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.