Febrero

The month of February has been completed. Slowly but surely my adventure is coming to an end, but I will continue to make the most of it. This month began with a couple days left of vacation. During these days, two of my classmates had birthdays. Both of them, Juancho Torres and ArlethLudeña, are very good friends of mine. I thank them for always being kind to me since the beginning of my exchange. We celebrated their birthdays together with our other classmates, dancing and singing deep into the night. 

After two weeks without school, I began to feel slightly bored, but thankfully school restarted the second week of February. School is really the best place for me here. I see all of my friends, am able to practice my Spanish, and play soccer during the breaks. Cordillera, my school, has a very great atmosphere. I am lucky to have been put into it.

Camilo, my hostbrother, is studying in a local university. During the month of February, he had no classes because of semester vacations. Since he had a whole month off, we decided to take a short trip to Vilcabamba, where we have a farm house. Leaving early a Wednesday morning, we arrived to good weather and a calm atmosphere. Here we spent three days, relaxing, swimming in the pool, making a trip to the local zoo, and also doing a tour up through the mountains with horses as our method of transportation. It was a good time, without worries about the real world. Camilo and I are really close now, like brothers. It is strange that six months ago I had no idea who he was. Exchange really opens many doors. 

After our trip to Vilcabamba, I returned to school in good spirits. My best Ecuadorian friend, Santiago had a cousin visit him from Guayaquil(another city in Ecuador). His name Eduardo, I met him and was very impressed. Although only 15 years old, Eduardo spoke to me in English using words I barely hear in the United States. He told me that he is very interested in philosophy and history and the such, having read famous philosophers like Friedrich Nietsche. Eduardo spent about two weeks here in Loja, and attended my school. Here I spent much time with him, discussing philosophicalideas, but also talking random nonsense. As he was new in my school, I helped him out and introduced him to some friends of mine. I realized that although Eduardo is from Ecuador, he was like an exchange student in my school. I could just have easily have left him hanging and not helped him out. It would have been harder for him to make friends in my school. However, I knew exactly how it felt to be the new guy. Therefore, just like the friends I have now here in Loja, who helped me to adjust at the beginning, I did the same for him.

Towards the end of February, my town, Loja, was preparing for the voting of the new mayor. Although I could not vote, it was very interesting for me to see the propagandas and campaigns of all the candidates. I was lucky enough to meet one of these candidates, Jose Bolivar Castillo, or as they call him "El Chato". Having already been mayor of Loja in the past, I had heard a little about him. It is said that when the Chato was mayor, Loja had been the 3rd cleanest city in the world, amongst other things like building the gate to the city, obtaining a giraffe for the city zoo, and upgrading the city's largest park(Jipiro). Out of pure luck I came across him in the street one day. We talked for a while, and he seemed to be a very caring man. It turns out most of Loja agreed because he won the voting and will be the next mayor of my host town. Later on I found out that he has a son studying at Texas A&M in College Station. It really is a small world.

Exchange is accompanied by many challenges, much humiliation, and I think this has changed me a lot. I am more open and understanding to differences. I have become warmer and less judging. Although I feel like basically the same person, I am witnessing how I am changing.