It'll be weird...

**CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Dear John Soundtrack by Deborah Luire**

...to throw toilet paper in the toilet.
...to be able to talk to the general public in english.
...to not be able to talk about people standing right next to me and not have to worry about them overhearing.
...to not dread having to take a shower cause the water will give me hypothermia.
...to be able to drive.
...to not have to take the bus to school.
...to be able to text anyone I want, when I want.
...to not get whistled at by random men.
...to not get honked at when walking down the road.
...to not get lunch money/security money every month from Daniel and Martha.
...to get a paycheck. (!!!)
...to be home.

=]
Another rainy day in Quito. Ecuador was nice enough to make the last few days of my stay nice and dreary. =\ But I've been too excited to be bummed about the weather. Like my host mom said tonight at dinner, in reference to the past couple days being so cold, ''pero, en su pais, hay nieve'' --> ''But, in your country, there's snow''. Exactly. I'm ready to take on the snow, though. =] I've got my sweater that I haven't worn yet and brought specifically for this day and I have my hat, gloves and scarf ready for me to take home.

My bags have been packed, minus the essencials, for the past couple days. I had nothing else to do, so I packed. =] My room seems so empty now, and it'll be weird to leave and not see this family every evening, but I'm ready. The time has come and I'm ready. =]

One of my friends, Haley, had to go home early due to family troubles. She left a few weeks ago, but this afternoon when I was talking to her, she told me, ''you'll pee your pants when you get to cleveland and you'll cry when you see your family.'' Now, I was prepared to cry, but I dunno about peeing my pants. =\ I keep thinking about getting to the Cleveland airport and not being able to contain my excitement. I'll just be giddy, walking to the baggage claim.

So, let this be my last post while in Ecuador. =]
I think I might change the name of the blog and keep it going. I like blogging about things and, who knows, maybe it'll be good place to vent after a long day, or something. ;) I can't wait to see everyone and give my family all of their presents! =]
Chao until SUNDAY!


World Traveler

You can count the days on your hands...

**CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Family Tree by Dave Barnes**

10 days. That's it. But it seems like I wont make it through this week...even though there are only two more days left in it. I have a whole lot of stuff to do before I can call this semester complete.

First of all, tomorrow is the oral exam for my Quichua class. Nikki and I are doing a ''spontaneous'' dialogue. We broke the rules, cause we pre-wrote it, but what Jaime doesn't know wont hurt him. I'm not too worried about it because I've done really well on every thing else in that class and I understand the language pretty well so the dialogue should go pretty well. Also, tomorrow night is our final dinner with all the BCA people. We are leaving from the University at 4, so Nikki and I will have a few hours of nothing inbetween our exam and leaving for the dinner. This is going to be the time where I attempt to study for the two exams I have on Friday.

I have my Art History ''final'' (more just like a regular test but still equally as difficult) at 10 am and I wont have much time time to study for it after the dinner, unless I study on the bus, because we'll be getting back to Quito pretty late. Also, on Friday, I have my Advanced Spanish Grammer final. I'm nervous about this one. I'm horrible at grammer and I fear that I haven't learned near enough to do well on the final not to mention that I will be focusing on studying for Art History tomorrow, so I wont have studied much for it, either. =\

Then it's the weekend, which would normally bring joy to a college student, but not during finals week. I, unfortunatetly, get to write a 5 page paper about Latin American history. Joy. Saturday, my host mom and a few other host moms have put together a little lunch for us (complete with turkey, because we missed out on it for Thanksgiving), so I'll have a break then, but I want to pump out this paper as soon as possible, even though it's not due until Wednesday, but also, on Wednesday, we have our final for Latin American History. =\ So I get to study for that one too. Wonderful.

Another thing I get to worry about, is retaking the Spanish exam that we took even before we came to Ecuador to measure our level of spanish. We have to take it again to see how much our spanish has improved while here. Unfortunately, I don't think I have improved as much as I would have liked. So, even though I doubt the exam has anything to do with grades or anything, I'm stressing about doing well on that as well. =\

Once I reach Wednesday afternoon, I'll be happy. I can relax and pack and get ready to go home. =] I'm ready to see everyone, but I for sure am not ready for all the snow. The weather here has been so nice and I've become acustomed to having nice weather in December. =]

The other day, I was reading through all my previous blog entries, and it makes me realized how much of a wonderful experience I have had here, in Eucador. I have experienced so many new things and have crossed so many things off the proverbial ''Bucket List'' in the back of my mind. Just looking at the length of my ''Firsts'' list makes me smile.

One of my first posts was about being stressed about what clothes to bring. I remember how I felt then and thinking back on it now makes me realize how rediculous I was being. I was stressing about what clothes to bring and not having the right sized luggage, and losing my razor...all things that could be fixed fairly easily. It makes me smile.

I know I have changed while I've been here, and I think it's for the better. I've grown in so many ways and I know that I will never forget the things I've experienced or the friends that I've made here.


World Traveler

Final Project

It seems wierd that those two words are even crossing my mind right now. We're just about 18 full days away from the flight home. CRAZY!! Like, that doesn't even seem plausible to me...

Well it's true, and I do, in fact have to do my final project...except that I already did. That's right. I'm so on top of things, that I finished my final project like three weeks early. SCORE! If you're wondering what my project is, let me tell you.

For my pre-semester class we have to do a reflective final project about our time here in Ecucador. But, seeing as it is reflective, we have to complete it after we have spent our semester here and we will present them to our director and fellow BCAers during finals week. For my project, I decided to focus on the presence of God in Ecuador, or what I've felt or seen of Him while I was here. I made a video (below) filled with pictures that I or my friends have taken of the beautiful country of Ecuador. I also used my friend Haley's Mac to record myself singing and playing the guitar to the song ''Indescribable'' by Chris Tomlin. I also wrote a paper sort of explaining myself. =] So, I hope you all enjoy and tell me what you think!

Indescribable

When I first chose to come to Ecuador, I didn't think I was going to miss home as much as I do. I remember finalizing my trip and thinking that it would be a long time before I even left for Ecuador. I would tell people where I was going and that I would be there for five months. They would gasp and tell me just ''how long'' that really was. I shook it off and laughed and said I would be fine. What is five months anyway? A semester of school. A decent relationship. A pretty long time to be away from family and friends.

For about the first 3 and half months I was fine with being away from home. I skyped with my parents every few weeks and I missed them, but it wasn't unbearable. I went to school and hung out with friends and just enjoyed experiencing and being in another country. I think once the end of the semester started getting closer and closer, I realized how much I really did miss home.

I broke down a few times, but only one thing got me through it all, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If at home, I would have reached for my guitar and sat in my room for a few hours and just played. But, I wasn't. So, I would just put on a play-list full of worship music and listen. I would let the words sink in and I would blog. I'd blog about how I felt, how I've changed, and how much of a blessing it is to have a God who loves me so, incredibly much.

I wanted my final project to be meaningful and not just something that I had to do because it was assigned to me. I started thinking about things that I could do. I could write something, like, a poem, or a story, but that didn't seem good enough. I'd already made one video/slide-show of my experiences here, I could make another one. I thought about making a video reflecting on the things I did while I was here, and I decided on that, but it still didn't seem like the right thing. Then, when I went to talk to Daniel about my final project, I laid out my ideas, still feeling a little unsure about the whole thing. Then he said it, ''how you see God [in Ecuador].'' and that was it. That was my final project. I could not have made it here without Him and I could not have made it all the way through without Him. He was there every step of the way and He was the one who helped me the most when I was at my worst.

I've always loved photography because it enables me to capture a fraction of the beauty that is creation. I love pictures of nature because it enables me to capture a fraction of the beauty that is God. This is why I decided to make my final project video solely with pictures of the beautiful sights of Ecuador. I have so many other pictures that equally depict how great of a time I have had while I've been here, but that's not really what I want to show. I want to show how wonderful my God is, and how faithful He is even when you're halfway across the world.

“From the highest of heights, to the depths of the seas. Indescribable, uncontainable, you placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name. You are amazing, God. All powerful, untamable, awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim, you are amazing, God. You are amazing, God.''

World Traveler

Firsts

**Currently Listening to: old Atwood CDs. =]**



When I went to type the title of this post, I wrote ''Fists'' about 4 times, and I wanted to assure everyone that this post was, in fact, about ''Firsts'', not ''Fists''.



Now that we're clear on that...

I just got back from the lovely Galápagos islands. They were WONDERFUl and I didn't want to leave. Obviously. Before I left, lots of people were telling me that I was not going to want to leave. I disreguarded this because I was like, ''I've been to the beach loads of times. I'm sure I'll love it, but I'm sure I'll be able to leave.'' False. As soon as we got to our hostal on Isla Isabella, I was hooked. Nikki, Meghan and I were walking on the beach and I was already in love. I wasn't expecting it, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was just so nice. The town is not real touristy at all and I think that's what I loved about it. There were little shops, restaurants, and panaderias lining the main road and lots of beautiful views.



