Ooops – it’s been 4 months!!

One of the goals I set for myself during my year off was to keep up with my blog. That hasn’t happened as I hope it would. But I’ve been reading lots of other people’s blogs and it has encouraged me to come back to my own and get going!

Since September, I have been taking yoga and Spanish. I have taken preCalculus in Spanish on Coursera and a Common Core Math Assessment class. I have been a voracious reader. I recently enjoyed The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. I’ve been cooking up a storm and trying to remain faithful to my newfound healthy point of view. I am working my way through an IB HL math text where I spend an hour or two each day doing math problems and enjoying myself immensely. I visited my family in the US for two weeks at Christmas which was great after not having been home since last December. I had a HORRENDOUS experience with United Airlines. (I WILL NEVER FLY WITH THEM AGAIN!!! I’ll write a post about them another time.) I rang in the New Year with E’s family and we set off fireworks and burned the año viejo inthe street. Life is good.

So what is happening now? Well, I’ve entered into the world of international education. After 21 years of American public schools and couple years of teaching in Ecuador, I am trying to enter the crazy competitive world of international education. There are schools all over the world that offer an American, British, or International Baccalaureate (IB) high school diploma. These schools need people to teach their children in English and that is where I come in. I have been sending out cover letters and resumes to lots of schools around the globe. In the beginning of February, I will head back to Boston where I will attend an international school fair and hopefully land myself a job!

I have become a bit obsessed with my newest plan. It is all I can think about. Once I have a job and know what I will be doing next year, I will be able to enjoy my last free six months before getting back to teaching. I really do miss it!

I am going to try to publish something about the rest of my year off every Tuesday. If you don’t hear from me – you have my permission to write me and demand to know what is going on!

: The rainy season arrived and I am so glad I have my rain boots!

: E and I went to see Marc Anthony and Juan Luis Guerra in concert. Long story short we ended up in the 8th row and had a FANTASTIC time dancing the night away!

: E and I went to see Marc Anthony and Juan Luis Guerra in concert. Long story short we ended up in the 8th row and had a FANTASTIC time dancing the night away!

: E and I went to see Marc Anthony and Juan Luis Guerra in concert. Long story short we ended up in the 8th row and had a FANTASTIC time dancing the night away!

: Look where we ended up!

: No orange pumpkins but we have green squash that are very similar! Thanks to Amy and Caro, E carved his first “pumpkin”!

: Ecuadorians celebrate Día de los Difuntos by eating a berry drink and little people made from bread. E and I visited lots of places in Quito to try to find the best of the best!

: This is a professional bread that is decorated with a special kind of decoration!

: E and I went down to a cute little neighborhood in Quito to sample the Colada Morada and Pan de Guagua

: The fog over Gonzalez Suarez was beautiful.

: On the weekends, you can find a bunch of guys playing a sport you will only see in Ecuador. They hold these incredibly heavy boards and bang a rubber ball around. Lots of hooting and shouting!

: See the board? The game is called Pelota Ecuatoriana. It’s from Tulcan – and so is E!

: In front of the mall there was a huge Christmas tree decorated with hangers. Weird!

: This is the view from my balcony one evening. It’s Gonzalez Suarez – a pretty avenue that I can see from my apartment.

: To celebrate our three years together, we went to Carmine’s. Esteban got us a seat near the piano and a pretty heart centerpiece to boot. I’m so lucky!