The Weekend Before Last Day 1

Was......Sick! My Family went south. I didn't have school on friday and saturday so we hopped in the car and drove through some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Ecuador is really amazing because in one day it is possible to pass through tons of ecosystems. We left Quito and passed the Volcanos Ilinizas, they are twin mountains that are like two ice covered knives. They were partially hidden by clouds which added to the effect. The highlands are soooo beautiful, it is grass for kilometers and then mountains rising up... but there are places where there are pine tree plantations. It really ugly because there is only one type of native conifer and it isn't a pine tree, I'll guess that it is for wood to burn and to trap more water in the soil. The first place that we stopped at was San Miguel de Salcedo. This is a really comical place becuase the town produces more ice cream than any other in the world. I saw like twenty just as we passed through town. We stopped and bought some ice cream, I got Avocado, which believe it or not really is pretty good. Later we went east at Ambato and headed to Baños, which was super cool. We descended a couple thousand feet and encountered the beginning of the Jungle. Baños is at the foot of Tungurahua which starting in 1998 is active. It blew its top and the town was vacant for years but right now it is just another part of the fun. As we entered town we passed old lava flows and destroyed buildings. The town is alive with tourism, many places have signs written in English and Spanish. We rented a bike for me becuase we were going to see a waterfall farther east along the highway and my family asked me if I wanted to bike there, like 20 km. I of course agreed and we headed out. My family drove along side me for the first part which I thought was very nice seeing as they are the most impacient people in the car I have ever seen. It really doesn't make sense but by law all Ecuadorians must drive over the speed limit and pass when there is a double yellow (hehe... but seriously I am probably most likely to die in a car here than any part in the US, I have just decided to close my eyes when my dad or mom are passing cars). Anyways I explained to them that I was fine and we continued. The first waterfall that we stopped at dropped probably 40 meters into the river. I forgot to mention that it cost $4 to rent a bike and helmet for the whole day. Right after the waterfall was a tunnel which I had to enter in my bike... with a dog chasing me... but whatever, it's Ecuador!!!!¡¡¡¡ I continued on and passed two or three other waterfalls that my parents family didn't stop at so I just biked along slowly. There was a second tunnel which I entered by accident... dumb, I couldn't see the end and I didn't have lights on my bike. After about 200 meters and a car behind me I turned around and exited safely. There was a bike route around the tunnel and it was fun because there were mini waterfalls pouring right onto the road. On the other side of the tunnel was a bridge. And on the bridge was a set up for swing-jumping. The small one which cost $10 was a swing from the pedestrian bridge with the rope tied to the other bridge for the cars. The big one cost $15 and was a jump from one side of the bridge with the cars and the rope was tied to the other side, so with the second there was a freefall and the first no. My sister and I bothered our parents to let us do it, so after watching people do it my mom said yes, to do the big one too. Of course my mom had to haggle for the price, $25 for two. I went first, I asked the guy if it was ok if I jumped, becuase I watched as he would be talking with people and just push them mid-sentence, and grab there feet for a split second so there heads would be facing downwards. I remember standing on the railing thinking what I was about to do and was completely calm. I jumped and the second of freefall lasted for minutes, I saw the river rushing towards me and... bum, the rope caught me and I was soaring through the air. It was pretty cool, but I like paragliding more because it is really a lot smoother. This was like a giant kick of adrenaline, for seconds and not much more. I was let down to the ground and quickly ran to the top to see my sister do it. The guy was talking with her and just pushed her mid-sentence, but when she was done she was stoked too. The waterfall that we were there to see was about 10 km more. So I rode my bike on enjoying the scenery. When we got to the place where it was a 1 km walk. I learned that my sister wasn't fine, she couldn't move her neck and was laying sown in the back of the car. I figured the problem was that her neck was super tense becuase of the force of the jump. So I massaged her neck for about half an hour and she was able to move it later. We wen't to a restaurant to eat, it was pretty good, chicken soup and fresh fish. After that my dad and I walked down the path to Pailón del Diablo, devil's pail. It was a winding path that dropped down to the river, there were lots of people, I'm sure that in the day it is completely packed. We walked out onto a bridge to view the falls, it was one of those cable bridges that creakes and shudders everytime your foot falls. There wwas also a sign that said no more than five people on it at a time. The falls were spectacular. The river fell into a pool of water and then rushed down through a series of rapids and around a giant boulder. It was really awesome. The water reached us about 200 meters away. After viewing the falls from the bridge we decided to get a closer look, we paid $2 to view the falls on a much more personal level. There was a platform to see the falls but there was also a subterranian path that went behind the falls. That was cool, I was completely soaked. The noise and power of the falls was really spectacular. My dad and I headed back up the trail. On our way up we saw two elderly women and probably the daughter of one of them helping the women up the trail. My dad and I ach helped one. The woman that I was helping was really funny. She told me that the best place was my pants, so I walked up the trail with an old wolan clinging to shorts. We talked as we walked up, she was blazing, we left my dad in the dust... hehe. I asked her how old she was and she told me to guess, I guessed 73 and she told me that she was 73 years old. She asked me what I was eating to guess right like that and I told her I just followed my intuition. She talked to me about her views in god, and we continued on to nature. At one point I saw a brown blur, I asked her to stop, it was pretty dark at this time, and I found a frog. It was small and brown, and of course I was happy. We got to the top and we waited for my dad and her family. When they got there my dad and I returned to our family. As we were putting my bike in the car the ex-first lady walked by. She was cheated on by Ecuador´s president, but my parents knew her face so they small talked for a little while. We drove back to Baños where my sister and my mom rented a four wheeler. We went around the town for about an hour. It was really fun. After Baños we headed to Riobamba to stay with my grandparents on my mom´s side. I slept in the car and when we got to Riobamba I went right to sleep.

