February 2013

    February dated the month of new beginnings.  After the majority of our exchange group left to continue their lives elsewhere, we, as an exchange group, felt a bit empty.  Truthfully, our whole group became a family the first 5 months.  We were all going through the same things so there were so many things we all shared.  In the end, we were few that stayed (about 10 or less compared to our 25+ in the beginning) but then two new exchange students came along from Alaska and the Czech Republic.

   Now, just in the last year, the whole education system was changed by President Rafael Correa.  Because of that, the school year was changed from quarters I believe to quimesters (meaning two 5 month parts).  That resulted in us having our "winter break" in February which was a bit strange.  Babett and I had a wonderful time though learning how to cook typical dishes with our host mother Lorena and exploring the Quito during that time.

    The month started out with "Candelarias" (Feb.2nd) to celebrate 40 days after Christmas.

Everybody went outside to light the candles.

When one lights this candle, it is supposed to represent the inner fire that has been lit within one's self.

                     My host family attends a quaint church which is a 10 minute walk from our house.  They tend to go there sporadically but we always go when a special day is celebrated. 

Alright, time for cooking.

My host mom, Lorena, preparing tortilla-type things with meat and cheese inside. So good.

Bacha, our host Aunt, preparing "quimbolitos" which is a type of desert which contains corn dough, raisins, as well as other ingredients.  What makes this dish special is that it is steamed within banana leaves.  

Babetti learning the chef's techniques. :)

My host sister, Brenda, in a typical fruit store.

Quimbolitos ready to be steamed.

             Overall, Babett and I had a very nice time cooking with the family and spending quality time with them during the February break. Yes, it is possible to make "quimbolitos" in the U.S., one just has to either search down banana leaves or cook them like muffins.

            As I said before, we had a few new-comers in our Xplorer exchange group: Marek (Czech Republic) and Kayla (Alaska).

Our Xplorer group as of February.

               Every month Xplorer brings us on some sort of excursion such as exploring Quito or driving out to other sites.  This time, as seen above, we went on a tour of the city starting in the famous "Parque La Carolina" which is the biggest park in North Quito.  What is cool is that I'm just a 15 minute bus ride away so I've had the opportunity to enjoy this park quite a bit within this last year: biking, having picnics, and going to the botanical gardens.

              What I've been very blessed with are wonderful, genuine, and hilarious Ecuadorian friends.

It's always a bit harder to make friends and share one's feelings in another language but as the year progressed, I've become very close with a lot of people at Paul Valery (the high school I'm attending).

              In the beginning, I was put into quinto curso (which is junior year) for some reason and I was offered to switch into the senior class but in the beginning, I didn't want to because I felt like I had already gotten to known my class so well.  In the end though, the school allowed me to switch between quinto and sexto (senior year) cursos as I wished.  Better said, I was able to take the classes that I wanted to in both the classes.

              When the new exchange students came though in February into our school, changes were bound to occur.  In the end, I had to choose between staying in quinto curso or moving up to sexto curso full-time because there wasn't enough space in both the classrooms.  That was definitely a hard decision but I ended up moving up to sexto curso because I knew that I would learn more Spanish in their classroom environment instead of easily having a awesome conversation with Tj (an exchange student from Canada and a great buddy of mine) in quinto curso. 

               Overall, I've had a wonderful time in sexto curso and I've become very close with a lot of them.  We are only 20 people in the senior class so we're all a family.  Because of this close-knit environment, I've gotten to know a lot of them at a much deeper level. 

Maemi, Mabe, and I; my buddies.

Maemi and I.

Algunas amigas from sexto curso (senior year). Top to bottom: Mabe, me, Maemi, Emi, and Ashley (an exchange student from Michigan).

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January 2013

Many things have happened in this world of mine in Ecuador.  Let's start out with January because sadly, I haven't updated since then.

January 1-5

        Babetti and I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Salinas: one of the most well-known beaches in all of Ecuador.

We traveled with three other exchange students and their host family (Alex, Jayne, and Otto).

Went surfing with the pros.

