Cuenca…

…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 1^st 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!

Carnival

Celebrated on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, Carnival in Latin America is basically a time for people to do all the things that they can’t/shouldn’t do during Lent lol. As a holiday, pretty much everyone had this time off of school & work. Most of the other international students/Ecuadorians went to the beach (which is a few hours away from here) but I decided to stay in Lumbisí (where I live).

I ended up having a blast!

My goal was to spend as much time with God as possible via sermons from back home, devotionals, journaling, etc. I was totally able to do that because my professors were nice and didn’t give me too much homework =)

On Sunday my family and I went to Latacunga, which is in the province right below Pichincha (the one I am in now). Some of the families in Lumbisí went because there was some water project that they were doing in Latacunga that they wanted to adopt here in Lumbisí. So we left bright and early (3 in the morning) and were there allllll day and came back around 8pm. While I was there I

1. Hiked A LOT (seems to be a common theme of this trip. I hope I’m in super duper top shape when I return to the States :P)

2. Ate cuy (Guinea Pig for those who didn’t know. It tasted kind of like duck if you were wondering. It wasn’t bad, but I’ll probably never eat it again)

3. Went berry picking

4. Got plenty of mosquito bites (5 on my FACE! That’s never happened before lol)

5. AND ACTUALLY TOOK PICTURES:

host sister, mom, and brother

The rest will be on facebook.

It was a blast!!

Yesterday I “played carnival.” To “play carnival” basically means to play with water, water balloons, soap, eggs, and anything messy. In Lumbisí its relatively tame; in the coast I heard they play with mud and paint and all kinds of crazy stuff. After playing carnival, I ended up looking like this:

Overall I had a blast the past few days! In addition to all of that, my host sister taught me how to embroider! I’m super geeked because I’ve always wanted to learn (as yet another way to customize my clothes) and I wanted a skill like that to take back to the US and use forever. I’m really glad I decided to stay home instead of flock to the beach like the rest of the world…A great way to have fun and relax before MIDTERMS! :P

Ecuador has been a lot of fun, but (very surprisingly) I’m slightly homesick. Granted being here in sunny paradise > being in Illinois with all of that crazy snow, but I really do miss my friends and family & CHURCH (Illini Life Christian Fellowship represent!!! if ur at U of I right now check it out!). This is the longest I’ve been away from home & everyone/everything that I love (previous record: 3 weeks in Nigeria lol). I’ve learned a lot about myself from being out here alone, but I write about all of that in my other blog (aprilstutters.blogspot.com) to keep this one from getting too mushy lol.

Adios!

You can't be a girly-girl around here...

Last weekend the U of I program went to Mindo and it was great! For me, it was a huge step outside of my comfort zone because I'm not very outdoorsy. While we were there we:

1. Went white-water rafting (lots of fun!!)
2. Went ZIPLINING through the forest (also a ton of fun! there were 10 different ziplines and I did all 10. the final one was super high in the sky, higher than all of the trees. it was beautiful!)
3. hiked a lot (not so fun for me lol but it was great to see the scenery)
4. visited a butterfly garden
5. went swimming in a waterfall
   

The hostel where we stayed had lots of hummingbirds, which was a beautiful sight. The best part of the trip was probably when the power went out. A few of us took a walk around the city in the late afternoon and when we got back to the hostel, there was no power. There was no power till around midnight, and the majority of Mindo (including our hostel) did not operate on generators. When it got dark, we basically just bought some candles and explored some more, walking around the city in complete darkness. It was incredibly relaxing! No electricity, no distractions, no nothing. Just me and nature.

Overall I've been having a lot of fun on this trip. At first I wasn't sure if my Spanish was improving, until I opened up a book the other day and realized that I could pretty much read through it with ease. I also realized that expressing my ideas and opinions to my host family has gotten a lot easier. Yay for immersion!

This weekend is the beginning of the vacation "carnival" which takes place right before Lent begins. It lasts until Tuesday and its basically an excuse for everyone to be crazy and do all of the things they cant do during Lent. Pretty much everyone is going to the beach, but I decided to stay in Lumbisí to spend time with myself and God. I do plan on having some fun with my family, and my next blog post will probably be about that.

Keeping up with this blog has been harder than I had imagined. For one, I don't have internet at home so I have to update whenever I find time at school. Also, surprisingly its becoming a bit difficult to type in English...I keep misspelling things and am so tempted to just type in Spanish but I wont. Despite everything, I will continue mainly for the sake of not having to answer the question "So hows Ecuador?" a million times.

chao!

