A Post to Make Up for Lack of Posts

Hello blog world,

It has been wayhayhayyy too long since I have posted (4 months, I know). I feel bad- I do. I was so on top of my blog for the first 4-5 months and then I went on the Amazon trip, switched host families and pretty much got a life. I probably still could have found time to write and post, I mean, you should see the number of blog-post drafts that I have on my computer! But I would either forget or just keep pushing it off in order to do other projects, spend time with friends, or sleep.

So this is my post to make up for the time. I will try my best to cover everything I missed or wanted to say but didn't get to. Because like I said in the beginning, I want this blog to accurately represent my year abroad. I want it to help describe to people the year that I am having. So, here is a blog post to fill in the blanks before I get into the other more important posts that I am looking to upload.

Ok so;

The Amazon Trip-

Back in January I went on a trip to the Amazon. I had been before- but this trip was absolutely fantastic. I wanted to let this part of the post be a "picture is worth a thousand words" kind of deal but I somehow managed to delete all the pictures I took on the trip, and although I have recovered most of them, the format of the recovered files have made it almost impossible to upload anything. So instead of writing every incredible detail of the trip, I will give you a quick summary instead: We flew north to a town on the Napo river where we got on boats for another two hour trek to the Sacha Lodge where we stayed for the 4 day trip. Once there, we did a lot of walking/hiking through the forest, and plenty of canoeing as well to see the different plant and animal habitats of the jungle. It was incredible! We were split into groups of 6, and my little group was so much fun- we also had the best guide; he was very insightful. Every night most of us got together in one of the exchange student's cabin-rooms and would talk for hours. I also decided to go down to the dock one night because the view of the stars from this location was amazing!!! Of all the trips, despite the amount of sweating I did on this one, I really think this one was my favorite. I got to know the other kids in our group who live in Guayaquil and I got to revisit the jungle. Who can say they've been to the Amazon forest two times in their life (besides people that live and work in the jungle, or live in a country nearby)? It was totally different too because our tours were in Spanish unlike my English tours the first time I was there. The food at the lodge was so delicious and the sleeping arrangements very comfortable. I even got to swim in the lake with piranhas and crocodiles, catch piranha, and try a bite of grilled piranha. So yeah, I had a fantastic time.

Switching Host Families-

Just four days after getting back from the Amazon trip, I had to pack up all my stuff and move from the host family where I was living to another family. We switch within the club that is hosting us, which means that I went to a house where another student already was living for the first half of the year. I will be honest; I didn't want to switch. In fact, I was thinking about convincing the club to let me stay with my last host family, as I was comfortable with them and after a student chose to go home, they weren't going to recieve anyone. I was really unsure about switching after knowing how the student in the house I was going to had spent his first months here in Ecuador. All the students were pretty apprehensive about it actually...it's hard when you talk to the others and they tell you about what they like and dislike with their family. So, I went into my new family a little nervous, but remembering the importance of an open mind and that I am a different person then the last student and I can make the most of any situation. Turns out, switching host families was the best thing that could have happened to me on my exchange. It was silly of me, assuming that my experience would be the same as the other student's in this house. I also learned that exchange is as good as you make it. What I'm trying to say is, you never know if you can do something if you don't ask and you never will have a good relationship with your host family if you don't leave your room to get to know them. It's all about how involved you want to be, and most of the time, great host parents will be totally willing to let you have the best time. In the case of the student in this family before me, he just never asked. 

Turns out, I was the perfect fit for this family- Cesar, Patricia and their son Sebastian welcomed me into their home to fill the temporary spot of their 17 year old daughter/sister Paulina who is on exchange in Denmark. I actually felt and still feel like I am part of a family that cares for me, that wants me around, that is willing to do things with me and wants me to enjoy my time here. In this family, I actually have a host-sibling, Sebastian, who is 12 years old. I think having host siblings is an important part of the exchange experience, and I have a brother back home, so it's only natural for me to have a sibling. I enjoyed having that brother-sister dynamic back in my life. Sebas and I enjoy bantering with each other and that's fun for me. My host parents are some of the kindest people I have met and they actually understand me. They never say no to letting my friends come hang out, and willing to bring me places if I give them a heads-up. My host dad has a great sense of humor, and I really connect with his principles/way of thinking. And then, my host mom has really taken the opportunity to get to know me and is genuinely interested in my life. She has given me great advice along the way. Over all, I am so grateful to get two great host families, but especially my second family. They completely changed my exchange for the better.

