So much has been happening in the last few weeks, and yet at the same time, nothing quite exciting enough to blog about. I guess you could say in the past few weeks I've been learning a few life lessons as well as cultural lessons.
1. I live in a new apartment! Let's start about 3 weeks ago when my new coworker/roommate Hannah and I started an apartment hunt. It lasted for about a week, but similarly to last time the Sunday paper was the best bet. We found a nice 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath about 2 blocks away from work, AND my gym! This is GREAT because it makes it easy to go back and forth during the day as well as saving money on transportation to get home at night. We are subletting the 3rd bedroom.
Cultural life lesson: Furnishing an apartment in Quito is quite an adventure. We took the apartment because it was very nice and of course, location location location!!! But....it was not furnished. In Quito this meant no stove (there was a fridge, but it needed to be fixed) and a simply EMPTY apartment!! The landlords promised to fix the fridge and get us a stove (which both happened VERY QUICKLY AND WHEN WE ASKED!!!) Luckily there is San Roque, a slightly sketchy market near the Centro Historico FULL of every type of furniture. There is a lot of nice wood furniture, and since it is a market, bargaining is the name of the game! So...two full size beds, and a 6 top dining room table and six chairs all acquired for under $400!!! Mattresses are also super cheap (a new one for $100). We also found some great stores along one of the main avenues for all the kitchen essentials we could need (super cheap). So though furnishing an apartment wasn't ideal, it wasn't the worst thing ever.
HOWEVER, obviously, cheap furniture comes with a price...this price being that the screws don't fit properly, and some of the parts aren't even properly aligned...SO be prepared for quite the DIY project.
*Note for a another less happy cultural life lesson in dealing with landlords/moving/LACK OF TENANT RIGHTS, feel free to ask how things ended at my previous location/with my previous landlords, but that rant is not for here....
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| kitchen, smaller than the old one, but still good! |
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| small balcony outside the living room/dining room |
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| my bedroom, no bed for me, I'm still in the (poor) college mindset |
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| living room/dining room area, big and open, with minimal furniture! |
2. Things that we think of to be easier in the US are quite a bit more complicated here, but if you want a Visa, no problem, step right up!! (alright this may be a bit of an exaggeration...but...)
Cultural life lesson: Always expect things to take WAY LONGER and be WAY MORE COMPLICATED than you would expect (but when something is supposed to be long and complicated, have no fear, it will get done almost immediately!). As I went into in a recent post, I am very lucky because my job is sponsoring and helped me get my one year visa. For anyone who has done extensive traveling/lived abroad, you know what a hassle a visa can be. Lucky for me, the process was fairly fast and painless.
THE FOLLOWING PROCESSES PROVED TO BE MORE COMPLICATED THAN GETTING A VISA...
- Getting internet. Not only is my generation (and every one else pretty much now too) addicted to the internet, but it is 100% necessary for me to keep in touch with all of you at home, as well as do my work including lesson planning, looking up listening and video activities, etc. So when we moved into the new apartment and there was no internet set up yet, that was fine. Our landlord said it would just be a few days...WRONG. After over a week we called him and he said it couldn't be done for at least another week, at which point we said that's fine we will just go do it ourselves! WRONG AGAIN! Some companies are simply flaky, while others are technically run by the government meaning that you cannot sign up for their services if you don't have a cedula (Ecuador's ID #, similar to a social security number). So we called our landlord after having many problems with our tails between our legs, and he promised to do it, and 2.5 weeks after moving in, we got internet. YAY! RECAP: Time it took to get a visa...1 week with about 6 hours of waiting total between 3 visits. Time it took to get internet: 2.5 weeks, multiple trips all over Quito to different providers, and ENDLESS WAITING IN THAT TIME!
- Getting a bank account: Once again my amazing job has provided me with the resources to set up a bank account. No I am not a resident, but I am still able to get an account and ATM card through them. They have a system, which has worked until now. Multiple confusing trips to the bank (talking with the woman who I was supposed to talk to many times) left me asking if I really could just go to customer services and open an account like a normal person...OF COURSE I CAN'T! It was quite the process, but finally it was sorted out. RECAP: Time it took to get a visa...1 week with about 6 hours of waiting total between 3 visits. Time it took to set up a bank account...2 weeks, 5 or so visits, and 4ish hours of waiting time.
3. Ecuadorians (not just Ecuadorians, but also many other cultures around the world) have a much less strict schooling system. This leads to A LOT of whining and complaining in the classroom (here so endearingly called Ecuawhining, and it doesn't just happen in the classroom...).
Cultural life lesson: PUT IN MY FUTURE SYLLABUS THAT WHINING AND COMPLAINING WON'T BE ACCEPTED IN CLASS (in fact you will get a 0 for your participation grade that week...) I didn't think I would have to do this...but I learned quickly. The whine is a long drawn out "TEAAACHERRRRRR" followed by what ever issue they have with the assignment, grade, or anything else you try to do in class. Fulbright has extremely high standards, which makes it fabulous to teach there, but the students think they can pull the same old stuff and the teachers will just cave. I really had to learn to be strict and lay down the law with one of my classes.
TAKE NOTE: Being female, a new teacher, and young (probably 95% of my students are older than me, though I refuse to tell them my age to make the situation worse), basically equals NO respect so LAY DOWN THE LAW!
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| though my birthday was between cycles, there was a Fulbright birthday celebration for me and another teacher whose birthdays were during this time. |
Also, I look forward to seeing most if not all of you in 2 months!! I have the whole month of December off. My first stop will be San Diego to see my mom and grandpa (and all you other San Diegans!) and then I'll be roaming the North East for 3 weeks or so!
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