School update

I just finished reading my first book in Spanish, I read Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal. It was really cool, it took three weeks but I was actually reading and understanding in Spanish! Also I just changed a bunch of things around. Before I had 13 classes but I just dropped five off them, it is much more manageable. I actually don't know what to do with my free time. I dropped Sociologia, Psicologia, Monografia, Recreacion and G4. So I don't have classes on Saturday, and I get out at 1:40 every day except monday, when I leave at 4. I am really happy! I think that I am going to start taking breakdancing on fridays, and on mondays, wendesday, and friday salsa! Life should become a lot more fun for me, before it was really just school. I have eight classes and CAS the community service class (the class is every monday). My classes now are: historia, ingles, español, biologia, sistemas ambientales, economia, matematicas and one other but I'm not going to sit hear trying to work through this brain fart... oh I remembered, TOK, it is Filosofia kinda but there is a Philosophy class... but it is cool. I really am going to do nothing in history, it seriously is horrible. But the other classes I am taking for real. History is perfect for sleeping because it is always in the morning and the teacher just talks and talks. But other than that school is normal... I spend my breaks running around bothering people and playing hackysack... Tonight there is a school party at a disco and it is a masked party... I am pretty stoked. To be totally honest I actually brought my countryfair mask and horns. Just before I left my mom thought it would be a good idea and it was!

The CITY

I want to share this change in me but I really am having problems with it. I am become harder, colder and more distant from life. The city really changes a person. I have never spent this much time in a city before and there is a type of energy here that is not the same as in a town. It is a black cloud that is more profound than the smog... it sucks the energy of creativity, love and compasion from the hearts of people. I really am not sure if it is just because I have always grown up in a small town, but I really feel this. I am doing a good job of keeping a hold of my heart. But it is slipping at about the same rate as my english... jeje( mi ingles es peor todos los dias, realmente estoy haciendo lo mismo faltas de los estudiantes en mi clase). This last week I walked right by an old toothless woman sitting on the sidewalk, I had just bought pizza and she asked me for some of it. But I walked right by her. Right after I realized what I had done, so when I got to my house with my sister I turned around and bought her a piece of pizza. But I really am realizing that I can see theings that used to disgust me and now there is no feeling... this is something really sad for me. I am crying becuase I really don't know how this is happening, but it is. All that I can do is be more conscious of my thoughts and begin to reopen my heart to the city and find my way of passing through it without contacting this energy. But I have just found something perfect for me. I am in a special program in school and in the year all the kids need 150 hours of community service. And I am doing a forestation project. In Ashland I used to work for Blythe and Larry in the Greensprings, it was my time to be thoughtful, gather my thoughts and recuperate my energy in the purest sense, in Nature. So right now I am doing something kinda the same. Except that we are planting trees in an area were there never were any, but the grasses there are non-native and the trees are native... and a lot better than the eucalyptus trees which are everywhere. The soil there is perfect, I have never seen so many worms in natural soil(I'm writing with dirt under my nails!!!). I love it, the place is south of Quito on a mountain side, near a highway and a paragliding place, so I wtched people flying over me. I love getting my hands dirty, doing some work and contemplating my feelings as I work to better the world! This is one thing that I have been looking for here! Also the woman who runs the program knows Mount Shasta, she is big into metaphysics and all that cool stuff. There are small lizards in the grass and I have yet to catch one... I loved coming home with dirt on my jeans, blister and dirty hands!

Weekends... jeje

So I really haven't written anything about my wekends and I am really far behind so I'm going to wing it and write a little about all of them.
So my first weeekend of school I went to the farm of my dads parents. It was super cool, I loved being in nature! Everyone in my family is super cool but the thing most amazing is that my grandfather is 91 years old and he walks, works and moves like he is in his 60's. It is really inspirational.. I hope that if I make it to 91 that my life will be as healthy. All the kids went looking for insects, there really are some weird ones in Ecuador. The farm has cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, guiney pigs and about every type of plant that you can think of. I loved it, I explored the area with my dad, this was the place that he grew up.
The next weekend I went to QuitoFest to see Sudakaya an Ecuadorian Reggae group. But I never saw them cause they came on late and everyone was getting drunk so my sister and I left. But I saw Gondwana, another Reggae group wich was good, and a Capoiera demonstration which was really cool.
My next weekend my family went to Otavalo, which is famous for the hand made goods that can be bought in the markets. The trip was cool becuase I met more of my family and got to walk around a market with handmade stuff that is really cheap. I bought a sweater for 12 dollars. It is an alpaca wool hoodie. It is really hard to believe just how cheap things are. Work here is worth very little, people are working all day to produce rugs, sweaters, hats, hammocks, wall hangings and jewelry. And everything is way... way cheaper. I actually feel bad when I haggle with people but it is just a part of life here.

