Hello Friends,

As you’ve probably noticed, I have fallen way behind on my day-to-day updates. I am working on filling them in because I really want to communicate what the day-to-day is like for future travelers and any who may wonder, but it might take me a bit to catch up. For now, I made some placeholder blogs with a brief summary of the week. When I have a spare second, I will go back and flesh out the details, so stay posted!

Meanwhile, here’s a brief update with 12 days remaining in my program before I return to the states.

I have the busiest days but they are so fulfilling. Here’s a typical day, to give you an idea of why I fell behind on day-to-day updates.

6:30-7:30 Wake Up, Get Ready, Eat Breakfast

7:30-8:00  Bus to Sinamune

8:00-1:00 Sinamune: Orchestra Rehearsal, Music Enrichment Sessions

1:00-2:00 Bus to Spanish

2:00-3:30 Spanish Lessons

3:30-4:00 Bus to Núcleo

4:00-6:00 Teach Núcleo Choir

6:00-6:30 Bus to Casa de La Cultura

6:30-8:30 Choir Rehearsal at Casa de La Cultura

8:30-9:00 Bus Home

9:00-10:00 Shower, Plan for the Next Day, Hit the Hay

Anyway, that’s my day tomorrow, and I just got home from a three-hour bus ride from a pueblito in the northeast where I spent the weekend teaching. It was a frustrating and exhausting experience due to a great deal of miscommunication (surprise, surprise) but the moments I spent teaching the children were wonderful.

Overall, my program is nothing like it was supposed to be, and in no way is it an “internship.” I am completely on my own doing everything, lesson/session planning, directing/teaching, etc. I have definitely learned a lot from that, but had this been an internship in reality I think I would have had a much more enriching experience. I can do things by myself but there is a lot that I don’t know that I had hoped to learn, but that didn’t happen. There are of course advantages and disadvantages to how things turned out, which I will discuss in more detail later. For now, suffice it to say that I am going to make the most of these last two weeks, and make sure Ecuador wants me to return one day as much as I want to return in the future.

Besos,

Haley