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[Globetrotting Teacher]

As you may have known (obviously through my posts here,) I taught in a school (I taught very diverse classes to 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th graders) in Quito, Ecuador from October 29, 2010 (I ended up replacing a gringo who "flew the coop" through June 13, 2011 (I had to leave slightly, slightly early because an old friend of mine was getting married in the States from June 16 - June 18.

Anyways, while I generally loved Ecuador, the school I worked in left a lot to be desired. My salary was good, as were the benefits I got and the students eventually came to love me, but that was only after months of horrendous behavior on their part and an administration that -- being a business -- took their side in almost all cases, seeing them as the sons and daughters of paying clients. (I got my students to love me by letting them -- during the last 10 weeks or so of the school year -- screw around in class.)

Now while I was offered a well-paying job in Albania and will take it if all goes according to schedule, the fact that I was convicted of "failure to appear in court" in late 2004 and forced to pay 300 dollars may end up screwing that situation up, as I'm obligated to get a criminal background check. (This "failure to appear" and the related 300 dollar fine -- all of which go back to a sleazy attempt on the part of the cops back in 2001 to frame me for marijuana that they pulled out of their pocket -- appeared on my background check in October of 2010 when I was planning on going to the Republic of Georgia and resulted in the Georgian authorities opting not to accept me.) In any event, I went to Ecuador and I'm sure that that experience was far more positive than my one in Georgia would have been.

So, I'm looking at Ecuador as a backup now that I can't be certain yet that this Albania deal will work out for me.

I just saw this on this site: The Experiment in International Living (EIL Ecuador) is a non-profit organization established in Ecuador in 1977 to encourage intercultural exchange among persons of different cultures, religions and ages.

We are looking for experienced ESL teachers to work in different cities of Ecuador in High Schools, Universities and Language Institutions since August 15, 2011 and March 12, 2012 for 11 or 12 months.

..................................................................................................

There then follows the contact person's email address, to whom I sent a descriptive email and my CV.

In short, does anybody know anything about this company "EILEcuador" ?

Any information / opinions on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

[naturegirl321]

I've heard very good things about them. Try PMing Justin Trullinger, he might be able to help you with more info.

[just_a_mirage]

I am a teacher in Ecuador, but I also work as a visa facilitaor. Be aware that any long term visa in Ecuador outside of tourist class will also require a police report, and a conviction may result in denial. If you decide to persue the visa I would strongly suggest you work with a lawyer as they may be able to pull some strings

[Globetrotting Teacher]

NatureGirl -- Thank you kindly for the info. I will do as you advised vis-a-vis Senor Trullinger.

To respond to the other comment, I can say what happened in regards to my visa situation when I was working in Quito (which I did from late October 2010 through June 13, 2011.)

I got into Ecuador on a standard 90-day tourist visa and started working the day after my arrival there; while this may well not have been legal, I was just happy to have found a job after having not had one (or any kind of stable, regular one) for the previous 6 months at least in Romania and Moldova.

Eventually, the school that hired me set up a scheme whereby me and the other gringos who worked there were given student visas (a fairly ridiculous Ecuadorean work colleague of ours who owns a language school in Quito said that we were studying Spanish through his center.) The other teacher had to make multiple trips to different government buildings to resolve this situation, while the school's lawyer -- apparently through the smooth-talking and/or connections and palm-greasing that was his forte -- helped me get the student visa during my first trip to the respective government office.

If I go back to Ecuador, I will likely go to the same language school where I went before (not the one that I was supposedly a student at.) I talked to my main teacher (one of the two owners of the place) and she said that if I committed to 120 hours per year, plus shelling out 80 bucks for the visa fee that they could get me a student visa. I presume that I could, in a more-or-less legal manner, work on this basis.

This whole situation is so ridiculous, as the only thing that I have ever been convicted of was "failure to appear" in late 2004, for which my entire punishment was simply that that I had to pay a 300 dollar fine. (This in turn was the final outcome of an attempt by the scumbag Easton Connecticut pigs to frame me for possession of marijuana back in June of 2001.)

Nothing of this ever, ever came up in Ecuador, as I was not obligated to submit to any criminal background check for going there and working there and I see no reason why such a background check would be performed on me just a few months after leaving that country.

Hopefully, this nonsense won't prevent me from getting the well-paying and seemingly very promising and interesting position in Albania for which I already signed a contract (but for which I am obligated to get a state of North Carolina criminal background check performed.)

[just_a_mirage]

I truly hope you can work things out. I'm not sure if you are aware of what has happened with the folks who issue visas in Quito. There has been a massive shake-up allegedly because people were granted visas without meeting requisites. There was a halt in issuing visas while replacements were made, and now as they are getting back to business, I suspect that the regulations will be strictly enforced. I go to the visa offices monthly and check the requisites for the specific visas both resident and non-resident. Currently the student visa, the cultural exchange visa, the volunteer visa, and the 12--IX extended tourist visa all require the police background check. That is why, if you apply, you might want to get a lawyer to help you. If it is a misdemeanor conviction and not. A felony conviction it may not be a major issue

[Globetrotting Teacher]

Thanks "Just A Mirage" for your advice.

I arrived back in the States from Ecuador about 35-36 days ago, but after having read your comments "JAM," I opted to look for my "censo" card not only to see if I still have it (I do,) but also to see what date it was given to me on.

It was granted to me on April 29, 2011 and expired on July 19, 2011. I wonder if the procedures whereby such things were granted has changed in the last 2 months and 20 days; that would seem strange to me but, then again, having lived in various parts of the world, it wouldn't shock me to find out that rules on foreigners getting visas to stay in / study in / work in, say, Ecuador, might change at irregular (and fairly frequent) intervals. In the coming weeks, I'll see how all this plays out ....

As for the one thing that I've ever been convicted of in my life, that was "failure to appear" (in court,) an offense for which my punishment was solely to pay 300 dollars to the court, nothing more, nothing less. The respective offense is a misdemeanor and definitely NOT a felony. Having been convicted of this minor offense in November 2004 (the whole nonsense story -- which I gave some description of in this thread previously -- started back in June 2001,) I'm wondering whether this will ever be expunged from my record. After all, I had to pay a 300 dollar fine 6.7 years ago for not having gone to court. Will this s.hit ever disappear from my record and stop coming back to haunt me / making my life miserable / prevent me from getting jobs, etc ? ? ?

Well, I'm having a state criminal background check performed tomorrow. The state where I'm getting it done is NOT the state where I was convicted of the offense in question ..... I'll pray to the G_d that I don't believe in that somehow this won't keep on screwing me over.

[just_a_mirage]

Hi Globe. A conviction that minor, and a non-violent offense probably won't show up in another state. I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you. . The visa thing in Quito has been going on for the last couple months. People who had applied had their applications frozen with time running out on current visas. It was a real mess. Anyway, best of luck to you. If you should come to Ecuador, and the police record becomes an issue, let me know. I may be able to help you.