Feliz Navidad!

Christmas is one of the most confusing times as an exchange student. You are expected to miss home a little extra, but also to be excited, as you are going to experience new holiday traditions with new people. Overall, it was a bit of a weird feeling, although I missed the Christmas traditions from home, I also felt incredibly blessed and joyful to be here in Quito for Christmas. Now, to share a bit about how my Christmas went!

First of all, most families here celebrate on what we know as Christmas Eve, and my family is no different. So, on December 24th we headed to Tumbaco (a town near Quito) to spend Christmas with my host brother and his wife's family. We had Turkey, as is tradition in many parts of the world, but the big "turkey dinner" with green beans, sweet potatoes and rolls is a thing of the US. We arrived at about 1:30, and were there until 10:30, and what we did I can't really say. It was a relaxed day of eating, talking, and there was of course a trip to the grocery store. Overall, I enjoyed the food, but most of all the company.

My host parents enjoying their stockings

Most families also open presents on the 24th, but we didn't take them with us to Tumbaco, so we were able to wake up and see the decorative bags filled with candy scattered between the presents under the glowing lights of the Christmas tree. "Candy bags?" you might be thinking, but here they give bags filled with candy, cookies, chocolate, and just about any other kind of sweet you could imagine around Christmas time. I say around Christmas time because it isn't only your family that gives you these, but friends, relatives, and even the school. So, Christmas morning consisted of our normal breakfast, opening presents, going out for coffee (not a normal thing with my host family) and a leftover turkey lunch. It might not sound like much, but it was a good Christmas, and one I'll remember forever!


Even though I had gotten my host family presents, I was missing some of the traditions from the US, so I decided to share one with my host family... Stockings! I bought snacks and candies and a few little gifts to stuff inside, and found cute handmade stockings for cheap. So, I was able to be the parent stuffing the stocking for once, and my host family loved them! In fact, they want to do stockings every year from now on, and it makes me so happy that I was able to be the one to share the tradition with them.

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas, and enjoyed reading about mine! Until next time, where I will share about New years and my upcoming trip!

Day 100!!!

Over the last 100 days, so much has happened and time has passed a million times faster than I expected. The Christmas season started about a month ago here and my host family (and just about every other family) has their Christmas tree and lights up to begin the celebration! This post will be about 3 of the top things I found completely different or even strange at the beginning of exchange, and now have become completely normal to me.

This is my class at our Christmas dinner <3

1. Public transportation: I've never lived in a city anywhere near the size of Quito; 1.6 million people! That's 400 times the size of Coquille! Not only is this city huge, but there is always a cheap way to get around, so while the majority of people own a car, it's generally one car per household unless they are upper class, but many people choose to ride the bus to and from work, as it is cheaper than buying gas. When riding the bus at 3 in the afternoon, you can find a seat withing minutes of hopping on, but at 5 or 6 in the evening, you'd better be ready to be sandwiched! riding the bus in rush hour is one of my least favorite things, but it is also something that has become an every other day normality. A little tip, buses her cost a mere 25 cents, or 12 for students and seniors, so you see why they are tempting and fill up so quickly.

2. Speaking Spanish: When I first arrived, I thought there would be this huge learning curve and that I wouldn't understand anything for the first month or two... That is just about the opposite of what happened. The night I arrived, I had a bit of difficulty speaking and my brain was definitely still working in English. But, as soon as I started, I couldn't stop, and now I can speak at a normal speed. which here is pretty fast, and about almost any topic. Although my Spanish wasn't perfect when I arrived, it was much better than expected and has improved rapidly... I would say with all this practice and a bit of work, I will be fluent by the time I get back to the US!

I also had the chance to see the running of the bulls! 

3. The fact that everyone here says thank you, or gracias, but rarely receives you're welcome, or de nada, in return: This, once again is nothing rude or bad about the culture, it's just different than in the US. for example, when you ask someone to pass the potatoes at dinner, you would say thank you after, and they would say you're welcome. Here, you would still say thank you, for everything, but don't expect an answer. This got my for about the first month, I was always saying de nada, until I realized I was the only one. It's just a normal part of life now, and I will probably forget to say you're welcome when I return, but for now, I'm just fitting into the culture.

