Hasta Siempre Ecuador

Well, here I am wrapping up my blogging days. One and a half weeks ago, I arrived safely to the St. Louis, MO airport. My luggage was so upset that their traveling days were over that they decided to go to Chicago for one last adventure without me. I was finally able to track them down and bring them home in Nashville, TN (I was in Nashville for my cousin's wedding and to see my beautiful nieces...and sister...and brother-in-law). I would like to share a few last pictures of my students and friends at the Hacienda de Esperanza. I am so proud of these kids. They are speaking and understanding English. When I first began teaching and speaking only English with them in class, I got everything from disgruntled faces to real tears. After a few days, however, they were understanding pretty much everything I said. And now I am receiving e-mails written in English. I am so blessed to have been a part of this school. Above is the older kids in the "Prayer Dome" singing songs in English. I quickly learned that singing in English was a perfect way to make their new language fun and accessible.

Here is Pamela. She's a spunky one who is obsessed with the Disney Channels feature film, "High School Musical." I always had to ask her to stop drawing in class, or organizing her colored pencils, or playing with whatever was near, but even though she was easily distracted, she was a fast learner and has a gift for good English pronunciation.

This is Cristian. He's the leader of the group because he is the oldest. I don't think I've ever heard an American thirteen-year-old say prayers quite like Cristian does. He already has an understanding and love for God that most adults don't have. He can pray in English too.

This is Leo (Leonela). She's usually very quiet in class and I had to choose my words very carefully with her because she seemed to cry very easily. Sometimes, however, she would get into a silly mood that was contagious and made everyone around her laugh. She loved being the first one to turn to the Bible verse during chapel so that she could read it before anyone else.

The three little girls on the left were not my regular students, but because they lived right next to me I would often play outside with them in the afternoons. My favorite thing to do was to watch them playing from inside my house and then when they were out of sight I would sneak out and hide until they came back and then I would jump out and surprise them. They loved it and always humored me with loud screams.

Cati (Catalina) is the tallest and oldest girl in this picture. She was the sweetest girl. At some point during meals or chapel when I was sitting next to her, she would reach over and grab my hand or just touch my arm and look up at me and smile. She was the only girl in my younger students class, so it was refreshing to have such a sweety among the boys.

Here they are: los muchachos. I loved these guys. Jhon is on the left. It's hard to see from this picture, but that day his black pen had exploded and so he had ink all over himself. Most people would have thrown the pen away, but Jhon continued to use it which resulted in even more ink all over himself. I think he's one of those creative minds that needs the right outlet to show his genius. Darwin is next. He's a real perfectionist. When he got a 98 or 99% he would be very sad. His perfectionism did help him in a few good ways though. Pronunciation is the hardest part of learning English, but Darwin will sound like a native if he keeps up where he's at now. It's truly amazing. Andres I've mentioned before because he's the kid that wrote the bible verse "In me, Jesus, you have peach" instead of peace. I love that story. Jorge is the one making the funny face. Go figure. That boy is hilarious and super smart. He's definitely going places. And there he is again below. His birthday is two days before mine, so I told him that someday he should come to the States so that we could celebrate together. I am hoping that it really does happen. I miss Georgie Porgy a lot!

Well, that's it folks. The final blog. There probably won't be anymore Ecuador adventures from this lady for a long time. I'm still transitioning to life back in the U.S. and I think it will take me awhile to be totally fine with not living in Ecuador. Be sure and keep your ears open for jobs in Nashville that might be calling my name! Thanks so much for reading.