A Christmas to Remember

You've made this a Christmas to remember
Springtime feelin's in the middle of December
Strangers meet and they willingly surrender
Oh! What a Christmas to remember

Christmas… in my mind the most daunting part of my whole year abroad. I didn´t know what kind of family I was going to have, what kind of traditions they were going to do, what was appropriate for me to get them…really, I didn´t know anything. I am not going to lie to you guys and say that Christmas was by any means easy, it was not. But I think it was an important part of the experience and I got a lot out of it. I grew, learned and discovered, not for the first time during this exchange, that if I force a smile onto my face and make the best out of what I have, I will realize that I have an awful lot.

Two days before Christmas the question came up one evening, if you could have anything for Christmas this year, what would it be. My host mom started out, she said that she would love to spend the day with her mom, who lives 6 hours away in Quito. Then my host sister said that she doesn´t care as long as she could spend it with family, my host brother seconded this announcement. Then it was my turn, my mind was spinning, what would I want. The options were endless, but then it hit me, and this became my moral for the rest of the holiday season, being here, in Ecuador, is the best gift that I could ever have gotten, what I want is to spend it here with my new family and enjoy every minute of it. This was not always easy, but looking back at it, the day after Christmas; it in general was a good day.

I should mention that my family here didn´t really celebrate Christmas at all. They are very strict Evangelical Catholics, and here apparently that means you don´t celebrate Christmas. At first I was very confused by this, but I came to understand that they don’t celebrate that one day because every day is for Christ and every day we need to celebrate him, not just this day of the year. I think another part of it for my host family was the consumerism, even in Ecuador, that seems to consume everybody over Christmas.

My Christmas day stared off a little drab; I was home alone as my family headed off the church. But then I hoped on Skype and got to have a wonderful breakfast conversation with my Dad, Mom, Skye and Sue. After about an hour, at about 11 am their time, they decided they needed to go and get on that present opening so we signed off. Then I got to have a brief 10 min chat with Aunt Susan, Uncle Lee, Alex and Corry. It was wonderful to hear everybody’s voices and made me feel a little closer to home.

When my family came home from church we had a brief lunch and then headed off to buy bags of candies for some relatives my dad had in the nearby country side. These bags of candies are the traditional gift that is given at Christmas to children, particularly as a sort of charity gift to kids who are poor and aren´t going to be getting anything else for Christmas. We bought about 20 bags and headed out into the deep country. After about a 30 minuet winding drive through the mountains we arrived at a house of some relatives of my dad. I had not been expecting what I saw; we ended up in a small mud hut with a fire burning in one corner cooking dinner and over 30 guinea pigs in another corner, undoubtedly waiting to be dinner. We gave them the candies and then proceeded to have about an hour and a half conversation with them about life. They were very interested in me, where I was from, what I was doing here, why I was living with this family, what school I was going to, and would I please speak a little English for them. We chatted about those things, about religion (my dad’s favorite topic), about life in the country and many other things that came up. It was a truly awesome experience for me; I have seen poverty before, when I lived in Tanzania with my family. But this was the first time that I had a personal connection to the people living it, they were my family here, people who my dad cared a lot about, people who cared a lot about me even though they had just met me under an hour ago. They were so grateful for the candies that we walked away from that visit with three large burlap sacks. One was filled with different kinds of flour that they made there in that hour, another was filled with potatoes that were grown on that land, and the third was filled with corn that was handpicked by them. The generosity of Ecuadorians was amazing to me; they gave what they had just because they wanted to say thanks. We headed to a couple more houses for brief visits, but had to be getting home because it was going to be dark soon.

When I got home, I hopped on face book because this was my connection with the world that was celebrating Christmas. I felt like I had been transported to a different world, one with statues about new computers, cars, phones, snuggies and endless other gadgets and toys. I had almost forgotten that this is what Christmas is about in the states, when hear what Christmas is about for my family is helping out relatives who don´t have as much as we do. Now I am not trying to sound full of myself or anything, I know that for the last 16 Christmases that has been me too and that most likely for the next ones as well. But it was just a very different culture.

So Christmas had its ups and downs and I did miss home quite a lot, but I learned a lot and know that a smile and attempts at a good mood can make all the difference.

Livin´ life on the loose.

The Market

Let me paint you a picture
a picture that I know that you'd like
I'll let the colors run
it dries and then its done

A little bit ago one of my dear Quaker friends and life mentors told me (I am paraphrasing here): Take time to take a walk and enjoy where you are. You will regret not doing that when you leave.

This is something that I have been thinking about a lot in the past couple of weeks and I find that it may be the best advice anybody has ever given me for my exchange and life. When I really open my eyes and heart to what I am doing I am always filled with positive emotions, happiness, joy, amazement, and just general good feelings. I see things that I have never really seen before, but just passed by in the craziness of the first few days in Ecuador and then were just part of normal life.

With this in mind I am going to describe to you my walk to the market today and maybe you can have a little bit of my slow walk, taking in, with awe, my surroundings.

It started with just a normal day after school where I was sitting on my bed trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my afternoon. The one thing that kept popping into my head was the fact that I wanted fresh fruit, but alas, we didn’t have any in the house. So I took matters into my own hands. I threw on my Chaco’s and as I ran to the door yelled to my sister that I was gong to buy fruit. I started down the street. The first think that I noticed was the graffiti sprayed on the walls of the house at the end of the street (some things don’t change from country to country), but then I realized that I just walked by it and read it with out a second glance. Spanish anyone!??? In the next couple of blocks I took in the kids playing on the street, the woman grilling out (only difference was she was grilling out plantains), and just the general hustle and bustle of life in Ecuador.

As I stumbled upon the main street in our town I came to the work of my sister. She was chilling on the steps waiting for somebody to come into the store. We stopped and had a conversation for a bit before she asked me where I was going. When she heard I was bound for the market down the street she handed off her duties to the other girl working in the shop and joined me. There were two things that I took out of this interaction that really impressed me. The first was that I was able to stop and have a real conversation in Spanish with somebody who spoke as much English as I do Russian. Second, that it was totally normal to stop and talk to my sister as if she was my sister. I am feeling more and more apart of this family every day. I am expected to do chores, ask where I am going (and some times be told no), and have none of that guest slack cut for me now. I love feeling like I am part of a household and the joy and struggles that come with it.

