New Blog

I have started a new blog. 

Click here to go to the new blog. (In case that doesn't work, the address is: zoealiveandquestioning.blogspot.com)

I don't know how frequently I will update it, but I will try to update as much as I can. 

Thanks, 

Zoe

Home Sweet Home

I made it home alright, which most of you probably know right now.  I came home right into the Rand Marathon Christmas Celebration. We have pretty much been running non-stop since I got home last Friday night. Its really great to be home, and although i haven't had too much of a chance to think about Ecuador since i got home, it really was a great experience for me. I can already feel how much I have changed and grown (in a good way), and although it is a little hard getting used to being back in my old life, I am really thankful to be with my family. 

I miss all of my wonderful friends in Ecuador and I am glad they are having good Christmases. They are some of the best friends a girl could have, and even though I couldn't be with them for christmas, it sounds like they were able to make the most of it, and enjoy it in their own ways. I am so proud of all of us. We really had some crazy adventures, and we learned and are still learning so much. I love all my friends there like siblings, and I know that we will stay in touch no matter what. 

This will probably be my last blog post on this blog, although I think I might be starting a new blog....just about me in my normal life, because writing this blog has been so fun, and its hard to stop. 

Once I get a new blog I will post the address on here so you can all keep reading. 

Thanks for being such a great support while I have been gone. I hope you have enjoyed all the stories and adventures. 

Peace, 

Zoe

Uneventful Weekend

Last week was pretty uneventful. I say that, because, well I can't remember too much that happened during it. 

Lets see, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday went pretty normal. I took school off on Thursday because I hadn't slept too well the night before. On thursday afternoon I met Emily down in the Mariscal area to say goodbye to the missionaries of her church. It was really nice to say goodbye to them because they were really helpful to me my first few weeks here, and I know that they are always there to help me even though I am not a member of their church. After talking to the missionaries for a while I went with Emily to buy a Bible in spanish that she could take on her trip to Guayaquil. She searched everywhere in her backpack for her money. But she couldn't find it. She also couldn't find her mp3 player. Although I was still thinking hopefully that she had just forgotten those things somewhere, she was positive that they had been stolen. And she was right. We had been planning to go to the art market nearby but instead we went to Emily's house to do some damage control. She called her dad and cancelled her debit card and she called her friend to borrow some money. I lent her enough money for a couple of cabs so she could get where she needed to go that night and I was a shoulder that she could cry on. She left for Guayaquil that night and has been gone all weekend. She was supposed to get in pretty late last night, so you should all check out her blog for information on how that went. 

Friday I didn't go to school because there was a university fair for 5th and 6th courses and so 1st-4th courses didn't have to go. So I slept in again. When Gabi finished school she came over to my house and we hung out. Then we headed out to go to a family from church's house for dinner. Well, we headed out in the perfect amount of time to get there. And when we got off the bus we headed up the street to their house. Their house is very far up the hill, and I told Gabi that I would recognize it when i saw it. Well, it was raining and we had walked pretty far and Gabi and I gave up on my ability to recognize it when I saw it. So, I was going to call them. Well, I didn't have minutes on my cell phone, or their phone number. So we walked all the way down the hill, went to a Pharmacy so I could buy minutes and then we walked back up while I was talking to my host mom (who, I had, thankfully, given the number of the house we were going to be at) so she told me the number and I called them and aparently we hadn't walked far enough. So we ate dinner with them and stayed at their house until Saturday afternoon. 

So that was my very uneventful weekend. 

Peace, 

Zoe

The Equator Line

Ok, so this post is a week late. But it is here, and that's what counts, right?

Saturday, after my crazy Friday night, I went home relatively early in the morning. Well, early for the rest of Quito. The entire city was asleep, or at least, that's what it felt like. The city was eerily quiet, it was kind of a nice change from the craziness the night before. 

I rested up that morning because my host mom promised to take me to Mitad Del Mundo that afternoon. Mitad Del Mundo isn't actually in Quito, it has its own little town. It took us two buses to get there, although it probably only took about 45 min, so like an ordinary commute for some people. 

The first thing you see when you walk into the equator-line area is this huge monument. It was really really big. Like, I felt like it was touching the sky. (And now all you scientists can yell at me for that inaccurate statement. But I did not say it was a fact, i said it felt like. So really, you have no right to yell at me. ;-) I love that I can win an argument with people who aren't even yelling at me yet.) I felt like I was in a skyscraper city again, only of course, there was only one skyscraper. 

Mitad Del Mundo wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. I mean, sure, it was cool to get a picture of myself with a foot in both hemispheres, but really, it was just a line painted on the ground. 

There was a little area where they sold traditional crafts and there were some traditional dances. I ate ice cream and watched a traditional dance, but my host mom said that the crafts were pretty expensive here and that I could buy the same things cheeper in the city. 

So that was my Mitad Del Mundo experience. After that I went home and slept forever. 

More soon, 

Zoe

P.S. It took forever to get those two photos uploaded. So, enjoy them and check back for more later. I do have one with one foot in each hemisphere, I promise. 

Fiestas De Quito

Ok, so here is the promised blog post from last weekend:

Fiestas de Quito started the first day of December, but the climax was really Friday, December 5th. We had a huge party at school. It started with a balcony decorating contest. (Which I heard today that my class won.) It was my job to make some streamer things, and although when they explained them to me I am sure I looked very confused, I was able to make them, and they turned out pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. Here is a picture of my class's balcony as well as one of Emliy holding my amazing streamer things: 

So I hope you agree that our balcony was amazing. And my streamers made it the amazingness that it was. After decorating our balcony Emily and I wandered around the patio. The 6th grade was selling traditional sweets and Emily bought some sort of paper thing filled with jelly. (It was like a cookie, but the cookie was about the same texture as tissue paper and it didn't really taste like anything.) I bought a little chocolate thing.  Then we just sat down and talked for a while wondering what else was going to happen at school that day because we still had about an hour until we could leave but no one seemed to be really doing anything. Then we heard there was going to be a little concert. The 1st grade (i just realized that I might be confusing you with the grade system. A quick explanation: High school here goes from 1st through 6th grade. So 1st graders are about 12, and 6th are about 18. I am in the 4th grade here,) have choir class and so they sang a couple of songs for us. They were really cute. They all had their formal uniforms on with little blue ribbon tied like a bow-tie instead of their normal red tie. The songs were good too. Some of the 1st grade boys accompanied the choir on guitar. Although the sound wasn't the best (and honestly, when is the sound at these kinds of things good?), it was pretty fun to watch. Then one of the inspectors announce that we were going to have a traditional ecuadorian band. Everyone started screaming with delight when they started to play and we all ran over to stand in front of them and then everyone started to dance. Emily and I tried to participate in the Ecuadorian dance, but we weren't too good so we started dancing like "gringos". Now, I am not sure how other gringos dance, but our gringo dance involved the grocery cart, the lawnmower, stayin' alive, the scuba diver, the sprinkler, and many more. I think everyone really got a kick out of watching us dance. We were having so much fun that we didn't really care who was watching. I found out later that a classmate of mine actually got video of us on his cell phone. I told him that when more gringos come he is going to have to show them the video to explain to them how they are supposed to dance for fiestas de quito. We have decided to call it "the gringo dance". 

After school on Friday, which ended at 10am, we went to my house to change clothes and wait for Gabi. Then Gabi, Emily and I went out for pizza and did a little shopping. (We always seem to be shopping, don't we?) Then we went back to Emily's house to rest up for our big night. Gabi had to go home because she has a rather strict host mom who wants her home before dark (which is 6pm here). I was going to sleep over at Emily's house, so I didn't have to go anywhere. 

