WHooooooooooooshhhh

so I have no idea where to start.... Since the first message I have done many things and experienced much, and my schedule has given me little time to write about them. Since I wrote last I have gone on wilderness walks, seen wales, ate street food and didn´t get sick, made many new friends, had a bonfire on the beach, kissed on the cheek many times, danced alot, refused many cervezas, made contact with Baha´is in portoviejo, riden many rides at the fair, been set up on dates (i didnt know they were until everyone left, quite awkward), taught alot of english, learned alot of spanish.
In this message I will focus on one very special. driving a scooter in ecuador.

I unfortunately cannot remember the date, it could have been last monday, after my first day of teaching in the office of the mayor. I walked down the steps of the municipio to my contact´s office. Inside we had a conversation about my time here in ecuador and what I had planned to do. Near the end of the conversation I mentioned that it would be very cool to drive a car or a motorcycle in ecuador. Just then another man, Paul, walked in. He ownes a scooter. After some minutes of discussion, some of which I didn´t understand fully Paul led me outside to his scooter where he poceeded to teach me how to turn it on and start, after one circle around the main square with me on the back, he hopped off and told me to try. I was so excited and stunned that this was actually happening! I went around the square slowly then a little faster, making sure to avoid the gigantic potholes all over the road. I got back around thinking that this was it, and then I was going to take the bus back to Visqije. But apparently not and to my surprise and immense pleasure Paul hopped on behind me and said "Vamos a Visqije!". YES. I drove the twenty minutes back to my house in the country with the wind blowing through my short blonde locks, with a irremovable goofy smile on my face. As we passed various persons along the side of the road their heads turned no doubt in awe of this white blur and yet mystified why anyone would ever trust this gringo with their moto. I was in heaven. the greenery never looked so green, the road never looked so wide, the wind never felt so fresh and cool, and even the slight drizzle that covered a few spots on my glasses felt like mana from heaven. I gunned the moto getting up to nearly 70 along this empty country road, dodging pot holes and cows with an expertise only gained by playing cruisin USA as a child in the lobby of wallmarts and bowling alleys. Needless to say we arrived at our destination unscathed and atleast I was exillerated. I jumped off with a "que chevere, Gracias!"

It was the first time driving a scooter, and driving in south america. However, it would not be the last. but that story is for another time ;) There may be no more peaceful feeling than driving a scooter through lush vegetation while the wind blocks out all knowledge of humanity.

Ciao,
Profe

Profesoooooooooor

so this is going to be the shortest message ever, because i have 5 minutes before I have to head over to give my class to the adults in el municipio. And I cannot write after because i promised (why? child peer pressure) to take the kids that i live with to the fair :) should be reaaaallly fun/exausting. I am soooo tired, and my head hurts constantly and I am always thirsty because I apparently am not made up of 75% water, its more like 89%. I have so much to write about I could probably write a few hbo movies just from a few of the stories. However, time is short at the moment so I shall just say this: I am a rock star here. literally. everyone in two cities knows my name and either calls me Brian or Profesor or Profe... its pretty great. I also have recieved numerous job offers as well as marraige offers, all of which I said I will check back with them when I graduate in a year ;). My spanish has improved rapidly as a result of studying for my teaching because whatever I teach in English I have to be able to say in Spanish, and now I have friends who I converse and hang out with daily. Gotta say its a pretty sweet gig :) OK gotta jet, ill try to write more tomorrow :) LOVE! CIAO!

-Profe Peluche

DEAR ALL,
wow, i cannot believe a week has already gone by/ i feel like ive been here for a year :) so first off, lets start with where i am right now. i am in a place called canoa, ecuador. it is on the coast about 3-4 hours away from where i am currently living. this place is gorgeous and we (ill explain in a sec) found this sweet hotel right on the beach for only 5.50 a night!!! granted its basically only a bed, but really thats all i need :) we came here for the weekend meaning friday afternoon to sunday afternoon. today saturday was spent entirely on the beach, in the water, on a surf board :DDDDDDD YEEEEAAAHHH it. was. AMAZING!!!! (i did not do it with anyone experienced; you know :) aaaand i got to my feat like 5 times!!! its sooo hard, i did it for so long that by the end i couldnt even lift my body up from the laying down position :) i think lik 6 hours in all hehe. its quite picturesque i must say! so yes i am taking much pictures :)

now to the rest of the week. so it has been a huge whirlwind of stuff, i can´t think of everything right off the top of my head, but i am recording it all in my journal to tell later :)

so right now i will just give you the highlights. im not actually in portoviejo. i am near a smaller town called santa anna which looks exactly like portoviejo but smaller, so i was a lil disoriented at first. but turns out im not actually in santa ana either. im a 20 min bus ride away in a farm village called visqije, which has like 100 inhabitants lol. the first day i met with the mayor of santa ana, and he wants me to teach his office english for 1.5 hours of the day every day along with teaching english in the mornings at this super poor school in visquije. so starting tomorrow, monday i shall be doing that from 3.30-5 every day!!! its pretty amazing though, because everyone loves me. for the past week i have played soccer with the town men/boys. they all love me :) so much so that they took me along with them a couple nights ago to see an indoor soccer tournament between all these small villages, visquije tied 1-1 to the other village. it was so fun. its great because everyone knows me and waves at me and talks to me, regardless if i can always respond or not lol. and they all call me "profesor" or "profe" for short :D i love it! they all protect me too so no need to worry parents :) they all know i dont drink as well...

so im teaching english to these kids, i have 5 classes at this school between the ages of 5-12 lol. adn the other teachers want me to make up songs for the young ones and tests for the older ones lol, oh and did i mention i have to make my own lesson plans which is awesome, tho so far ive just been winging it. ive taught numbers and a few colors and greetings... oh and yesterday lol my older class went through the newspaper and worked on descriptions, im pretty sure they have "he/she is ugly" "he is handsome" and "he/she is pretty" though they said ben aflec was ugly, so then i asked what i was and they said i was handsome! :D i had too ;)

the first time i played soccer everyone was skepticle until the first time i scored a goal the 30 or so spectators screamed and cheered for this gringo, and so of course i ran around the feild taking off my shirt and waving it around :D im sure you can picture it lol the soccer is different here. they play on concret, on basketball courts and use a small very hard ball that does not bounce and everyone has these special tennis shoes that have hard toes which helps because i have like 3 holes in my shoes that i brought with me, so i may be making an investment for my remaining 6 weeks lol

so where i am living is a farm. so so so many animals, roosters that have no idea when the sun comes up and aggresive geese lol the family is split up among huts on stilts with a big house. the interns share a flat, and i have my own room! i knew it lol oh and the buildings are made out of sugar cane with is funny because the roosters are directly underneath my room so when they sound their unfortunate alarm at 2 in the morning it sounds like it is sitting right beside me watching me sleep lol. there are other interns here too. all from the US. a married couple, two sisters who live with me, and this other girl susan who works and lives in santa ana so we dont see her much. we´ve watched a few movies in spanish including but not limited to harry potter 1 and 2 which the kids love lol...

ok, well i believe that is all i can right at this moment. i love all of you, and miss everyone alot!

love,
BRIAN THE LION

ps my spanish is gettin loads better because i have to think on my feet in my classes.