BUT

I don't think i'm going to write about all that we did right now because it would probably take me the entire day to write.



My purpose of this post is to make a list of ''Firsts'' that I've had since I arrived in Ecuador and to reflect on how thankful I am that I've experienced these things. It seems appropriate it being November and all.... =]

So, here it goes:



-first time being in South America

-first time being in Ecuador

-first time having to take a bus to and from school every day (25 cents each way)

-first time feeding a llama

-first time seeing pyramids (even if they were covered in grass)

-first time bartering in an artisan market

-first time swimming in a waterfall

-first time taking classes in a foreign country

-first time taking ALL my classes in Spanish

-first time learning a 3rd language in my 2nd language

-first time living with a family that is not my own

-first time taking a 12 hour bus ride to the beach for just about $12

-first time being a vegetarian for a week

-first time riding a horse

-first time seeing monkeys in the wild

-first time being in the Amazon

-first time using an tampon without an applicator

-first time jumping off a bridge for fun

-first time witnessing a ''milk soccer'' game

-first time getting a 95% on a paper written entirely in Spanish

-first time experiencing a "Pirate" themed week at a University complete with treasure hunt, a pirate ship and a zip line across the lagoon

-first time being in the Galápagos

-first time in the southern hemisphere

-first time walking through lava-made tunnels

-first time witnessing a crab eat an iguana

-first time snorkling

-first time seeing adult sea turtles and sea lions in the wild

-first time swimming with sea turtles and sea lions

-first time climbing a volcano

-first time seeing blue footed boobies (yes, you read that right) and ''magnificent'' friggets

-first time seeing ''Solitario Jorge''. George, the last turtle of his kind.

-first time trying shrimp...and it wasn't half bad. =]

-first time getting (slightly) burnt on the equator



and I still have a whole month and a half to experience more things!

.....that's crazy. I only have a month and a half left in Ecuador. I've already been here for almost 4 months. The time has gone soo fast.


I will have to add on more to this list as my time here comes to an end. I already know of some things that I will be doing for the first time, so be prepared! =]



**See pictures on Facebook for more of my experiences in the Galápagos. It would take up WAY too much room on here to try and describe all that we did. Here's a little taste of the beauty that is Galápagos....

Baños: More than just bathrooms

**Currently listening to: my Christmas music playlist ** =]

We actually made it to Baños! It was a REALLY last minute decision, but Nikki, Meghan and I ended up going. Sasha was signed up to run in a 10k saturday night, so she didn't join us. Here's what happened Friday:

During our history class, Meghan was talking about how her and Sasha wanted to go to Baños this weekend...already a very last minute decision. Well, after class I went to Nikki's house and we ate some Kraft Mac & Cheese (YUM!!!) and waited to hear back from Meghan and Sasha who were looking up all the stuff in Baños. I walked home around 530 or so and we still had not heard from them. It got later and later and I still hadn't heard anything, so I assumed that we weren't going. Then Sasha told me that she didn't know if she could go because she had a 10k to run Saturday night, but she might skip it. This was at, like, 9 pm and I was getting a little annoyed cuz decisions weren't being made so I told myself that I wasn't going. I could save my money and do something else this weekend. So, I told my host mom that we weren't going anymore and that was that. Around 12 I went to bed. I was almost asleep and my phone goes off...a text message, from Meghan. ''Hey Sasha is not going to Baños but Nikki and I still want to go. you in?'' I don't have money to send texts, so I got back online and agreed to go with Nikki and Meghan to Baños.

So, at 630 am, I woke up, took a shower, and packed to leave at 8. We took a taxi to the bus station in South Quito and then took a bus 3 hours to Baños. First, we needed to find a hostal. We found a little doorway on one of the main streets and so we went in and the place was pretty much empty, so we got a room. It was $8 a person for the night. We each had our own bed, plus an extra one we didn't need, a private bathroom with hot water, and a pretty sweet view. We got there around lunch time, so we we to a ''Restaruant'' (literally what it was called) for lunch. I had arroz con pollo (chicken and rice) and we were entertained by fake wrestling on tv. It was wonderful. haha and VERY fake. =]

After we were full, we knew that we wanted to do puenting, so we went to look for a place and check out the prices. We found one and looked at the prices, which were what we had heard, $10-$15-or $25 depending on the height of the jump, but we wanted to see what other places offered. Right across the street was another place that had the same prices, so we ended up just going with that place. Here's how it went down: (disclaimer: this is a very ROUGH translation from how the actual spanish conversation happened)

We were like, "Hey, we wanna jump off a bridge. How much is it?"
"$10 for the lower jump and $15 for the higher one."
Meghan and I look at each other... "$15?" "ok""
We wanna do the $15 one."...
"Alright, let's go''and we legitimately walked to the bridge right then. like, it was 3 minutes away. We walked there, put on the stuff and they're like, alright let's jump! It was so accessable; I was expecting it to take longer to do. AND we didn't have to pay until AFTER we jumped. But, it was super windy (as you can see and hear in the video that I posted on facebook) so once Meghan and I got onto the platforms we were sitting on the edge of the bridge looking at eachother like, ''Why are we doing this?!'' The guys behind kept telling us to ''Stand up!'' and they probably had to tell us more than 10 times until we actually did. Then my guy told me, in spanish, to put my arms out (like an airplane) but it was so windy and I wasn't really thinking in spanish cuz I was so scared that I didn't understand him and automatically assumed that he was telling me something really important and I MISSIED it!! So, I screamed ''WHAT?'' and, in english, he goes, ''Like this!'' and puts his arms out. And then the started counting....there was no backing out after they started counting. I looked down and immediately had to look up and focus on the horizon cuz if I didn't, I wouldn't have done it. When the guy said ''TRES!!'', I screamed and dove off of the platform. I think I closed my eyes until I felt the rope catch cuz I don't really remember seeing anything, haha. But, as Meghan and I were swinging back and forth for about two minutes, every time we made eye contact our eyes were wide and our mouths were open in that HOW-AWESOME-WAS-THAT?! kind of way. Then we were lowered down to the ground and walked back up the bridge. It was so awesome and I'm sooo glad I did it. I'd have to pay like $100 and watch a stupid video if I did this in the states. I like the Ecuadorian way better. =]

After all that adrenaline, we found another little touristy place and went on a ''tour'' to El Paillon del Diablo, a really sweet waterfall (pictures on facebook). It was quite a hike on the way back and I got really light headed and I took extra long to get back up that hill...but I made it. =]

Once we got back, we pretty much just walked around the town. There were a lot of interesting sights. Besides all of the little shops and restaurants, we saw probably 4 different parades of people complete with a band leading the way and little cheerleader-type girls dancing to JLo and Enrique Iglesias. <--This part kind of reminded me of the constitution day parade with the little twirlers and their tiny batons. =] There were also a very large crowd of people carrying flowers and a couple of men carrying a shrine-type thing with a woman in it on their shoulders. In one of the parades, the shrine was a legit float and had little girls dressed up as angels sitting on it. It was quite an interesting thing to witness.

We also saw a very interesting game of soccer. We found the game because we heard a band playing and we saw a crowd of people and a bunch of streamers, so we decided to crash the party. Everyone was watching this game of soccer that a bunch of men were playing in the streets. They were all wearing rain boots and they were playing with a really small ball, more like a kids play soccer ball than an actual soccer ball. But then we saw the interesting part...all of their boots were filled with something. It was white liquid so we called it milk. I doubt that it actually was, cuz that would be a waste of milk, but every single one of them had this liquid in their boots, and when they would fall or splash too much of it out, some guy would come rushing over with a little bucket, and refill their boots! It was hilarious. The weight of the liquid made it harder to run and harder to kick the ball. I decided that I'm bringing this version of the sport back to the states with me. =]

For the rest of the night we walked around and looked in the shops. We found an artisan's market place and it made me really want to get my souveniers but I'm saving my money for when we go back to Otovalo. Just walking through it made me excited. =] Then we got some dinner, Meghan had Choclo (a potato soup) and Nikki and I shared Llapingachos (a fried potato cake with cheese in it...i.e. my FAVORITE ecuadorian dish ever! ). Then we headed back to our hostal and pretty much just chilled in the room for a while. We channel surfed for a while and we kept hearing this really loud banging outside. We'd been hearing it all day but didn't know what it was until we looked out our windows...they were setting off fireworks! And they were going off right by this church that had really tall towers like a castle and was lit up by blue lights, so we were pretty much a disney world, watching fireworks behind Cinderella's castle. =] It was sweet.