Emily's host mom and host sister took us to the historical center of the city. We have always been warned about going there because it isn't the safest part of town. All of the buildings are really old and historical so all the tourists like to go there, but because the tourists are there, so are the robbers. But Emily and I felt safe with your her mom and sister, and nothing happened. The historical center was so beautiful. It was just getting dark so the whole city had sort of a twilight glow about it. I wish I had brought my camera with me so I could show you a semblance of what it looked like, but I didn't bring it. (So if you want pictures check Emily's blog.) We walked up and down this traditional street called Las Rondas. I am not actually sure what Rondas means, so you will have to go without an explanation of the name. 

Something rather funny happened on this experience. Emily's host mom kept telling us about this traditional drink for fiestas de Quito. She bought us one to share, so Emily and I could try it. It tasted a lot like someone had tried to make apple cider from Naranjilla (which is a fruit we don't have in the states, google it if you want to know more about naranjilla, i am not going to take the time to explain it). It was good, but a little bitter. I was just trying to place that bitter taste when Emily's host mom told us that if we had a few more of these typical drinks we might be more inclined to dance in the streets. Emily and I both exchanged surprised glances. Yes, these traditional drinks had alcohol in them. We couldn't stop laughing about it the whole night. We were feeling a little silly after the drink (which we through out as fast as we could) but I am convinced we hadn't actually drunk enough of it to be tipsy, I think it was more of a placebo effect. 

After the historical center Emily's host mom wanted to take us for dinner at a restaurant in the Mariscal area. I guess she didn't know how crouded the Mariscal area was going to be. It was literally packed like a can of sardines. I was barely able to move forward without having to push two people aside. Mariscal is an area with a lot of bars and discotecs, it is also know during the day as gringolandia, but at night it is packed with all kinds of people. I was pretty much terrified. I never took my eyes off of Emily's host sister who was leading us through the crowd. Well, we didn't go to the restaurant because well, I don't think we could have made it to the restaurant. So instead we took a bus to a mall called CCI and ate a Burger King. I know to a lot of you that may sound like a disappointing end to a cool night, but I honestly didn't mind all that much. I had gotten a great experience of the city and I was perfectly ok to be sitting in a Burger King eating a hamburger and french fries. 

I slept over at Emily's house that night, although sleeping was pretty much impossible for anyone that night, the city was so loud with everyone's fiestas. Saturday afternoon I went to Mitad Del Mundo with my host mom, but that will have to wait for another post because this one is already really long. 

Peace, 

Zoe

Coming Home

So before I get into the seriousness, I would just like to say VIVA QUITO!!!! Today was like one of the most important days of the Fiestas de Quito and everyone was partying. We even had a party at school. I am planning on writing all about my day today tomorrow morning, because I have a different matter to discuss with you.

Some of you may have noticed that I have added a new "gadget" to my blog. A countdown, to when I go home. Looking at this many of you (those who have been paying any attention at all) might have been confused. So I will explain. I am coming home a month early.

Before any of you go insane with questions and exclamations of surprise and things, I wanted to explain a little about why I made this desicion.

I know that by just reading my blog you might not be able to guess how homesick I have been, I tend to only like to write blog posts when I am happy and want to tell you my story. My journal, however, rarely gets the good things, and often gets the sad things. But basically, I have been really homesick for the past 3 weeks or so and seriously thinking about going home. This Tuesday I talked to my parents about coming home, and they listened to me and understood what I was saying. Mainly, my biggest fear/complaint (not sure what to call it) was that I didn´t want to miss a christmas with my family. I know that there will be times when I have to miss christmas with my family, and when those times come I will make the best of them, but I had control over this one. I could change it so I was happier, and so I did.

I have been thinking and praying about this desicion for a while now, and I truly believe it is the right one for me. I know that maybe not all of you would have made the same desicion. But this is my desicion and one I intend to stick by. I am going home for Christmas!

Love,
Zoe

P.S. I have once again had technical difficulties, and the new gadget has not posted :-( But basically what it was supposed to say is that my flight home is scheduled for the 19th of December and that I have 2 weeks left in Ecuador.

Food is Funny in Foreign Country

Mango Mania

I don't normally like Mango, but today my mom came into my room and told me that she had a mango for me. When she said mango I thought she meant like mango pieces or something. Well she said Mango and she meant Mango. (I don't know why I am capitalizing Mango....as if it was a name....hello, here is my best friend Mango. He's a mango.)

It was a lot bigger than I have ever imagined a mango....not that I spend much time imagining mangoes. Anyway, my host mom cut the mango into three pieces. And then handed me a plate with the three pieces and a knife. Being the Gringo that I am, I haven't had too much experience with Mangoes. So I sat there for like two whole minutes just starting at the mango and the knife...i truly didn't know how to eat it. It wasn't like the mango was cut into conveniently bite-sized pieces or anything. I didn't even know if I was supposed to eat the skin. I'm sure I could have just asked my host mom, but  I was American and I didn't. Emily ate Mango on Friday (although hers did come in bite-sized pieces) and I remembered that the pieces she had didn't have skin. So I decided to just cut little pieces out of the skin. So I did that for the two outside pieces, but I really had no idea what to do with the middle. It's a fruit right? So I knew that there had to be a seed or something somewhere, and since I hadn't run into that yet I figured the seed must be in the middle. Then when i stuck my knife in the middle part it hit something solid. So I just left it. My host mom laughed a little when she saw I completely left the middle part, but didn't say anything. I probably could have eaten the fruit until I got to the seed. But I didn't. It was an interesting experience. And guess what? I might actually like mango. I liked this one anyway. Food is funny in  foreign country. 

Kangaroos and Crabs

I don't have a host dad technically. But my host mom's ex-husband and my host sibling's father, comes over a lot. So he's like my host dad. Anyway, today he came into my room and asked me if I liked to eat "Cangrejo". I stared at him for a sec to make sure he was serious, because the only thing I could think of that Cangrejo could possibly mean was Kangaroo. Of course, I had heard that Ecuadorians ate guinea pigs (cuy) but I had never heard anything about Kangaroos. I wasn't even sure there were Kangaroos in Ecuador. Well, while all this was going through my mind he was still waiting for my response. I must have made a pretty disgusted expression, because he looked at me with concern and asked if I didn't like it. I told him I had never tried it. He seemed relieved and left the room to help make this cangrejo for lunch. I sat in bed worrying that I was going to have to eat Kangaroo for lunch. I didn't know how I was going to survive, I mean I just started eating red meat in August, so I still have to get over the fact that I am eating a pig or a cow.....but a Kangaroo? 

By this time I am sure anyone who speaks spanish is laughing hysterically at me. Because guess what? Cangrejo is not a Kangaroo. Its a crab. (To some people that might not be much better, but to a girl whose father grew up in Connecticut, seafood is not a strange thing.) So don't worry, I won't be eating a Kangaroo for lunch, just a crab. When I figured that out I was quite relieved, let me tell you. But guess what? I wasn't too far off with the whole Kangaroo thing. A Kangaroo is a "Canguro" and a Crab is "Cangrejo". See they are similar!  Food sure is funny in a foreign country. 

Laughing at myself, 

Zoe

Here are some pictures from thanksgiving. I forgot to post them before.

Thanksgiving

So, for all you non-americans, this thursday was thanksgiving! I was really worried about celebrating thanksgiving in a foreign country....and let me say right up front that it was not the best thanksgiving I have ever had, but it was not as bad as that one thanksgiving where my entire family got the stomach flu and we were throwing up the whole time. So yeah, not as bad as that, but not perfect either. 

