English Advantage

Teaching English has caused me to evaluate a language I have taken for granted my entire life. It is fascinating to me. Below are some of my recent reflections on English and the world. Enjoy!

Part of our work as volunteers requires us to complete a small assessment in our community. We surveyed community members, teachers, and students. We asked students questions like, what is your favorite class and why? Since we work with the English teachers, we asked questions related to the English classes like, Do you like English? or Do you think English is important? Something about the results shocked me. Most of the students enjoyed English class, but I don't think there was one student who said English is not important.

Of course maybe the results are a little skewed since I administered the survey. Perhaps they were afraid to offend me. However, we asked the students to explain their response; why or why not. The answers we got were that you need to know English if you want to travel the world or to be someone in life. I had assumed that maybe they were thinking of traveling to the US, Canada, or the UK and that is why we received the answers we did. I thought that maybe it was something their parents and teachers told them and they were regurgitating for the survey. I guess my point is, until this point I didn't realize what a privilege it is to know English.

The other weekend we went to visit some friends in a nearby city. They know English very well. We all spoke in Spanish though, so Eric and I could practice. At one point our friend was telling me how that when he was an exchange student in Germany he got so mad because his host family would only talk to him in German. If he asked a question in English they would respond in German. He realizes now, that is how he had to learn German though it was difficult and uncomfortable at times. This struck me as interesting. I asked him if "everyone" knew English. He said, yes. He went on to tell me a story about him going to France where he asked someone for help and in English he said, "Excuse me can you show me where this is [as he pointed on a map]." He said the person acted like they didn't understand him, but he knew they did.

Later on that weekend we were going to play Taboo with some friends of our friends. I started to sweat a little. I didn't think I was advanced enough to play in Spanish. A family member of our friends had taken the game in English and written the translation of the word underneath all of them. I mentioned not being able to play and our friends said in Spanish, "Everyone understands English. You can just say the words in English and we can guess."

Sometimes Eric and I will be somewhere (mostly in bigger cities) and someone will say, "Hey man are you from the US?" Or we will order from a restaurant in Spanish and the person will start talking to us in English. It is hard to explain the feeling that comes from this. It's like, here we are, living in a foreign country, trying to learn Spanish and it's as though we don't need it or as if what we know isn't good enough. It was frustrating at first, but now I realize that there probably isn't much opportunity for people to practice their English so they are itching to speak it when they have the opportunity.

Through all of these experiences I have realized that English is a tremendous privilege. It really is the key to traveling the world. If you know English you can go almost anywhere and there will be someone who knows English. This by no means reduces the importance of learning another language in the US. I think there is something you get from learning another language that is really important. Because even if someone knows English, if they are not native there will be many things that just don't translate. Sometimes I feel like it takes at least 2 languages to get across what I want to say.  

With all of that said, I still feel like slowly Eric and I are learning Spanish. Some days are better than others, but we are definitely understanding more and more. It's a constant challenge, but I feel there will be one day that we will be confident in our speaking abilities. At least I hope so ;)

much love,

Emily

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."Nelson Mandela 

My host sister's quinceañera

My host mom and host sister getting ready for the quinceañera

 Here are Eric and I with our counterparts from our high schools. That is our volunteer group's mural behind us. 

Ch-ch-ch-changes

            I remember when I was a kid I was really particular about my socks. I mean really particular. I remember telling my mom that I could only wear the “thin kind”. If I wore other kinds of socks it would feel like my feet were wrapped up and trapped. It made me anxious. Then one day, I think I was in high school, I realized that I was no longer picky about my socks. I hadn’t been picky about my socks for some time. I tried to remember the day that I said, “It doesn’t bother me anymore” but I couldn’t. I tried to remember the day that my mom forgot about the type of socks I needed to wear and said, “Emily, just wear them anyway!” but I couldn’t. Perhaps one of those days happened and perhaps not. Isn’t funny how you one day realize how dramatically you have changed?

            This realization came to me one day on the way to the bathroom in Ecuador. The toilet seat was up. All of the sudden it had occurred to me that once upon a time that used to really irritate me. I realized that now it doesn’t really bother me so much. Quite possibly because I strongly prefer putting to toilet seat down to wiping pee off the seat, or worse, sitting in pee.

It’s amazing how much Eric and I have changed since being in Ecuador and thankfully mostly for the better! Those of you who know Eric might not be able to believe that he eats EVERYTHING here. It’s amazing. For dinner tonight we ate meat and potatoes, which is a dinner we would have eaten in the States because Eric never ate vegetables. I take that back. He had one vegetable of every color that he would eat, so if it wasn’t green beans, carrots, corn, sweet potatoes, or ketchup he wasn’t eating it. This has completely changed. One night we were eating homemade vegetable pizza and Eric turns to me and says, “What happened to me?”  The truth was I didn’t know.

