First Robbery

Today I was helping the kids from my curso (class) sell cakes to raise money, I'm not sure exactly what they were raising money for, I heard kids with cancer, but then I heard they are saving it...who knows.
It was about 6:00, still light out, and we were just about done selling the cakes and we were just standing around on the sidewalk, and the next thing I know, everyone sprints away and is screaming RUN RUN RUN! I had no clue what was going on because I was looking at the cars passing by, but someone told me once we were safe, that a motorcycle stopped, a guy hoped off the back, held his hand in his shirt like he had a gun, and robbed two kids from my class. He stole their cellphones. I was about 15 feet away from this. It really opened up my eyes about how dangerous it can be here and how even with 20 people, in broad daylight, people will still try to rob you/harm you. It was pretty scary. The worst part was that I had no clue what was going on. I quickly looked back the second everyone started running, but I was in such a daze that I don't even remember what I saw. It was insane.

After the little incident, we went to another exchange student's house and we just chilled and talked, in English, unfortunately. I feel like I am speaking way too much English still. I feel guilty, and I feel like I need to take advantage of my time here and speak as much Spanish as I possibly can. It has only been a week though and Spanish continues to get easier and easier, not necessarily easier to speak, but definitely easier to understand. Sometimes my host mom says things, thinking I won't understand it, but I do.

Today at school there was an English assembly where some kids summarized some books in English, so that was a lot nicer than having to sit in a boring class and try to do work. Today was also the first time I had a gym class. It was horrible and I had to play basketball, and I got in trouble 38930482 times for rolling my sweatpants up to my knees. The boys are allowed to wear shorts for gym, but I get in trouble for rolling my pants up a few inches. Oh equality.

El Colegio

Today was my first day of high school. I was soo nervous in the morning but then I saw another exchange student named Gus, and we are in the same class so that made me feel relieved. In the morning, there was this assembly and I had noooo clue what to do but some kids helped me.

I really really realllllyyy like school, which shocked me. I HATED high school in the United States but here it is so different. They have a lot of breaks and can go outside and walk around the entire school, you can buy food and drinks, and you can hang out with your friends for a pretty long time. It is way better than being trapped in Westhampton Beach High School until 2:16.

All of the people in my class are soo nice. Most of them speak English, so today I spoke English with a lot of people, but tomorrow I think it will be Spanish. They are all sooo friendly and they are just great. I already made friends, which was something else I was scared about.

I didn't have the right uniform because we didn't have time to get it, so everyone was in a fancy button down shirt, skirts, ties, etc. and I was in a polo with jeans and black converse sneakers. Way to make an entrance. I got even MORE stares because of that.

Overall, I understood a lof of what was said in school today, but I still don't know when I should attempt the work or just sit there and stare at the walls. Today I was actually the only person in the class to figure out a factoring algebra problem without the teacher and everyone was SHOCKED and staring at me because they all think it is sooo hard, so I am sure I will be a math teacher for a little while now.

First 2 Days

Sooo have now been in Ecuador for about 48 hours, but who's counting? I really like it here. I was soooo so nervous about meeting my host family and having to speak Spanish ALL THE TIME, but it wasn't as bad/awkward as I thought it would be. I saw my family right away, which was a relief and then we had a three hour drive to Portoviejo from Guayaquil. I was exhausted, and didnt sleep for even a second, and on top of that, had to try to comprehend and speak Spanish. I probably couldn't even speak English at that point.

On Saturday, my first full day here, I did have a nervous feeling in my stomach. I didn't know my way around the house, I didn't know what time to wake up or what would be for breakfast. My older host sister ended up coming in and telling my breakfast was ready, which was good. Then, they drove me around the entire city because my host sister had to do a project for school, so I got to see a lot in one day. It is WAY different from Long Island, but that's to be expected. It reminds me of Mexico a lot, even my bedroom does. The roads are EXTREMELY bumpy. You would probably have to change your tires once a month here. There are tons of pot holes, and half of the roads are just sharp rocks, not even paved. Also, it is very dirty here. Everything is dusty and I constantly feel like I am dirty.

I realy like my host family. They are soo nice and really try to help me understand Spanish. They speak slower to me and always tell me that I can ask them when I don't understand something that they say. Also, my host sister speaks English, so when I really don't understand something, she can tell me in English.

Spanish is WAY harder than I thought i would be. A 5 on AP Spanish means NOTHING when you actually have to speak it and are forced to listern to it for 12 hours straight. At first, it was extremely hard, but even being here for jut 2 days has already helped me and I am talking a lot more, in stead of saying Si and nodding and smiling. I also understand most of what my family says when they are talking to me. It is a different story when they are talking amonngst themselves, but I will understand that soon enough.

I start school tomorrow and I am soo nervous. I have no clue what to do, where to go, or what my classes are. I don't even have supplies. I have a pen and a calculator, thats about it. Hopefully I won't need anything else. Oh yea, school starts at about 7:00 and I have to get up at about 6:00, which is 6 hours earlier than I have been waking up ALL summer. That will NOT be fun for me.

I met some of my host sister's friends last night. They are all sooooo nice. I like them a lot. It is just hard to understand then when they are all talking together so fast all at the same time so I just zoned out a little. When they realized I had NO idea what was going on they laughed and would tell me in English which was nice.

Oh How I LOVE Rotary Jackets...

I finally got a smaller jacket because my Rotary here gave me a HUGE one. My old jacket fit my dad...went lower than my shorts line.....and i looked like a man in it--but thats besides the point. This morning I put all my pins on it and shockingly I have a lot. I am not sure where they came from but it's cool. I also made a heart with half of the Ecuadorian flag and half of the USA flag and I glued it to the back. It is really cute.
WOOOO HOOO
BTW 15 days. It still hasn't hit me yet. I still feel like I have months and months left of summer to sleep until 12 and tan and go in the pool all day. I am nervous and excited. It is a weird feeling. Sometimes I will think about the scary aspects of the entire exchange year, like constantly speaking Spanish and constantly being confused and tired from using it so much, and meeting my family for the first time and feeling uncomfortable in a foreign house with different customs and food. Then I think about the positive aspects such as meeting all of the other exchange students, many who are already my close friends (JOHOTTIE), making friends in my high school called Arco Iris Feliz (aka Happy Rainbow), a name more appropriate for a pre-school, and finally becoming fluent in Spanish, which I believe (and hope) will happen by December/January.