We were bums and went to bed kind of early, but jumping off a bridge takes a lot out of you, and we were all exhausted. Sunday morning, we got up around 10 and packed our stuff up, payed and found a little bread shop and got some breakfast. Pinnapple juice and a cheese sandwich. =] We walked around a little more, but I had pretty much run out of money so we bought our tickets for the bus home and then left around 12.

Even though the trip wasn't long and we didn't do a WHOLE lot, it was still really fun. =] I'm glad we went and I'm SUPER glad I jumped off that bridge. =] It was really neat to see all the festivities of what seemed to be a local celebration. I'm glad we experienced what we did and I'm glad I didn't blow off the trip like I had planned. =] haha

My life is pretty boring for the next few days...until Friday that is. =] Friday morning we leave for the Galapagos!!! I'm so freaking excited!
I'll for sure have some things to write about when I get back.
Until then!


World Traveler

Viaje a Yanamaru

**Currently listening to: When I'm With You by JJ Heller**

Trip to Yanamaru (the Amazon)

So it's been a long while since I last blogged...so I think it's about time I do so.
It's been over three months now and we're on the home stretch! =] Just under two months til I'm on a plane home and just under a week til I'm on a plane to the Galapagos! Be jealous. =]

So, last weekend I went a trip to the Amazon with an Amazonian Culture class that I'm not even in. I know a guy in the class, Hempe, and he invited a friend, Nanki, and Nanki invited Haley and I to come.

We left from the University around 9am Friday morning and had about a 4 hour drive or so to our first stop, a zoo. Well, it wasn't exaclty a zoo, it was more like a rescue place for animals, but it was still pretty cool. It was raining when we got there, but we walked around anyway. They had a lot of monkeys, birds, long-haired pigs, leopard-like cats and dogs. =] We pretty much just walked around the place with a guide for a while and then left. We weren't there very long.

Then we left and headed to our next stop, Spa en las Cavernas de la Casa del Arbol (roughly: Spa in the caves and the tree house). First, we got to see the tree house. It's built in a 300 year old tree and is probably 10, or so, stories high. We had to climb up all the flights of stairs and then we could look out at the surrounding land. Considering it was still raining, there wasn't much to see, but it was still really cool. Then we walked around the grounds and saw their snakes and fish and then we got to go eat some fish of our own. Well, everyone else did. I gave my fish up and just ate my rice and beans. =] I mean, I'm already not a fish person and then they give me a plate with a fish on it...looking like a fish with a little batter on it...not very appetizing. Once we were all finished, I borrowed rubber boots from the owner and then we went on a hike. Mind you, it's around 5 pm by now and the sun is getting ready to set.

So, we take our hike and the sun is going down and we finally reach our destination. We hiking all the way here, through mud and rain, so we could swing on a rope swing. Joy. I didn't even end up doing it because all the girls had to use a harness to swing across while the boys could just run and jump, but almost everyone who tried using the harness hurt themselves in some way, so I decided not to intentionally hurt myself. By this time, everyone is applying loads of bug spray because the sun has now set and the bugs are hungry...and we still have to walk all the way back. =\ So, we start walking...in the pitch black...with only a few flash lights to even see where we are going. The ground is completely mud from all of the day's rain and probably about 75% of the time I didn't have a flashlight shinning at my feet so I was just taking a chance by even taking a step. I just followed the light shirt in front of me all the way back to the Spa en las Cavernas. We had to climb over and under fallen trees and my only pair of jeans were significanly dirty and wet by the time we got back. AND I'm pretty sure my boots had a hole in them.

When we got back to where we started the hike, Las Cavernas, our guide lined us up in a single file line in front of one of the entrances to the caves. He told us to put our hands on the shoulders of the person in front of us because it was going to be dark inside the caves. Uh-oh. =\ Well when we were all inside and blind he told us "Cerrar sus ojos, sus bocas y sus piernas''--> Close your eyes, your mouths and your legs, and then continued to tell multiple other sex jokes throughout our journey... haha. We walked around these caves for seriously about a half hour and, after that night trek through the woods, I was soo tired. We pretty much just found 3 or 4 different spas and took group pictures and then got out of there.

Right outside of the caves, is a decent sized, inground swimming pool and our guide says, ''So, do you guys want to go swimming?'' So, we did, and it felt AMAZING. Getting all that sweat and dirt off of me felt great.

After swimming for about an hour we finally left and headed to the place where we would actually be staying for the weekend. We all moved in our gear to our rooms and then gathered around the fire for dinner, chicken soup and Yuka (a root). And by that, I mean CHICKEN soup; heavy on the chicken. I legit had the entire rib cage of a chicken just chillin' in my bowl. Needless to say, I and the broth and gave my ribs to one of the guys to eat. Gross. Then we got the lowdown on what we would do the next day. Our ''leader'', Jesús, tells us that we're going to wake up at 5am so we can tell each other our dreams and then we're going to drink this hallucinaginic tea to make us throw up and ''clense our bodies''. Wide eyed Haley and I went strait to bed (around 1030) so we could be able to get some sleep and actually have a dream to tell the group the next morning.

Well we didn't sleep much, cuz Nanki was snoring the whole night and Hempe turned his music on around 5 am reeeally loud and was talking with no consideration of those of us who were still sleeping. Yes, we were supposed to be getting up, but they let us sleep in cuz we were tired, and we didn't have to drink the tea and throw up, thank God. We had a corn and veggie mush for breakfast and then I borrowed some more boots so we could go on another hike. After the last one, I was a little skeptical, but I went.

We hiked to a little indigenous community, and the only reason we went was so that the boys from our group could play the boys from the community in soccer. Joy, another useless hike in rubber boots. BUT on the way there we had to cross 4 rivers. We got to cross two of those in a little canoe, but the other two we had to walk across and the height of the water in the river was taller than the height of my boots. So, needless to say, my boots filled with water. Luckly, on the way there, the rivers we walked through were last so we didnt have to walk far in nasty, water-logged boots and we could take them off and let them dry out while the boys were playing soccer. BUT on the way back, we had to walk through those rivers first. So, the rest of the walk back to the villiage was in the nasty, water-logged boots. Yum. My feet were so sore after that hike.

On our way back we took a side trip through some woods to find some ''heart of palm'' so we could make that hallucinaginic tea. We got back to the ''house'' and Haley, Nicole (one of the gringa students) and I all took a shower in our bathing suits together to get the river water and sweat off of ourselves. We had fish again for lunch. Fish that looked like fish, but without the batter this time, but luckly there was an extra chicken just for me. =] Jesús showed us how to make the tea and some people tried it, not including me, but nothing happened to them. Then we had some kind of beef and rice for dinner.To finish off the night, the residents did a few traditional dances for us and then I went to bed and slept much better because I couldn't hear Nanki snoring at all. =]

The next morning we were supposed to get up real early again and tell our dreams and drink that tea, but, yet again, we slept in. =] We had Spaghetti and rice for breakfast and then packed up our stuff and headed home.

All in all it was a good trip and I'm glad I went. It was neat to see an indigenous community and how the live and eat. =]

Tomorrow morning Nikki, Meghan, Sasha and I are hoping to make it to Baños, and no, that's not the bathroom. ;) It's a really touristy town with lots of little fun stuff to do. We're still getting the little details finalized, but we should be going. haha. =]
Hopefully I wont wait a week to write about it. =]

Buenas Noches


World Traveler

Homesickness

**CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: It Is Well With My Soul covered by Chris Rice**

What other words or phrases come to mind when you hear the term: Homesickness?

Well, you're certainly NOT at home.
Tears being shed.
Feeling alone.
Being in a place where you should be having the time of your life, but you're not.
Selfishness...

How can I feel homesick?! I'm in ECUADOR! I can already hear the comments; "You have the right to be homesick, you've been gone for a long time," "It's okay! You're halfway done!" yeah, yeah...

I'm in this wonderful place and I was brought here for a reason. I never really thought about homesickness being an open door for the devil to walk right into, but it really seems that he's taken full advantage of that open door and is stomping around making himself at home. Making me do things and think things that I would have never even crossed my mind before.

Who am I?

"When I'm weak, You make me strong. When I'm blind, You shine Your light on me. cuz I'll never get by livin' on my own ability." -In Me by Casting Crowns
This song just came up on shuffle...funny how things work out, isn't it?

I don't want anyone to think that I regret coming here or that I am having a terrible time. I don't and I'm not. Ecaudor is beautiful and I am learning so much here. I have so many fond memories already and have made some great friends. It's just these times alone with myself that make me homesick.

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I have this blog saved to my favorites and I read it every so often because it's funny, but a lot of the time, it's also VERY insightfull. Today's post was about ''Letting go of the barns.'' that we hide in when we feel ''attcked'' or not good enough and the horses that reside there, appropriately named things such as, ''Affirmation'', ''Approval'' or ''Acheivement''. We ride these horses to get through it all; through the doubts, the harsh words or that all powering voice in the back of your mind telling your that you will NEVER be good enough.

