Sooo I've been trying to make a list of things that I love so I don't have to write for days on end. As of week one, here are a few of my cosas favoritas:
- Living in a huge city that’s surrounded by mountains
- Most of the mountains are actually volcanoes
- My Ecuadorian cell phone is just like my Dominican gigapet phone… it’s an Alcatel phone sponsored by Claro which means nothing to anyone but my favorite ISA kids
- The poster on the door to my room is of the three stooges golfing and says “golf with friends”
- My host fam has two huskies (who even knew they had huskies in South America..)
- Eating soup for every lunch and dinner
- Lunch (almuerzo) costs between $1.50 and $3 for soup, rice, chicken/fish, vegetables, and a dessert
- I’m taking a Spanish class and there are only three of us so we get to learn exactly what we need to
- My WT director is awesome and was a WT volunteer in Cuenca, Ecuador about ten years ago and married an Ecuadorian soccer player and has two ecuakids
- The weather is like fall in Minnesota without the rainy days
- I’m not nervous to speak Spanish and I can understand everything and it’s already hard to switch back to English.. I love it and can’t wait to only speak Spanish in Portoviejo
- Everyone is a fabulous dancer and there are salsa clubs all over the place
- Private salsa lessons cost $6 an hour and I’m going to be the best rubia salsa dancer by the time I leave
- My host brother explained what an owl was by explaining that it is Harry Potter’s pet
- My host brother has an Avril Lavigne poster in his room but also loves all the same American music I do
- Being called Kreeesta
- There’s way less traffic and cat calling than I expected
- Ecuadorian Spanish uses a lot of Quichua (indigenous language) for expressions so I’m learning a lot of new words (a-cha-chay is the same as saying brrr when you’re cold)
- People really are playing soccer all the time
- Everyone (still) thinks Minnesota is right next to Chicago
- I’ve seen at least four Ecuadorian guys who are taller than me so there is hope
- I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else in the entire world right now
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Primera Semana, SUPERBUENO
Ok. I’m obsessed and it’s been less than a week. I’ve literally gotten up at 6:30 and gotten home after 8pm and been absolutely exhausted but it’s been so awesome. We got in to Miami on Monday night and had fake orientation aka get to know you games and just hung out.. instantly knew the group was perfect so I started getting to know everyone then but now we’re all bffs so it’s awesome.
After an extreme day of traveling we finally made it in.. we only slept like 3 hours at the hotel so I was passed out on the plane and woke up when we were getting ready to land and literally had to think about it to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.. the scenery is so gorgeous here; we flew in over rolling hills that were super green with snow capped mountains in the background and then flew over the entire city of Quito. It’s massive by the way and looks like somebody threw a bajillion houses on a mountain range and made a giant city where one shouldn’t be because it’s surrounded by extreme mountains but it’s so so cool. We got to our hostel and met our directors and went out for dinner.. to a Mongolian barbeque (super random considering were in Ecuador) but got to try Club, one of the three kinds of Ecuadorian beers (many more to come I’m sure). Everyone was dead and we went to bed at like 10pm and started orientation at 9am on Wednesday.
Summer camp style get to know you games (despite how lame the games always are everyone is hilarious in the group so even the boring stuff is super fun). The first thing we learned about was how to protect ourselves from being victims of crime.. basically just telling us how we’ll most likely get robbed this year.. but just so everyone knows, they’re like literally all crimes of poverty so people will steal your stuff without you knowing it or don’t want to hurt you and will just scare you and take your stuff and let you keep money to take the bus home. There is a lot of crime here, especially in Quito, but we literally spent 5 hours on ways to stay safe and not lose our gear and protect ourselves so I promise (all the moms out there) that I’ll be very very careful.
On Wednesday night I finally got to meet my host family for the night; I’m living with one other WorldTeach volunteer whose name is Sara and she’s really nice and it’s been great to be with someone else. My host family is so great.. my mom’s name is Cecilia and she’s probably 4’9 and calls us ‘Sarita’ and ‘Kristita’ (little Sara and little Krista) and loves cooking and is a really good painter. Her daughter is 30 and she came with Cecilia and her husband to pick us up. Minor setback leaving with all our gear though; car wouldn’t start and we spent two hours in the parking lot trying to fix it. Sara and I literally helped push the car and it finally started (ps, we’re starving and were sitting together in the back seat with all of my gear for 45 minutes before we realized that we were going to be there forever). Finally made it to the house though which is in on a big hill in the Southern part of Quito. Our house is one level and has one bathroom but four bedrooms and has more trinkets than I’ve ever seen in my life and is adorable. We’re about a 45 minute bus ride away from the main downtown and it costs a quarter to ride any of the buses as long as you want, I heart public transportation.
