ThE FiNaL CoUnTdOwN!!!!

I can’t believe it; the time has come where each day of the week is my last one in Ecuador. It is truly a bittersweet feeling and it is hitting me how little time I have left here and how soon this amazing experience will be over. I have been truly blessed to have experienced all that I have during these past 7 weeks and plan to cherish each of these final days here.

This blog is not the greatest because I did not have time to upload many pictures with the limited internet time we have. Sorry!

This past week was a pretty busy one. Instead of having Spanish class this week we went to the Banco Central del Ecuador which is a museum not far from CEDEI that represents all of the different types of people that live throughout Ecuador and shows their traditions. It was a very neat museum with lots of interesting exhibits but it was kind of frustrating because we got rushed through it without time to really appreciate everything. In true Ecuadorian fashion our tour guide showed up half hour late which then only allowed him half hour to take us through the tour. There were many neat things and I learned a lot about the different people of Ecuador but I also feel like there was a lot that I missed, too. Oh well, it was still neat. We even got to see real shrunken heads in one of the exhibits. It was creepy! We couldn’t take any pictures in the museum so I wasn’t able to capture any of what we saw. After our rushed tour we went outside to explore the Incan ruins outside the museum on our own so that was fun. There were beautiful plants and flowers that we were able to walk among so I got some good pictures out there. There was also a bird exhibit outside with lots of awesome birds. They were very pretty. It was a fun trip.

Outside the Banco Central del Ecuador

Again..

Some of the birds. So pretty!

Instead of our other Spanish class on Wednesday last week we had a presentation about migration of people from Ecuador. It was very interesting to learn more about it and here some personal stories. After the presentation we all went over to the hostal that our culture professor is staying at while he’s in Ecuador and our Whitewater professor was also staying at to have a Thanksgiving meal. Everyone is very busy with lots of stuff right now so there wasn’t time to make a big fancy feast so our Thanksgiving meal consisted of pizza, calzones, fruit, and veggies. Very traditional! Haha It was nice to get everyone together, though, so there was no complaining. Some international teachers were there, two of the directors of CEDEI were there with their families, and Diana (a girl our age from Cuenca who studied abroad at Whitewater last semester that we had met before coming) were all there so it was neat. Our Whitewater professor also made bread dough that she had us make peace doves out of so that we could have a little something to eat on Thanksgiving too since she was no longer going to be around. It was a nice night.

Then came Thanksgiving…Thursday was kind of a down day for all of us as we thought of our families all spending time together without us being able to be there. Many of us were able to Skype with our families, some even extended family we hadn’t talked to yet, so that was very nice. I got to Skype with my dad’s family at their Thanksgiving celebration so it was nice to have a chance to see and talk to everyone even though I wasn’t able to be there with them. The only bad part was seeing the food they were teasing me with as they ate it in front of the computer. My Thanksgiving meal was an attempt at mashed potatoes for our school lunch (which aren’t even one of the foods I like at home), a cookie I bought on the way to class (in place of a piece of pie), and the piece of bread we had made the night before. I am having an experience I’ll never forget though so I’ll take what I got and look forward to the food next year.

The kids outside having their Thanksgiving lunch.

My Thanksgiving lunch...you should all feel bad for me!! haha

My Thanksgiving dessert since I didn't get pie. At least it
was warm!!

Friday was another harder day for me because I missed my Dad’s birthday and cutting down the Christmas day, which we do the day after Thanksgiving every year. I was able to call Dad’s cell phone from Skype to at least tell him ‘Happy Birthday’ though. He will just have to wait an extra week for his gift, me getting home!

Friday was also our last day teaching at CEDEI School so that was sad, too. There have been some children in my classes that I have really connected with and am sad to be leaving. Even though teaching here has been a frustrating experience at times because of how new and different it was for me, I still enjoyed all the children and will really miss them!

