Why sometimes, I've dreamed up 6 impossible things before breakfast

Six impossible things before breakfast.  

That takes a lot of thought every day, but one thing is for sure--I have yet to have met a stranger since I have been here in Ecuador.  Those of you who know me know how much I love people.  It's refreshing to be surrounded by so many people with the same wanderlust as myself.

Once again, I'm in back in Quito.  Oh the wonderful world of the city.  Lolz, not.  Okay don't get me wrong, I like Quito, but it's tough to spend 5 days on the coast and willingly drag yourself back to a city full of nothing but buses, public transit, ladrones (robbers), and smog.  I'm happy to be back with my host family and her wonderful meals all the time, but other than that...well, take me back to the coast already.

The adventure started over a week ago when I was scrambling around to find a bus ticket.  Carnival is busy and everyone is traveling, so tickets sell out fast and they don't have more buses running just because it's a holiday.  Nonetheless, I got up early last Wednesday so that I could go to the office of the bus company in northern Quito.  A short cab ride from where I stay, it wasn't too bad.  I was dressed nice because I had a meeting at the embassy afterwards, but I was planning on taking the bus.  When I came out from my room for breakfast, my host mom immediately said "Por favor, no lleva eso a la oficina del bus; la oficina es en un parte de Quito que es más peligrosa de aqui." In other words, please don't wear that to the bus office, it's in a part of Quito that is more dangerous than here. Needless to say, I took a taxi instead.  My driver took me to the office where I was told they were sold out of tickets for Thursday night through Sunday morning.  Well how in the world was I supposed to get to Puerto Lopez?!  I had reservations for Friday night until Tuesday morning and now I was about to be there for MAYBE one night max.  Obviously in panic and slowly cursing under my breath in Spanish all the way back into the cab, my driver was trying to calm me down.  Tranquila, mija!  Calm down, baby!  So he took me to another bus office.  This one was even more intimidating than the last, but turns out they didn't have any either.  My only option was to go to Quitumbe, in the southern part of Quito and about 45 mins to an hour away.  Taxis are cheap here but I didn't have the time.  Still panicking in the backseat, my driver is hammering me with questions about when my meeting is and I'm just trying to cry by myself or something.  Long story short (not really that short) he's nice enough to accept a copy of my passport and drive all the way to Quitumbe to purchase a ticket for me!  He called me about an hour after I left my meeting at the embassy and told me he had my ticket and met me back at my apartment.  It's a beautiful thing.

Happy to have met a few awesome people at the embassy in Quito and to have a bus ticket, my Wednesday went pretty well last week. 

Thursday rolled around and I had class, so went to school, came home directly after and packed up to prepare for my trip, and took a taxi to Quitumbe.  Since my ticket was bought alone, I had to travel alone.  Which is fine!  But nerve-wracking all the same.  The taxi ride is kind of lengthy with a little bit of traffic so it was about 45 minutes there.  My taxi driver asked all kinds of questions.  I keep getting asked if I have a boyfriend and if my boyfriend is the one who taught me Spanish, which is kind of funny all the same.  Anyway, I got to Quitumbe and after wandering around a while, I met a nice boy named Milton in the bus station and he helped me find my way to my bus.  Milton, if you're reading this, I owe you one!  I ended up next to a really wonderful lady on my bus too who knew quite a bit about the coast.  A VERY long, humid, ten hour bus ride to Puerto Lopez, but I made it.  Upon arrival, everyone except me seemed to have a place to go.  Did I mention it was 5 AM when I got to Puerto Lopez? And still dark outside?  Clutching my things, a little Ecuadorean man named Don Maca approached me.  HOLA, GRINGITA!  What are you doing for your holiday here?  Who are you waiting on?  Want to go to Isla de la Plata??!?!  At five AM, the only Spanish words I felt I could muster were SALE.  Sale, go away.  Nonetheless, he provided some entertainment til my friends got there about 45 minutes later.  We paid a $10 down payment to go to Isla de la Plata for the following day.  Most of Friday we spent wandering around the beach, lounging in the hammocks, and relaxing and settling in.  We headed that night to Galvan's.  Galvan is the husband of Sandra, who runs the hostel that we stayed in.  The man can cook and ALL of the fish was amazing and fresh.  Needless to say, Friday night was a blast.  We met a couple of guys from the Outer Banks, NC and they showed us around a little bit.  