This was a bit different than a normal post, but I hope you enjoyed! I will keep the blog updated much more frequently through the Christmas season with updated, pictures and stories. Thank you for reading!

Daily Life

Wow... It's been way to long since I posted! It's mostly been daily life around here, so I'll share a bit of what that's like with you. Now, I've been going out with friends, going for walks, and even trip with Xplorer (my organization), but that's all part of my life here!

So, a normal day for me her is this: I wake up at 6:30 when my alarm goes off, and get up about 10 minutes later after checking my Instagram and Snapchat. Then I get dressed, make my bed, blah blah blah.. then I eat as much as possible (my host mom thinks I'm skinny and is trying to fatten me up) and leave my group of condominiums to buy water and wait for the school bus, which normally passes at about 7:40. I always enjoy the ride to school, in the warm bus, watching the world pass by. Then I sit through 8 classes a day, with 2 recesses, one is 10 minutes and the other is 30, and it's a fun time to talk with friends and eat snacks. Then I head home in the school bus at about 2:30 and eat lunch, once again as much as I can handle, and usually talk with my host mom a bit. Then it's the time of day that I can relax, go for a walk, do homework, work on college scholarships, or just sleep. in the evening, we drink coffee, chocolate or tea, with bread, and then it's off to watch TV and go to bed!

This is a cheap little cafe I found with great coffee and atmosphere!

The fact that I have a routine like this makes me so happy, but I am also ready to get involved in new things! I am planning on starting salsa lessons in a week or two, volunteering, and joining a youth group this weekend! Don't be fooled by this strict routine, I often cook, go to a cafe to read and journal, or spend time with friends as well. I already saw Thor and Justice league with friends and I'm enjoying my time here as I should. I have also been dealing with a bit of homesickness, especially around Thanksgiving, but my host family prepared a healthy hamburger for me with homemade french fries that gave me a taste of home. My friends also invited me to their house for a "thanksgiving dinner" of chicken, rice, potatoes, and pasta. The thought behind it was what made me happy, and most of all, thankful.

The market in Otavalo ( the picture doesn't do it justice)

We also went on a trip to Otavalo and Cuicocha this past weekend with Xplorer! Otavalo is an indigenous town with a huge market full of hand made Ecuadorian souvenirs including alpaca scarfs, blankets and hoodies, key chains, bracelets, hand carved knives and wallets, Jewelry, and countless other beautiful things to negotiate for. We also went to Cuicocha, which is a lake that was formed by an erupted volcano! There are no fish because of the volcanic chemicals in the water, and because the edges are like craters or walls, there are no beaches on which to reproduce. But it was an awesome experience, we went on a boat around the lake, ate some amazing food, and bought some great souvenirs for friends, family, and of course, a few for ourselves.

Of course, Cuicocha!

 Thanks again for reading, and sorry for the lag! Hope you enjoy staying updated and I will keep posting!

Longer than before

As many of you know, this exchange is my second chance after the Philippines last year... And now I've been here longer than I was in the Philippines! This is a pretty big deal, and I'm excited to say that although the first two months have had their difficult moments, I'm still loving it here! More importantly, this is really starting to feel like home. So, what have I been up to this past week? Well, more than usual, that's for sure! Last Thursday and Friday, we had vacation from classes, and while I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't go to the beach like all of my friends were, it turned out to be just perfect. So, I'll give you a run through of the days, starting Wednesday after school. Here we go!

Just some bananas I found on a trip I took this week.

Wednesday after school I headed over to a friend's house and we got dressed up and ready for a costume party. I was a reindeer, she was a princess, her sister was a cat, and her cousin was a tiger. It was a going away party for her cousins, who are moving to Colombia, and who I had become good friends with as well. But the night was full of dancing, eating, and talking. Afterwords, we headed to my friend's house again, and I spent the night there.