10 reasons why ecuador is the best study abroad location ever

1. same time zone as chicago! well, for half of the year because they don't do daylight savings here.
2. they use the US DOLLAR but everything is cheap!! for example, you can buy a good lunch complete with soup, a small salad, a main course, and a small desert for about $2.50.
   
3. the power outlets are the same, so you don't need to buy converters for anything.
4. the weather is pretty much the same all year - in the 70s and completely beautiful.
5. its extremely diverse, in terms of plant and nature life as well as people. there are soooo many different races and ethnic groups here and its super interesting learning about them.
6. bargaining for things when your buying them is also a ton of fun.
7. public transportation is super cheap. to take the bus from home to school = 20 cents. if i were to do a similar bus ride in chicago = $2.25.
   
8. the food is GREAT! i have yet to try something that i dont like. and if ur scared to try different food, they have alot of american restaurants (papa johns, mcdonalds, KFC) and american food here actually tastes better than in the states!
9. theres always somewhere to go and something to do. you will never get bored, i promise.
10. because i said so =)

I'm going to Mindo tomorrow. Expect a blog post on that within the next couple days,

Campus Life at USFQ

This post is probably a "part 1" to many posts regarding this campus.

• Eventually I will need to take pictures, because this place is nuts. As my friend Sara described it, it literally resembles a country club. The school is about 20 years old and its a private school so everything is relatively new and super pretty. Palm trees and such everywhere.
• The buildings don't make much sense. They're all kinda interconnected and some of them (i.e. "Newton"!!!) don't have theyre own door. Basically you have to enter through another building and look at the signs on each door to see where one building stops and another one starts. Very confusing.
• The students here are RICH! Most of them at least. I feel like I'm in an episode of "The Hills" with everyone walking around with theyre Ray Ban glasses and $1000 phones (yes, one thousand dollar cell phones). They're usually super dressed up and aren't always the nicest people. So far I haven't made any Ecuadorian friends here, but one of my friends made a good point: oftentimes we international students walk around in big groups and speak English with each other, so from the Ecuadorian perspective we probably dont look too welcoming. With that in mind, I try to speak spanish more to international students, even if it is sooooo much easier to say something in english.
• Despite my lack of ecuadorian friends, I met this one girl at the bookstore. She ended up being in my political science and shes super nice! When she realized that i was at the bookstore completely lost, she asked me what I was looking for and helped me look around for it. When we couldnt find it, she asked around for me. Shes really one of the nicest people that ive met here, but i still dont know her name! Everytime she seems me she comes and talks to me though, so perhaps we'll end up being friends.
• Teachers are kind of disorganized here. For example, the last day of signing up for classes I signed up for a class called "Introduction to Ecuadorian Culture." There was one more space left online, so i registered for the class. I got to the class only for the teacher to tell me that although there was space left online, she decided last minute that she wanted a smaller class. so if she couldnt open up another section of the course, I'd be kicked out of the class. LUCKLY she was able to open up another section of the class because if not, I would have been kicked out of the class for a stupid reason, being left with only 12 hours because it was the last day or registration. VERY BAD!

But overall, I've adjusted to the school fairly well. I no longer get lost, which is nice. Also, I FINALLY registered my computer with the school so i can use the wireless (as im doing now)

Adios!

Otavalo...

...was incredible! I don't even know where to begin. The best part of it (for me) was the SHOPPING!! I bought sooooo many hand made ecuadorian clothes, jewelry, purses, etc for ridiculously cheap. I will post a few pictures on facebook sometime this week...After the big market experience we got to visit a few families. The one of the families showed us how they weave scarves. To make one particular scarf takes about two hours, and they sell these scarves for 5 bucks each, meaning that they work (on an average) for $2.50 an hour, every single day. Another family that we visited made instruments, which were also sold for relatively cheap.

Asides from the shopping and the visiting, we hiked around a lake, amidst a 3 million year old volcano (super chévere) visited a waterfall, and just basically went exploring. We were only away for 2 days, but it felt like at least a week. Its definitely a spot that I need to visit again and bring friends.

Experiences like these are quite humbling in that:

1. I experienced and viewed some of the most beautiful scenes of nature that I've ever seen in my life. Coming from Chicago and seeing so much nature was something completely new for me. I literally felt as if I were a part of God's painting, with every mountain, lake, and volcano placed perfectly where it should be. Going back to the concrete jungle (chicago) will be a huge culture shock.
2. Going to the market and purchasing so many beautiful handmade items, then watching people as they work so hard to make these items so i can go back to the States and look fly makes me super appreciative about everything I have going on in my life. Oftentimes I find myself complaining about silly things like how much I'm tired of school but when I see these people work so hard for so little money to make things that make me look fly, I'm super appreciative of what I have. Wearing my new purchases will remind me of the constant luxury I have of simply being able to come to this country to buy and wear these things to look nice, study, and go back to the States, instead of spending the rest of my life working so hard to make these things. I really have it quite easy with no reason to complain or whine. And I thank God for that.

