I am proud to say I have finished my first month in Ecuador (well more than that now, I have actually been here since August 18th, 2011). As many people who are reading this know, my adventure started before I even got on the plane. It began last September at my first Rotary Youth Exchange meeting, where I met some of the most amazing people. I was fortunate enough to be part of district 6690 and as a result we were more active, as we met every month. After finishing a meeting, I was already ready for the next one.
I was first really disheartened upon entering the program, because I discovered I was only able to go to four countries due to my “old” age: Turkey, Ecuador, Brazil, and Mexico. They were not sending anyone to Mexico, so I was left with three choices and I ranked them in the order that I have now. I was disappointed when I did not receive Turkey, but quickly got over it when I got Ecuador, my second choice. I chose it for practical reasons, because I had taken six years of Spanish in school. On the plus side, it would be less frustrating to become fluent in the language.
Flying Alone, Kind of
I toughened myself up for my departure, but it clearly was not enough. I promised I would not cry but it was impossible when nearly everyone I loved came to the airport: my mom, my dad, my two sisters, my three best friends, my friend´s family, my uncle, my aunt and my cousins. It was a crying fest only to be seen in movies; people hugged me, some came up for second and thirds. I walked through security and eagerly waited for my plane. My thoughts were racing, but I felt three distinct pains in my stomach. First blow, my yellow submarine pin fell off my rotary jacket. Second blow, cannot find the damn thing. Third blow, my parents break into to tears as I hand the ticket to enter the plane. Even so, I left Columbus, Ohio to land in Chicago, where I quickly met up with other Exchange students. This provided me with so much conversation while waiting for the plane (if you are an exchange student, you understand the feeling). Unfortunately, I did not sit on the plane with one of the exchange students for my flight to Florida, but a young man dressed in smart attire with a white shirt, and black pants. Looking around, I noticed that were many others who were dressed similar to him. This is when I made the mistake, I talked to him. I discovered he was a Mormon missionary and thus I commenced to be preached to about Mormonism for three and one half hours. Lesson learned.
When I stepped off the plane from Miami to Guayaquil, I was full of confidence. I had found my way around in three airports, and I had earned my way to a new experience. Besides the three and half hours I lost of my life, I was doing quite well. Of course I had minor worries, but I quickly brushed them aside and decided to enjoy what was in front of me; it was a crowd of screaming people holding up signs trying to find their exchange student. Okay, I did not expect that. Luckily, I quickly found my family who had brought an incredible amount of people with them all of whom I had to greet by kissing each on the cheek. I guess my first greeting test was really intense.
My family happily took me to their car where I sat in the back seat. I automatically reached for my seatbelt, with my eyes faced forward, and discovered that there was not one. Okay, I knew this; it was common to drive without seatbelts in the back seats in Latin America. But once we got moving, I wanted my seatbelt again. They drive pretty crazy. I was being tossed here and there. Despite this, it seemed that the driver was far more aware of his surroundings, because he could quickly dodge unwanted cars in his path.
It was too dark to see everything on the way home, though I was in the city, it mainly was because I was a bit tired. I arrived in my ciudadela, Ceibos Norte, which I shortly learned was the closed community that I was going to be living. I got to my new home and they immediately showed me to my room which was far bigger than my own in the U.S. I now have a bigger bed and my own bathroom. I was so excited about the prospect of a new room that I unpacked everything that night and neatly found homes for all of my possessions in my room.
I awoke to out employee, Ina, knocking on the door. She introduced herself and little did I know how much I was really going to like her. Ina saves my life when it comes to chores, because I don´t have to do any; not even put my clothes away or make my bed (I still do mom), so the room is nice and tidy every day. In consequence, I have found my laziness has increased. I had a nice two week vacation when I arrived, during which I had to say goodbye to my host brother, Oscar, who took off to France, met many members of my mother´s large family, and took a trip to Salinas with my counselor and his family, which I probably will elaborate later on in my account of my stay. So let this be my first subject, laziness
Laziness
I feel like I am always tired here, I have read up on culture shock and that is one of the effects. I want to sleep much of the time, and cars here particularly have a way of making me fall asleep. Anyway, this maybe a mixture of adolescence and lack of physical activity, I haven´t quite decided, but for now I will pin it on my culture shock. At school I would not say I´m lazy, but merely an exchange student. I complete all of my work, mostly on time (some teachers give me some leeway). On my first Thursday of school, my mom helped me to enhance that laziness by abducting me to a go to a beach house of my aunt, Lily, to spend the rest of the week, all of which I will tell you now.