I have started to enjoy my time alone. I used to hate being alone. I would get so bored. But now I kind of like it. When Eric was working in the morning and I was working in the afternoon, I had my little routine. My host dad was also working so I had the house to myself. I would clean, listen to music and get ready for the day. It was nice. I find it interesting that this appreciation for being alone comes at this time in my life, because after Peace Corps when we start a family I am assuming that time will be limited. Right parents?

In the Peace Corps I think you have to learn to enjoy the quiet times, otherwise you will go crazy. This is why also I think I have started reading more. I’ve tried to start reading consistently for years now. I have always had difficulty. I think in Ecuador I can really learn to love it. The great thing about reading is you can take a book with you wherever you go and while you wait (because more than likely you will have to wait) you can fill the time with reading. 

Thus far the changes have been great. I'm looking forward to seeing how we change in the upcoming year and a half! Until next time...

Much love,

Emily

"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad."
C. S. Lewis 
 

Fiestas in Latacunga. I'm not exactly sure what this was for, but I was told the town shares in eating it after the fiesta.

We finally ate cuy (guinea pig). RIP Katie, Sunshine, Kelly!! It is a food that is usually saved for special occasions as it is expensive ($10/guinea pig). 

A couple birthday pictures from my birthday in July. Pepe is our host dad (red shirt). The others are friends from the area.

Summary of Personal Goal 1

>>>>> The language story continued (or started depending where you left off).

As you may recall, I laid out 9 three month goals to be completed while I am here in Ecuador. Let me tell you (especially those aspiring Peace Corps volunteers) this is the key to success in the Peace Corps. Set short term goals that you can complete yourself without the help or motivation of others. They have to be ‘DO IT FOR YOURSELF’ Goals. Like learning to cook, getting in shape, reading, writing, painting, etc. I would also suggest things that you just never found time for in the states. Like making the crafts you’ve pinned on Pinterest, cleaning up your Facebook, making a quilt, or studying all the poets of North Ireland. My first goal was to learn Spanish this is my evaluation of the first three months.

Although I had Spanish in both high school and college, I was never a big speaker in class. (Right TabithaJ) Grammar was easy for me but I lacked the discipline to practice more than required to do the necessary homework. When we were placed in Ecuador, I was thrilled but regretted not taking advantage of all the practice opportunities I had in College. When given the language test, I placed at the lowest level in my Omnibus. I used this as motivation and made some hard decisions along the way to get better. Like moving in with a new host family (separate from my wife) for training. 

What have I learned

I learned that self evaluation in language is hard. I could never see improvement in myself, even though I had people telling me I was improving. I think this is because language is more fluid than other goals. For example you can see progress when reading a book, or creating a painting even when working out progress is noticeable. But in language some days it is there and some days it is not. Image if language learning was like weight loss: Some days I would loss 10 pounds and other days I would gain 15. It was and still is a dizzying experience. This is due largely to the fact that the more I learn, the more I realize I what I don't know. 

I have also learned that you have to making a habit of improving. You second language will always be you second language and there is much to learn. This can be frustrating if you expect to be as fluent as a native speaker but exciting if you are a lover of challenges and LIFE-long learning. Luckily, I more to the life-long learning. Em and I both have a tutor to help with this journey.

I learned that books can only take you so far. You have to get out there and make mistakes, look foolish and feel a little uncomfortable. This is the boundaries that books just cannot push. I have also learned the strong power of necessity. When it is important you are willing to make more mistakes, take more risk, and be a little more willing to prepare yourself. 

The last lesson learned was to be realistic and flexible with my work routine. I planned out my language learning day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute and at first I would bet myself up if I was not motivated to work at the scheduled time or get frustrated when I was not learning. I have since then learned to be more relaxed my timetable and setting manageable objectives..

How this translates to other goals

For my next goals, I have a more realistic mind set. I know that these goals are going to require a lifetime of learning but I can start a good habit of learning while here in the Peace Corps. I also I have learned to set realistic consequences. This has help keep me motivated but not self destructive. I have also made a conscience effort to make all goals self motivational and self for filling. While I know that the results of my goals will make some people in my life proud of me or happy with me. These goals are “DO IT FOR YOURSELF” and that’s ok. I am currently finishing up my second goal 'Fitness' and it is going great mainly due to the lessons I learned for my first goal 'Learning Spanish'.

If you are now feeling inspired which i hope you are, I would recommend the Power of Habit and the 4-hour Chef to anyone that is looking for tips on changing their habits or creating new ones. Just remember books can only take you so far.

Always

Eric Aiken

"Education is the progressive realization of our ignorance."

Einstein, Albert

“People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves.” 

