UNI/USA

Happy Anniversary!

About a week ago we celebrated our one year anniversary for when we made the decision to sign our contracts and come to Ecuador. As result of the milestone we decided to host a UNI/USA party. UNI is one of three main universities in the United States that hosts their yearly international teaching job fairs. We decided to theme the party around the USA as a celebration of all things that we loved and missed about the States. It was a celebration of all that we’ve accomplished in the past year including all of the difficult moments such as a lack of hot water for three weeks, car buying, etc. It was also a celebration of our own personal heritage and a chance to do some things that are American.

It was a pretty small gathering with only about 5 of us, but that made it a pretty cool and unique experience. When Shannon and I were hired on a Saturday, the school hosted an orientation of sorts the following day. The orientation had a few people who were already hired as well as a few last minute hopefuls and they talked a bit about what it was like to live and work in Ecuador. At the conclusion of the meeting, the principals put a few chairs in a circle and said “Now be friends…” to us and another couple. When we asked about it later they said they had a philosophy of hiring couples and people of similar backgrounds whenever possible because it makes the teachers feel more comfortable living and working abroad and the hope is that they are comfortable enough to continue to stay and call it a home rather than a stop. It was kind of awkward in a blind date sort of way but we did become friends pretty quickly and continue to hang out a lot.

We also met another couple at the fair who seemed nice. When I first posted about the job fair I mentioned that while all of the people seemed professional and courteous, it was weird to think that often times they were after the same position. This was the case with one guy I met last year who was up against me for the same position. I remember him seeking Shannon and I out after we were offered the job and he asked if we were going to accept. I believe he had an offer contingent upon our answer and I felt pretty bad when I told him that we were going to accept. As it turned out, he was offered a different position and in my time working with him I truly have come to respect and admire him as one of the best educators I’ve ever seen. I feel that while it may be tip-toing the line of modesty, our school is lucky to have him and me both.

Well both couples attended this party we had and we celebrated all of the good times we’ve had and the fact that we all felt we had made the right decision.

We outlined a few basic rules such as, all items brought to the party must be American, even if it costs a little more money than the local items, and all participants must wear some sort of party appropriate attire. It was a small gathering but it was a blast. We had m&ms, skittles, coca cola, a full bbq full of burgers and hot dogs and wings, and some good ole’ fashioned Budweiser.

Looking back on our experiences over the past year was great. We ate until we were ready to burst. We toasted to our good fortunes, and we speculated what might have been had we taken some of the other offers we were presented with. And of course we had a nice little YouTube playlist of songs celebrating America headed by the one and only Bruce Springsteen of course.

We hope to make the UNI/USA party a yearly tradition, but even if that falls through it was nice to take a moment to sit back and relax and reflect on the year that has passed.