Finding Activities-

My new host family was keen on me getting out of the house and doing something. So after a little searching and asking around, I finally found something worth while. I started going to a cooking school and it was exactly what I needed. I went Monday-Thursday from 8-10am and learned some really interesting and useful things for the future, like recipes that I can take back and use in the states not only for living on my own, but for showing family and friends Ecuadorian cuisine. I love food anyways, so it was wonderful getting recipes and trying things out. I made my family's Christmas sugar cookies with the NH cookie cutter to present to my class and then to my host family, and they were all impressed. The cooking classes were totally worth it. I also took guitar lessons once a week, which required practice during the week to improve before the next lesson. And every afternoon, I either went to Crossfit from 4-6 to exercise, or had plans to spend time with friends. So you can see, I got a little busy for a while.

The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics-

It is an exciting time to be an exchange student that likes sports, especially during the Olympic Games. Starting with the last winter games in Vancouver 2010, I found an interest in watching the games. These are some incredible athletes doing incredible things. The amount of talent, dedication, practice, strength, and perseverance to be an Olympic athlete is something not many people have; it is something to be very proud of. I think that is part of the reason I like watching these athletes and teams compete. It is an exciting event! But from my exchange student perspective, what is even more exciting is seeing countries come together to celebrate the games by watching, cheering, participating, and honoring the successes of the countries as well as the individual athletes representing them. Ecuador is not a country that participates in the winter games (I hope you understand why), but watching the games from the perspective of another country was so cool for me. I had a couple great exchange friends who were into watching the games with me, and it was really exciting to have some friendly competition, country pride, and a lot of success.

Experiencing Ecuador-

Ecuador is famous for a number of things, including the diversity of it's land and the production of different products/goods. The region of El Oro, where my city is located, is famous for the production of bananas, cocoa, and shrimp. The city of Machala is called the banana capital of the world for the amount of bananas it packs and ships annually. I have always thought it is important to know about the important products and exports of a place, especially in an experience like this. Not only is it good to know about one of the biggest parts of the economy here in Ecuador, but it's interesting to see how these things are done if you don't know anything about it. Luckily for me, host dad owns a banana packing company and a few rice fields. He is also friends with some guys who catch and pack the shrimp here on the coast as well as some who work with the cocoa too. Being the great guy that he is, he helped me organize a couple "field trip" days where me and some of the other exchange students in my city to be able to see how these processes work. The first day, we went to my dad's banana fields and packing area where they told us all about growing, harvesting and packing the bananas. We also stopped by to see them till the soil where the rice is at my dad's rice field. Then, we went next-door to my dad's soccer field where we had a nice barbeque and hung out. It was a great day! The second trip we went to the port of Machala where products come in and out, one of those being shrimp. We got to go to the shrimp packing plant to see how they process and pack the shrimp that is caught. Then, we got to hang out at my grandparents house in the port where they have a great pool for swimming with a group of friends. I am so glad we got to do these things not only to learn more about our province but to also have some group bonding time. Special thank you shout out to my host dad, Cesar!

The Galapagos Islands Trip-
On March 24th the kids of Machala went to the Galapagos Islands for the week.

