I couldn’t have planned it any better.
Living a charmed life, one of our ‘problems’ is how to spend our summers. As teachers, we want to take full advantage of the summer and are always looking for the next big adventure. We go back and forth with several machinations, taking into account costs, interests and feasibility. Thailand and Southeast Asia are high on the list, but apparently summer is the rainy season. And adventurous as we may be, roughing it in a monsoon is not our idea of fun. Our #1 desired domestic designation is the Grand Canyon. Thoughts of a cross-country road-trip, camping in national parks, whitewater rafting down the Colorado River, hiking down and up the Grand Canyon, those are dreams a vacation are made of. Unfortunately just dreaming doesn’t make it happen. And of course, Ecuador keeps calling for our triumphant return.
During recent machinations, we went back and forth about returning to Ecuador. The boys were excited to go back, Greer, having already returned twice for two relatively short, work-related trips, looked forward to returning with the family, and I was intrigued, though less enthralled, hoping that we could go someplace on my bucket list. Right about the time we had let go of Ecuador and contemplating our next move, we received an email from our Ecuadorean boss, Sara Camacho, dated May 15th stating…“I hope everything is going great. I am writing because finally the Master´s program was approved. I would like to know if you could consider to come (sic) to Ecuador again to work in it. That would be an honor to have you both in this program. We will start on July 4th. Each module will last two months, 8 hours every saturday. (total 64 hours- 80 dollar per hour) . About the time you could be here, we could agree on some specific details.
I hope you both could consider this proposal.”
How could we not? If there ever was a sign from god, or at least from our travel agent, then we had to go. All that was left was negotiating the terms of our travel.
Mind you, students had already signed up for the class with the scheduled described above, yet no professors had been assigned, and the two chosen professors (yours truly and his wife) had not yet agreed to the dates. Yet in Ecuador, that does not matter. In the United States, dates and times for classes are established well in advanced. A look at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, website will show the times and dates of courses well in advance, and it even posts the school calendar for next two years. As Sara Camacho observed, Americans (or Norte Americanos as we are referred to in South America) know the future, and must have it all planned out. Ecuadoreans will know the future in the present. In Ecuador, teachers and students are regularly advised of changes in schedules with only a week notice. Thus was the case for La Programa Masteria. Not able to give up the full eight weekends for teaching, we negotiated five weekends of teaching , all-day Saturday and Sunday. Apparently the 60 students had no problem giving up those five weekends. For our family, it was a win-win, Greer and I would work weekends and we could travel as a family during the week and our salary would pay for our summer vacation. All the stars and planets were aligned. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, for one, it’s been over three months and I still have not gotten paid (fortunately, Greer did get paid, but Byzantine banking procedures have caused various issues with my payment). Yet, that did not deter us from enjoying our time there, or from the ‘normal’ trial and tribulations that have become our Ecuadorean experience (and fodder for my blog).
Though this time under much different circumstances, Greer and I figured we would be able to have a “do over.” Our first go-round met with many challenges, few of which we handled well. Yet, in spite of that, it was an absolutely wonderful experience that will forever be close to our hearts in Burroughs family lore. There will always be something that draws us back to Ecuador. First and foremost are the people. We were excited to reconnect with some old friends; in some respects, it was as if we never left, in others, it was like a joyous reunion of old high school buddies. But it was so much more because it was a reunion for entire families. And of course there is the culture, and this go round we knew Spanish (at least Grant, Garrett, and to a lesser extent, Greer and I did), and we have become accustomed to the quirks and quibbles of Ecuadorean lifestyle. Then there’s the plush landscape and scenery. The beckoning call of the Andes with it lush greenery cry out from the mountainous peaks. But for me, it’s the adventure that keeps me coming back. From the mundane to the monumental, there is a certain element of surprise, bewilderment and excitement that comes from living, working and traveling in Ecuador. And one adventure that I was certain to do was a trip into the rainforest/jungle of the Amazon basin.
