So new year´s here...it was definately different...but it was also definately one of the best New Years´ of my life! i had a completely fantastic time. The night started off with my mom and me going to a square close to my house, where there were literally lots of people. jajaj. it was near impossible to even walk around because it was so crowded! we did manage to get around and look at everything though. There were these big painted figures everywhere, of random famous people. They were really cool and life-like! Also, there were people everwhere walking around in costumes. We ran into someone dressed up as Shrek, and the simpsons, and all kinds of stuff! it was so funny! it was just like halloween, only not. There were a lot of cross dressers around too, apparently that´s an ecuadorian tradition for new years eve.
After we´d looked at everything there was to see in the square, we went out to eat (at like 9, for a traditional ecuadorian dinner) with my brother Paul and his girlfriend Jenny. We ate so much that my stomach hurt! then they informed me that we were going to eat a TON more later that night. jajaa. After that, we went to pick my brother (from the US), Noell, up at the airport. I was so happy to see him! He later came to a new year´s party with us at a friend of my mom´s. I didn´t know like any of the people there, so it was slightly awkward at first, but after that, thing´s loosened up and it was a completely good time! We danced a lot, as we always do in ecuador. and as my family promised me, we ate a tonnnn of food. It was soooo delicious though! everything was! i wish i could tell you what we ate, so you could be jealous, but i honestly don´t remember!
That night (or morning...?) at midnight, we burned these HUGE dolls. We made them. These dolls were made of wood, paper, cloth, and firecrackers. And they were made to look like actually people, which was really kind of freaky, but also pretty funny. So, at midnight, we through them in the fire and the fire was enormousss! it was a scary sight, but an amazing one too! Also at midnight, there were lots of fireworks. And the fireworks are NOT like the ones in the US. They´re sooooo incredibly loud, it sounds like they just blew up in your ears, which isn´t a pleasant sensation in case you were wondering. But these fireworks were so fantastic! there were sooo many of them all at once, it was llike the sky was all of a sudden ignited it fire, but colorful, gorgeous fire! It was just so spectacular, i know that my descriptions aren´t doing them justice, but it´s just one of those things that is soo hard to explain. I really wish you could have seen them!
After that, we continued partying. until 6 am. we were pretty much dead by the time we left! and i slept the next day until 2 in the afternoon, which like never happens! Jajaja. but even though i was sooo tired, and by the end of the party, could barely walk, i enjoyed myself so immensly and i know i´ll remember this new year´s for my whole life. So it was totally worth the fact that i´m STILL tired from that night!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
My Ecuadorian Christmas
hey! so despite what i said in my last entry, this blog about my holiday experiences is very much late, as it´s already mid-january!
well, my holidays were soooooooooo different than i´m used to! for one thing, there was absolutely no snow! it wasn´t even cold out! on the contrary, it was super super hot. That would make sense since my family went to the beach for christmas! it was an amazinggg beach. completely beautiful. The beach we went to was called Atacames, and it´s about 6 hrs away from my home in Quito. We headed down to the beach on Christmas eve and stayed there for a week. My brother´s girlfriend´s family owns a house close to Atacames, so we stayed there.
When we arrived there on Christmas eve, we ate lots of meat. Then we handed out presents, gave people hugs, and went to sleep. That was my christmas. We seriously only celebrated for 10 minutes on christmas eve. On christmas day, we went to the beach and just layed out in the sun all day. I also made my whole family take pictures in rediculous christmas headbands that my mom sent from home. My family was really amused by them. My brother and sister kept shaking their heads to make the bells on their reindeer antlers jingle. it was so funny!
Other than that, the whole week that we were at Atacames, was spent on the beach. We left the beach to eat tons of seafood, and then returned afterwards. I ate soooooo much seafood during that trip! The most awkward thing that i ate was this thing that still had its beady little eyeballs attached to it when the waitor handed it to me. it tasted amazing, but i was slightly afraid of the eyes because they wouldn´t stop staring at me...jajaa. i also had tons of crab, lobster, fish, shrimp, clam, etc. lots and LOTS of seafood. but all of it was completely delicious, so it made me happy. =)
Overall, this was my absolute strangest Christmas EVER. but it was fun, and i got to spend time with my family! that was the best part of the trip. also, i got a tan. which i didn´t really need now that i think about it...but oh well. Now, i know that i never want to spend another christmas away from home, and without snow. But this christmas was definately an experience, and i´m really glad i got to experience it!
well, my holidays were soooooooooo different than i´m used to! for one thing, there was absolutely no snow! it wasn´t even cold out! on the contrary, it was super super hot. That would make sense since my family went to the beach for christmas! it was an amazinggg beach. completely beautiful. The beach we went to was called Atacames, and it´s about 6 hrs away from my home in Quito. We headed down to the beach on Christmas eve and stayed there for a week. My brother´s girlfriend´s family owns a house close to Atacames, so we stayed there.