As we wandered down to the market we passed many street venders selling everything from tamarind juice to large amounts of meat skewered on sticks with lots of mayonnaise. When we arrived at the market the air was mixed with the all to common order of raw fish and fresh fruit and vegetables of every color and size that were engulfing us. There were mangos, pineapples, avocadoes, potatoes, unrecognizable berries, bananas and plantains by the hundreds, oranges, apples, green beans, cabbage, carrots and passion fruit (just to name a few). All pilled into long rows of colorful veggie and fruit laden stands. We went out searching for my passion fruit and mango to make some fresh fruit juice. The first stand we stopped at nobody was there. We continued wandering to the next stand where I got 6 passion fruit and 2 mangos for a dollar and exchanged a wonderful conversation with the old lady working the stand. We trotted back out of the market and back up the street to my sister’s work. The whole time I couldn’t stop beaming, I am living the life of my dreams, in Ecuador! The air was fresh, I was in good health and life is good.

I wandered back home engulfed it the joy of fresh fruit in my hand and my feet pending the slate streets in Guaranda. Life is fantastic. I just need to take time to see it sometimes.

Livin’ on the loose.

Be True To Your School

So I know I have not written in a super long time. I will write a original one soon. But I wrote this for our local news paper and thought you all might enjoy it.

An Ecuadorian School Day

So be true to your school now

Just like you would to your girl or guy
               Be true to your school now
               And let your colors fly
               Be true to your school

Save the jeans and t-shirts for the weekends. White polo shirt, red acrylic pullover sweater, grey pleated skirt, black shined shoes, all topped off with white knee high socks. Not my everyday outfit in the United States, but it’s what you will find me in every day here in Ecuador. This is just one of the major differences that I have gotten used to while attending my all girls public school in my small mountain town in Ecuador.

            At 7am sharp the bell rings and school starts. I join the flood of students all adorned in our normal uniform or, on lucky days, our gym uniform, an acrylic red suit that makes you sort of look like a strawberry. As we walk into the school students are stopped to take out colored hair accessories or colored scarves, if you want to accessorize your look for the day everything you use must be white. Then we all head to our perspective classes where we will spend the rest of the day. Starting in the equivalent of your sophomore year in high school you choose a specialty and that is the class you will stay with for the rest of your high school career and that is the field you will stay with for the rest of your life. You can choose a specialty like chemistry-biology, or physics-mathematics (my specialty) that is leading you toward a more educated and technical job, most likely including higher education. Or you can take the path of accounting or computing that will lead you toward immediate job options after high school is over. Either way you are with the same kids for all 8 of the 45 minuet periods a day 5 days a week for 3 years.  The school assigns all the classes and they all go directly with your specialty, art and music classes are unheard of here. Everything is strictly academic. 

            I am used to walking to and from my classes, but here teachers come and go and the students are in the same class room all day, with the exceptions of gym where we head out to the school court yard or computer programming where we walk to one of the schools few computer labs. Teachers here are paid an 80-cent an hour salary so there is often little incentive for teachers to show up, some times they just don’t. I don’t think I have had one day yet in my 3 months of school where I have had all my normal classes at normal times. This is a heightened phenomenon because they don’t have a substitute system set up, so if a teacher is sick or has another appointment, no class for that hour. After about 10 minuets of waiting the students will wander out of the classroom and go eat a plate of rice and chicken at the little snack bar in the school or bask in the sun on the bleachers and pretend to be studying for an upcoming test.

            When classes happen they are structured very differently then in the States. From the minuet the teacher walks in the loud talkative class of gossiping girls is immediately transformed into the perfect quite class. As the teacher walks to the front of the room all the students stand up until instructed to sit again. Then the students greet the teacher and the teacher greets the class as a whole. This is a custom you will see in all daily interactions in Ecuador, whether you are passing a friend on the street or having business meeting a greeting always starts off the interaction. Depending on the genders of the greeting people it is either a kiss on the cheek or a handshake. When I first got here this was hard to get used to, but now it is a habit. After the greeting the teacher asks the class for a marker to write on the white board in the classroom: the students supply everything for class here, we even have to pay for the copying of our final exams. As the teacher writes the lesson out on the board all the students get out their notebooks and copy it down, text books are few and far between so everything is hand written and work sheets are unheard of. Once the teacher is done with the lesson they pack up and leave, this can range from 20 minutes to 90 minutes, depending on how the teacher is feeling that day, but either way the students do not complain. The number one unspoken rule in Ecuadorian classrooms is respect for the teacher. Even if they are wrong, you don’t talk back or correct them, it is about the rudest thing you could do.

            As school finishes students walk out of the school gates and get ready to head home where they will eat lunch and get to homework. The school day is complete and its time to spend time with family and get ready for the next day to come.

            

On the Loose

On the loose to climb a mountain

On the loose where I am free

On the loose to live my life

The way I think my life should be

For I only have a moment and the whole world left to see

I’ll be looking for tomorrow on the loose

(This is my song for Ecuador, keeps me going. Gotta love camp songs.)

As I sit here, next to my sister, sipping passion fruit juice that we just made from fresh passion fruit down, I realize that I am living the life of the rich people.

As I grew up whenever my family has having a particularly good connection or just a really good time one of my parents would always quote one of the families favorite childhood books and say, “This is the table where the rich people eat.” Not meaning literately rich, but life is rich, full of excitement, love, and happiness. It soon evolved into “this is the mountain where the rich people climb” or “this is the lake that the rich people paddle.” I now see it as a family saying that we have the fortune of being able to use quite often. And right now I realize that I am walking a path where the rich people walk. Now this doesn’t mean that every minuet here is easy. In fact I have quite a few minuets that are super hard. For example, this thanksgiving will officially be the longest time that I have not seen my sister. That is a daunting and hard thought, but I know it will be ok. I have a very supportive and caring family here that is doing everything possible to make this year amazing. And they are. The roller coaster ride will continue and I will love and take in every minuet of it. 

So everyday little life events.