We had cooking class on Friday this week because we are done with dance (sadly) so we made ourselves a delicious meal (with a little help from our teacher). We made some type of meat (I never know what kind of meat I’m eating down here – unless it’s cuy that is!), a corn dish, yapangachos (the potato and cheese dish we’ve had a few times before), a tomato and onion salad, plantains, and a dessert. We did pretty good, it was delicious. Then we headed back to the Rotary Market, which we had only been at briefly one time before. They have lots of really neat baskets and other hand-crafted things here it’s fun to just look at all of it. After shopping we were going to go to the soccer game, which I was super excited for, but the weather had been very iffy all day with rain and storms (it even hailed a little for a few minutes) so we didn’t end up goingL All the girls came over and we order Pizza Hut instead because we have been curious to compare it to the states and it is very comparable. Nice and greasy like usual. Our host dad is such a sweetie he ordered it for us and even went and picked it up for us. He is great.

Saturday morning there was a program at school where all the teachers, children, and families came together to paint a mural on the wall around the playground and had lunch and snacks and such. They also presented the Whitewater teachers with a little certificate thanking us for our time at their school. …At least this is what I hear they did because I was home sick in bed with food poisoning or something. Maybe we weren’t such good cooks after all; plus my body isn’t used to all the greasiness of Pizza Hut. I was super bummed to not be able to say good-bye to some of the teachers and the kiddos. I just have to think of all the great times I had with the kids and not dwell on what I missed out on.  My host mom was great while I was sick. She made me tea that helps with stomachaches, went and bought me Sprite, and made me soup with crackers for lunch. She definitely helped me feel better about being sick away from home.

Sunday was another day stuck inside in Cuenca because it was the Censo. It is basically like the Census in the states but no one in Cuenca can leave their house between 7 am and 5 pm on the specified day or they will be fined and taken to jail until the end of the Censo to be sure everyone is accounted for. Crazy! What a great way to spend our last Sunday in Ecuador! Our family made us a meal for dia de acccion de gracias (Thanksgiving) though so that was super sweet. We had a whole chicken instead of turkey, potatoes, guacamole, salad, and rice so it was an Ecuadorian style Thanksgiving meal but delicious nonetheless! Being stuck inside allowed us time to spend time with our family too so that was nice. Aimee and I even straightened our little sister’s hair! She has a ton of hair so it took forever but she was excited so it was fun. We used Aimee’s straightener and then Maria Rosa had a tiny travel one we used too. It was kind of funny using the small one with how much hair she has. We also got some packing done which was helpful. Believe it or not, I got all of the things I have bought in one suitcase and my carry-on suitcase so I should be more than fine fitting everything in on the way home; at least as long as I don’t buy too much more!

Since we are done teaching we are going to an orphanage and a daycare to visit this week. That should be a good experience. We still have Spanish class Monday – Wednesday this week but all we have Thursday is a farewell dinner with the people from CEDEI, nothing on Friday, and then we leave for Guayaquil on Saturday and fly out Sunday. It’s crazy how little we have left. I just have to cherish every moment left in Ecuador and take everything in. I am so thankful for the opportunity I have had these past 2 months!

I will not have very much internet access during the following week so this may be my last blog before returning home but I will give at least one last update once I’m home. Have a great and see you in a week!!! Chau!! J



Another Great Weekend!! :)

Lots to talk about from Thursday through Sunday so here we go!

Thursday evening CEDEI had a program at one of the malls in Cuenca with both children from the school and students at CEDEI Central. So many families and others were there watching it was really neat. The Segundo de Basica class (1^st grade in the states) did a super cute dance and Septimo de Basica (6^th grade in the states) sang a song that one of the children wrote. It was so fun. A couple classes at CEDEI Central did a song or skit including the fall semester students. They did a play about what it is like to study abroad including living with a host family, learning Spanish, and just going different places in Ecuador. It was absolutely hilarious because it was all so true; it was exactly what we have experienced! Being at this program made it really hit me that we are not going to be here much longer and I will never see these people ever again. It was very bittersweet. Earlier in the day I had been so ready to come home but being in this setting made me sad my time here is almost over!

