First Impressions

At about Nine Fifteen tonight, I will have been in Ecuador for one week. My first impressions have been really interesting. I have done a good job adapting to my new culture, I feel like every moment is another chance to learn more. I love the food here, my mom is an awesome cook, just like the one I left behind. Here we eat a lot of rice, bread, corn, meat, and soup. I would say that I eat rice, soup and meat twice a day, for lunch and dinner.
My Family is loving and caring, from what I have seen they are an average upper middle class family. They own a car and have a rental house, and both of my parents have steady jobs. My house is small, it shares about an acre of land with ten other houses. It is small but I like it. My family has done a great job of helping me learn the Ecuadorian way of things. I would say that my families first impression of me is of a wild, active teenager who eats tons and wants to try and do everything. The only problem we have had is that my mom thinks I'm not eating enough, because when I first got to Ecuador I ate everything in the house for two days. She saaid to me that I need to eat more. The other problem is that the neighbor next door has been spying on me. My mom said that she talked with another neighbor who saw her. I feel totally comfortable with my family, they are great. It is weird how easy it was for me to change families. I really feel as if I have two families right now. I have already told them that I don't want to change houses and they have said they don't want me to change families also.
The elevation hasn't bothered me much, I feel like it has been harder to do everything but I guess I just need to work harder and get stronger.
I kinda just want to rant for a little while because who knows what will come out... Right now I am sitting on my bed in my shared room with my brother, he is on the phone with his girlfriend who he is leaving in eight days for Germany, I will miss him too. My mom has just left for her rotary meeting, my dad and sister are trying to figure out what clothes she should bring on our trip to Portoviejo. My sister and I are getting on an overnight bus to Portoviejo for a roteract conference. It is like Rotary except for young people.... Actually just then I was fighting with my sister, I have begun practicing Capoeira, a brazilian martial art, with her. I am really excited to see the coast of Ecuador. My family is perfect, I have a sister in many of my clases, an older sister who is really cool and two loving parents. A brother also but he leaves for Germany very soon. I am really blessed to have two great families one in Ashland sending me there love and another here in Ecuador. I don't think many exchange astudents get such great families, mine ius PERFECT for me. I have been doing my best to adapt to their rules, for example no earings, but whatever, it is a small thing. My spanish is at the very anoying place where I can speak more than understand. I love speaking spanish and I guess that is why, I have no fear of trying and the language just flows. But my comprehension is moving along slower. But in due time my Spanish will improve. I have the best Spanish out of the three exchange students in my club, kinda suprising since my spanish is very poor. The wgood thing is that my pronunciation is great. My brother has said that in passing you can{t really tell, especially when I wear my sunglasses. The climate here is very different, it is like there are four seasons in one day. It rains every day to some extent, I have seen hail, thunderstorms and cloudless skies all in the same day. The weather is perfect for me, when the people here say it is cold, I say it's perfect. I am learning how to ride and use the buses which are the primary form of transportation for most people. They are prone to theft, my brother for example has had his cellphone stolen four times on the buses. There is one thing that I find very difficult, there is lots of child labor, there are many kids in the streets shinning shoes and selling candy and cigaretts. My brother says that it is something that needs to change and I agree, but the problem is that there are lots of poor families who need the money so they sell their childs labor to a boss who has them vend things. It is very sad for me to see the children out on the street trying to help their families and then have to turn them down when they offer me gum.
I guess I have lost my wind after writing about that, it really makes me realize just how well off I am, there is a small percentage of people in the world who have the time to create their own reality. I strongly believe that we can do anything we put our minds to, but it is impossible when your whole life is just the necesities of life, food, water, shelter, etc.
I guess that I would just like to say that if you are reading this please take a moment to be grateful to all we have in life, because there is always someone with less. Life is precious, we have the ability to make a difference, so please try...

My First Day, Saturday August 23

My first day was pretty crazy. Once I woke up from my slumber I ate a breakfast of milk and bread. It was really tasty, in Ecuador there are many different kinds of bread. My mami was at work and so it was papi, me and my brother and sister. After breakfast I left for la mitad del mundo, the middle of the world, it is really touristy but my family wanted me to go.
My brother and I left the house for la mitad del mundo, we caught a bus into the center of Quito, there we caught another bus to la mitad, during our bus ride Bryan, my brother, kept on saying to me that this part of the city is dangerous or that part is. Essentially many parts of the city are dangerous in the day and night for someone alone. Luckly, I live in the far south in San Rafael. It is in another sub valley to the giant valley that Quito occupies. On our way to la mitad we hopped off the bus and walked to the house of my new aunt, the sister of my father. There we met up with my new cousins, Diego, Jonathan and Andrea. Jonathan is 20... or 19, I cant really remember. Well anyways we drove to an ice cream store were we bought helados de pailas. they are different than the ice cream that can be bought in the U.S. I think that there isnt any milk, but it is actually a secret so my family didnt know.
We drove to the monument on the equator, but it is actually off by 240 meters. It was raining and hailing so there were not many tourists. For me the best part was that when we went to the museum my brother said that there were four nationals, instead of one tourist. The museum was really interesting I kept my family waiting while I read all of the noted on the different cultures in Ecuador.
After la mitad del mundo we went to some inca ruins close to the monument. On our way there a man ran out in front of the car and was lucky not to have been hurt. He jumped and slid off the hood, he didnt seem to be hurt so we drove off. Essentailly, in Ecuador you dont need rollercoasters. The rules of the road are just guide lines. Crossing the streets here is crazy. I always run becuase I dont trust the drivers but the Ecuadorians just walk calmly across with the cars inches behind them.
The ruins werent that impressive but the location was very beautiful. After a long day my brother and I headed home.