Part of the thanksgiving dinner that Sofi had planned was a dessert contest. She wanted everyone to bring a dessert that was typical of their family. Well, I pretty much spent this weekend emailing my grandparents and my mom to see how many red cake recipes I could collect. Then, I spent Wednesday trying to figure out how in the world i was going to make the recipe that I had decided on, and then I spent all of Thursday making a completely different red cake recipe than the original one I had planned. Yeah, I was sort of busy. I am posting a picture of the red cake, but I just want to state for the record, that although it doesn't look as good as it normally does, it tastes like red cake, so i must have done something right. 

Gabi and I wrote a play for thanksgiving, to explain to our host parents what thanksgiving was. So Gabi and I went to Xplorer at around 3:30pm to practice the play and help set up for dinner. (The rest of the exchange kids were supposed to come too, but Brian was really the only one who showed up on time, the rest sort of straggled in on Ecuadorian time.) We helped Sofi blow up balloons and we went to the store to get things to help her make Pumpkin Pie too. We didn't actually practice the play until 6 or so and dinner was at 7....and well, the only way I can say this nicely, is that the rest of the Xplorer kids, besides a few exceptions, weren't too supportive of the play. But it was ok, because Gabi and I still got our moment of glory because Sofi convinced us to sing a song. We only really knew one song, and thankfully Emily brought the cd. So we sang For Good from Wicked. It went really well. And honestly, the play wasn't that bad either. Not everything worked out the way I had planned, but the essence was still there, and I guess thats the most important thing.

Dinner was good. It wasn't an American thanksgiving dinner though, so I was a little disappointed. It tasted good though, as long as you didn't think of it as thanksgiving dinner. Dessert was good though. I mean, there were like hundreds. (Well, more like one for every student, so like 7, but still.) Everyone did really well making their desserts. Emily won the dessert contest with her....wait for it......"Better Than Sex Cake". Yes. That is what she made. We all laughed when we heard the name. I wouldn't know if it was better than sex, but it was pretty good. 

I didn't end up going to school on Friday, I was supposed to, but I took a mental health day, because the dinner went way past my bedtime lol. I went to Xplorer later on Friday and we ate pumpkin pie (it hadn't been finished in time for dinner the night before). Then Emily, Gabi and I went to the movie theater and saw Mama Mia. It was good. We had also bought a bunch of movies to watch, so Gabi and Emily slept over and we watched Hairspray and then the next morning we stayed in bed all day and watched movies, including, Pride and Prejudice, The Notebook, and Made of Honor. It was the perfect definition of a do-nothing Saturday. 

I have no plans for today, except for homework. I am a little behind on homework, so I have decided to take a day to catch up. I know, exciting. There was only an early service at church today because its thanksgiving weekend, so I didn't wake up in time to go, and there is no youth group today either. 

Hope everyone had awesome thanksgivings.

Paz, 

Zoe

The Tale of Two Weeks

I haven't written in like 2 weeks I think. And no, my internet hasn't actually been dead that long. I'm terribly sorry that I haven't written in forever, and you probably won't be getting all the details you wish for because its been so long. I think I will just share a couple of interesting things/anecdotes from the past two weeks. 

The Tale of the Mismatching Shoes

So most of you know that Emily lived at my house for about two weeks. Well, 2 weeks ago, she left. Except some of her things stayed. She pretty much has a shelf in my closet for her stuff. Most of that stuff were things that she didn't actually need, however, she did leave something rather important. One of her gym shoes for school. And guess what? She took one of mine! Before you wonder how this happened, i should probably explain something. First of all, our shoes look pretty much exactly the same. They are the "Benalcazar clown shoes" as I like to call them. They are navy blue and super ugly, with a red and blue beanalcazar seal on them. So its not like she left a pink shoe and took a green one. However, the funny part is that my shoe is about 2 sizes bigger than hers. We only have to wear those shoes twice a week, and the day she left was one of them. So both of our shoes were just lying around the room in random spots and she just grabbed two and put them into her suitcase. She found out that thursday when she had to wear them again, and my shoe was like huge on her. I didn't have school that day, so we didn't get to trade back. In fact, we weren't both at school together on either a tuesday or thursday until this tuesday. And although this wouldn't have been much of a problem for Emily, who was wearing a shoe that was too big for her, it was sort of a problem for me, I was wearing a shoe 2 sizes too small. 

The Tale of Friends and American High School Plays

I go to an English-speaking church here, called EFC. And my first week there I met Kelly. Kelly is a 20-something volunteer with a program called youth world. She helps out with an after-school program for kids on the streets. Kelly also helped in the youth group, and she invited me my first time, and I have gone ever since. Well, Kelly went back home to California on Monday. It was hard to let her go, because she has been such a great friend to me, and who knows when I will ever see her again. But the Saturday before she left, the Alliance Academy (the American High School affiliated with my church) did their school play, and Kelly invited me to go see it with her. We met her at the Plaza de las Americas, and then walked to the school. (While Gabi [who ended up coming along too] and I were waiting for her we ate a piece of cake called California, we joked with Kelly that she wouldn't be able to make it home since we ate her state, but I heard from her this week that we must have left some crumbs.) The play was really good. I don't know where I have gotten this impression...but I don't think too highly of high school plays. I mean, maybe I have a biased impression because everyone has told me that OPRF's drama department is at more of a college level, not a high school one. And I am sure everyone is tainted from High School Musical. But anyway, this play was really good. It was mostly improv. (Which means that it wasn't really scripted and the actors made it up as it went along.) It was a retelling of fairy tales. And they were hilarious. It was really fun to watch, and most of the time I couldn't stop laughing. So YAY for the Alliance Academy play!

Ok, so I know that when I started this post I had planned more little stories, but I can't seem to remember what I was going to write, so I guess that the next post will be about thanksgiving. I will try to do that this afternoon. 

Peace, 

Zoe

Dead Internet

So this is just a quick post to say I'm sorry to everyone I unexpectedly cut off on yesterday. 

My internet died. Don't ask me how, it just did. 

So sorry Mom and Dad, for leaving ichat, sorry to all the people I was talking to on facebook, or supposed to talk to on facebook, sorry to all the people I owed emails, I wrote them, they just wouldn't send. 

I didn't do too much of anything yesterday. I watched mindless tv, wrote some emails that wouldn't send, ate food, listened to music, and read a lot. Pretty much being a vegetable.

 I am definitely going to have to start rereading books.

I talked to Emily for a little while yesterday, and she seems pretty happy with her new family. Adjusting to a new part of town might take a little work, so I am sure she would welcome all your thoughts and prayers. 

Hasta Luego, 

Zoe

No School!!!!

So I had school on Monday, unfortunately. But I think they are making up for it with the fact that there are like tons of meetings for teachers this week so we haven't had very many classes. On Monday it felt like I had "demasiado" classes, but today I only had 45min of English, 45min of Chemistry, and then for geography we watched an hour and a half long movie called "La Misma Luna" or what it was called in the U.S. "Under the Same Moon".  When I saw that movie in the U.S. they had conveniently placed English subtitles on all the parts where they spoke Spanish, which was like most of the movie, here however, the subtitles were not present. I understood most of the movie, but some of the jokes and things I didn't quite get. But I really liked the movie. Maybe not quite as much as the first time I saw it, but it was still really sweet. 

La Misma Luna is basically a hollywood-esque story about a 9-year-old mexican boy illegally crossing the border to look for his mom in Los Angeles. I say Hollywood-esque because the hardships that this little boy goes through are not nearly what a real illegal immigrant would have to face. Plus, he is only 9 years old, yet somehow he is able to find a job in Tuscon by himself, well with the help of his not so friendly companion, make it from the Mexican border all the way to Los Angeles, to the exact street where his mother calls him every Sunday morning. Did I mention that this was all in less than a week? Ok, so I guess the movie is sweet, but its just not very realistic. Although, I guess I wouldn't really know since I was born a U.S. citizen and haven't ever had to enter the country illegally, but still.