Some of the kiddos all dressed up and ready to dance!

Septimo de Basica singing at the CEDEI program!

On Friday before class we had a tour of the Panama Hat Factory in Cuenca. They make lots of neat hats there of all different shapes and sizes. The tour wasn’t really much of a tour though and there really wasn’t a whole lot that they showed us so that was a bummer. I don’t think this factory is very big, though. Maybe they have another one somewhere that is bigger? I’m not sure. This factory is actually owned by the host family of two of the other Whitewater girls here. There were lots of hats there to buy from anywhere between $15 and $500 depending on the tightness of the weave. The cheaper hats take 2 days to make and the toquilla straw is thicker but the more expensive ones use thinner straw and take 3-4 months to make! I had already bought a hat so I didn’t buy one but some of the other girls found some really cute ones. (Then there were also some crazy ones that we tried on.)

A huge hat hanging in the entrance of the Panama Hat Factory.

All the hats to choose from!

A bunch of different hats in the stages of being woven.

 

 

 

 

 

A dress made out of toquilla straw like the hats.

Isn't the huge hat the perfect size for Ash?!

The whole crew with our hats on the roof of the factory.

We had our last dance class this week so that was sad. I had one of the people at CEDEI come in and take pictures and videos for me though so I will be able to teach everyone my moves when I get home! Our supervisor from Whitewater, Dr. DeVore, is here now so she came to dance class with us too! We went out for supper after class and it was a fun time.

Watch out for our moves! :)

Saturday morning was the morning we have all been waiting for since the first week we arrived in Cuenca…we finally got to go ziplining. One of the directors mentioned it to us as a possible weekend activity during our first week here and we have been so excited for it ever since. It was definitely worth the wait and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The weather had been awful for over a week and we were all really nervous it would rain but we woke up to a bright, sun-shiny morning. It was warm and a perfect day to go ziplining. There were 6 lines and it wasn’t any big extravagant course but can’t beat what we got for $8!! The first few lines were not very big or high up and that was perfect to start out. We got all geared up and the guide explained to us what we had to do and then it was time to go. When he asked who wanted to go first no one really sure they wanted to so I jumped up on the platform and headed on my way. It was amazing! So fun!!! By the end the lines got much longer and higher up and it was such a rush. On the last line I got to go with one of the guides so I got to fly like superman instead of going down in a sitting position. It was a blast! We were able to get some good pictures and videos even. I am so glad we were able to do that and would love to do it again!

Geared up and ready to go!

Here I go! The first line!

That´s me in the center coming in at the end of one of the lines.

After lunch on Saturday we decided to go on the double-decker bus tour of Cuenca. We tried to do it last weekend but got rained out so we thought we might as well try again. Dr. DeVore, her husband, Bill (our culture professor), and his wife all met up with us for the tour, too. It had been a beautiful morning all morning but it was after lunch so it of course had to get cloudy out and as soon as we sat on the bus and paid for the tour it started raining; just our luck! It rained throughout the entire tour but we were insistent we were staying on the top of the bus because what fun is it to sit inside a bus where you can’t see anything? Don’t worry we got soaked even with our raincoats and umbrellas but it was all about the experience! Haha  There were parts of the tour where the bus made a siren noise to warn us of low electrical lines ahead that we had to duck for. That was interesting with umbrellas, especially the first time they did it when we had no idea what was going on. Gotta love the experience! We were super bummed it rained because it definitely put a damper on the number and quality of pictures we were able to take. It stopped raining briefly when we got to Turi, though, so that was nice. Turi is a church on the side of the mountain that overlooks all of Cuenca. It was beautiful! Cuenca is huge and you could see everything. A little bit of a bummer of a tour but we got to see a little more of Cuenca nonetheless. Oh, and don’t worry, it stopped raining and the sun came back out as soon as we got off the bus…

The cathedral in the middle of the city that I absolutely love!