When we arrived there on Christmas eve, we ate lots of meat. Then we handed out presents, gave people hugs, and went to sleep. That was my christmas. We seriously only celebrated for 10 minutes on christmas eve. On christmas day, we went to the beach and just layed out in the sun all day. I also made my whole family take pictures in rediculous christmas headbands that my mom sent from home. My family was really amused by them. My brother and sister kept shaking their heads to make the bells on their reindeer antlers jingle. it was so funny!
Other than that, the whole week that we were at Atacames, was spent on the beach. We left the beach to eat tons of seafood, and then returned afterwards. I ate soooooo much seafood during that trip! The most awkward thing that i ate was this thing that still had its beady little eyeballs attached to it when the waitor handed it to me. it tasted amazing, but i was slightly afraid of the eyes because they wouldn´t stop staring at me...jajaa. i also had tons of crab, lobster, fish, shrimp, clam, etc. lots and LOTS of seafood. but all of it was completely delicious, so it made me happy. =)
Overall, this was my absolute strangest Christmas EVER. but it was fun, and i got to spend time with my family! that was the best part of the trip. also, i got a tan. which i didn´t really need now that i think about it...but oh well. Now, i know that i never want to spend another christmas away from home, and without snow. But this christmas was definately an experience, and i´m really glad i got to experience it!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
hey everyone! sorry it´s been so long since i last wrote! There´s been a lot going on. So since i havent written in over a month, i guess i have a lot to say!
Well, a few weeks ago, i had exams! I was kind of worried about those, but they actually went pretty well! i did what i could on all of them and then wrote notes to the teachers. They were very amused by this! And all of them were very nice and graded me on the work i did on their exams, and then on my spanish in the notes that i wrote to them, so i did pretty well and got through the exams without too much stress or even the threat of death under the workload, which i could never have accomplished in Houghton!
The next order of business to discuss is Thanksgiving. There was nothing really big going on for Thanksgiving, since they don´t celebrate it here. We were going to have a big rotary bash, but that didn´t end up working because i was sick =( I was really missing my family during that time because for me, Thanksgiving is big family time. So it was really weird not being with them! A couple days after Thanksgiving, i actually got to eat thanksgiving dinner, even though it wasn´t really THANKSGIVING dinner because it wasn´t thanksgiving, but oh well. It was delicious! definately one of the best thanksgiving dinners i´ve had. I really like stuffing in Ecuador, it was amazing!!! jaja. So that was a good time.
The next big event of course, was my birthday on December 3rd. We had a party at my school and ate lots of food. it was a lot of fun and i didn´t have classes, which was definately the best part! jaja. Then after school, i got to talk to my family for the first time on skype, which was really exciting. and Kier sang for me, which was like the best part of that conversation because I´ve really missed listening to her sing! I also loved being able to hear my mom and dad´s voices. I´d forgotten what they sounded like. But when i heard them they sounded just like i remembered and it was so good hearing from them!
After that was Quito Fest. A lot of things happen during Quito fest, it was a really big week and a really exciting one too! There were lots of parades, and soccer games, and Bull fights, and parties. And at my school we had games that we all participated in. they were a lot of fun. And my school had a few days off that week too because there was sooooo much was going on. It was a really fun week! I went to the champion ship soccer game with my family. it was between Quito and Cuenca, another city in Ecuador. It was a really exciting game, though i didn´t really know what was going on most of the time!
Now, I have one week until Christmas break, which will be 2 weeks and i´m soooo excited about. It´s definately time for a break from school! And Christmas and New Year´s are coming up! i´m so excited to see the traditions in ecuador for these holidays! For christmas, my family is going to the beach! it will be soooo different from Christmas at home! this is my first unwhite christmas! i´m not sure how i feel about that...but it´ll definately be a change and should be tons of fun! Also, for the New Year, apparently we dance around the house and burn dolls...jajaa that should be interesting to see! i´m going to another city in Ecuador with my sister and she´s going to show me all the different traditions! i´m really excited =)
At the beginning of January, i´m switching host families! I´m kind of sad that i have to leave this family. They´ve all been so nice to me and i know i´m going to miss them. But they´ve asked me to come back to visit them whenever i can, so i´m not too worried because i know i´ll see them. And i´m sure my next family will be just as kind and welcoming! and they´ll be able to show me different aspects of the Ecuadorian culture, will definately be cool. Also at the beginning of January, my brother Noell´s coming to visit me! i´m very very excited to see him! And to be able to show him Quito! Then, at the end of January, is the rotary trip to the Amazon! i´m really excited to go. i can´t wait to see the animals! and i hear they eat really strange things, like armadillo and ants that taste like lemon. omg, i´m just so stoked!
