Dreaming of the Amazon

I have always wanted to visit the Amazon so when I saw an ad for a fellowship that would pay for me to teach there, I immediately applied. After going through the application, some recommendation letters, and an interview, I was accepted and decided I was leaving. I left the first week of December not knowing anyone in the program but excited to do some traveling post grad and reinforcing my Spanish skills. I love working with kids so teaching 2nd-4th grade was really challenging but ultimately, my ideal situation. I learned about patience, how hard it is to be a teacher, and how helpful the teaching community is (Ecuador has a Facebook specifically for English teachers!). I loved every part of my experience, being with the kids in the sweltering sun or pouring rain; going to every social event that was run by the teachers; traveling for almost an hour to reach my school site; doing lesson plans every week; running some English classes for my fellow coworkers; and getting accustomed to the Ecuadorian traditions that as a Peruvian, I had never heard about. There was definitely some stress in the lack of training we received; when I was put in front of my class, I felt unprepared and got really anxious. I think some changes could be done to the program like better planning and communication from the team, a longer training program, and working with the actual government to better the system as a whole as opposed to just tweaking the lesson plans at our school sites. I left feeling like I had a stronger connection to my language and my roots. I made really great friends both in the program and in my site and I would not have changed my location for any other place. I loved being surrounded by animals and feeling so in touch with nature. I would recommend this program to someone that has more experience teaching as I feel like many of us felt unprepared in our classrooms. Also, I think that those that do apply, should be conscientious of the privilege and space you are taking wherever you go, be it Ecuador or Ghana. Overall, I am really glad I did WorldTeach and really do feel like I left a piece of my heart in Tena, Ecuador.