Saturday started early with la Isla de la Plata--also known as the Poor Man's Galapagos.  DEFINITELY worth the $40 trip to get out there but boy was it hot.  With no shade.  And only a slight breeze.  Nonetheless, we happened onto some blue footed boobies and sea turtles.  Hot, exhausted, and sunburned, we wandered down to Galvan's for dinner again.  Basically raw tuna/flash seared, SO good though.  Then we enjoyed some black marlin.  Never heard of it but wow.  You wouldn't believe how good it is.  Also a wonderful thing?  Pilsener is a dollar and Ecuadorean rum is $8 a bottle.  2 liters of diet coke? $1.50.  Bonding with others from our hostel, we also met a random fairly timid man from Playa Ayampe as well.  Roberto.  He was entertained by Laura and I, hahaha.  We left Galvan's around 12:30 AM and headed in to sleep.  We woke up late the next morning and hit the beach, where we also enjoyed those frozen coconuts.  In case you were wondering, those are ONLY frozen coconuts.  They pull them out of the freezer, use a machete to hack off the top and carve a small hole, and then stick a straw in it.  Hydrating nonetheless.  We headed back up and showered, only to realize how sunburnt we were from la Isla de la Plata.  Exhausted and sunburnt, we took a nap and headed back down to Galvan's.  More seafood. No complaints from me.  Fresh as usual.  But no drinking that night, absolutely exhausted and chugging water from the morning til we went to bed at about 10 PM, Laura and I were sufficiently hydrated come Monday morning.  We decided to stay out of the sun so we hammocked all day and enjoyed the people we were surrounded by while Sandra taught us how to make Colombian arepas (best things in the world).  Returning to Galvan's for our final night, we enjoyed yet another great meal and met even more people.  Sufficiently happy, induced by a little bit of Pilsener and rum (how else would it be on the beach?) we returned to the hostel with Jeff and Ben (Outer Banks guys) and Graham (random tall surfer from New Hampshire who has a striking resemblance to Michael Phelps...) to find the hostel owner (also named Sandra) and Sandra (Galvan's wife) sitting on the porch by the reception desk with a few people.  Needless to say, Laura and I got the party started.  Bringing home some diet coke and Ron (the rum) we had the entire hostel sitting on the porch, chatting it up and enjoying each other's company.  Belen and Andrea were my favorites; they are from Guayaquil and so great.  Then Matias from Argentina of course.  Others started showing up from surrounding hostels and I quickly realized how thankful I was to be somewhere as wonderful and open as that.  Galvan returned to a party on the porch after he finally got his restaurant cleaned up, only to continue to drink and be merry with everyone else.

HAPPY CARNIVAL!  

Because there's no better way to spend it than with a bunch of travelers on a beach somewhere, right?

Laura and I dragged ourselves to bed around 4 that morning after venturing to the beach for a little bit and continuing to meet people.  Rolling out of bed around 9 AM the next morning, we were the first ones awake at the hostel aside from Galvan, who happily cooked us breakfast.  Slowly moving around to get packing Tuesday morning, our friends started to wake up.  A mixture of groans and "how are you feeling?" on the way to the water jug was the typical morning greeting.  Spending the day with our friends and meeting another new traveler, Paul (from Germany), Laura and I were sad to leave.  Dreading the ten hour bus ride, we sadly said our goodbyes and promised to return, maybe for la Semana Santa.  Galvan said goodbye and gave us purple agate as a thank you for being so great during the trip.  Ten hours on a sticky, humid bus back to Quito and we arrived around 4:30 to Quitumbe this morning.  Alas, we are back, but I miss the beach and our new friends already.  See you soon, Playa Ayampe.  Until then, school and more school and other things because there is a reality outside of studying abroad.  By the way, those of you that have been asking, I only have class twice a week!  I have a four day weekend every weekend to travel, so I have been taking full advantage.  Especially because hostels average only $10 a night here.

Enjoy the pictures and I'm sorry there aren't more to share!

I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.

-Alice in Wonderland

Less than 100 days

Less than 100 days left.  That's right.  Time is FLYING here.  Well, it feels like it passes slow but in reality, it's not.  I've done so much the past two weeks so I hope you all are patient enough to read through all of it.  Nothing has topped the Otavalo trip yet, but Mindo was fun.  Last week, I went to Mitad del Mundo with Laura and that was pretty cool but not something I think is a necessity when you come to Ecuador, especially if you only have a week or so here.

I guess I could start with the fact that I was offered a dream internship in Colombia for the summer, although it is unpaid.  Chances are I will try to look into it but I would really like something paid.  Then again, nothing can beat international experience, especially with a second language under my belt.