           

We flew from Quito to Guayaquil and from there, we took a bus out to Salinas.  It was a lovely time; we went sea kayaking and saw sea turtles; we did every water sport you could probably think of and of course, we ate fresh lobster right on the beach.  It was the life.  The coast is known for its seafood of any kind.  We're talking "cheviche" (a refreshing tomato soup with seafood), anything with shrimp, fresh fruit drinks, lobster; yes, it was wonderful.

          Overall though, I think the highlight for all us was going surfing.  This surfing company (consisting of about 5 guys who have been teaching surfing for over 25+ years) picked us up in their "scooby-doo" bus and we headed for the waves.  It took some time but most of us got up by the end of it.

Later January: Philipp's Oboe Concert 

         I had a wonderful time getting to know such a well-rounded and musically talented individual like Philipp.  It was the music truly that brought us together.  We both started taking music lesson at "La Casa de la Música" in late October and so every time after classes, Philipp and I would just have awesome jam sessions (the cello and the oboe; never done that before).
     
         Sadly, Philipp left in the end of January to head back to his home country, Germany. Before he left though, he presented his talents a bit in this last concert.  The majority of our exchange student friend group showed up to support him which was very cool to see.  15+ teenagers listening to classical music. Yes.

Philipp and I.

Our group: Silija (Finland), Linda (Finland), Kathleen (Norway), Colin (Penn., US), TJ (Canada), Wade (Ohio, US), Philipp (Germany), and Pia (Germany).

My wonderful cello teacher, Santiago, is playing viola in the middle.

New Year's in Ecuador

La familia :)

            The tradition is that a doll is created to represent the past year; they then burn it to represent that the past is gone and renewal has begun for the coming year.

The doll options. Left: "Pedro doll" stuffed with newspaper

Pedro was home-made by Brian and the family.

       






   Then, there are the guys that dress up as widows and go out on the streets and ask for money the same night. They represent the "wives" that were married to the men that were "burned."  It sounds violent but that's what they do here.
  These "widows" then go around asking for money because "they don't have a working husband anymore."

  Other Traditions:

• one can wear yellow underwear on New Year's to have good luck in the coming year
• one eats 12 grapes representing the 12 months in the year
• one can run around the block with a suitcase which represents that one will travel the next year (Babett and I did that :))

                    Ecuadorians go all out when it comes to New Year's. 

          

La Navidad del Colegio

Christmas (Navidad) is not just celebrated here with the familia but at school as well.

Paul Valery getting ready for their annual Christmas presentation.

          Each class (from kindergarten to senior year) has to create some sort of presentation for this event.  I was a part of the junior class; we presented Christmas poems in English.

It was school....but we celebrated Christmas the whole day. Nice. :)

Emi and I; she has become one of my buddies at school.  She is a very talented dancer in fact.

Some senior guy friends and I hanging out (Paul, Cris, y Stephano)

"The Christmas brings memories,

And kindest thoughts untold,

Of friends we might not often see

But hope to always hold..."

My good girlfriends from quinto curso (junior year)--(from left to right): Majo, Andrea, y Briggitte with Pancho in the background.

"So may the greeting be a relation,

In friendship's valuable chain,

& may there be a Christmas,

when we shall meet again."

       The principal actually asked me if I wanted to play something on the guitar (as the Christmas presentation was actually going on) and so I decided, "hey, why not." My buddy, Tj from Canada, and I ran up to a classroom to rework the common song "I'm Yours" by: Jason Miraz Christmas style to present. Sadly, when we walked back out, everybody was dispersing because it started to rain.  Dang it.  Hopefully we will have the opportunity another time...

My First Cello Recital (December 2012)

(From left to right): my cello teacher, Santiago, myself, another supporting teacher, Jessica

Click on the link to see a short clip of my recital:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9xMS8KFYYs&feature=youtu.be

My wonderful teacher, Santiago, and I.

                    If you're wondering why I even started taking cello lessons, I truly was inspired by this group called "The Piano Guys."  They prove that any song--from classical to the #1 on the pop-culture lists--can be played on the piano and the cello; and you know what, it's powerful. 