Thursday we had more orientation and my host brother Daniel who was in Peru for the last week came to pick us up to help us make sure we got on the right bus back home. He’s really awesome and 26 and so excited that we’re here. He loves extreme sports and has his own club where they all go climb mountains and go whitewater rafting and mountain biking and stuff.. he showed me pictures and it’s literally insane but so cool.
Friday we took a bus tour of Quito, aka rode a bus to the historic square and walked around. The Incas used to live in Quito and the Spanish came in the 1400s (approx.. I’m not for sure still need to figure out the history) and redid everything downtown in colonial Spanish style so it’s all a bunch of really cool buildings. There are a ton of churches and there’s one where everything inside is literally covered in gold plating. So crazy awesome. We saw what would be the white house of Ecuador and saw the center square and stuff which was really cool. After training we ate dinner then Daniel took us up to this huge statue called the Virgin de Quito that’s like the statue of liberty of Ecuador.. it’s massive and something like 90 feet tall and a huge statue of the virgin mary with wings. Then he took us back to the historic district where we were earlier but at night it’s a really fun place to walk around and have a few drinks. We met some of his friends (seemed like they were best friends but he hadn’t seen them for five years.. have to get used to everyone loving everyone all the time again) and they showed us around and it was really fun now that I’m not so nervous to speak Spanish. We tried this hot wine stuff that’s kind of like apple pie shots but stronger than tequila but is super good. It was great to finally actually see the city rather than just sit in a conference room with a bunch of Americans and speak English so I’m really glad that Daniel is here to show us around.
Today we finally started working on learning how to teach which is really exciting and getting me pumped to have my own class (terrified, but I think I’ll be a lot better prepared after the next three weeks). After class we had salsa lessons, so much fun! There’s one girl who’s lived here for 7 months before and another who was a professional dancer so they’re awesome and everyone else was pretty bad but my Dominican dance lessons definitely helped and I could do all the steps just had a difficult time overcoming my being a white girl. Maybe this year it’ll happen (doubt it, super rubia, pero espero que si). Tonight we’re going out downtown with the WT kids to a salsa club and I’m so excited to pretend to dance and to finally be out in real bars in a real city (no offense Roscoes).
Ok that’s already way too much info.. but tomorrow is our first day off so I’ll probably add more stuff that I forgot. It’s crazy busy but I absolutely love my life right now and I’m so excited I get to be here for the year with this group of people. Miss everyone so much and I’ll write soon. LOVE YOU!
After an extreme day of traveling we finally made it in.. we only slept like 3 hours at the hotel so I was passed out on the plane and woke up when we were getting ready to land and literally had to think about it to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.. the scenery is so gorgeous here; we flew in over rolling hills that were super green with snow capped mountains in the background and then flew over the entire city of Quito. It’s massive by the way and looks like somebody threw a bajillion houses on a mountain range and made a giant city where one shouldn’t be because it’s surrounded by extreme mountains but it’s so so cool. We got to our hostel and met our directors and went out for dinner.. to a Mongolian barbeque (super random considering were in Ecuador) but got to try Club, one of the three kinds of Ecuadorian beers (many more to come I’m sure). Everyone was dead and we went to bed at like 10pm and started orientation at 9am on Wednesday.
Summer camp style get to know you games (despite how lame the games always are everyone is hilarious in the group so even the boring stuff is super fun). The first thing we learned about was how to protect ourselves from being victims of crime.. basically just telling us how we’ll most likely get robbed this year.. but just so everyone knows, they’re like literally all crimes of poverty so people will steal your stuff without you knowing it or don’t want to hurt you and will just scare you and take your stuff and let you keep money to take the bus home. There is a lot of crime here, especially in Quito, but we literally spent 5 hours on ways to stay safe and not lose our gear and protect ourselves so I promise (all the moms out there) that I’ll be very very careful.
On Wednesday night I finally got to meet my host family for the night; I’m living with one other WorldTeach volunteer whose name is Sara and she’s really nice and it’s been great to be with someone else. My host family is so great.. my mom’s name is Cecilia and she’s probably 4’9 and calls us ‘Sarita’ and ‘Kristita’ (little Sara and little Krista) and loves cooking and is a really good painter. Her daughter is 30 and she came with Cecilia and her husband to pick us up. Minor setback leaving with all our gear though; car wouldn’t start and we spent two hours in the parking lot trying to fix it. Sara and I literally helped push the car and it finally started (ps, we’re starving and were sitting together in the back seat with all of my gear for 45 minutes before we realized that we were going to be there forever). Finally made it to the house though which is in on a big hill in the Southern part of Quito. Our house is one level and has one bathroom but four bedrooms and has more trinkets than I’ve ever seen in my life and is adorable. We’re about a 45 minute bus ride away from the main downtown and it costs a quarter to ride any of the buses as long as you want, I heart public transportation.