I don't know about you, but I feel like I've been riding horses for a really long time now, especially here, in Ecuador. Looking for approval from others so that I know that I'm doing the right thing.

but Jon Acuff says, ''I am tired of riding horses.'' And so am I.

''It’s time to burn some barns.
It’s time to throw the lit match of grace into the dirty hay and false hope of the barns we’ve built for years.
It’s time to watch God blow up and consume the things we thought would save us, but never really could.
Give up the horses.''

Getting off my horse and hoping that it will last for at least a while. I wanna be ME again. I wanna show people who Chelsea is, not live through who I think they want me to be.

So, let me introduce myself...
My name is Chelsea Taylor Swanson and I am a Christian.
I am 20 years old and am currently studying abroad in Quito, Ecuador. I speak mediocre Spanish and really have no idea what I want to do after I graduate. I have a father, mother, sister and brother who I love and miss tremendously. I am living life day to day right now so I can get back home and run into their arms. I am going to try and live in the moment and take NOTHING for granted because I know God has a plan for me here.

"...I will lift my hands for You are who You are no matter where I am, and every tear I've cried You hold in your hand. You never left my side and though my heart is torn I will praise You in this storm..."




World Traveler

Ever heard of carbfest?

**CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: The Unwinding Car Cable by Anberlin**

We are officially two months in. CRAZY! In about two weeks we'll be halfway done. CRAZIER!

Well, this past weekend was a fun one. =]

First off, on Friday, Haley was meeting a guy from our Quichua class to ask him questions from another Spanish class she had. She didn't want it to be awkward, so she asked me to go with her. We went to the Plaza Foch in the Mariscal (or gringolandia) and met Nanki at a restaurant. We just sat and talked for a while and drank coffee and milkshakes. Then we left and went to a Hookah bar to do Haley's homework. I pretty much just sat there and listened to them talk, cuz it wasn't my homework. But when they finished, Nanki asked if we wanted to go dancing, so we did. It was about 10 PM, so we found a salsa place and danced for a while, then we went to look for another place to dance, but all the places Nanki was taking us to were closed, so we went to a Karaoke bar, which was interesting. =]

There are TV screens on the walls that have the lyrics (and some really random pictures in the background; waterfalls, deer, nature stuff....wierd.) and you give the waitor your song picks and they put you on the list. When your song(s) comes up, you get the wireless mic and just sing your heart out. Obviously, most of the songs are in spanish, but haley and I found three good ones to sing. We sang, Heroe by Enrique Iglesias, Como la Flor by Selena, and I Can't Help Falling In Love With You by Elvis....yes I know. We're classey. =] It was funny cuz towards the end of the Elvis song the rest of the Ecuadorians were trying to sing along. =]
By the time we sang our songs, it was about 2 am, and I had to go home. We left and once I reached my bed, I was sleeping.

On Saturday, Meghan, Nikki, Sasha, Julie and I had a carbfest. =]
By this, I mean that we made Mac and cheese, Perogies -filled with cheesy potatoes, oreo pudding, and chocolate covered strawberries and bananas. It was soo good.

We started at about 1, shopping at the Megamaxi (which is the ecuadorian walmart). Then we went back to Sasha's apartment to make the wonderful food. I consentrated on the oreo pudding while Nikki and Meghan started the perogies. Julie arrived late and when she got there, the oreo pudding was in the freezer, so her and I worked on covering the bananas and strawberries in chocolate. Meghan took over the Perogie making and Nikki worked on the mac and cheese.
Finally it was all done and we sat down and ate our wonderful meal. It was delicious and we are already planning on having another one. =]

We finished around 5 pm and were suppoesed to meet the rest of the BCA group in the historical center at 5:50. We left at 5:30, making us late. =\ but we got there pretty much right when they started and joined them inside a church.

After hearing a bunch of history of the church and it's leaders, we got to go up in this like secret passageway thing. It was soo freaking cool. =] It was a very narrow, short staircase that was made of stone, lit by candle light and led to the roof of the church. It was really neat. I love things like that. (and now i'm for sure getting secret passageways in my house) When we reached the roof, it was completely dark so all of the city lights were all lit and it was a beautiful view. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I'll have to steal someone else's pictures. =]

Then we had a little bit more of the tour in another part of the historical center. After we were finished we went into this hotel-type place and had hot chocolate, the rest of our chocolate strawberries, and cheese (which you were supposed to put in the hot chocolate, but that's gross so I didn't). Afterwards, me, Meghan, Nikki, Heather, and Kelly all went to the movies. We were going to see ''Grown ups'' but by the time we got there the tickets were sold out so we went and saw ''The Expendables''. It was a Sylvester Stallone movie, hence, lots and lots of guns and fighting, but it was okay.

Sunday, we all met at the Ecovia station at 8 and left for our trip to south Quito. It was fun. First, we stopped at two different lookouts that overlooked Quito and it was quite a view. Then our last stop was at a day care/school. We played a few ice breakers with the parents of the kids and then we sat down and made visors with them out of foam stuff.

After we traded our visors, we sat down and had lunch (which we provided; subs, apples, bananas and drinks) with them and talked some more. All in all, it was a good day.

It was a good weekend. =]
Hasta Luego.



World Traveler

Un sanduche, una barra y un jugo

**CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Belong by Chris Rice**

Translation: One sandwhich, one granola bar and one juice.

This was the contents of the ''lunches'' we gave out saturday night with Pan de Vida.

But, first...Friday.
Meghan, Julie, Nikki and I all went to Sasha's (Nikki's host cousin) house around 9 PM and had Pizza and cake to start off the evening of ''partying''. The whole evening was to celebrate Sasha's birthday which was like three weeks ago. So after eating, a few of Sasha's friends met us at her building and then we all headed over to the ''Chiva''. ''Una Chiva'' is an open bus without seats with a DJ and lights. You can rent one out for whatever occasion and the bus drives around the city while you and your friends dance and drink (or not). We had a good time. =]

It was about 1230 when I got back to Nikki's house, where I ended up sleeping cuz I was soo tired. In the morning, Nikki made us pancakes and then we met Haley at the Supermaxi (grocery story) in the CCI shopping center. There we bought ingredients to make ''Butterfinger Pudding''. Unfortunatley, no one has thought to bring butterfingers to Ecuador yet, so we had to improvise...

We used Oreos in place of butterfingers, "Maria" cookies in place of graham crackers, whip cream from a can in place of cool whip, and actual ''make-over-the-stove'' pudding instead of instant. We got back from making our purchases and made the dessert. While we waited for it to freeze, I took a shower and we just hung around til we had to leave to go to Pan de Vida. Well, when it was time to leave, the dessert still wasn't frozen, so we vowed to wait until Sunday to eat it.

We arrived at Pan de Vida and it had started raining. We ran into the building and met with some of the other group members who had already started making the sandwhiches. We started helping. We made sandwiches with mayonase, cheese and ham. While we were making them, a TV crew showed up, and interviewed Fernando and a few other volunteers and then taped us yelling Pan de Vida's motto: Haciendo la Diferencia (making the difference). It was unexpected but I guess I'm pretty famous now. ;)

We bagged each sandwhich with a napkin and then put them in the fridge. Once we had made about 350 sandwiches, we started bagging them with juice and granola bars. We started a line and got all 350 sandwiches bagged, stickered (with the address and info about Pan de Vida), and tied pretty quickly.

Then we were split into two groups, each with their own ''security officer'', and sent off on our specific routes to deliver the sandwiches. Unfortunately it was still raining so most of the homeless had found shelter, but we ended up handing out more than 200 of those sandwiches. I'm not exactly sure how many we gave out or how many we had left over, but we helped so many people. It was so rewarding to see their faces and how gratefull they were.

To show their thanks to us volunteers, Fernando and the other Pan de Vida folk took us out for pizza afterward. =] I got home about 1130 or so and collapsed in my bed. It was such a good experience and I'm for sure going back the next time they do it, in October.

Today, I went over to Haley's house to do homework and I to the ''Oreo Pudding''. Well...we ate the pudding, but we didn't end up doing homework... =\ haha. She had a guitar there so we sat around for a really long time playing guitar and singing. =] It was nice. I haven't been able to play for about 2 months now...we more than that cuz I didn't have a whole lot of time to play while I was in the states, either...so it felt nice to get those strings beneath my fingers once again. =]

This week shouldn't be any more exciting than the past few, but this upcoming weeked, we have a night tour of ''El Centro Histórico'' (the historic center - center of quito) on saturday night and then a day trip to South Quito on Sunday. It will be nice to see all the BCA folk again after a month without having seen them. =]

¡Buenas Noches!


World Traveler

The swing of things....

