A Day in the Life

So far Vail has been cool.  I am a chalet host which means that I have guests come and stay with me for two weeks at a time.  Most from the U.K..  I meet them after jet lag, feed them breakfast and dinner for the duration they are here, and then wish them well when they go.

 The cooking is good fun.  I try and figure out what people like in the first couple days and then have a bunch of good dinners after they go sking.

 I’ve only been up on the mountain a few times since the job includes planning meals, budgeting for the meals, and getting the food for three days at a time.  I get one day off but a bunch of time during the day where I can multi-task and work on my plans. 

I’ve been going over to Breck to hang out with the people there that I met when I started this job.  It’s a fun town and I miss it but haven’t given up on Vail.  Just a different town and a different scene.  On the surface I don’t dig the fur and the glitz.  But there are a ton of international people here and I am hearing more and more Spanish around town. 

Ecuador in the spring!!

Yeah so I am back and trying to figure out about five things at once.. Including why English speakers are just so dang boring sometimes.  I mean say it like you mean it and get it over with will ya?  Got some stuff to do know.  Two job interviews lined up and a bunch of places that I can stay while figuring it out.  So much activity. 

Left Quito and jumped on a plane for the day.  So hard to leave and so much fun to be had once I go back.  Can’t wait to jump in a do more with the foundation that I worked with.  Yanapuma Foundation.  They rock, Thier Spanish School rocks, the peoples who go to the spanish school and volunteer there rock!

I need people who are on the lookout for volunteer projects and who are traveling to Ecuador to get in touch with me.  I would love for you to be able to take materials from America to Quito for kids who need to learn English.  And just cause it’s a cool thing to do and can meet interesting people.

Well there is much to be done on my end for the timing to end up right and to ensure that things end up moving along in a faster pattern than previously realized possible.  Tomorrow will be a good start and I am hoping that things just fall into place after the two interviews.  The cool thing about being in Quito is that stuff was set up so it would go well with the expectation that things would progress in the future.  How good is that!

So I spent the day lining things up for the return to Breckenridge and work for the winter plan.  I can see it happen and expect things to work themselves out shortly.  It would also be really fun and heartwarming to hear from a few people that I know now that I’m back.  It’s really been a while since I’ve been in Colorado for anytime over a week and can see starting  to get in touch with people I know here are seeing a lot more of them than in the last months.

I also have a thing for the irish now and am starting to look around for an Irish Pub to work for either in Breckenridge or in Denver.  I’m hoping that Breckenridge will work out as I would love to spend the season cooking and basking in the mountain sunshine.  The guy I somehow go a hold of is being a really good guy which is a relief and a welcome sight.

When there is no time to have fun that means something has to change.  I mean come on people life is always fun.  You just have to look at it the right way with the right people..  Isn’t that what rock bands are about.. So why do you spend more time listening to music rather than go out and find the people that wrote the songs?  Isn’t it more interesting when you have people there with you that can relate to you while the song is playing..

Just a thought.  And another one.. The only language a lot of Americans understand is the one with dollars and cents.  Really it took me a while to figure out but most people in Ecuador would much rather talk to you but assume that you only know how to ask for change and recognize numbers.. It really put things in perspective for me.  Not to mention got some vendors talking to me about a few things.

Bars were the best place to start up conversations.  Really had fun when I could sit and talk to someone in Spanish and they understood.   Just took a little getting over the langauge barrier and the nerves about not knowing the right thing to say or how to say it..  Takes some work to figure that out but once I relaxed about not knowing a lot I started to figure it out.  Go Figure.   You spend a whole lot of time figuring out what you think yo need to say and then right when your not looking I’m speaking in conversational spanish.  Just don’t know how to ask the bus driver anything.  But pretty much understood every word he said.

It is possible for life to go the right way I’m thinking.  What stops me when I’m thinking that I have starting to break through.  Just the tough part doesn’t begin to descibe the enjoyment of the journey.  Live to live.  Give some people some time.  Have some fun.  Be passionate.  Use your head.. Know really use your head.  Doesn’t make sense when the dead don’t interfere with the living.  Why not hit each day as if it were new and had something for you to do, experience, enjoy, and inhabit more fully?  These are not tragic circumstances that We are in living our own lives.. Why not use the days making progress and having fun things happen?

It’s always been maisons and caviar for the peeps I grew up with.. Good lord what in the hell are they all thinking about?  Nice to look at but not at the top of my list right now.

Luck of the Irish to Ya!

So today I am going to hop on a bus and find some sunshine. Just need a little time out of the city and in the mountains, on the coast, and without a grammer lesson.

Spanish school has been good and it’s been fun trying to get my head around the language. Femine, masculine.. wha? But it’s a good place to learn and the people at The Yanapuma School are really good people.

My teacher was from the coast origionally and moved to Quito when She was eighteen. She worked for a while and then went to school for English. She has a great skill when it comes to figuring out what I am trying to say and steering me past all the typical blunders. She also has a great head when it comes to understanding my reasons for coming to Quito in the first place.

La Marascal is always hopping and it’s been fun to meet people who are doing fun things in Ecuador. Most recently I learned that the guy who is in charge of the apartment where I am staying went to Reed College in Portland! He is about to head back there so he can train to be the coordinator of their exchange program in Quito.

I’ve been thinking about finding a job here and know people who teach english here without a who of a lot of experience. I’m not so sure about trading in English for Spanish but I am definately going to look into it.

Other than that I got out of town yesterday and remebered just how beautiful Quito is. Lots of hills, beautiful people, and many smiling faces. I am starting to recognize spanish words more and it’s a bit of fun to understand what people are saying with the exception of the bus drivers who talk at an incredible rate.

I’m trying to use this time well and gearing up each day to throw myself into the language.. It’s a bit intimidating but well worth it.

So today I woke up at five in the morning to the sound of constuction outside my window.. How do you start building shite at five in the morning in downtown Quito.. Seattle weather outside.. Rain, Rain, Rain.. I swear there is a mountain that reminds me of Colorado outside my window but I can’t see it from here.

Yes, you know the shoes I wear with the holes in them? It would be a lot easier in weather like this to buy some new shoes so my socks don’t get wet.

Spanish school is like fourth grade again in a different language. How the hell is that pronounced that way and why is it so easy for you and for me it’s every second word sounded out sylable by sylable.

I go to the school that I am going to be teaching kids to speak english tommorow to help finish some cabinets that we started last week. Good to be doing something I know how to do instead of trying to figure out what I’m going to be doing in a day.

Not to be grumy or anything but it would be good to hear from some friends who have my attention before I get lost in this language any further!

 I have just finished my first week of Spanish classes> four hours a day and at the end of the day I can’t remember a thing..  But I have a great teacher who knows when to demand my attention..