Paulo Coelho, Veronika Decides to Die

Creeping on 27

Some of you may realize that my birthday is coming up! A fellow volunteer asked me today how I felt about getting older. I guess I realized that I try not to think about that part. I was in class last week and a student asked me how old I was. This is a pretty normal occurrence here, at least for me. I was told it is rude to ask a woman how old she is but that has never stopped anyone from asking me, maybe because they think I look younger. It doesn't bother me much. I figure I would rather them ask then guess and talk behind my back. Anyway, I told the student 26 (in English). She repeated in Spanish 26? Noooooo 20, 22 maximum. I told her thank you and continued helping the rest of the class. So I guess feeling old doesn't have to mean looking old.

In other news Eric and I have been in our site for almost three months and we have been in Ecuador for almost six months! Wow. I have to say we were struggling for a while because we didn't know many people here and we really missed home at times. Though we still miss our lovely friends and family, we are really beginning to integrate into the community. It is really cool to see.

If I have learned anything from college and my student affairs experience it's to get involved. I tell my students all the time to find something they like to do and join the club. It's a great way to meet friends with similar interests. Knowing this, Eric and I applied this theory to our life in Ecuador. So far it has been a great way to meet people and to do some fun things. Here are a few of the things we started to do:

I began playing basketball with some women in the evening. It is difficult to exercise here so this was a great opportunity. I found out about the group through my host mom who used to play with them. They seem like really great women and they are good basketball players! They asked me to play with them on the city team. It is supposed to start sometime at the end of the month.

About a month or two ago I began taking guitar lessons. This has been great for my free time and to practice my Spanish a little bit. My instructor seems to really know music and has also been a great person to get to know. This also has opened up the door to getting to know his family as well. Eric enjoys hanging out with his brother (who sells flooring).

Eric and I started an English club for the community. This was really Eric's idea to meet the needs of the many requests we have gotten for English lessons. We were on two radio stations to publicize the event. It was quite embarrassing for me because I got nervous and I don't speak Spanish very well when I'm nervous! One of my English teachers actually said that he heard me on the radio and I told him how embarrassed I was. He started laughing and said that when he heard me laughing on the radio he knew I was nervous.

Eric is also supposed to start playing basketball for the city team on my host brother's team. No one has seen him play, but they seem pretty confident that he's good.

Eric has been going with one of his teacher's to a men's social club. I think it might be similar to a Rotary but seeing as I have been to neither Rotary or the club Eric goes to, I may not be the best source. From what I can tell, it's a bunch of men that get together and play cards and carom(pool without pockets).

We both try not to shut any doors of opportunity but it can be hard when all the opportunities come on the same day. It becomes more complex when you add in the go-with-the-flow culture. Many things fall through so picking a weekend activity is like playing roulette (say yes too many things and you will let someone down but if you don't say yes to enough you could be stuck in your room waiting for the phone to ring) None the less we are beginning to really love Pinas. We are meeting some really great people and I think we will have a great two years here.

 

Eric playing the ukulele with Claudio Jose the son of my host sister. 

Me visiting a friend and fellow PCV in Arenillas 

I finally ate ceviche! A typical costal seafood. I meant to take the picture before we started eating...

This was a pretty sunset from the balcony of our house. Remember the sun sets at 6ish all year round!

Breaking News...

“Language is the class you never graduate from, you’re always a student” –Bibi PC Training Manager

Before we start on what is sure to be a very nice and complex view of how language is shaping my experience in Ecuador. I would like to give a quick update for friends, family, and people reading at work.

The S.H.H. report (safety, health, and happiness report):

 On the topic of safety I feel more safe and relaxed in site than I have the whole time I have been in Ecuador.  It has a lot to do with the host family we have and the community support that we are receiving.  There is a lot of machismo culture in Ecuador but in our site it is tame and mild. I don’t worry about Em walking around alone and we do not worry about getting pick pocketed or robbed. On the topic of health, it is a running joke between Peace Corps Volunteers that you only get sick once and stay in this limbo of 40-80% health. For the lucky ones it higher and for the unlucky ones well if they stay they are true champions. On the topic of happiness, we are pretty happy here. As with any move there are lags in the integrate cycle. (What’s that, you want to know how you can help us through a lag period, thanks for asking.) What would increase our happiness is a visit for someone or even more economical a care package. SEND US SOMETHING, lol.

The highs and lows forecast:

Highs: Host family is awesome; there is a good balance of support and space. I am making movement on my PC goals and Em as set some of her own. Our site community and school community is good; they have really welcomed us with open arms. We have started to travel around our Province a little and visit other volunteers. I am in love with the seafood here and I’m trying to learn how to cook some of it.