Here ends my blog entry for now. I´ll try to be quicker to write the blog about christmas and New Years!!
Well, a few weeks ago, i had exams! I was kind of worried about those, but they actually went pretty well! i did what i could on all of them and then wrote notes to the teachers. They were very amused by this! And all of them were very nice and graded me on the work i did on their exams, and then on my spanish in the notes that i wrote to them, so i did pretty well and got through the exams without too much stress or even the threat of death under the workload, which i could never have accomplished in Houghton!
The next order of business to discuss is Thanksgiving. There was nothing really big going on for Thanksgiving, since they don´t celebrate it here. We were going to have a big rotary bash, but that didn´t end up working because i was sick =( I was really missing my family during that time because for me, Thanksgiving is big family time. So it was really weird not being with them! A couple days after Thanksgiving, i actually got to eat thanksgiving dinner, even though it wasn´t really THANKSGIVING dinner because it wasn´t thanksgiving, but oh well. It was delicious! definately one of the best thanksgiving dinners i´ve had. I really like stuffing in Ecuador, it was amazing!!! jaja. So that was a good time.
The next big event of course, was my birthday on December 3rd. We had a party at my school and ate lots of food. it was a lot of fun and i didn´t have classes, which was definately the best part! jaja. Then after school, i got to talk to my family for the first time on skype, which was really exciting. and Kier sang for me, which was like the best part of that conversation because I´ve really missed listening to her sing! I also loved being able to hear my mom and dad´s voices. I´d forgotten what they sounded like. But when i heard them they sounded just like i remembered and it was so good hearing from them!
After that was Quito Fest. A lot of things happen during Quito fest, it was a really big week and a really exciting one too! There were lots of parades, and soccer games, and Bull fights, and parties. And at my school we had games that we all participated in. they were a lot of fun. And my school had a few days off that week too because there was sooooo much was going on. It was a really fun week! I went to the champion ship soccer game with my family. it was between Quito and Cuenca, another city in Ecuador. It was a really exciting game, though i didn´t really know what was going on most of the time!
Now, I have one week until Christmas break, which will be 2 weeks and i´m soooo excited about. It´s definately time for a break from school! And Christmas and New Year´s are coming up! i´m so excited to see the traditions in ecuador for these holidays! For christmas, my family is going to the beach! it will be soooo different from Christmas at home! this is my first unwhite christmas! i´m not sure how i feel about that...but it´ll definately be a change and should be tons of fun! Also, for the New Year, apparently we dance around the house and burn dolls...jajaa that should be interesting to see! i´m going to another city in Ecuador with my sister and she´s going to show me all the different traditions! i´m really excited =)
At the beginning of January, i´m switching host families! I´m kind of sad that i have to leave this family. They´ve all been so nice to me and i know i´m going to miss them. But they´ve asked me to come back to visit them whenever i can, so i´m not too worried because i know i´ll see them. And i´m sure my next family will be just as kind and welcoming! and they´ll be able to show me different aspects of the Ecuadorian culture, will definately be cool. Also at the beginning of January, my brother Noell´s coming to visit me! i´m very very excited to see him! And to be able to show him Quito! Then, at the end of January, is the rotary trip to the Amazon! i´m really excited to go. i can´t wait to see the animals! and i hear they eat really strange things, like armadillo and ants that taste like lemon. omg, i´m just so stoked!
Here ends my blog entry for now. I´ll try to be quicker to write the blog about christmas and New Years!!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
halloween in ecuador =)
Halloween this year was so different!!!!! I went to a mall to hang out with some exchange students and we were completely surprised because there were little kids running around in costume and collecting candy from the shops, and it made me a little sad that i wasn´t dressed up this year...jajaja. We did however go around and get candy from all the stores. and that was super fun! Then we went to my friend Mia´s house. She was really excited because this was completely new for her too because she´s from Denmark and had never celebrated Halloween before! so it was really exciting! We wanted to carve pumpkins, but we couldn´t find one anywhere. So we carved pineapples and canteloupe instead! That was a whole new experience and it was super exhilarating! We looked it up online and apparently noone´s ever done that before...jajaa. it´s harder to do than it sounds! my friend anna´s and my pineapples both completely fell apart...but that was okay because it was so much fun carving them in the first place! jajaa. mia´s is the only one that survived...lool. and then we all carved the canteloupe. and that was so great. we gave it a mustache. but actually, it just looks like a very sad little old man...oh and then we made pineapple-canteloupe smoothies! those were actually really good..i enjoyed it immensely. jajaa. then anna and I slept over at mia´s house and ate tonsss of candy. seriously, i´m still full from that night! jajaa. it was a super good time though, and a completely new experience, which made it even more fun! plus, it was my first holiday in ecuador =) And it was an absolute success!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
LA PLAYA!!!!!!
