Amazon

Last week all the exchange students from Guayaquil, Cuenca, and a few from Quito went to a lodge in the Amazon for 4 days. I loved this trip because our group was so small, only 30 or 40 kids, so it much easier to talk with everyone there, in comparison to Manabi when we had all 145 exchange students. I was also really happy all the kids from Cuenca were in this group, because a lot of my good friends that I met from the first trip live in Cuenca. We took a plane from Guayaquil to Quito to meet up with all the other kids, and from there we took another plane from Quito Coca. From there, we hopped on a bus for 20 minutes to board a boat for 2 hours on a big river. When we finally got to land, we walked for 4o minutes on a narrow wooden path through the jungle to reach small canoes (which was our mode of transportation when we were not walking for the next 4 days) to paddle us to the lodge.
We paddle through the skinny canal which opened up into a big lagoon, when on the edge our lodge, called Sacha Lodge, was located. Our lodge was incredible! The rooms were so nice, and huge, with a hammock on a small deck in the back. Connecting all the rooms and diner lodge was a wooden walkway/bridge, similar to the one that we first walked on (picture on the left) but this one was raised off the ground about 4 feet. The food was amazing also, way better than we expected it to be. After settling into our rooms and an awesome diner, we split into 6 groups of 6 people and got paired with a local guide whom we will be with the whole week. After the sun went  down we walked on a trail in the dark with our guide who had a flashlight so he could show us all the animals we came across.

The local guides are amazing at their jobs, because they will be walking very fast in pitch black with just a small light and be able to spot a tiny spider or frog that blends into the nature. Something all of us would have missed if we were trying to look. We got to an open area in the woods with a butterfly sanctuary made out of a tent material. We were walking around the side of the tent when my guide grabs me and throws me to the side. I look at the wall I was walking next to and see a giant tarantula, the size of my hand.

The next day, after waking up at 5:30, we boarded our motor boat to the side of a giant clay wall to see over 70 birds flying around, than went to an indigenous tribe to see their dances, their culture and traps that they make themselves, some big enough that they use the for tigers. We got to try 2 types of tea they drink every day. One was a tea made from a black leaf, which was pretty tasteless, but the second one was made from yuca, and this one was just awful tasting. I've eaten chips from yuca and pan de yuca, which both taste good, so I expected the same of this!

After, we walked to the house of my local guide to see his family, and ended up finding a purple flower in the shape of a ball with spikes on it. We cut it in half and inside were little orange balls that we smushed with our hands to make an orange paste to use as paint. We all painted our faces, which wouldn't come off till the last day.

Later that day, we went swimming in the lagoon, which is full of crocodiles and pirañas. I was pretty scared, so I only stayed in the water for about 30 seconds. It is safe to swim between 10am and 4pm, because that is when the crocodiles are sleeping, and as long as you aren't bleeding, so you don't attract the pirañas. We got to fish for pirañas with fishing poles made of wood with string tied around the top. Someone we managed to catch 2 pirañas and cook them for dinner that night. They actually tasted pretty good, and one of my friend got to keep the teeth! Definently something to put on the blazer. That night our local guide took us out on the canoe to look for crocodiles. He would use a flashlight to look for their glowing red eyes. We paddled a few feet away from one that was sleeping, and was between 9-12 feet long!

Thursday was an awesome day! Wednesday night there was a crazy thunderstorm that woke everyone up, but we didn't mind because it was really beautiful to watch. In the morning we walked to a bridge that is above the tree line, so we could see for miles. This was especially beautiful because it was after the rain, so all the fog was just lifting off the top of the trees.
                          my friends on the bridge as the fog is lifting ---->



We kept walking through the jungle, crossing rivers by walking over logs or trudging through knee deep water. We came to one of the local guide's house, where we rested while eating fresh pineapple that he went into his backyard to take down from a tree. After we started walking on a dirt road back to the lodge when it starts pouring. Everyone took off their raincoats and boots and started running and splashing in the muds, painting each other's faces, legs, and arms in clay that was on the side of the road. When the rain ceased, we started on another path in the rainforest, which we ended up getting lost, so our guides had to use their machetes to cut the trees and make us a new path. We were lost for about 2 or 3 hours, but nobody really cared, because the jungle is so beautiful we all loved being in it.

