Ecuador – Rivers and Roads

So at this point I have been living in Ecuador for just over a month. And it has been absolutely INSANE! Full of changes and new experiences, it hasn’t all been easy but I am having so much fun.

For the people that don’t want to read all of this here are some of the cultural differences I have experienced and new things I have tried: cow udder, cow stomach (for breakfast), cow tongue, and many different types of food that I had no idea what I was eating. I got to visit Quito three times and celebrate my birthday. I learned a lot more Spanish and have started making friends here. I have struggled with how much plans change and the time “flexibility” (everyone is ALWAYS late). Overall the people here are SO nice, SO nice, everyone is so happy to help me and get me to try new things. It had been an amazing month full of surprises!

I first arrived in Quito on January 17 and was met by my host mom (Sophia), an exchange student from USA who is living near me in Ecuador (Emily), and a friend of Sophia (he let us stay in his house the night we were there). The next day we went all around Quito visiting some of the main sights within the city. It was so much fun and I became friends with Emily. I was so happy she was there because otherwise I would have had serious issues communicating. I barely spoke any Spanish and could understand a minimal amount.

I fell in love with Quito and the mountains in the city, it was so gorgeous, but we were only there one day before we traveled to Santo Domingo (the city where I am living). I was exhausted and ready to just sleep the next day, but of course it is Ecuador and there doesn’t seem to be much time to rest here…even though everyone is always late to everything. First we went to one of my host aunt’s house, Nereyda, to meet another aunt (Ana Lidia), her husband, and her twin girls. We visited a river right outside of the city before going to Andrea’s house (another aunt). There we cooked out and swam in the neighborhood pool. I met so many people in one day I felt like I could have been there a week already. I was not able to communicate much and it was really difficult being there because we were there for so long and I was so tired. At the same time, it made me really happy, the whole family was really cute and I got to meet some other exchange students that are living with the family and their friends.

The first week I was trying to get adjusted to my new life in Ecuador. I started working at a jewelry store in Santo Domingo, just as a way to pay off me staying here. Since I don’t speak much Spanish I spend most of my time putting price tags on jewelry, but I enjoy it. Ana Lidia speaks English so she helps me whenever I need, but I am trying to use more Spanish. In my first week I spent so much time with the family because it was Sophia’s birthday. We were always going to lunch or dinner at other people’s house. It was a lot of fun but it was also quite an adjustment for me. The seven-ish months I was in USA I spent a lot of time alone but in one week I was constantly with other people. It was hard to communicate and a lot of times kind of boring. One of the birthday celebrations was supposed to be a “dinner” but we didn’t leave my aunt’s house until four in the morning. And by the end of it the kids were all covered in flour and foam/soap suds.

One of the weirdest things was being here without my friend (Andrés) from exchange because I never really thought I would be in Ecuador except to visit him. I had been texting him all week about how weird it was being with his whole family without him. But I knew I wouldn’t see him anytime soon because he was studying Medicine in Russia and would not visit until the summer. I had just gotten adjusted to the idea of him not being there when I got a knock on my door the next morning and he was standing there. I was totally shocked by his two week long surprise visit. No one expect his mom had known he was coming.

After Andrés’ surprise arrival everything went kind of crazy. We spent a lot of time with family and Andres’ friends. I was still going to work, but I got to skip a few days to hang out with friends.

The next weekend was my birthday and the Friday before they had a surprise party for me at work. They put me in charge of watching my 2 year old cousin for the last hour of work while they got a cake and party decorations. I had so much fun with him as I tried to communicate with him in Spanish and teach him English. I had slowly started to build a relationship with the people at work and the surprise party made me so happy. Afterwards I went to my friend Salwa’s house (she is from Ecuador but left one week later for exchange in Brazil) with Emily to watch movies. Around midnight we were going to go to a party down the street but when I got downstairs Andrés was there and we had cake with Salwa’s family.

On my actual birthday I went with Sophia and Andres to breakfast before going to my aunt’s house and eventually having lunch. After lunch Andrés, Emily, Marcelle (an exchange student from Brazil), and I took a taxi to Quito to stay with some of Andrés’ friends who are in University. We spent four days in Quito shopping, ice skating, and hanging out.

Back in Santo Domingo we spent a lot of time with the family and I didn’t go to work much. I spent time with Andrés and my friends. I got to go swimming and “cliff diving” in a river and made friends with two of the German exchange students (one is living with my host aunt). Friday, Emily and I went with Sophia to take Andrés to the airport to go back to Russia. He had been debating whether or not he wanted to move back to Ecuador and leave University in Russia, but he wanted to try real classes and would return to Russia for a week before he decided to move back to Ecuador or not.

After Andrés left not much happened. I was with my friends and family a lot, and went to work the whole next week. My Spanish has gotten a lot better I understand a lot and can speak more than I could in the beginning. The week at work was super busy because of Valentine’s Day coming up. I was working mostly in the front putting on price tags, welcoming customers, rearranging jewelry, and wrapping presents. I really started to make friends with the ladies I work with and enjoy my time there.

For the weekend a bunch of us went to the beach: Sophia, Emily, Marcelle, Marcelle’s host family, Nereyda and her son and their German exchange student, and one other family. It was SO much fun and beautiful. I was happy to finally go to the beach since everyone was always asking me if I had visited the beach yet. It was also a trip that made me realize that I was understanding a lot more Spanish than I realized (which made me super happy). We all stayed in one really nice house on the beach with a pool, and visited other beaches in the area. We were only gone for four days before returning to Santo Domingo.

I returned to work as normal but ended up skipping most of the week because of Rotary events (my host mom is in Rotary so I just go with her) and hanging out with my friends. This weekend starts Carnival which means a lot of family time, parties, water fights, and two more days off work.

More on Carnival and my second month in Ecuador next time!

Sorry for my poor grammar and writing in my posts now, but I know I will never post anything if I feel pressured to make it all really good and perfect.

Quito