October Already!

So I can honestly say, I can't believe that it has almost been two months since I left home. This year is already flying by. I don't write all that often because during the week I have the same schudual. School, school, and more school, but atleast now I finally really enjoy going. In the past two weeks I did get to do some pretty cool things though.
Two weeks ago my camera broke at school. I was extremely upset. I did not want to be here in Ecuador without a camera, but I do not have that kind of money to buy a new one. My host parents being as generous as they are bought me a new one as an early birthday present. I wasn't expecting that, but I have to say I am so truely grateful and lucky to have such caring and generous parents. They help me with all my problems from school, to family, and even everything in between. I watch them work and see how devoted they are to their work, and it only makes me want to achieve my goals that much more. I aspire to be like those people.
This past weekend was a three day weekend because of Guayaquils Independance, so my family and I went to another towned named Machala. It was a 4 hour long drive, which wouldn't be bad if the roads were finished and not 85% rocks. Machala is on the ocean so it was also the first time I have seen the Pacific here. It is stunning and really beautiful. We stayed at the Hotel Oro Verde (a resort in Ecuador). It was really nice to experience something so different. My family took me all over the city and had me try new foods like ceviche and crab. I can't lie though, I throughly enjoyed all of the new foods. We also got to spend time as a family and watch the Ecuador vs. Uruaguay game. I never used to like football, but I really get into the games here. By the end of the weekend though I was really happy to go home and I still find myself loving Loja the most. It just suits me so well and is so clean and just has the homey feeling to it. I just can't help but love my city.
I also realised I do not talk about my friends specifically here. I am friends with everyone in my class. We are a pretty tight nit group. However, I also have friends I hang out with more often. My best friends are Ana Maria (who is also my cousin here), Valeria, Karol, and Erika. They are all so pretty and so much fun. They let me know what is going on and what I need to do. They make me feel right at home. It's funny how quickly I have bonded with them. For guys my best friends are Blacky and Andres. I can talk to them about anything and we help each other out with problems and just like to have fun. I also love Diego, Pedro, Fabian, Borrego, Daniel and Jose, but they aren't people who I go to when I have problems. I love to go to parties with my friends and spend time with all of them. They are all so different, but have such wonderful personalities.
My spanish is really improving. I practically understand everything that people say to me now! Which helps me so much more. I can also guess what words mean now because of the context. I feel accomplished, but I want to keep working and really be good. I can even roll my R's now which I never could before. I must say this experience has already given me so much and it's only just begining. It's funny because I find myself happy to wake up for school and happy just being here. Something I never looked forward to in school.
People say that this is a third world country, and many don't understand why I would want to live here, but trust me, if you visited this place you would see why I love it so much. These people have such big hearts, and are really wonderful.
I am so happy with my choice to live here and it has really opened my eyes to how people outside of the USA really live, and that not everyone in a third world country lives in complete poverty. I guess I really learned a lot about prejudices. I have also learned a lot about myself and learned to have better values and really keep to my morals. The change in pace here is so nice. I find myself really happy, and really growing, but in a very positive way. Well for now that's all. I will write after my Manabi trip this weekend. Feel free to e-mail me.

Over a Month

I honestly can not believe I have been over a month. It doesn't seem real to me. Time seems to just be flying by. Which in some ways is good, but I don't want this year to pass by to fast. For now I am just taking everything one day at a time.

I have done a lot in the past two weeks. I forgot to write about it all though. Whoops, it happens. School is getting better and better every day. My teachers are The so helpful, and really do their best to communicate with me now. Going to school now really helps me broaden my vocabulary and understand much more. I am taking English class, but the English teacher is not a huge fan of me. I wrote a friends paper and my own, she gave my friend a 28 and me a 22. Ha that made my day let me tell you. After school everyone in my class goes to a friends house to do our homework together. It gets done so much faster that way, plus it's like free tutoring! One boy thought my name was Rachel, so now they all call me Rachel or Gringa Loca (Crazy white girl) as a joke. I don't mind, it's rather funny. I really enjoy everything about my school, and classmates.

Other than schoolwise, I have been doing really well. Two fridays ago, I went to a birthday party. It was at a club, and it was so much fun. Everyone was just dancing and having a good time. I love the music here, I came home and downloaded about 1 million songs. During the weekend I went back to Vilcabamba and just slept/hung out. Always a good time. This past week was so much fun. On Thursday, I went to a concert for Franco de Vita. He's really famous here, and I sat 5 row with my counselor. It was one of the best experiences i have ever had. The next day we didn't start school till 9 because it was a ceramony day. I got to watch the top students from my school have a marching ceramoney. Very different, but it was nice to see my friends get honored for their hard work. This past weekend I hung around the house and with my friends, always a nice change of pace. This week I have been hanging out with my friends after school and relaxing. I love how relaxed this place is and how comfortable I am with everyone. People are so warm and open, however one big difference here is that many people get nose-jobs. People as in my classmates. I found that odd, but whatever makes someone happy.