So other than that my day hasn't been to exciting. Emily got a new family yesterday and is moving out later this afternoon. I am sad to see her go, it was nice to have company all the time, but I know that she needs her own house to go home to, she can't just be a visitor in mine forever. 

I don't have school tomorrow or thursday, which is cool. I do have school Friday though, which means I will definitely have to do my drawing homework. Midterm progress reports (or the Ecuadorian equivalent) come out this week, and I can tell you that I probably only am passing English and maybe one or two other classes. I will probably do better then next few months, but the first month it was just really hard to get used to everything and keep up with school work. 

There might be another post tomorrow about my exciting, do nothing day tomorrow, but who knows, i might actually have something to do. 

Hasta Luego, 

Zoe

Dia De Los Deportes

So today I had to go to school. :( It wasn't actual classes though, which was good, and school started an hour and a half later than usual (but the bus came only an hour later than usual), so I didn't have to wake up until 6:30am. 

Today was Dia de los Deportes, basically the opening ceremonies for the sports season at our school. We have been preparing for it all week, and each course got matching jerseys. Mostly the day consisted of a parade. 

(Ok, so now it is Monday Nov. 10, this turned out to be a two day post.)

Some people got to dress up in costumes and be the class mascot, one girl got to be our beauty queen (not really sure what that was for) and we stood in like this huge line for like forever and then we walked past the parents who were sitting on the bleachers. Then we watched the rest of the other students walk by the bleachers, a lot of them did funny dances and things for the parents. Then we watched a lighted torch run by us and on to the roof to light this other torch thing on the roof. I told you it was like the Olympics. 

We ate some authentic food that the sextos cursos were selling and then Emily and I went.....yes you guessed it, to the mall. We ate ice cream and Emily bought some shoes....we ran into Adam and he followed us around, occasionally groaning about girl shopping, and then we went in search of a cheep dvd store. We didn't find any of the ones we knew about open, and after browsing yet another shoe store (Emily's idea) and then looking at this music store run by Europeans we decided to go home. 

When Emily and I got home we just slept. The whole rest of the day. And I even skipped church on Sunday to sleep some more.... apparently being in the sun all day made us really tired. And guess what? I am once again sunburned....I swear I put on sunscreen though. 

Since I slept most of the weekend,  I wonder why I am so tired today as well? Like it is only 6pm here and I am ready to fall asleep. 

So maybe I should take a nap or something. 

Chao, 

Zoe

P.S. Here is a brief description of the pics up there, in order. The first one is Adam as the mascot for his class, dancing in a tigger costume.  The second one is our class's beauty queen, or "madrina" which actually translates as fairy godmother or something like that, all my friend Cristina said was that it was like the blue lady in Cinderella that said bippity boppity boo. The third one is sort of a general picture of before the parade, there were random other school's marching bands there too, idk why. The last one is of me and Cristina getting ready for the parade in our classroom. 

The Lost Weekend Post

Ok, so I know I promised this post yesterday, but I never got around to writing it, so here it is:

I went to school like normal on Wednesday,

 but when I got home I was feeling really sick so I asked my host mom if I could stay home the next day. She said yes. So I went to bed early, but woke up about a billion times in the night, because guess what? Not only did I feel sick, but I was sick. (I won't go into any more details than that. Trust me. It was bad.) So I stayed home all of Thursday and Friday. Friday I missed the Dia de los Defuntos party at my school, which was sad because I didnt get to try the traditional Colada Morada, however I did have a guagua de pan. (Yes we eat bread babies here.) 

Emily showed up at my house Friday evening, complete with what looked like her entire life trying to fit into two suitcases. (It was more like 3 suitcases if you count all the extra bags she was carrying.) In case that description doesn't automatically tell you, I will tell you in plain and clear language: Emily moved out of her house. Emily's family hadn't really gotten along with her very well from the beginning, but on Thursday something happened that was the last straw, and so while Xplorer is working on finding her a new family, Emily is living with me.

On Saturday we layed in bed and did nothing until about lunchtime and then we ate fast and ran out of the house so that we could go see High School Musical 3. Yes, we saw it. In English with subtitles. It was AMAZING!!! I am pretty sure I am obsessed, anyone who has been talking to me on IM for the past few days can tell you that all I have been listening to are high school musical songs (from 1, 2 and 3). 

Sunday I went to church like normal. Afterward I went to lunch with a family I know from my church. I ended up having so much fun at their house that I just stayed until it was time to go to youth group. Emily spent the day at her church with the missionaries, but she met me at my church to go to youth group with me. It was really fun. 

Monday we didn't have school because of the holiday, so guess what we did? We layed in bed until lunchtime and then went to go see HSM 3! Anyone surprised? I told you I was obsessed didn't I? This time Emily and I went with Gabi and a couple of our friends from youth group. After the movie we went to the mall and got hot chocolate and then went to Family Home Evening at the home of one of the missionary couples from Emily's church. We got home pretty late and Emily and I were complaining that we didn't want to go to school the next day. (Notice that I hadn't gone to school since last Wednesday.) Emily wasn't sure what uniform we were supposed to wear for Tuesday so she called her friend to ask and found out that we didn't have school on Tuesday either. Yep, I know. I love this country. 

Emily and I stayed up all night talking. So we slept in pretty late on Tuesday. And then guess what we did? (If you guessed High School Musical, sorry you guessed wrong.) Gabi came over and we headed to Xplorer because I needed to pick up a package and Emily went to Spanish class. But it would have been funny if we went to go see High School Musical again, wouldn't it? We then stayed up late checking polls on my laptop. We could have watched it on CNN but we didn't really want to stay up all night, and we were worried that if we watched in on TV we might not ever be able to turn it off until we knew who won. I think I was the only one truly excited this morning when I checked who won. Gabi and Emily aren't necessarily McCain supporters, they are just not as politically active as I am. 

Today I actually went to school. I know, you're surprised. And guess what? I am going to go to school tomorrow too! All week even. In fact its the opening ceremonies for the sports teams at our school on Saturday and I am required to attend, so I am even going to go to school on Saturday. But I think we get Monday off because we have to go on Saturday. :-)  

Can I Have this Dance?

Hasta Luego, 

Zoe

Attack Bugs, Zip-lines, Waterfalls....all in a day's work

Every month we take a trip as a group with Xplorer. September it was TeleferiQo and this month (October for those of you who have forgotten) we went to Mindo. 

Mindo is about an hour and a half drive out of Quito. We met at Xplorer and headed out around 9:30. The drive up was long, and by the time we got there I was glad we were there, but it was fun anyway. I sat in the middle of the van. Behind me was Claudio and Adam singing at the top of their lungs and in the front of me was Gabi, Emily and Brian who were having a conversation that I would add my two cents into every so often. When I wasn't getting a headache from the singing, I talked to Saara who was sitting next to me. It was a rather pleasant drive up. 

We got to Mindo at around 11am. We changed into our swimsuits and hopped into the back of a pickup truck that was going to take us to the waterfall. Or at least that's what we thought. The pickup truck ride was really fun,  we got to see some absolutely gorgeous scenery, but it was also a little painful. By the time we got off the pickup my back hurt and my leg was completely numb. We got to a clearing with cute little wooden hut and talked to this old woman for a while. She convinced us to stop at the zipline on our way down to the waterfall. 

