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.

Language Camp!

From the beach

View from my balcony

Looking down from a restaurant

Oh my god, I have no idea where to start or even how. I literally have no words to describe how amazing the last week was. But I guess I'll try my best. So I got on the bus with about 30 other exchange students bright and early sunday morning and so began the fun. Instantly everyone was talking with everyone and laughing and having a good time on the 8 hour bus ride. I mentioned it in an earlier post i think but I think it's quite amazing that the instant you meet another exchange student you're friends. There's this connection of experiencing this new country and lfe together, it's really amazing. Anyways after a long but fun bus ride we got to Mompiche which is the region of beaches on teh coast and we were in the Royal Decameron Resort. I Had looked at some pictures of it online and was like wow this place is pretty nice, but I had no clue. This is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been in my life i think. On top of that its all inclusive, so once we had that green bracelet we could do anything we wanted, well almost anything. The whole thing costed $320 for 5 days which at first I thought was alot until i realized how much we got to do here. Theres always buffets and different ethnical restaurants that you just walk in and eat as much as you want and walk out pretty much when ever you want. There's soda fountain machines you just help yourself too and everything you can think of. If I were to pay for all the food and drinks I had I would easily have used that 320 in only a few days. So other than that there were 7 pools, 3 hot tubs, 6 bars, 4 restaurants, 2 tennis courts, an amphitheatre, a small movie theather, a discoteca, 3 different beaches to go too and then the normal accomidations of a hotel. So needless to say this place was out of this world. But what made it so much fun wasn't all these perks, but it was the 68 other exchange students I got to spend the week with. I don't know why but all exchange students no matter from where are so much fun just love life. It's so great to hang with them because there's never no laughter or smiles, it's alwasy happiness.

A small group of us

2 of the 7 pools

It wasn't all fun and games all week either, we did have 7 hours of spanish class a day. It started out slow because there weren't really any levels to the groups, just split into 5 different groups. So it started really basic with stuff I learned 4 or 5 years ago but it picked up and it was more of a good review for me all week but still really helped my spanish. So that was good. With the common language being english through all the students, it was used a lot between eachother. I tryed to use as much spanish as I could because I've been told over and over my other exchange students in the past that to no get sucked into speaking english with the other exchange students. It was hard though because this beeing our first meeting a lot of people aren't able to speak in spanish yet because it's early in the year, but I still spoke with the people who could respond and only spoke english if they didn't understand. The weather was okay, nothing special. It was cloudy and little rainy a few days and then beautiful a few days. A very comfortable temperature, nothing too hot but it was still warm enough to always want to cool off in the pool or ocean. I would feel safe saying the ocean was warmer than a few of the pools, it was amazing. The second best thing of this place just below being with all the exchange students was the dancing. If you're reading this you probably know that I love to dance. Well this place is one big dance party. There's ALWAYS music playing and theres dance classes on the main pool deck 5 times a day. You just join the group dancing with the instructors in the front. I have come to a conclusion that I was born to live south america because of the dancing. It's all the dancing that I love to do in the states. Its the fluid salsa, samba from brasil, rumba from cuba, and just the constant wave like motion in the body accompanied with the quick feet is perfect. When I would dance at the front of teh group just behind the instructors people would come up after and ask me when the next session was or about some step because they thought I was one of the instructors, it was great. One of the men that was teaching told me I was the best gringo dancer to come that he's seen, so i was quite proud of myself. Along with teh classes there are shows every night that are something different in the amphitheatre. It's usually somehting to do with dancing but not always. One night it was all the latin american dances, another night was danced from around the world, another night was a game show thing, and another night was another game show. But all the shows are by the same group of dancers. During the day this group of staff is helping out around the resort and then take breaks to do  dance classes and then at night become the stars. I want that job so bad. Maybe one day I'll go back and ask for it. All in all though I came out of this week with a tonnnnn of stories, awesome memories, a little bit better spanish, but most of all, a great group of new friends from all around the world.

One a many beautiful sunsets

Another sunset

 

monthiversary

WOW! I can’t believe it’s been an entire month that I’ve been here in Ecuador. It’s crazy. It literally feels like I’ve been here for maybe two weeks. But at the same time when I think back on everything I realize how much I’ve gone through. Anyways today was a good day for my monthiversary. I went to school as normal but there wasn’t any class today because a lot of the teachers were at workshops. So my whole grade was in the auditorium for the entire day with a  few breaks watching movies for out classes and doing some group activities. So it was nice to switch it up a little and not have classes. After school I went to my brothers Capoeira class with him which was so much fun. I’ve always loved dancing and acrobatics so this was a great combination of everything. I’ve never done Capoeira before so it was a new experience for me but I gotta say it was awesome. Not to mention a GREAT workout, which I’ve been in much need of lately. I also got to meet other kids that aren’t in my school, which was nice for a change.  After that my dad came and picked us up and we went to get my sister at my aunts house and then went grocery shopping. In the store I really got one of my first feelings of being part of the family. I mean I’ve felt it before but something about today was different when we were all grocery shopping. I don’t know if it’s that its been a month, or if it was that I was helping picking stuff out and going around the store getting things, or if I cant some-what keep up in their conversations in Spanish now and can even pipe in. I don’t know but it feels great. When we got in the car I also told them that because it’s been a month that from now on no more English and only Spanish, unless it’s for a translation of a word or I need to understand something, otherwise it’s all Spanish. And the rest of the car ride home I actually had a full conversation with everyone, it was great.

