Living in Ecuador

[a-student-abroad]

These are a few of my favorite pictures from going to Cotopaxi with my friends

[a-student-abroad]

My host mom, my friend Nora (from Finland) and I went to the Equator this weekend! The yellow line is the Equator, and in the picture with my host mom I’m in the Northern Hemisphere and she’s in the Souther Hemisphere. We left at 6:30am and got back at around 8, but were actually at the Equator for only about 40 minutes, most of the day we were in buses. First we took a bus to Quito, then another for a few hours so my mom could look for a horse statue to buy (she never found one she liked) then a few hours back, and then to the Equator. The third picture was the final bus ride going back home; Nora had been asleep for about 15-20 minutes, but suddenly woke up right as I took the picture and made that face

[a-student-abroad]

These are my favorite pictures from the trip to Quilotoa, a non-active volcano with a lagoon in the place where lava used to be (what is the name for that?). I got to kayak, but my host mom wouldn’t let me go far from the dock. Quilotoa was gorgeous, and even the landscape around it was beautiful. Probably the most breathtaking place I've ever been.

[a-student-abroad]

Mama Negra

This Saturday was Mama Negra, which is the biggest festival in Latacunga. People come from all over Ecaudor, and even other parts of South America for it. Since my friend's dad was the "Angel de la Estrella" this year, my friend invited me and several others to be part of the parade! We all rented outfits for the day, and I left at 8 am to go to the start of the parade. We walked for several hours, throwing candy and roses at people from the baskets we were given at the beginning of the day. Some of the guys from my class (the white facepainted ones in the picture and the other boy next to them) also participated. They white facepainted ones select someone from the crowd and use the sticks to force them out into the middle, and then the other boy "cleanses" them with some leaves and spits/sprays water on them. It sounds weird, but it's really funny and a big part of the festivities. In one picture you can see people with black facepaint, and they take bottles of alcohol and go up to people and have them drink it. Probably not something you would ever see in America, but it's interesting and makes for an exciting atmosphere. Other people in the parade have choreographed dances, which are fun to watch. The man in the blue dress with rainbow hair (who is my PE teacher actually) was one of the people who teases the crowd by "whipping" them with the rope wip if they get in the way. Tomorrow Im going to the jungle, so I'll probably have a ton more photos to post after I get back on Sunday!

[a-student-abroad]

[a-student-abroad]

I'm Famous

So the English teacher for my class doesn’t really like me that much, but as soon as the other English teacher found out about me she started having me come to some of her classes. She says she needs to practice her English, and she wants her students to practice too. Good thing I’m not afraid of public speaking. It’s usually pretty basic, the students open their dictionaries and ask questions about my family, what music I like, or whatever. Yesterday one girl really wanted to ask me things, but didn’t really know a lot of English so opened her dictionary and apparently found the fruit page. She asked me, “do you like..” for just about every fruit you can think of.

After I say anything interesting [like telling them I speak a little Japanese] all the students clap, and I just awkwardly stand there and kind of laugh. The class yesterday asked if they could add me on facebook “to practice their english” but really they just go through all my pictures and “like” them. My classmates all laugh and tell me I’m famous now, because during recess sometimes the younger students will come up to me and say “Hello Sarah” before running back to their group of friends.

Anway, this weekend is Mama Negra (a super awesome festival) and in a couple weeks I’m going to the amazon, so you guys can look forward to those pictures!

[a-student-abroad]

Today my Mom bought a car

Mom (over the phone): Is it okay if we buy a car?

Dad (thinks she's joking): Yeah sure.

-1 hour later-

Mom: We need to make copies of our licenses and go get the car!

Dad: You really bought a car!?

Brothers: Yes she did

Dad: No way. Sarah, did she really?

Me: Yup

And that's how my host family got a new car.

[lifeintime-blog1]

We miss you, Sarah! (:

[a-student-abroad]

This made my day, you're all so sweet! And I miss you too!

[a-student-abroad]

She's a stray dog who usually hangs out around our area, and I think she's cute. I don't know if she really has a name, but I like to think of her as spot because of the black patch over her eye. She's my favorite stray dog, so she gets her own post.

[a-student-abroad]

Part of my school (it's actually spread out with multiple buildings, but that's one of the main areas). Eve, Jennifer and me. Ecuadorian candy store. And mass with my host mom.

[a-student-abroad]

This would be PE. I asked the coach to take a video, because it was way too funny to not put on my blog. The point was that the lines were supposed to race: my team was already out because we lost too many times.