The Galápagos Islands are a small archipelago of volcanic islands belonging to Ecuador in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The islands are quite remote and isolated, lying some 1000 km (620 miles) off the shore of Ecuador. The Galápagos are world renowned for its unique ecosystem which was the inspiration for Charles Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection. Giant tortoises, sea lions, penguins, marine iguanas and different bird species can all be seen and approached. Strict controls on tourist access are maintained in an effort to protect the natural habitats and all visitors must be accompanied by a national park-certified naturalist tour guide. - See more at: http://www.touropia.com/tourist-attractions-in-ecuador/#sthash.ntF6nVMB.dpuf

*I will be posting a separate blog post with the details about this trip

A Rough Patch-

Exchange is advertised as the best year of your life. And for the most part, it really is incredible. For me though, the saying "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" is essential on exchange. Because what they mention but don't talk about enough, are the problems. Exchange always, without fail, will throw problems at the student- a set of hoops to jump over. It's like a test; who can avoid striking out when being thrown multiple physical and emotional curveballs, while on top of it trying to deal with these things in a completely foreign environment just for the sake of additional discomfort. I think people should talk about the bad times to, because if you never talk about it, nobody can learn from it and maybe you personally wont appreciate the growth of it either if you don't acknowledge it. That being said-

Coming back from the Galapagos trip, I was hit with some hard situations. April first was no joke; first of all, there was an earthquake in Chile that triggered a tsunami with warnings as far up as Ecuador. That in itself was worrisome. Then, there were exchange students posting the typical "good to be back home" and "I leave tomorrow" posts as their fun little April fools prank and I wasn't having any of it because I was almost certain that I would be going home in a few days myself, for real, and I just wasn't sure yet which of a few reasons would be bringing me there. Not only was I dealing with some host club issues that if worse could have likely been the end of my exchange, but I also got a call from my dad saying that my grandfather back home had a stroke and they didn't really know how he was or how severe it was. That was no prank. My Dad informed me that my mom was flying to Florida to be with him and my grandmother. As awful as this is, I was so scared that I would be told I needed to come home for a funeral or something. Of course it had me very concerned. To top that off, my host family here was having problems of their own- the grandmother on my host dad's side died and the father of my host mom went into shock and survived but was then looking at some severe recovery and surgery needed- for which they decided to do in the United States. Again, no jokes there. So as you can imagine with all of this going on at almost one time, I was a mess. Did the earthquake effect any of my exchange friends in Chile? No. Did the tsunami wreak havoc on the coast like they warned it could? No. Did the problems with my club send me packing? No. Did my grandfather live/is he okay? Yes. and Yes. And is my host doing okay? Well, thankfully the father of my host mom went to the US for his tricky surgery and it went well. He has been back for about a month and a half now and is recovering well. The whole family was able to breath a sigh of relief once he got back. So, for a period of time- I was a little on-edge and emotional. But you have to expect the unexpected on exchange. And most importantly, I believe, you have to have faith. Doesn't matter to me what you have faith in, but it's gotta be in something. I was constantly praying and hoping that things would turn around. I was checking on my friends in Chile, talking with my club back home to assure them that I was okay and the tsunami didn't end up effecting me, working to get things resolved with my host club, working to be there for my host family, and staying in contact with my family back home for constant updates on my grandfather. And I survived the curveballs. All of them. I was able to make it on base, in fact, I am about to round to home plate in less than 10 days. With a situation like that, not everybody would still be here on exchange. They would have given up, or struck out. But I made it, I am still here. And I am proud of myself for that accomplishment. 

Counting The Days- 

90 days ago, (about the end of March) I checked my countdown app on my iPad to see how many days I had. 100 days. I had spent 200 already in Ecuador and was starting on the final countdown. I decided to celebrate this final countdown in Ecuador with the #100happydays project. Now, for those unaware of this project, the goal is to take and post one picture each day of something that made you happy that day, or something to be happy about in general. The hope is that you will notice things you never really thought to appreciate before, or will remember that you can find happiness everyday, in some way. There is a lot to be grateful for, whether it's lunch with friends, or just to sleep in a bed, or a song that keeps you in a good mood. Happiness is everywhere, and doing something like this makes it easier to find that happiness (even on a bad day) and remember how fortunate you are. I have really liked doing this because it can be hard some days, especially when I am sick and stuck in bed, missing home, or when I see I have 10 days left in Ecuador (10 DAYS, WHAT?!), but you can always turn things around and be glad.

I will upload my happy days picture-video as soon as I am home and have posted 100 happy pictures!

So, there are more posts coming your way, but I figured we should end on a happy note, right? Get it? Happy note? ^^ *rim-shot* Haha. Thanks for reading!