            On Sunday I leave for my language/intro camp with all the other exchange students in Ecuador with Rotary. I’ll be there until Thursday and everyday it’s Spanish classes so hopefully I’ll be even better by this time next week. So my next update will probably be when I get back, unless something crazy happens in the next two days.

week 3

A view of Cotopaxi from outside Quito

This past week wasn’t too to eventful but still fun nonetheless. Last Saturday there was this Mexican festival in this small town about an hour from Quito and it’s a tradition with my friends to go every year so I of course tagged along. It was a really fun day. Everyone dresses up like a Mexican cowboy or farmer accompanied with a big hat. Then we just walked around the bustling streets where were probably the same amount of horses as there were people. There’s lots of traditional food and drinks as well as music everywhere. One of the main attractions though is the “plaza de torros” which is a bull-fighting ring that is completely made out of bamboo tied and nailed together. It was surprisingly big in diameter and three stories tall. What attracts people most is that anyone who can man up enough to jump in the ring can run around with the bull. My friends usually all do it so that meant I was too was about run for my life from and angry bull. But in the end they decided that this year the ring was especially un-sturdy and the bull rams into the sides a lot and can collapse the ring. So right when I finally built up to courage to do this we walked away, I was a little bummed.

A beautiful setting for some tennis courts

A small soccer field at the tennis club

            The next day, Sunday, I got to finally play tennis for the first time, which was a HUGE relief. If you’re reading this you probably know how much I love tennis and how I’m used to playing almost everyday. So going almost three weeks without playing was quite difficult. It was actually the longest I haven’t played in around a year I think. Anyways my uncle is a member at one of the clubs here so I went to go play with him. The club is absolutely beautiful. So while we were waiting or our court there was these three people warming up below us and the man came up and asked if one of us wanted to be a fourth to play some doubles. My uncle and brother right away told me to go so I got up and walked over. I started to talk with this man and he turns out to be one of the directors of the Quito Sur Rotary Club. Now I’m in the Quito Norte Club so it’s different but still a small world. Well he’s also part of the Rotary International, which is the part that deals with us exchange students, so we connected pretty fast. We exchanged cards and information and plan on meeting soon to play some more tennis or just meet up and talk. So that was a great connection that I got to make.

            Monday and Tuesday I was sick and throwing up. Whether it was because of the first real exercise at 10,000ft or just my stomach getting used to everything, I don’t know, but either way it wasn’t fun. I got better though and went back to school Wednesday. Thursday was the first rotary meeting for my club so I got to meet all the other exchange students in my district, which was really nice. There are three other students and a fourth one coming, a boy from California, a girl from France, and a girl from Germany. The other boy comes in December and is from Brazil. It’s really neat how the instant you meet another exchange student you become friends. It’s like an unspoken bond of being on this adventure together makes you friends automatically. It’s quite the feeling.

            This weekend wasn’t too exciting. Watched a lot of tennis in the US Open which was some good quality family time cheering for the different people. So that was fun. It’s always said that exchange students gain weight at the beginning of the year because of the new food and everything, well I’m definitely feeling the effects. Seeing my stomach bulge out a little bit motivated me to go for a run this morning. I was good for the first 10 or so minutes but then I hit a wall and my lung were on fire. Thank you altitude! Tennis is stop and go so I didn’t really feel it before, but non stop running was tough. My muscles also got tired a lot quicker as well. As I write this I can still feel my lungs burn a little when I take a deep breath, it’s that cold mid-winter day trying to hustle out to your car to start it and run back feeling, it’s not a good one. But hopefully little by little I can work my way up to being accustomed to it.

            The last thing I’m going to touch base on is the language aspect. It’s amazing the improvement that I’ve made in just over 3 weeks. I’m starting to understand a lot more and almost keep an actual conversation. A little landmark was the other day in school I actually understood almost the entire class which was a great feeling (no it wasn’t English class). My speaking is still a little lacking but I figure you have to understand what’s being said to you before you can respond. So that’s where I’m as with that. I’ll let you get back to your day or night that matter.

traditional music and churches made of gold

Iglesia De La Compania De Jesus

Traditional dancing

This was taken a different day but it was just outside quito

So this post is a little bit late but I’m just getting around to it. This past Sunday I went to the center of Quito, which is the old part of the city. It was so beautiful. It’s the colonial style houses and steep coble stone streets. Every Sunday they block off a handful of streets and there’s music, street performers, artwork, dancing, and much more. This past month was Ecuadorian culture month so it was really busy everywhere we went. The music was all the traditional Andean music, which I love so much, and it was accompanied by the traditional dancing by the natives. It was really cool to get to see this up close. There are also A LOT of churches in the old part because most everyone here is either catholic or Christian. Anyways we went into a lot of the churches and walked around and I have never seen anything like them. These churches are completely different then what I’m used to seeing. They are all quite big and all the statues and podiums are made of gold so everything just shines. It was really enchanting. There was this one church that is almost always closed but was open for this one day so my family jumped on that opportunity in a blink of an eye.  They kept telling me how special it is and rare that we get to go inside. I kept thinking to myself what would make this church so special because all the other ones I thought were special. As soon as I stepped in I understood. Pretty much the entire inside was gold.  It was amazing.  We also went to a few museums that were there as well. One was the coin museum that was about the money here in Ecuador since the Incan and Mayan money. Anyways after a few hours hanging out and walking all over the downtown we walked back to grandmothers house (my dads side) where every Sunday the whole family has lunch and dinner together. That was really fun as well because the family is so great and I get alone great with all of them. I can’t wait for next Sunday so I can walk back into the old part because that ‘s the part I like most about any city, it’s where all the history is.