145 exchange students, 16 countries, and a week on the beach

The hotel rooms and courtyard

talent show

 I thought I had the best and nothing could top the trip to Mompiche, wellll………..I was wrong. This trip to Crucita, Manabí was amazing. What made it better was that all the exchange students from all of Ecuador were there, 145 to be exact. And like I keep mentioning all exchange students are so fun and just love life so all that energy around was incredible. So another 9 hour bus ride and we arrived at our hotel which just so happened to be right across from the beach, so that was awesome. 

The excitement of arriving

Everyone was so excited to meet all the people they hadn’t met yet, everyone had a grin from ear to ear. We got there in the afternoon so we just hung around from the night and got to know everyone. The next day we went to a beach that was down the road a little ways and had a blast. We played soccer, Frisbee, and tons of other little games on the beach. Not to mention just swimming in the ocean and playing in the waves. Also the weather was perfect, as always in the coastal region here. It starts out a little over cast in the morning and by noon its blue sky, hot, and sunny. So even with lathering the sun screen on everyone, and I mean everyone, got sunburnt. After the beach we went to this look out place, el Mirador, which was atop a hill and over looked the coast and town we were in which was beautiful. Tons and tons of pictures were taken here with all the exchange students, which was perfect for picture taking. After that we had a talent show night which was such a great idea on rotary’s part. You could do it by country or just by yourself, obviously the goal being to display the talents of everyone. So countries did dances and songs that are traditional to their country. A friend and I decided some what last minute to throw something together. She plays guitar and has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard. So I grabbed a trashcan and flipped it over and gave it some rhythm and also beat boxed and we ended up getting third place. It was such a surprise but it was great. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150439595775482 (The link is for the video I made of the whole trip with various videos.) And after that we had a big dance party, which we had every night actually. 

Volleyball on the beach

bonfire on the beach

The next day we just went to the beach across the street for a sports day. We had soccer, volleyball, little races, tubing out on the ocean and other little things. There were tournaments in the soccer and volleyball, which was really fun. Except for the fact that the Brazilians just made there own soccer team and just destroyed everyone else as you could imagine. 

parade in Portoviejo

 

at el Mirador

The next day was the most fun I think. No one really knew what we were doing but they told us to wear our rotary blazers and long pants. Well we ended up being in the independence parade of the city Portoviejo. So this group of 145 gringos all waving their flags and singing their national anthems and going crazy were walking down the street and for some reason the locals LOVED it. They were all cheering for us and would try there English or other languages they knew. Also everyone wanted pictures with us, which was really funny. So that was a blast. After that we went to a market in a town called Monticristi and we all bought traditional hats, shirts, pants, trinkets, and other native things. 

dance party in the rotary club

Then that night was our final night so there was a formal dinner at the rotary club in Portoviejo. So we went there and before the dinner we actually got to ride the chivas, which are these party busses pretty much. It’s a bus that drives around a town or city and plays music and you dance on top, inside, along side, or anywhere you want. So with three chivas we had 145 kids packed onto these things driving through the streets just dancing and having fun. Then with our final dinner they introduced us country by country as we walked out to our tables and sat. There were multiple speakers and then dinner and everything like that. Then there was a king and queen that were picked out of everyone. So every country elected a king and queen from their country and then they all went head to head in a runway show down which was hilarious to watch. And then after as always we had a giant dance party until 3 in the morning. The next morning it as quite sad as everyone gave their hugs and kisses and goodbyes. The next time we’ll all be together again isn’t until February I think when we go to the amazon. But overall it was amazing. I’ll admit the rooms, food, and hotel itself was much nicer at Mompiche with the all-inclusive resort. But this was just simple which I liked a lot more. The people though make it what it is. We would be put in a run down warehouse for a week and still have the time of our lives. These are without a doubt friends I’ll have for a lifetime. I love them all.