Because it was our last night and we were all so exhausted from walking over 6 hours in the jungle, we all sat on the deck on the edge of the lagoon and watched the sun set, which was probably the most amazing sunsets that i've ever seen. We had our guide take us out into the middle of the lagoon after the sun went down to lay in the boat and look at the stars.

We unfortunately had to leave the next morning, and say goodbye to each other in the Quito airport, which was sad because we won't be seeing each other again till March when we go to the Galapagos, but at the speed this year is going, that trip is right around the corner.

Thanksgiving Dinner

I didn't think it would be possible this year, but I actually got to celebrate Thanksgiving! Yesterday around noon, all 9 exchange students from Guayaquil, and 4 others from Machala and Ambato who took a plane here, gathered at the house of one of the exchange students to cook ourselves a traditional thanksgiving meal. We made the turkey, mashed potatoes, a LOT of cooked veggies, apple pie with ice cream and pumpkin pie, thanks to my friend who thought ahead and brought a can of pumpkin with him to Ecuador for this day, knowing that they don't sell it here in the grocery store. They also don't sell stuffing or cranberry sauce here either, so we didn't have that with our meal, but it was still really good! While we were cooking the food, a red Macaw casually walked into the kitchen, which we all thought was amazing and were taking as many pictures of it as we could. The family explain that a few years ago this bird came to their house and they fed it, and every single day since it keeps coming back for the food, and pretty much lives with them.

 We all went around and said what we're thankful for, and we all pretty much said the same thing: our host families, friends, families back home for being so supportive of us, and the food. 2 of the exchange students are from Germany, and also 2 from France, so their first Thanksgiving diner ever was in Ecuador! After eating our meal, we played some music on the guitar than all went swimming for a bit! I had to leave early, around 9:30 because I had school the next day, but it was definitely a Thanksgiving I will never forget. 

Las Penas

I forgot to put my experience about Las Penas on my blog for almost 2 weeks now, but better late than never!

  





2 weeks ago my grandpa, mom, and siblings took me to Las Penas, also known as the colored houses, to climb 444 stairs to the top of the all the houses to get a view of Guayaquil. 444 stairs doesn't seem like a lot, but when it is over 90 degrees and the sun is beating down on you, we couldn't go more than 150 stairs at a time before taking refugee under some shade for a few minutes. The walk up was really beautiful, because all the houses are painted with different bright colors, and hanging on each house is a black and white photo from what the houses used to look like before they fixed them up and painted them. There are also some little restaurants and bars on the walk up, which a lot of people go to at night when the entire area is lit up and you can walk around from place to place. When we got to the top, there was a small church with beautiful stained glass windows, and across from that was a lighthouse that we climbed, and that was where we got the best view of Guayaquil, Duran, and Samborondon. On the walk down we took a different route, which brought us to a really nice fountain and newly built building that are right on the river.

Banos

This weekend I went to a city in the mountain called Banos with the host family of my friend Clemence, from France, and 3 other exchange students, 3 from US and 1 other from France. The night before we all slept at Clemence's house, and walked to a restaurant in her neighborhood to eat, than after stopped at another exchange student's house to hang out and play the guitar for a few hours. The next morning we squeezed 11 people into 1 van, bags included, and departed from Guayaquil at 9. The drive was so pretty once as we got into the mountains. I love being the car in Ecuador because it's always so beautiful to watch the scenery as it passes by. I never get bored during car rides here. We stopped in a small town on the way that was selling typical artisan hats, bracelets, pants, act. from Ecuador, and in this town every single store was selling jeans for only $10 dollars, way less than Guayaquil! We also pulled over on the side of the road to walk in the snow that was at the foot of a volcano called Chimborazo, which is actually one of the most popular hikes people do in the world.

We finally arrived in Banos in the night after about 8 hours in the car. We stayed in a French hotel called "La Petit" which was only 1 block from the center of the city. That night we had some diner at an Italian restaurant, and got to ride around the city on a ride that consisted of 15 carts attached together that is painted like a giraffe. Very strange, but really fun! Later in the night we met up with 3 other exchange students, one from my city who had been in Banos for a few days with his cousins, and 2 who live in the capital of Ecuador, Quito, which is only an hour or so away. We walked around the city for a bit, which felt like we had so much freedom because in Banos it's very safe to walk around as a group of kids at night, where in Guayaquil you couldn't even do that during the day. Than we spent the night going to a few local discotecas to dance and meet a lot of people! We only got 1 hour of sleep that night, so the next day was exhausting.