So the zipline wasn't too far down this gorgeous wooded path. So we stopped there. If you haven't seen the pictures on facebook, the zipline is these two metal cords and you put on harness and strap yourself to the cord and glide down to the other side. Then you walk to the other cord and glide back. Just looking at it I was terrified. Both Gabi and I decided that we valued our lives too much to actually go on the zipline, but everyone else went. Gabi and I became the official photographers, however I am not so sure how good a photographer I was though, because I was  little busy trying to keep the mosquitoes away from my legs. I think I came home with about a zillion mosquito bites. And guess what, mosquito bites here don't just itch, they seriously bleed. 

After the zipline we were all ready for some swimming. So we continued down the path... and although there were still a lot of trees on the path, it was super muddy. My shoes kept getting stuck in the mud (obviously flip flops weren't the best choice) so I walked barefoot most of the way. Feeling the mud between your toes is a really neat feeling, but I also had to keep my eye out for sharp rocks.  The waterfall was a lot farther away than I thought it was, and as we walked I couldn't help but notice that when we were done swimming we would have to walk all the way uphill to get to the place the pickup could meet us. 

Well, the water at the waterfall was really cold. So I didn't actually swim all that much, but it was really beautiful. The air was a lot more humid in that part, probably because we were in the jungle. But even though I was really hot and muddy, I really enjoyed our trip. 

We took the pickup truck back to where we parked the van and we ate lunch at this cute little restaurant. Then we got ice cream and headed home. We drove through rain and fog to come home so it was truly a day of beauty. I have included some pictures on this post but I don't think any of them truly captures how beautiful it was. 

Hasta Luego, 

Zoe

P.S. The pictures seem to be having difficulty uploading, so I will work on that and get back to you. But if you are my friend on Facebook you are welcome to look at those. 

P.P.S. There will probably be a rest of the week post sometime today too, seeing as I haven't written in a week the least I can do is two posts today. 

How do you lose a mall?

Ok, so the title was Emily's idea. But I think it accurately describes our day today. 

First though, I am going to talk about yesterday. After school I came home and had lunch. Then I went on the computer and procrastinated homework. I had not had a very good day at school so I just read my book and checked email and stuff. Gabi showed up around 3:30 and we headed over to Emily's house for a sleepover. When we got to Emily's house we went to the grocery store and bought ingredients for sugar cookies, homemade oreos, and breakfast the next morning. It was a little expensive, but it was a little pre-halloween celebration. (We always find something to celebrate.) We baked like all night. Well, for 2 hours. And although we had not eaten very much of the dough (eggs here are left out of the fridge, and so we were pretty sure that eating dough with raw egg in it would be even more dangerous here than in the states), we still we pretty full after only a couple of cookies. I was convinced that we had absorbed the sugar through breathing or something. But anyway....Gabi and Emily were convinced they were going to stay up all night. So after a rather thorough cleaning of the kitchen we moved out to the living room, armed with pillows, blankets, and an extra mattress. We watched Dance with Me, (this was the only full movie I watched), Made of Honor (I saw the first half an hour or so before falling asleep), and Premonition (which i didn't see hardly any of, except for I woke up at around 3am and watched the last half hour without glasses so I really only saw the fire in the explosion and heard the actors talking). Then this morning we made an American breakfast for ourselves and Emily's host mom. Scrambled eggs, bacon, french toast and orange juice. 

Gabi had to meet some friends at El Jardin mall and so we walked over there from Emily's house. However, we got a little lost. Ok, so like really lost. We sort of forgot the way to the mall.  We found it eventually and Emily kept saying "How do you lose a MALL?" I didn't wear my best walking shoes so my feet hurt by the time we got to the mall. But, I love El Jardin mall. It was so cool. It turned out that Gabi didn't have to meet her group, so we got to hang out at the mall together. We walked around the 2nd floor and the food court, but it was really great. Emily wanted to buy some clothes so she ended up buying 2 skirts and a shirt for about $50 total. Things were still pretty cheep there. (Of course, we are also just really good bargain hunters.) Then we went back to Emily's house and watched another movie. This one was called If Only. It was really sweet and a little depressing, but it was good. Then Gabi and I had to go home because we both had lots of homework to do this weekend. So I have been working on homework for the past 2 hours. I did about half of the stuff that really needs to get done this weekend, and then I think tomorrow I will finish that stuff and attempt some of the stuff that I don't really have to do because I can use to Gringo excuse to get out of it. 

Tomorrow I am headed to church and youth group. So that should be fun. 2 days until our Mindo trip. (And yes, I am counting.) 

I have just added pictures of our baking experience to this....

Hasta Luego, 

Zoe

Swimming!

So today was an adventure. I went swimming in the school pool with Emily. It was really cool. We were a little nervous because we had never used the school pool before and we didn't know how. But it was easy to figure out. It is free for students, so all we had to do was buy a swim cap (you are not allowed to swim without one). We changed in the girls locker room (which is surprisingly not very separated from the boys locker room) and jumped into the pool. We swam for a while (about 30 min), I tried to teach Emily how to do breast stroke...I am not sure I was a very good teacher. But it was fun. 

Ok, so that was yesterday. (I know, I know it says today, but I started this post yesterday and am finishing it today). 

After swimming I came home to find Gabi and a classmate at my house. (Gabi's classmate, not mine.) We had agreed that she could do her project at my house since her mom wouldn't let her do it at theirs, but who knew she was going to show up so early. So I had fun distracting them from their project while I did absolutely none of my homework :-) 

Today I went to school. I know, surprised aren't you. Nothing too exciting happened. We didn't do anything in Math or Biology...and in Investigation we watched funny videos. I got my test returned to me in Social Studies (you don't even want to know what I got on it) and I took a test in Philosophy. (I probably didn't do too well on it, because I didn't understand half the questions, and 3 of the questions I answered in English.) Then I had gym. We didn't do too much. We just did a few fitness test things (jumping into a sand pit, throwing a heavy ball, and running a short distance) and then I played basketball for a while until Christina got hit in the face with the ball and I had to take her to the nurse. So Christina and I sat and watched the rest of the game, while I simultaneously helped this girl with her English homework. (I think the blond hair is a "English tutor" beacon.) 

I don't know what's going on in my life for the rest of the week. Next tuesday we are going to Mindo with Xplorer (which would have been fun anyway but it is extra fun since we get to skip school). I think I might go swimming with Emily again tomorrow. 

Chao, 

Zoe

Giant Cookies, Super Computers, and the Apocalypse

This was a really cool weekend. On Friday I met Emily and Gabi at Xplorer and we all went to my house. A while ago I bought a double chocolate chip cookie mix at the Super Maxi that I never got the chance to bake. So Gabi, Emily and I baked the cookies. Only we had a rather small cookie sheet and it was round, so instead of making lots of little cookies we just made one huge cookie. It was super good. I don't know what comes in Betty Crocker mixes in Ecuador but there is definitely something special about them. We cut out three pieces to share with my family (My host mom, Andrea and Andrea's Dad) and then we ate the entire rest of the cookie by ourselves. Straight out of the pan. With a fork. Emily taught us how to play a card game called Golf and so we played cards until about 9:30 at night. Gabi had already established with her host mom that she could sleep over, but when we were done playing cards Emily decided it was too late to go home, so she slept over too. We felt like little girls. We played MASH, which I had never played before and guess what? It has nothing to do with Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in case you were wondering. MASH stands for Mansion, Apartment, Shack, and House and it is a game about your future. I do not remember exactly how my future turned out, but I think it might involve me driving a dump truck and marrying someone  in a pink and orange striped tux. So Friday night Gabi, Emily and I all slept in the same bed. Emily didn't think we could do it without having someone fall off in the middle of the night. But it definitely worked. I slept in the middle, and it was super cold that night, but I was so cozy warm. Normally I sleep with a sweatshirt on, but Friday I had to take it off in the middle of the night. (Don't worry, I had a t-shirt underneath.) 

