Que Viva Quito!

I wrote this monday but had trouble loading it......

Fiestas de Quito

This weekend there were many festivities going on in Quito. It's the the celebration of when Quito (where we live, and the capital of Ecuador) was founded.

We were able to have a bit of fun with this because the Spanish department of our school put together some traditionals activities for the kids to enjoy.

This first was a Chiva ride. A Chiva bus is essentially a party bus. Traditionally, they would have live bands that sat on the top and then people would crowd in on both the top and bottom and dance the night away driving around town. Today they still have traditional Chivas, but the modern ones are adorned with discos lights, huge speakers, and a DJ! Each grade, from middle school to high school, had their ride in a Chiva. Clinton and I rode with the 9th graders who had their share of shaking the bus from all the dancing!

They were handed whistles as they got on the bus, the dj yelled “viva Quito” and everyone yelled back “viva”

this isn't the video I wanted to show...for some reason the other one wouldn't load. But this still gives a brief view of the music on the bus

After driving around town, we got back to school and watched a short program that presented the origins of the holiday and traditions.

It's so fun to be a part of such culture! We also had today off from school for this holiday, so we were able to get a little relaxation in as well.

Ceiling of the Chiva

Giving Thanks

"in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

1 Thessalonians 5:18

What I'm thankful for...

It's been awhile, but I'm finally writing again! Even though I find myself getting into a bit of a rhythm with work at school, things are still busy! Much has been going on at school including an early November break, Spiritual Emphasis week, and now Thanksgiving break. It's hard to believe that after this weekend we only have a couple weeks before we travel home for Christmas...I can't express how excited I am for that! But anyways...that will be be another post.

It's traditional at my family Thanksgiving to go around the table and share what we're thankful for. I think this is a tradition that many families share. Here in Ecuador we stopped to reflect on what we were thankful for. We had a rather “traditional” meal with turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, and more, at the home of some colleagues. It was a blessing to be surrounded by a community (still with many people I don't know too well) and yet feel a sense of familial warmth. When sharing, my friend Yari mentioned how she was amazed at how anywhere you go, you can find family in the body of Christ.

I'm thankful for the body of Christ

Friday morning I went out to breakfast with two girls, Rachel and Yari. Moving to new places always has that tagged on anxiety of meeting new people. Earlier this month when we went to the beach with a group of people for another break, I was able to spend a little more time with these girls. Since then I have been so blessed to continue to spend time with them and develop a friendship.

In a taxi, on our way to the market (Yari and I)

In the afternoon, Clinton and I joined a group to see the new Harry Potter movie! We were so excited to see it. In the evening, again we joined a group to get dinner!

On our way to dinner Dinner with friends!

I'm thankful for new friends!

Yesterday I was able go to to Otavalo with a group to do some Christmas shopping. Otavalo is a small town about 2 hours outside of Quito where there is a huge market of handmade things such as purses, hats, blankets, wooden statues and much more. It's mostly run by the indigenous people of Ecuador. The colors are amazing and the people are truly beautiful. I always love going, walking around, AND using my Spanish to barter (= But this made me think....

I'm thankful we can go home for Christmas!

These are pictures in Otavalo that I actually took when I was in here in college, 5 years ago. However...it doesn't seem like much changed!

we stopped in another small town called Cotacachi known for its leather...a few of us were "shopped-out" so we looked for a place to eat. We found a little restaurant with great food..run by two people from New York City!

A Nativity Set I bought

Finally today, I'm sitting here on my couch. I've done some lesson planning and am just relaxing after a busy long weekend. We actually didn't go to church today because today is Ecuador's Census. High schoolers are going door-to-door to have each household answer a set of questions. Yes it's crazy...but no one can go out from 7-5 and all businesses are closed! In a way I'm thankful for the ability to stay home and just relax!

While there are many things to be thankful for...here were a few. ALSO I'm thankful for your love, support, encouragement and prayer. We couldn't be here without that!

Just a couple prayer requests:

1. prayer for my Grandma who has lately been forgetting things. It seems that she'll be diagnosed with dementia. Prayer for her and especially my grandpa who my dad says has been overwhelmed and stressed from the situation.

2. Prayer for the next couple of weeks of school before Christmas break, for energy and non-distracted minds (=

3. Safe travels for us: We'll be leaving December 18^th for PA, heading to Indiana on the 24^th and then finally back to Quito January 1^st.

4. PRAISE and continued prayer: Good health! We are so thankful that neither of us have been sick from food or just sickness that has already been around school.

Finally!

