Yesterday was Thanksgiving in the US. This holiday is not celebrated in Ecuador, but as an English teacher and cultural ambassador, it is an invaluable opportunity to share a piece of life in the United States.
At the university, I work a total of 20 hours per week. 10 of those hours are spent assisting professors in their classrooms in the morning, 4 hours are dedicated to writing practice with students over email, and the remaining 6 hours are afternoon speaking practice. I get to plan and design the speaking practice classes, and I try to involve as many games as possible to get students to practice speaking and reinforce what they have learned in the morning classes. The students are from all different levels at a time, which can be a challenge to accommodate, but so far it has been a really good mix of conversations. Holiday weeks have been my favorite teaching weeks so far because there are so many theme games and activities online. Yesterday, I got to teach about the traditions of Thanksgiving through Bingo and Would You Rather? The word of the week was gravy, the students could not pronounce it and did not understand what it is. The students were also awed by pictures of the balloons from the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The Fulbright Program hosts a Thanksgiving feast every year in Quito. I had planned to attend, but after the two close calls with death by car, I was a little wary of travelling. Carlos had also come home from the hospital for the last time the day before, and it just felt like too much was going on to leave for a few days. I am hoping after a week or two of normal routine, I will be more willing to travel.
Since I decided not to go, my sweet host mom decided we would have a mini-Thanksgiving meal here. We had chicken (since a turkey is very big and usually eaten for Christmas), potatoes, choclo (corn), salad, craisins, cranberry juice, and blackberry cobbler for dessert.
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My Thanksgiving dinner
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We invited family, my tutor, and friends of Carlos who have also become my friends. It is never easy to be away from family on major holidays, but I am truly thankful for these Ecuadorian friends who would come to spend my holiday with me and learn more about my culture. They have really become my family here, and have made the transition to life abroad so much easier. Even though it is a new holiday for them, I think the concept of giving thanks really resonated, especially after the last few weeks. As Carlos said at the end of the meal, it is always a good day to give thanks to God.
All in all, it was a great night with great food and friends, and I am still so touched that so many people would come to support me. I am really settling into life here, and growing to love these people so much.
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