Last Thursday was a huge celebration at my school for the incoming kids to the college (high school). It was very elaborate and exciting. It started with a marching of all the little kids into the middle of the basketball courts by all the 6 years, equivalent of high schools seniors. All of the 6^th years (including me and the other exchange students, Alicia and Giulia) we dressed up as characters. I got the pleasure of being a witch while Alicia was the queen of hearts from Alice in Wonderland and Giuila was an angel. We marched them around for a little bit. Then another large group of 6^th years came on carrying a person dressed up as a corpse. They did this long elaborate ceremony and brought the corpse back to life. Then the corpse proceeded to run around yelling and scaring all the little new comers. After this there we are variety of other aspects to the play-like-thing, like a church service for the corpse and lots of random dancing when the DJ felt it was right. Proceeding this 45-minute corpse show there were many groups of people who put on little skits or danced. They would get all dressed up, give the DJ there music and there was their little moment of fame to perform in front of 1000+ people. Well of course you couldn’t have a show with out embarrassing the gringas (white girls) at least once. So we were informed that we were going to sing a song in English. We spend the 2-day we had been given attempting to make three peoples, who don’t sing in front of people or really very much at all, mesh together. This turned out to be more of a challenge than expected. But we did it. We entered the stage, as the closing act, and sang Katy Perry’s song Hot N Cold for the whole school and many people from our town. It was an experience that is for sure. And if you ask me, we did a pretty good job at it. J

A couple of weeks ago I decided that I needed to start running again. I had stopped running because it is such a different sport here. Nobody runs here, and of the few nobodies that do run, they are all middle-aged Ecuadorian males. A tall, white, female runner… funny joke. So it wasn’t ending up being the same experience running as in the USA. I will get cat called at and honked at and just generally stared at. Its not the mental break that I am used to. But it needed to happen. When was now the question, in the afternoons I often have other stuff and am just generally lazy. Nights, well that is when I sleep. So it was looking like the morning was my best option. I have been getting up 2 hours before school starts to run. That puts my typical run at about 5am. It’s brutal but so worth I for my mental and physical health. This week I get to run at 6am because we have finals and school starts later then normal. I really like this because I get to see the city wake up. I often do this 15-minuet loop about 3 times. This really is an awesome way to watch the day starting. This morning on my first loop I watch a woman walking pushing her packed up vender stand with her school aged child. The second loop they were setting up the candy stand out side of a local school and by the third loop they were selling to the younger children who started school earlier because they didn’t have finals. It was very cool to watch the city come to life and get my exercise at the same time. J

Life is going. Life is good

Livin’ life on the loose.

It’s all a cross-country race

Those pre-race jitters are the worst you have ever had. You worry. Did I train correctly? Am I hydrated? Was my preparation good? Why am I doing this? But yet, you are more excited than you have ever been. Then that gun goes off and with roar your engines kick in. No more time to prepare… you are thrown head first into a mud, hill, and victory filled adventure. You are off and flying. That first stretch to that first red flag is exciting, exhilarating, and filled with excitement. Then you turn left… after that it’s a mystery, you are running in to a world unknown. There will surely be roots to trip you up; will it be in just a stumble or a full-face plant? You are going strong. Everything is new. The feeling that you are running and will never stop pulses through your body. You see things from a new perspective; everything in beautiful, but then it sneaks up from out of nowhere… a wall. You hit it, hard. Now you wonder if you will ever be able to break threw it, to finish the race strong. But you run on, you have no other choice, quitting is not an option. Run through injury and pain and they don’t make you drop out but more determined to make this the best race ever. You round the corner and the sight of those girls streaming in front of you and the sound of spikes behind you urge you on. You are again off and running. Feeling wonderful, the thought flits across your mind, “how does it go from wonderful to bad to wonderful in such a short amount of time?!?” Then you remind your self that it has ups and downs, but the ups so out weigh the downs that it is ALWAYS worth it. You pass a sign a road marker… mile one, it reads. The middle of the race, you settle in for the long haul. Content and happy but with a flitting feeling of worry and exhaustion, what will come next… a root, a hill, a surge of energy or just flat coasting. Into to he darkness you charge… ready for next adventure.   

Livin' life on the loose. 

Wondrous stories

Hearing hearing your wonderous stories

Hearing your wonderous stories

It is no lie I see deeply into the future

Imagine everything

You're close

And were you there

To stand so cautiously at first

And then so high

As he spoke my spirit climbed into the sky

I bid it to return

To hear your wonderous stories

It has been a while since I have updated you. So this blog post is going to be about a lot of little stories from my life in the past week.

Lets start out with now, as some of you may know I am helping this really cool American in Guaranda help teach English some afternoons. I am really enjoying it and end up doing it most days that there is class. Hannah (the other American) is headed back to the states for a few weeks so there will not be class, but she needed to give one last test. So I am covering for her and am the teacher in charge today. I am currently writing this while the 3 kids that showed up for advanced class today take the test. Its pretty fun if you ask me, I mean today is not the most climatic day because I am just chilling while they take there test, but that’s ok. Ecuadorians have a special skill… cheating… you can put them in different rooms and they can still get answers off each other (ok maybe not quite, but it seems like that). This blog post might be a tad choppy because I have to interrupt it with glanced up and possible warnings. Anyway… being a teacher has been something that I have wanted to do since about 4^th grade, and this is just solidifying my desire. Who knows where life will take me, but it would not be a surprise if it took me, as least for a while, to do ESL (English as a second language).

Last week was Ferrio, basically just holiday. The main event in Guaranda was Day of the Dead, but Cuenca (a huge near by city) had its large yearly festival and Latacunga (another city) did as well. It was a 5 day, much appreciated weekend. My family seemed to do a different thing every day. On Wednesday we headed out to a near by town and ate Cuy. Cuy is a traditional dish of Ecuador that is, to put it bluntly, skewered roasted guinea pig. It was ok, but as I am not a huge fan of meat and I thought that Cuy had a sort of fishy taste it wasn’t my favorite part. But it was a must have Ecuadorian experience. After that we headed out to a near by church that is located on top of a mountain. It was amazingly beautiful and a great walk. The day was very relaxed and wonderful. The next day we got up at 5:30 to head to a town about an hour and a half away and we went to a local water park. Although it wasn’t large compared to the dells it was a fun morning with the family bobbing up and down in a wave pool and making chains going down the waterslides. I was a little (ok a lot) terrified the whole time that I was going to have to pull out my life guarding skills and save somebody. Most Ecuadorians have very poor swimming ability and the lifeguards supplied by the water park all were wearing life vests, not a boost to my confidence. But we made it through the day with only sunburn. Whew. The rest of the weekend was spent doing different activities closer to home in Guaranda. The most memorable would be what I would call, the Jamaican go cart races in cool running equivalent of boat races. People showed up with boats in various states of disrepair and revved their engines around a small lake for about 3 hours. Then there was a race, but I didn’t know when the race started so it was very anticlimactic. I only figured out that it started when it was over… and everybody started clapping as one boat took a victory lap. Jaja.

