Austin So Far

So I've been here for almost 2 months now! Other than teaching, here are some of the things I've done:

Mount Bonnell

Views of the City from Mount Bonnell

Kayaking on the river

Bats at the Congress Avenue Bridge

Rubber Duck race in Round Rock for the 4th of July

There were lots of rubber ducks...

and Ballet Folklórico in Round Rock for the 4th

Then we went to Georgetown for fireworks! Sorry, I don't have any pictures of them. Most fireworks were cancelled in Central Texas because of the drought, but we drove north just to go to some, because you can't have the 4th of July without fireworks!

Getting Ready to Move

I'm almost entirely packed for my move from Chicago to Austin, Texas! Movers are coming this week, and then I will be flying to Austin next Tuesday.

Here are some things I've found useful while packing/moving:

• Do your research!
• Read reviews and take lots of time to compare different prices and different moving methods. We chose to get movers and have them take things in a truck, versus either packing things into a pod/truck ourselves that movers would drive, or packing and moving ourselves with a rental truck. This turned out to be a great option because when the stuff gets to Austin it has to go up 3 flights of stairs! I think we need movers for that...
• Don't seal boxes until you have to
• I found a bunch of little stuff that I wanted to keep, and it fit into the little spaces in boxes that I thought were already full.
• You CAN put clothes in your dressers
• Life saver! I can move all my clothes by just keeping them where they belong :) I guess I just never knew that... I assumed the moving companies didn't want it to be too heavy, but apparently not!

I have also been starting the job search for open teachign positions in Austin! I have already applied to 4 districts and I have to do at least one more application very soon. Texas Teaching Fellows has been an amazing resource for job search tips, resume/cover letter editing, and interview questions. I can't wait to get started on my summer student teaching and institute program with them!

I can't wait, and it's all getting so close! I'll try to update more when I actually start working in a classroom for summer school.

Ocupadísima!

I wish I could add pictures to this post! I won't be able to get the pictures off my camera until Wednesday... but until then, here are some things I've been up to:

Tuesday I slept in and made lunch for the amigos in the apartment, then I went to the Mercado Artesanal Quito with a volunteer from Canada named Lindsay. She bought some things because she was leaving on Thursday, and I got some good ideas for Otavalo, the BIG market 2 hours north of Quito.

Wednesday I spent the morning at Muñequitos (preschool) playing with the kids and helping the teachers. One of the teachers (Señor Jaime) is having me do a small English lesson on Monday. For lunch I ate at USFQ with Zack and Maria Teresa, who wanted to know all about what I was doing after college and how I liked being back in Ecuador. We also talked about FEVI and in the afternoon I worked on creating a facebook page for the organization:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/FEVI-Ecuador/109323709148578
On Wednesday night I finally went to stay with my host family! They had been in Cuenca for Carnaval. I had the most amazing time with my girls! It's just like being home again :) I had bought Estefí (8) an Easy bake oven thing that you do in the microwave, with cookie mixes and decorating tools. I got the twins (Martina & Ivana, 5) each a puzzle and a princess whiteboard. We baked the cookies and decorated them for a while, and then watched Wizards of Waverly Place en español while we ate them.

I'll update later on the rest of my week... Chao chao!

I missed you, Ecuador!

Just got done with a very tiring and rewarding day in Ecuador :) I'm currently staying in Lumbisi (outside of Quito) with some friends until my host family gets back from Cuenca after Carnaval vacation is over (Wednesday). I arrived at the airport last night only to wait an hour in the baggage claim area for my bag, which they decided needed to be checked in Dallas even though I had just been able to fit it in the overhead bin on my Austin'Dallas flight. So they didn't bother to give me a receipt or ask me what airline I was flying on to Quito, they just assumed I was on American because my Austin-Dallas and Dallas-Miami flights were American. I wasn't, I was on LAN. Luckily I got my bag an hour later when the American flight got in, so in the end it wasn't a very big deal, I'm just annoyed at the people who took my bag at the gate.

But on to more positive things!!! I arrived at the same time as a volunteer group from Vanderbilt with Manna Project who is working in Lumbisi for a week. They are building a fence and also helping out at a preschool here called Muñequitos. For the first few days I'm working with them and helping out a little by answering questions about Ecuador/Spanish/etc Today we began to build the fence around the organic garden here in Lumbisi. I got preeeettty sunburned :( but I should be okay, it might just be a little difficult to sleep tonight. The fence is looking really good, and tomorrow I'm helping paint at Muñequitos.

After working all day I took a little trip to the grocery store with Ashley (one of the Program Directors for Manna, staying with us) and Zack, and we had an awesome taco salad dinner.

I'll update with pictures soon, I hope! I love being back here and cant wait to see my familia!

Chao Chao!

Yo soy Ms. Caro.

This is a new part of my life, becoming a teacher, so I figured, why not create a new identity to go with it?

I've been known as Carolyn, Carolina, Caro, Ms. Kloecker, Ms. K... and frankly the mispronunciations of Kloecker are really starting to get to me. Ms. K also makes me feel pretty generic, so I think I'm going to go with Ms. Caro.

When I started substitute teaching in the fall, I already knew that I wanted to pursue bilingual education, but I did not know that I would be starting so soon. I thought that I would work in something to do with International Studies first. But honestly, my teaching will involve a lot of international education. Hopefully my kids will learn about geography, culture, and how to be a respectable global citizen.

After substitute teaching for most of this school year, I cannot wait to have my own classroom. There are so many ideas and techniques that I want to use, and so many things that I want kids to take away from the time they spend with me. I just took my ginormous TExES educator exam (the "Bilingual Generalist EC-6"), and before it, I don't think my brain could have been more full of knowledge.

I had an amazing time in Austin for these past 2 days with Mike, I got a tour of where he works, at National Instruments, we went on a tour of a local brewery, and we did some furniture shopping (dining room table! woohoo!)

Tomorrow, I'm leaving for Ecuador (at 6 a.m.!) for 8 days to visit my host fam and some friends, and also to use all of the U.S. coins that I could scrounge up... I'll be volunteering and doing some mini-trips around the Quito area while I'm there, so check back for more blogging from Ecuador!

Feel free to comment/ask questions below! Gracias y hasta luego!