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!