The street that we walk down to get to class every day.

This is one of the places our family took us during Fiestas de Cuenca.

Just 1/3 of the city from Turi. It was beautiful just too bad it wasn't sunny.

Aimee and I trying to stay dry on the top of the bus

Off to the market we went after the tour (of course!). I think some of the people at the market see us coming and we make their day! They honestly know us now and we do get laughed at on occasion when we go to the same stand 2 days in a row. That’s not over-doing it, is it? haha We love to shop and why wouldn’t you when everything is so cheap? Where else can you get a cute scarf for $2.50? Can’t beat it! Now, I know some of you are probably getting concerned about how I am going to get all of this stuff home but have no fear, I will manage! Don’t forget about the suitcase I brought school supplies in which was empty for me to fill. I may be wearing layers and have pockets filled on the airplane but it will all make it home!

We were all cold, wet, and tired so we opted to just have a movie night at Ashley and Jenny’s instead of doing anything extravagant. Their new family is so sweet! The dad absolutely loved having us there; he ate it up. They even made all of us supper, which we did not ask for or expect. The girls didn’t have a very good experience with their first host family but I think this one is making up for it.

Sunday was another day with our families. Our dad is away on another business trip so it was just our mom and younger sister this weekend. Our plan was to go to a little fair-type thing because our sister wanted to do rides and such but when we got there I guess they had taken it down. I’m not sure if it was just a temporary thing or why it wasn’t there but our sister was definitely bummed. Off we headed to a flower exhibition at the airport in Cuenca instead. There was a contest of different plants and flowers and there were some beautiful arrangements! I would have loved to have bought some of the flowers when we were done but that obviously wasn’t possible. It was neat to see all the different flowers from different countries, though. There was even a small section from the United States but it wasn’t too exciting compared to the other flowers. From there our mom took us to the mall in Cuenca, Mall del Rio, as a replacement stop for the fair. It was all decorated for Christmas and there were Christmas things all over; it made me very excited. There was a very pretty Christmas tree in the middle of the mall. Overall the mall was very similar to a nice, two-story mall in the states. We didn’t do any shopping but it was neat to see what a mall was like comparatively. There was a Toyota exhibit outside of the mall today and they were doing demonstrations of how good a Prius handles so they were letting people ride with a driver through a small course of cones and such where two cars were driving like crazy. It was fun to watch but it would have made me sick if I rode in the car. We were home in time for lunch so it was a nice little morning with the girls.

Part of Mall del Rio where our host mom took us.

Some of the flowers at the exhibit

A few of the neat arrangements

Aimee and I of course headed to the hippy market this afternoon because we had nothing else to do and why waste time sitting around when you’re in Ecuador?! We don’t even bat an eye over the 45 minute walk to the center anymore because it is just so routine for us. We barely even got rained on today so it was well worth the walk!

The Christmas tree in Mall del Rio. Whitewater colors just for us!

It has been another great weekend in Ecuador. I can’t believe we only have two weeks left until we come home! We only have one more weekend in Cuenca because we leave for Guayaquil the following Saturday. There is still so much to do! We better get busy!!

Mi CaSa

My house from the outside the gate. I think I showed one
inside the gate on an earlier blog. There is an open carport
area inside the gate before the entrance into the house.

Nothing too exciting ever happens during the week to write about so I thought I would share a little bit more about my family and where I live. Let me begin by saying that Aimee (the UW-Whitewater girl I live with) and I definitely lucked out with the family we were placed with. They have treated us wonderfully and we have had a great experience.

The crazy steps I have to walk up at least
twice every day. What a work out! I thought
it would get easier the longer I was here but
it's not happening!

My host dad’s name is Teodoro and he is an engineer. He is one of the nicest guys ever. He knows a little bit of English and is very good at finding other ways to explain things when we don’t understand something. His job keeps him very busy so he is gone all day but I love chatting with him after meals or whenever he is around.