The last Ecuadorian adventure that I have time to tell you about today is my next medical saga. As many of you know, I got bit by a dog, while running, on Sunday. I was just jogging along and bam… it was attached to my rear end. What is up with that? It took enough motivation to get my self out anyway that getting bit by a dog on top of that… lets just say I wasn’t happy. I am now 4/7 done with my shot series for rabies. Yep… they are in my stomach. Not fun, but better than rabies… and a good story later. J

Livin’ on the loose. 

Everything’s Just Wonderful

Everything's just wonderful,

I'm having the time of my life.

10 Things I have learned in Ecuador:

1) How to be flexible. This is truly one of the most important things for Americans to learn and realize when they step into the world of Ecuas. We are used to always moving always doing stuff and never having time to just drop life and do what needs to be done. Here… you run into your grandma in the street, well that meeting can wait. It’s times to talk, catch up, and share a moment together.  It was hard at first, but I find that I really enjoy the fact that people and connections often come above all other.

2) How to eat rice like its nobodies business. My US family knows that the meals with a base of rice aren’t my favorite. Well here that is not an option. If I didn’t eat rice I would literately not be eating anything. Rice is the starch of choice for lunch, dinner, snacks, sometimes breakfast, and any time you’re hungry. Just put that spoon in the rice pot and you have a snack. I now love rice and know how to cook it so its fully and yummy. New diet staple for me.

3) How to daydream. Ok I don’t know if this is good or bad, but it’s something I have become an expert at. Because of the mentioned above #1 you often finding your self waiting… what better way to pass the time than daydreaming?!? Popular topics include: camp, FGC Gathering, food, the next day, my family… pretty much anything works.

4) How to eat meat. Ok so maybe I knew how to do it, but I have never eaten meat like this before. Two times a day… at least. Changing from a vegetarian to this… quite the new thing for this girl. True life.

5) How to take a bucket bath. I guess I am relearning this on because it was a specialty of mine when we lived in Tanzania, but it takes some talent and planning (not using all the hot water) to get all the conditioner out of you hair… and believe me… you regret it if you don’t.

6) I am now a master at Skype. As it is my only means of verbal communication with the States it has become a good friend of mine. I can fix most problems (not all) and went from having now idea how to navigate it to being a beast at it.

7) Sleeping through anything… dogs barking, music playing, drunk people yelling, your sisters boyfriend spreading “te amo” in wood chips out side of your window and lighting them on fire (I didn’t sleep through Vicky barging into my room telling me too look out the window though. J), just about anything… if you want sleep here this is a much needed skill.

8) I have gotten some pretty crazy clauses from writing everything in school. While we have books these are not used very much at all and everything has to be written down. When you have homework you must write the question (in red) and the answer (in blue). We take a ton and a half of notes and short cuts are just not appreciated here.

9) Make empanadas. That’s right… I can now make the amazing little fried pockets of queso. And dang are they good. I may be a little slower at making them than the average Ecuadorian, but I am getting there. J

10) Spanish… sorta. Ok so much Spanish is so much better than it was when I came here. I can have conversations and get understand most of what people say. I am still learning and it’s hard to incorporate all the different tenses, but if I think about it I can do it. Its’ coming along. 

Dancing Through Life

Dancing through life

Swaying and sweeping

And always keeping cool

Life is fraughtless

When you're thoughtless

Those who don't try

Never look foolish

Dancing through life

Mindless and careless

Make sure your where less

Trouble is rife

Woes are fleeting

Blows are glancing

When you're dancing

Through life...

Well its time for a blog post and I decided that it was time to do the classic blog post: un dia en mi vida (a day in my life). For reasons mostly revolving around the fact that I don’t have a typical weekend day (or at least haven’t yet) I am going to do the best to summarize a typical weekday.

5:40- If I have to take a “shower” this morning I roll my butt out of bed and head down stairs to put a hug pot of water on the stove.

5:41-5:59 Chill… sleep, watch TV, or go on face book till the pot of water is nice and hot for my “shower”.

6:00- One of two things are happening.

1)    I am carrying my huge pot of water up stairs and poring it into a tub of cold water that it will mix with to make a semi warm bucket bath

2)    My alarm goes off and I scramble to find it while my host sister (who often sleeps next to me because my beds bigger, and really I don’t enjoy sleeping in a twin bed alone, to much empty space, and we chat (to the best of our ability) till we go to bed. Its quite nice actually) wakes up and we both decided its to early.

6:08ish- I am either

1)    Getting out of the shower and heading back into my room to get Vicky (my host sister) out of bed.

2)    Dragging my butt out of bed and getting moving.

6:08-6:40- I get dressed in my uniform, straighten my bangs if I took a shower that morning (if not a pony tail is always in order), and all that good stuff. I also do 5 minuets of core every morning… exercise is so not prevalent here so this is my way of doing something small to say semi a little bit in shape.

6:40- Run downsairs with my backpack because I am always late.

6:40-6:47- Eat a piece of bread and drink a cup of “aguawita” or instant coffee, what ever is given to me that morning. 

6:47-get a call from Giulia my cousin who walks to school with us (Vicky and me) and we head down the two flights of stairs to street level where we meet up with her and do “hola’s” and “que tals” and of course the typical kiss on the cheek.

6:47-7:00- Walk to school and chat about how our last night was and how much we are not looking forward to whatever double periods we happen to have that day.

7:00-7:40- First class. (This changes by the day but for sake of you and I not going crazy with my full schedule we are going to use a Tuesday.) English… this is one of three things for me; a letter writing class, a class that I get to practice my reading aloud, very slowly, skills as I end up reading most of the text book, or a class that I get to practice my (possibly) future profession as a teacher because I end up teaching most of the material and translating a heck of a lot.

7:40-8:20- Second class. Physical Education. Tuesdays are good days for me because I have P.E. Now I am not saying that I enjoy endless basketball drills and marching. But I do get to wear my P.E. uniform all day, and for those of you who know me… pants are 100 times better then a skirt. So it’s a good day.

8:20-9:00- Third class. Computers. Now when I first heard this I thought I was going to be simple. Given that most people here don’t have access to computers a lot I thought I was going to be typing and such. But no, when they say computers they mean programming, and I don’t know computer talk in English… in Spanish… fun. But at least we get to have partners because there aren’t enough computers for us all, so that helps a ton and a half.

9:00-9:20- First Break. This means a snack of some sort; typically kids in my class are selling food that the money is going towards our end of the year graduation trip.

9:20-10:00-Physics… not too much to say about this. Its physics…

10:00-11:20- Double investigation. This is a class where we talk about different things everyday. I don’t know the main theme of the class… I haven’t been able to figure that out yet. Hah.