okay, so i just got back from my first rotary trip!!!!!!! Im home from school right now because we got back last night really late. it was an 8 hour bus ride, which was long and sleepless...but the trip as a whole was amaaaaaaaaaazing!!! it was so much fun! I met more than 100 other exchange students and we all had such a great time together!!!
every day we ate tons of different seafood, which by the end got kind of old, but it was good too. We had lots of different kinds of shrimp and fish. and i also had calamari, which really surprised me, because it was so good!!!! We also, of course, swam alot, which was completely thrilling and fun, especially since it was my first time swimming since i got here, and i loooove swimming!! We all had a blast. We´d just stand in the water and jump over waves for hours. it was highly entertaining. The waves were HUGE, which was definately part of the fun! i swallowed sooo much salt water from that...jaja. Everyone had so much fun being tossed around by the waves and just chillin in the water or on the beach. It was pretty relaxed and so much fun! That´s pretty much all we did during the trip...we swam alot, spent a lot of time on busses, hung out in hammocks, played beach volleyball and soccer, and ate tons of seafood. It was completely fun!
I think the best part about it was all the exchange students. They were all so much fun and everyone was so nice and helpful to everyone else! That´s what made the trip so much fun. I made so many great friends on this trip! The next trip isn´t until February! we´re going to the amazon then. i´m completely excited!!!!!!
every day we ate tons of different seafood, which by the end got kind of old, but it was good too. We had lots of different kinds of shrimp and fish. and i also had calamari, which really surprised me, because it was so good!!!! We also, of course, swam alot, which was completely thrilling and fun, especially since it was my first time swimming since i got here, and i loooove swimming!! We all had a blast. We´d just stand in the water and jump over waves for hours. it was highly entertaining. The waves were HUGE, which was definately part of the fun! i swallowed sooo much salt water from that...jaja. Everyone had so much fun being tossed around by the waves and just chillin in the water or on the beach. It was pretty relaxed and so much fun! That´s pretty much all we did during the trip...we swam alot, spent a lot of time on busses, hung out in hammocks, played beach volleyball and soccer, and ate tons of seafood. It was completely fun!
I think the best part about it was all the exchange students. They were all so much fun and everyone was so nice and helpful to everyone else! That´s what made the trip so much fun. I made so many great friends on this trip! The next trip isn´t until February! we´re going to the amazon then. i´m completely excited!!!!!!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
i finally have a little sister!!!!
So, this blog is about my cousin Sarahi. Sarahi is 6 years old and she is THE cutest little thing ever! Ive always wanted a little sister, anyone could tell you that. And although Sarahi ISNT my sister, she´s really close. Her family lives in the apartment under mine, so all she has to do is come up the stairs to hang out w- me.
She can be kind of annoying sometimes, as all younger siblings/cousins can be, but most of the time, i really enjoy having her around! she´s really sweet and cute and helps me with my spanish alot! I also watch lots of movies with her in spanish, and she explains them to me (in spanish), which really helps me alot with spanish! oh and want to hear a really cute story?? okay, yesterday in school, i was called out of class because sarahi fell and scraped her knee and wanted me. Isn´t that cute? They sent another little girl to get me and i was really worried because all she said was, ¨Sarahi needs you.¨ so i was like all scared that something horrible had happened to you! but no, she just scraped her knee. so i just put a bandaid on her scrape and stayed with her till she stopped crying. I´m telling you, it was the cutest thing ever!
So even though Sarahi can be really annoying and irritating, i really love having an honorary little sister! she´s a lot of fun and she teaches me a lot, even when i´m too tired to be taught! She really makes my adventure here in ecuador even more adventurous!!!!!