I'm finally posting some pictures of our apartment. There are some rooms that I have not even touched, so they still look pretty boring. But I started to add some nice touches like paint and pictures. I'm still lacking some homey touches because home stuff here is quite expensive. I'm waiting on getting things from the states (= Enjoy....

Front door and looking into the living room before I painted

I painted! The best part was getting rid of the blue doorframe

Inside the living room and my pictures that I bought outside the city

(watercolors of mountains/volcanoes in Ecuador) and I got them framed!

Dining room view from the kitchen Dining room again...I painted it too

Looking down the hallway at the front door

(which I didn't paint...still blue) The other end of the hallway (I painted) and looking into our bedroom which I have done nothing to yet.

Guest bedroom which I haven't touched!

It needs some love, I just haven't had time! Trying to get rid of some of the ugliness by painting walls in the guest bathroom.

The girls from the dorm and I made peanut butter cookies! Lijun loved the oven mitt (=

View from the kitchen

View of school from apartment Other view from apartment

My favorite! Jugo de Mora (berry juice)!! I haven't made it from scratch yet...this is the frozen pulp blended with water and a little sugar....yum (=

Activating the Strike Plan

As I walked into the library during my planning period, I noticed a couple teachers looking at a television. “That's weird...I wonder what's going on” I thought to myself as I walked by. It was weird, but the first thing I thought of when I saw that image was September 11^th. I saw the same image shortly before we were told of the events of that day: teachers standing around a television looking worried.

While I heard a couple comments about protests...I didn't really think much of it. As we made our way into the chapel, an announcement was made by our secondary principal that, after lunch, we should review the strike evacuation plan with our 6^th period class. But as chapel went on and students were being pulled to leave, it was evident that something was going to happen sooner than we thought. Again our principal made an announcement to the staff and students that we should go to our 6^th period class and the students would be dismissed as their parents came.

While it didn't necessarily feel chaotic, I had to remind myself that I was the adult and I had to keep it together. I felt clueless as to what was going on, but I made my way up to my classroom and assured some students on my way that everything was ok. For the next 30 minutes...or maybe even longer, announcements were made that dismissed students and parents were coming into the classroom to pick up their kids. My students asked if they could take out their cellphones (not allowed during the school day) and while inititally I said no...I figured that if this truly is a “crisis,” I didn't want my students not to have communication with family.

Eventually the campus became quiet and everyone had gone home. We found out that school was canceled on Friday and while I was happy for a day off, I still felt anxious about everything going on.

Later that evening, before I went to bed, one of the dorm students turned on the news to watch some live footage of what was going on with the president. He was supposedely being held in a hospital and the military was moving in to try and remove (“rescue”) him. Basically there was gun firing going on between the military and the police (that's what appeared to be happening). The filming of these events was interesting because the camera man was obviously trying to stay out of the cross-fire. So for periods you would just see the sky or the screen was bouncing back and forth because he was moving around. As we watched, a vehicle left surrounded by guards...the president was in the car. The firing increased and we watched one of the men get hit and tumble down. It was shocking and of course, left me a bit unsettled. This was not happening too far from where we were.

I was thankful to fall asleep easily and it wasn't too long after we woke up that we heard that things settled down and life was back to normal. We did go out today to eat with friends and grocery shop...everything seemed to be running as usual. I guess we'll continue to see how things go throughout the weekend.

Ecuador is a wonderful country but has had unfortunate instability with presidents. I don't know much about this president, but I'm hopeful that things will be peaceful and that things can be resolved.

This is what we watched live

This

too much of a routine?

I think I'm probably finally hitting my rough spot. Usually when I am stressed, that's when I crave loved ones and the comfort of home. For these first few weeks, I have indeed been stressed. Stress at the beginning of a new school year, a new job, and life in a new country is definitely normal. I think that the stress and busyness has wholly consumed me. It has not allowed me really to stop and think about...well...life.

I'm thankful to finally feel ahead in some aspects. Naturally, I believe that my planning for school and time towards grading will continue to be heavy, however, I am starting to get into a routine which helps me have more time to take a break. I feel like I haven't really experienced life outside of the school walls since school started. While I am anxious to explore and be out, my tendency with being overwhelmed is to crave alone time, or time where I can just veg (=

So in those recent moments, where I have stopped to take a breath, I feel like yes, I'm missing home. I find my mind drifting to thoughts of my favorite time of year...fall, and how I'm missing the crisp, cool days and the smell of leaves. I also think of my niece Mikayla who I'm missing so much because I'm not seeing some of her precious moments of growing.