Hasta luego

Just when I thought I was pretty much all settled...

What a week!

Coming into Ecuador, I was totally confident in all of my classes. I pretty much ignored almost every thing that U of I explained to us about switching classes because I figured that I would love all of mine. Wrong.

Today (friday) is the last day to switch classes here and I´ve been in and out of different classes all week!! I switched around ALL of my classes except french (cuz its super easy and i love it) and advanced spanish conversation (because i wanted to drop to intermediate conversation but it conflicted with french, and theres noooo way im giving up that class so i guess ill just have to step my conversation game up.)

My New Classes:

• Temas de Latinoamerica or ¨Latin American Themes¨ ( a political science class which a bunch of international students are in. I plan to use this as an area study for my major)
• Cultura Ecuadoriana (a Spanish conversation class that focuses on Ecuadorian Culture. I also plan to use this as an area study for my major. I was almost kicked out of this class because even though i was able to sign up for it online, the professor decided that she wanted a smaller class and since i was the last one to sign up, she initially told me that i couldn´t come back. luckly she opened up an earlier section and i get to stay in the one i chose, yay!!)
• Norte y Sur: Procesos de Colonialismo or ¨North and South: Processes in Colonialism¨ (which i also plan to use as an area study as it juxtaposes colonialism in Latin America and in the US)

Taking classes in Spanish is no joke. For anyone reading this who is planning to study abroad and will take classes in the language, I would suggest:

1. Start reading books, novels, and newspapers in the language. Everyday. Listening to conversation isnt so hard and speaking isnt too bad either but the vocabulary used in written language is something one needs to get used to.
2. BUY AN ELECTRONIC DICTIONARY! I have one and its probably the smartest decision I´ve made in awhile. I bought an electronic spanish english dictionary on ebay for about 30 bux and it was totally worth it! Not only is it a spanish english dictionary but its also a regular english dictionary (because sometimes I look up words in Spanish only to realize that I dont know them in English lol), a conjugator, a phrase book, and it has grammar games too. its a great investment.

So basically, my week was hectic because I kept switching around my classes. Not to sound like a slacker but I came to Ecuador to explore and have fun, not to sit in my room every weekend and do homework like I do at U of I. So I hope that my new classes are less time consuming.

This weekend my group is going to Otavalo (click it!!) and I´m so excited!! Basically its an indigenous town with a huge market, and I plan on buying lots!!

So in terms of adjusting, I´m still in the process. The altitude is still a bit difficult in the mornings and as I´m walking around for awhile, but I think its getting better. I haven´t gotten sick or robbed and I pray to God that it stays this way!!

In terms of life outside of school, today I start my volunteer project. I will be teaching a beginners english class to students in my village every monday, wednesday, and friday. Ive met alot of the kids already and their really sweet but super wild, so Im sure Ill have lots of stories to tell. I also signed up to be a conversation partner with an indigenous student at my university, meaning that they will help me with my spanish and i will help them with their english. i cant wait to use this experience to learn more about the culture and things to do in ecuador besides going clubbing (which i still havent done yet, because no matter what country i go to i dont think itll really be my thing. but ill be sure to check it out soon.)

Long story short, I´m still doing well. Safe and sound and trying to get adjusted and organized still. With my classes all settled my next goal will to create a relatively strict weekly schedule and budget. One I have everything in order, Ill be completely relaxed.

A couple weeks ago I posted my goals for the next two weeks. They were:

• learn my way around lumbisí and be able to go shopping there. (ACCOMPLISHED)
  
• feel comfortable on the bus (ACCOMPLISHED)
  
• learn my way around this crazy universidad (ACCOMPLISHED)
  
• keep God at the center of this trip! (ACCOMPLISHED, so far)

So for the next couple weeks:

• Spend a day/night in Quito with new friends.
• Create a weekly schedule and budget.
• do at least one unplanned thing per week (as I am a huge schedule FREAK and am very bad at being spontaneous!)
  
• Bring my laptop to school so i can set up wireless so i can finally start skyping!
• continue to keep God at the center of this trip.

Adios!!