We are almost through with our adventure. We have enjoyed our time here so much. The last two weeks have presented us a routine that has helped us focus on what we are doing and why we are here. We have been going to Gabriel Garcia Marquez School in the morning from 8-9:45. At 9:45 the kids have recess and it is bedlam, so we leave. While at GGM, we, mainly the girls, float from class to class and teach the students English through some games and mostly songs. We also write words, phrases, and sentences on the board for reinforcement and different learning styles. The girls have mostly stayed together in pairs and gone to the same set of classrooms at different grade levels while Dr. Cozart and I have met with the administration or helped with the girls in some classes. Sometimes when the girls enter a classroom they have to wait for the teacher to complete the instruction. Once the English instruction begins the girls have been leading the students in songs such as “If you’re happy and and you know it clap your hands,” “The wheels on the bus,” and “Head, shoulders, knees, and toes.” They spend about 15-20 minutes in each classroom before switching or finding another classroom that hasn’t beeen visited that day.
At 9:45 we say goodbye to the students and walk the three blocks to Academia Cotopaxi. The girls split up at this time and go to their respective classes to help students and teachers. As in most schools around the world, the main instruction for reading, writing and arithmatic occurs in the morning. Thus, some of the girls arrive to find the students at recess or at a special area. Scheduling aside, the girls have fully integrated themselves into the school work by grading, assessing, reading, teaching, and observing. We meet at 1:30 by the front gate in order to take taxis to UTE.
The afternoon routine has consisted of traveling to either the older or newer campus of UTE. In pairs we have entered college classrooms for people learning English. We have worked with some of the teachers as listeners and questioners. In other classes we have lead discussion groups, given short presentation on a particular subject matter (e.g., politics, presidency, economy, and college life), and taught from their textbook. We usually leave around 5:00-5:30 in the evening.
After working all day, many of us want to call home or check our email. There are many Internet cafes around the university so we usually spend some time in these cafes before going home.
This is the extent of the rountine. I say this because at any given time, something can change and we might be asked to do something different, attend a meeting, or go to a different classroom. In the evenings our activities are arranged around our families and their children. The girls have ventured out to Trivia Night (they won last night!), a disco, and downtown to see the churches all aglow with lights.
This week is nothing different. Our daily routine is in place, but our evening activities have varied daily. For example, the girls have Monday afternoon off and went shopping at the mall and a grocery store. This evening the students from the tourism English class has asked them to go to a local cafe after class to talk and relax. Tomorrow night we have been invited to attend AC’s 5th grade play, Oliver Twist. Afterward, we have been asked to dinner at the house of the elementary school principal.
Last week we went to a local soccer game and loved it. The local Quito team played a team from Cuenca, a city 5-6 hours away and on the internationl register as a historical town. We won 2-0. The atmosphere was great. I was hoping to go see a fight, but a soccer game broke out. In other words, contrary to all the published news about soccer games and fights, people getting trampled, and soccer fans being unruly, we found this game to be a cultural experience that was fun, educational, and exciting. The run of play for the soccer game was good also. There was talent on both sides and the teams represented futbol well. 
We were safe, but as you can see from the picture the players on the field were protected from the fans by a moat and a barbed-wire fence. The referees were even escorted on and off the field by three policemen in full riot gear.
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