Jill Davis, who taught Spanish at Elmwood High School for eight years, has packed up and moved to Ecuador.
FINDLAY – Jill Davis has said adios to Ohio and has moved to Ecuador.
The Elmwood High School Spanish teacher has packed up her classroom and is ready for retirement.
Davis and her husband, who is a native Ecuadorian, moved in early August to be closer to his family.
Her husband has been away from his family for more than two decades, and visits are just not the same especially with his 70 first cousins, Davis said.
They both lost parents within the last two years and realized they couldn’t keep saying “maybe next year” they would move.
Davis taught Spanish for 27 years, the last eight at Elmwood.
The 1984 Greenville High School graduate got her international studies degree from Miami University.
As part of her studies, Davis had to concentrate on an area of the world, and she chose Latin America.
Then she joined the Peace Corps.
“I wanted to go experience Latin America and do some good in the world,” Davis said.
She was sent to Ecuador, where she taught dental health to little kids.
“I would look and see if they had any cavities then I would mark an X and send them to a free dentist,” Davis said.
After her two-year Peace Corps commitment was up, she stayed for two more years and taught English at a private high school.
It was in Ecuador where she met her husband, Javier Navas.
They have been married for 31 years and speak Spanish at home every day.
They thought they could be flexible and go back and forth between Ohio and Ecuador every few years.
That’s not what happened, though, Davis said. When they had children they decided to stay in Ohio for stability and wait until their youngest graduated from college.
Both of her parents were teachers and after enjoying her own experiences in the classroom, she returned to the Ohio and earned a teaching degree from Miami University with certifications in Spanish and social studies.
Davis took Spanish in high school and college.
“But you’re not fluent until you go live in a country.”
Their children, who also speak Spanish, live in Columbus.
“They were my students in Greenville, so they had to learn,” Davis said.
When her husband got a job offer in Findlay, she started teaching at Elmwood.
“In teaching Spanish, I’ve had the luxury of taking trips overseas, so since 2001 I’ve been taking students to Europe every other year. And all three of my kids have been on those trips.”
Two of those trips were to Spain with her students at Elmwood.
Davis said she was only taking clothes and kitchen appliances with her, via a boat from New Jersey.
While Ecuador is a third world country,the bigger cities have all the conveniences from the United States. The city they live in, called Caluma, is smaller than Findlay, but has a grocery store just across the street from their home.
“We’re both ready to be done being on the wheel turning, turning, turning. We’re ready to go down and relax and enjoy all the work we’ve put in,” Davis said.
She will miss the kids and the camaraderie with the other teachers.
Davis said she might do private English lessons, but the focus will be working on the house and then traveling. Machu Pichu is on the to-do list, as is a boat ride to Antarctica.
