Eve,
When I walked in to the Escuela de Español, that Monday afternoon to start my 1-on-1 lecciones, I had no idea who my teacher would be. When I saw you, I knew it was gonna be a good week. You were the first Ecuadorian I got to know well. Tiene 19 años and you´re wise beyond your years, university student in linguistics, fan of Chomsky, with 3 months of English thus far, also fluent in, I don´t know what to call it, Ecuadorian secratorial shorthand? Hoping perhaps eventually to get an English teaching job, con un bueno salario, maybe once dolares por la hora. You´ll be taking 4 years of English, so I´m sure you´ll be able to read this pretty soon...
Eve, You´ve been una buena professora, able to correct my mistakes without making me feel discouraged. You´re also easy on the eyes, quick to smile, and me gusta mucho a las short skirts that you sometimes wore. I´ll admit that when you had to stand on a chair to write some ejemplos on the board, that it was a bit difficult for me to keep my mind on my tiempos and conjugaciones, but I managed overall. When you mentioned that you compete in lucha libre, and you had an upcoming tournament, and you liked to practice against guys... I guess that was my chance right there. But I didn´t ask, and from then on I resigned myself to the impossibility of anything happening. Other than the hugs and the cheek-kisses hello and goodbye, which so far is my favorite costumbre de Latinoamerica.
I liked how you threw some Ecuadorian historia into the classes, things that had personal relevance to you, like talking about Eugenio Esposo and supe salir up from poverty, or Eloy Alfaro fighting for los derechos de las mujeres. As a feminist, you playfully called me out on a few things, but you just laughed when I told you that many of us here in the U.S. don´t have boyfriends or girlfriends per se, just amigos con beneficios. It´s different for you though, being a virgen, with an older sister who got pregnant and had to marry her boyfriend. But you two, your mom and your sobrina all seem to be getting along ok living together, although there´s not all that much espacia in your casa, and your mom was quick to tell me that you´re her favorite.
I also really enjoyed out daily pausas, where we´d walk and vamos a comer. Being vegan in Ecuador, now that´s difficult, no leche, no queso, no huevos even. But you´ve been doing it for over 3 years now, living, I guess, off pan de integral and choclo, mote and whatever other kinds of corn you can find at the mercado. But you still suggested I try some comida tipica, like yahuarlocro, cow tripe soup garnished with a plate of onions, avocados, and congealed cow´s blood. And Yapingachos, potatoes with sausages, a fried egg, and some salad. Both became favorites which I´ve now had multiple times. I also just had fritada for the first time, for the año nuevo.
On Friday, I asked if we could have lessons on the weekend. You made the siñal universal for "shush", then wrote, in English, that it would better if we did it under the table, so I could pay you directly, instead of the escuela paying you a percentage of the tuition that can reasonably be described as criminal. Saturday we went to the vegan restaurant nearby, and Sunday I rode the Trollebus to El Recreo, the last parada, where you met me to take the other bus out to your barrio. We studied a bit more in your house, I ate some of your mom´s food, you and your sister taught me some malas palabres (I´ve since learned many, many others), we took some fotos, then I was gone, off to Baños the next morning. I took another week of lessons there, with a professora who was good but not tanto chevere como tu. I´m now in Puyo. But I will make sure to keep in touch, and I´ll call when I return to Quito, hopefully we can hang out again.
Adios, con mucho gusto.
Ari
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