11:20-11:40- Second break. More food, chatting, last minuet homework.

11:40-12:20- Vocational orientation. This is a class meant to prepare the oldest grade for leaving school and heading out into the real world. We talk about different types of people and different jobs.

12:20-1:00- Drawing, this is not a normal art class. This is a class devoted to drawing buildings and their interiors. Its hard, but a good change of pace.

1:00-School is over… or it was over way before this, because we get out early probably about half the days for some reason or another. School assemblies, thunder, no water… anything.

1:00-2:00- Lunch of soup, rice, some sort of meat and a small savory salad with the family.

2:00-3:00- I normally just end up chilling in my room. Skype, facebook, journal, blog, whatever needs doing.

3:00-6:30- I head out with friends, go visit family, or do homework. I try to get out and do stuff because it’s a lot more fun then just chilling at home, but some times that opportunity doesn’t present its self.

7:00-8:00- Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays… I head out to the equivalent of Ecuadorian Zumba. An Ecuadorian dance workout class. It’s a fun time and it exercise that I can do with others and feel good about.

8:00- Dinner- almost always leftovers from lunch.

8:30-9:30- Watch movies or chill with the family. They also really like to take car rides around the city. My brother drives and much engine gunning and smelly car go on. Haha.

9:30- Bed, I get Vicky and we head off to bed. An early morning is coming.

That is a summery of my day… as average as they get. It never actually goes like this, but for sake of this blog post this is a good summery. Love and miss you all.

Livin’ Life on the Loose.

Circle Of Life

It's the Circle of Life

And it moves us all

Through despair and hope

Through faith and love

Till we find our place

On the path unwinding

In the Circle

The Circle of Life

Not going to lie… I am quite tired so this one is going to be short. But it has been well over my week goal so I am gong to squeak one in.

Last Thursday I arrived at school like any other normal day. Apart from the guys selling encyclopedias to the excited student crowd I didn’t see anything strange as I entered the school. But slowly as I walked to my classroom I noticed groups of the older students huddled together talking in low, quite, almost sad tones. I didn’t think much of it; often this just meant they had a test they had forgotten about or something of that sort. But when I entered my normally crazy, loud, and loca classroom full of girls they were all huddled I groups crying and hugging each other I knew something was wrong. I walked up to one of my better friends in the class and trying to sound sad (even though I had no idea what was going on) asked what had happened. Turned out that one of the English teachers had died the night before in a mix up with here pregnancy at age 54. I gave all my friends huge hugs and tried to help where I could.

We then just sat in our room like it was a normal day; nobody came or left, except for the inspector to have the usual yell at us for our skirts being above the knee. Then somebody came in and told us all to go home and change into our nicer uniforms. I didn’t understand why (nor did I have the nicer uniform tailored yet), but it didn’t seem to be a big deal because nobody moved. But half an hour later a woman came in and told us all to take our stuff and leave, she then proceeded to lock the classroom behind us. At this point all the class presidents (and when I say class I mean from each class room, not the whole grade) left to get flowers and one by one everybody else left to change their uniforms. Eventually I left with my host sister and went home where she changed into her nicer uniform and I changed out of my gym uniform into my skirt and sweater. When then headed back to the school where the whole school had lined the main street of Guraranda for the funeral procession to come threw. The family and car with the casket walked down the street and into an area with a stage behind the school that I didn’t know existed. Slowly the whole school filed in after the family and faced a stage with over 60, what I would call, arranged flower centerpieces and the casket on it.

The priest entered and proceeded to get dressed on stage in front of the whole school and then gave about an hour and a half sermon. The service was ended by handshakes then everybody sat back down and friends and family went up and gave speeches about her and her life. This was all concluded at about 11 when everybody left to go home for the day, because clearly no more schoolwork was going to get done.

Later that afternoon there was a church service at the local church for her as well, much of the school attended this service, but I opted to hang out with some other AFS friends, I had had quite enough Spanish speeches and crying for one day. But it was an experience that is for sure.

Livin’ life on the loose. 

Take a run on the Wild Side

A Hustle Here And A Hustle There

New York City Is No Place Where They Said:

Hey Babe, Take A Walk On The Wild Side,

Said Hey Honey, Take A Walk On The Wild Side.

It’s been more then a week since I have last written, life has been crazy. But here is an update. 

I was having some problems with my host mom and wasn’t very happy. I am not quite sure what was going on, but it was clear that I needed to change families. But I really didn’t want to go to a whole different family because that was going to be a huge change that I was not ready to take, but I was able to move in with my host uncles family. They were super nice and are very welcoming. The transition has been quite smooth and I am grateful for that. My family now has a dad, Hilbert, a mom, Fernanda, and a host sister, Vicky. They are all so nice. Vicky is my age and goes to my school. She is in my grade, but in a different class. She has been the best in-terms of welcoming me and making me feel at home. I am so excited to be here and look forward to having many adventures with this family. They are awesome. I, of course, have to deal with the whole “being a guess in the house”, but I am sure that will change soon. Tomorrow school starts so a routine will be established and I think that will help. But life is good and I am happy. My new room is now decorated with all the cards that I have been getting. A new address will be coming soon, but for now the old one is fine, the letters will get to me. 

The day that I got to my new families home my host uncle asked me if I had interest in going down to Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador, to run a 10k. Now, me being the crazy enthusiast that I am immediately accepted. (My host dad is a crazy Ecuadorian runner and our whole living room is filled with trophies and metals. Hundreds of them.) Now I am not saying that I am regretting the choice to go. It was an awesome weekend and so worth it, but the fact that I had hip surgery 4 months ago and have only run about 5 times since then… sorta caught up to me. I was dieing, but I did for fill my goals and finish under an hour and not last. So life is good.

Things that you must to do be an Ecuadorian racer:

1)    Go out to cheep Chinese food the night before. We went to this little shop that my dad clearly knew that sold “ethnic food”. The place was packed with what looked like beastly Ecuadorian runners. It was quite strange, and I got introduced to about 10000 people because I think my dad knows everybody who runs in this whole country.

2)    Wake up at 3:45 a.m., because you have to leave at 4 to get a cab and the race starts at 5. This is the beat the Ecuador heat as the race was on the coast… but it wasn’t my favorite part.

3)    As walking in the pitch black into the stadium where the start is, you have to pass two different types of creatures: people who look like they could qualify for the Olympics their leg muscles are so large and llamas.

