Like always, I am sitting at home, bored, trying to make plans with my friends that always fail, so I decided to update my blog. I have been off from school for 3 weeks. One week, I had the trip throughout Manabi, the next week, the kids in school were taking tests so the exchange students weren't obligated to go. We had the choice, and obviously, I chose not to go. Why would I want to take a test that I don't HAVE to take?! And this past week, everyone has had off from school, work, etc. for some holiday. Not sure what it is, but I am not complaining.
I spent my first American holiday here...Halloween...and so far, I don't see many differences. I went to a Halloween party with my friends and it was normal, some kids dressed up, some didn't, just like in the USA. That same night, I also went to a Rotary halloween party. Not the funnest party, but it was ok. The only difference is that kids aren't able to go trick-or-treating from house to house. A) The safety issue and B) It is virtually impossible because the houses are protected by gates and walls. Instead, they go to the mall and do things there.
For 4 days during the vacation, I went to Crucita, the nearest beach to Portoviejo, with one of my friends named Mali. Unfortunately, the weather was crappy and it was actually COLD. I was in a thick hooded sweatshirt most of the time, in the middle of the day, on the beach, and was still cold. We didn't do much because of the weather, but it was just nice being out of Portoviejo and having the freedom to walk on the beach and to walk into town, because it's actually safe there.
One day was nice and me, Mali, her sister, and 2 of her cousins went to the beach and we rode a banana boat, which was fun. It is so cheap too, it only costs 2$ a person, unlike in Mexico where it is like 20$ a person. We also rode a tube thing called La Bestia (the beast). The water is rough for tubing, so we were flying all around. It was really relaxing, a lot of the time, we were just hanging out in a room with her cousins, watching movies or MTV, playing the guitar, things like that. I was completely happy just doing nothing. Also, I am IN LOVE with hammocks now. There are hammocks EVERYWHERE here. They are in a lot of hotels, houses, especially houses on the beach, and I just discovered how relaxing they are. I could sit in one and just swing back and forth allllll day. When I go home I am going to buy one and hang it in my backyard ;)
I went with her ENTIRE family. Her grandpa has a house directly on the beach, and it is HUGE. Each family has their own room in the house, and they all go together during vacations and on the weekends. I really like her family. They remind me a lot of my own family, especially the Boeshore side because they are very relaxed, easy going, and I just felt very comfortable with them, even after a short period of time. Her family is pretty well off and her grandpa has an Audi, and her aunt has a Lexus RX450...needless to say, I was pretty happy to see those cars. It made me miss my car, which is something that I miss more and more every single day.
I miss being able to leave my house in my car when I want to, and being able to come home at basically whatever time I want, and not having to wait outside for one of my parents to open the gigantic metal door. I have never had a curfew and could do what I wanted as long as I kept my mom updated. Here, I have to stay in one place and can't hop around from place to place. This is something that is getting harder and harder and harder for me, and extremely annoying, but it is the culture here. A lot of the parents are extremely laid back like my parents at home, but the majority are very strict. Most kids are not given house keys, which completely shocks me. I think its because its a way for the parents to control the kids even more, but at the same time, it could potentially be dangerous because someone could get dropped off at home, and be waiting in the street ringing the doorbell, waiting for their parents to open to door, and if nobody answers the door, they could be stuck outside, alone where someone could rob them, kidnap them, etc...which, as crazy as it sounds, is sooooooo likely to happen. My host parents don't even have house keys!! It is CRAZY!! Somehow it works though because there is someone always working in the house (an employee) and someone is always available to open the door, but there have been times where I have waited outside for 15 minutes with my host dad waiting for someone to hear the bell. It is the complete opposite of Westhampton where my mom leaves the front door wide open at night until I get home and lock it. I really appreciate the freedom I had in NY and wish I had taken advantage of it when I could.
The wall on the left is the giant wall surrounding my house. Every house has this... 
The food here has been a little difficult for me because I'm not the biggest fan of fish, but I recently went out with two of my best friends to eat what is called "ceviche." It is fish in a lemon juice and you can add onions, ketchup, chifles (plantain chips), and basically whatever you want. I actually tried it and ate about half of my bowl, which was a HUGE step for me. I also eat fish a lot more than I think because a lot of times it looks like chicken to me and once i am halfway through, someone tells me "Kelsey, I can't believe you're eating fish!"(Daddy if you're reading this, I hope you are proud)
Look in my bowl, I ATE THAT...
I have been hanging out with my Ecuadorian friends much more lately, which is good. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my exchange student friends because they are my family here, and i LOVE hanging out with them, but sometimes I feel like we are closing ourselves off from ohther people and from meeting more Ecuadorian friends. I feel like it is taking away from the whole purpose of the exchange. Also, constantly being with English speaking exchange students is slowing down my progress with Spanish. It is the worst in school because we are always in a big group, speaking English, of course, and not many Ecuadorians will come up to us and have a conversation. I am friends with soo many people in school and talk to everyone in my class, but I don't hang out with that many people from school OUTSIDE of school. That is what I have been trying to do more, and I HAVE been doing it, which makes me happy. :)
Another random thing...I was recently going to go to a Jonas Brothers concert in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. I had my money ready buttttttttttt something happened and the woman who was going to sell us the tickets sold them to someone else. I feel like I missed a once in a lifetime opportunity. I highly doubt that I will ever be in Ecuador at the SAME time as the Jonas Brothers :( We were going to buy floor tickets for only $160. :(
I really wish I was traveling more around the country. Many of my exchange student friends have already been to Quito, Guayaquil, and many really nice beaches. I unfortunately NEVER travel with my family, but hopefully in the future I will. The only place I went is to Guayaquil, a major city on the coast about 3 hours away from Portoviejo. I wanted to see the tourist sights and travel around the city, but we went to doctors appointments for my host sister. It was a little dissapointing but I am sure I will be back. The only good thing is that I ate McDonalds for the first time in 2 months!! It was the first time that I had eaten McDonalds since I have been in Ecuador. I ate SO much and was SO full, but it was worth it. I think the next time I eat McDonalds will be in December when I go to Guayaquil again, because Portoviejo only has a KFC. Nothing else. Guayaquil has a TGIFridays, McDonalds, Burger King, and a LOT of other American fast food places. They also have a huge mall that has American stores in it. I wanted to shop, but we didn't have time. I am hoping to go back to that mall one day because there was a lot of stuff that I liked ;)
