First impressions of my house and city

After my family took me out for pan de yuca, which we've already established is definitely amazing...we came back to the house. It was hard to really tell what my neighborhood looked like when we first pulled in because it was dark but I got the feeling I was driving into some kind of resort or something. I live in a gated community of houses with guards who are there 24/7 and make me feel very safe. Our house is gorgeous. My room is the only bedroom on the first floor and I have my own bathroom with shower and cable tv in my room. Huh? It's only ironic because we didn't grow up with cable TV and I am used to sharing a bathroom with at LEAST three other people. It is just not at all what I expected...although I'm not really sure what I expected. Did I mention I have my own bathroom? As it turns out I live in a very affluent suburb of the city I told everyone I would be living in. Samborondon (where I live) is an island but a bridge and a ten minute car ride will put you right in the middle of downtown Guayaquil. All of the houses here are in gated communities like mine and it is much safer in this area than living downtown. We still can not take public buses at night (and are cautioned to avoid them as much as possible during the day) and yellow taxis here are never safe. To me it feels like a beach town though. It's hot during the day, breezy in the evenings and there are palm trees and iguanas everywhere. I am so blessed to be living where I am.

Meeting Mi Familia

We got to the university about 6 pm on Saturday (Aug 27) and there we met our families. It was kind of funny because all of the families were sitting in this room and they kind of paraded us into the front. One of our program directors said a brief welcome and then started calling our names followed by the family names one by one. We stepped forward and then our families walked down to meet us. Everyone clapped after each name. I felt like we were being adopted and I guess in a sense we kind of were. I was one of the last names to be called but I had recognized my family from the moment we all walked into the room. My mom, Narcisa, came forward to meet me and I gave her a big hug...she hugs exactly like my mom and they are around the same height so it felt like home. It almost made me cry. Happy tears of course. I was so excited. I then met the rest of my family...my dad, Salvador...my two sisters Wendy and Sussy ( pronounced Susie) who are about Jesse and Beth's ages respectively lol...and my brother Shelby (short for Salvador) who is my age. Sussy's boyfriend Mauricio was also there. My mind was focused and ready to start speaking and hearing spanish so when Wendy asked "Are you hungry? Do you want to go get some pan de yuca?" in English it took me a second to respond because I wasn't sure what language to use. All of my siblings have very good English and my dad is pretty good as well. My mom on the other hand knows very little. They took me out to a shopping center where there is a yogurt smoothie and pan de yuca shop. Pan de yuca is basically bread made from yuca. I asked what yuca was in English and nobody really knows....but it's really yummy. The bread kind of reminded me of sourdough...mmmm delicious. They spoke to me in English but to each other in Spanish. I was trying really hard to concentrate on understanding them and after about five minutes my head started hurting from trying to concentrate so much. I praise God for all of the prayers I know were offered on my behalf for when I met my family. I could definitely feel them...I fell in love with my family instantly. They are loud and talk a lot and love each other and love having foreign students (I think I am their 7th or 8th) I am so thankful for them and have more stories to share but here I just wanted to share my first impressions.

Orientation Week

For the first week I was here I wasn't actually in my city (Guayaquil) but in the capital city of Quito and the surrounding area. I already talked about a couple of the places we went in my first post and that was just the first DAY. Week 1 was packed with amazing places. We went to Mitad del Mundo which is where the "equator" is. It's an interesting story though because long after a group of scientists claimed this place as the equator, and they built a monument, and created a big tourist attraction, they realized that in fact the line they drew on the land is NOT where the real equator is. So if you want all of the cool "experiences" like flushing a toilet with no swirl or balancing an egg on a nail you have to go about 100 meters away...just more proof that humans are not perfect. So don't oooh or aaah at the pictures of me standing with one foot in each hemisphere. It's a lie. I'm still kind of bitter about it. :) 

Our next stop was Otavalo which is where the biggest crafts market in Ecuador is...and where I got most of my souvenirs. :) Otavalans are definitely a distinct group of Ecuadorians. They carry on the traditions of their indigenous ancestors and still speak their native language and have a very unique culture. It was fun to barter in the market, it reminded me a lot of being in Zambia. We also watched a demonstration of typical Ecuadorian music and the making of a set of handpipes which was amazing...I got a video of it which I hope to post at some point, but the most interesting thing that happened in Otavalo was during our visit to a local shaman. She is a holy woman who will "cleanse" you for a small fee. One of the guys from our group volunteered to have the process done to him. He stood  there as she chanted prayers, and blew fire at him....yes, I said blew fire at him...and rubbed whole eggs against him, and hit him with leaves. It took about 20ish minutes for the whole process and afterwards she told him that he had some very bad energy and that it almost made her sick to cleanse him because he was so "dirty". I felt ill during the ceremony too, actually I don't know if I would say ill, but it was definitely a weird, weird feeling. The experience was a little bit overwhelming...and all I can really say is that I am so glad that I don't have to have fire blown at me to know that I am "clean". How great is the love and mercy of Jesus Christ. The gospel is such amazing news and I was reminded of this as I sat and watched this woman work. I praise God for my salvation and pray that I would have the boldness to share my good news with those I come into contact with here. 

The last thing I will write about from orientation week is hiking on Mount Chimborazo. This is the tallest mountain in Ecuador. It's beautiful and awful at the same time. We hiked from one refuge to the second reaching an altitude of 5000 m (its around 6300 at the top) It only took about 45 mins but the lack of oxygen in the air is unlike anything I have ever experienced. It literally hurt to breathe. It was horrible and exhilarating at the same time. During our whole first week we were pretty high up (Quito is in the mountains and so walking up a flight of stairs would leave me breathless) but this hike was another beast altogether. It was a weird feeling, taking a breath and feeling like nothing was coming in even though you KNEW you were breathing. Making it to the second refuge was a pretty cool feeling. As I caught my breath (which took about 15 minutes to do) I couldn't help but notice this Ecuadorian woman sitting on a rock off a little ways. I started to wonder what she was thinking. Some of the girls in my group decided to get a "skins" picture (no shirts on) and she just sat there watching....I couldn't help but feel like the bad reputation Americans have here is probably well deserved in some ways. I wanted to go up to her and apologize.

I don't want to end this post on a bad note though because over all the week was AMAZING. It was really good to get to know the other people in the group. There are about 40 students in my program and we during our first week I feel like we created a really good group dynamic that makes me excited for the rest of the semester with them. 

Wait....three weeks??? Already??

Even writing those words I can hardly believe it...
Three weeks.
The time is flying, and the only regret I have so far has been not blogging more. There are so many small stories to tell but I know if I wrote them all in one post it would become a novel and that you would probably stop reading before the end, so I think I will create a new post for each category so if something one looks more interesting than another you can jump right to it...yikes I have a lot to say. haha...here goes...