[a-student-abroad]

Mama Negra

Tonight was a parade/part of a festival Latacunga has and I went with some friends. I actually was allowed to stay out until 7 tonight (its gone from 5, to 6, to now 7, progress!). It was incredibly different from any parade in the united states. Of course there were people dressed in traditional clothes dancing, and marching bands, that wasnt so different. But there were also people with mobile shrine things on their backs consisting of a whole roasted pig surrounded by chickens and guinea pigs, with bottles of wine and other things attached. Men dressed in nightgown looking things, wigs, and masks had small whips and would tease the croud and hit them if they were in the way. Also people dressed all in white with pink and blue masks had poles and would select people from the croud to force out and poke with the sticks, while all their friends laughed (and of course they chose me). "Mama Negra" (a guy with a black mask) rode around on his horse with several guides and everytime they came by people would shove back to get out of the way; if people didnt want to be run over that was up to them. It was different and a completely crazy atmosphere, but definitely fun.

[a-student-abroad]

Mu friends, empanadas cooking, the grocery store, the church near my house, my house, my street, and my classroom.
About the lockers, they are in the grocery store. Most stores have some form of them, and if you’ve already done some shopping in another store, you put your bags there, lock it, and take the key until you finish checking out later.

[a-student-abroad]

First Day of School

So today was my frist day at Hermano Miguel, and it went pretty well. Classes are devided my grade and the interest you choose (my host family offered math and social students, and I no way am I doing extra math), so I am in grade 3 sociales. When we arrived in this morning, my host dad showed me where to go and made sure I knew how to get home, and that was it. One of the girls in my class introduced herself and introduced me to all her friends, and then the school administrators had a bunch of welcoming speeches. If you think speeches are boring, try listening to one you can't even understand. After all that finished, each class was told where there room was. When we got to our room there were not enough desks, so the teacher told me and the three other students left standing to share. Sharing a chair and desk is certiainly not comfortable, but I guess it's a good bonding experience. The girl I shared with, Kelly, was really nice and we talked (despite my limited Spanish). In my class there is one other exchange student, a girl from Finland named Nora, but she's with AFS. She speaks fluent Spanish already, because she lived in Spain for three years. Since it was the first day, we didn't do very much. We elected class president, treasure, made a modo etc, and some other important things might have happened but I didn't understand them (haha). We got the schedule of what we would be doing each day, too. Anyway, Hermano Miguel, as you might have guessed, is a Catholic school, so at the end of the day was a short sermon. Everyone stood in line with their class in the courtyard and listened to the priest for what felt like a long time; half of my face got a mild sunburn. After that the day was over (it was only 12:30, but I think it was so short because it was just the first day). Kelly invited me to go to her house and I had her call my host dad and ask permission, because I don't know how to ask permission in Spanish. I stayed over there for awhile and we used Google Translate to talk and listened to some our favorite bands on youtube. Overall it was a pretty good, but tiring, first day. Hopefully the upcoming semester will remain as good!

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The family cat likes to sleep on my bed.

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Being an exchange student means being extremely flexible. Trips, food, activities, all require flexibility. Although my host family tells me exactly what we're going to do (I think), I don't understand all of it. When it comes time to go, I usually get a surprise. Some of the food is similar, but some is incredibly different. I eat rice usually twice a day, lots of bread, soup, and fruit. And while I ate all those things at home, I eat far more here. Some things are not at all similar though. For example, I've tried Guinea Pig, sugarcane-water, candy that is just chopped sugar can. While these are different, and I'm certainly not used to everything, I can't say I dislike what I've tried so far. I think of every new experience as an opportunity I may never have again, and I try to stay flexible and make the most of my experience!

[a-student-abroad]

Sunday, my host family took me on a day trip to see La Oriente (the highland/andes region). That's where the waterfall, mountains, and boa picutres came from. The waterfall was even more gorgeous in person, and incredibly loud. We hiked down a mountain to get to an observation deck type thing, and the waterfall was so powerful it soaked me even from there. To get a better view, we climbed through this walkway sort of thing, but it was tiny and I couldn't stand up at any point. When we hiked back up there was a small booth mostly for tourists that advirtised pictures with the boa, and I decided to go for it. The snake kept moving and it felt really weird, but also kind of cool. After that we drove through some more of the mountains and stopped at a city called Baños to eat and visit some family friends (relatives possibly? I couldn't tell). They worked at this candy/sweet stand and gave us a few things. I tried some pure sugarcane water (I mean really I saw how they cut up sugarcane added some water and poured it through a strainer). It was good, but too sweet for me. I also tried a candy that was just a 2x1 inch piece of sugar cane that my family said to just chew on. Again, it tasted great, but I couldn't eat more than one. Overall it was a really fun and exhausting day (we woke up at 4:30 am). My host family made the trip just for me, and it was so nice of them. I couldn't have asked for a more welcoming family.