For a small country, about the size of Colorado, there are no shortages of beautiful landscapes to explore and experience. Ecuador has four different regions, each with its unique identity, culture and character: La Costa (the Pacific coast), La Sierra (the Andes Mountain Range), La Selva (the Amazon Jungle region) and Los Galapagos (the Galapagos Islands). On Ecuador 1.0 we made it to three of the four regions and I was determined to make it to the fourth during Ecuador 2.0. So, once our flight was booked, I booked our travel plans to the jungle. There will be more to come of the Jungle adventure in a future post, but trust it to say that it was money (and the weekends working at UTA) well spent. A plane flight into Coca, the last city before the rainforest, was followed by a five hours river cruise that was in itself almost worth the price of the trip. And though the accommodations were rustic, the half dozen huts and restaurant/lounge were built with real thatched roofs and wood from the surrounding area, there was electricity from 6pm-10pm and readily flowing hot and cold water at all times. And that’s a lot more than can be said for our “vacation’ home accommodations back in civilization.
To be fair, our very good friend, Adriana, offered her vacation condo on the outskirts of the lush resort town of Baños to us during our stay – gratis. And wonderful accommodations they were. The price was right, it was roomy, with the necessary accouterments, and we were just down the road from one of our favorite places in all of Ecuador. Besides, it was mostly a place for us to lay our heads as our plan was to hit the road for much of the week and commute the hour to work on the weekends. Yet, that first week was spent getting acclimated, preparing to teach our class, visiting friends and enjoying Baños. However, torrential rains put a damper on the latter, as well as just about everything else. The deluging downpour wrecked havoc on the plumbing system and we were without water for much of the week. So in our first week we found ourselves roughing it before we even had a chance to make it to the jungle. But it was an adventure all the same. The appropriately named Baños, for the thermal baths created by the nearby volcano, provided some much needed R&R as well as hot showers. And hauling buckets of water provided Grant and Garrett some exercise as well as much needed flushing of the toilets. We looked forward to our jungle adventure for some indoor plumbing. But before that it was work…and showers that occupied our minds and efforts.
Once adequately bathed and coiffed, we took on the task of implementing the maiden course, ENSEÑANZA DEL IDIOMA INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), in the Consejo de Posgrado. But not before a grandiose celebration and recognition ceremony that kicked off the Masters program at the university. It was filled with long-winded speeches that bespoke the virtues of Ecuador, its people and cultures, and the need to bring English and world-class education to Ecuador, so Ecuadoreans can bring their people and culture to the world. To that end, Greer and I were doing our little part of bringing the world to the Ecuadoreans. And for their part, Ecuadoreans have brought the world to these gringos, and we are certainly the better off for it.
Living a charmed life, one of our ‘problems’ is how to spend our summers. As teachers, we want to take full advantage of the summer and are always looking for the next big adventure. We go back and forth with several machinations, taking into account costs, interests and feasibility. Thailand and Southeast Asia are high on the list, but apparently summer is the rainy season. And adventurous as we may be, roughing it in a monsoon is not our idea of fun. Our #1 desired domestic designation is the Grand Canyon. Thoughts of a cross-country road-trip, camping in national parks, whitewater rafting down the Colorado River, hiking down and up the Grand Canyon, those are dreams a vacation are made of. Unfortunately just dreaming doesn’t make it happen. And of course, Ecuador keeps calling for our triumphant return.
During recent machinations, we went back and forth about returning to Ecuador. The boys were excited to go back, Greer, having already returned twice for two relatively short, work-related trips, looked forward to returning with the family, and I was intrigued, though less enthralled, hoping that we could go someplace on my bucket list. Right about the time we had let go of Ecuador and contemplating our next move, we received an email from our Ecuadorean boss, Sara Camacho, dated May 15th stating…“I hope everything is going great. I am writing because finally the Master´s program was approved. I would like to know if you could consider to come (sic) to Ecuador again to work in it. That would be an honor to have you both in this program. We will start on July 4th. Each module will last two months, 8 hours every saturday. (total 64 hours- 80 dollar per hour) . About the time you could be here, we could agree on some specific details.
I hope you both could consider this proposal.”
How could we not? If there ever was a sign from god, or at least from our travel agent, then we had to go. All that was left was negotiating the terms of our travel.