In the morning we hopped in the bed of a truck that drove us 20 minutes up the mountain away from the city to go canyoning. Canyoning is basically repelling down a waterfall, wearing a wetsuit though cause the water was freezing! This was so much fun, and at one of the waterfalls, the rocks dropped off, so you were just slowly suspending down tot he ground, hanging in the air with the waterfall raining over you. Later that day we rented buggys to drive around the city and mountains to see some awesome views, and we got to stop at a a place to go canopying, which is zip lining over a river, but the harness is attached to your back and feet, so your stomach is facing the ground and you feel like you are flying! That night we walked around the city more, and bought some jewelry at another artisan place, which I thought I did a good bargaining job, but my friends in school today told me they had ripped me off by a lot. That night, after diner where we all tried Cuy (similar to a guinea pig), we went dancing again at the discotecas, and got to see 2 of our other exchange student friends from a city close to us! It was great to see them, because this will be the last time we hang until the end of the year from our All Around Ecuador trip, because the Amazon and Galapagos trips will only be with our own city, and 1 other city that is close to us. That night we met a lot of tourist people, visiting from all over the world! We met a group of 20 people from Denmark who are traveling all over Ecuador with a travel group for 2 months. I also met some people from Russia, Chile, and Argentina, and after getting to talking I learned that the one from Argentina went to the US as a Rotary exchange student a few years ago!


 <----Buggys
 (felt good to drive again
 after 10 weeks!)




                              Canopying---->





The next morning, after only a few hours of sleep, we wanted to go rafting, but because the drive was so long back home, we couldn't fit it into our day, so we had to pack up the car and leave Banos. This was actually really sad for me because I loved this trip and the mountains were so relaxing and fun because of the how much safer it is than Guayaquil. Also, because we were in the mountains it was much colder there, so it was nice to have a chance to actually wear my sweatshirt. It almost felt like fall back home, but instead of the leaves changing colors, it was all palm trees. Banos has been one of my favorite parts of Ecuador so far, and I really hope I can go back there again this year when my parents come to visit, because I know they will love it too!

Manabi

Last Wedenesday (17) all 145 exchange students in Ecuador went to Crucita, a providence off of Manabi for 5 days. For the most part we had great weather for the trip, and it was so much fun to meet even more exchange students from other countries, like Australia, Mexico, Iceland, Bahamas, and pretty much any other country you can think of. The best part of having all these different nationalities in the same place is when we take picture. Everybody gets so excited to represent their host country they all take their flags and group up by country. All the Guayaquil kids met at the airport again to board a really nice premier bus, which is meant for over 60 people, and we only had 12, including our Rotarians. The drive was about 3-4 hours, but I love driving around Ecuador, and seeing the different towns and landscape, its all so beautiful to me.
The first day, myself and a few other girls were very unlucky and had some items stolen from us. I was checking into the front of the hotel (which wasn't really a hotel, more like a diner room, and when you walk behind it, it opens up into a big area with a pool and over 40 cabanas to sleep in) and I set my bag and phone down to sign a paper and receive my room key. When I went to collect my belongs and go to my room, my phone was gone. I learned the hard way that I need to be way more cautious with my valuables. The same night someone went into my friends's room while they were sleeping and stole a backpack, 3 cameras, and a phone. Not the best surprise to wake up to the next morning.
The next day we all boarded the bus and drove 20 minutes to Portoviejo, were over 30 exchange students are living, to march in a parade, proudly wearing our blazers and waving our flags. After that we got to spend the day on the beach. It was a little cloudy, so nobody thought to wear sunscreen, but seeing as we are on the equator and the sun is at it's strongest here, almost everyone (but the kids from Brazil) got badly sunburnt, which only got worse the rest of the trip cause we went to the beach everyday. After the parade we got to go to a typical Ecuadorian market and by bracelets, scarves, hats, bags, for dirt cheap! That night we were not allowed to do much but sit at diner for a few hours back at the "hotel" because we had 2 police men to search every room to look for the items that were stolen the first night. Unfortunantly, they didn't find anything.