My host mom’s name is Nancy and she is a stay-at-home mom. She is so sweet! She loves having more “bebes” to take care of. We are definitely treated like one of her own. I can tell that she loves spending time and talking with us. She does not know very much English but she tries. She is also very good about using gestures and pointing to help us understand what she says. Not only does she feed us good meals but she also does our laundry 2 or 3 times every week so we never run short on clothes. The other girls only get the laundry done once a week at most so it is very nice of her to do ours so often.

I have a younger brother, Carlos, who is 19 and goes to Cuenca University to study medicine. He is not home very often and is studying and such when he is home so we don’t do a whole lot with him. His English is better than anyone else’s but we really don’t talk to him much anyways. He has always been very nice to us, though.

I have mentioned my host sister, Cristina, in a past blog but she does to school in Quito so we only met her when she was home for Fiestas de Cuenca. She is 18-years-old and was very sweet when she was home. Her English is very good so we were able to talk to her about lots while she was home.

Lastly, I have a younger sister, Maria Rosa, who is 9. She definitely acts like a younger sister too! She loves to be around Aimee and me and takes any chance she can to hang out with us. We all play Uno and just goof around like sisters. She even let us is on the secret of Carlos having a girlfriend but she had to shut our bedroom door and whisper so he wouldn’t hear her! Haha She is so cute.

Mine and Aimee's bedroom!

We also have two pets: a dog Pancho and a cat Matilde. Pancho is always outside and the cat is outside while we're here because Aimee is allergic to cats. Pancho definitely isn't an inside cuddly dog because he gets dirty from being outside but he's cute. He is a little chicken though so it's funny. He is finally warming us to us and letting us pet him now; before he would always run and hide under the cars when we got home. He even growled at us when we tried to go in the house one of the first nights we were here! We're finally a part of the family to him, though!

Matilde

Pancho!

The family area upstairs

Again...

Our house is very nice, too. There are three good-sized levels within it. Aimee and I share a room but we have our own bathroom connected to our room, which is super nice. That way we don’t have to worry about leaving our stuff in the shower and around the sink. The only downfall to our house is its location. We are the furthest away from the bus stop and everywhere we go so we have to leave a little earlier than everyone else. We are also located right on the top of a hill so we have a huge flight of stairs that we have to walk up at least twice every day. It definitely hurts by the time we get to the top! At least we will hopefully be in shape when we get home! J

Looking down down at the basement through all three floors
 of our house from the top floor.

The family area on the main floor.

The kitchen

 A little of the basement, including the bar. Our host parents
told us it is the party room! haha

I have been truly blessed with the family that I am living with and I am very thankful for that. Having such a loving, giving family has made this trip much easier and much more enjoyable. I couldn’t have asked for more and will definitely be sad to leave them.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

This week was just another week of teaching and classes. Bill, our culture professor from Whitewater took us to a new market during class this week; dangerous, I know! It had lots of new things we hadn’t seen yet so it was great to check it out. I was pretty under the weather with a cold all week though, so it was lots of early nights, water, and Vitamin C for me all week. Thank goodness I’m on the mend! We had another weekend to ourselves that we had to try and make plans for but any plan we made ended up getting canceled because of rain. Even so, it turned out to be another good weekend.

It is the rainy-season in Cuenca right now but there had not been rain in two weeks until it finally rained on Thursday and once it started it has hardly taken a break all weekend. We of course wanted to go to the markets for a little bit before dance class on Friday but we were denied because it was pouring outside. Instead we took a taxi to the travel agency to figure out plans for Saturday and walked to dance from there. Dance class was once again a great workout and lots of fun! J I don’t know if I’ve ever moved my hips so much while dancing! Haha

After dance class we tried a new restaurant that we’ve been wanting to try since we arrived in Cuenca that is right across the street from the place where we take classes. It is an Italian restaurant and I couldn’t decide between pizza and pasta so Ashley and I shared them both. They were both delicious. As much as I miss some foods from home, I am yet to be disappointed from a restaurant we have tried thus far.