Playing Hooky in Manabi
I had forgotten as an exchange student I was able to be excused from school for many reasons, and when my mom said I was going to miss school to go to the beach, I was all for it. One thing to know about the province, Manabi, is that it has the best beaches. I went with my mom, my aunt Lily, and her German husband (Germans speaking Spanish is way cool). I was greeted by a three legged dog when I arrived, who was clearly faster than the other dog that had four. On a more normal note, I was also greeted by the family that worked for my aunt. The house was right on the beach, made all of wood, with a cabaña like roof and lots of hammocks, how perfect.
We would go walk on the beach in the mornings and look for seashells and my Aunt had taken a liking to finding small pieces of old vases, when we unearthed a full 5000 year old urn with human bones inside. We found teeth, which my conveniently dentist mother identified as of an adult, and my orthopedic doctor father identified the bones of the body. My aunt kept some of the bones, but the vase was sent to be studied along with many of the bones. The same day, we also came upon a huge dead turtle being eaten by birds. So, It was just your average walk on the beach.
We went whale watching in Puerto Lopez, which was pretty neat. The whales were flipping in the air and putting on quite a show. We took the daughter of the employee of my aunt and her friend, who had been born with no arms. It seemed like missing limbs was becoming a motif here. Later, I met this American girl who was helping work at a factory and she told me she had seen a three legged dog that day. I asked her what it looked like, and showing her the picture, we both agreed it was the same dog. However, the dog she saw was in a completely different town from where my aunt lived, and my aunt said that there was another three-legged dog in that town, but it is missing a different leg. My bad.
We also went to a neighboring town, called Montañita. Little did I know how infamous this town was. Montañita is very international for a village, and one can hear many languages from all over the world while walking through the streets, backpackers especially. Montañita is one big party. There are never fights there, because everyone minds his own business, but as many drunks, foreigners, and Rastafarians are in the street, everything remains a crazy, yet peaceful, fiesta.
When I returned to school they and I told them I had gone to Montañita, they all joked for the next two weeks that I had done a bunch of bad things in Montañita Montañita has the same phrase as Las Vegas, “Whatever happens in Montañita stays in Montañita, so naturally they expected me to be some wild American who partied and skipped school.
MONTAÑITA!
Beaches at Sunset.
Just finding a 5000 year old vase.
School- Steiner Bilingüe Internacional
So school is an interesting topic. I have been put in quinto curso sociales, the equivalent to junior year in high school and only studying subjects like literature, geography, philosphy etc. Even so, we do have to take math, but it is very easy. School is a lot more relaxed in many aspects, and stricter in others. On the strict side, I have to wear a uniform with a skirt two days of the week with white socks of a certain length, hair up, no makeup, and no jewelry. The other three days I have to do the same, but with our gym outfit of sweatpants and a t-shirt, which gets really hot. The funny part is, some people are in sweatshirts and make shivering noises like they are cold. Most of the time, I laugh, because it is never cold in Guayaquil, Ecuador. We are also forbidden to have electronics in our school, and they take away your cell phone if you caught with one. Many people still use their electronics, but it is way more secretive.
On the relaxed side, the homework is generally really light. Most of my classmates never does their homework and the teacher always asks for it with many complaints from the students. The students are quite whiny, and say that it is not fair because the teacher never said it, or that they should not have a quiz because it is his or her birthday, or merely that they forgot. The students are always shouting “Miss” or “Mister” at an attempt at English, with a cute Latino accent. I tried telling them that more people say “sir”, not “mister” and they, including the boys, continue to whine and shout in a way that my little sister cannot even rival.