This weekend, I went to Mindo with my friends Bo and Kendall and we had a blast.  The bus ride there was interesting; the bus was pretty full so Bo and I had to sit in the little rumbler seat behind the driver. We made friends with the driver and his two friends; they wanted to go eat with us later that night but the restaurant we agreed to meet at in Mindo was closed.  Mindo is only about two or three blocks worth of a town--tiny and kind of a hippie town, with a number of world travelers passing through.  Friday we enjoyed dinner at Mindo Café, where I had fried shrimp.  To say I was in heaven would be an understatement.  We talked and had a blast and got everything in order while we ate, then went to a little shack across the street to buy some fresh fruit juice.  We walked back to our hostel, la Casa de Cecilia and decided to relax for a while.  Our rooms were semi open-air and really great. We were practically in a tree house all weekend with hammocks hanging out right outside of our doors in the open-air hang out area.  We were relaxing in the hammocks when one of the guys staying on our floor came upstairs--turns out his name is Damien and he's only 21, from Canada, but plans to travel the world.  He has seen all of Canada, the United States, and Central America so now he has moved onto South America.  This morning, he left our hostel at 6 AM to catch a bus to Colombia.  It's kind of sad to say bye to all the new people you meet on trips like this. 

Saturday morning, we all woke up and ate breakfast together, including our new Canadian friend. Fresh fruit, fresh fruit juice, eggs, and lots of fresh bread.  Seriously breakfast was so good.  Afterwards, the girls and I got ready and went zip lining.  The most expensive thing we did all day, it was $20 for 10 lines but WELL worth it.  We made friends with the guides, go figure.  They helped us figure out what to do on the zip lines and what to do around Mindo for the rest of the day.  After leaving Eddy and Danilo, we hiked up to the waterfalls and took the tarabita across the way.  It was like being in a cable car on a zip line.  A little sketchy, but once we got to the other side, we began the long hike to the waterfall.  Although a very long, tiring hike, it was definitely worth it.  The waterfall was beautiful and although the swimming hole was not exactly a swimming hole (the tides were pretty strong) we were able to relax and cool off for a bit.  Afterwards, we hiked back and started to get to know one another a little bit more.  It's pretty cool what a hike in a foreign country can do for three girls who met only 3 weeks ago.  

After FINALLY finishing our hike and returning on the tarabita, we went and had almuerzo.  For only $5, I had a drink and a MASSIVE plate of what appeared to be shrimp fried rice.  It could have fed me for probably three days straight.  Afterwards, we tiredly walked back to our hostel and showered up, before relaxing for about half an hour, and going on a chocolate tour at Al Quetzal.  Mindo is actually famous for it's organic chocolate and my God, they have the BEST brownies in all of South America!  Apparently they have a store in Michigan too, so if any of you all are interested, definitely google Mindo chocolate in Michigan.  We toured the place to see how the cacao and other fruits were grown, processed (but not actually processed like American food, it's all organic), and handled before being put into the markets.  Seriously though you guys, these chocolate brownies were HEAVENLY.  Goodness.  Anyway, we returned to the hostel in a chocolate coma, waited about another hour and a half, then went to get dinner.  Cheap dinner once again, but as always, a ton of food.  Waddling our way back to the hostel, we met more travelers.  Although I didn't think it could get more interesting than Damien, we met an Australian named Luke who's traveling South America right now, two Germans--Fabian and Christina, who taught us how to play a card game called shit head, and then an Englishman named Tom.  We all sat around and played this game and laughed for a while.  Everyone somehow knew English, only making me feel even worse for only being bilingual.  Luke brought up a pretty cool fact while we were playing--that you tend to find like-minded people in hostels like that in the middle of South America.  Not many people choose to see Ecuador.  Anyway, Christina was sweet like all of the German exchange students my Aunt Nancy once had and Fabian was even more high energy than me.  Luke was one of the younger ones, about 22 so closer to mine and the girls' ages.  Anyway, after a few rounds of shit head, Fabian turned on his "space music" as he called it, and we just laid in the hammocks until everyone was pretty much asleep--so we all decided to turn in for the night.

