¿que te molestas del mundo y que vas a hacer para cambiarlo?

so the entire time i've been in Ecuador, all of our classes have been about development and the economy in third world countries, which is important, just not really something i'm interested in. thursday was the last lecture on this subject, and one of our professors ended it with a simple question: "what bothers you about the world and what are you going to do to change it?" obviously, this is a really broad question, but the answers that came out of my classmates were truly inspirational. answers ranged anywhere from buying local to support farmers to adopting children to help overpopulation and reduce the number of orphans. although some things weren't as important to me as others, it was so cool to be in a room full of people who are SO motivated to make a difference in this world... you could truly feel the energy... and this was only the beginning to a fun weekend.

after class, some of my friends and i decided to venture to a local university to use their library to do some homework. it was super cool to be on a campus where all the local Ecuadorian students were hanging out. we kinda did some homework, but got bored after about 2 hours, so decided we would find a place to get some pizza. my friends and i decided to ask some cute boys where a good pizza place was, and not only did they recommend us a great place, they also accompanied us for dinner :) after dinner one of the boys i was with got a call from his host brother saying they were going to go out and dance for the night. after a quick clothes change, we were ready to go to "gringolandia" to hang out and dance. we met up with the brother of my friend and our new friends also joined us so it was super cool to be hanging out with all these wonderful, welcoming people. after hours and hours of dancing and being drenched in sweat, my two girlfriends and i slept over at one of our houses.

early the next morning our friends called us to wake us up and tell us to go to the park so we could play a game of soccer. i honesly haven't missed soccer since i've played in high school, but i really enjoyed playing with my Ecuadorians friends... i even impressed them a little with my mad skills ;) after running around, hiking (where my friend chelsey tried to teach our new friends yoga in the woods haha) we decided to leave the park and go for lunch. i'm still struggling through the food here, but trying really hard to enjoy it. after a car ride full on lady gaga, shaggy, and sublime, my Ecuadorian friends dropped me off at home. i took a quick shower and then was off with my family to meet a new cousin of theirs and then go to my "Dad's" pizza place for dinner.. a great end to a great day.

today, after having pizza and hamburgers for breakfast (what?!), i'm going to jump in the shower and then head off to a barbecue of one of our new little boyfriends... definitely looking forward to it! i hope all is well back in the US (i've learned not to say "america" because people from south america are offended when we call ourselves americans, since they too are from an american continent). i miss you all mucho! muuuucho amor y paz para todo :)

por que, no...

sooo friday as i was buying my new camera, my friends chelsey and kiley were telling me that they were going to venture to a town called Baños with a guy from our group, Sam, and a whole bunch of Sam's host family and friends. the girls were encouraging me to go, but at first i wasn't feeling it and told them i would call them later and let them no. a running joke we've had here is "por que no?" as in why not since we're only going to live in ecuador once. so as i was showering before going out friday night, i thought por que no, sure i'd go on an adventure with a big group of people. so i ended up going out with some different girls friday night, got back really late, and chelsey and kiley called me at 5 saturday morning to say "get your stuff together because we're on our way." after a 4 hour crazy car ride, we made it to baños. everyone was super tired and i was pretty cranky because i got practically no sleep and the group was ready to go out and had the whole day planned out.

after breakfast, we checked into a super cute hostel, changed into our swimsuits and met up with a tour guide. we then (all 13 of us) hopped into the back of his truck and stopped sporadically throughout the trip to take pictures or go on a little hike or whatnot. one of the first stops was a spot where we could bungee jump right off a bridge over a crazy river. i chose not to do this, but both of my girlfriends did it fearlessly... so crazy... only cost 10 bucks with no need to sign a waiver or anything. then we stopped at this chairlift like thing that brought us over the river and showed us some pretty incredible views. the next stop was probably the craziest thing i'll ever do in my life.... we stopped at a trail to hike down to a cascada aka waterfall. when i packed for this little trip, i had no idea we would be doing so much climbing, so i chose to pack only flip flops which made climbing crazy trails very interesting. after struggling for about an hour, we finally reached this incredible waterfall. the ecuadorian boys we were with encouraged us to swim in the waterfall (of course, why wouldn't they want to see american girls in their swimsuits?!), soo sure enough we jumped right in. i wish i could put pictures up to show how cool this was to swim at the base of a waterfall... the water was coming down so hard that it was splashing up water into the air so hard that you couldn't see the person next to you... the water was SOOO freezing, but we sucked it up because it was just so beautiful. after we finally couldn't take the cold anymore, we got out of the water and adventured back up the trail. when we got back to the truck, the boys bought a crate of beer and then the party started in the back of the truck. they had also brought a speaker and an ipod, so we were listening to reggaeton, drinking beer, and laughing about all that had happened that day... life doesn't get any better than that...

after taking a nap, we got ready and danced allllll night long.

the rest of the weekend proceeded the same way and honestly my abs still hurt from laughing so hard. it was absolutely incredible to experience the ecuadorian culture through people that were around my same age. no one was hostile towards each other due to our opposing upbringings, everyone was just there to enjoy themselves and make some memories. i can't even express how happy i was all weekend long because we were all so carefree and the boys and girls we were with were so welcoming and accepting of us even if we were from "los estados unidos." soo that's all for now. i've attached some pictures that my friends chelsey, who's conveniently a photographer. took on the trip...absolutely incredible. if you would like to see some more pictures, check my facebook page. hope all is well back en los estados. i miss you all very much :)

sneak peak of the best weekend of my life

hola amigos,

i've gotta go to school now, but just wanted to post a picture of the best weekend of my life. to make a long story short, 4 americans and 9 ecuadorians went on a weekend trip to Baños... absolutely incredible. i'll post details tonight! love you all :)

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 :)