Querida cuidad de Loja,
I'd like to apologise for some of the writings in this blog which may have portrayed you in a less-than-positive light. I may have complained about the somewhat rude people who walk side by side on a pavement that is only two people wide, the uninspiring centre with nothing to do, or the fact that the surrounding hills made me feel like I was trapped in a natural prison of my own choosing.
Now I'm not going to take any of that back because I definitely meant it at the time. However after coming back to Loja as my carnival recuperation centre (March 4th to 8th) I realised that all you need is a little love. A lick of paint on those old peeling colonial buildings. A new bar or theatre or library or anything to cheer the place up a bit. To stop you guys from living on past glories so much.
I actually enjoyed my return there a lot. I enjoyed my morning morocho in the market, I enjoyed a steaming hot empanada in the Parque Bolívar and I even enjoyed taking over my friend Oliver's classes when he was taken ill post-carnival. I especially enjoyed staying in the rent-free teacher's house with all the young, interesting and energetic new teachers that I never had the chance of working with. I'd have overlooked a lot of things if I'd had that.
Coming back I realised that I'd become fond, even proud, of your little idiosyncrasies: the way that people use usted even with their parents, the way the majority of shops are barred to the outside even when open and that haircut (short back and sides, gelled up to a very stiff quiff at the top and a little ponytail at the back) that every male under 30 has.
Obviously I wasn't the person to inject a fresh energy into you people's daily lives, but someone will be, and I'm sure that future English teachers will have an awesome time because of it.
Con cariño,
Rowan
No comments:
Post a Comment