The Germans left fairly early this morning, along with Damien, around six AM.  So we all said goodbye last night.  Pretty sad to say goodbye to them all, it was hard.  I'm not good with goodbye, just because I love people.  I added them all on Facebook because I think relationships with foreigners is one of the coolest things you can gain from being abroad.  Luke and Tom had breakfast with us though and we talked about Wales and Melbourne and how in the world we all ended up in the same hostel.  We got cleaned up and packed and from the hostel, Luke, the girls, and I all went back to Al Quetzal for one last taste of South America's best chocolate.  What a beautiful weekend full of beautiful people.  I'm biased and Luke was my favorite, but I like meeting people who are just down for whatever and as talkative and personable as I am.  The bus ride back to Quito was much easier--we actually had seats.  When we got back to Quito, we all said goodbye to Luke and went our separate ways.  Kendall and I meandered to McDonald's to grub before we returned to the world of nothing but soup and rice.  $5 for mcnuggets!  But they definitely aren't the same here.  We walked back through Parque Carolina to my place and Kendall took the Ecovia back to hers.  To say the weekend was successful would, yet again, be an understatement.  Those of you that know me know how much I enjoy meeting people, so you know that I enjoyed this weekend a ton.  Even funnier--we met a couple of Canadians on our hike back from the waterfall and one of them said "AH! I knew you were from the South, I could hear it in your voice!"  It's always funny to me when people tell me that because I have never felt like I had a thick accent.  Nonetheless, we all had a good laugh out of it.  So a weekend filled with adventures of zip lining through the cloud forest and tree tops and hiking to waterfalls and really really REALLY great people, I have yet to be able to complain about being in Ecuador.  Nonetheless, here are a few pictures and things from the past two weeks.  Enjoy!  And for those of you who have been asking, I finally have a real address for you all to send letters to, so just message me if you want the address!

Don't be dismayed by goodbyes.  A farewell is necessary before you can meet again.  And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.

-Richard Bach

Otavalo, Ecuador

Okay, I don't even know where to start with this post but it's going to be a long one so I hope that you all are patient (or bored) enough to read through it all; I promise, I'll make it worth it.

I don't even remember what I posted last time, so let me just start here.

I successfully completed my first FULL week (by full week, I mean two days worth..) of classes at USFQ!  What an experience.  All of my classes are in Spanish, but I think I will be able to do well in every single one of them.  I really enjoy all of my teachers at the university. Lídice is the coolest--she's from Cuba and I LOVE listening to her speak Spanish, it's just perfect.  The other two professors that I have (I have Lídice for two courses) are great too, but not as relaxed.  

AFTER CLASSES ENDED THIS WEEK:

I had my last day of courses on Thursday.  Thursday was pretty rough, to be honest.  I was exhausted (speaking Spanish all day, every day isn't exactly easy) and tired and just wanted to crawl into bed while my mom held me.  Nothing seemed to be going my way except for what I had for lunch and well...actually, yeah, that's all.  The Ecovía was PACKED when I left classes. I actually had to launch myself forward and through a crowd of people in order to get out of the doors.  The only decent part of Oklahoma is that public transportation is NOT a must.  Nonetheless, Thursday was my last day with my favorite American prof that I've met, Ariel.  I am so sad that she's left already, but she definitely helped me with my first week here--she's a Spanish professor who was doing homestay for a month during her winter-mester in Ecuador.  Lunch wasn't actually the only thing that went well on Thursday, Mama Gladys made a lemon cake and gave me some at dinner (MY FAVE!!!).

This blog post is already inappropriately long.  Bear with me.

FRIDAY FINALLY CAME THOUGH!  Wow, Friday.  

I woke up late, go figure after having close to 6 hours worth of classes on Thursday.  But I was able to pack my things up, get into a taxi with Laura, pick up Rose, and head to the bus station where we would begin our Otavalo adventure.  Nervous is an understatement; the station was packed but bus tickets run around only $2.  Once we were on our way, everything seemed to be going okay.  Then we actually arrived in Otavalo...the bus stop was a hectic mess, only for us to get into a taxi that didn't know where we were actually going.  ALAS!  We made it to our destination.  Cabañas del Balcón del Lago.  This is the name of the hostel we stayed at, where there were little cabins built by the family who runs the hostel, in the middle of the Cachimuel indigenous community, on top of a mountain.  Yeah, quite the trek.  Nonetheless, we ended up LOVING our cabin but did not expect it to be so cold on the first night.  We bundled up in pullovers and leggings because it was pouring rain outside, so they couldn't light the chiminea.  Jessica, the wonderful lady who runs the hostel, made us dinner before we turned in for the night.

Then Saturday.  Wow, Saturday.  

