Jake - In Ecuador

Hey everyone! I have been in Ecuador for nearly 2 weeks now, and all is good. Here's the scoop:

The first week consisted of staying in a pretty nice hotel with all the other new hires, going apartment hunting and appliance shopping, and hanging out. They had veteran Ecuadorian teachers take us around to see apartments, and after a few days I sealed the deal on a 1 bedroom place in an area called El Batan. It's pretty nice - the neighborhood is quiet-ish and residential, mostly 2-3 story houses, and it is up a hill out of the downtown area. It's a 15 min. walk to the mall and restaurants and supermarket, it's right next to a huge wooded park (biggest in Quito, really nice trails), and since its up on a hill its got a pretty sweet view of the city and the 14,000 ft. volcano on the other side. I'm living by myself, but there are nearly a dozen teachers within a couple blocks, which is really nice. At 9,500 ft., its a pretty comfy home.

Monday we went into school for the first time, and all week we have been having meetings, orientations, workshops, and planning time. My classroom is pretty sweet - lab tables, desks, big sliding whiteboard, projector, windows with a view, computer, not too shabby. The school is pretty nice - all the hallways are outside, so all the classrooms are open to the outside. Nothing is really enclosed in a building. The school bus picks me up right outside my house, and its about a half hour to school. I've been working a lot this week with planning and curriculum and setting up my classroom, but the starting date of school just got moved back! It was supposed to start on Tuesday, but got pushed back to Monday, 9/7. So now I've got lots of time to get settled and plan and be ready, which is pretty sweet. I have 3 different classes to prep for, which is a lot, but those are the only classes I have, so my schedule is actually a lot lighter than most. I think I have about the same amount of free time as class time on most days, which is really nice.

The other teachers all seem really cool. I'm definitely the youngest teacher, and the oldest new hire is probably around 60. There is a good-sized group of teachers in their mid 20's though, and everyone is really nice. We've gone out to La Mariscal, the main nightlife area in Quito, a few times. There are some fun bars, and there is even a microbrew in town, which we went to for the first time yesterday. Their porter isn't exactly Stovepipe quality, but its better than the shitty cheap bottled beer they sell here. A few of the teachers are climbers/hikers or interested in climbing, which is also really cool. I've been to the climbing gym a couple times, its huge! Really long bouldering wall that is steeply overhung, and a tall (75 ft ish) lead wall with fixed draws and big overhangs. I haven't roped up yet, but the bouldering is pretty powerful and there are a lot of surprisingly good Ecuadorian climbers there. And, at $1.50 its not too bad a price. Hopefully I'll get out and try some of the smaller volcanoes soon - most are like 15,000-16,000 ft and scrambles, although the big ones are glaciated. I can see Cotopaxi, one of the more famous glaciated mtns, on the bus ride to school, which is sweet.

This weekend I'll probably just hang around here and get settled, although I might try a volcano or travel to a little town called Mindo that is warmer and has rafting. So yeah, all is good. So far I haven't gotten mugged, sick, or married, so I'd call that a success. Keep me updated on how yall are doing, and I've got floor space for when you wanna come visit! December break is prime climbing season for the big mountains.