Thursday wasn't quite as exciting, but it was relaxing and I had time to take a nap, drink hot chocolate, and watch a bit of Netflix. In the evening, my host brother's family came over and we all ate together and talked for a while. In the middle of the conversation, his wife mentioned that she was going to Mindo, a little town in the rain forest part of the mountains, to visit her dad, and invited me, and of course I accepted!

So, Friday we took off bright and early to catch the bus to Mindo; a 2 hour ride for $3. We had snacks, they played a movie on the bus, and the view was breathtaking, so the ride went by quick. We got there and I couldn't help but soak it in; the heat, the trees with bananas growing everywhere, and the all the little shops with everything you could imagine. We went Nati's (my host brother's wife) dad's house, the river, and ate a delicious meal of smoked chicken, pork, some salad, tostados (an Ecuadorian snack) and yucca. It was almost perfect, that is until we tried to catch the bus home... The last bus of the day was at 6, and at 3:30, we went to double check the time and buy tickets, but they were all sold out. They did however have seats on the 4:00 bus. We got the tickets, ran home, grabbed Nati's son, and hurried back to the bus station as fast as we could. We ended up even having enough time to get snacks! And so continued, and ended, the almost perfect day.

I didn't get too many good pictures of Mindo, but I like this one.

Saturday was another unexpected journey! At 9:00am my host mom came in my room and said after breakfast, the two of us were going to a swimming pool. I figured it would just be for an hour or two, but after about 40 minuted in the metro, and another hour on a bus, I realized we were not in Quito anymore. We had gone to another town! we swam, talked, ate traditional Ecuadorian food, and of course after swimming on a hot day, ice cream. When we got home, it was only about 4:30, so I decided to by the stuff I needed and make Dutch babies. (it's a food, like pancakes) As my host mom showered and my host dad rested, I made dinner, and it turned out even better than I imagined! I made syrup too, and since they don't have maple here, I used cinnamon, and it was delicious!

The awesome pool my host mom took me to!

My dutch baby dinner

Since then, I went to church, school, and have been doing homework on a regular basis. If you are wondering how you can pray for me, there are a few things I could use help with. Scholarships; I've already been accepted to Cedarville University and earned a $10,500 scholarship from SAT scores (YAY!) but will need much more to attend, and I know God will provide if that's in his plan. Your prayers are appreciated!

Thank you for all your support, interest, and prayers. Until next week!

There's Always a Window

When God closes a door, he opens a window, right? Well, my job lately has consisted of finding the windows, lots of them. Although that might sound discouraging, and has been at times, it's also been so eye-opening to see and do things that I wouldn't normally think of trying. You also may be wondering why I've had to find windows? Aren't all the doors open to try new things on exchange? Well, yes, normally, but I am still having a bit of problems with my knees being swollen, so I've been coming up with alternatives for dance lessons or randomly walking all around.

My proud creation!

One of the first things I've been doing, I already mentioned in my other blog post; cooking! Well, last week I decided to make one of my family's favorite dishes in the US; Thai chicken stir fry. At first, it looked like it was going to be completely different because I couldn't find anything for the sauce. But as it unfolded, my host brother and his wife helped me with the ingredients I needed. It was a bit of a process that took lots of time and help, but it turned out much better than I expected, and a healthy meal at that!

Riding on the mountain... before the rain

Our organization has activities at the end of every month, and this month we went up a mountain in a cable car. It was pretty amazing, and I found another window; I can ride horses! We rode for an hour, as the sky opened up and let us have it, rain, wind, hail. You name it, and we were riding in it on the top of a mountain. On top of all of that, I had the prettiest horse, and the spunkiest. He would take off running, bite the other horses, or just stop in his tracks and start eating. After the hour was done, we were all soaking wet, just about frozen to the bone, not to mention sore from using every muscle we didn't know existed, plus we had to hike to the cable car to go down. But there was a little grass hut with a fire and they had hot chocolate for sale, so of course we stopped to warm up, chat, and wait out the weather. That might not sound like a very good day to the average person, but I already know it will be one of my favorite memories, because it was one of my best days yet.