We rolled out of bed, got bundled up, and headed to the main cabin for breakfast.  Jessica once again, had a breakfast prepared for us before we left for the market in Otavalo.  A friend of hers came and got us to take us to the market, where we started our day around 9 AM.  Surprisingly, it wasn't even busy.  I got a number of new things to take home with me, mostly consisting of things that have alpaca fur but also gifts for the fam.  Following the market, we struggled around downtown Otavalo to find somewhere to eat.  Most restaurants here don't open until WAY late--as in 12:30 but it was probably 11:15 and we were starving.  We finally got into a cab and asked the driver to take us anywhere that he would recommend for lunch; we ended up at Inty Huasi--the food was delicious and the people were super friendly, plus a giant Pilsener for less than $2.  Talk about a bargain.  Following lunch, we wandered around to try to find the Shenandoah Pie Shop (literally in English).  TALK ABOUT AMAZING!  I recommend the mora pie.  With chocolate ice cream.  After trying to put ourselves into a food coma, we returned to the cabins to take a nice little break and unload all of our things from the market.  We took a very long break, so we ended up having to walk to the bottom of the mountain to catch a taxi--which is fine, but cobblestone is hard.  I'll just throw that out there.  We finally were able to catch a taxi from the middle of the highway to head to la Cascada de Peguche--an infamous waterfall in Otavalo.  It was beautiful!  There was a thermal spring and a rope bridge too, which rocked.  Afterwards, a taxi picked us up and took us back.  Let me tell you, sometimes the language here can be a little scary.  We were still in a smaller indigenous community close to the falls when the car in front of us stopped in the middle of the road; the car on the opposite side of the road (by road, I mean very VERY uneven cobblestone) stopped as well, only for a passenger from the car in front of us to hand the other car's driver A BEER.  While she was driving; when we asked our driver what was going on, he said "son las dueñas de la cartel".  You know how scary that is for an American!?  We figured out, after asking, that basically there are just a lot of troublemakers in those small communities because of the lack of police.  Nonetheless, he told them he was calling the cops and we got out FAST.  We returned to the cabin, I took a nap, and then we went and ate more dinner.  After dinner (prepared by Jessica's 13 year old son, Sebastian) Jessica had returned from her long day with her husband and they sat down to chat for a while.  It hadn't rained much at all that afternoon or night, so they decided to light the chiminea for us.  The five of us packed into our cabin while Jessica's husband prepared the fire.  After he had the fire going, he began telling us stories and history of the indigenous community, Otavalo, and even about how pure the water is at the top of the mountain, in the waterfalls.  He also told us a story about a hidden paradise and about a man by the name of Pedro Villamar, who we would later figure out lived VERY close to them.  It felt so homey that I actually teared up for a bit; it's pretty cool to be introduce to a new culture like that.  After they left, we packed up our things to prepare for this morning and went to bed, happy to actually be warm.

SUNDAY!  Lolz, talk about crazy.

We were woken up by a banging on the door.  By banging, I mean we thought that either we had slept in way too late or that our cabin had caught fire from the chiminea.  I actually thought I was dreaming, but when I heard Rose open up the door, I knew something wasn't right.  There was a very small woman at our door without shoes on, trying to talk to Rose.  We figured out that we had seen her herding sheep and cows the day before, so Laura and I stayed in bed while Rose attempted to talk to her.  Well, her voice only got louder as Rose tried to explain "NO ENTIENDO" multiple times.  The poor woman was Cachimuel and was speaking in Quichua, their native language.  Although a little rattled, we went back to sleep and were fine.  Just a weird accident.  Jessica prepared breakfast for us and we got another early start; her and her husband's son took us all the way to el Parque del Cóndor where we watched a show of all the rescued birds, including a bald eagle and enjoyed some ice cream.  Following that, we went to El Lechero, a tree that seems similar to the lonely tree you see in the Lion King, took our pictures, and left.  We thought we were headed back up to the cabins, only for Jessica to take us to the studio of Pedro Villamar.  After looking through a number of his BEAUTIFUL paintings, we figured out that the botanical garden that Jessica's husband had described the night before was RIGHT in his backyard.  Here, I actually got to try fresh maracuya and fresh taxo.  I provided links to pictures because we don't have these wonderful things in America.  I enjoyed Señor Villamar's humor and insane amount of hospitality as he showed us around his humble abode.  Sad to leave, we headed back up, packed our bags, and hitched a ride back to the bus station.

So needless to say, the weekend was eventful and I almost cried leaving Jessica and her family today. It was a beautiful experience and I have taken so much away from it.  Even my host mom told me today at dinner that she was happy to see me with so much confidence in my language skills and improving so quickly with my Spanish!  What a wonderful surprise.  When people tell you that you learn ~soooo much~ in a new country, they aren't always exaggerating.  But roughing it and living in a literal cabin in the middle of nowhere with a local family for a few days?  That's the priceless kind of thing you get from being abroad.

Nonetheless, my friends and I will probably take it easy this weekend and do something here in Quito.  Obviously, I'll keep y'all updated but hang tight for the next adventure.

Peace and blessings and enjoy the pictures!  I promise there will be more up on Facebook, very soon.

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.

-Saint Augustine

Wednesday.

