…is officially my new favorite city! Sorry I haven’t updated in a few weeks! Semana Santa (Holy Week, our version of Spring Break) is coming up in 2 WEEKS which is GREAT but teachers looooove to cram in work before a vacation so I’ve been super busy…anyways…
Last Saturday the U of I flew to Cuenca (a city that is about 10 hours by bus away from Quito, but only 30 minutes by plane. Yay!!!) We were only there until Sunday so the whole trip was a blur, but I had a lot of fun! Basically, Cuenca resembles a small European town, with cobble stone streets and tons of museums and all. While in Cuenca we took a bus tour of the city, went to a Panama Hat museum (because Panama hats originated in Cuenca), and ate loooooots of junk food (Cuenca has great restaurants and super delicious ice cream!!)
Across the street from the main park in Cuenca was a sidewalk fullll of hippies selling handmade jewelry on the streets. One of my favorite parts of being in Cuenca was sitting on the streets and chilling with them. They were all really nice and most of them knew me by the time we left lol. I bought a bunch of rings from them (so far I’ve bought 15 rings here in Ecuador lol) and one of the guys (who was from Colombia) said he’d teach me how to make jewelry if I ever came back to Cuenca. I’m already trying to plan a chance to go back to Cuenca lol. I have a few pictures, but I let my friend borrow my camera for the week so I’ll probably post some pics next week.
Class Updates:
1. Temas de America Latina – Still kind of hard for me because I space out whenever he talks, but I’m getting used to the readings. I didn’t do as well as I would have liked to do on my 1st exam but I have two more exams left (one next week :P)
2. Norte y Sur: Procesos de Colonialismo: I’m getting used to these readings as well. I’ve started my semester portfolio and my theme is about the role of Christianity in during colonialism in North and South America and how this role has impacted society today. I plan on extending this portfolio into my Senior Thesis eventually.
3. Introduccion a Cultura Ecuatoriana: Easy. Enough said. For anyone planning on studying abroad in Ecuador, I would recommend it. It’s a 300 level class with very little work. I plan on using it for my Area Study (in case you’re reading this as a Global/International Studies Major)
4. Conversacion Avanzada: I must admit, I wish I had taken a grammar class instead. This class basically consists of writing a ton of sentences for a ton of vocabulary words, then writing stories with vocabulary words for exams. Not too much conversation here, but I have learned a few really important things. To future study abroad people, unless your grammar is perfect I would recommend taking a grammar class instead, because your whole life is advanced conversation! The class itself doesn’t help much..
5. French: The language is hard but we still haven’t really had any homework yet..The class is moving really slowly which is cool but kinda concerning because I really want to learn French and be able to place into French 2 next semester. We’ll see, I guess.
So basically, I have 2 more months left here in Ecuador. I know I’m going to be ridiculously sad when I get back home and miss a bunch of things (my host family, the food, and Latin American lie in general lol) but I don’t think I’m as sad as the other international students about going home. I would LOVE study abroad…if it wasn’t for the study part lol. My classes (well, Temas and History) take up a lot of my time so I feel like I haven’t been able to experience Ecuador as much as I could be (taking classes all in Spanish also makes it difficult…). My advice to students planning on studying abroad: leave room for electives for study abroad! I’m taking 4 major classes and a French class (because I really want to complete 4 semesters of French before I graduate) but there are soooo many cool classes that I wish I could be taking but I really don’t have room because I didn’t plan well. Also, if you can get Friday free of classes – even better. More time to travel!!
Hasta Luego!