Another annoying part is that during our two breaks, we have the opportunity to order food at the snack bar. It is always crowded with people, and if students see you have money, they will not be afraid to ask you for it. “Prestame diez centavos, por favor”, is a common phrase I hear, which means “lend me 10 cents, please”. At first I did not mind lending such little amounts, but it adds up, and they don´t pay you back. So, I quickly learned to ignore the beggars, who on an average day, I would be asked 10 times to lend money. In the U.S. many people are embarrassed to borrow money, but here, no one has a fear to ask.
The only teacher that gives a significant amount of homework is my literature teacher. In one night, I was expected to read 50 pages and summarize each paragraph, including those of which was only a sentence long. I honestly did not see the point. Unlike many exchange students, I am required to do all the homework, and be treated like any other student. That is all fun and all, except when I have to take up French three, when I only know how to say “bonjour”. Luckily, my French teacher has turned into my Spanish teacher, and I do many of the same exercises, but in Spanish.
I also have to take a gym class and an aerobics class, which is basically dancing. Everyone thinks that I am super athletic, because I can do all the activities with ease. Little do they know how I am such a terrible runner in the U.S., but here I seem like an overachiever. I really enjoy that fact that we get to dance in school. No one seems that into it, but I have learned dances to modern songs, and it is something I have never done before, so it is really enjoyable. We prepared for “el Dia del Campo”, which is a day where everyone spends time at the school for a whole day, and other schools come for atheltic competions and see us show off our school. We would have to present a flag ceremony, where some of the people are required to kiss the flag, a little strange, but culture. Unfortunately, there was a Rotary event going on the same time called RYLA, a youth leadership conference. It was not for Youth Exchange Students, but many went, because it was an opportunity to go to Cuenca, it was totally worth it.
Also many of my classmates sell things during school. I commented to one of my friends who was selling pie to make money, that it is illegal in the U.S. to do so, and she said, “Oh yeah, it´s illegal here too”. I laughed, because even the teachers would buy from the students without caring. Breaking the law seems a minor thing, but wearing your hair down or bringing a cell phone, can be seriously penalized. My Mormon English teacher too let us watch a movie, and it was bootlegged. Oh, how many lines will they cross?
Me before school this morning The guys that are always messing with me in class: Rafael and Manuel
Piracy
Movie piracy is overly common here. There are stores that sell them and the police do nothing about it, probably, because they too, buy the movies. I have yet to see someone own a legitimate movie. Now I feel like my actions in the U.S. were really helping the movie industry, here, not so much.
Rotary
On the second day of my arrival I went to a rotary “gathering”, because it wasn´t a formal meeting, it was simply a breakfast in the house of one of the Rotarians. I met many people, including the other exchange student in my club, a French girl named Emma Deguilhem. My activities with Rotary thus far have been: meeting the Miss Guayaquil candidates who were meeting old people in a hospital, and I have gone to a school to help while my mother was doing dental work on the students, and of course I have met other exchange students, and my first encounter, was in Machala.
Candidates for Miss Guayaquil
My brother, Oscar, leaving for France
Language Camp- Machala
Machala´s language camp was probably one of the best weeks of my life. I didn´t really learn any Spanish, in fact I think I got worse, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. In order of frequency of languages heard went: English, German, and then Spanish. What made it so enjoyable? Well, that would be because I was with exchange students for five days.
We were on an island called Janbelí in Machala at a resort called El Faro. Four people shared a Cabaña, or a little hut, with two floors. It was kind of awesome. We were right on the beach, so we spent a lot of time there. Hammacks were everywhere; we could ride horses, swim in the ocean, swim in the pool, or take a canoe out into the Ocean. We even played a game of soccer on the beach, which was fun, and a bit crowded. When we later tried playing in normal sand, it was much worse, because you continue to slip and slide. Agility is completely non-existent and as a result, we got tired really quickly.
During the day we went to Spanish classes, which were far too easy. When I talked with the Rotarians, they said I had no accent, and for the rest of the time Tito, expected me to know everything about Spanish. I was able to correct the teacher at one point in time, so I actually felt happy about my Spanish. One students repeatedly said “bueno”, because it was pretty much the only word he could say. It is a bit funny to think that I was doing terribly in Spanish class in the U.S., yet they told me I was the best of all the exchange students at the camp. So it goes.
