Equador language trip
December 18 - January 2019
Unburdened by any knowledge of Spanish, we travel via Miami to Quito and do one 4-week language course "Traveling Classroom" including Framework program and accommodation with families in Quito, Cuenca and Manta, as well as a hostel in Montanita.​
Traveling classroom
Quito: The first week is a real challenge: Not only do we have to get used to the time difference, the high altitude (2,850 m) and the simple living conditions in the family, but also our daily 5 lessons in the morning, of course with homework, the almost daily excursions in the school's social programme and the leisure activities with our much younger classmates in pre-Christmas Quito, make the time fly by.
Cuenca: The second week is a little less hectic as most of our classmates had chosen the "Amazon week" option. We enjoy a room in a granny flat for several guests alone and spend the evenings mostly with mobile phone translator-assisted, speech-breaking and therefore very funny conversations with our great hosts.
Manta: After the 2 weeks in the Andes we enjoy T-shirt weather by the sea. Appart from reuniting with the classmates of the first week and the swotting up of verbs/tenses/nouns (the professora reminds us a lot of the movie "Bad Teacher") the highlights are the excursions and a few fine restaurants.
Montañita: The last transfer is also an excursion via the Isla de la Plata, with a foretaste of the Galápagos. In Montañita we have a long weekend where we celebrate Christmas in a backpacker hostel with a lavish meal, lots of alcohol, beer pong and billiards together with many young people. The accomotaion this time is a hostel near the center of the village with a pool and shared kitchen, we prefer the restaurants. We are only in the water for one of the school's surfing courses, as we also go to school in the afternoon due to the holidays.