Saturday morning we went to Emily's house and hung out. Then we went to the Plaza de Los Americas to see a movie. But the movie we wanted to see wasn't playing for another 2 hours. So we wondered around the Plaza, which looks exactly like a California mall. There weren't really any clothing shops, so we were forced to eat ice cream (ok, well not forced exactly) and then while Emily talked to her parents on the phone, Gabi and I sang For Good over an over again. We finally ended up seeing the movie, which turned out way better than we thought it would. We saw Eagle Eye, which is like this really cool spy movie about like evil supercomputers and plots to kill the president. I thought it was suspenseful and had a really interesting political message as well. I won't give too much away because I think you should all go see it (if it is still playing in American theaters). After the movie we ate dinner, like Americans, at a gourmet pizza restaurant. The restaurant was completely empty, because Ecuadorian dinner/almuerzo time is like 3 at the latest and this was about 6:30pm. The pizza was amazing, but Emily and Gabi thought I was really weird for ordering a pizza with sliced tomatoes on top. Apparently they don't eat like italians in Idaho or Missouri. (They both ordered Hawaiian pizza.)

Last night I didn't sleep very well, so I decided to forego church so that I could sleep in. I slept until about 9:15 am, and then got up to eat breakfast. My sister Paola had shown up at some point last night so she, my host mom and I all ate breakfast together. Paola is convinced that Obama is the antichrist, and this morning we had an entire discussion about the apocalypse and what exactly it would entail. (Apparently it will take 7 years, and the antichrist will reign over supposed peace for 3 years. That is all I really understood from the conversation, the rest of it I just smiled and nodded.) Today my entire host family was at home, so we ordered chinese food and had like this huge lunch the 6 of us. The rest of the time I have been reading my book and desperately tying to figure out the 15 physics problems that i have to do for Wednesday. 

I should get back to those...

Chao, 

Zoe

Ho hum

So despite being attacked by bees at the beginning of the week...life here has been relatively uneventful. I have finished clases de Español so I have nothing to do afterschool, so I have been forced by boredom to do my homework. Not all of it, mind you. But some. Enough to feel accomplished. As you might have noticed, I don´t really plan ahead, so I have no idea what my plans for this weekend are. So sorry, to be a disappointment but this seems to be a rather short blog post.

Desperately trying to think of something to talk about....................................................................

Still thinking............................................................................................................................................

On Wednesday Emily and I went to the mall and I bought plastic covers for my notebooks. Its really strange here, they like to put little plastic covers on everything, notebooks, textbooks, even reading for fun books. I don´t really understand, but in an effort to get better in class, I decided to buy some. Let me tell you, it definitely makes my notebooks feel more organized. I don´t really know why or how. But it does. I also bought a blue and red pen because mine have already run out of ink. Yes, that is how much I use them. Our notes have to be mighty colorful. Although no one here seems to have heard of highlighters. When you buy pens here you just take them, just as they are to the cash register. The store just has a bin full of pens organized by color. They don´t come in packages or anything.
Other than that I can´t think of anything else to write. So this will have to be it for now.
Oh, I had cordon bleu for the first time today. Yeah, as a school lunch. Although I had a migraine so I didn´t eat much. But oh well. I guess that wasn´t that exciting.

Chao,
Zoe

Mutant Bees

So, yesterday started out like any normal day. I woke up at 5:30 am,  and lay awake in bed for 3-4 min planning how best to change into my uniform without freezing. The planning never works, but it gives me a few more minutes of rest. I always have to jump back in bed halfway through the changing process to warm up. 

I got to school on time...which means half an hour early. Don't ask me why the buses feel the need to pick us up early just so that we can hang around school for half an hour waiting for the people who live close enough to school not to take a bus to show up. My first class on Monday is a double period of Literature, which I can't help but sort of sleep through. Then comes Physics, a double period of that too, I would pay more attention to physics, because its really interesting, and our teacher is really funny, but I sort of have no attention span by the last 45 min. It's sort of sad. I feel like a 5 year old. I have to like doodle in my "borrador"(aka notebook that does not have to be perfect) and every so often force myself to pay attention. 

The real exciting part of my day came right after our first recreo. Normally, we have these hugely patriotic military ceremonies first thing on Monday mornings, but yesterday for some reason it was scheduled for after first recess. So there I was, dressed in my ugly school uniform, standing in a line, and for no apparent reason, having to turn in a certain direction whenever the guy in front yelled a certain word. Then, just as I was getting ready to tune out one of the speeches that I never pay attention to, a saw a girl in front of me jump to the side as a bug flew past her. This happens a lot, girls here are very squeamish. But this time, the bug flew right at me, and underneath my glasses. I reached my hand up to flick it off my cheek, and was touching it just as the girl in front of me turned around and told me to watch out. I didn't know what she was talking about until it was too late. Because as my hand reached the bug I felt a painful sensation and as I knocked the bug off of my cheek I realized that the bug, was a bee. So I was rushed to the nurses office. It didn't hurt too much at first, just a little burning sensation, and really I wasn't wondering whether I was allergic or not (this being my first bee sting, I had no idea whether or not I was allergic) instead, my weird mind was wondering if maybe this was some special kind of bee, and that when the pain was gone I would turn into BEEGIRL, THE AMAZING GIRL SUPER HEROE! Like Spiderman, but with black and yellow stripes. Unfortunately I don't think i have turned into Beegirl...but if i had, would I tell you? 

The nurse gave me a pill, and sent me back to the ceremony. I was thinking that it would have been a little bit more big of a deal and that I would have to have an ice pack or something. But no. She just sent me back. I think she might have regretted that a little later...

Back at the ceremony I was back in my usual habit of not listening to the speeches, when I noticed I was sweating a lot more and feeling really clammy. I also felt a little queasy. That's when I remembered the last time I had felt that way...last time, I fainted. So I tapped the girl in front of me on the shoulder, the one who had taken me to the nurses office the first time, and told her softly "No me siento bien" which was the only way I could say how I was feeling. That I didn't feel good. She took one look at me and yelled for the Inspectora, and said that I was a whole lot paler. So I got rushed to the nurses office again, this time accompanied by two girls, probably so that if I collapsed or something they could support me easier. The nurse made me lie down with a pillow under my feet and I stayed there for the next 2 classes, and then I went back to class because I was feeling better. 

I am doing fine now. Last night I had a small fever, but it was probably just a side effect of the bee sting. I went to school like normal today, and currently have no plans for the rest of the day. I will probably just hang around the house and actually do my homework for once. Yes, I know you are amazed. 

Or maybe beegirl will be off saving the world...who knows, keep your eyes out for an amazing flying girl in a bee costume, it just might be me. Or it might just be a striped plane, bird, or maybe just a projector. You never know. 

Hasta Luego, 

Zoe

Feriado

So I found out today that a holiday weekend (like this weekend) is called a Feriado. I think i already gave you a full (two post) update on Friday, so here is Saturday and Sunday of the Feriado.

