a couple fotos :)

so although i lost my camera, i was able to steal a few pictures from a friend so that you can all see i'm alive and well here. i'm hoping to get a new camera this weekend, so until then, enjoy these pictures. love you all :)

...and i think to myself, what a wonderful world

amigos y familia,

these past couple of days have been so incredible and i'm learning more and more with each passing day. yesterday was probably my favorite day in ecuador so far. although we had to sit through 3 lecturers, each talking for an hour and a half, hanging out with my friends afterwards totally made up for boring classes. after school, i hopped on a bus with three of my girlfriends, and we headed to a little restaurante called the cactus, with a cute little patio, and split two enormous servings of nachos (soooo good and made with totally fresh ingredients) and each had a beer. we all kind of sat there in disbelief that we were actually LIVING in this incredibly beautiful city. we sat there laughing for hours about all the stupid things we've said wrong or weird things that we're still adjusting to within the ecuadorian culture for example, unlike in the united states, people leave their shoes on in their houses and they think bare feet are really weird (which i hate because i'm all about being barefoot) ALSO lunch is the biggest meal here and normally for dinner we have a cup of coffee with some bread. it was so nice to just talk with these girls and to share all of our feelings and to know that we are all together in our fight to understand the ecuadorian culture. after finishing our little meal, we walked down to a little flower shop and bought 25 roses for, get this, ONE DOLLAR... so we split up the flowers to give to our parents... what a lovely afternoon.

then today after class a bunch of girls wanted to go for a run because we've been pretty sedentary since our arrival. i called my mom and asked her if she would mind if all of us came back to our house to change into running clothes, and like always she was more than accommodating. in ecuador, people don't really run on the streets, they stick to running in the parks, so 4 american, light skinned girls running on the streets throughout the city surely turned a lot of heads. one of the girls i was with lost track at 30 of whistles and honks we got from the men there... it was really funny and almost flattering. when we got back, my mom had made us freshly squeezed lemonade for me and all of my friends. after this, my dad offered to drive all my friends home then so they wouldn't have to pay for a taxi... i just can't get over how generous and affectionate the people of ecuador are... ¡que chévere!

all in all, i wouldn't change my current situation for the world. i am so grateful that my "real" parents provided me with this incredible opportunity and that my ecuadorian parents have accepted me with such grace and love. the girls i'm in school with are really making this experience what it is and i can already tell i'm making friends that will be friends for a lifetime.

only bad thing, i'm still without a camera, but as soon as i get another one i will get pictures up as soon as possible. i love you all and think about you constantly. espero que tengan una noche buena :) mucho amor para todos!

¡mis sentidos locos!

amigos,

believe it or not, i've almost made it a whole week here. a week ago today, i had sooo many things running through my head because there was still so much that i didn't know. know, although i'm here, my thoughts are still running like crazy. it truly has been a roller coaster of emotions since my arrival here. obviously at first i was nervous and excited. after meeting my family, i was worried about if they liked me, if i was being polite enough, if i was being politically correct in their culture, etc. some days i feel super confident and fearless about all my adventures, and other days i just get so frustrated because i can't convey exactly what i mean to my family and my professors. in addition to experiencing all sorts of new feelings, i'm also experimenting with new foods, and as all of you know, i'm a super picky eater, so trying new foods has really been a stretch for me.

this past weekend my school group went to a city called San Miguel de Los Bancos and it was the most beautiful trip i've ever been on. i've been very fortunate to go on incredible trips in the past to exotic locations, but i can honestly say that this trip was the most gorgeous one i've ever been on. we hiked through the rain forest, swam in waterfalls and were accompanied by incredible people. we learned all about the climates and about living on the equator and how important it is to keep our earth clean. we had a lot of team building exercises too, which at some times felt like i was back at camp whitcomb with the soccer team doing lame ice breakers, but at the same time i learned a lot about the people that i'm in school with. it's just so cool to be in a room with 30 people who have the same hopes, dreams and ambitions as you do... it inspires you and reaffirms you that you're doing the right thing. only bad thing about that trip is that i can't find my camera as of now, which had incredible pictures on it. i'm keeping my fingers crossed that a friend found it on the bus or something.

today, i went with my family to my host mom's mom's for a lunch with all their extended family. it is just so sweet to me that the people of ecuador are so welcoming and affectionate. they don't refer to their husbands, wives and children with such titles, but as "mi vida" o "mi amor" meaning my life and my love. instead of shaking hands, they kiss each other on the cheek regardless of if you know each other or not. to end things, i've included some pictures of my host siblings and me from photobooth. i'm missing you all a lot and hoping you know i'm thinking of you :) much amor por todo!

Estoy Aqui :)

Hola Amigos!

I don´t have a lot of time, but just wanted to inform you all that I have made is safely and am LOVING quito so far... I have met sooo many wonderful people who are so passionate about the same things I am, so it´s really refreshing! so to make a long story short, after a three hour flight to houston, a 5 hour flight to quito and a bus ride, we made it here two nights ago and stayed in a quite interesting hotel. the next day we woke up, had breakfast, and ventured off to our school. our school is absolutely BEAUTIFUL.. It´s brand new as of december and located on the top of a hill so you can see all of the town from the balcony.. truly incredible. after a long day at school, our families then came to pick us up. any guys readind this, be jealous... i think i have the most beautiful latina woman i have ever seen as my host mom. she is 30 years old and teaches enlish at a preschool. my dad is very guapo as well! he owns a pizza shop and does some marketing on the side too... the children couldn´t be cuter... when i got there the 3 year old had just gotten back from ballet and the 8 year old had just returned from soccer.. too darm cute! this morning i woke up, had breakfast with my familia and then my host dad went on the bus with me to show me how to get to my school everyday... WAY different than transportation in the US! we sat through a couple hours of class today and then a bunch of us girls ventured out to get some lunch. we stumbled upon a cute ¨panderia¨where we all got a roll of some sort, yogurt and juice... all for $1.10!! so that´s all for now... love you all MUCHO :)

Dios mio... una semana más!

Amiiiigos,

As most of you know, I've had this crazy, maybe even kind of weird obsession with the Spanish language since I was about 14. After four years of high school Spanish and nearly three years of college Spanish, I am finally ready to put all my foreign language knowledge to use. Exactly one week from today, I will be sitting on a plane which will take me to Houston, which will then connect to another flight bringing me to my final destination, Quito, Ecuador. Why Ecuador you ask and not some tropical paradise like Argentina or or a crazy party country like Spain?! Well... my trip to Ecuador will consist of two portions... I will be spending the first half of the semester in Quito with a family I still know nothing about (scary!) and will be taking a variety of classes at a local school. After the first half as well as my spring break (which my mom will be coming down for :)) I will then have a service-learning internship focusing on whatever topic within the country that I choose, in ANY part of the country. The service learning was what attracted me to this program, because I want to get a deeper understanding of a new culture and experience firsthand how Ecuadorians view the world differently than we do in the close-minded United States.

So although I still have no idea about the family I'll be staying with, no idea where I'll be for the second part of the semester, NO IDEA what incredible experiences lay ahead of me, or how exactly I am going to pack my life into two bags, I do know for sure that I will be missing all of you and thinking of you constantly. I will try to update my little online diary as frequently as possible, I just don't know how often I'll have internet connection... So until then, mucho amor para todos :)