Gotta love sunburn

Patriotism  at its best

the chivas

bump in the road

Okay okay, I know it’s been a long time since my last post. I get so busy here and just get caught up in life and I forget to write in here sometimes. Anyways nothing out of the ordinary in the last few weeks. Just school, friends, and family for the most part. Oh I did start dance classes with a few other fellow exchange students that live near me. It’s salsa and hip hop which I think are the two greatest types of dances out there to be honest, so that’s really fun. It’s also really good exercise for me which I’ve been lacking since I’ve been here. Just from doing a little exercise though like in gym class for instance, I get winded really fast. The altitude really affects you and you don’t realize it until your moving around and you just get really tired really fast. But already since I got here I can feel a difference in becoming more accustomed to it. I should have great stamina when I return home. Another kind of interesting event was the Ecuador vs. USA soccer game the other day. It was only a friendly match meaning there wasn’t any world cup qualifying points up for stake, but still important none the less. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. In reality I didn’t care who won because it was a win for me either way, but still who do I root for? Well I was with a few other exchange students, none from the US, and we went to this mall to watch the game because they have a huge movie theater like screen in the food court. So lots of people were crowded in this place watching the game. I ended up rooting for the US because after all it is my home country. So I was the only one in this mob of Ecuadorian not rooting for Ecuador. So I would throw my hands up and get into it when US got close to scoring or a bad call or something like that. People were turning around and looking at me like I had 3 heads but it was all friendly, or at least I think. So when Ecuador scored everyone, and I mean everyone, turned to me and pointed and laughed or smiled which was a really funny moment. I knew they were all just joking around cause I was rooting for the US and I was talking to one of them sitting next to me so it was all in good fun. Ecuador ended up winning 1-0 if you didn’t know. Now onto a little more somber note, last week I have to admit I did get a little down and homesick for the first time. I was making a presentation of Vermont for my English class and I was going through all my pictures and just seeing all the pictures of Vermont it made me realize just how beautiful it really is. I’ve never taken for granted, but still now living in a big city makes me really miss that open landscape. Also my friends and family and everyone I just missed because it’s just now starting to sink in that I’m here for the year. It doesn’t feel like a vacation any more. It took two months for it to hit me.  Another part of the sadness was due to the lack of tennis playing. It sounds a little dumb, but most of you reading this know how much tennis means to mean and everything, and I’ve only played twice now in 2 months which is nothing at all. So I just got a little frustrated with not being able to just go play when I want like I can at home. I’ve put it out there as much as possible with all my connections and I’m just hoping something can work out to play more. As for the language it improving unlike anything else, it amazing. I can now pretty much hold a conversation with anyone one on one or in a small group. In the classroom or a bigger group of kids the words come so fast and topics change faster than I can keep up with so that’s still a little frustrating but it’ll come. Tomorrow I leave on another trip with Rotary for the week to Manabí. It’s the coastal region that I went to the first week I was here with my family. It another beach trip like Mompiche was but this time it’s all 145 exchange students in all of Ecuador so it is bound to be an absolute blast. I’ll be there for the week so I’ll check back in here when I get back. Hablamos pronto.

fun weekend

Last week wasn't anything special, quite boring actually cause I was just dreaming of being back in mompiche the whole time. Friday though we got out of school at 11 because it was the year anniversary of the people trying to take down the predient, Rafael Carrea. Last year on Sept. 30th the police went after him trying to kill him and the military under Correas comand fought back. Anyways it was crazy times here in ecuador. I mean if you thought Bush had mad approval ratings, this guy probably has close to zero percent. Anyways so more than 10,000 people came into to quito on thursday night to march on friday. So most of the school got out early to avoid trafic form the people filled streets. Anways so went to a friends house with all my good buddies which was fun. Saturday i went to my cousins birthday party which was really fun cause all the family was there. Later with a big group of other exchange students and friends we all went out and had fun with eachother. Sunday was really fun as well because I got to go to my first soccer game here. Like most people know south and latin americans are crazy about their soccer teams, well let me tell you, that's a 100% right. It was Quito vs. Liga, two of the biggest teams in ecuador and both are out of quito so it's like a civil war. Families and friends are torn apart and it gets hostile at times, it's ridiculous. It's like the Red Sox and Yankee rival on steroids. In my family my mother and brother are for Quito, and sister and father are for Liga. And at the moment I'm neutral, but I need to decide before their next match in a few weeks. Anyways it was $8 to enter and the stadium isn't huge, but it's quite big. Half of the stadium was white for Liga and the other half red/blue for Quito. There were police and fences separting the fans of each team. Each side seemed to have endless chants and dances that went on the entire game. There's this mote around the field separting the stands from the field so people dont jump onto the field. Anyways from all teh streamers people were throwing the mote was filled with paper. So when some fans broke out the flares and threw them down there small fires started. To accompany this people would throwing m-80 like explosives in there as well adn would echo throughout the stadium. As for the soccer itself it was quite great. It's really high level play and it ended up in a tie 1-1. Needless to say though it was quite the experience for me and I loved it. OH and also at half time they kicked out some balls into the crowd and one happened to come my way and i just so happened to be taller than everyone here so it was quite an easy catch.