4)    Drink a lot of Gatorade… in the states we have beans, gu's, gels, blocks, jells, powders, and who the hell knows what else to help us get our proper energy for the race. All you need it turns out is good ol' Gatorade.

5)    Start the race to a whistle. Who needs guns anyways?

6)    Run like a crazy crazy crazy fast person. Very few of the joy runners here, all fully trained ready to run Ecuadorians.

Livin’ life on the loose.

Once in a Lifetime

I know that what I've found is once in a lifetime

(and) I know there's no way out

Cuz it's once in a lifetime

I know it has been a while since I have written… there are three reasons for that: 1) Life is becoming routine and it seems harder to find crazy things to write about. I just sorta go about my days and it’s starting to feel normal. I love that. 2) I have made a pact with myself that I am going to be on the computer less because then that way I interact with less English and I learn more Spanish. I also get to spend more time with my family. 3) Life has been quite busy and I just don’t find a lot of time to do all the personal things I want to do. Like journaling, writing this blog, sleeping, eating, reading… ect. But it’s happening. Now get ready!

So last weekend we had our official “one month in Ecuador orientation”. It was a wonderful weekend of friends from all over the world who are going threw the same things as me. We got to catch up and speak English. I am not going to lie; I think it is the first time I have been in my comfort zone since I got here. I could communicate freely and have real deep conversations. This is not to say that I don’t talk when I am with my host family, but the deep conversations are hard to have. I had some conversations on books, USA politics (BOOOO you North Carolina), and just about life it was so nice. We also were staying at a quite nice hotel place; the comfort food and nice beds were a nice get away as well. While it was hard to pull my self away from those interactions and that life, it was good to get back home and be with my family.

            My family, people have been asking about my family and want to know more, so here goes nothing. In my house is my mom, Jaddy. She works at the post office and has a great heart. I like her a lot, even though we have been having some trouble getting over the language barrier. Also in my house is my grandmother, mamita. She is the sweetest woman ever and I love spending time with her. I have found that she just loves it when you offer to help, she will never ask, and often when you do ask will say no, but if you do it anyway she is tickled. Near by live my aunt, uncle, 3 cousins, and one other exchange student. They are all very sweet and I find my self spending a lot of time at there house, because it is always busy with activity and even when all the parents are at work there are people there. That is a very brief run down of my family and what goes on with them. Keep in mind that that is only about .0001 of my family and they are everywhere. But they are the ones I spend the time with.

            Ok so the next big thing in my life is school. I started out in a class specializing in chemistry… that was a serious struggle. Now I am in a class focusing on math. I am so much more a fan of this. My class is super small… 15 other kids other than me. I like them all a lot and now that we are over the language thing we goof around just like my friends at home. They found out I am ticklish… that has been fun. The jumper cables never stop. On Monday I will be putting feathers in all their hairs... they are pretty pumped when they heard I had more. Classes are hard, but getting earlier by the day. Philosophy and lit are by far the hardest. But the teachers are willing to help. Fun fact of the day… and by that I mean the shittyist thing I have heard in a long time… teachers here earn $.85 per hour they teach. How they live I don’t know, what is wrong with our world and its value of education. Anyway… life is good and treating me well. Of course I have my down times, but they are way out numbed by the ups. I miss you all and love you tons and tons.

Livin’ life on the loose. 

Street Map

I would like someone to make a map

Mark my home and draw some lines that match

Things that have been offered on the street to me:

A-air fresheners, they are every where in Ecuador… in the bath rooms, the kitchen, the cars, on the street (yeah I don’t know that point of that either!) and apparently they are just a necessity in Ecuador

B- Bon Ice, this is a very Ecuadorian snack, in the US we call them icy freezes, but here guys walk around in complete, what look like, Bon Ice running suits. They then sell then out of a cylindrical cooler from $.10 or $.15 each!

C- Cuy, the local delicacy of whole guinea pigs skewered on a stick then rotated around a fire till golden brown. All you have to do then is take a big cleaver and chop it into 4 pieces and bam… lunch.

D-dulce- otherwise known as candy. They are huge on it here, many people walk around with trays of a wide assortment of candy from molasses candy to chewing gum. My personal favorite is the taffy that you can watch being pulled right there and then buy.

E-Ecuadorian hair wraps, ok so I didn’t really know what these were called so I am calling them Ecuadorian hair wraps. Many native women wrap their hair in what looks like a very colorful weaved belt. I am quite a fan of them, but as a white girl with very short hair have no use for one. L

F- funky English, everybody here has watched at least one movie in English (most of the time with Spanish sub-titles), and they have picked up pretty funny words from it. When these people hear I am from the US they get very excited and throw out phrases like “sexy bitch” and “California girl” and “New York!!!!” It sorta makes me smile a lot.

G- giant stuffed animals, often we will have guys will carts come to our door and try to sell us carnival sized stuffed bears or dogs. They often end up trading jewelry for these prizes.

H- hookah- ok so this isn’t super common, but the first week I was here I met a guy who has as shop that sells beer, hookah, and meat warps. He also spoke English so was very eager to be my friend. Now every time I see him I get offered hookah. Great. Even in the middle of a run… like I am going to stop and smoke a hookah… that will make my run great.

I- Ice cream, they are big on ice cream here. Every store sells ice cream, while I wouldn’t call it the best ice cream ever, it is still ice cream!

J- Juice… of all kinds and forms. I think I have been offered tamarind, orange, and coconut just to name a few. They are quite good.

K- key chains of Mary (with your name engraved!), my host mom got me one of these. For those of you who have seen my key chain you can guess that I am pumped to add another to its plethora.

L- Live birds, while waiting in line at the bookstore a man came by with a cage filled with about 30 live birds squawking and chirping. Dinner anyone? Just kidding… I think they were pets.

M-maize (corn), you can it get popped, on the cob, baked, pureed, with milk, and in any form you can possibly imagine.

N- nothing you would ever want… and everything you need.

O- odd books, mostly children’s books.

P-ponchos, they are huge into ponchos here…. With print, out of wool, large, small, you name it they have it.

Q-quick Snacks, they are all about little snacks on the street. And they always come in little yellow bags. You can get the Ecuadorian style G.O.R.P, fruit, French fries, salads… the list goes on.

R-recordings, always pirated. But often quite good.

S-scrunches, be transported to the good old 90’s because everybody wears scrunches here. Want a hair band… to bad. Hehe.

