the beach and spring 2008

Hi everyone!

We’ve been back from the beach since Sunday evening and I have to say that I’m a little bummed. This kind of surprises me because normally I don’t like the beach or the water... especially the water – but the beach down in Ecuador is quite different from any beach that I’ve ever been to in the U.S. I still didn’t swim much (pretty much just long enough to say that I had done it) but I had an awesome time.

The trip was with PUCE. IES went, along with three or four other study abroad and exchange programs. All together there were about 45 students. We left Quito on Thursday morning and had a seven hour drive to get to the coast. I don’t remember much from the drive… I spent the first two hours reading and then proceeded to fall asleep for almost five hours! One of my friends woke me up when we were almost to the coast because she was worried I was sick or something (really, I was just exhausted from a midterm on Wednesday). She has so pictures from the bus ride that I’m sure will haunt me for years to come – I have no idea how I managed to sleep in some of the positions that she got pictures of (or considering the fact that most of the roads we were traveling over were twisty and in the mountains)… I guess I really must have needed the sleep. By the way, Megan, Harlem J. Sac looks fabulous in these photos. :-) Me, not so much. You’ll laugh. Hard.

We stayed on the shore of Esmeraldas on some property that is owned by PUCE. The main university campus is in Quito but there are two other campuses in Ecuador – Esmeraldas is one of the cities. It was so nice! We could walk down to the shoreline easily from where we were staying… and if we walked about ¼ of a mile in either direction there were “boardwalks” and restaurants. We spent a ton of time going up and down the shoreline and talking to natives from the coast.

Debbie will be so proud of me. Everyone came back with either really bad sunburn or with a ton of bug bites. I didn’t have either. I was really careful to use strong sun block (which they all teased me for during the first few days!!) and I was lucky enough to come home without a burn… but with a tan. Most of the other students weren’t so lucky. A lot of them got stung by jelly fish too. It pays to be afraid of the water!!

On Saturday night we went to a traditional market in Esmeraldas. It was pretty neat – very different than Otavalo was. We had supper out and then went dancing. One of the directors (from Ecuador) told us, “We Latin Americans exist only to eat, talk and dance… go do that until 1a.m. and learn some stuff”. And that’s what we did. I think we are finally starting to blend in with the natives a little more – our Spanish is improving, we aren’t so white anymore, and we’re finally getting this dancing business down. It was tough to spot the gringos when I was walking around. I’m not used to that. Normally we stick out.

My step dad’s family at home tells me (especially during the late summer months) that I look like I could be from a Latin American country. They say this mostly because my eyes are so dark. I was wondering how long it would take until I could fool someone down here about being from the States… it turns out all I needed was a tan to go along with my eyes. I met this guy on Saturday night on the beach and he eventually asked me where I was from. I said the U.S., but then he told me that my eyes looked like I could be from here (or somewhere else in LA) and that my Spanish was really good for an exchange student. I told him my step dad was from El Salvador and that I had grown up hearing quite a bit of the language at home… he took this to mean that I was from El Salvador and he didn’t quite understand the word for 'step father' or even the literal expression ‘the husband of my mother’. Despite explaining to him that I’m from D.C. and that I'm actually IRISH (I did this numerous times), he still called me ‘Salvador’ for the rest of the night and continuously asked me how I managed to get a green card. Geez… Although, it was pretty funny.

It was a great weekend. It was nice to get out of Quito for a few days. I found a really awesome sand dollar – that I hope will get home to the U.S. safely – and went for super long walks on the beach three or four times each day. Some other students are trying to arrange another trip to a different beach one weekend sometime soon. I don’t like to swim, but I think I’ll go anyway.

Things are going well back in Quito. Classes are still the same and the professors are keeping us working hard. I read the first Latin American novel (of seven) and I understood it. My brain hurt afterwards though, a lot. Today we went to a museum with the Spanish PUCE class and were able to learn a lot about the history of Ecuador. It was really neat and I think I’m going to go back sometime on my own. It was also right near the historic center. I’m sure if I go back I’ll be able to find plenty of other things to do, too.

So for the past couple of weeks I have been trying to work some stuff out with my schedule for next semester. It turns out that there is some confusion about return dates for the spring (that I can’t get back here for) if I want to take only Ecuadorian classes – it’s the difference of almost 3 weeks!! I’ll have to take another Spanish class and another core course with my host program if I don’t transfer to another university in Quito. That wouldn’t be so bad, except that it means that nine credits won’t transfer back to SBC and I really can’t afford to not receive that many credits. I would also be 100% separated from the other exchange students. I don't want that either. So then I was looking at the classes that are offered at the Briar for spring 2008 and my schedule will work perfectly (for the first time ever) if I come back. Earlier today I finalized the decision and paperwork to be here only for this semester, so it’s official. Coming back means less stress for senior year – since I’m going to have Spanish senior seminar and senior environmental research to do. I can take care of some classes this spring. Plus I get to see everyone at home again, which is a nice bonus. I’m a little bummed to be leaving Ecuador earlier than I had planned, but I’m just trying to remind myself that I’m lucky to have had a semester here and also lucky to be able to spend part of my junior year at home.

I need to get some more reading done before class this evening. I hope things are well at home for everyone – I miss you guys as always.