**CURRENTLY BEING SERENADED BY: Deborah Lurie (Dear John Soundtrack)**


So, it's been a little over a week since my last post and not much as been going on. We don't have any more BCA trips until our Galapagos trip at the end of October, so it's been pretty chill around here.


I've been through almost an entire month of classes already, which is completely crazy for me. I feel like yesterday was the first day with all the students at the school... But, it's been about three weeks, which means that I've been in Ecuador for almost two months, which is even crazier....Tomorrow we'll have only 100 days left, which is a lot, but when you say it like, 12 weeks...not so much. December will be here before I know it.


So, classes are going ok. I like the classes that I don't have to take, so that's good. =] The two classes that I am required to take are two history classes (art history and Latin Am. history) and I'm no history buff. I've always disliked history, so having to take them in spanish is just making it all the more fun... =\ I also have a spanish grammer class which is really helpful because I've always had trouble with grammer and knowing when to use what form of which verb...spanish is hard. =] But I have male professor and I've never had a male spanish teacher, so I think the change is good.


My other class is Quichua, the Indigenous language of Ecuador. =] Today I was supposed to have that class, but the professor didn't show up, so we left. It was my only class of the day so I pretty much wasted 50 cents by taking the bus there and back, but Nikki, Haley and I had lunch at this really great Itallian place on campus. I had ''Lasagne Carne'' with garlic bread, which was heavenly. =] I'm still full.


BUT, Quichua...
I thought I would give you all a little taste of what this language is like....

¿Ima shutitak kanki? What is your name?
Ñukaka Chelseami kani. My name is Chelsea.


¿Maymantatak kanki? Where are you from?
Ñukaka Ohiomantami kani. I am from Ohio.


¿Imanallatak kanki? How are you?
Ñukaka shini shinallami kani. I'm doing ok. So-so.


¿Imatak kanki? What do you do?
Ñukaka español yachakukmi kani. I am a spanish student.


So, now you can go around and use Quichua...maybe. Let me know if you find a place where you can actually use it...I don't think I will ever speak Quichua once I get home. haha =] But, the class is interesting and fun.


Last weekend Nikki, Haley, Meghan and I were going to go see Grown Ups, but when we got there, the tickets were sold out already. So, we came back to my house, bought some microwave popcorn and watched Titanic on my laptop. It was a good night in with the girls. =]

On Saturday, I went with my friends Heather and Fernando to a paintball place, conveniently named, ''Paintball Place''. I'd never been paintballing before so I was a little nervous. We got there and got all suited up. It cost $10 for all of the gear PLUS 100 paintballs. We got a really sexy looking body suit that was padded on the back, chest, elbows and knees, a really sweet mask/helmet thing and the paintball gun.


There were two different fields to play in. One had a bunch of barriors made of wood, tires, dirt or cans and there was even a car in the middle. This was the ''less challenging'' course. Then there was the harder one. It was pretty much just a forrest. haha. It was like on the side of the mountain so it was hard enough trying to hide and find the other team to shoot them, but you had to keep your ballence and not die of exhaustion. Our suits were like ''hunter green'' so we blended pretty well. We played both fields a few times and I got hit quite a few times. Fernando was on the opposite team and he snuck up behind me in the forrest and shot me in the arm from behind. He was pretty close too, so I have a nice bruise there. I also got hit in the head AND the face on the ''easy'' field.


Here's a nice picture of my pink hair and my paint splattered face mask. =]




Don't I look legit? =]








After we played for about two hours, we had lunch. The employees at ''Paintball Place'' made us cheese burgers and they were amazing. After so much running around and squatting and shooting, I needed a good cheese burger to lift my spirits. =] I wasn't sore then, but the next day, I for sure felt it in my legs and back. It was a fun day. =]



Later that night, Haley and I went out and we saw the movie SALT which was really good, but it has one of those ''REALLY!!!??'' kind of endings...but still. I enjoyed it.



On Sunday, Haley, Heather, Fernando and I all went to church together. It was a good sermon. The one pastor pretty much just gave his testimony. Then after church, we all went out to eat with Fernando's family. They were so nice. He is the youngest of three boys. His oldest brother is married and has two little boys and his other brother is married to an american woman and they just had their first kid, a boy, who is only 3 months old. He was so precious. He was born premature, so he had an oxygen tank with him, but he was still adorable.



For lunch I had ''Llapingachos'', which is probably my favorite Ecuadorian food. =] I'm going to have to learn how to make them and attempt them once I'm back in the states. They're pretty much like mashed potatoes with cheese in the middle. I can't really describe them, but they're delicious. After we ate and chatted with the family for a bit, we walked around the restaurant's playground a bit. (the restaurant was outside and looked more like an outdoor wedding reception) We probably looked rediculous, 4 adults playing on the playground equiptment, but it was fun nonetheless. =] They had like a mini zip-line thing that we all took turns riding. It was a really nice place and I had a lot of fun. =]



Here's us with Fernando's mom:






She was so sweet. We were talking about things we miss about home and how we were going to miss Thanksgiving dinner and she invited us to have Thanksgiving dinner at her house with the family. Apparently they have a big diner every year and would love to have us over. It was so nice of her. And now we get to have thanksgiving dinner! =]


This upcoming weekend Nikki's cousin is having a ''birthday party'' so I'm planning on going to that and then on Saturday, Pan de Vida is having and event. They are going into the streets and handing out food and water to the homeless, so I'm planning on being a part of that as well.


I'll let you know how it all goes! =]
¡Chao!





World Traveler

First ''week'' of classes

So, I made it through my first ''week'' of classes, which wasn't really a week.

We had orientation on tuesday, that I talked about in my last post, and then on Wednesday, classes started. I had Art History, Latin Am. History, and Spanish Grammer. We had our first ''exam'' in Sp. Grammer already to test how much each of us know about grammer...let's just say I had a brain fart... =\

Then Thursday Nikki, Haley and I were supposed to have our Quichua class (the indigenous language in Ecuador). Well they didn't have a classroom listed online so we went to the language department and they gave us a room number. We found the room and so did the rest of the class, but the professor apparently got lost...cuz he never showed up. haha. That was my only class of the day, so I really went for no reason. Oh well.

Yesterday I only had Art History and L.A. History. I also went and bought my books for those two classes, and guess how much I spent on one book and one reader.....?!
$44
Yes. Thats right. $44. The Art History book was pretty new and cost $32 and my L.A. History reader (meaning the teacher copied readings from multiple books and put them together) only cost $10. I think this will be the cheapest semester of my life. =] haha

Tomorrow I'm going to church with Fernando and then going to Pan de Vida to see what it's like. I'm super excited and I'll let you all know how it goes when I get back!

Adios!


World Traveler

Orientation

***CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: More Time by Needtobreathe***

Today was orientation day at USFQ for all of the inernational students. I stayed over at nikki's house last night, so we left around 7 am so we could arrive on-time to campus at 8. We ''signed in'' and got our orientation handbooks and then went into a pretty big room with all the other international students. We had multiple speakers who talked about stuff that we'd already heard about, but I guess it was good to be there any way.

We got to see all of the other international students, too. There are kids from Japan, Korea, Singapore, Germany, Polland, Holland, and most of us are from the US. What I found humerous was that most of them have been here for less than 5 days. I don't know if I could land in a foreign country and start classes at a big University within the next couple of days. I felt like the cool 6th graders who already knew everything with all the little 1st graders coming in fresh and ignorant. =]

But classes tomorrow and I have 3 of my 4 classes. =\ I have Art History, History of the Latin Am. Republic and Advanced Spanish Grammer.... Kill me now. haha. Nikki, Meghan and I are all together though, so we can suffer together. We have these classes on Mondays and Wednesdays and then on Friday we don't have Adv. Grammer. On Tuesdays and Thursdays Nikki and I have Basic Quichua, which is the indigenous language of Ecuador. It shall be interesting. =]

I got introduced to a friend of Daniel's on facebook who lives in Quito. His name is Fernando and I had seen in his pictures that he was wearing Christain t-shirts, so I asked him about them and he said that he is Christian and he goes to a church called ''English Fellowship Church'' and invited me to come next Sunday. Then he started plugging the organization he volunteers for that's called ''Pan de Vida'' which, coincidentally, is right next door to the church. He was saying that he helps out with the worship service and I told him about how I had helped out at my home church with the worship and all he said was ''Great! you can help me, then!''

So, next Sunday, I plan on going to EFC at 9 and then going to Pan de Vida after at 1030. I am really excited to go and really really excited that the church is obviously in English. =] I am not taking any classes in English, so it will be a nice break. =]

Wish me luck!



World Traveler

Río Muchacho

This past week, the BCA group took a trip to an organic farm.