She can be kind of annoying sometimes, as all younger siblings/cousins can be, but most of the time, i really enjoy having her around! she´s really sweet and cute and helps me with my spanish alot! I also watch lots of movies with her in spanish, and she explains them to me (in spanish), which really helps me alot with spanish! oh and want to hear a really cute story?? okay, yesterday in school, i was called out of class because sarahi fell and scraped her knee and wanted me. Isn´t that cute? They sent another little girl to get me and i was really worried because all she said was, ¨Sarahi needs you.¨ so i was like all scared that something horrible had happened to you! but no, she just scraped her knee. so i just put a bandaid on her scrape and stayed with her till she stopped crying. I´m telling you, it was the cutest thing ever!
So even though Sarahi can be really annoying and irritating, i really love having an honorary little sister! she´s a lot of fun and she teaches me a lot, even when i´m too tired to be taught! She really makes my adventure here in ecuador even more adventurous!!!!!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
QUITO!!!!!!!!
Heyyyyy! okay, so i wanted to tell you about Quito because i think it´s absolutely amazing!
Okay, so my favorite part of Quito is this whole living in a big city thing. I love it! i´ve always wanted to live in a big city, and now i am! it´s soooooo cool! I love all the shops and there´s tons of malls here! in Quito alone, i think there´s like 9 malls! i completely love it!
The transportation is pretty cool too! there´s 3 different kinds of buses that run here. The red ones are like subways, which was really exciting when i rode on one for the first time! I went with my Friends Kruskaya and Anjelita. They didn´t warn me about it before hand, so it came as a total surprise. It was super fast and crowded. there was barely any room to breath!!!! Wow, it was crazy! then you had to like run to get out of the doors before they closed. It was scary, but i totally loved it! it was definately worth experiencing. The other buses are blue and yellow, and i believe that they just go to different parts of town...but i´m not sure because i haven´t ridden on either of those yet! The other form of transportation around town, of course, are taxis! But i´m totally scared of those. People told us that we need to be really careful when taking taxis in Quito because if the drivers know you´re American, they´ll try to take advantage of you. So, i don´t use those if i can help it.
Traffic is crazy here! If we want to go to the supermarket, which is like a 1o minute drive from my house, it takes like half an hour to get there! I´m totally serious! Everywhere´s super crowded too, so lines pretty much anywhere, are superrrrrrr long! It´s totally different, since Houghton´s so small, but I´m getting used to it, and i like it!
My favorite part of Quito is the trees and mountains! The trees are soooo big and amazing looking! they look totally exotic! And the mountains are amazingggg! they´re big and gorgeous, and look completely amazing with the sky behind them. It´s just so great! Since you can´t really see mountains in Houghton, they really excited me, which made my family laugh because here, there´s nothing really that special about mountains! But i think they´re amazing! there´s volcanoes here that are really gorgous too!
So, that´s my brief discription of the crazy amazingness of Quito!
Okay, so my favorite part of Quito is this whole living in a big city thing. I love it! i´ve always wanted to live in a big city, and now i am! it´s soooooo cool! I love all the shops and there´s tons of malls here! in Quito alone, i think there´s like 9 malls! i completely love it!
The transportation is pretty cool too! there´s 3 different kinds of buses that run here. The red ones are like subways, which was really exciting when i rode on one for the first time! I went with my Friends Kruskaya and Anjelita. They didn´t warn me about it before hand, so it came as a total surprise. It was super fast and crowded. there was barely any room to breath!!!! Wow, it was crazy! then you had to like run to get out of the doors before they closed. It was scary, but i totally loved it! it was definately worth experiencing. The other buses are blue and yellow, and i believe that they just go to different parts of town...but i´m not sure because i haven´t ridden on either of those yet! The other form of transportation around town, of course, are taxis! But i´m totally scared of those. People told us that we need to be really careful when taking taxis in Quito because if the drivers know you´re American, they´ll try to take advantage of you. So, i don´t use those if i can help it.
Traffic is crazy here! If we want to go to the supermarket, which is like a 1o minute drive from my house, it takes like half an hour to get there! I´m totally serious! Everywhere´s super crowded too, so lines pretty much anywhere, are superrrrrrr long! It´s totally different, since Houghton´s so small, but I´m getting used to it, and i like it!
My favorite part of Quito is the trees and mountains! The trees are soooo big and amazing looking! they look totally exotic! And the mountains are amazingggg! they´re big and gorgeous, and look completely amazing with the sky behind them. It´s just so great! Since you can´t really see mountains in Houghton, they really excited me, which made my family laugh because here, there´s nothing really that special about mountains! But i think they´re amazing! there´s volcanoes here that are really gorgous too!
So, that´s my brief discription of the crazy amazingness of Quito!
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