SI ME QUIEREN MATAR, MATENME.

...If you want to kill me, kill me.
Says a lot about Ecuadorian politics...


I took this picture from school. It is smoke rising up into the sky from burning garbage and tires in the streets...

Today I was sitting in math class, bored as usual, and I decided that I wanted to go outside and get some fresh air, so I took a stroll to the bathroom. When I got back, the teacher stopped teaching and said that all the police in the country are protesting and basically that all hell broke loose.

The police throughout the entire country are protesting because they do not agree with a new law that takes away some of their benefits so to show how important they are for the country, they decided to see what it is like without any police officers for a while, and just as they expected, there is chaos. The president in Quito said that it was an "attempted coup" and people tried to attack him, so he fled to a hospital. The main airport in Quito was closed down, roads entering the major cities are closed down, all stores and commercial centers are closed. Basically, Ecuador is going crazy, everything's closed down, and people are trapped in their houses. FUN!

Anyways, when I got back from the bathroom, the teacher started explaining what was happening and she said that we were in danger in school because people were raiding other schools and colleges throughout Portoviejo and that robbers could come to our school. After this, the kids started to freak out a little. A lot ran to the windows of the classroom to see if anything was going on outside, everyone started packing up their backpacks, and everyone started frantically calling their parents to find out how they would be getting rides home, since we all had to leave school at around 11:00 am. Luckily, my host sister came to get my in my classroom and I left. Before I left school though, I looked back and there was a huge black cloud of smoke from where people were burning garbage and car tires.

The same thing that is happening in Portoviejo is happening all over the country. It is very unsafe here in Ecuador right now, and I can’t even leave my house, not that I would want to. All the stores and places around town are closed, there are a LOT of robberies, even car robberies, and there have been more kidnappings than normal in the center of town. Luckily, Portoviejo isn't as big of a city as Guayaquil or Quito, where the majority of the problems are.

To everyone reading at home, I am 10000% ok. I left school early, I am in my house, I am safe, and nothing will happen to me. So nobody should worry. This whole thing is really not affecting me. Yes, I had to leave school early, but that was it.

Click here for a video and article explaining what is going on here:
edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/09/30/ecuador.violence/index.html

One Month

Exactly one month ago I said goodbye to my friends, family, dog, house, and the town I have known and loved since I was born, and boarded a plane to a city 4,000 miles away from New York in a country that I had never imagined going to. To most people, I am crazy but in my opinion, it was the best decision I have ever made. I love every single day of my life down here and despite the little problems, I am so happy. I have great friends in school, I am so close with the other exchange students after just one month, I love my host sister, she is already like my best friend, I understand 65% of what people say in Spanish and when I really pay attention, maybe even 70%, when people speak directly to me I can understand even more. Everything is great. People always say that Ecuador is a great country to go on an exchange to and that everybody that goes ends up absolutely loving it, and now I can see why. What shocks me the most is that I am still not homesick at all. My mom bought a blackberry just to talk to me, so despite her 4839243 messages and every good morning and goodnight bbm, I still don't feel homesick. I can call my family and hearing their voices doesn't make me miss them. It sounds mean, but it is the truth. I look at it as a positive thing.


I finally got tan. You would think that in Ecuador I would be practically Latina by now, but it has been cloudy here a lot and I haven't had many chances to go out in the sun. Yesterday I was outside all day at a Rotary olympics event and I stayed in the sun as much as possible and I got pretty tan for an Irish girl. I think that after one year, people won't be able to recognize me.

After being here for a month, I really realize how lucky I am to live in Westhampton and how spoiled I am. In an entire month, I have only seen one Lexus, two BMWS (I think it was the same car twice), one Audi, and 3 or 4 Mercedes. In Westhampton, you see about 5 times that amount on any given street. Whenever I see a nice car I scream and point and get so excited and nobody understands why.

A teacher in my high school just told me that he makes about $300...PER MONTH. Most kids in NY can make that in a week and that is the amount he makes in a month at his full time job. My jaw just dropped when he told me that. I can't imagine living off of that.

In Portoviejo, whenever I hear a motorcycle, I jump and quickly check to see whos riding it and many times, I even jump to the other side of the sidewalk, farther away from the road. If it is one person riding it, you are safe. If it is a man with a woman on the back, you are safe. If it is a man with a kid on the back, you are probably safe, but if there are two men on it, you better hide your cell phone and be extremely careful.

Some things I miss:
-fast, wireless internet
-paved streets without potholes and random sections of dirt
-McDonalds
-my 60 inch TV with HD and a DVR
-Starbucks
-HOT showers
-my car and having the freedom to drive anywhere
-having a macbook in school
-having a cellphone with a monthly plan...scratching off cards and plugging numbers in a cellphone is not fun every two seconds
-safety and being able to walk around outside without fear
-being able to leave the front door unlocked and wide open
-not having a giant wall and gate around my house
-7-11
-Jersey Shore
-being able to drive to the beach in 5 minutes

3 weeks in Ecuador and I already made the paper. Not bad.