The following day we spent at the beach being pulled behind fishing boats with motors on inflatable bananas and other giant tubes, which was awesome! Later in the night we walked to the top of Crucita to take pictures with our flag and look at the view of the town. After we had a talent show, which unfortunately I was sleeping during because the water we had been drinking made me sick, seeing as it was stored in plastic bags.
On our last night we went to Portoviejo again for diner and dancing, but first we got to ride on party buses! they are giant buses with no sides, so you can stand out of the sides, and a platform on top to dance on and for a band to play their music. This was so much fun! we drove around the town waving to everyone we passed by for almost an hour! We finally returned to the hotel at around 3 in the morning, and almost nobody slept that night, because we had to leave the next morning, so we wanted to spend as much time with each other before we went our separate ways! We won't be seeing each other until the end of the year for the around Ecuador trip, because the Galapagos and Amazon trip will only be with 25 students at a time.

Everyone was sad to leave on Sunday, but excited to be back in their home towns with their families again and get a good night sleep.

Familia

The other day I was at a friends house who is in Rotary, and their parents were talking about when all of the inbounds in Guayaquil are going to change families for the first time. This came as a huge shock to me because my mom, grandpa, and club counselor have been telling me that I will be with my current family the entire year. My family has welcomed me in so much and I feel so content and comfortable with them, that hearing that I may have to leave them soon definitely shocked me a little. I understand that changing families is usually part of the exchange experience, in order to see more of the city and see how other families live, but thinking about how I will have to leave them really makes me appreciate them that much more and everything they have done for me.

Rotary Proyectos

This Saturday, My grandpa and I went to a Rotary event at a hotel here in Guayaquil. Every year, every Rotary club has a "Proyecto" (project), where they raise money for a problem that is happening in Ecuador. My club has 2 proyectos this year. The first one is to supply 40 computers to a poor school who can't afford them in a town a few hours away, and the second proyecto is build storage units for clean water in the poorest part of Ecuador where their closest water source is miles away that they must walk to. There were about 9 different clubs there all presenting their proyectos, and over 20 Rotarians from all over America ,none from Vermont :(, to learn about the proyectos and share the projects they are working on back in the US. Everyone at the event was over 60 years, except for 2 other girls and myself. This sounds like it could be a very boring event for a 17 year to have to sit through for hours on a beautiful saturday, but it was actually a lot of fun! I got to talking to a lot of the Americans there and sharing with them about my experience as an exchange student in Ecuador, and even met someone from Canada who visits Burlington, VT every month! I also talked to some Rotarians from other parts of Ecuador, and found that it wasn't too hard for me to carry out a conversation in only spanish for a long period of time. I'm getting better! One couple I talked to for about 30 seconds, but they invited me on a trip to Banos. The direct translation in english is bathrooms, but it is a place in the mountains to go rafting, swim in waterfalls, and go bungy jumping! One of the things I love most about Ecuador is how after talking to someone for less than a minute, they are inviting you to their home just to show you more of the country they love.

I also met a 23 year old girl from Ecuador, who is in Rotaract, which is basically being a Rotarian, just for people ages 18-30, so it is a little less intense, but Rotaracts have events like the Proyects, and get to go to conferences all over the world. After talking to her for a while I realize that Rotaract would be a perfect idea for my Grad Challenge when I come back for senior year!

Viva Guayaquil (Independence Day)

Last Friday was the Independence Day of Guayaquil and all schools in Guayaquil had the day off from school, so 3 of my exchange student friends and I went to Parque Historico in Samborodon. Parque Historico is a park with old buildings and churches you can walk in, giant gardens with banana trees, and different types of beautiful flowers. The park also has a zoo with monkeys, alligators, parrots, fish, turtles, ect. The zoo is in the woods, and to walk through you have to walk on wooden bridge surrounded by trees, which makes you feel like you are in the rainforest. My favorite park of Parque Historico though was the festival they were having in the main area. They had banners everywhere reading: "Viva Guayaquil", vendors selling Ecuadorian sweets or popcorn, and women dressed in typical attire from Ecuador. A band was playing live latin style music, and of course, dancing. I'm an awful dancer, but I love dancing to the music here! My friends and I when right into the middle of crowd and started dancing. One of the women dressed in the typical attire came up and taught us some dance moves and grab our hands and brought us all over the dance floor. Everyone there thought it was hilarious to see Americans dancing, so we had a lot of pictures being taken of us, and even a camera man from a local tv station was filming us! After dancing we walked around some more and got some typical food, empanadas of course.

