Hello From Ecuador
Bull Fights!
The 21st of November was a significant day in that I had been in Ecuador for exactly three months. In celebration of that important day, I did something truly Ecuadorian…go watch the bull fights.
I went with the host family of one of my exchange friends here, and to say the least, we were both nervous wrecks the whole time. To sum it all up, there were a lot of close calls between the bull and the bull fighter.
Before the bull fight actually began, there was a parade of horses. After that was over, all the bull fighters came into the arena and waved to the crowd…and then the bull fight began!
For each bull, there is one bull fighter, and four other people that stand behind these wooden walls in case the bull fighter needs help. The bull fighter has a red flag and the other four have pink flags. To end the fight, first they need to stick two flags into the bull and then the bull fighter has to pat the bull on its back. This is not so easy, however, and if the bull fighter slips up once, he is sure to get trampled by an angry bull.
They also hired clowns to perform for the crowd between each of the fights. The scary thing was that the clowns also tried their hand at the bull fighting! But unlike the actual bull fighters, they would let the bulls beat them up so that the crowd would laugh!
What made this event even more exciting and nerveracking was that the majority of the bulls were skinny enought to get behind the wooden walls that were meant to protect the crowd. This meant that various times throughout the fight, the bull actually climbed into the crowd, causing everyone to scream and get up from their seats and run to the other side of the arena. It was defenitely unforgetable.
Once all the bull fighters had taken a turn, the host of the event announced that they would let anyone who wanted to, go into the arena to fight the bull. At first I thought they were joking, but then I saw people from the crowd getting up and going down into the arena. Although most of the people would jump out of the arena as soon as the bull looked at them, a few brave ones actually got close to the bull. I thought I was going to have a heart attack, my heart was beating so fast!
The ¨grand finale¨ was that one of the bulls escaped from his cage and proceeded to run around the parking lot.
It was one of the best days I have had here in Ecuador, not because I particularly love watching the bull fights, but because it was a completely new experience and something that would never be seen in the United States!
Alex
Hola from Ecuador!
I´ve been here for close to three months and almost every day something different and exciting happens.
One of the highlights of the month of October was the trip with all of the exchange students to the coastal province of Manabi. We stayed in Manabi from October 17-21. There were over 120 exchange students from about 18 countries, it was so much fun! The first day we got to be a part of the annual parade in the city of Portoviejo. We all wore our rotary blazers and carried the flags from our countries, the U.S was well represented with over 50 exchange students! The other days were spent swimming in the ocean, eating seafood, and getting to know all the new people. Each night the Rotary Club of Portoviejo would hire a band to play for us and so we would have dances until late at night. The last night in Manabi we all got to ride in this really cool bus and we took a tour throughout the city. Then we had a formal dinner where we also elected the king and queen of the rotary trip. After that we had yet another band play for us and everyone danced until three in the morning; by that time there were people taking naps in their chairs. It was an amazing five days and I can´t wait until our next trip to the amazon!
Then it was time to go back to Riobamba. I´ve gotten to the point where I know my way around almost every part of the city and can go to the post office or the supermarket on my own without getting lost. The one thing that I still haven´t really figured out is the bus system in Riobamba. It´s a lot more confusing and a lot less organized than it is in the United States…I think I´ll stick to taking taxis which are really really cheap here.
Another fun part of the month was halloween. Although it´s celebrated a little differently here than in the states, it was a lot of fun. On the day before halloween the school organized a big halloween celebration instead of having classes. There was a pumpkin contest, a costume contest, chicken races (definitely something i have never seen during halloweeen before), and many other great activities. On the night of halloween my friends and I went to a haunted house and then to a halloween party that was held at one of the universities. The one thing that they don´t do in Ecuador is trick-or-treating. Candy doesn´t play a very big role in halloween here.
In Ecuador the people also celebrate the Day of the Dead. They make a special drink called Colada Morada( it´s really yummy) and eat a special sweet bread. The rotary club invited the exchange students to help them with the annual distribution of the colada morada and the bread to the elderly and the poorest schools in Riobamba. It was so great to give the food to the kids, they were so grateful and kept asking questions about where we were from. They were especially fascinated by Sabrina, the girl from Taiwan. It was a good day!
Another fun thing that took place this week was the school elections. It was definitely one of those moments where I really noticed how different Ecuador really is. To sum it all up, it was a bribery contest. The people running for office rented a D.J, set up a rock climbing wall, gave out free drinks and ice cream, hired people from the circus to perform for us, and to top it all off, brought horses into the school to give rides to the little kids. It was crazy!! And I was talking to my english teacher and she said that the real presidential elections are exactly the same!
Anyways, I am having an amazing time here. I really love my host family, have made some great friends, and Riobamba is a beautiful city.
Alex
Hola!
I have been in Ecuador for about a month and a half and have so many great memories to prove it. This month has been pretty low-key. I´m simply getting to know Riobamba, making new friends, and getting used to my new school. September went by so so fast!!! In the beginning of the month I attended a language camp in Quito where I got to meet my first group of exchange students. It felt so good to speak english for a little while!