We had our last session of our Pre-semester course on monday and then 1AM monday night we left on a bus for Río Muchacho. I fell asleep right away and slept until I realized we were stopped. Our trusty bus had broken down. Perfect. We were about half and hour away from our destination of Canoa and the bus wasn't working. We waited about an hour for another bus to come and take us to Canoa. While we were waiting, we ate our packed ''lunches'' even though it was like 6:30 in the morning.

Our bus finally came and we transfered all of our luggage and were on our way again. We got to Canoa, which is a little beach town very similar to Montanita. We had about 4 hours or so to be on the beach and get something to eat for lunch. We laid on the beach for a while and met a very interesting guy named Juan. He was offering us free surf lessons and speaking pretty poor english, but at least he was trying. haha. He seemed like he was drunk or something because he couldn't seem to remember any of our names or where we were from because he asked us all multiple times. After we finally escaped Juan, we went and found some lunch. I got a cheese sandwich and some french fries which was probably the most american meal on the menu. =]

Then we were finally on our way to Río Muchacho. Río Muchacho is an organic farm and everyone there is vegitarian. So, needless to day I ate mostly rice and fruit the whole time. I politely shared my vegetables with everyone else. =] Also, they have animals (like most farms) but they don't use them for what you think. Like I said, they're vegetarians, so they don't eat their animals, they use them for their poop. That's right. They use thier poop for compost. They have horses, one donkey, cows, pigs, chickens, cuy (guinea pigs), goats and worms. Yes, they use the worm poop too. Also, their toilets are compost toilets as well, so they use human feces to fertilize the fields that grow the food for the animals. Yummy, huh? =] Along with the organic food, we weren't allowed to use our own shampoo. It had to be organic as well. I don't think I could have lived like this for more than a few days...

We got there around 5 PM and moved all of our things into our cabanas and hung around until dinner at 6. After dinner we had a meeting with the couple who started the farm. The husband, Dario, is Ecuadorian and his wife is from New Zealand. They just told us how things work and gave us the layout of how the rest of the week was going to go. They also split us up into three groups that would work each morning with the animals and things. After our meeting we headed up to the kitchen and they showed us how to roast coffee beans to make coffee. Unfortunately, I don't like coffee so I couldn't enjoy it. But everyone else got a small cup and they said it was pretty good. We all went our separate ways and headed back to our cabanas for the night.

They next day we got up and had fruit and granola for breakfast and then we went on a tour of the entire farm, including the school that is also on the land, and is also organic. It was interesting but very long and in spanish so I tuned out quite a lot. We all got to make our own rings out of the seeds from this one really tall palm tree. They're like wooden and pretty sweet. We got back from our tour and had lunch. And I can't really remember what we did after lunch until dinner, but it was probably really cool. =] After dinner we got to roast cacao and make some chocolate sauce that we poured over some delicious pinnapple. It was sooo good. =]

On thursday, it was my teams turn to work with the animals. Well everyone else got assigned a job and I was supposed to work with the cuys, but the people I was supposed to work with never showed up so I got to help out with breakfast. I cut up most of the watermelon, the bananas, and some other fruit. After breakfast we went into the fields and some guy with a machete cut all 23 of us down a banana leaf for our lunch. I was really confused why we all needed one, but I quickly understood once we got back. We laid our leaves over the fire one by one and let the heat turn them a nice dark green and then we stripped the leaf part off the stem and filled the leaf with our lunch. It was a pretty nice little lunch carrier. =]

After we all had our lunches ''packed'', we were ready to head to the monkey forest! I got to go on horseback! My horses name was ''Tornado'' (spanish, not english) because he was jet black just like Zorro's horse. =] It was so flippin' sweet and now I wish I had a horse of my own so I could ride whenever I wanted. I was really sore afterward, but I'm sure if I rode more, that wouldn't happen. But it was about an hour and a half ride up to Mamá Jovíta's house. Once we got there, the group who had walked there had already eaten their lunches, so we stopped and did the same.

Once we were all full, we headed into Mamá Jovíta's house. She is a 97 year old woman who, I believe, is taken care of by the people at Río Muchacho. She just talked to us for a few minutes and showed us the things that she weaves by hand. Her kids tell her to quit weaving because she's so old and it's not good for her but she obviously doesn't listen to them. =]

After the last two people arrived at the house, we went on our hike up to the monkey forrest that is right behind Mamá Jovíta's house. Hike is a really relative word...it was more like a legit climb. I was using my hands because it was so steep. Some parts were soo muddy and reeeeaaally hard to climb and I about fell down the entire mountain, bringing everyone behind me along with me. We finally made it to the point where we could see monkeys and I was huffing and puffing. Soo exhausted and the monkeys were mad at the dog who had followed us all the way from the farm so they started peeing and throwing poop at us... =\ We didn't stay up there too long and we decided to start making our decent. This was equally as difficult as the climb up there. We were slipping all over the place but we all made it down safely. =]

Then it was time to visit the ''waterfall''. We rode our horses while the rest of them rode in the truck, which got stuck twice in the first few rivers that we crossed. =] It was quite humerous. But while we were waiting for the truck to get out of the second river it got stuck in, Kelsey's horse passed out. It was eating the grass and plants and the harness around it's neck was too tight so it couldn't breath so it just legit passed out while kelsey was on it. She fell into the river with our guide Ginson who was trying to rescue her. She was fine and so was the horse but it was pretty scary to watch a horse just fall over.

We got to the waterfall and a few people decided to swim in it, but we were only there for like 15 minutes. We then headed back to the farm. It was soo fun because I finally got my horse to trot but then he just decided to full out RUN! It was amazing. I need a horse.

After we got back we had free time until dinner so we played cards. We did this a lot here. =] Haley, Laura and I taught Daniel how to play euchre. I don't remember what was for dinner this night but i think it was like spaghetti kind of. It was real good. Then after dinner we had a campfire down by the river. Daniel told some rediculous story about ''pink potatoes'' that had no point at all, and I shared a few Red Herrings. =] All in all, i think this was my favorite day there.

In the morning, we had, you guessed it, fruit and granola for breakfast and then we gathered all of our stuff together and were on our way home. We stopped in canoa again to let some people off because they were gonna stay on the coast for a few more days. We got home around 8:30 and I was soo tired. It was a really fun week but I am NEVER going to be a vegetarian. I like meat too much. =]

We don't have another big trip until the Galapagoes at the end of October, so I dunno how much I will write on here, although I will try.

Orientation is Tuesday and classes start Wednesday. Let the semester begin! =]


Hasta Luego



World Traveler

lazy...

So I've been too lazy to write but a lot has happened in the past couple weeks...

hmm...I don't know if I can remember it all, but I'll try.

Two weekends ago, 7 of us girls went to a town called Montanita for the weekend. We had Friday off of classes because it was a holiday...well everyone and there mother apparently travels on this weekend so it was really hectic, but it was a fun weekend nonetheless.

First off, the bus ride was an experience in itself. We left around 10 pm on thursday night on a bus. This bus took us to a place called Guayaquil, which was about 2/3's of the way there and this took us until around 645 am or so. If you do the math, that's around 9 hours. =\ Then in the bus terminal we had to buy our return tickets for sunday to go from Guayaquil to Quito and also buy our tickets to go to Santa Elena (or something like that...but also NOT montanita, yet). So we got both tickets and got on our bus to Santa Elena after asking like 10 people where our terminal was and being led to 5 different ones....but we finally found it. Two hours later, we got there and had to legit run to the next but that would take us to Montanita (finally)!! AND an hour and a half later we finally arrived around noon. We were exhauseted so we found a taxi and got to our hostel and put all of our stuff down and decided to go out to the beach.

We found out after we got home that it is ALWAYS overcast in Montanita...which would have been nice to know beforehand, but even with the cloudy skies, it wasn't all that cold. We spent a little time on the beach once we got there but then we decided to walk down to the little town and find something for dinner. We ended up eating at a little hippie place and then came back to the hostel pretty quickly. I don't really remember what all we did the rest of Friday, but I do believe we went to bed pretty quickly that night. We were all exhausted from our trip.

The next morning, we woke up to eat the continental breakfast that our hostal served. It was a breakfast burrito and pinapple. It was pretty good. Then we all walked into town to buy our bus tickest for the next morning to get back to Guayaquil. Thank goodness there was a bus that went strait there and we didn't have to worry about switching, but unfortunately, we had to leave at 515 from our hostel to leave around 545. =\ But once we bought them, we all felt so much more relieved that we had tickets to get all the way home.

We started off the day with a some beach time. While everyone else was swimming, Meghan and I went and walked out onto this big rock which is pretty much just a bunch of crab homes. It was crazy the amount of crabs we saw, but once we got to the end of it we got some sweet pictures of the water crashing on the rocks. Once we got back, everyone else was done swimming and had gotten showers, so Meghan and I went out into the ocean by ourselves for a while to do some wave jumping. When we got tired we came back and got our own showers.

