My last few days in Rosario were very bittersweet – mixed in between the delight that Ian and my host family could finally meet each other was a deep sense of impending loss. But first, the pleasant part: even though Ian can’t speak Spanish, and they speak almost no English, Continue Reading
Saying goodbye (school edition)
Goodbyes are never pleasant, and to be honest I’ve been putting off writing this post for a while because I just couldn’t handle it emotionally. Just editing these photos brought me to tears. English exams As I’d been teaching English for 5 months (an unprecedented amount of time for Continue Reading
More waterfall chasing and baking in San Antonio
My last week in Intag was a very eventful one: my boyfriend Ian arrived in Ecuador, we spent a couple of days at Ned and Patricia’s, and the next couple of days with my host family – before finally leaving this place where I’ve been so happy for the last Continue Reading
Carnaval, gardening and (more) eating
Carnaval came early Carnaval (or Carnival) isn’t a holiday celebrated back home in Singapore, but it is a big thing in many other parts of the world, including Ecuador. It falls on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (the start of Lent), and (in Ecuador at least) is celebrated Continue Reading
Time marches inexorably on
It’s a tired old cliché: time and tide wait for no man. But it’s undeniably true, and over the course of my last few weeks in Intag, time seemed to fly by faster and faster the more I tried to hang on to it, to slow it down – even Continue Reading
Experiments in teaching & cooking
Little victories in school (The school year has now ended, so I’m looking back on my 5-month teaching stint with the benefit of some hindsight.) The first and second graders were my most challenging class, because the first graders can’t really read or write. A previous volunteer very helpfully left flashcards Continue Reading