Sorry I haven't been able to keep the blog updated exactly every week, but I've been a bit busy. Hopefully I'll get back in the groove of writing every week, but until then, my random stories will have to do. Thank you for reading and don't forget to follow in the upper right hand corner! As they say here in Ecuador, Chow!

Cooking... Not what I expected?

So, one of the only parts of exchange that you can expect is that it never goes as expected. That said, my exchange has been no different. Even though I've wanted to play a sport or take dancing lessons, I've had a couple of problems with my knees, so I've been struggling to find ways to spend the hours after school. After a particularly difficult day, a wise woman told me that although having knee problems isn't a normal part of exchange, not knowing how to get involved is very normal. That piece of advice made me think, and made me realize that there is no "normal exchange," but that it's up to me to make this the best experience possible. (Thanks mom)

This is a bit random, but the rain here is huge! those marks are from individual raindrops!

Since I realized that, I decided there are still so many things that I can do to immerse myself in the culture and stay busy. The first thing I decided to do was cook! I knew I wanted to make my family's famous homemade pizza from the US here, so that's what I did. Trying to find all the ingredients in Spanish was hard enough, let alone the same as in the US. Then came trying to make the dough and get it to rise and bake until it was a perfect balance of fluffy and crispy. After all the worrying and hoping that it would turn out alright, I peeked my head over the oven door as I prepared to pull it out of the oven and... It was perfect! The crust was golden brown and the cheese had melted perfectly, with just a bit burned around the edges. It was as perfect as could be, ad surprisingly delicious!

The entire family enjoying their homemade "American" pizza 

The entire family enjoyed it, and I'm sure they will be more than happy if I make it again. I'm excited to cook Ecuadorian food, and also to find new things to help me immerse myself in the culture! Thank you for reading, and I hope this is encouraging! If you want to stay updated, press the button in the top right to follow. Until next time!

Being a tourist on exchange!

Hi guys, sorry I forgot to update you all at the one month mark a week ago, but it's been pretty busy. It's easy to realize that it's been busy because I've already been here for 5 weeks! Anyways, daily life has remained the same, which I will write about one day. For now, I will share about my experience at the center of the world! (the equator) It was so surreal to be able to stand in both hemispheres at once, and that's not something many people can say they've done. Now I'll get on with it and share some pictures!

This is what cuye looks like!

First off, I tried cuye yesterday! For those of you who don't know, that is that name of the Ecuadorian dish of Guinea Pig. That's right, I ate Guinea pig! It tasted like meat with a lot of salt on it, but it wasn't bad, I wouldn't make a habit of it, but I definitely enjoyed the experience of tasting it.

We actually went two different places yesterday; the real equator where they do experiments to show you differences between the hemispheres, and then the big statue that was built about 240 meters away from the real equator before they knew it was wrong. Now, you may be wondering why we would go to both? Well, the real equator is a little museum that tells about other parts of Ecuadorian history in the Amazon, Andes, and coast. They also perform experiments, like draining a tub of water on both sides of the equator, and the suction spins clockwise in the southern hemisphere, counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere, and straight down without spinning on the equator. It was pretty cool!


And now, why did we go to the big monument if it isn't really the middle of the world? Well, it's actually called the city of the middle of the world for a reason. There is traditional Ecuadorian dancing, shops, museums, and it's famous! Even though some people say there's no reason to go there, I enjoyed it just as much as the museum. More than anything, it was just a good day of memories and checking items off my bucket list.

Thanks for keeping up with what I've been doing, and I hope you enjoy reading about everything! If you would like to hear about a specific aspect of life as an exchange student in Ecuador, let me know and I'd be happy to write about it! Don't forget to follow in the upper right hand corner if you want to stay updated. Until next time!