Los primeros dias

Hola Todos!
I arrived safely Saturday night after making it through immigration, customs and my bags (yes all 5 of them, I´m an overpacker) getting x-rayed. I found Nicole pretty quickly, she´s about a head taller than everyone here! haha I was so relieved I wasn´t too worried when she told me she hadn´t seen the sisters yet. Then we looked over and saw a woman in a purple dress. I was convinced she was the one we were looking for so we got creepily close to her. She had this sad look in her eye, like sorry I can´t help you. So we asked anyway, if she was one of the Sisters of the Asumption and then Nicole said our names. They got really excited and repeated my name, but then looked super confused about Nicole. It turns out they didn´t realize she was coming then too. Thank goodness our flights were only a few hours apart. That was the joke for the next few days, they came to pick me up and got both of us. It was quite a surprise for them! haha. We went to mass the next morning in a beautiful little church about two blocks from the sister´s house. It has a fantastic mural behind the altar of Jesus, Cotopaxi (the mountain nearby) and just a very Ecuadorian landscape. Its maravillosa! We have been enjoying the food, haven´t tried anything too crazy yet, pork chops, roast beef, soup, noodles, rice and pizza! Everything is seasoned a bit different, but it has been quite tasty. They also have lots of fresh fruit which is always wonderful! Our house is really cute and cozy also, it gets a bit chilly at night and in the mornings. We don´t have heat, but there is a great sky window in the middle of the house - its my favorite place to just sit and soak up the sun! The last thing about the landscape - we are in the mountains so we have a panoramic view of the city and Los Andes! Its so beautiful, especially at night with all the city lights!
We´ve been watching the news, which is a bit concerning. There are indigenous protests in many parts of the country. They are being treated poorly by the government. I don´t know too much about it, but it sounds similar to the situation of the Native Americans. The wealthy people want their land, and are willing to do anything to get it, because they can get away with it. Que triste!
The KIDS!!!! Oh man, school is VERY different. But the kids are adorable! All of them saying, ¨Hola Senorita,¨ just melts my heart! I am helping teach the 4-5 year olds (they call it Kinder). They are the oldest kids in the school. They are just getting adjusted to the school year, but we aren´t learning too much. I just keep thinking of the Emporia school district and how so many things would not fly! haha. I have to remind myself, its ok that its different. They are learning about the body - this week we learned legs, arms, head and trunk. I think they know more than that, but we are just beginning. They don´t write that I´ve seen, but do have some time to color. They do a lot of puzzles and building for center time. We have a teacher Paul who comes in to teach music and dance twice a week. He is awesome with the kids and apparently has some extensive dance experience. Nicole and I are thinking about asking him to teach us! haha. I think its awesome that dance is part of their curriculum. The kids take a nap after lunch and that´s when we teachers have our lunch. So the kids are left unattended for about 30 min. That makes me really nervous, but they´ve been doing this for a long time and nothings happened yet I guess. Also, the kids play outside on some sort of dangerous equipment. But there are many teachers to keep an eye on them. Its just very different. Of course there is no janitor, so the teachers clean their own rooms each day. Don Gonzalo, a very kind van driver picks up 15-20 kids from 1-5 years old. We all smoosh in the van without carseats and drive around. Its all very unique!
Ok to end, two of my most different observations:
1. We don´t flush our toilet paper - probably many of you already guessed that, but its still something to get used to!
2. There are dogs wandering loose everywhere here. They are a little scary and I´m thankful for my rabies shots. I´m always telling Nicole, I´ll walk closest to them. haha Anyway, they joined us for mass on Sunday, just wandered in the chapel from the street and were there the whole time! Que raro!
Vale, (I´ve got to stop saying that! It´s how they say ok in Spain and the Sisters tease me about being a Spanaird!) haha I must go, but I hope you are having a fanstastic day and enjoy my ramblings!
Love you!

Hola Friends and Family,
I'm currently on my way to Quito, with a layover in Houston. I decided since I had a few hours I would make myself useful and set up a blog. I will be updating it periodically so you can keep track of my time in Ecuador. Feel free to click on the links and read about my experiences as I add to it. I'm hoping to have internet access about once a week and be able to keep in touch that way. Please feel free to send me messages on here, via email: ahoffman@emporia.edu and through regular mail (although it is very slow ...). My address at the Sister's house is:
April Hoffman
c/o Las Religiosas de la Asuncion
Apdo 17-01-678 Calle B-Lote E8-116
Barrio Quiteno
Quito, Ecuador
America del Sur

For those of you who aren't sure what I'm doing ... I'm not either! :) But, here's what I know as of today. I am a volunteer through the Associate Missionaries of the Assumption. This is a program based out of Worcester, Mass and is run my the Sisters and Brothers of the Assumption. This year there are 11 volunteers total and we are going to many different sites where the brothers and sisters are located: England, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Mexico City, The Philippines and Ecuador. We are doing many different jobs, but Nicole and I will be mainly teaching English as a Second Language at the school run by the sisters. We are excited to get there after a few delays ... and ready to get started. :) This is a volunteer position, but we are receiving a small stipend and the sisters provide room and board.
If you'd like to read more and see a few photos of my fellow volunteers here is a link to the site: http://www.assumptionvolunteers.org/.

I'm scheduled to be in Quito tonight around 11 p.m. and have made arrangements for one of the sisters to pick me up. They said just look for the purple skirts (the modified habit of the Assumption Religious). Hopefully no one else will be wearing a purple skirt!

Hope to add some pictures and a real update soon! Thanks for all your prayers and support.