Some photographs of the signs and posters in the UBECI office.
Lx
Friday, 2 September 2011
Volunteering Day Eleven: Sangolquí
Thursday 1 September 2011
And so here it is, my final day of volunteering. I'm not sure how much I've contributed to the children's lives, but they have certainly contributed to mine and touched me in a way I can't describe. It's hard work but the satisfaction I got from it was amazing. But this isn't goodbye, it's just the beginning. I'm really looking forward to telling more people about UBECI and staying involved.
The children were great today, we had lots of fun and I took loads of photographs, see next post.
Lx
And so here it is, my final day of volunteering. I'm not sure how much I've contributed to the children's lives, but they have certainly contributed to mine and touched me in a way I can't describe. It's hard work but the satisfaction I got from it was amazing. But this isn't goodbye, it's just the beginning. I'm really looking forward to telling more people about UBECI and staying involved.
The children were great today, we had lots of fun and I took loads of photographs, see next post.
Lx
Volunteering Day Ten: Villaflores
Wednesday 31 August 2011
I didn't go volunteering this morning. Instead I went boating in Parque La Alameda with three other volunteers. We had a lot of fun. The only minor problem was that our boat wouldn't turn left so we spent a lot of time going backwards to try and get where we wanted to go. Afterwards, we walked to the market in La Mariscal and did some souvenir shopping.
In the afternoon I was volunteering in Villaflores, not at a market but in a small public garden (well, it was actually the middle of a roundabout, but it felt like a garden!) only two blocks from the office. We played football, sang, did some maths exercises and generally had fun. It was lovely to be so close to the office and not have to take a bus there and back.
Lx
I didn't go volunteering this morning. Instead I went boating in Parque La Alameda with three other volunteers. We had a lot of fun. The only minor problem was that our boat wouldn't turn left so we spent a lot of time going backwards to try and get where we wanted to go. Afterwards, we walked to the market in La Mariscal and did some souvenir shopping.
In the afternoon I was volunteering in Villaflores, not at a market but in a small public garden (well, it was actually the middle of a roundabout, but it felt like a garden!) only two blocks from the office. We played football, sang, did some maths exercises and generally had fun. It was lovely to be so close to the office and not have to take a bus there and back.
Lx
Volunteering Day Nine: Chillogallo
Tuesday 30 August 2011
The start of my last week of volunteering. Very sad that the time has flown by so quickly. The Tuesday market is the biggest market of the week and there were once again lots of children there today, well over 50 I would say. There was also an adorable puppy there and I spent all morning carrying it around as it was too little to walk and we weren't quite sure which child it belonged too. As it is my last week I was allowed to take my camera with me to the market, post with photographs to follow. I was in charge of maths with the oldest age group. They had a worksheet with addition and subtraction exercises. I had to help some of them by lending extra fingers to add the larger numbers.
The local festival started today in Chillogallo. In the afternoon I was able to go and see some of the traditional dancing.
In the evening I went to the volunteer house for a pizza evening. You have never seen a group of people so excited at the thought of eating pizza! We had a great evening chatting and having fun.
A lovely day.
Lx
The start of my last week of volunteering. Very sad that the time has flown by so quickly. The Tuesday market is the biggest market of the week and there were once again lots of children there today, well over 50 I would say. There was also an adorable puppy there and I spent all morning carrying it around as it was too little to walk and we weren't quite sure which child it belonged too. As it is my last week I was allowed to take my camera with me to the market, post with photographs to follow. I was in charge of maths with the oldest age group. They had a worksheet with addition and subtraction exercises. I had to help some of them by lending extra fingers to add the larger numbers.
The local festival started today in Chillogallo. In the afternoon I was able to go and see some of the traditional dancing.
In the evening I went to the volunteer house for a pizza evening. You have never seen a group of people so excited at the thought of eating pizza! We had a great evening chatting and having fun.
A lovely day.
Lx
Pottering around
Monday 29 August 2011
Nothing much to report today, did laundry (well, technically I dropped it off and collected it all washed, ironed and folded, so not much effort required on my part!) and pottered around.
Lx
Nothing much to report today, did laundry (well, technically I dropped it off and collected it all washed, ironed and folded, so not much effort required on my part!) and pottered around.
Lx
La Mitad del Mundo
Sunday 28 August 2011
Today I went to La Mitad del Mundo, aka the equator, Ecuador's biggest claim to fame and also its name. La Mitad del Mundo is the place where Charles-Marie de la Condamine made the measurements in 1736 showing that this was indeed the equatorial line. His expedition's measurements gave rise to the metric system and proved that the world is not perfectly round, but that it bulges at the equator.
The journey to get there involved three different buses. Quito is 55km long and I live in the south of Quito and La Mitad del Mundo is 22km north of Quito, so the journey across Quito took about 90 minutes and the journey from the bus terminal Ofelia in the north of Quito to La Mitad del Mundo only took about 20 minutes. The equator monument is incredibly touristy, but I could hardly go to Ecuador and not visit it. It would be like going to London and not seeing Big Ben!
Sundays are busy with Quito families as there is live music on the outdoor stage from 1pm to 6pm. I was really hoping for a salsa band, but no such luck. This afternoon's offerings were a hip-hop artist and a brass band, neither of which were to my liking. At the centre of La Mitad del Mundo stands a 30m-high, stone trapezoidal monument topped by a brass globe. It is the centrepiece of the park, containing a viewing platform and an ethnographic museum. The park also contains a planetarium, an insectarium, lots of souvenir shops and several cafés and restaurants. In one of the souvenir shops I had my passport stamped with a La Mitad del Mundo stamp. I also bought a pendant of South America from a small jewellery workshop. It is handmade in silver and has a small black stone marking where Ecuador is.
On the way back home I stopped off in Parque El Ejido and had a wander around the craft market. At the weekend, local artists set up an open-air gallery next to the craft market which is there all week. Most of the paintings weren't to my taste but it was interesting to see the different styles and subjects.
Lx
Today I went to La Mitad del Mundo, aka the equator, Ecuador's biggest claim to fame and also its name. La Mitad del Mundo is the place where Charles-Marie de la Condamine made the measurements in 1736 showing that this was indeed the equatorial line. His expedition's measurements gave rise to the metric system and proved that the world is not perfectly round, but that it bulges at the equator.
The journey to get there involved three different buses. Quito is 55km long and I live in the south of Quito and La Mitad del Mundo is 22km north of Quito, so the journey across Quito took about 90 minutes and the journey from the bus terminal Ofelia in the north of Quito to La Mitad del Mundo only took about 20 minutes. The equator monument is incredibly touristy, but I could hardly go to Ecuador and not visit it. It would be like going to London and not seeing Big Ben!
Sundays are busy with Quito families as there is live music on the outdoor stage from 1pm to 6pm. I was really hoping for a salsa band, but no such luck. This afternoon's offerings were a hip-hop artist and a brass band, neither of which were to my liking. At the centre of La Mitad del Mundo stands a 30m-high, stone trapezoidal monument topped by a brass globe. It is the centrepiece of the park, containing a viewing platform and an ethnographic museum. The park also contains a planetarium, an insectarium, lots of souvenir shops and several cafés and restaurants. In one of the souvenir shops I had my passport stamped with a La Mitad del Mundo stamp. I also bought a pendant of South America from a small jewellery workshop. It is handmade in silver and has a small black stone marking where Ecuador is.
On the way back home I stopped off in Parque El Ejido and had a wander around the craft market. At the weekend, local artists set up an open-air gallery next to the craft market which is there all week. Most of the paintings weren't to my taste but it was interesting to see the different styles and subjects.
Lx
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