I just returned from the large open market, plus a quick trip to the local "tienda" for a few things that I couldn't bring from the market. Total I spent $19.95, and the total weight of all my purchases was 50 lb. 3 oz.

The itemized list is as follows:

A pound of fresh tuna - $2.50
A large round squash - $2.00
A large bag of carrots - $1.00
25+ bananas - $1.00
4 pounds of grapes - $4.00
4 large turnips - $0.50
one bunch of swiss chard - $0.25
two pounds of fresh green beans - $1.00
two pounds of fresh shelled beans, - $2.00
A small watermelon, 9 lb. - $2.50
A large pineapple, 5.25 lb. - $1.00
A dozen eggs - $1.20
Four large avocados, 2.75 lb. - $1.00

Here is a picture of most of this, except for the tuna and the eggs. The watermelon is in the middle, while the squash is at the back left. The shelled beans are in the sack in the middle, between the carrots and the green beans. The chard is in the plastic tub that Susan is holding, as she had already stripped it from the stems before I thought to take the picture.

The tuna is brought up fresh from the coast on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so I always pick up a pound fresh for our Sunday dinner. Most of the rest of this is local produce, except the grapes which come from Chile. As this picture should indicate, we eat well, with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Retired again, or at least unemployed

Well, I am no longer teaching at the Escuela Madrid. I told them last week, after 3-4 days of teaching, that it was evident to me that I was wearing down, and that they should look for another English teacher. I would not leave them in the lurch, but I didn't think I could keep up the pace for three months, especially with the other things that I need to take care of.

So, on Friday I saw Alexa (who first took me out there) and her husband in the office when I arrived at the school. They came out of the office a moment later, and she told me that she would be taking over as English teacher, but wanted to go with me to each of my classes that day to meet them and see how it went.

Of course, in the first class I was planning to give a test, but a little over half the class was out for a soccer match, which pretty well blew away any idea of giving a test, or of starting on a new section in the book. So instead I improvised, asking the class if they knew what the English word "ant" meant, and then telling them about my experience with the ants on Monday morning. I also told them that that was my last day to teach, and that Alexa would be taking over on Monday.

The other classes went more according to plan, except the seventh graders, which were involved in a different project, and we just had to skip. I did volunteer to come back as a substitute for a day or two if Alexa had a conflict, or was otherwise unable to be there. I really do enjoy teaching the students, but every day was too much.

On another note, one day during break I saw the boys playing a soccer variant that I had never seen before. They have a very small field, about 18 yards long, cut into the hillside so that both goals have a good backstop. The goals themselves are about 9 feet wide by 6 feet high, and the fronts of the goals are about 16 yards apart (as I paced them off). There is a line drawn on the ground halfway in between, or 8 yards from each goal, and two players stay on their half of the field, meaning they are not allowed to cross the center stripe.

The one in front tries to get in position and kick the ball into the opposing goal, without losing control of the ball and letting it roll across the center line, while the other one hangs back in the goalie position to try to block any shots that come his way. The first score that I saw here came when one of the players gave a powerful kick, which the front player across the line blocked such that it bounced directly into the goal behind the player who kicked it.

When a goal is scored, the team that was scored against sits down and a waiting team rotates in. And if I understood right, it is also the duty of the last team to rotate out to chase the ball should it head off down the hill, which is not uncommon.

Updates on school and ants

I have now completed three days of teaching, and I have yet to meet with all five classes in a single day. Although tomorrow looks likely to change that string. The kids are wonderful, and I enjoy my time in the classroom, but I really don't enjoy the chunk that this cuts out of each day.

One interesting aspect is that they are giving me a ride home in a school bus (minivan) along with a bunch of the students. Rank hath its privileges, so at least I get to ride in the front seat. As a consequence, I have seen parts of Cuenca that I had not seen before. Although it is not surprising, there are places in Cuenca that I would not be willing to live. I have not taken any pictures of them yet, but they are there.

