We are finally here!

Wow.  These past few days have been such a whirlwind!  On Wednesday we finally made it to the school, four hours later than we intended.  The entire staff was extremely welcoming and immediately made us feel at home.

The school we will be teaching at these next few weeks is called William Shakespeare.  It is very different from schools in the United States.  First of all, every classroom is it's own building.  In order to get from one part of the school to another you have to walk outside.  The grounds of the school are so beautiful, the pictures do not do it justice!  Secondly, the students are constantly changing classrooms.  It is similar to a high school schedule.  They will spend 40 minutes in each class, there will be a bell (which is the same sound as our tornado sirens in Kansas) and a five minute passing period for them to get to their next class.  Students of all ages do this.  It is quite interesting.  The school is Preschool-12th grade.  The grades are somewhat divided into their own specific area in the school but they all are on the same campus.

These next two weeks I will be teaching 3rd and 4th graders.  I met my students on Thursday and they are great!  They are so interested in me and want to speak English with me because they think it is cool.  I enjoy talking with them and getting to know more about them.  The classes are much smaller here, about 12-15 students per class.  This is nice because the students get more individual attention.  Here is a picture of my classroom!  It is so fun and bright.  I love it :)

As you will notice, the ceiling does not attach to the walls.  They do not have fans in this classroom but instead they have this small gap and windows.  The classroom stays a very comfortable temperature at all times. 

The teacher I am working with is great, her name is Renata.  She is young, maybe in her mid 20s, and this is her first year teaching at William Shakespeare.  Her English is incredible.  Most of the teachers at this school are bilingual.  The school encourages students to speak English all the time, although some classes are taught in Spanish.  I do not know a whole lot about the school since I have only been there one day, but I am sure I will learn a lot more this week.  Below are some pictures of the campus.  

My first school lunch in Ecuador!

It was extremely delicious.  On the left is arroz y polo sopa con potato sticks, tomate (the fruit) jugo in the middle, and pescado frito con arroz y frijoles on the right.  For all you non-Spanish speakers that is rice and chicken soup, tomato juice, fried fish with rice and beans.    

This is the soccer field/basketball court right in the middle of the school grounds.  To the right is the lunch room and to the left is classrooms.  

This is where the younger kids go to school.  

A playground.

This is a view of a classroom.  See how it is standing alone?  That is how they all are.  It is very neat.  I like the idea of being outside all of the time, especially since the weather does not change too drastically.  

I'll be sure to post more about the school next week!