I still absolutely love life here. I was thinking that if I had the opportunity to go home that I would go for a about a week, say hello to everyone, eat some McDonalds, drink some Starbucks, sleep in my bed, shower with hot water, go to NYC, go shopping, but then I would be DYING to come back here.
Spanish is still a lot harder than I thought. I thought at this point I would know a lot more than I do, but it is still so hard for me to speak. I speak so much English here and I really think that is affecting how fast I am learning Spanish. I am also not learning any vocabulary, so it is really hard. I thought that I would be much further along in Spanish than I am now. The problem is that I know all of the grammar, it is all in my head, I just can not make the words come out of my mouth. I can write PERFECTLY, and just as fast as I can in English, but I can't do the same with speaking. I am really just going to have to force myself to speak Spanish in school more. The kids that go to schools where the kids don't speak any English are improving their Spanish so fast. I am jealous ):
My school recently had a huge fair that consumed our lives for an entire week. We didn't have normal classes and each classroom was converted into a stand. There was a math stand, a science stand, an English stand, a Mandarin stand, etc. and all day we just hung out by the pool, which my school has...shockingly, and we walked around and saw the things happening at each stand. La Feria (the fair) is something that would never happen in my school and it was really amazing how much work was put into it and the final outcome.
All of the exchange students in my high school, Arco Iris.
One major difference between here and Westhampton is that here I go out a lot more on the weekends. My friends are always inviting me to do things on the weekends and to go places. I got to a lot of parties, espceially birthday parties. I go to my friends houses just to eat, relax, talk, etc. At home I never felt like going out, I was always too lazy and everything was more boring in Westhampton. Also, I think I like going out more because I am with new people, in new places, doing new things so it is more exciting for me.
Me and some friends at a birthday party.
The only problem is that on the weekdays, I hae nothing to do after school. I come home, I eat lunch, and then my family goes to take naps/relax. I am not used to napping so I don't have anything to do. Every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I do have dance classes, which get annoying but they are helpful.
Two weeks ago all of the kids in my rotary club went to a small town about 30 minutes from Portoviejo to a "health fair." It wasn't actually a fair though. What happened was that doctors came to this small town and offered free services. There were dentists and doctors and they were giving out free pills to people that need them but can't afford them. Although the exchange students couldn't do much to help out, it was still a good experience and it was very eye opening. I really take advantage of the health care in the United States. Although the system has its flaws, we are still so lucky in the US. Many of the people in this town don't get medical treatment until this "fair" takes place, which is only two times per year. It is really sad.
The week before that all of the exchange students in my Rotary club went to a park that Rotary owns to help clean it up. We had to take bags and walk around the whole park picking trash up off the ground. It was for a good cause, but something that I do not want to do again. It was extremely dusty, dirty, hot, and I was wearing flip flops so my feet were disgusting.
Yesterday I got back from a beach trip to the province of Manabi with every exchange student in Ecuador (all 127 of them). I live in Manabi so going to the beach wasn't so exciting, but it was still nice because I don't go to the beach as much as I would like. I got a lot closer with the exchange students in Portoviejo, who are like my family. I thought we would do more on the trip. The first day we arrived and just hung out in the hotel, the second day we took a reallllly long boat ride to a beach for only 2 hours, and then we went to the beach in front of the hotel. Me and my friends from Belgium and Finland met some girls on the beach and we were talking to them for a while. The next day all of the exchange students
walked in the big parade in Portoviejo with our jackets, which of course I forgot, and our country flags. The day after that we spend at the beach and that night we rode these cool truck things called "chivas" all around Portoviejo. I got to sit on the top of the truck and we drove very slowly so I saw things in Portoviejo that I had never seen before. We also had a dinner and dance at another Rotary club in Portoviejo.
Me and some of my best friends from Portoviejo at the beach in Manta.
PHOTOS!
Mi Familia
Me and my best friend, Angie.
My classroom.
Me and Efi.