Today is Wednesday and although it has been productive, it has been pretty boring.  However, traveling on a Wednesday is pretty much impossible because of classes--even though I have class on Tuesday and Thursday, Wednesday I have decided to set aside as a day for homework.  I have a lot of reading to do along with other assignments.

Ah, I didn't even mention that I started classes yesterday!  My teachers are really great and the school is the most relaxed place that I have ever been.  The buildings feel a little like high school because I am back go being in normal classrooms, not lecture halls that are meant to fit nearly 300 students every class period.  Someone told me there are around 7,000 students total at my university.  That's practically one undergrad class at OU, but it's cool.  All of my classes are taught in Spanish, so at the end of the day and being in class for over five hours, my brain is practically mush.  I took public transportation yesterday with a new friend I made that lives down the street from me; she's an exchange student from Virginia Tech!  Taking public transportation with a friend is a lot less scary than taking it alone.  In the mornings, the buses are overpopulated and the traffic is low key SCARY.  The afternoons aren't so bad to take the bus and I took the bus home with another new friend I made from class.  I feel like a freshman again.

Speaking of feeling like a freshman, I luckily made a friend named Rose from Michigan State who I have my first 3 of 4 classes with on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  She rocks, along with Laura from Virginia Tech.  They're going adventuring with me this weekend and I'm so pumped.

On another note, working against the typical chronological order of my posts, I went to a birthday party for my host sister in Cumbayá on Saturday.  Ecuadoreans sure do know how to party.  It was 80's themed and so cute, with over 80 people packed into a small downstairs area of a condo where EVERYONE was dancing.  Although it was supposed to begin at 8, people began arriving around 9:30 and it went on until 4 in the morning!  I took a cab home around 12:30 because I was completely wiped out, but my host mom didn't return home until around 4.  It was a blast, but I definitely couldn't keep up with the dancing and drinking and carrying on--for the first time in my life, I felt old.  

The day before, I went to Centro Histórico with Grace and it was a blast.  We explored, ate new foods, wandered around the Plaza, and hiked to the top of the spire in la Basílica del Voto Nacional.  Afterwards, we went and ate some sort of pancake-like food that had eggs in it with a mora (blackberry) sort of topping.  Talk about delicious.  Afterwards, we tried finding a cab to bring us back and ended up getting poured on.  Followed by hail.  So as you can tell, I am nothing short of Oklahoma weather here.

It's warm during the days, unless it's clouded over or raining.  At night, it gets chilly and a jacket is necessary.  I've been to the mall Quicentro at least five times just to get miscellaneous things, including an ice cream cone from Crepes & Waffles...on multiple occasions.  The weirdest things here are expensive, others cheap.  Clothes are not among the cheap and Burts Bees hand lotion runs around $22 a bottle.  I guess paying the $100 overweight fee for my toiletries wasn't such a bad idea.

Among the many things that have happened in my first 8 days in Quito?

I've been hailed on. Twice.

I've eaten pizza...and liked it. (For anyone who knows me, THIS IS BIG)

I attended an Ecuadorean birthday party and learned that even the men here absolutely love to dance.

I've gotten lost on the Ecovía, which is the public transit bus.  Just when I thought public transit couldn't get more confusing than the MetroBus in D.C...life got me again.

I've been to MEGAMAXI!  These are comparable to a Super Target or Sam's Club.

I've been called a gringita on multiple occasions, most of the time by someone on the street that I don't even know.

Finally, I have suffered the side effects from altitude sickness.  From migraines, to exhaustion, and the feeling of not being able to catch my breath...even when I'm just sitting down and minding my own business.

Despite my many new challenges, learning the Spanish hasn't been hard but getting used to "Ecuadorean time" is definitely a change.  By that, I mean if you make plans to go somewhere at 1, I hope you're okay with going around 3.  It's just how things are here.  

That's about all I have time for because of the amount of homework I have, but hopefully there will be another post up this weekend about my trip to Otavalo!  I'll leave y'all with some pictures to entertain you.

Suerte.

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

-Albert Einstein

  

Bienvenidos a Ecuador!

BIENVENIDOS A ECUADOR!

Where the bus/metro system is crazier than Washington, D.C. and you can't put toilet paper down 99.9% of the toilets.  Don't carry your iPhone in plain sight and you should expect to eat lots of fresh fruit, drink plenty of fruit juices, and consume a diet that consists solely of soup and rice with the occasional meat (usually pork, which I love anyway).

Yes people, I am learning to try new things and eat better so be proud.