Then it was time for the surfing lessons. I didn't bring enough money, so I didn't get to go, but Haley, Kelsey, and Sachiyo all had about an hour and a half surfing lesson. It was so funny to sit on the sand and watch them all attempt to surf. =] After a segnificant amount of wipe outs, we all were pretty much done with the beach. We didn't really go eat lunch, so we just snacked in the room (illegally, might I add...) and just hung around until dinner time. We went to another little restaurant and ate pizza for dinner. Then as we were walking around, we found a place that was playing music, so we payed the $1 entry fee and went in to dance for a while. It was really fun and a few of the girls got asked to dance. Nikki got a little uncomfortable when our friend Miguel started hitting on her so her and I left a little before the rest of them. We walked back to our hostel and then we very soon followed by the other girls. We stayed up for a while talking, telling stories and getting to know each other a little better. =]

In the morning we got up and gathered all of out things and headed to the bus station. The bus ride home was a little shorter because apparently our little side trip to Santa Elena added an extra, unneeded hour to our trip. =\ So, we got to Guayaquil around 9, I believe and then we had to wait until noon for our next bus to leave. We got some food and played plenty of card games until it was time to leave. We got on our bus and got back to Quito around 10 pm.

It was a reeeeally long but trip, but the weekend was a success. I'm glad we got to go and got to relax a bit.

I will post again in the next couple of days about our trip to Rio Muchacho that we just got back from because this post just took all of my energy. =]


Buenas Noches


World Traveler

Barbacoa

When you hear the word ''Barbeque'', what do you think of?

-family/friends
-summer
-burgers and hot dogs
-pasta salad
-macaroni salad
-watermelon
-potato chips
-things covered in BBQ sauce...
-a GRILL!

well that's what I thought too... but I guess we were both wrong.

Today, we had a barbeque for a few of us BCA girls and our host families. There was about 20 of us all together, but by looking at the amount of food we brought, you would think there was like 40 of us. I've never been to a cookout where there is more meat than actual side dishes. Our side dishes were potatoes, salad and corn on the cob. Here let me start at the beginning...

I woke up this morning around 10 (thank goodness) and ate some fruit for breakfast and then my host mom, sister and I got into the car and went to meet up with everyone else who was going. We got all of our supplies and food packed into the three cars and then headed out to Tumbaco. It was about an hour long drive out to another BCA girl's host families land. We unpacked the cars into a small house and then walked around the property. There were two other houses on the land. One is still being built and finished and is completely made of adobe and the other is already being lived in. There were so many flowers and gorgeous views that I could hardly take it all in.

Then we all walked back to start making our food. I expected to find a grill of some sort behind the house because I had yet to discover it....but there was no grill. The got out the coals and wheeled over a wheel barrow, emptied the coals into it and put a grill top over it. Now I can say that I've cooked my food in a wheel barrow! Not many can...

The meat was divided into containers based on how many were in a ''family''. As I watched the meat that was to be my host mom's, sister's and mine....my eyes were just wide with shock. It kept GROWING! I'm sure that at home the amount that was in our container could completely satisfy my family of 5 and there would be leftovers....There was so much. We each had a pork chop, a huge slab of beef, three or four little sausages, a long, thin hot dog looking thing, corn, potatoes and salad...like really?!

Well, my family was the first to get to use the...wheel barrow. We had to cook our own food. My host sister is a chef so she was in charge of knowing when the meat was done. My job was to fan the coals so that the meat would actually cook. =] I did a good job. haha. It was all really good but soo filling I couldn't finish a third of it. After we all finished eating, Meghan, Kelly, Kelsey and I all walked around again, taking pictures and we sat on the balcony of the adobe house for a good while just talking and taking in the view.

Soon my host mom and sister had to leave to go to a baby shower (which, coincidentally, is ''baby shower'' in spanish....). I chose to stay and hang out with everyone else. We played a few Ecuadorian games that were pretty interesting. All of which consisted giving up one of your posessions every time you lost and to get it back you had to do something rediculous like sing or dance. Then the moms wanted to play an american game so we decided on ''Red Rover''. It was funny enough just hearing them try to say ''Red Rover, Red Rover, let ........ come over" and actually playing the game took quite a while. Only like 2 people actually broke through the other teams arms so it wasn't that exciting.

Tired and ready to get home we were on our way. 45 minutes later, here I am.
My neck is super sore because I think I slept on it wrong and my stomach hurts so tonight I get to stay in while everyone else goes out. Tonight there are a bunch of things going on in the historic center because it's Ecuador's Independence Day...I think. But they're celebrating something and I can't enjoy it. Blah. =\

I hope a few movies and lot of sleep will help.

Buenas Noches


World Traveler

Otavalo

So this past weekend we had our first trip with the BCA group.
We left at 730 saturday morning from the Ecovia station (the 'red' bus) =]

Tired but ready for our adventures, we were off. Our first stop was the Pyramids of Cochasqui. But it's not what you think, really. If you look at my pictures, you wouldn't know they were pyramids if i didnt say so. They're really overgrown with grass and such and only a few spots, conserved by the park ''rangers'' , are actually still stone. But, here we got lots of background of the indigenous people who used to live here, tons of gorgeous views and LOTS of llamas to feed. =] We all got a handful of salt to feed to the llamas who were called over from pyramid 14, aka the fertility pyramid, by our guide.

After getting our fill of llamas, we headed to El Mitad del Mundo (or middle of the world, for all you gringos =] ). We got a little info on the ecuator and then we proceded to each take a picture straddling the ecuator. I mean, who doesn't want to be in two places at once? =]

After many more pictures, we headed off to our final destination for the day, Otavalo Market. It is this huge street market where vendors come and sell their things. I think it happens almost every day but Saturday is their biggest sale day and when most of the vendors are there. We walked around for a good 4 hours or so and I didn't buy much. Just a bag, a change purse and a scarf. Then we all met for dinner at this Pizzaria. It was different, but good. There was a live band there which consisted of two guitar players, a drummer and a flute player (like a wooden one where you blow air across an opening like a pop bottle). They all sang and were....very...loud to say the least. haha We had to yell to talk to each other during dinner. But they music was good.

We all went back to our BEAUTIFUL hostel (check the pictures) and talked for a little bit, but pretty much went right to sleep. The next morning, we went to the Cascada de Peguche (waterfall). I wasn't planning on getting wet, so I wore jeans and a t-shirt with tennis shoes. We walked to the first waterfall and it was incredible. So pretty. So then, most of us hiked up on top of/behind that waterfall. I wasn't going to, but I did anyway..haha. Daniel said it was pretty hard, but it wasn't to bad. It was mostly like legit climbing and I was expecting walking up steep hills. When we got on top of the waterfall there were two more smaller waterfalls which were equally as incredible. One of them was a little bit more accessable than the other, because you had to actually get in the water to see the second...which I ended up doing. =] I rolled up my pant legs and took off my shoes and socks and roughed it. =] I almost fell down a few times, but I managed to keep my jeans dry until I decided to climb up the one waterfall to take a picture and sat down on one of the rocks. I had brought shorts so I decided to get wet. =] It was really fun.

Next, all the girls went back to the bus and changed out of our wet clothes, and then we went to El Parque Condor, which is a bird ''park'' for like rescue birds until they are well enough (if they ever will be) to be let out into the wild. Here I got to meet Hedwig and Erol who played the owls from Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone! =] haha They didn't really do much, so it wasn't that exciting. For lunch, we went to this restaurant where a lot of people attempted cui (aka: guinea pig). I wasn't brave enough to try it yet, but I saw it, and apparently it tastes like chicken. =]


This is someone elses' dinner. Would you try it?

After lunch, our last stop was to the house of the cutest couple. They weave their own blankets, scarves and other things the traditional way, by hand. It was amazing to see their work and I actually bought one of the scarves. He said it takes 4 and a half hours to make a scarf it you have all of the materials already, and like a couple months to make a poncho. Incredible.

We headed back home and got caught in the end of the weekend traffic. Everyone was heading home from their weekend travels so they could make it back for work on monday. We didn't get back home til around 9. It was a long weekend but oh so much fun.

This week is our last week of our salsa class. Yesterday we had class and we danced in couples, and seeing as we only have one guy, most of us danced girl girl. =] It was awkward, but fun. Tomorrow we have our last class, but it is for two hours. We would have class on friday, but our teacher is going to be in Cuba or something...so we're dancing for two hours tomorrow...I dunno if I can do it. =\ haha.