On another note, when I got up yesterday morning and went in the kitchen, I noticed what at first glance appeared to be a streak of dirt on the floor about an inch wide. As I looked more closely, I realized that it was moving, and that realization was quickly followed by recognition: ANTS

They are tiny, not much more than 3 mm long, and perhaps half a mm wide, but there were thousands, TENS of thousands of them. They had formed three highways, two minor ones, perhaps 4-6 lanes wide, that followed the baseboard along the edges of the living room, and the multi-lane interstate that cut right through the middle. They weren't actually following lanes, but if they had been, I would guess that the one through the middle would have been at least 12 lanes wide. The source was outside the front door in the dirt, and the destination was our trash can in the kitchen. The can was touching the wall, and the combined highways met and traveled up the wall and into the trash. The total distance from their apparent den to our trash was about 25 feet by the shortest path.

I quickly realized that routine tactics were pointless, so I went next door and borrowed their vacuum cleaner. Not worrying about occasional wanderers, I plugged it in and started on the superhighway, followed by the smaller tracks along the walls. I then moved the trash can and sucked up all the ants on the wall and sealed up the garbage sack and took it out for disposal. I then came back and used the vacuum again to mop up the backup squad that hadn't heard that the party was over.

We still have a dozen or two ants roaming our kitchen at any given time, but the trash is no longer an attraction to them, or at least not an accessible one. We are careful not to leave it touching the wall, and apparently the plastic trash can is difficult to climb, to say nothing of the plastic bag that lines the inside. I have read that most small ants like this that infest homes on occasion seek either sugar or protein. Given that these were apparently after our left-over chicken scraps, plus the fact that occasional small bits of sugar don't appear to interest them greatly, I assume that these crave protein. They do not sting, but still, finding masses of them in our kitchen was a shock. We will be more careful hereafter with our scraps.

Given the shock of the moment, I did not take any pictures, and I hope that I don't have any occasion hereafter to do so. So I hope that my verbal description will take the place of pictures this time.

First day of school

I'm sure glad that I started teaching on a Friday. It gives me the weekend to recuperate from my first day, which wasn't all that bad. Mostly I am tired because I didn't sleep well last night, in anticipation. I got to Escuela Madrid a little early, and was pointed to my first class, which were the fifth graders. Other than one girl who had lived for a while in Canada, their English was not very strong, but that is not surprising.

I began by introducing myself and telling them a little about me. Then I took pictures of each of them, in groups of three or so, with their names written on the white board so I could begin to try to learn their names. Here are four of the kids from the fifth grade.Then I went to the seventh grade and went through the same routine. Here are three of the boys from that class.And finally I went to the ninth grade, and here are three of the girls from that class.

Normally I will be teaching two other classes as well, but today they were gone on a field trip, so this is where my first day ended. I also picked up textbooks and teacher manuals for each of these classes, but not for those that I did not meet, so I have plenty to keep me busy this weekend. However, I think I am going to enjoy this.

Back, due to reader demand

It has been too long (again) since I last posted. But I have faithful readers who have suggested that it is time to post again, so here goes.

The latest news I will put first. We'll see if I get to any more. I am employed again. The pay is trivial, but I will be teaching English part-time at a private, bi-lingual school in the outskirts of Cuenca. I learned about the need on Wednesday morning, when the mother of one of Susan's piano students arrived and asked me to please consider helping out. Apparently the English teacher at the school, or at least the one who taught the older students, had left without prior notice, and they were without a teacher.

She took me out to the school in a taxi and introduced me to the principal and a few of the teachers, as well as a couple of the classes that were currently teacherless. I was very favorably impressed, both by the location of the school [with a stunning view of Cuenca], and the students themselves. They appear to be friendly and eager to learn, and are well-behaved.

This is a view of the school. It is configured as small pods built into the hillside, and includes a couple of small playing fields for soccer and such. Just going up and down the stairs will help keep me in shape.

Susan and I went back today to make sure that I knew the way and could find the school, since I will be traveling there and back by city bus. It takes almost an hour to get there, depending on the connections and how long I have to wait, although they have promised me that most days I can get a ride home in the school bus, which should be somewhat faster.

I will try to post again after I actually start teaching. Tomorrow is my first day.