cravings

woke up this morning with a serious craving for this kind of breakfast:Alas, it's just not the same unless you're in Europe.

beginning of the end

It's been a jam-packed week. Wednesday I had dinner with G., a friend of a friend who grew up in Quito and whose parents still live and work there as missionaries. I totally bombarded her with questions for two hours (poor girl was so busy talking that she was the last one to finish her meal) and walked away with a much better picture of what life is going to be like. The biggest relief (and first question I asked) is that my school is a good one. Preppy, she said, but good. I can handle preppy. Much of what she said is not terribly different from what I've experienced in other foreign countries, which helps because I've not really had a framework (or a schema as my mother says) for what to expect, but now I can start to fill in the picture.

Friday morning my colleagues at the middle school had a breakfast for me at the local diner. (And I mean local diner--the old farmer men were sitting at a table drinking coffee like they must do every morning.) Far more people showed up than I expected--it was very complimentary to see so many people wanting to wish me well. I wasn't prepared for that sort of thing. Now I have three days left of work, and it feels wonderful. Not sad, not nostalgic, just wonderful.

Otherwise, it's been a pretty low-key holiday weekend. I've spent time with my aunt and cousin being lazy and watching movies. I've already switched to summer mode, and I feel like I'm going to breeze through these last few days and then get down to the business of summer. There is so much to do to get ready for the move, plus I want to spend lots of time with my friends here and really enjoy the last of our times together. I know the clock is ticking, and I want to enjoy every last minute.

t-3 months...

In less than 3 months this will be my new home!

Started packing up the classroom today, and it was less painful than I expected. Then I remembered that this is what I will be doing all. summer. long. If anyone has a magic wand or packing fairy, please send my way!!!

honesty is the best policy

Breaking the news went rather well today, and I am feeling relieved. I wasn't sure how I would feel handing in my resignation, but I felt light and free! I know I've made the right decision, and this just reassured me even more. Everyone has been so positive and saying what a great opportunity this will be, and it feels good to be able to talk with people about this openly.

The last high school concert was Tuesday night, and it went so well. My advanced group performed a medley from West Side Story, and they sang their best yet. It was a great ending, especially compared to where we began four years ago.

I am feeling the craziness of the last few days and am ready for things to slow down a bit. I realized today that I have so many logistical things to work out: cell phone, banking, visa, and figuring out exactly how much is 100 lbs of clothing.


And since my best friend said I need more pictures on this blog, I will close with a picture of Tobey, who is the inspiration for this blog title and my traveling partner!

shout out

to my world-traveling girls--you know who you are--I am so glad I have you to share thoughts, feelings, experiences with. Knowing that there are other people going through similar situations with me makes me feel much more reassured. :)

Tomorrow is my last high school choir concert. I am also telling the principals tomorrow. That makes me feel a little (okay a lot) nervous. And then I drop the bomb to my closest kiddos on Wednesday. I'm thinking cookies might help ease the news.

On a slightly more political note, as gas prices seem to skyrocket out of control, I am so glad to be moving to a place where I won't own a car and where a ride on the bus will cost me $.50 one way. Did I mention I paid $60 to fill up today? Yeah, not going to miss that.

you never know...

I was in the fourth ring of hell (Wal-Mart) to do a little grocery shopping after school today, and I stopped at the deli counter to get some turkey. Now, I never buy meat from the deli. I never buy meat, but especially not from the deli. However, today I decided I needed some cold cuts, so I pondered the fifty varieties of turkey, and finally asked the older gentleman behind the counter for a half pound of the roasted turkey. I had failed to notice the three different kinds of roast turkey...but I digress. I mentioned something to the gentleman about there being so many choices, and he said that he had lived in South America and there were not so many choices there. This then turned into a discussion of South America and Ecuador, and it was very crazy to be standing in Wal-Mart in a small town in Indiana speaking with someone who has lived on the same different continent that I will be inhabiting soon. At the end of the conversation, I told him how much I had enjoyed speaking with him, and he said something to me in Spanish. It was a little noisy behind the deli counter and so I think he said something about God being with me on my journey, but I'm not exactly sure. This scares me a bit, because if I cannot understand an American speaking Spanish in Wal-Mart, how am I going to survive in an entire country of Spanish-speakers??? I really need to get my nose to the grindstone on this brush-up Spanish program...

On another note, I received an email from the head of school in Quito saying that I will be teaching choir for grades 5-9 next year instead of the general music classes for which I was originally hired. I have to say that I am excited and a little relieved that I will be teaching something familiar instead of brand new classes and brand new grade levels. I have a feeling that with all the other changes that I will be experiencing, something not quite so foreign (no pun intended) will be much appreciated.

Startup

Well this is it--the blog I am going to use to keep connected with everyone and document my upcoming adventures teaching and living in Ecuador. Even though I'm not going until August, I thought I would get this at least somewhat up-and-running, and post about the process of paring my life down to 100 lbs, getting a visa, and finding out the best way to travel with one certain grey cat on an airplane without either one of us losing our minds!

To explain a little more fully, I have recently taken a position teaching at a private school in Quito, Ecuador. I currently teach at a small public school in Indiana, so needless to say, I am moving to another world. I am going on my own, with just my cat (who is grey, hence the blog title) and whatever else I can get on the plane. ( 2 checked bags at 50 lbs or less=100 lbs of belongings. I probably own that in shoes alone!) I am excited and scared all at the same time, but I know that this is the right step for me at this point in my life. So, feel free to follow me on this journey as I relocate my life to a different city, country, continent, and hemisphere!