So, the how water in my house hasn't been working because of a broken circuit. My host dad has been working on it all week and supposedly it was fixed over the weekend. But when I went to take a shower yesterday morning, it was freezing still. So I hope that it is at least a little bit warm tomorrow. I really don't want to take another cold shower. =\

Pues,
Hasta Manana
Buenas Noches


World Travler

School

So, I have been living with my host family for the past couple days and it's been really good. I like them a lot and they are very welcoming. I didn't eat dinner the first two nights because I wasn't hungry...haha. But, last night I had potato soup, rice and chicken. it was really good. For breakfast the past couple days, I have had; fresh fruit that included bananas, strawberries, kiwi, and grapes, yogurt and an orange type thing, and this morning my mom made me pancakes. I don't think they were cooked all the way through, but I ate them anyway. They haven't made me sick yet. *crosses fingers* =\

In our presemester class, we have two sections. The first one, our ''history'' class, is about an hour and 15 minutes long. Then we have a short break and then the second half starts, our spanish class. For this, we are split into four groups based on our level of spanish. Unfortunately, I think I'm in the lowest class. =\ But I feel like the class is helping, I guess.

Yesterday was our first Salsa lesson. *rolls eyes* It was very interesting, to say the least. Our instructor is Cuban and a VERY good salsa dancer. We only learned a few steps yesterday...aproximately 5 different onces. They looked a lot better when he did them though. haha. But we have another class tomorrow, so I'm hoping I wont be too behind, or get too distracted...haha. =]

I'm still really tired, and I try to get as much sleep as possible, but I guess I'll just have to keep sleeping. =] And I'm okay with that.

I'll try and write more when something interesting happens... =]

Adios


World Traveler

Spanish Overload

Today is the day we met our host families. =]

A very exciting thing!

We began the day with French toast and pinnapple juice and then headed into orientation. We talked about our health and possible problems we could have while we're down here and then we talked a little about family life and what is expected of the host family. We broke for lunch and then came back to the hostel for some more family talk. We talked to a former BCA student (the same one who gave us the tour of the school) about her host family experiences and mishaps. It was nice to be able to pick her brain for a little bit. Then we finally found out who our families were. We didn't meet them yet, but we got a paper explaining who they are and what they are like. We found where they live on our maps and we saw how far away from the school it was. Everyone was giddy with excitement to meet their families, it was infectious.

Around 5 pm we all walked out into the lobby of the hostel and waiting to greet us were 20 hopeful families. =] They were all so excited and probably about as nervous as us. haha. There were balloons, flowers, and smiles all around. One by one, they called out our names and we ran to greet them with a huge hug. Once my name was called, I waited for everyone else to be paired with their families. Once we were finished, Daniel gave a few last minute instructions and tips and then we were free to go. I got my luggage and my host mom and I headed out to the car.

I have a host mom and dad, sister and her boyfreind, and a brother who are both older than me. I have yet to meet my brother, but I have met and hug/kissed everyone else. =] haha.
When we got back to the house, we talked for a while at the table. I wasn't very talkative, because I'm still super tired, but I listened as best I could. =]

It was a bit of a Spanish overload and now my head is pounding. I am already ready to sleep! haha. I don't know if I'm going to survive this semester or if I'll just die by sleeping too much. haha. So, I think I'm going to turn on a movie or something and fall asleep.

Buenos Noches


World Traveler

Hola

So, today wasn't as intense as yesterday travel wise.

We woke up and went to breakfast (some kind of citris pancakes and orange juice) and then headed directly into more orientation stuff. We recovered safetly things and then talked about our schedule for the rest of the semester and when and where we're going on trips.

We broke for lunch and had about two hours to do whatever, but Nikki and I were too tired to do anything. So, instead of eat, we decided to sleep. =] I don't regret it either. I was sooo tired. After our little siesta, we took a tour of Quito with a family from here. We ended up at the top of a mountain where the statue of the virgen of Ecuador is. We walked around up there for a while and then we drove down to the historical center of Quito. It had lots of shopping and restaurants and many, many churches. We saw a few weddings...one a little less conservative than the other. (i.e. the bride was pretty much wearing what looked like chinese lingerie) Interesting. After walking around and hearing a little more history we broke off to go find something for dinner. Nikki and I still weren't hungry so we just didn't eat again....


...totally kidding. =] We split a plate of arroz con pollo (chicken and rice). It was delicious and very filling. =] After eating, we met up with another group of people who ate across the street and we walked around the shopping area. It was neet to see all the different shops and food venders. I didn't end up buying anything there, but it was still fun. We got a taxi back to the hostel and we crammed four of us in the back seat and had one in the front. Needless to say it was a little uncomfortable. =]

Now i'm sitting in our room anticipating tomorrow. We find out who our host families are and we get to go home with them tomorrow night. =] I feel like we have been here for way more than two days and it feels more like a vacation than like a semester abroad. I'm sure after we are all moved in tomorrow night it'll feel a little more real.

Buenos Noches



World Traveler

Day One

Things I learned today:

-Four hours of sleep is NEVER enough
-Don't confuse the jam for ketchup and accidenly put it on your eggs
-Walk is Stop
-I am a Gringa =\
-Both the bus and the trolley are just 25 cents per ride
-People get bird poop thrown on them so they are distracted so someone can mug them
-Lin Manuel Miranda (look him up. he's a genious) has a bald twin
-Hoggwarts is not the only school with moving pictures
-I have a restaurant named after me in Ecuador
-Cheese and sugar are not a bad combo
-Cab drivers are very stubborn
-I am EXHAUSTED

well, that last one I didn't really learn...but I am sooo flipping tired.
Today was a big day. We traveled a lot and didn't get much sleep because of our delayed flight.

First off, this morning we had breakfast (eggs, bread and butter and orange juice), and then we all went into a conference room type place and we talked about safety. It was supposed to scare us into being overly cautious...and lets just say they did their job well. They told us horror stories that happed to past BCA students and some other stories that happened to american tourists in the past couple weeks. It was a very informative talk, to say the least. =]

Then we walked to the mall, which is right down the street and we got some lunch. Nikki and I were so tired that we just got a piece of pizza from a Sabarro and came back to the Hostel and fell asleep for a little bit. After that, we went to the universidad to take a tour. We stopped to get some local ice cream on the way. (mine was called Taxo, which is like a passion fruit that grows up in the mountains, I think. It was good. We got a tour of the campus by a few students and one who was a BCA student last year and is just finnishing up her internship for this summer. The campus is soo huge I don't know how I'm going to memorize everything. But, even so, I'm excited. We finished up the day at a restaurant for dinner. I had emanadas con queso, chicken and potatoes and then ''torta a la moda'' for dessert. It was a very filling meal.

To get back to the hostel, we had to hail our own taxi and barter with them for a price to get home. Eventually we just settled and paid $2 for three of us because we were so tired. But, apparenly tomorrow we will get plenty of more practice with taxis....joy. =]

As for now, I NEED to get some sleep. My head is pounding and my eyes are falling closed as I write this.
Buenos Noches


World Traveler

Quito, Ecuador

So, I haven't seen much of it yet, but the city lights look really pretty from the sky! =] They're kinda like starts.....but below you...well they're pretty.

But we just got to the hostel where we will be staying for about three days. Our flight was delayed a few hours in Miami because the 1st officer was late or something. Needless to say I was a little bitter about the situation. I was ready to get here. But, now we're here and settled into our separate rooms. They are surprisingly very nice! I mean, I expected a room full of bunk beds, but we are in separate rooms with four being the most people in one room. My room has three people including me. Nikki and I got put together and we're with another girl named Heather...it think. haha It's going to take me a while to get everyone's names down.

Tomorrow we start orientation. I'm not positive what we're doing exaclty, but breakfast is at 9. Considering that, I should probably get to sleep. I will update again when I am more coherent. =]

Buenos Noches

Oh no...

I already feel stressed out...
This is not a good sign.

I lost a few items that I KNOW I had earlier today. And now my luggage is stressing me out.
Are my bags the right size? Do they weigh too much? What can I live without for 5 months? What is absolutely essential? How the HECK am I going to do this!?

I just need to be over there with all of my luggage so I can stop worrying.
Worry.
Why worry?
Because it's what I do best.
I wait til the last minute to do things and then I freak.
Perfect.

These last few hours until I reach the air port are going to be hectic.

Packing Packing Packing

¡Hola!

So, it is officially two days before Nikki and I leave for Ecuador, and I have yet to start packing. =\ uh oh.
but I think it's for the best considering now I'll only pack the essentials and I wont have all my stuff packed up too early. This way I can still use stuff that I want to take with me. Perfect. This was my plan all along. =]

I want this to be a way for everyone to see what's going on in Ecuador without me having to write the same things over and over again in emails, on facebook or whatever. It'll be easier for me, I think. But, don't judge me if I don't write every day. I AM going to have classes to go to and homework to do...so that'll be my excuse if I don't blog about everything. ok? =]

I guess I should start packing then. =\ I have to start sometime, right?

¡Hasta Luego!
See you later!

World Traveler