption,) and I figured I should do SOMETHING with my extra time. This is a volunteer program set up with BU by our program director in la Fundación Hanns Seidel. This is a German organization that promotes cultural diversity and language learning. In Quito, the foundation works with indigenous students, providing scholarships, various other opportunities, and tutoring. In order to benefit from the Foundation's services, the students are required to take English classes, taught by yours truly.

My classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-5. Two hours at a time is LONG, let me tell you that. I've now taught a total of 10 hours, and it has been fun, but difficult. The students range from the age of early twenties to mid thirties, and from the speaking level of about "Hello" to much more advanced conversational and grammatical concepts. Different students show up to each class, so it is very difficult to establish any sort of progressive lesson plan or even to build off the things we've already learned. I'm trying to find an English grammar book here with sample lesson plans. Clearly others have followed this path before me, and I would like to know which basics have been proved a good jumping point. Again, so far, so good. Carnaval celebrations at the beach again this weekend! THIS time I will be obsessive with the sunscreen (there were a few unfortunate mishaps this past weekend…)