Mind you, students had already signed up for the class with the scheduled described above, yet no professors had been assigned, and the two chosen professors (yours truly and his wife) had not yet agreed to the dates. Yet in Ecuador, that does not matter. In the United States, dates and times for classes are established well in advanced. A look at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, website will show the times and dates of courses well in advance, and it even posts the school calendar for next two years. As Sara Camacho observed, Americans (or Norte Americanos as we are referred to in South America) know the future, and must have it all planned out. Ecuadoreans will know the future in the present. In Ecuador, teachers and students are regularly advised of changes in schedules with only a week notice. Thus was the case for La Programa Masteria. Not able to give up the full eight weekends for teaching, we negotiated five weekends of teaching , all-day Saturday and Sunday. Apparently the 60 students had no problem giving up those five weekends. For our family, it was a win-win, Greer and I would work weekends and we could travel as a family during the week and our salary would pay for our summer vacation. All the stars and planets were aligned. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, for one, it’s been over three months and I still have not gotten paid (fortunately, Greer did get paid, but Byzantine banking procedures have caused various issues with my payment). Yet, that did not deter us from enjoying our time there, or from the ‘normal’ trial and tribulations that have become our Ecuadorean experience (and fodder for my blog).
Though this time under much different circumstances, Greer and I figured we would be able to have a “do over.” Our first go-round met with many challenges, few of which we handled well. Yet, in spite of that, it was an absolutely wonderful experience that will forever be close to our hearts in Burroughs family lore. There will always be something that draws us back to Ecuador. First and foremost are the people. We were excited to reconnect with some old friends; in some respects, it was as if we never left, in others, it was like a joyous reunion of old high school buddies. But it was so much more because it was a reunion for entire families. And of course there is the culture, and this go round we knew Spanish (at least Grant, Garrett, and to a lesser extent, Greer and I did), and we have become accustomed to the quirks and quibbles of Ecuadorean lifestyle. Then there’s the plush landscape and scenery. The beckoning call of the Andes with it lush greenery cry out from the mountainous peaks. But for me, it’s the adventure that keeps me coming back. From the mundane to the monumental, there is a certain element of surprise, bewilderment and excitement that comes from living, working and traveling in Ecuador. And one adventure that I was certain to do was a trip into the rainforest/jungle of the Amazon basin.
For a small country, about the size of Colorado, there are no shortages of beautiful landscapes to explore and experience. Ecuador has four different regions, each with its unique identity, culture and character: La Costa (the Pacific coast), La Sierra (the Andes Mountain Range), La Selva (the Amazon Jungle region) and Los Galapagos (the Galapagos Islands). On Ecuador 1.0 we made it to three of the four regions and I was determined to make it to the fourth during Ecuador 2.0. So, once our flight was booked, I booked our travel plans to the jungle. There will be more to come of the Jungle adventure in a future post, but trust it to say that it was money (and the weekends working at UTA) well spent. A plane flight into Coca, the last city before the rainforest, was followed by a five hours river cruise that was in itself almost worth the price of the trip. And though the accommodations were rustic, the half dozen huts and restaurant/lounge were built with real thatched roofs and wood from the surrounding area, there was electricity from 6pm-10pm and readily flowing hot and cold water at all times. And that’s a lot more than can be said for our “vacation’ home accommodations back in civilization.
To be fair, our very good friend, Adriana, offered her vacation condo on the outskirts of the lush resort town of Baños to us during our stay – gratis. And wonderful accommodations they were. The price was right, it was roomy, with the necessary accouterments, and we were just down the road from one of our favorite places in all of Ecuador. Besides, it was mostly a place for us to lay our heads as our plan was to hit the road for much of the week and commute the hour to work on the weekends. Yet, that first week was spent getting acclimated, preparing to teach our class, visiting friends and enjoying Baños. However, torrential rains put a damper on the latter, as well as just about everything else. The deluging downpour wrecked havoc on the plumbing system and we were without water for much of the week. So in our first week we found ourselves roughing it before we even had a chance to make it to the jungle. But it was an adventure all the same. The appropriately named Baños, for the thermal baths created by the nearby volcano, provided some much needed R&R as well as hot showers. And hauling buckets of water provided Grant and Garrett some exercise as well as much needed flushing of the toilets. We looked forward to our jungle adventure for some indoor plumbing. But before that it was work…and showers that occupied our minds and efforts.
Once adequately bathed and coiffed, we took on the task of implementing the maiden course, ENSEÑANZA DEL IDIOMA INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), in the Consejo de Posgrado. But not before a grandiose celebration and recognition ceremony that kicked off the Masters program at the university. It was filled with long-winded speeches that bespoke the virtues of Ecuador, its people and cultures, and the need to bring English and world-class education to Ecuador, so Ecuadoreans can bring their people and culture to the world. To that end, Greer and I were doing our little part of bringing the world to the Ecuadoreans. And for their part, Ecuadoreans have brought the world to these gringos, and we are certainly the better off for it.