I almost forgot! I also went to my first Rotary Club meeting! It was held at a hotel in our city. I am the only exchange student in my town. It's differnet, but I enjoy it. I had to talk for about 5 minutes about my home and my life in Ecuador. Luckily they were all pleased with my progress! Yay. We had some incredible food too. Blue- Rasberry shots to start. Followed by rolls and garlic butter. For the main course we had foods such as steak, shrimp, and chicken, with yapping gatcho ( potatoes fried with cheese) and vegetables. Desert was chocolate cake, or tiramasu. So yummy I must say. I can't wait for next months meeting.

One of my friends here almost had to return home because her mother's cancer has spread and her family can't afford chemo and her trip. However, her host family is generously giving her home family and her money. I can't explain how generous, and selfless that is. With that being said, I am just relaxing and living life. Taking everything at face value and not letting oppurtunities pass me by. I miss my friends and family, but still not homesick. My family, especially my grandmother, is in my prayers. I love them all so much. My trip to Manabi (the beach) is October 17-21. I can't wait. Counting down the days till I'm just relaxing with my other exchange students. That's all for now.

Make that Three!

So I haven't written in the past 7 days, not because I didn't want to, but because I was at a camp in Guayaquil, with 50 of the most amazing people in the world. I was not looking forward to going to camp, and really just wasn't in the mood for anything. Not to mention I had a cold too. However, the moment I arrived in Guayaquil, I knew it would be a fun week. Guayaquil is a beautiful city, with huge malls, and nice people, yet, I still find that Loja is where my hearts lies. Loja has something that just draws me to it. I don't know what it is, but I know that while away for a week, I missed just being in Loja. Anyways, the camp's view was beautiful. It over looked a river, and it was truely one of those things you see on National Geographic. Though, the beauty around the camp was breath taking, the living situation was pretty rough. The beds were not comfortable, half the time the water didn't work, and the food made me bloated, but hey you win some and lose some. While there I met amazing people, seven in particular that I am sure will be life long friends. We have so much in common, and just really have a great time together. It's cool that so many people from all over the world have so much in common. During the five days there I got to do so many things. I learned to dance salsa, reggaton, and buchata. We played a game in which we had to explore another groups culture, and ways to not force your culture on others. We also learned to cook typical Ecuadorian food such as patacones. One day we had arts and crafts and another we learned all about the rules of Ecuador. Of course everday we also had 4 hourse of Spanish. Talk about a drag, and not to mention my teacher was mean, but hey what can you do. Throughout the day we had so much with our activities. I painted my face like a man on arts and crafts day, dressed up like a latina for the dance show, and took around 200 photos. The day was fun and all, but the most fun was at night. We got to talk to the other exchange students, play games like I've never, and even have dance parties. I can't tell you how wonderful of an experience it was. However, once it was over I was happy to head home to Loja. On my way home I ran into a classmate in Quito. I went out to Pizza hut with her and her family and it was nice, that her family was so generous to take me with them. I really enjoyed myself, and got to see even more of how caring Lojanos are.

Yesterday, I went back to school for round two. I was really nervous and not looking forward to it. My stomach was in nots and I wasn't sure if I could do it. However, I went and stuck it out. It turned out not ot be that bad. Today however was even better, because once the teachers do more than talk I can understand better. It's difficult to just listen because I have nothing to see what they are refering too. Now, I am starting to get into the swing of the things and really enjoying myself. I also went on a field trip today to the Univerity. I had to listen to people talk for 3 hours. Talk about awful. However, I did get to write a nice letter to a friend from home that I miss a lot. This friday is a party for a girl. I don't know her, but she invited me so I will be going, along with the whole school. I am really starting to get the hang of things here.

Even though, everything is going well here, I am still worried more about my home. My grandmother is ill, and I am praying that she will get better. I love her very much, and I know how worried my mother is. I feel bad because my mother works so very hard, and has so much to handle. I don't want her to worry about anything else so I am trying my best to keep things to myself, because there is nothing here that is a real problem. I am lucky to have such supportive family and I will cross my fingers for my grandmother to get better. She is a beautiful person. My brother also brought home a kitten. He told my mom it was a stray, but he really got it from a person giving away free kittens. He's a little sneak. I guess I have a new family member now. My dad went out this past weekend to visit my Uncle Buck in California. He had a wonderful time. Then Sean and my dad went to the Red Sox game, because a friend gave my dad two tickets. Everyone in my family is so busy, but I am so happy they are all doing well. I am looking forward to a lovely year here.