Dear Blog

So sorry to have neglected you! Wedding week has been fantastic and crazy busy! A million posts and pictures coming soon :)

Busy Busy

You know I have to be busy when I have in Barbados four days and have not blogged yet!! Usually I have hundreds of annoying posts about my amazing family and this amazing island. But this time I have not stopped yet. Had a fabulous shower on Saturday not the usual kind but brilliant. Since then we have been greeting people and generally having a great time!
Four days left now!!!

They put the most beautiful dress on me, everyone in the restaurant could not take their eyes off it.  We had a really fun night.

Last Day at Acaademia Cotopaxi

Was a nice day, the grade 8's gave the going teachers a surprise party with lots of cakes and small presents.  They are the loveliest group in he school. I will miss many of them.  The best present buy far I got was the small card below.  Manxin, a lovely girl from China, gave it to me.  She is so funny and special and a little hard to describe unless you met her (why I could never write a novel). But these words from her was worth my weight in gold.

Really this is what I love about teaching, sometimes I forget and it lovely to get a reminder.  Okay, now all done with that and I have to run as I have a plane to catch!

Passing the Baton

The end of the school year and well the end of my contract here in Ecuador means it is as also time to pass my third wine club on to another lovely lady.  Last night I passed the baton to Jocelyn, who will annoyingly do a better job than me..  I hosted the last wine club of the school year and made it a bubbles night.  It was a great way to end my two years in this wine club and with these ladies, although I must admit it did not help much with the last day of school today!

 The two upcoming brides

 Jocelyn at the front of the picture she will ado a great job.  I will miss all of them terribly next year, but know it is not good bye just will see them again, hopefully in Thailand!

Winding up at Another School

I think finishing up at a school is a pretty emotional time, well more than all the other jobs I have had and probably even more so as an International teacher. You are saying good bye to kids, some whom you have become very fond of, teachers who are also your social network (which I did not find an UK), and a country you have called home for at least a couple of years.  This move is even more crazy as I have so much to do with a wedding in 11 days and a move to Thailand that I have no emotions to give right now.  But I do know, it will hit me, maybe when I am on the plane to Barbados, maybe when I am on the plane to Thailand but it will.  Luckily, I still have a week or so here in Quito after the wedding, before Phuket, but it will be different, pretty empty for me then.

I have a couple more days at the school, it is crazy busy with graduations and getting all the grades in and cleaning up (this is the worst for me).  But I am enjoying the lovely warm evenings and trying to soak up loads of our beautiful view, as I am not sure I will ever match it again.

Team Amanda

I love team hats! Since coming here every weekend adventure we have I insist on some sort of team item, hats, shirts, sunglasses.. BUT by far my favourite is team hats!  Just this week I was thinking how I could somehow get team hats for the wedding.  AND then my lovely friends organised a dinner to celebrate my upcoming wedding and guess what everyone had a TEAM AMANDA hat on!! I was really so ridiculously excited.  It was a lovely dinner at my favourite restaurant.  I am so lucky to have so many wonderful friends all around the world.  I cannot believe it is less than two weeks away now!!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!

We will add on a 'and Luis' now that my dinner is over and bring them to the wedding!

Last Full Faculty Happy Hour and Car

One thing I have loved about our school is the Friday happy hours, there are probably four or five a year and they are really great way to bring the staff together. I also think it is to show your appreciation of your staff, nothing says it more then food and drink!  This one was extra special as it was to honour those of us leaving.  Everyone had some one give a two minute speech about them.  Jodi did mine, and it was beyond fantastic.  She did it all with different Madonna songs!  How fabulous is that!!  
I did one for her and Jessica, I thought they were kind of funny but not nearly as great as Jodi's, Madonna songs is genius!

It was a lovely event.  Altogether it was a great day, as I also sold my car for more than I thought I ever would for!  So people will actually get some food at the wedding!

A Little Wedding Advice..

If you are ever in the position that you think it would be easy to hold a good size wedding in a different country to one that you are living, then you are taking on a trying task.  If you do decide you can manage it and then decide to organise a week of events, then you are a little crazy.  If you think that you can do both those things while trying to move from a foreign country a week before said wedding you are crazy AND if you try to do all that while trying to move across the world four weeks after said wedding you should be COMMITTED!
I have never been so stressed out EVER, I think I have slept five minutes in a week and written 12 000 lists since June 1st.  
But we will get there and it will be worth it and everyone WILL have a good time (or at least lie to me about it) and we will make it to Thailand (even if it is a painful expensive journey).  
Okay, that is my rant, I got this, back to write another email and alter another list..

Animal Print Bachelorette Party

I am not the only member of our Cotopaxi clan to be getting married this summer.  Shannon Sacher, the most stylish women I have ever met is also tying the knot in Ecuador over the summer.  Last night her bestie here organised a fantastic party in a small Spa twenty minutes outside of Quito.  What a beautiful spot it is!  We definitely should have found it earlier.  We had the whole place to ourselves for the night and had a fantastic evening.  The theme was animal print, Shannon's favourite, and I think we pulled it off well.

Not much longer with these lovely ladies.  I am so glad that Luis and myself are going to Phuket, as I think we can definitely entice some of them to come visit us there.

Wisconsin Pub

Last night Vanessa turned her flat into a Wisconsin pub for her birthday party. We did her pub proud, it definitely was a great evening.

 Tray, the other grade 6 teacher.  He is a star, definitely keeps everyone laughing.

 These ladies are properly crazy and I love them for it.

 I will miss this man terribly, one of the best around.

She had different drink and food stations, and I obviously had to try everything. She did a great job, in fact I was a bit jealous, as she out did any of my parties!