Landed: 8:30 pm  Location: Quito, Ecuador

I basically was flying for a whole day--I took a red-eye from Portland toMiami and then met up with all the other AYUSA exchange students there.  We then all flew together from Miami to Ecuador--the country that would be our homes for the next 5-9 months.  Most exchange are staying for a semester but I am one of few who are staying the whole academic year! Definitely a good choice I think :)

We finally arrived in Quito at around 8:30 pm that next night and yes I was tired but hey I had to go meet my host family.  The tiredness did not stop me.  My lovely host family welcomed me with Ecuadorian cheek kisses and a beautiful sign. I had arrived in Ecuador.  Truthfully, I was a bit nervous not knowing how this year would play out but right when my first Spanish words came out, I knew I was here for the right reasons.

I could literally write a book about what has all happened in just the last two weeks but a blog suffices.  As one comes into a new country, everything is new and stimulating--what the city looks like, how people interact, the food, the language, transportation, the general way of life, everything.

Mi Casa (my home en Ecuador):

Here is my beautiful house!  Our house is walled in on all sides because of safety precautions. As you can see, the windows are also barred up as well.  It doesn't cross my mind anymore as strange--this is normal here in Quito.  Our house is two stories: main level--living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and one bedroom that we (Babett and I) share; second level--where our five other family members live.

What our house looks like from the street.

This is our newly remodeled kitchen. As you can see everything is very clean.  Ecuadorians are known for their cleanliness (which I like).  Babett (my host sibling from Germany) and I are required to make our beds first thing in the morning or else our host family will keep bothering us about it.

 Here is Babett and I under a beautiful birthday sign that our host family put up for both of us.  Babett had her birthday right before coming to Ecuador and I turned 18 the third day I was there.  They made us a very tasty chocolate cake and they told us to both take huge bites out of the cake before serving it.  They even tried to push our faces in (Ecuadorian tradition I guess haha) :)

AYUSA Overnight:

 The first weekend we (all the exchange students through Explorer) were all in Ecuador, we headed off to an awesome retreat center to bond as a group and learn about what to expect while being an exchange student. The majority of exchange students are from the U.S., Germany, and Finland while a few are also from Canada, Norway, and Austria.

Mi Colegio (My School): "Paul Valery"

This is looking out from the second level of my school--this is the beautiful view of North Quito that I get to see walking out of classroom everyday.  As you can see, there is an awesome mini-turf soccer field below that we get to play on every break we have. Side note: I don't eat lunch at school. It's quite interesting actually; you can buy snacks at the school store but generally students eat a big lunch once they get home from school at around 2:30.

Recycling in Quito (and in Ecuador in general) is not popular.  It's not like in Portland, OR (where I'm from) where our recycling is picked up every week.  Here, most people throw away everything in the trash.  Personally, I feel so wasteful throwing away paper and other recyclable things just straight into the trash but guess what, my school here is trying to change that.  As you can see from the photo above, my junior class (quinto curso) and I presented to the whole school about how Paul Valery (our school) is going to start recycling plastic bottles as well as paper/paper products. I felt very honored to be a part of this.  This was the first time ever for this school to be introduced to recycling. 

Yes, we get to wear uniforms which I personally think is awesome! Because I'm going to a private school in Quito, many rules come with that.  We are only supposed to wear certain outfits on certain days--Monday=shirt, sweater pullover, skirt, tights, black shoes----Tuesday/Thursday=P.E. outfit with white shoes---Wednesday/Friday=shirt, sweater pullover, and jeans.  What a life! 

Also, every morning we have to line up with our grade on the basketball court seen in the picture above left.  We all have to turn the same direction at the same time when told to and the main director tells us when we have to stand at attention or at ease. After just a week of doing all this, I feel like this is almost normal for me now.

          Normal Schedule of My Day:

5:45- I wake up! Welcome to gap year world haha :)

6:15- eat breakfast (normally warm milk with fresh bread)

6:25- catch the school bus which is actually just a van

7:30-2:15- go to school--learn physics/biology/chemistry/history/etc. in Spanish

2:45- get home and have a huge lunch (soup, plate full of rice/beans/meat, fresh juice drink)

3:00-9:30-doing homework, exploring Quito, spending time with the family, speaking Spanish

This is where we line up every morning. Once we've finished turning and doing our "morning drills", the director then allows up to go class by class to our classrooms.

Here is my classroom! There are 17 of us in quinto curso or in junior year: 7 girls, 10 boys.  We are not the ones to move when the bell rings but instead, the teachers have to move classes.  The classes we have range from physics, chemistry, and biology to art/computer education, theory of knowledge, and Ecuadorian history. Every day our schedule is different so one must either memorize the schedule, have a copy of it, or be really good at asking classmates what the next class in.  Let me just say, I really enjoy my class :) They are all so willing to reach out and they are so interested in what we have to say even though we, as exchange students, don't say everything with correct Spanish grammar.   

Mis Aventuras en Ecuador:

We all, as an exchange student group through Explorer (AYUSA), went on an adventurous hike in near Southern Quito. Now, I thought that this was just going to be a nice, easy hike but oh no it was definitely a legit, challenging climb to the top of this ridge.  In this photo, we are all still climbing at this point after 3 hours of going through lush bamboo forest below.  It was like going from one world to the next when climbing to this ridge though; down below, we were in a very verdant forest/jungle with lots of bamboo trees but once we got up here we were passing pine trees and walking through dried brush.  The landscape can change drastically depending on your elevation here in Ecuador. This is was definitely a beautiful hike :) This was called the Pasochoa Trail. 

         La jungla (the jungle)!

An awesome outdoor market in downtown Quito: here is my host brother, Bryan-22, who is checking out a typical guitar called the charango, I believe. The back of the guitar is made from the shell of an armadillo; CRAZY!

Here is a beautiful park called "La Carolina" which is just a 15 minute bus ride from my house.  On weekends, every patch of grass is filled with people playing pick-up soccer games, volleyball, basketball, you name it.

The streets of Quito right by my colegio (school).

P.S. I will be writing more regularly now on my blog so check back often :) If you have comments, comment. If you have questions, ask them. 

Nos vemos,

    Serena Johnson