My mom and sister from New York visited me for Christmas. It was soooo nice to see them after 4 months without them, but at the same time, it also makes me realize how good this year is for me and how I am ready to move on with my life and that I am becoming an adult.
I did more and saw more of the country in 2 weeks with my mom than I have in 5 months with my family. My family never really travels with me and we never go out together as a family. Most families here will go out to eat and will go to the beach a lot and will go to some of the bigger cities, especially if they have exchange students living with them, but mine doesnt. :( But with my mom, we went to Quayaquil, many beach towns, we went to Quito (the Capital), we also went out more, and we had a rental car so it was like I had freedom for a little while.
Quito was amazing. When I was there, I was jealous that I couldn't live there because I felt so much safer (surprisingly) and it is just a more modern city and reminded me of home and NYC, more than Portoviejo. Its also cleaner and there are McDonalds and Pizza Hut and bigger food chains, that I miss a lot. We took a tour the first day we were there and we did all of the things that we probably wouldn'tve been able to go to if we just went around by ourselves. We went to the Mitad Del Mundo (Middle of the World), which is the monument with the equator line painted on the ground. We went to the Teleferiqo, which is gondola that goes to the top of a huge mountain with good views of the entire city, which is reallllly long and narrow, making it so hard to travel in. We also went to the historical center, which was gorgeous. With the narrow streets, the colorful buildings, the churches, etc. We saw the PRESIDENT OF ECAUDOR also! He was in the main plaza because there was a ceremony to switch the guards or something like that. We got really lucky to see him. It isn't like meeting Obama though. SOO many people that I talk to have seen him/met him/taken pictures with him. Quito also has a place called Plaza Foch, which is a popular square with restaurants, bars, cafes, etc. It is really popular for tourists, and it was one of my favorite things in the city. It was so nice ot just sit outside eating or drinking something, watching the people and everything going on. I wish there was something like that in Portoviejo. :( We also went to a market with all of the indigenous goods. I LOVED IT! I could've spent all day shopping in it and buying things. I bought a big jacket and bright pink pants.
They also spent Christmas and New Years here. Christmas was extremely dissapointing. Normally, for the whole month of December I think about Christmas and it feels like Christmas is coming. This year, I woke up on Christmas Eve and FORGOT it was Christmas Eve. It was sad. I think it is because at home, I go to my Dad's family on Christmas eve, the house is all decorated, I get gifts, we are all talking and laughing and having a good time. And on Christmas day, i go to my moms family where we open MORE presents, eat more, and do a grab bag secret santa thing. Here in Ecuador, on Christmas Eve, at like 10 or 11, the families will eat a dinner (in my house it was VERY formal) and at 12, the kids open presents, and then at like 1 or 2 everyone just goes to sleep. Also, only the little kids get presents...my host sister who is 17 didn't get ANY presents!
New Years was also very different, but in a GOOD way. Again, at 10 we went to eat at a restaurant and then we went home, relazed, and at 12, we went outside and burned a paper doll, that was actually kind of big, to like burn away all of the bad things that happened in 2010. Also, the people will take a suitcase and run around the block (I don't exactly understand why). Everyone buys the dolls and burns them. In the streets there are tons of fires, fireworks, loud noises, and it is just crazy and I loved it! Here, New Years is much more significant than in the US. AT home, I never really do anything on New Years, last year I spend it on a plane. Also, the kids will go out at 1 or 2 in the morning and go to parties until 6, 7, 8, or 9, in the morning! I paid 10$ to go to a party but it was HORRIBLE, so we left after only 2 hours. It was SO dissapointing because I have heard so many good stories about the New Years parties here and how fun they are, but the party I went to was so bad and I was so miserable and tired.