My goal is not to be depressing...although I feel it might come across that way (= Simply my thoughts on my heart tonight.

My thoughts and prayers are with all of you....I continue to feel blessed by words of encouragement and support. Love to everyone...we miss you!!

The beginning of another school year

From the moment we got off the plane the lingering thought of beginning another year teaching was in the back of my mind. Of course, it's that time of year and while it usually is at the forefront of my mind, this year teaching is obviously going to be filled with a lot of new things. The first day of school was overwhelming and I was exhausted by the end of it. I taught my intro classes (freshman) second and third period. In the afternoon I taught my other three classes back-to-back. When I got home I spent about 40 minutes for dinner and then worked until about 30 minutes before I went to bed. Ah, it reminds me of my first year of teaching when I spent my whole life lesson planning!

This morning I read Philippians 4:4-7 to my class. I mentioned how the start of the year can be overwhelming and that this verse could be a comfort.“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I was so blessed to have a smooth and amazing morning after reflecting on this verse. I can't say that my afternoon was as smooth (= BUT I was thankful to feel that I had a handle on something! My general feel for this year is that the main struggle will be in just getting familiar with what I need to teach. I'm already realizing that I'll need to be reading at least two books simultaneously and that I need to think of ways to make my research class exciting (seriously...I'm bored by the material and it's pretty hard to make it interesting!) However, it is refreshing to have students sit quietly and look at you. I don't think I've put more than an ounce of energy into any kind of discipline (yet). I've had a couple students slightly distracted....each one I had a talk with apologized and said they would work on it! What is that? In the city I probably spent 90% of my energy towards discipline...hence I can deal with anything...but there's nothing really to deal with!

Thank you for your prayers...don't stop! There are a lot of amazing things going on at this school. There's a real sense of a community of faith. There's an evident feel of ministry among the teachers and it's wonderful to be apart of something that God is truly working in.



My Classroom




Roses I bought for $2.50!

I know I keep saying I'm going to post pictures of our apartment AND I will! I've been painting and trying to get things a little cozier. I'm waiting for it to be somewhat complete before the big reveal (=

ADDRESS CHANGE

So if you received a thank you from us...or perhaps just obtained one of our little cards, it had our address on it for the states and for here in Quito. WELL I found out the address we were given had a couple numbers missing. Therefore, if you're interested in our address here in Ecuador...feel free to email me or post a comment and I'll email it to you!

We're still in the process of putting together our apartment, I will post pictures soon though (=

Getting to Ecuador

It started at 5:30 in the morning when my wonderful father drove us to JFK. We dragged in our huge hoard of luggage complete with four large suitcases, two carry-on suitcases, a backpack and a laptop bag. We were worried that all of our suitcases would be overweight...three were, but the woman checking us in only charged us for two!

We flew LAN airlines to Guayaquil which is a city on the coast. It was a six hour flight and it was overall a smooth trip. I was impressed with the airlines entertainment system which always helps a long trip go faster. It had touchscreen “tvs” and a large selection of movies, music, and games. I watched Iron Man 2 and Shrek 4 (=

As I get older, I have noticed how my feeling towards flying has become less and less positive. I'm just not a fan. I'm sure you know the feeling when a plane starts to descend. You have some moments of feeling like you are falling, sort of like dips in the air. As we began our descent and experienced those brief dips, I noticed that many of the passengers were making “ooo” or “eee” noises during those times. Almost as if we were on a roller coaster ride and everyone screams when you go down the big hill. Well there were no screams, but I have to admit, it didn't make me feel very comfortable. Finally when we landed everyone cheered and clapped. This part was amusing and I identified with that cheering..which seemed to be a way of expressing a sigh of relief.

Now that we were in Ecuador, we needed to go through immigration and customs even though we would be continuing on to Quito. I realized that we had never traveled with so much luggage before and it was the biggest pain ever. We managed to make it through and find where domestic flights departed and we sat there for about 4 hours. By this time I was ready for bed and that made me miss home.

Again with no complications we boarded our flight to Quito which was only 32 minutes flight time and we arrived. Once we got there, we had one piece of luggage missing. Thankfully it was already in the airline office (blessing!) and so we were able to bring all our suitcases with us to our apartment.

We were greeted by a couple who also works at the school. They had bought some food and set it up in the kitchen which was really sweet.

Yesterday we settled in, unpacked our belongings, and went to the grocery store. I'll post pictures and write more about our apartment soon.

p.s. In attempting to revamp my blog, I was hit with major complications. Last week I spent many hours trying to rearrange things and there were a couple things that just didn't work out. Thus, if anything seems out of place...sorry, I'm still trying to figure it out!