Lows: Number one; there is always a battle to find something to eat. Often during the week we cook for ourselves and finding the time to cook the local meals is an uphill battle. Also our knowledge of how to cook with the local ingredients is a competence that we have not yet mastered.  Number two, Boredom is a really killer. When we are bored it is hard not to think about home so we try to stay busy. Number three, Teaching English, like teaching anything, is a time consuming process. That means we spend a great deal of time think about the English language, speaking in the English language, and discussing the English language. As you can imagine, our Spanish takes a backseat some days this is the saddest part of being a TEFL volunteer.

The Big Story:

Even with all the English, Em and I are still making progress in our Spanish. I was told by an Ecuadorian that my Spanish had improved greatly. This was after having a 45 minute conversation about varies topics that didn’t include the basic: where are you from? How long are you here? What’s your favorite color? Etc. Along the same note Em was told by an Ecuadorian that hear accent and pronunciation was really good. This is big because I know it is something she works hard at.

>>> Ok so this post went long then I thought so I am going to add some pictures and continue my Language story, later.

This is our new Host Family "Ellos son muy amable" (google it a little language lesson lol)

Some very good friends of ours took us to a water park. Where we found out their brother owns it and we had the whole thing to ourselves.

the view outside a window in our house

One of the best meals I have had so far.

A day at the beach 

Family

It’s lunch time. My host mom moves the table runner and candle sticks to the side of the table and puts a fresh table cloth on the table. She sets the table with a fork, knife, spoon, and glass. She tells me as she is doing this that my host dad doesn’t like all this. She says, “He just likes it to be the same, he doesn’t understand why I change it all the time.”

I get it.

Over the weekend we lost water for an afternoon so we decided to pack up and go to the grandparent’s house about 30 min away. My host mom packed all the food we were going to eat for lunch and dinner and not to mention a few snacks and drinks. We got to the house (no one lives there all the time anymore) and my host mom put a fresh towel in the bathroom, put bread cinnamon rolls (snack) on the table in a glass bowl, and moved a table and chairs on the front porch for cards. This woman thinks of everything! When we got into the house she even said, “She’s hungry” to my host dad. Maybe it was a lucky guess or maybe she’s incredibly good at reading people, but none the less I’m impressed.

As I grow older I have learned to appreciate these little accommodations that people sometimes make. I’m reminded of when I visit my parents' house in Livonia and my mom makes me breakfast every day or how she nicely sets the table for dinner or how she sets out a pair of slippers in the spare bedroom or maybe, just maybe there’ll be some chocolate milk in the fridge for me to enjoy.

I guess some concepts are international. Even for those who do not have a lot, one can make an experience so much better with just a little thought. I have to say it makes me love it here and miss home all at the same time. 

much love,

E

The family - that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to.
- Dodie Smith

You never get over being a child, long as you have a mother to go to.
- Sarah Orne Jewett

Right on Time

Eric have had quite the journey to make it to site, however I feel that we are right on time. I will explain this more later. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tEI2FnX2fs&list=PL77A4E42A58F79B12&index=9

I had a string of bad luck for our first three months in country. To give you an idea... I was sick for two weeks when I found out I had parasites. I took medicine and was better in another week. I got bit by a dog while on my way to Eric's host family's house (there happened to be NO ONE around at the very moment this happened). I found out I needed a root canal a week before we were supposed to leave for site, which was very painful. Eric and I found out we didn't have a place to live less than a week before we were supposed to leave for site.

With all this that has happened I still feel incredibly lucky to be in Ecuador! All of the bad things that happened to me could have been SO much worse. Luckily the dog bite was not severe (see picture, although I had a nasty bruise after), the parasites went away with medicine, and I didn't have to pay for the root canal (one of the benefits of being a volunteer). Not to say that all of this wasn't stressful because trust me it was. I just have faith that there is another plan in my life.

Eric and I stayed in a Hostel in Quito until my root canal was finished and we had a new host family to live with in Piñas. We finally moved in with our new host family today. We have been again blessed with a great family. They seem really nice and we are excited to get to know them. It is a family worth waiting for! Our house is located in the center of town; really close to my school and close to Eric's school. While they say everything is close in Piñas, we have quite the prime location.

The picture on the left is a view from my new host family's house. Our host dad is the Fire Chief and I have noticed he's kind of a big deal in town. He said if we ever need anything we can just call the fire station and they can help us. My host dad's father lives on the second floor and he owns a hardware store. Our host mom lives the weekdays in Machala (a nearby city) with their daughter who goes to high school there. They travel back on the weekends to Piñas.

All this to say, things are looking up. Classes begin May 2 so we have a little time to get acquainted and settle in.


Much love,
Emily

An Orchid from the Botanical Garden in Quito. Piñas also known as the Orchid of the Andes. Supposedly there are over 100 different species of Orchids. Also there are about 30 hummingbird species and 330 species of birds (The Big Year, anyone?)