La Reina

Pictures from Spanish camp in Bahia de Caraquez- www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=307141&id=775143901&l=57e1467628

I spent the past 5 days at a Spanish camp in a town called Bahia de Caraquez, more commonly known as Bahia. Bahia is soo nice. It was such a nice change from Portoviejo. In Portoviejo, everything is dirty, dusty, busy, loud and you can't walk around at all, especially not alone. In Bahia you can see the water from almost every spot in the town, you can walk around without feeling unsafe, there are hardly any cars on the street, and it is semi-clean. I wish I lived in Bahia for my exchange year because I felt more like I was at home in Westhampton. The only problem is that there are only 3 exchange students there, and in Portoviejo we have over 20, which is really nice. Also, Portoviejo has Supermaxi, which is like a giant supermarket, and a huge mall with a movie theater, so there are actually things to do on the weekends.

I have started to get really close with the other exchange students, especially in Portoviejo. Your friends during your exchange year end up becoming your family, and I can already see that happening. I can't wait to meet all of the other exchange students in Ecuador on the Manabi trip in October. I am also happy because now I have a lot of houses to stay in when I travel around the world. ;)

At Spanish camp, I honestly did not learn one thing because I knew every single thing that was being taught. I was hoping to learn a lot and be able to speak better, but at the same time I guess it is a good thing that I already knew everything. It was so boring for me but luckily I had my blackberry and was playing with it the entire time. ;)


Another cool thing is that I was crowned La Reina del Campamento (The Queen of the Camp). I got a special sash and a little crown. It was nice to be recognized for my skills in Spanish. Everyone wanted to take pictures with me and all of the Rotarians were coming up to me and hugging me and kissing me. Oh yea, the people here are very touchy. When you greet someone, anyone from your best friends to complete strangers, you give them a kiss on the cheek. This is something I am still getting used to because in the United States, I neverrrrrr do that. Also, sometimes it is very awkward because you don't know who you should give a kiss to and when you should do it.

I learned how to dance Salsa at Spanish camp too. That was quite an experience.
I didn't know how tiring it can be! It was fun though, and a reallllly good workout. I don't remember the last time I sweat so much!

I took a hot shower for the first time in 3 weeks. That is one thing that I reallllllly miss. I am used to burning hot showers, and here, they are ice cold. I DREAD showering because it is torture. I don't know when I will get another hot shower any time soon. :(

At the Spanish camp, everyone started getting sick. One girl had to return to Portoviejo early because she was so sick, and another girl had to get an IV in her arm. I am also sick now. My throat has been hurting the past few days and I am getting a bad cough. I never get sick at home so I am really mad about this. I did stay home from school today which was nice. My parents gave me some medicine so hopefully that will work.

2 Weeks

I have been here for 2 weeks now and I still don't feel homesick at all, which really surprises me. I have talked to other exchange students and some of them are miserable and want to go home and are sooo homesick, but I am not. I love it here so much. I have only had one day that was hard, but still, one day out of 15 days is pretty good. I have also been getting more comfortable in my house, with my family, and in this country in general. I used to wake up with a slight nervous feeling in my stomach, now I don't. I have more of an appetite, which could potentially be a bad thing. I still haven't tried any of the seafood yet, and I am not looking forward to it. I know that it's sooo "rico", but I just don't like it.

School is getting boring for me now. I draw A LOT and everyone always makes fun of it. I don't understand a lot of the classes like physics, chemistry, and some other ones, but I wouldn't understand them in English either. I also get in trouble every single day in school for the stupidest things. I got yelled at for rolling my pants up, AGAIN, not having higher socks, wearing black sweatpants and not blue ones, wearing eye shadow, leaning back in my chair and looking "tired", even though I was copying all of the notes, having my shirt not tucked in, not having the right skirt for Mondays. It is endless. I feel like the teachers pick on my more than ANY other student or exchange student. Apparently I can't do anything right.


We now have 12 exchange students in my school, 7 in my class alone. It is too much in my opinion. I have been trying to speak a little more Spanish in school, but everyone still speaks English, so it is hard.

The past weekend I went to a beach called Crucita. It was really nice to get out of Portoviejo. Crucita reminds me of Mexico so I felt a little nostalgic. I felt like I was on vacation when I was there--not like an exchange student.

Last night I went to Johanna's house with some exchange students and kids from my class. It is really nice that we all hang out together and it is not just exchange students hanging out with more exchange students. Johanna has the best family, I loveeeeeee her parents.

I had my second Rotary meeting last Wednesday. We had to talk in front of the entire club, in Spanish, and introduce ourselves and talk about ourselves. It was easy. The Rotary meetings start at 9:00, which is really late because we don't get home until 11:30, and then I have to wake up at 6:00 the next morning, which is not fun. The meetings are annoying but it is nice seeing all of the other exchange students who aren't in my school.