I am finally starting to adjust and become comfortable in my new school, Colegio Jefferson. It is the complete opposite from my high school in Salem! Classes begin at 7:20, but my bus picks me up at 6:40, so early!! I usually have to run out the door with my breakfast in my hand. Before every day at school, we line up according to our grade and sing the national anthem, then they make us do jumping jacks and run a lap around the school (not so fun when you´re half asleep). The classes here are very short (only 45 minutes) but we have so many of them! Some of the classes I am taking are philosophy, history, geography, literature, economy, and english (I love that class!). I get to teach part of the english class which is very fun. I don´t really like how the professors teach, however. They simply read out of their textbooks and the students have to copy down word for word what they say, they hever explaing anything or have projects. Then right before tests everyone just memorizes everything in their notebooks, you don´t really learn anything. But I really love the social aspect of the school. The students are so friendly and I have made so many great friends here. Right now we are preparing for the inauguration of the sports. Each grade has to make their own uniform and on October 16th we compete with the other grades in several sports. We also vote for the girl who will be this years Señorita de Deportes (Queen of Sports).
On the weekends the whole city is one big party! My family gives me a lot of freedom as long as I tell them where I am going, call them if I have any problems, and don´t take taxis late at night because it isn´t really safe. On friday and saturday all the teenagers meet up at the Giralda which is a big plaza with places to eat and shop. I go out both with my friends from class and the other exchange students in Riobamba whom I´ve become very good friends with. On sundays I usually go out with my family, Las week we went to a town named Penipe where there was a big festival celebrating a saint. It was so much fun! They had an amazing parade where there were people dressed up as devils and people on horses and a huge statue of the saint in the back of a pick up truck. Everyone was drinking this traditional drink made of fermented corn. After the parade, the whole town walked over to the bull fighting arena where they lit an enormous bonfire. I already have established a very good relationship with my second host family (we only change host families once), so that will be a very easy transition.
On the 17th of October we take our first official trip with all of the exchange students to the coastal province of Manabi. We will stay there for five days and I get to visit the two exchange students from Ecuador who came to Oregon last year. I´m so excited!!
I am loving it here so much, everything is so new and exciting and I just can´t believe that this is going to be my life for a whole year. I´m so lucky!
Best wishes from Ecuador,
Alex
ECUADOR IS AMAZING!
Hola!
I have been in Ecuador for almost a month, and I am enjoying myself so much!
I arrived in Quito on August 21 and spent the night with my host family in my host brother´s apartment. The next morning I was whisked away to the province of Esmeraldas, to a small town called Rio Verde. We stayed in a beautiful white beach house called a ¨finca¨ which belonged to some family friends. The catch was that the house had no electricity or running water! We got water about three hours a day, and when it got dark, we would light candles and lanterns. We would spend the day swimming in the ocean, reading, playing cards, and eating seafood. It was very relaxing! After staying there for about 5 days, we drove an hour to a more well-known beach city called Atacames. There we stayed with some family friends who had two girls my age, who I became friends with. Luckily, this house had electricity and hot water! We stayed in Atacames for about 6 days, watching movies, eating ¨ceviche¨, and buying jewelry at the markets. After our stay in Atacames, we drove the 5 hours back to Quito where I met even more family friends and also my host mom´s sister. We stayed in Quito for a couple of days and then finally drove to Riobamba!
Riobamba is a beatiful city surrounded by impressive mountains. Although the city is the size of Salem in terms of population, it is a lot more condensed and not as developed. There are a lot of indigenous people and there is a big market every wednesday and saturday.
My host family is amazing! We get along great. My host mom, Pachi, works with biomagnetism and other natural medicines, and my host dad, Felipe, works with ceramics. They have completely accepted me as a part of their family and make sure that I am content and have everything I need. I have three host brothers: Sebastian, Pancho, and Alejandro.
Last monda, I started school at Colegio Jefferson, and it was great! People in Ecuador are very friendly and in the first hour of school, 5 people had already invited me to sit with them at lunch! I am in a different grade than the other exchange students at Jefferson, which I think is a good thing because that way I will actually become friends with students from Ecuador and not always stay with the other exchange students. School in Ecuador is a lot more relaxed than school in the United States. The students spend lots of time talking, and teachers aren´t really seen as authority figures, but more as friends.
I got to miss school for five days because of a spanish camp for the exchange students in Quito. I made so many new friends and had so much fun with all of the exchange students.
I am having an amazing time here, and I am so glad I know the language, because I haven´t had any culture shock and not that much homesickness.
Ciao,
Alex
3 WEEKS UNTIL I LEAVE!!
It is finally starting to dawn on me that I will be gone for a whole year! I am in major panic mode but at the same time I am so so so excited. For the next three weeks I will be buying everything I need, getting immunizations, and catching up with my friends. I spend all day thinking about my exchange, I can’t wait!
I am currently in the arduous task of applying for my student visa. I have had to do everything from going to the police station to getting blood tests. My biggest fear is getting my blood drawn, it was not a fun experience for me! Anyways, I am almost done with all the paperwork for the visa, I just have to get a couple of passport photos from Walgreens and I’m done! My date of departure is coming up fast and I am just counting down the days!
If you ever get bored with my blog, head over to hellofromfrance.tumblr.com. My foreign exchange counterpart, Eli, is going to France with AFS and he will also be writing about his experiences as an exchange student next year.