Totally Forgot This

So I'm going to Portoviejo with the other 121 Rotary exchange students in Ecuador. But I completely forgot to write about the Spanish classes that we had. So anyways I had two weeks of spanish lessons on the first couple of days of school. I really didn't learn much but after one day of class there was a conference and dinner with DK Lee, the president of rotary international. It was all pretty boring but the vice president of Ecuador was there (he is wheelchair bound, he was shot in the back by a robber one day while he exited his house.) Dk Lee is the man in the center and you can probably tell who are the exchange students. My mom is on the far right. The Spanish lessons were cool because I got to know the other 30 some exchange students in Quito! DK Lee is Korean, he spoke about the goals of this year and the challenges that rotary encounters. So at least I can say I have met the President of Rotary international!

Hmm

This is the second time that i have seen these kinds of things... Today I was walking down a main street in Quito with my sister when I watched a man steal a cellphone from a girl from another school. She was walking with a friend and texting when the man walked in between her and her friend and snatched the phone. He cooly pocketed the phone, crossed the street and started running. This was really hard for me to see because I almost went running after the guy... but I was wearing my dress shoes and was with my sister, who I wasnt't going to ditch to chase after a theif. The people on the street just continued on as if nothing had happened. The girls ran past me deciding to chase him about 20 seconds later. This is just the thing here, shit happens... it is just a part of life. Another night I was in my car guarding it while my mom and sister where in a store. I watched a police truck drive up to a woman street vender, one policeman jumped out and attacked her. He grabbed her basket of chips, gum and candy and scattered it in the street. Hr jumped back in the truck and they drove away. I watched as she gathered up the candy, others helped her but there was no reason for this attack.It was unprovoked and by a policeman! Ecuador is very different. I know of three exchange students who have had some crazy incedents. The first was a girl from Switzerland, her and her family were robbed at gunpoint as they left there house. The other two were Germans. One watched as a woman and baby were attacked. Three guys kicked and pounded on the car as she was screaming inside, the police were called... and 20 minutes later they arrived. Another guy was robbed of a watch, cellphone and eight dollars in a street. He was walking ewhen two guys cornered him. I also have had a close encounter. I was walking down the street when a man approched me, I saw that he was looking at me kinda funny so when he got close and tried to stop me I speed walked passed him and caught up with some other people who were walking in the same street. This is just the reality of living in Quito, it is a big city with some crime. If you read this and are scared or worried (Mom!) please don't be. I am writing this for a greater understanding of the place that I live in. All that is necessary is caution and to pay atention. It is definatly a possibility that these kinds of things could happen again in the future. I hope not, but as they say here ¡Pilas!

School Elections and Orgulloso

So my school just had the elections for school president. It was very different than the elections at school in Ashland. It was four days of locura (crazyness!). Each day a new group would get the bleachers. But everyday was just a ton of noise. During our breaks kids would be out there waving banners, dressed in the colors of the group, screaming like mad, and spray painting peoples heads. But it was real spray paint. I avoided it as best as I could but when the stuff is everywhere it is kinda hard. Also there were times when people had flares... real freaking flares! The kind you see on the road when there is an accident. Anyways the point seemed to be which ever group made the most noise attracted the most people. I ended up satisfying myslef by running around with Adam, we would steal the banners and run through the other groups. We just kinda caused a bigger ruckus wherever we were. Anyways this kinda leads into the pride of the people here. Ecuadorians seem to be very prideful of there country, president, soccer teams, etc. This presented itself during the school elections when everyone had a list as they were called and would try and put stickers on every square centimeter of your body. It is just a trait not found as much in the USA. We are much more reserved in that aspect. For example, when there is a soccer game with Ecuador and another country there is an atmosphere of anticipation, the whole city is quiet. Also when a goal is scored all of the cars, since the had the radio tuned to the game, start honking there horns. Another example is Jefferson Perez. Kudos to you if you know who he is... he won the silver medal in the olympics. In the 20km walking. The whole country put up banners and was extatic that an Ecuadorian won a medal! I still see posters that say: Thank you Jefferson Perez... except in spanish... jeje. There is just a greater unity in the people.. the USA is huge, especially in comparison to Ecuador. Oregon is 88% the size of Ecuador. So, anyways I'm not really sure where I'm going with this so I'm just going to shut up with this post.