My host family is so cool.  My host mom is older and has two daughters in their late twenties; one of them has kids and the other has been helping me a ton with my Spanish so I couldn't be happier where I am.  My most mom only speaks Spanish, with a LITTTTTLE bit of English so I am being fully immersed--nonetheless, it's been great but kind of tough.  I'm slowly realizing that trying to speak Spanish has been comparable to test-taking.  You know, where you study all week and know every inch of the test  but then you get to the test and open up the test booklet and all you can think is "HOLY SHIT"...yeah, that's me.  I live in the middle of Quito where there is lots of city traffic and the sun shines in my room at six AM, but the mall (Quicentro) and MegaMaxi (like Sam's or Costco) are both super close.  The sun shining in my window hasn't been bad because it will force me to get up on a schedule.  When I look out my window in the mornings, I see a super busy street with lots of street vendors & people wandering around & mountains.  I have never lived anywhere where you can see mountains, so it's pretty cool.

Side note: someone from back home told me yesterday that I am "as subtle as a shotgun", so there's that.  I suppose subtlety has never been my strong suit, but I try.

Anyways, we had orientation today and I LOVE USFQ already.  Oh my gosh, Cumbaya, the town that USFQ is in, is beautiful.  Everyone dresses pretty decent to class so that will be an adjustment, but that's fine too.  Learning to ride the buses was the hardest thing I've done so far and many people only carry change.  By change, I mean quarters or less--cash is inconvenient and a rarity here.  This morning, I had my first ever papaya and first fresh mango.  It was wonderful.

Other than that, I have been adjusting to the altitude, which isn't as easy as you think.  You're constantly out of breath and I've been getting headaches like crazy, but luckily I have not been nauseous.  My host mom cooks every day--breakfast, lunch, and dinner and it rocks.  Last night, we stopped by a street vendor and bought Colombian arepas.  Seriously y'all, that's the best thing that I have ever tried.  It's comparable to a corn tortilla, except it's thick like Texas toast.  It's smothered in butter and the corn tortilla part is also mixed with a little bit of cheese.  Talk about heaven in a snack! Ay dios mio.  Anyway, I haven't done much sightseeing but I think I am off to start an adventure tomorrow.  I only have classes scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday so that will leave a lot of room for exploring and whatnot.  

To those of you who have reached out to me since I've been here, thanks a ton!  It's appreciated.  Being in a foreign country where there is even just a very small language barrier is super tough, but I'm loving it so far.  

I know most of you don't check Facebook, so I'll attach a few pictures from my trip onto here for now!  I should have some more interesting stuff to add as the trip continues; I think we are going to explore Old Town Quito tomorrow!  

Good night & good luck to all.

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart."

-Confucius

End of Semester 5

Okay people, I know.  Those of you that actually read these so that you can keep up with me are a little bitter that I haven't posted in a long while, but it has been a BUSY semester.  I just wanted to share a number of moments this semester (in no particular order) that have been sufficiently awesome or made an impact.

1. After tirelessly planning our annual philanthropy event, Anchorsplash, with Delta Gamma, Veronica and I finished the event and managed to raise a sum of around $25,000 for Service for Sight.  It was easily one of the most stressful things I've ever done, but so worth it.

2. Kyleigh Hanes planned an awesome Lectureship and thanks to her, I was able to meet (and take a selfie) with Misty May-Treanor and let me tell you, she is one inspirational lady.

3. I accepted an internship with a political consulting firm this semester and absolutely loved it.  I met a number of awesome Oklahoma politicians, but the best part is that I enjoyed going to work because of the people I worked with.  Working with a bunch of liberals was refreshing because it made me feel like I was in DC again.  But seriously, what an incredible group.

4. I got to keep up with the Miracle Child that Delta Gamma sponsored in Soonerthon last year as well as keep up with her family and goodness, I can't help but absolutely adore the Rogers family.

5. I got even closer to my roommate of the last three years and she got to see me not only cry, but ugly cry for the first time ever; luckily, she accepted the fact that I hit my breaking point this semester between school and life and how busy I was and we'll be living together (FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW!!!) again next year. (Sorry for the picture Kristen, it's the only one I have...)

6. There's a bunch of other sub-lessons and half-important things that happened this semester so I'll just put them below in some bullet points because I don't have pictures of them..

• My favorite class all semester was Politics of Russia and I have a new found interest in the region.
• Studying abroad in Ecuador is a month away and I'm getting more and more excited as the time comes.
• I'm still obsessed with what I'm studying in school, but the best part is that I have loved every single one of my professors.
• French is hard, don't take it.
• Business cards or a LinkedIn connection are the best compliment you can get in the professional world.
• People have come and gone into and out of my life all semester.  You think you can't live without someone, but time passes and here you are, still kickin'.  Then the most unexpected people wander in and have another large impact.
• I have one incredible mother and a couple sets of incredible grandparents who look out for me and are the most supportive people around.  Despite pushing me to my limits, they do it because they care.
• 17 hours down, a position as philanthropy director within Delta Gamma, and an internship all completed through an incredible semester.