The Shepherd

As I mentioned in my earlier post, Clinton’s parents treated us to a trip to Italy and France (actually we just got back yesterday!) It has been a time to get to know the inner workings of the Simmons family, as well as experience amazing sights, delicious food, and….because of the time of year….extreme heat (=

We visited the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, The Statue of David; as well as seen paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and many others. But there’s one thing that I saw that wasn’t particularly grand or by someone famous, but yet it was still so powerful. It was in the Vatican Museum.

While a lot of what I’ve written in these first couple posts have dealt with saying goodbye and dealing with change….I continue to seek out a feeling of peace. I get very caught up in the stresses of this move and the checklist that needs to be taken care of, but looking at this image conveyed a meaningful message.

“The Lord is my shepherd”

What greater way to feel at peace than to remind ourselves that God is in control. That we like sheep are small, weak, imperfect….and yet we have someone greater and more knowledgeable than we could ever dream of who is looking out for us. He not only guides us but he comforts and cares for us.

I’m reminded of a sermon I heard recently at the beach service in Connecticut. The pastor was speaking on how insane it is to think about the universe and all its complexities. How God created something of such magnitude and here I am, one small, insignificant speck. Yet God knows me. This image reminds me of the frailty of life….the image of Jesus cradling the sheep. Something little and relatively unimportant and yet sought after and cared for.

It’s breathtaking to see such sights and powerful to reflect on them too. I am thankful for this experience and the chance to spend time with Clinton’s family before we leave.

In fast motion....

Clinton and I finished up our last day of school yesterday. I still feel like this transition is only semi-hitting me because as I left yesterday, it still just felt like “phew, summer vacation is here!” and I joyfully went home. And yet as I rode the subway home (thankfully I'm leaving just in time because the express train I regularly take is now running local due to budget cuts...if you know anything about this, you know what a PAIN it is!) in the back of my mind the list of things to do over this “summer vacation” was tapping away like a woodpecker. I might also add that some little part of me is asking myself “what are you doing Christina?”

Am I panicking? Well no, not really. Am I stressed...well sure, most who know me will attest to how I can be uptight when I have much to do. I will say that when there are things to do, I like to do them right away so that when they're finished, I can relax. Can we say the same for Clinton, not especially. What would a big life change be without some lesson about marriage (= I am thankful that despite the stress and occasional arguments we still are able to see why this is all worth it.

1. 2.

1.Before we started packing

2. The beginning of organized mess

(packing never looks neat, even if I try to stack everything nicely!)

We have 10 days before we move out....and then shortly after that we are leaving for Europe with Clinton's family. While this seems oddly placed in our schedule, it's been a trip planned for quite awhile. Clinton's parents are generously bringing us and Clinton's brother Ted to France and Italy to celebrate Ted's graduating from college. We're fortunate to have this time to relax in the midst of craziness. When we come back we have about two weeks before we leave for Ecuador! This is why life feels insane right now....but really, when does life ever feel as if it slows down?

This post is turning out to be a hodge-podge of thoughts, but before I close I want to say a bit about our fundraising. First THANK YOU to those of you who have already started to support us, we are so thankful for your gifts and are honored and blessed to have your prayers and support. Next, many people have been asking us if we have a goal amount that we wish to raise. We didn't include this is in our letter because we were still talking to people abroad and making up some estimates. After discussion and thought, our preliminary goal is to raise $500 a month. If you want more information about supporting us, feel free to email me or Clinton @ cy1157@yahoo.com or Clinton.Simmons07@gmail.com.

P.S.THANKS MOM for getting me started with packing up!

Our first farewell party given by our friends in NYC, John and Nicole. Thanks you two!!

Saying goodbye to New York City

We still have a month before we move out of the city...but lately the popular question people are asking us is "what will you miss the most." Well, when you live here, it's hard to pick one thing you'll miss. More than that, I can't even articulate what I'll miss...if you've lived here I'm sure you know the feeling. Today my aunt Liz said it perfectly, "once New York is in you, it never leaves you." Even though we're leaving, I'm happy to keep the essence of NYC in me (=

Here are some photos to document our life in the Big Apple (in no particular order)....



DUMBO, Brooklyn



The United Nations




Our Wedding


Food from a street fair!




Christmas in the City


Brooklyn Bridge


Manhattanhenge



Mets Game



Broadway show



Halloween


Cafe Lalos....my FAVORITE cheesecake


Highline Park..old subway tracks