At night, we had dancing instructors and they taught us Salsa, Meringue, and Cumbia. I can dance salsa the best of the three and even with some twirls included. Gotta love the Latinos for their dancing! During our Spanish “lessons” we played a hot potato like game with a balloon and when the music stopped if you had the balloon, you had to dance in the center of the circle of all the exchange students. One of the dancing instructors took a bottle of alcohol down from the bar and showed us a dance we would have to do if we got caught with the balloon, “el baile de la botalla”. She then proceeded to show the dance, which was basically dancing provocatively around a bottle. This obviously provided great video footage.
I got many great pictures of the students obsessed with planking on land and water, and videos of dancing, but I lost my camera. Someone swiped it as I stupidly left it on a table by the pool, well done, Casey. When I told my parents here, my mother was furious and she said she had told me to watch my possessions. Yet when I talked to my mother in the U.S., she wasn´t at all surprised. Wow, I guess that is a typical Casey move. So my mom, had to send me a new one to my Uncle who was visiting Florida, and thus, he brought it to me. So now I have a camera, but I lack a very important part of my exchange. I have vowed now to never lose such valuable tool/companion again. The only other bad part of this trip was the awfully cold showers.
On the way to El Faro
El Faro
Hannging up the flags with random sticks
Exchange Student Group Picture
Planking Exchange Students, and dancing instructor
The Jesus Plank
My Birthday Bash
So my birthday is September 11th, and my friend Martin came to my house one day and informed me that he would throw me a party. I was surprised; he said that the last party he threw was for Oscar´s surprise birthday party, or as my parents said, a surprise for everyone. My host parents were away, and they came home to find 120 people in their house. They were not angry, just surprised. So Martin planned me a party, in my house, of which I did nothing. It reminded me of the movies and it was pretty amazing. My parents said no alcohol, which was fine with me, however others brought alcohol anyway, though I politely refused. We had a DJ in my house and most of the people were dancing, which was really cool. Emma, the French exchange student, came to my party, without knowing it was mine, so that is how the chain of parties works here. I definitely did not know everyone there, but it was a great party full of dancing and conversing of which I talked to both my school friends and some of my exchange friends. Ecuador can sure party, I am not in Granville anymore.
Cuenca- RYLA
The drive to Cuenca was the most beautiful drive I have been on in my life. We took a bus from Guayaquil and we were weaving in and out of the mountains and you could see about the clouds, beautiful valleys, and occasionally, llamas. I took an incredible amount of pictures, and it is difficult to describe the beauty without actually seeing the landscape.
I will be honest; the meetings were REALLY boring that I attended. It also did not help that they were in Spanish. There was one that was intriguing, but over all there were way too many lectures. The best part was merely being with exchange students and learning new quirky things. For example, during lunch the exchange students would simultaneously shout “shhhhhhh” and the room would get quiet, and the exchange students would continue eating as if nothing happened. Another entertaining game we played, is that someone puts their hand on the leg next to the person. The person naturally has a perplexed reaction, and with an indication of the head, hints that the person should pass on the chain. Before you know it, the whole table it touching the leg of the person next to them. I had no idea what this game was, yet I quickly discovered that it involved me having to put my hand on some leg of an Ecuadorian stranger. My point is, exchange students are weird.
I did not learn to be a leader at this camp as I should have. But I did receive a diploma and of course there was an exchange student who received his diploma and planked on the stage. However, when I returned my parents told me my Spanish was immensely better. I had been talking to many Ecuadorians of my age, and as a result, I guess I got better, so the camp was definitely not a waste.