T-taffy, people will have these spikes coming out of their stand where they will stand and pull taffy. Then if you walk by they will hand you a small piece so you want more. It works, let me tell you. J

U-underwear, yep… just sorta chilling on the street. My favorite said 100% loca on the butt. Almost got it, but thought my host family might just think I was a little too strange.

V-various hats, well with my obsession of hats… I am right at home here. You can buy winter hats for little ones like a smurf, or pooh bear… or a dog. You can buy knitted hats with any shape, size, and number of things sprouting out of them.

W-water, drinking water is sold on the street everywhere… at first I refused to drink the water from the tap, but I have given up on that. I mean I am here for a year, that’s a lot of bottled water to buy.

X-x=ab-y/2… by this I mean schoolbooks. People will just walk up to you and try to sell you a book about algebra, or handwriting, or my favorite… English.

Y-Yo Go, the mentioned above Bon Ice salesmen also sell a similar product, but the base in yogurt. Pretty good if you ask me.

Z-zapatos… of every shape and size. (except size 42… my size. We have to go to 3 cities for that)

Run (in) This Town

Feel it comin' in the air

Hear the screams from everywhere

I'm addicted to the thrill

It's a dangerous love affair…

gonna run (in) this town

Ok so I know you all want to hear about the first day of school. But in my mind that is second to the most monumentous thing that has happened to me in 4 months. Ok maybe that is stretching it a little bit, but hey…. I am PUMPED! I ran for the first time since my surgery a couple of days ago. I was so excited. I was confined to a very small part of my neighborhood as my host family didn’t want me straying to far from the house alone, but it was so worth it. Today marked my second run and during it a mentally made a list of all the things that happened:

·      Wolf whistles… let me tell you very common.

·      A little boy said to his mom “look at that boy”, mom responded, “That’s a girl”. Glad I am so feminine. 

·      A ran by, on the side walk, a herd of cows wandering seemingly on their own down the street.

·      A creepy Indian guy tried to get me to smoke hookah with him.

·      I met my cousin on the street and had to stop to exchange kisses and greetings.

·      Turns out my cousin wanted me to help her with her English homework so my run had to be cut short to make it home before dinner to help her.

·      Everybody and their grandma’s dog barked at me. (Everybody in Ecuador has a dog… or 5)

·      Can you say stares… apparently a super tall while GIRL running down the street inst very common.

·      The list could go on forever… but there are a few high lights.

So pretty much I am so excited than I can run again and it is going to keep me sane here. (And at least a little in shape.)

Ok, now the first day of school. Let me just say that it was the most overwhelming and emotional day since the first day I arrived in my host family. Everybody at the school was very nice and super accepting. But I hadn’t been forced into an environment with so much happening so quickly in Spanish. Early on in my stay I was asked what my favorite subject was… I responded with Bio. So I apparently got put in the specialty (in the top grade, the one I am in you have to specialize, like having a major) of Bio and Chem. That, my friends, is not easy in Spanish. Or in general. Everybody here has had 3 years of chemistry already and I haven’t had any. And add Spanish everything into it and I was as lost as a little girl in a mall (do little girls get lost in malls?!?). Tomorrow I should be switched to Math as my major, I am feeling more solid about this as it is something that is a lot more cross language. J Some details about school. It starts at 7 and ends at 1 with two 15-minute brakes in the middle. The teachers more class rooms, not the students. I have to wear a super cute uniform, a picture is attached. I will try to write more about school soon, but it is bedtime for me as to get to school on time I have to get up at 5:30. Ugg. Miss you all (if there is anybody reading this anyway)!

Livin’ live on the loose

Me in my super cute uniform! ;)

(first day of school!)

Life is a Highway

They knock me down

And back up again

You're in my blood

I'm not a lonely man

There's no load I can't hold

The road's so rough this I know

I'll be there when the light comes in

Just tell 'em we're survivors

Well life over the past couple of days has been something. After my last blog post the next day I started feeling significantly better. But then the next day I went way down hill. So that night I was whisked off to the hospital for a ton more tests and my first night ever in a hospital. It was an experience. I am struggling to eat because everything made my stomach upset and they don’t have any of my typical sick foods here in Ecuador. It was a struggle, but was eventually able to get a little bit of food down. This lack of eating was of great concern to AFS because apparently its quite common for AFSers to come to another country and have a hard time with the culture so they stop eating. They kept asking me if I was sad or mentally ill. It was sort of humorous after a while, because really I was just sick. The low point in my whole stay at the hospital was the 5:30 am visit of the cleaning guy who proceeded to sweep the whole room (this included moving my IV stand). It was good that I didn’t know how to get angry with him in a language he understood so I just had to hold my toung. ;) My Ecuadorian family was so supportive and amazing I was speechless. My room was never empty and the average number of people in it was probably somewhere around 10. Everybody would come by before and after work as well as on their lunch break. More often then not bringing something for me to eat with them. They were all so worried and caring that I can never pay them back for it. The experience wasn’t what I would have liked for the first week, but it is something I will never forget. Turns out I have Typhoid… or a back infection (?)  ...Or another type of infection. We are not quite sure because everybody has been told different things at different times. But I have enough antibiotics to cure the world and I am feeling as good as new. Hopefully my Ecuadorian hospital adventures are done for my stay. 

Aside for that adventure there are many other things I have been doing in my life. A couple of days ago I got to travel to a near by city with AFS. The city called Silidas was named after its largest industry (not any more, but in the past) of Salt production. We visited the salt flats. These provided not only a very interesting thing to look at, but also a breath taking mountain view. We then proceeded to tour the chocolate and cheese factory that provide most of the cities current industry. It was an awesome experience and I was excited to get to move out side of my town. I have been taking every opportunity that has been presented to me to do things with people because they are awesome learning experiences and always-quite fun.

Yesterday I got my school uniform; it was about time as school starts on Monday. It consists of cotton polo with a red polyester sweater to wear over it. Then I have a skirt that is quite boring and grey for the bottom with knee socks. I also have a gym uniform that is a pair of cotton(ish) shorts and a set of polyester warm ups. Everything (minus the skirt) is in bright red, as that is my schools color. I am very excited to start school because it will add really good structure to my day, but really summer has been so great that school is looking like a lot of work. I will try to post my first day of school picture so you can all see the wonderful uniform. Ok so I do complain about it a lot, but its nice to not have to worry about what is appropriate to wear and when I need to wear what. It’s really not that bad.

That is a summery of my life here in Ecuador in a nutshell. I shall try to keep you updated and school and the other going ons of my first healthy weekend in Ecuador. Love and miss you all.

Livin’ life on the loose.