I just want to say that the keyboard is different here so I still dont know were all the punctuation is, I believe that everyone can understand what Im trying to say so all is good. I am falling behind in my writing so I think that Im going to switch to focusing on my fellings and the important points about the culture rather than a day by day diary.

My First Night

Once I got off of the plane Cole, from the Seattle area, and I stuck together. We passed through imigration and costoms without a problem. Once through I met my family who had a balloon with benvinidos alex writen on it, Carlitos, my Rotary counsolor also met me at the airport with his Family. I tried to talk but I was so relieved to be in Quito that I was ready to fall asleep. After saying hello to everyone I got in the Car with my mom, dad, brother and sister. We drove to the Virgin in the center of the city, there is a mountain named panecillo with the statue on top. It was very foggy but I could still see parts of the city. After viewing the city we drove back home, we bought a baked chicken and my first dinner was corn, chicken, and rice. It was the only meal that my mother has bought anything for. One of the first things that I asked was what should I call my mom and dad. They said mami y papi. It is perfect. I went to bed in the same room with my brother. He leaves for Germany on September 6th. My first night was really crazy, I was practically delirious and I didn{t go to bed until one in the morning.

To be totally honest this blog thing is really hard, I do not want to miss anything and I feel that by using the computer I am missing chances to learn more. Ecuador is epic, I love my family and all the people I have met. Ojala, literally it is like god willing but used very often, I will learn Spanish quickly. I will try to put photos on my blog soon.

Traveling

Hey everyone, this is my first post from Ecuador. My last few days in Ashland were awesome, thanks everyone for a great life at home. It is what has made this possible. I woke up at three thirty to catch the plane to Atlanta. Leaving my mom was difficult, at the gate I met Aria and her mom. The flight to Atlanta was good, I got to see the sun rise over Mt. Hood on my last day, it was beautiful, the clouds made contrasting shadows over the ground. I sat next to a Bosnian who has lived in the U.S for two years, hes name was Amir and he made the flight really enjoyable. Once in Atlanta Aria and I mistakenly walked out of the Airport. So we had to go through security again. Once back in the airport and at our gate we met the other Rotary Exchange students. There were about fifteen from the U.S. There were people from many other programs represented at the gate. AFS students from France headed to Ecuador, Rotary Exchange students from Switzerland going to Ecuador and the U.S, another exchange program with kids from the U.S, and a ton of college exchange students headed for Ecuador. The plane ride was good except that my ipod broke halfway through the trip.
I sat next to a black Ecuadorian couple on the plane, they were very nice and we talked the whole time in Spanish. That was when I realized that I could really live in Ecuador. My Spanish sucks but I{m not afraid to try so everything is perfect. I also met a Rotary exchange student from an island in Puget Sound. He is really cool, I already have a friend from the good old northwest.

I am sorry for not writing sooner or about the stuff people probably want to hear about but these last few days have been in hyper drive, I literally have had no time to write. Everything is awesome in my family and I will hopefully catch up to my day to day expirience.

Ashland is home

I have come to the point at which I am fully ready to embark on my adventure. All of my tears have been shed in a combination of joy and sorrow. It is amazing to feel two very different conflicting emotions at once. I am very sad to leave everyone in Ashland. I love Ashland and all my connections here. I haven't even been away for more than three weeks at a time. But I am ecstatic, my whole life feels as if it has been culminating to this point. Now I am ready to make the biggest positive difference I have ever made. I want to say thanks again to everyone who has been a part of my life (this will probably come up a lot since I am forever grateful). My life has been so blessed, to everyone: I love you and I will miss your physical presence in my life.

The Goal of My Blog

One of my personal goals while I'm away is to learn as much as I can about the world throught the lense of an Ecuadorian. I have grown up in Ashland, so no matter the situation I can only at it through one lense. That of a sixteen year old born and raised in Ashland. Lets get serious, Ashland is a small insulated bubble completely separate from what goes on around the world. So my logic is that by living in Ecuador for 10 to 11 months will allow me to have two perspectives on life. This will give me a greater scope of understanding and allow me to make better decisions on a more global level. In this global world where we interact with people on all corners of the planet it is necessary to have a global consciousness. This concsiousness must transcend government, cultural and language barriers.

The only way we can kill another human being is when we demonize them and take away their humanity. If everyone thought of everyone else as human, just the same as their brother, sister or neighbor, than maybe there would be no more wars. It's a tough concept and a lofty ideal but that is my reason for having a blog. Through my eyes hopefully anyone who would like to know more about Ecuador and how an American boy will live there will be able to get all their information in one place.

"If you're not liberal when you're twenty you have no heart, if your not conservative when you're fifty you have no brain" -Winston Churchill

Leaving

I'll be leaving for Ecuador on August 22nd at 6:10 in Portland Oregon. I will be leaving Ashland on the 21st.
I am so stoked!!!!!!!!! Thanks again everyone.