The Beautiful Drive
Where we stayed
Going out to dance
The Exchange Students are, as always, daring while taking a picture with fireworks going off right behind them
Food
The food is nothing less than delicious. We eat an abundant amount of food every day, especially meat. I have eaten more meat here than I have ever in my life. All the meat has an incredible flavor, where in the U.S. it is extremely lacking. Lunch is the largest meal of the day, where we first have soup, then our main plate; every day. Rice is automatically assumed to be on the plate, but often times there are different kinds of rice on my plate. They also make juice out of every fruit imaginable by squeezing out the contents of the fruit and diluting it with water. I found Naranjilla to taste like medicine and all the others just not my cup of tea. I have found a liking to the orange juice and pineapple juice (tastes really different here). My favorite foods in Ecuador are the oranges, of which they cut in a unique way. They shave off the outside, and cut a hole in the middle and drink out the juice. I love it!
My house specifically always has a huge supply of bread, because my host brothers Daniel, and Tony own a Panadería, or a place that sells bread. We eat arroz con menestra, which is rice and beans (always accompanied by a meat). Fried Plantains or Patacones are super delicious as well as cooked ripe bananas, which have a sweeter flavor. I do not know how I will ever return to box food in the U.S. One of the best places they have is a place called “Sweet and Coffee”, which is Ecuador´s Starbucks, but cheaper and far superior in taste. The coffee beans are from Ecuador, which they brag they make the best coffee in the world, yet nearly every household buys instant coffee imported from Columbia. I asked them why they would do that if they have such great coffee at their fingertips. They just shrug their shoulders and act as if they have never heard of such a novel idea, as they do not know the answer themselves.
Completely delicious and flavorful
Empanadas and Sunny Mango Juice
Wierd Fruit Cake and NOT cheesecake= deceptive cake (really passion fruit with gelatin or something)
Do not be fooled, I did not enjoy that. I much prefer the oranges.
BEST EVAH!
Ceviche, which I do not touch
The much tastier, safer, traditional comida Ecuatoriana
Note: Smile on face
Manta
I more recently went to Manta, which is the city my host father is from in the province of Manabi. His mother, Violeta, was turning 100 years old. I am stunned at the Ecuadorian ability to live such long lives. She even had a school friend at her party that is going to turn 100 in January, and she could still walk and talk sanely. The question is: what did they eat? On the Saturday I went to Manta I attended a Catholic mass and there were actual nuns in habits, which I am not accustomed to as there are “nun” in my church in the U.S.
I got to finally meet my busy uncle Agustín, who is a cardiologist. I felt extra safe when was with my family that weekend, because we had two dentists, one orthopedic doctor and a cardiologist, and perhaps more. I even got to meet my uncle´s wife, who is one of the richest women in Ecuador. She owns an entire area of the city of Guayaquil, including the biggest mall, and the hospital where my Dad and Uncle work. How insane!
I talked with so many family members, the names of which I cannot even remember half of them. I stayed in the house of my uncle, Jaime, along with a few cousins. They have a Saint Bernard, which is gigantic. I saw the dog from a birds-eye view the first time, as I saw my cousin trying to wrestle the dog into the gate. The dog seemed resilient so I decided to go help him. When I got down the stairs, I realized the huge mass of the dog, which had face similar to a bear, his name was Sultán. He was too smart to be tempted by a flip-flop thrown and be lured into the fence. So I recklessly took the flip flop and ran into the fence with it and the dog followed. However, it attacked me, grabbing around my legs and then tearing at my skirt. Luckily, my cousin was there to help me, but I succeeded in my trapping the dog endeavor. Overall, it took my cousin 40 minutes to get the dog back into the fence. Wow.
Me with my host mother and father, Laura and Tony
My Cousins and I
Note: Eye slightly lazy
Just after blowing out the candles
Note: The woman in the pink to the left will be 100 in January, looks good, no?
Music
In Guayaquil especially, Reggaeton is very popular for dancing, which is a mix between reggae and rap. The most popular radio station here is called Radio Disney, and it does have a significant amount of Disney artists. Many of the people here love Justin Beiber, Selena Gomez, LMFAO, and party music. I am not really into it, but I don´t mind the party music, but the Disney music to me is intolerable.
Ecuador´s Opinion of the U.S.