This is The Life

Takin' in

A whole new scene

And I'm swimming with a new crowd

Well like me start out my saying… I am not pregnant. How do I know this?!? Well today I got a blood test that confirmed this. Yesterday I woke up with a massive headache and didn’t feel good at all. After using the age-old test of getting up showering and eating breakfast I knew that today was going to be a day I spent in bed. By that evening I had a fever of 38 C (100.4 F) and was a sick mess. My host mother decided (even though I was convinced all I needed was water and sleep) that I needed to go to the doctor. There I got a complete physical and they told me that the only problem I had was a headache and fever. Really?!? I didn’t know that… haha. I could have told them that. But this is a different culture and apparently you go to the doctor for any possible illness. I spent most of the say sleeping and/or listening to music in my bed. I had no energy to do anything else. I had to abandon our plans of doing to the disco techa that evening. (Sorta like a dance club. They are all over in Ecuador.) The next day (today) I was whisked off to get a blood test. Turns out nothing is wrong. So that is good… no crazy Ecuadorian parasites or anything. But that has been an adventure. Lets just say that the doctors and blood draw clinics are not the same standard as in the US.

But enough of my illness talk. There has been a lot of other very cool stuff going on. Two nights ago I went to a basket ball game with my Aunt and Uncle and their host student. It was awesome!!! The two teams were rivals and from different provinces in Ecuador. We were rooting for the Bolivar team (the province we live in). At the end of the first quarter we were up by 7 (I think) points. The next two quarters our luck changed. By the end of the third quarter we were down by 17 points. But that last quarter saved us… we slowly started gaining them back. In true Latin American style the crowd was crazy and every call by the ref had an effect on them. At one point the ref made a call that the crowd disagreed with… water bottles were thrown on to the court and the whole place when up in madness. It was very exciting. We ended up winning 84 to 77, and much rejoicing was had. It was a good game and lots of fun. I hope that in the future I can attend more games.

Other then those two things I have been living life with my family. I tag along with who ever in going into center (the middle of town) and do errands with them. We almost always have a meal at somebody else’s house in our family. I can feel my Spanish getting better and can understand a heck of a lot more then when I got here, but it is always a struggle. My speaking has only improved a little bit, but I am sure it will get better. Life is an adventure. In a week(ish) I start school. I will be going to an all girls’ school that I can walk to from my house. We get our uniforms next week. AFS will possibly have a day trip to another city next week some time, if that comes threw. It is all very fun and exciting. Although I am going to be ready to have a more regular schedule with school and such. I have stopped being treated like a guest as much, witch I appreciate a lot. No more ice cream for breakfast, but that is ok by me. ☺ Well a brief update on my life.

Livin’ live on the loose.

Pictures of you (or rather of me.)

Pictures of me, hung upon the wall for the world to see...

So I have not been able to get blogger to let me put up pictures, so I have put them on facebook insted. I know that not everybody has a facebook so here is the link:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2295871438342.2135076.1295770746

You should be able to see them, because I made the settings that way. I hope you can get on to it.

Livin' life on the loose.

First day of my life

This is the first day of my life… in Ecuador. And boy has it been a full day. I arrived to my host family’s house at about four yesterday. We took a bus from Quito to Guaranda (my town), the bus ride was about 5 hours, but we made a couple of stops. One of the stops was at the top of a 12,000 ft. pass because there had been an accident. We all got off the bus to take pictures with the mountains and the snow. Yes… I thought I had left the snow by heading down to the equator, but apparently now. Haha.

My house family met the bus with lots of hugs and kisses and of course a lot of very rapid Spanish. I was very relived to have the greetings over and be headed to my new home. But little did I know that that was just the beginning of my crazy first evening in Ecuador. We sat in the living room and made small talk (as much as is possible with my two years of Spanish that is…). Then it became clear that no matter how many times I said I wasn’t hungry it was time to eat. I was so happy that they were so caring and that they wanted me to be so happy. We headed out across the courtyard to the dinning room. There on the table was a cake welcoming me to Ecuador. I felt to special and was blown away by this act of kindness. It became clear that it was custom for me to take the first bite of cake… but not off of a plate or with a fork. I was to go face first into it, so face into it I went. It was delicious cake and much happiness and laughing and many jokes I am sure I didn’t catch followed that first bite. We then proceeded to have lunch/dinner (I am not quite sure which). I am unclear what it was, but I think it was intestine and noodle soup, chicken, potatoes, rice, and some spiced veggies. It was a good lunch and I ended full. I did notice that my servings seemed to be about 3 times as large as everybody else’s. Haha. All threw the meal I was asked questions that I tried my best to understand and to answer.

After dinner we headed into town. After about a 10-minuet walk we arrived at the grocery store where we proceeded to get a gallon of yogurt, some chocolate ice cream, and some milk. (I am almost positive that the ice cream was because I told them that it was my favorite food.) We then headed home; on the walk home my family offered me sweet pastries about 3 times. I was still digesting that food baby from lunch. We got back has some more small talk and then I headed to bed, I was exhausted. I enjoyed a half hour catch up with my family and then a brief journal entry. But I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open so that was ended quite quickly.

Today is my first full day of life in Ecuador. It has been wonderful, stressful, and overwhelming. I woke up and took a shower, which turned out to be an endeavor in its self. Then was offered breakfast of chocolate ice cream, chocolate corn flakes, a glass of yogurt and a cup of hot milk. I think this is the first time in my life that I have actually enjoyed milk. (Hi mom, I know you are jumping up and down in excitement right now… that’s right… I enjoyed the milk. J) After that we headed to my aunt and uncles house and I got a tour of that and got to go onto their roof and enjoy the amazing view. Dang. That’s all I can say. We then headed somewhere, I had no idea where. Turns out that my uncle was running for town mayor so they had to go vote and wait for results. I think he lost, because there are no preparations for the fiesta going on, but I am not 100% clear on this. Then to lunch at the aunt and uncles house and back home for some relaxing time. That is what is happening now… chilling and updating you all on my adventures. I can see my Spanish getting better already, and by that I mean that I can understand maybe 20% of what people say to me. But I am sure I will continue learning. I think a nap is in my very near future. I hope life at home is going well and that everybody is having a great end of the summer. I miss and love you all.

Living life on the loose.

Did I mention that almost everybody here has a pet dog?!? I love it. We have three dogs, two of them are super nice and the other one is (as the put it) muy loco. I also spend the majority of the day with a 4-month-old puppy named Boo who is possibly the cutest thing ever.