Saturday morning we took a taxi to CEDEI School to paint. One thing we have to do while we’re here is a beautification project at the school so we are painting and organizing the library to make it a more fun and welcoming place. We are painting the tree and letters like in Chicka Chicka Boom Boom on the walls so it is going to be really cute. With teaching and planning at school we hardly have time to work on it, though, so it was nice to get a few hours work in on the weekend. It’s finally coming along.

Gotta love being the tallest one to get all of the
high areas on the wall! haha

Working hard!

The progress so far!

While we were painting it started raining, though, and ruined our plans of taking a tour of Cuenca on a double-decker bus in the afternoon. We ventured out a little later once the rain took a break to get the shopping in we missed the day before. Of course another successful trip! The rain picked up again as we were leaving the market so we had to taxi home but then we got pizza again for dinner.

The entrance to the zoo right along the side
of the road. Very different from anything
in the states!

We didn’t have any set plans for Sunday so we were able to spend the day with our family. It was a great day and I loved spending time with them! It started off a beautiful, sunny day. First they took us to a zoo in Tarqui, which is a pueblo about 20 minutes from Cuenca. We were so excited when they told us we were going to the zoo. I didn’t know what to expect at all but it was very different than what I picture as a zoo. It was very small with chicken, rooster, bunnies, llama, deer, ostrich, peacocks, penguins, birds, turtles, and monkeys. It was just in a field along the side of the road with wooden and chain fences and such but it was neat to see.  We got to see the peacock open all his feathers so that was awesome. Then there was a little monkey that was on the outside of the monkey area and it jumped on me. It was only there for a second but I didn’t know what to do. Haha It of course started raining a little at the zoo but not much so it wasn’t a big deal.

Our host dad feeding the bunnies.

The peacock! I was so excited!

Two super active monkeys swinging on the ropes and
fighting like crazy. They were so funny.

We walked along a bridge right next to the
ostrich so they could have reached out
and pecked us. Our host dad loved feeding
these two too!

The little monkey shortly before he jumped
on me. He was so cute!

A scary, rickety bridge we had to walk on on
to see the penguins.

After the zoo we headed further from Cuenca but we didn’t know where we were going. When we arrived in a Giron I knew I recognized the name from somewhere. Once our family told us we were going to a waterfall I remembered that was the name of the place with the waterfall we had wanted to go to this weekend but it was a little too expensive with the travel. So Aimee and I got to go to El Chorro (that’s the name of the waterfall) with our family for free. It was so pretty! Since the area is in a drought right now there wasn’t as much water and the waterfall was smaller than it usually is but it was still very pretty. We climbed on the rocks to get pretty close to it with our host dad so we got some neat pictures. I couldn’t believe it when I found out that was where we were going though; I was so excited! We got to do something we wanted to do while saving ourselves $27 at the same time!

So pretty!

There was nowhere near as much water as
usual because they are in a drought right
now but I'm glad I still got to see it.

Aimee and I up by the waterfall. It was so pretty and I could
have just listened to it all day.

Aimee and I with our little sister, Maria Rosa.

From the waterfall we continued a little further to a very pretty resort to have lunch. The road to get to the resort was a small gravel road (like the one we had to walk down in Yunguilla but much longer) and we were bouncing all over. We had a delicious meal with a dessert and then we got some more of the hot, alcoholic drink that we had had in El Cajas. We sat and talked at the table for quite awhile just enjoying ourselves. Our family is so much fun and super nice so I love spending time with them.

The hotel restaurant where we had a
delicious meal.

It got very foggy while we were eating lunch so it was a slower ride home. The beautiful day we started out with turned rainy and yucky just like the three days prior but that didn’t ruin our day. For not having any plans, it turned out to be another fun weekend in Ecuador!