Overall, they really love the United States, because that is where they vacation. Miami, the most common city visited is assumed to be the capital of the state of Florida. They love America; because it is the place they go and shop. The clothes here are surprisingly pricey, so practically everyone in Ecuador goes to Miami to shop, even my family. They love America, basically for the reason they love Miami and New York City,. Ecuadorians also do not understand how large the U.S. is, because I am frequently asked if I know certain people. This is a problem in my high school, because coincidently they have an exchange program with a school in Toledo, Ohio, so they ask me if I met some of their friends there in the “capital”, Toledo.
Friends
It has been slightly difficult getting constant and close friends here, because my host brother who is closest to my age is in France, so he can´t show me around Guayaquil. Also, I have been put in quinto curso, which are people who are younger than me. The problem lies that they lack a certain maturity level, and it is a bit hard to relate I that aspect. However, more recently I have met two friends to fulfill my essential friend needs. My friend Alejandro Avendaño is my fellow good music lover, so we have been able to share our cultures of music, of which we have similar tastes. The other friend is José Daniel, who was an exchange student in France and fulfills my Harry Potter needs as well as exchange student bonding time. Of course, I have exchange student friends, but most of the time it is a bit difficult to all meet and align our schedules. Recently, we exchange students of Guayaquil have tried to take up bowling. I have discovered that the more I play, the worse I get. We were playing so terribly, that a professional bowler who played for the national team told us he could not watch anymore and he taught us how to bowl. The bowling alley that we go to is called strikes, and it is more like club than a bowling alley. It is cheaper than the U.S. and it has large screens of music videos playing in the background, flashing lights, and there are not chain smokers! We are intending to have a bowling competition between the exchange students of the different provinces, so we are practicing with vigor, while stopping occasionally to plank on the bowling balls, of course.
The Mall Rats. Rio Centro Samborondon.
Note: Asian Eyes
Renatta´s birthday
We are so bad, that Julian gets the Japanese "Wow" face.
Hint: Observe top left score
The Bowling Ball Plank, performed by Signe Bottcher
Problems
- 1. I am getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. However, bug spray can only solve so many problems. I still get them and I end up scratching them. So, I feel like I have hundreds of scars all over my legs, lovely.
- 2. I have no transportation- I cannot do an extracurricular, because my family works until 9:30 at night
- 3. I barely have a social life- My host brother is in France, and all my classmates are much younger than I, and I cannot go out alone, because it is too dangerous. My family is gone all day, so most of the day I have no one to talk to.
I would like to
1. Find a culture school or Dance Academy to learn how to dance salsa and other traditional dances
2. Find a girls soccer team
3. Do something
I have already talked to my host parents who basically told me to watch a movie and read a book. I am now getting a membership to a gym, which solves part of the problem, but doesn´t do much to the social aspect. Oh well, I am trying to be flexible.
How: I cannot use public transportation, but could Rotarians help? Am I in a good situation for an exchange student to be integrated into the culture? Advice would be great.
Extra
- There are two phone provider companies: Movistar and Claro, the more popular being the latter. EVERYONE here has a blackberry and they are stuck to it like glue, but they say it is only those who live on the coast. They say that those who live in the sierra, like Quito, all have iphones. Interesting.
- I just lost the game.
- HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUDDDDDDDDEEEEEER!
- I MISS YOU
Birds´eye view 
Danish guy doing a a flip dangerously close to the edge of a drop, but still, FLIPPIN´ SWEET!
The Fantastic French
The Great Wall of Germans 
Pikachu!
The Feroe Islanders! (which is not Denmark)
This photo is from a boat ride we took, where I got some good pictures of pelicans.
My Michael Jackson photo taken in a Mausoleum
By the end of the trip, nearly every exchange students´ wrists were filled with bracelets. We traded bracelets (and pins) from each others countries, or got them from street vendors. The one that says Freundschaft means "friendship" in German. I had no idea what that meant, considering I do not know how to speak German I asked my friend, Johannes, if it was a place. Now he won´t let me live it down. 
The Latina mocking photo. Latinas always like to drape their hair over their shoulder with their hands on their knees leaning forward. 
Me at the beach, or as the Ecuadorians say ,"bitch".