As you can tell, it was quite a semester.  I'm anxious to see what next semester has in store, as well as what next summer holds for me.  I read something kind of funny today that I thought was applicable to going to Ecuador next semester, it said:

"I'm in love with cities I've never been to and people I've never met."

On a lighter note, I'm hoping that this whole Life of Clegg blog is going to be a thing next semester in Ecuador so that you all can feel just as culture-shocked and confused as me; it's probably going to be pretty raw because I'll be panicking the first few weeks as I settle in.

OH!  Best part of the semester is that I've been able to keep up with so many people that I met in DC and have been continuously told that they can't wait to see me back.  Maybe I'll get paid this time around...

Until next time, y'all.

Great things never come from comfort zones.

The Greek System

It's been a while since I've had something that I felt like I could address in this that would connect with a large audience, so I haven't posted.

Not to mention, 17 hours is kicking my butt and I don't even have a social life anymore thanks to school.  That's okay, right?  I mean, I have the rest of my life to be social so maybe it'll be worth it in the long run.  NONETHELESS!  I have something exciting to address tonight.

THE GREEK SYSTEM.

I could compare the Greek system to that of Hillary Clinton.  Many believe that there are two extreme opinions about it--you love it or you hate it.  In my case, you love both of them but others have QUITE the different views.

The stereotypes of the Greek system is false--yes, there are a number of ignorant and sub-par brains that dwell inside of many of the fraternity and sorority houses, don't get me wrong.  But isn't that how it is everywhere?  I'd venture to say that the number of Greek students who are complete and total brainiacs severely outweighs those who are not.  

The stereotype that Greeks only care about other Greeks is also false--I have a number of friends who were never Greek, do not plan to go Greek, or just do not find the Greek system to be attractive at all. And you know what?  That's fine, I get it.

The stereotype that all Greek members are rich--you got it, false.  You would be surprised at how many students have taken out loans so that they can pay for their way through their fraternity/sorority.

The stereotype that in four years, the Greek system won't matter--COMPLETELY, UTTERLY, AND FULLY FALSE.  And I'm going to fill you in on why.

First of all, I have met most of my girl friends IN Delta Gamma.  It's pretty neat to be a part of a family with 300 chapter members, not to mention the number of members across the nation.  It comes in handy when you least expect it.  For instance, I had an internship in DC this summer and after I got the notification email, my first thought was "HOW ON EARTH AM I GOING TO FIND ANYWHERE TO LIVE?!"  Wanna know where I lived?  The DG house at GWU.  Wanna know how far I had to walk to work everyday in the "blistering DC humidity"?  Roughly a tenth of a mile.  That's pretty cool if you ask me.  I've seen recent graduates move to a completely new city or town and get in touch with DG alum so that they have a roommate or recommendations on doctors and schools in the districts.  

But so far, the coolest thing that I've gotten to do is network.  Yeah, nerdy, I'll take it.  I recently (September...but still recent, right?) accepted an internship with a political consulting firm and let me tell you, I have absolutely loved it.  Fun fact: all of the women that I work with were members of a Panhellenic chapter at their university.  But that's not even the coolest part--the coolest part is that I met a recent DG graduate who is interested in partially the same career path as me.  Do you know how hard it is to find a female that wants to work with international security efforts, diplomacy, or politics?  I'll let you in on a little something: VERY VERY VERY TOUGH.  We figured out that we are both DG's midway through these last few months and hit it off immediately; thanks to Alyssa, I have felt SO welcomed into my new internship, I have gotten to have conversations with a liberal inside the state of Oklahoma (a rarity, I tell ya), and I have gotten some of the best advice that I could possibly ask for regarding anything from college to future career goals--all because she realized I was a DG and asked me about it.  Although she is moving to China and I will be studying abroad next semester, I already told her that I will be creeping through her Facebook during her China adventures and yes, we even took a gamma picture.  

All in all, I never thought that I would love being Greek as much as I do, but here I am.  I never thought that I would fit in, be able to compete, or even be able to keep up with any of the girls but once again, here I am.

Delta Gamma really is for a lifetime and I cannot thank the organization enough for presenting me with so many opportunities, so I thought I'd put that out in the open for all of you to ponder upon.

Thanks to my sisters for loving me and supporting me and being my warrior in times of trouble.

For now, wish me luck as I continue to try to conquer school.