Saturday, I woke up late, for once. It was truly amazing, I slept in until 8:30. It felt like a miracle. I finished Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne (see below) and ate breakfast. Then, I cleaned my room and hung out while I waited for Gabi. I ate lunch with my host mom, Paola, Andrea and her friend. Oh, I forgot to mention that it was Andrea's birthday. She was having fights all day with her mother because she wanted to go out with her friends, but my host mom wanted to know where she was going, and what she would be doing, and didn't want Andrea going out with her friends by herself. I mean, thats what I think they were fighting about. But I am not totally sure because I only caught bits and pieces. Gabi showed up around 3pm and we went to Quicentro together to run a couple of errands. As we were leaving a bunch of Andrea's friends showed up and I assumed that she was going to go out with them. However, when we returned at 4:30pm Andrea was still here and in a pouty mood, so she probably didn't go out. Gabi and I hung out in my room for a while. Eventually Andrea left. Paola had some friends over and so she introduced us to them. They were both "Arabes" as she calls them. (One was from Palestine and the other from Jordan.) They were very interesting to talk to and they both got a kick out of showing Gabi and I music from their home countries. So then Gabi sang for them and I played the flute. By that time it was getting late and my host mom was anxious about Andrea. Paola knew that Andrea was out drinking and partying and told her mom this but my host mom refused to believe this. My host mom was becoming really stressed out and her heart started to hurt her a little bit. So they called the doctor, who would come in a little while. Paola went out with her father to look for Andrea. The doctor showed up as Gabi and I were getting ready for bed, since Paola wasn't back yet, I sat with my host mom while she had a heart scan or something, and then took her blood pressure. Everything was fine. Andrea is staying at her dad's house for a while. I don't know when she is coming back, but she is in BIG trouble, that is one thing I know.  I saw that they took away her computer upstairs, so it looks as if she is grounded. 

Today Gabi and I went to church. It was really great. The church I go to here is English Fellowship Church, and it is very different, style wise, from LaSalle. But I love it. Everyone there was so welcoming and as soon as I walk in it feels like home. Gabi and I went to lunch afterward and then hung out at my house until youth group. Paola took Gabi and I to youth group so that we could learn how to take the "metrobus" there so that we wouldn't have to waste money on taxis. It was really easy. 

I think that this experience is really formative for me, spiritually. Not only am I reading books like Jesus for President, and going to a new church, but I see people all around me everyday who have faith. My two best friends have very strong faith and it unites them, even though technically they are from different religions.  Its easier to see here that faith is a way to unite very different people. My host mom and I disagree on many things politically (although I haven't exactly mentioned this to her...). But she has such a strong faith in God and Jesus that I can't help but admire her. Although she may believe some things that I don't agree with, she never wavers in her beliefs, and that is what I admire. 

It's been a very spiritual day for me. I think that today was what God had in mind when God came up with the Sabbath. I went to church, pretty much slept, and then went to youth group. I feel like I have done nothing today but explore my faith, ask questions, and praise God. And it feels good. 

Love, 

Zoe

P.S. I have added a list of the books i have read while i am here as well as the day I started to read them (most of the time you can assume that the day I ended it is the start date of the next book). I will try to keep this updated while I am here, so you will always know what I am reading. (If you can't tell, the top book is always the one I am currently reading.)

Disappointment

Ok, so the Mitad Del Mundo trip didn't happen. I am still not really sure why. I think it might be because my host moms niece came over. So we had lunch with her. Then Gabi came over and listened to music and played sims. Originally I thought Gabi was going to come to the Mitad del Mundo with us, but we never went. So Gabi had to go home. Nothing else really happened today. Maybe tomorrow will be a little more exciting. I am sorry, but I think I am getting used to life here, so everyday is no longer an adventure. Actually, that is somewhat good, because adventures are exhausting and make you really miss home. Although sitting around doing nothing also makes me miss home. So really, nothing has gotten better on that front. Hope everyone has a good fin de semana and I will probably write more tomorrow. Not that it will be any more interesting than today. But who knows. 

Almost Truant....

So to many of you who know me, it may seem like I have relapsed into my old habits of not going to school. I assure this is not the case. I went to 2 whole days of school this week plus one half one. See? I did go to school. 

Ok, well I am sort of kidding, but not really. I didn't go to school on Tuesday, as it said in my last post. I did go to school on Wednesday, a full day of school, and then again on Thursday, only because of student council elections we only had classes until 9am and then elections until 11:15am. But I didn't get to vote (because I don't have my passport # memorized) and so really it meant that I just had Math and Biology, and then I got to roam around the school and talk to people. It was really fun. Unfortunately in order to get home I had to sit in the hot school bus for like half an hour before we even started moving because the voting went long. Oh yeah, and I had to wear the ugly monday uniform (not exactly sure why). Other than that school was fun. 

School is really hard here. My Biology test involved a 500 word essay on the levels of organization of life and i sat there for 5 min wondering if I even knew 500 words in Spanish. So I wrote like a 300-400 word essay I think. Except I don't know how relevant it was to the topic. Then I had to compare these 3 things, only I didn't know what either of the three words meant, so I just made it up. I didn't have time to get to the 3 question. So I think I probably failed that. Math is sort of interesting, because even though I did the same things in math last year, our teacher here has a different way of doing a lot of things. And frankly, I like his method a lot better. Its a whole lot shorter. 

I didn't do much yesterday because I was really tired from the week. So I went on facebook, and watched T.V. with my sister Andrea. And I slept. 

I don't have school today because it is Guayaquil Independence Day. I don't exactly know what Guayaquil became independent from, but we don't have school so that is all that matters. I am not exactly sure what I am doing today but I think it involves going to the "Mitad Del Mundo" (literally, the center of the world, aka the equator). I will bring back pictures. If your lucky there might even be another post today detailing my Mitad Del Mundo trip. 

But for now, 

Hast Luego, 

Zoe

P.S. I have changed my layout again...I guess it is just really hard for me to make up my mind. 

Blood and Fairies

Today was a great day, but before I tell you about today I should probably talk about my not so good day yesterday...

    I woke up and I really didn't want to go to school, but I did anyway. It was the day I had to take my "Examenes de Laboratorio" (aka Lab Exams) at school and I really wasn't excited about having to go to the nurse to get blood drawn. I don't even know what the blood was for, just that they needed it. But last time I had blood drawn in the states I fainted. So I was really scared I would faint again, and I really didn't want to get blood drawn without my parents there. Long story short...I didn't faint, and they got the blood they needed, but I cried throughout the whole thing. I felt like a little kid. The nurse gave me a piece of candy. (Which made me feel even more like a little kid, "thanks for being such a good girl, here's a lollipop.") But I couldn't stop crying. Everyone was really nice to me. The evil witch lady inspector even gave me hug, but i just needed to cry. I cried all through 2, 3, and 4 period (I would have cried through 1st too but I was getting blood drawn so i didn't go to it, although I did cry when they took blood...) Otherwise it was a pretty normal girl. I went to Spanish class, talked to my parents at night (and cried through that too), and went to get ice cream with Emily.

    This morning I got to wake up later than usual. That was great. Because guess what? I didn't go to school. Xplorer was having a little fair at one of the high schools here and they asked me and Brian to come along. It was really fun. We handed out flyers and talked to some of the students. There was this other booth of study abroad programs and Brian kept talking about how they were the "competition" and so I just wanted everyone to know that we so totally beat them. I think just about everyone who passed through the room was holding a flyer that Brian or I had given them, and our table was a whole lot more popular because we brought popcorn and lollipops. And we brought real, live, Americans. ¡Que Chévere!

    My mom is back from Guayaquil. So I will be sleeping at my own house tonight. Which is a little bittersweet. Emily's house is right in the middle of everything so we are so much closer to anything we might want to do. And hanging out with Emily and having an extended sleepover is really fun. But I am glad to have my own room back. I won't have to pick my clothes out of a pile on the floor. YAY. Also, my house has wireless internet, Emily's new apartment hasn't gotten internet yet, so I don't get to check my email as much. (I haven't checked my email since Saturday, and boy am I missing it.) Also I get a bus to school, whereas at Emily's house we have to walk to the public bus (although we do get to get up later in the morning). I am so grateful that Emily's family was so kind and let me live with them in my family's time of need. They have been so nice to me and really made me feel like this is my home. But I am glad to be going home.

