Start of School in Ecuador

The girls are attending a local Ecuadorian preschool.  One of our goals for our 13 months in Ecuador was for the girls to learn how to speak fluent Spanish.  The best way to accomplish this, we thought, was through a local Spanish speaking school.

The school they are attending

The school is a couple of blocks from the house, which allows a nice walk there in the morning and when returning before lunch.  It couldn’t be in a better location.  On the days when I walk them to school by myself I greet the welcoming teacher with a “Buenos días” and a smile, and then get out of the way as quickly as possible before someone asks me a question that I hadn’t rehearsed the answer to.  They all know that I am the new gringo in town, but they don’t know how little Spanish I am able to speak.  I don’t want them to confuse my speaking abilities with Rachel’s and initiate an impromptu conversation.  Let’s just say my fluency is a little lacking.  Or as Rachel would put it, “pathetic.”  

The girls are doing great.  When they get home from school they talk about sharing snacks with their new friends, like Maria who shared her rice and José Pinto who gave them some of his patacones, fried slices of plantains. Anaiah likes the toys so much that she has been stuffing them into her book bag to bring home.  She is our little collector.  The girls also have informed us of the important life lessons they have learned so far like “don’t eat soap”, “no standing on the tables”, and “no eating the play-doh.”  Hopefully, the rigor increases. 

Ecuadorian institutions love uniforms, and schools are no different.  The girls have three different uniforms that they wear during the week, along with a smock for arts and crafts.  

Monday's

smock for arts and crafts

Wednesday's

Tuesday and Thursday's

The athletic outfit is worn twice and they can wear what they wish on Fridays.  On top of their love of uniforms, they also have an admiration for embroidering their uniforms.  Each uniform is required to have their names embroidered on the front.  Notice the Ecuadorian spelling of the names; First name, Dad's last name, Mom's last name.  Rachel was all excited to get her maiden name some action.

I am thinking of getting my name embroidered, Matthew Downing Hyatt on all of my white t-shirts which has pretty much become the only thing that I wear, so that I can fit in with the locals.  

Here is a song they sing at school to start each day.