Thursday we had more orientation and my host brother Daniel who was in Peru for the last week came to pick us up to help us make sure we got on the right bus back home. He’s really awesome and 26 and so excited that we’re here. He loves extreme sports and has his own club where they all go climb mountains and go whitewater rafting and mountain biking and stuff.. he showed me pictures and it’s literally insane but so cool.
Friday we took a bus tour of Quito, aka rode a bus to the historic square and walked around. The Incas used to live in Quito and the Spanish came in the 1400s (approx.. I’m not for sure still need to figure out the history) and redid everything downtown in colonial Spanish style so it’s all a bunch of really cool buildings. There are a ton of churches and there’s one where everything inside is literally covered in gold plating. So crazy awesome. We saw what would be the white house of Ecuador and saw the center square and stuff which was really cool. After training we ate dinner then Daniel took us up to this huge statue called the Virgin de Quito that’s like the statue of liberty of Ecuador.. it’s massive and something like 90 feet tall and a huge statue of the virgin mary with wings. Then he took us back to the historic district where we were earlier but at night it’s a really fun place to walk around and have a few drinks. We met some of his friends (seemed like they were best friends but he hadn’t seen them for five years.. have to get used to everyone loving everyone all the time again) and they showed us around and it was really fun now that I’m not so nervous to speak Spanish. We tried this hot wine stuff that’s kind of like apple pie shots but stronger than tequila but is super good. It was great to finally actually see the city rather than just sit in a conference room with a bunch of Americans and speak English so I’m really glad that Daniel is here to show us around.
Today we finally started working on learning how to teach which is really exciting and getting me pumped to have my own class (terrified, but I think I’ll be a lot better prepared after the next three weeks). After class we had salsa lessons, so much fun! There’s one girl who’s lived here for 7 months before and another who was a professional dancer so they’re awesome and everyone else was pretty bad but my Dominican dance lessons definitely helped and I could do all the steps just had a difficult time overcoming my being a white girl. Maybe this year it’ll happen (doubt it, super rubia, pero espero que si). Tonight we’re going out downtown with the WT kids to a salsa club and I’m so excited to pretend to dance and to finally be out in real bars in a real city (no offense Roscoes).
Ok that’s already way too much info.. but tomorrow is our first day off so I’ll probably add more stuff that I forgot. It’s crazy busy but I absolutely love my life right now and I’m so excited I get to be here for the year with this group of people. Miss everyone so much and I’ll write soon. LOVE YOU!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Last night in Minnesota, SO JACKED TO GO
Hola a todos! I'm about to leave to go to Ecuador for the year and I wanted to give everyone a little info about my program and my travel plans. I'm not sure how much internet I'll have, but I'll put up pictures and write about everything as soon as I can. Apologies in advance for my ridiculous writing style which I've heard is exactly like how I talk, but it'll just feel like we're chatting.
I'm going with a program called WorldTeach (organization started by Harvard in 1986 and now has volunteer groups like mine all over the world) and I'll be teaching English in Portoviejo (coastal town in the middle/north-ish part of Ecuador)at La Universidad Técnica de Manabí. I'll live with a host family and teach my own classes.. but that's about all the info I have about my placement so I'll let you know as I find out more about what I'll be doing.
Monday morning I'll fly from Rochester to Chicago to Miami and spend the night in Miami with the rest of the WorldTeach volunteers (there are about 30 of us from all over the US). I'll get to meet everyone there and learn about what we're doing during orientation. Tuesday morning we go to the airport at 5am and fly to Bogota, Columbia and then to Quito, Ecuador (the capital) in the afternoon. I'll be in Quito for the first month with everyone in the group getting trained in. I'll live with a host family for this month also but then I'll move permanently to Portoviejo for the rest of the year.
That's about all I have for now, I'm ridiculously excited to finally get down there and I'll update you when I've done some awesome stuff. Miss everyone already! LOVE.
I'm going with a program called WorldTeach (organization started by Harvard in 1986 and now has volunteer groups like mine all over the world) and I'll be teaching English in Portoviejo (coastal town in the middle/north-ish part of Ecuador)at La Universidad Técnica de Manabí. I'll live with a host family and teach my own classes.. but that's about all the info I have about my placement so I'll let you know as I find out more about what I'll be doing.
Monday morning I'll fly from Rochester to Chicago to Miami and spend the night in Miami with the rest of the WorldTeach volunteers (there are about 30 of us from all over the US). I'll get to meet everyone there and learn about what we're doing during orientation. Tuesday morning we go to the airport at 5am and fly to Bogota, Columbia and then to Quito, Ecuador (the capital) in the afternoon. I'll be in Quito for the first month with everyone in the group getting trained in. I'll live with a host family for this month also but then I'll move permanently to Portoviejo for the rest of the year.
That's about all I have for now, I'm ridiculously excited to finally get down there and I'll update you when I've done some awesome stuff. Miss everyone already! LOVE.
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