Year Two in Review

Well we've done it. We have met the minimum requirements of our original contract. When we first agreed to move to Ecuador, we had no idea what to expect in terms of culture, school, city, language, or anything else. But in an effort to pursue adventure and experiences for each other, we signed on for two years. It was hard at times, but we completed our initial commitment. Now we're signing on for an additional year.

A lot has happened this year. Trips to the beach with friends, hiking trips through the soggy Paramo and the even soggier living room of our apartment, a move, trips to other countries, and a wedding to plan for.

It's been a good year and a busy year. We haven't posted as much this past year due to the fact that in year one so many experience were novelty differences and firsts, while this past year has been about making this strange new place our home. It became a year focused on developing routines and exploring more of the country.

We came in to Quito in a new teacher class of about 25 teachers, and having also fulfilled their required contract commitments, most of them are leaving to go back to the states, or to go to new countries. We're going to miss them and we are thankful for the experience they gave us. We are thankful for the opportunities to share meals, holidays, struggles, and adventures. As we continue our own adventures moving forward, we will always be appreciative of those we shared with our departing teachers. Turnover is a part of the whole international teaching experience. While having our friends we've met as neighbors is a fleeting experience, long term friendships will continue with them.

This summer we have a few things happening. We are going to be a little bit busy. We will update the site as we can but in the meantime it's time to close the book on year two in Quito.

License Shuffle AGAIN

Last year I detailed the struggle that Shannon and I endured in order to get our driver's licenses. It sucked. But, we got a car, we needed to follow the law. What we didn't realize at the time, is the benefits of local law didn't apply to us. You see, the expiration for a driver's license in Ecuador is a completely reasonable 5 years. Every 5 years you need to go through the same process over and over. It's just enough time to be worth it. Well, what we didn't know last year when we got our licenses in January, is that the valid period of time for foreigners mirrors the visa you have. Which sucked for us.

You see since we are teachers working here on Cultural Exchange Visas, we need to reapply for new visas EVERY year. That process is super easy and the school helps us with it, but what it does mean is we have to go through the license process every time we get a new visa. Our first license, for all the trouble it was to get it, was valid for four months. Even though we got new visas which extended our ability to stay in Ecuador legally, that happened after we got our license.

This is a fact that we did not know about until March of this past year. At that time, neither Shannon nor I wanted to go through the process again for another three months of driving, but we knew we had to. But we never did. Between work, weekend trips, and general reluctance to do unpleasant tasks, we avoided doing it. Then when May came around, we just decided to hold off until June when we would receive new visas.

This is a stupid and foolish thing to do. You see, Ecuadorian law states that is you drive without a license, you are subject to three days in prison, your car being impounded, and a ONE MONTH salary fine. This would have sucked for us.

So over the past school year, even though we knew the penalty, we were ridin' dirty. Every trip out of town was a panic inducing adventure because weekends are prime time for random police check points. We even were stopped at check points once or twice where we showed our paperwork, smiled, and used our best Spanglish to try to charm our way our of prison time in a developing country.

So this week, with my new visa in hand, and some time I went through the process again. Only this time it was harder because there were 3x as many questions in the question bank for the test. However, due to some diligent studying and my slightly improved Spanish, I was able to take care of it all and pass the test. All in all, I'm really glad that I didn't go to jail for ridin' dirty, and I'm even happier that I get to drive legally now. For another year.

Quilatoa

Last weekend our friends treated us to an early wedding present by taking us out to Quilotoa for the weekend. This is about a 2 and half hour drive south west of Quito. Quilotoa is famous because it was once a giant volcano that erupted over 800 years ago, basically blowing its entire top off. The void left behind then became a crater later, rimmed by what was once the border of the volcano. Quilotoa is surrounded by rural farm country that features numerous fields of swaying lupins – the purple flowering plants where the superfood legume, chochos come from.

We stayed at the well-known Black Sheep Inn, an eco-lodge that sports on-site composting, organic gardens to feed its guests, and a new treat for me – composting toilets. If you’ve never seen or heard of a composting toilet, I will briefly describe it here. You walk up about 8 stairs to get to the elevated bathroom. Once inside, the cabin-esque bathroom has a greenhouse feel. It is surrounded by windows and one whole side of the enclosure is filled with green plants – a natural part of the filtration system. There is then a wooden bench with a normal plastic toilet seat on top. After doing your business, you grab the shovel to your right, and heap a big ‘ol scoop of dried leaves and mulch down the hole. Let the composting begin! The toilet system remained surprisingly clean and fresh smelling, nothing like the outhouse I had initially assumed it would be. Neat!

The Inn also featured a wonderful little yoga studio, where a few of us ladies enjoyed a sunset salutation before dinner. There was also a large bonfire area for nighttime relaxing, Frisbee golf, and unlimited tea, cookies, and chocolate cake in the lobby. The rooms were small but cozy cabins, with small wood-burning fireplaces and about 6 heavy wool blankets to keep you warm at night.
The Inn also bordered many small family farms, mostly filled with sheep. One our first walk we heard the eerily human-like bleating of a baby sheep. I looked down the hill and saw him running for me, at full speed, bleating his head off. Ecstatic at the prospect of scooping a baby sheep up into my arms, I squatted down, arms wide open, ready to receive my little lamb. Sadly, neither of us noticed the low hanging barbed wire which my baby sheep slammed into, and then ran away in the other direction screaming. It was upsetting for both of us.

There are a multitude of options for hiking around the farm country, in and out of ravines, and of course to Quilotoa itself. The first day our group opted for a moderate (2 hour) ridge hike that took us up and down natural ravines, and along the spine of a cliff that offered us some splendid views of the valleys below. And while we warned to carry sticks in case we came across aggressive stray dogs, this wasn’t an issue for us.

On day 2 our group split up – Justin’s more adventurous group opting for the “Skywalk” – a 4 hour hike all around the rim of the crater – what was left of the ancient volcano. My group opted to walk down instead of around. So we descended down the side of the crater, much like walking down into a bowl, to reach the crater lake at the bottom where you could rest on the beach or even kayak around the lake. The return up the side of the crater proved to be much more difficult, with inclines of close to 45 degrees the whole way up. So (shamefully) I did the lazy American thing and paid $10 to ride a horse all the way back up. $10 well spent, though I still felt like a horrible human being for doing it.
It was a lovely weekend, and such a generous thing for our friends to do for us. As the wedding date comes closer and some stress is beginning to build, it was nice to take a weekend away to relax in the country drift off to sleep around a glowing fire.