PallaTanga

Last weekend my siblings and I wet with our grandparents to their house in the mountains, in a town called PallaTanga. It was a 2 hour drive from our house in Guayaquil, and on the way we got to stop at a little market on the side of the road to buy fresh mandarins and mini bananas for the weekend. The house was amazing! There was a river right behind their house, which when you followed a trail next to it would lead you to a small waterfall. In the backyard they had their own tennis court, and the grass was split up into 6 sections, each containing a hole in the ground, so it could be used for gold. The view of the mountains was nice, and comforting to see mountains because they remind me of home in Vermont. Because we were at a higher elevation than Guayaquil, the weather was a little colder than what i've been used to for the past 5 weeks. It was kind of nice to be able to sit outside in a sweatshirt and jeans!

My favorite part of the house though was one room in particular. For years my grandfather has been collecting acient artifacts from the Incas, including ceremonial gold, figurines, and stones used for tools which are from 5000 years before Christ.





On the last day we got to bro rock climbing! 1 side of the house is made of stones a cement, which we use as a rock wall. It was only 2 stories high, but it a lot harder than it looks!

Punta Centinela

Last Monday half of the exchange students from Ecuador went to a hotel resort in Punta Centinela for 4 days to do a language camp. I got to meet 75 other exchange students from all over the world! Most of the students were from USA or Germany, but others were from Austria, Taiwan, France, Brazil, and Hungary. It was so beautiful at the resort, being right at the beach. The first and last day there we were allowed to experience the entire resort, including pool, hot tub, restaurants, jet skiing, laying on the beach, soccer, volley ball, and dancing. Tuesday and Thursday we had 3, two hour sessions both days for spanish class, which was very helpful! we got long breaks  in-between each class which was nice, and they ended at 6 both nights, so we had the entire night to eat, get to know everyone, swim, watch performances, dance at the discoteca, and enjoy Ecuador. The picture in the top right is the view of the resort from my room. The picture below is where the discoteca was at night, and where we would have our classes during the day. It was a little hard to concentrate because the beach was only 40 feet behind it.

<------------------Discoteca at night

      My favorite part of the entire trip was at the end. When we were driving back to Guayaquil. my group and about 30 other exchange students stopped at an orphanage to play with the kids there who either don't have parents, or were taken from their homes by the government because of an unfit home situation they were living in. A TV channel came to film us and ask us about our exchange. We unfortunately only got to stay for an hour, but that has been one of my favorite parts of my exchange so far.

First Month Here

I've been here for a exactly a month, and I can confidently say that this is going to be the best year of my life. Ecuador is amazing, and I love my new country. Everyone here is so welcoming and friendly right from the moment they meet you. Something that is different from America about here is that it seems a lot more based around your family. On the weekends or after school back home most of my time was spent with my friends, but here is different. In my family, almost all of our time is spent together, eating meals, going out, and even just relaxing at home we all spend time together in the same room.

       The first 2 weeks after I arrived, my school was on a vacation because they just finished mid-term exams, so I had a long time to settle in and adjust to my new life here. After those 2 weeks I had my first day of school, which is a lot harder than I expected because it is much more difficult to understand the teachers when they are speaking spanish as fast as they do. My school here is definitely different than my high school back home, but I like my school and I love my friends here.


      I love the food here! It would be hard for a vegetarian, or someone who is allergic to gluten, to live here, because the basis of our lunch and diner is chick and rice, which lucky for me I love! The fruits here are amazing. Every lunch we have had a different fruit drink, which are always home made, but my favorite new food discovery so far has been a Granadia. From the outside it looks and feels like a foamy orange with a little poking out of the top, but when you open it, it is filled with grey seeds, similar to pomegranate, but much more goopy feeling. It is one of the weirdest foods I have ever seen, but the sweetest fruit I have ever had before!

       It's going to be weird not to be home to experience the leaves change, apple picking, and a white christmas, but I am going to be surrounded my palm trees and tropical weather for the next 9 months, so I think it is a fair trade!