October

I have now completed over two months in the beautiful country of Ecuador. October was filled with many different activities. The first week of the month I went to a concert of the band El Tercer Mundo. It was so fun/ny being with all my friends even though I knew none of the words to the songs, I just hummed along. I am beginning to really enjoy Latino music.

 This month I ate a very typical Ecuadorian food known as Cuy. It translates in English to guinea pig. It honestly tasted just like chicken, basically the same, except for the fact that when you finish you can still see its face smiling up at you.

We celebrated the birthday of my host-grandfather this month. It was a very good time as I was able to see how close the family is here. Two exchange students visited my town, they are Matts from Germany and Johnny from Brazil. We spent the weekend hanging out, going to parties, and also visiting the small town of Vilcabamba. It felt good being amongst other exchange students. That weekend in the valley of the Vilcabamba we picked fruits off the trees from my farm. They were very delicious but I think they made me sick because the next morning I was not feeling too well. In fact, I received food poisoning most probably from these very fruits. That is okay though because the tastiness of the fruit was well worth it. Mid-October I went on another Rotary trip. This time we went to the beach, specifically in the province of Manabi. Although I was robbed of some money at the hotel, I had the time of my life marching in parades, sitting by the bonfire, and swimming in the waters of Crucita, Bahía, and Manta beaches. All this was done with 150 other exchange students. It is difficult to explain how amazing that experience was.

After arriving back in Loja I was informed by the parents of the girl(Dome) in my house in Texas that I could come to Quito to visit them for the week. Thus, after being home for three days, I packed my stuff back up, got on a plane, and headed to Quito. Here I spent a week viewing the city as a good 'ol tourist. I went to see many churches, visited the center of the earth, went to a traditional Ecuadorian market, and swam in a waterfall. Quito is a beautiful city in the mountains. A very large city, it stretches across the valleys, seemingly endless. It is very hard to describe how amazing this place is. Tomorrow I will go camping in the mountain of Cotopaxi. Never would I have imagined that I would be in the country of Ecuador camping on the edges of a towering snowcapped mountain.

 Having spent almost a third of my time here now in Ecuador, I'm truly becoming accustomed to my surroundings. More and more I realize how much I am maturing. I feel like I'm an adult now, it is hard to explain how much I am changing. This exchange has brought me so much happiness and understanding of who I am as a person. Viewing the spectacular images of nature and colonial structures in Quito, showed me what beauty the world has to offer. I am so fortunate to be in a place like this. I am truly blessed.
Long live Ecuador.