I have never replied to any of these boards until now. I want to express my experience with Canadian House in Loja, Ecuador. I had just left a teaching position in China, my first contact with Gloria was very professional and there was nothing that raised a red flag. I am the first to admit that if I had done more research I would not have taken that position. Having just returned from China I wanted to spend some time with my family.... Gloria was insistent that she needed me as soon as I could get there.....I did ask her about living arrangements and she assured me that was not a problem, the school had rented several apartments and the fee was minimal.

Upon arrival to Loja after a ten hour bus ride, I arrived and was not meet by anyone.... Gloria was out of town and the other contact I had told me to take a cab to the school the next day. He had family visiting and was also out of town at that time. After spending the night at a hotel, I took a cab to the school. Upon arrival I meet with the owners, Diego and Michelle. My luggage was lost and I did not know how long it would take to locate. Diego drove me to the supermarket to buy some personal items and then took me to the other school downtown. I had no clue what kind of town Loja was and if it was safe or not.(it is relatively safe but I did not know that) They left my bag of items I had bought and drew me a rough map on how to get back to my apartment.... it took me over two hours to find my way in a strange town.(in the dark) I also had to find bedding before i got back as they supplied nothing. The apartment was furnished only with a bed.. the mattress was a box spring, not a regular mattress. No curtains, no dresser, no closet, no shelves, the bathroom did not even have a plunger and the toilet would not flush.

No one showed me around the school, no one gave me a buddy(as they state on their website) to help me get around in a new place... I was left on my own and except for the other teachers who were very kind I would have been lost.

I have years of experience and a degree, I was appalled at the way these people treated professionals.... steer clear of this place.....almost all the teachers were working on illegal visas, not by choice but because this school will not spend a dime on doing things right. They treat the teachers as indentured servants and charge for everything! When I questioned why I had to pay for a taxi to the school I would have been teaching at in the mornings, they said they would give me an extra 5 dollars a month, just the cab fare one way was a dollar, for one week it would have been ten dollars, so a month would have been forty dollars..... they really wanted me to pay them for working for them.... after taking out for the dismal apartment which had no furnishings, nothing.... they also wanted to take out for a deposit..... also they tried to get me on the cell phone plan which they happened to own, and yes, that would be taken out of my check too! I would be lucky to clear 200.00 dollars a month. Ecuador is not that cheap either.... food is and so is some housing compared to the US but at that rate of pay you would not make enough to do anything but live pay check to pay check. I found the owners to be very cold, unfriendly and uncaring..... they are in it to make money, which by the way there is nothing wrong with that(making money)
but most people realize that the people who work for you are your most valuable resource and treat them with respect. I guess I am lucky to have lived my whole life and never had such a horrible experience... my ESL teaching days are over..... I will never get myself in a situation such as that again....

The owners were very two faced with each other and openly argued with each other in front of the teachers and other employees.... they also talked about other teachers making very insulting comments, these people had absolutely no respect for the people working for them. Please proceed with caution.... these people need to be shut down.....By the way.... according to their book, Michelle was working as a professor of English when she decided to open the school... I am pretty sure she just has a BS, so I am wondering if you can work as a Professor in Ecuador with just a Bachelor degree or if she maybe embellished that a bit.......