 

I am listening to the Wicked soundtrack and I don't know if any of you have figured it out yet but I am obsessed with it. It is so good. When I get back to Chicago I really want to see it again. (Do we have a Chicago cast of Wicked?)

Benalcatraz Gone Crazy

I will get into more about the week soon, but i wanted to start by telling you all that my host mom´s sister died suddenly yesterday. I know that she was sick, but I don´t think anyone was really expecting her to die. My host Mom flew to Guayaquil last night so if you could hold up her and her family in your thoughts and prayers I am sure she would greatly appreciate it.
I am staying at Emily´s house for the next 3-4 days because I can´t be home alone. It was really stressful last night leaving at such short notice, and so i forgot a few, rather important things, but I think I can get to the house this weekend to pick them up.

Ok, but other than that, this was a pretty easy week. I didn´t have school on Monday, so Emily, Saaramaria and I went to Creepes and Waffles for a celebratory meal, and then we developed pictures and put them up on Sofi´s wall. Then I had Spanish class which was fun. Although, I did start feeling sick and I had to go home, but when I woke up Tuesday morning I was feeling fine.

Tuesday was just like a normal day. I got up early, went to school...yeah nothing really exciting there. Wednesday I went home before Spanish class so that was different.Thursday I hung out with Emily before her Spanish class and then I went home. So its been a pretty boring week.

Yesterday the coolest thing at school happened. So it started out normal, but when I got off the bus and walked into the courtyard there were all these banners and stuff that were not there the day before. So I was wondering what was going on, but I figured it was just like a basketball or soccer game or something that people were getting excited for. Then after bilology I walked into ¨recreo¨and it was like ¨Benalcatraz¨had gone crazy. It was so cool. Eveyone was screaming and holding up banners. A lot of people had their face painted and had taken off parts of thier uniform to reveal colered t-shirts and stuff. Everyone was screaming, and there were drums beating. Emily said that it looked/sounded like we were going to war. And thats really what it sounded like. Different groups were yelling what sounded like war chants and people kept coming up to me trying to put stickers on me or wanting to paint my hair. When I looked at it from above it looked like there had been a prison break at Benalcatraz.

I don´t know if you've figured it out yet, but these are the campains for student elections. I know, that was not my first thought either. If student elections were like this in the states I would totally vote. (As it was I didn´t even know we were having elections last year until it was voting day.) These elections are seriously a big deal. Next week we get to go watch debates, and we only have a half day on thursday because we are voting. So we vote and then we get to go home. I love it. I am going to try to bring my camera to school on Monday so I can post a picture of the craziness, because my description does not do it justice by a long shot.

Chiao,
Zoe

Moving Day, and Socialist Governments

My best friend here, Emily, moved yesterday. Her host family moved apartments, and so Emily was really stressed. And being the great little sister/best friend I am :-) I went over there to be with her and to help her move. Moving in Ecuador is quite a different experience than moving in the states. I have never actually moved in the states before, ok, well, when I was 1, but that doesn't really count. So maybe it is exactly the same. But I strongly doubt it. 

There were no boxes involved. Everything just went over in piles and

I was really surprised nothing got broken. This is the smaller of the two moving trucks. I don't know if you can tell, but I was really worried that things were going to fall out of it. It looks like one little bump in the road and all the clothing would be sprawled out on the street. And trust me, bumps in the road are very common here. But despite my worries, everything made it to the new apartment safely. Gabi, Emily and I ran around and helped get a few things organized, (i organized the pantry) ad then we all retreated to Emily's room where we helped her unpack a lot of her stuff. Later we walked around her new neighborhood. We almost got lost, (this time however it was not my fault, I don't know if I have mentioned the fact that I have been dubbed officially lost, like forever, because I never know where I am, even when I have been there the whole day), but we found Emily's church like only 5 blocks away from her house, so that made her really happy. When we got back to the apartment we ate chicken and realized that Emily still didn't have a bed to sleep on that night, so I called my host mom and asked if Emily could sleep over. And my host mom said yes. So last night Emily and I ate junk food and watched hours of Joan of Arcadia, talking and laughing the whole time. It was so much fun. I am so glad I found a friend here that i can have a sleepover with. 

I spent all the rest of today with Emily. Today was voting day on the Constitution of Ecuador. If you haven't heard by now, (I don't know how many of you actually follow Ecuadorian politics), the people of Ecuador voted "Sí" to the new constitution and that means that Ecuador has a socialist economy. It gives a lot of rights to minorities and other people too. Which is good. Voting in Ecuador is obligatory. Which was interesting for me. My host mom, Emily and I walked about half an hour to the place where my host mom had to vote. It was really interesting to see. The voting process looked like an elementary school election. You put a check mark next to "Sí" or "No" and folded the piece of paper up, then stuck it in a slit in a cardboard box. Thats it. We walked 30 min for a 5 min process. Then we walked all 30 min back. Everything is closed on voting day, so there wasn't really anything to do. Gabi, Emily and I went to the Panadería down the street from me, and we were contemplating going to the park but we decided it was too cold. I tried to practice flute today but got distracted by facebook, and I have listened to the Wicked cd like four times today. 

I don't have school tomorrow, (we get a day to recover from elections) so Emily, Gabi, Saaramaria, and I are going to Creepes and Waffles to celebrate being here a month. (Its the first restaurant we ate in Ecuador.) Then I have Spanish class. Other than that I have homework and no other plans. I hope this week will be a little less eventful than the last one. I am exhausted.

Hasta Luego, 

Zoe

New Layout

So I decided that my old template for the blog was a little dark and depressing, so I hope you like the new one, it should be a little more uplifting.

Zoe

Your own little sunburned military girl

So I started a post a while ago and I never finished it, so I am just going to forget about that one and write a new one. 

School is going well, I understand a whole lot more than when I first got here, and I am able to get through a day or two without crying, so that is good. Unfortunately the weather is crazy here, so when you wake up it is absolutely freezing and I stand at the bus stop shivering in my suddenly very skimpy school uniform. Then in the afternoon the sun is blazing and you are sweating through what seems like an unfortunate amount of cloth (and we are not allowed to take our sweaters off, don't ask me why.). Today I had P.E. and I was wondering why in the world I hadn't thought to put on sunscreen before I left the house this morning. Then of course I remembered the ominous clouds and freezing weather. But don't worry, I have learned something from all the pain my face is in, always put on sunscreen in the morning, no matter what the weather looks like. 

Tomorrow is flag day or something so all the schools in Quito have a ceremony at 8am. Thankfully that means I get to skip geometry, unfortunately it means I have to wear my super ugly monday formal uniform. (I found out that Benalcazar only became a co-ed school 7 years ago, and that it used to be all boys, so no wonder our formal uniforms make us look like men.) I really don't want to have to stand in the courtyard tomorrow in high heels and nylons (apparently they have never heard of an auditorium), but oh well, I guess that's the price you have to pay for patriotism. 

My school definitely teaches you how to be in the army. During the ceremony (that we practiced this morning), they randomly yell out commands, that really just sound like elaborate grunts, and then you have to do various things. (I have figured out the grunt that means ATTENTION, and the grunt that means AT  EASE, as well as the one that means we have to turn to the right. the one that means we have to turn to the left however, is a mystery.)

So when I come back to the states, if you inadvertantly grunt, and I immediately stand up straight with my hands at my side, you know why.

Hasta Luego, 

Zoe