"Las Fiestas de Quito"

Date: November 15th-December 6th

Location: Quito, Ecuador

History: December 6th, 1534--the day in which Quito became an independent city from Spanish control
           
          The facts...

• Every city in Ecuador has its own specific founding/independence day because Spanish control was not struck down in just one strike; instead, city by city.
• "Las Fiestas de Quito" are a way in which the city of Quito celebrates this Independence in 1534




• free concerts in the parks/free performances in general
• a ginormous parade is put on in which most large high schools are represented with a drumline and students who dance traditional dances
• "la chiva"--the party bus that is popular to ride during "las fiestas de Quito"
• "cuarenta"--the national card game (I will teach it to you when I get back :)); this game is literally played everywhere. We even had a "cuarenta" competition at school (learned how to play in five minutes ahh yeah!)

          My school (Paul Valery), particularly, was not represented because our school is too small (300 students) but most public schools were represented in the parade.  I've never seen so many drumlines and teenagers dancing in traditional outfits.  

    Thanksgiving in Ecuador...

Our whole Xplorer group as well as a few AFS exchange students got together to celebrate Thanksgiving.  It was a wonderful feast!

                  My lovely, older sister, Hilary Johnson, came and visited me late November so of course, we made a pumpkin pie for our host family.  They technically don't have pumpkins here so we used a fruit that is similar--it was delicious!
                  Also, at my colegio, the English department came together and organized a Thanksgiving feast for the whole school; they even put on a little play.  I had a special time describing to some little kids what Thanksgiving was all about---making peace between cultures and building relationships. I had a very blessed Thanksgiving here in Quito, Ecuador even though they technically do not celebrate the holiday.


Did you know? Canada's Thanksgiving is on the second Monday of October. I didn't know that until I talked to my buddy, TJ (an exchange student from Canada).

Las Galapagos (One of the "Wonders of the World")

Day 1: Quito→Guayaquil (costal city)→Las Galapagos

After arriving in Las Galapagos, we hopped on a boat to get to Isla Santa Cruz where we would be staying for the next five days.  The adventure began.

The tropical water of the Galapagos was actually that color.  

The streets of Isla Santa Cruz.

Reid, from Washington, touching the tallest
type of cacti in the world.

                                     A beautiful, yellow lizard type iguana.


             There are 10 different types of turtle species  
          just on the Galapagos Islands.  We also
         learned that one can tell if a turtle egg is
         male or female by its temperature. 

           








Day 2: "Isla Isabela" (the biggest island in the Galapagos)

Heading off on another day of adventuring--we took a 2+ hour boat ride to get to Isla Isabela.

Saw flamingos in their natural habitat--a lagoon.

We also had the opportunity to go to many turtle breeding

centers where they took many turtles in at a young age to keep them safe; they would then send the turtles back to   

                                                                                                            their natural habitats when they were around 3-4 years old. 

Yes, we did go swimming in November. What a life!

It was surreal to see flamingos, turtles, and then penguins all on the same day.

These are white-tipped sharks which are the only type of shark, I believe, that can sleep while not moving.  Most other sharks have to be constantly moving to stay alive.  These sharks are an exception.  In the Galapagos, one can also find whale sharks, great white sharks, as well as many other species.

Day 3: Snorkeling!!

 Ashley (from Michigan) and I standing by the well-known black iguana of the Galapagos.  They literally were everyw

 My lovely sister from Germany, Babett, standing on the volcanic rocks of Isla Santa Cruz.

 Going snorkeling :) I saw a puffer fish which was awesome!

Going swimming in the beautiful waters of this hidden channel.

Day 4: "Tortuga Bay"

 Tortuga Bay--all the Germans were amazed because back at home, it was snowing for them.

 Tj (from Canada) and I :)

 Going into a lava tunnel.

 
Melissa has an idea :) My buddy from Mass.

Tj and I going crazy behind a turtle.

Day 5: Heading Home

Babett and I in front of a huge sunken crater.

   Overall, going to the Galapagos was an incredible experience and it makes me realize more and more that we live in such a wonderful, creative, and intricately made world. Gracias padres for allowing me to experience this!