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...