Good news, folks: I shan't be getting deported. Nor will I have to pay a ridiculously hefty exit fee for overstayng my visa. Because I tend to be a terrible planner, I inadvertently planned to stay two days after the expiration of my visa. I assumed that all I would haved to do would be take my passport to some agency and have them stamp it and everthing would be settled. Not so easily done. I ended up needing a plethora of documents such as proof of financial solvency to remain in the country, a signed letter to the minister of the exterior pleading my case, copies of roundtrip airline tickets, forms with passport sized photos, etc. Luckily, I went last week to start the process, or I would have been in trouble. Thus far, I have had to miss classes and sit in the waiting room of the Agency of the Exterior three times (it's only open untin 12), and I have to go once more tomorrow to pick everthing up. All I need is an extension of two days. Gotta love beauracracy.

It's hard to believe it, but I have a whole two days left until I journey home. Friday I will face my final exam (of death). I am extremely excited to see my family, friends, church, and just be home. Of course I'm also excited about heading back to Bryan in January. As I had anticipated, leaving is a little bittersweet. I will definitely miss the friends I have made here, my profedssors, host family, and all of the people who like to try out their English on me. My time here has been wonderful, and I thank God fo the opportunity to experience the rich culture, history, language, and people of Ecuador.

I have attached a picture of one of the most beautiful churches in Quito. It's called the Compania de Jesus, and was founded by the Ignatius Loyola. Granted, the walls are covered with unorthodox art of a divinized Mary and venerated saints, but is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever set foot in. My friend Dolores and I actually attended a special mass during the fiestas de Quito in the Compania. The two of us thought it would be a pretty rich cultural experience to witness a special mass in such a historic and gorgeous church. There was also a famous choral group from Spain slated to perform. When we arrived, we discovered that it was invitation only. From all appearances, it weemed as if only Quito's rich and famous were invited. With a bit of sleight of hand, Dolores and I finally managed to gain entrance.

Yesterday, I involuntarily had a major gringo moment. I was attempting to flag down a taxi during rush hour, when a car pulled up beside of me. Inside were a guy and girl about my age, who appeared to be Latino. They asked me (in Spanish) "Where do we need to go to leave Quito?" Well, I could easily have pointed them North, South, East, or West, and even tell them what buses to take to leave the city, but tell them which roads or highways to follow I certainly could not. I began to apologize and tell them that I wasn't from the area when they burst out laughing and said "we know!" I probably should have realized that two Latinos wouldn't ask someone who looks about as Caucasian as possible for directions. :-)

I’ve been quite fortunate to have wireless internet up to this point in my host home. This past week, our internet wasn’t functioning, but as of last night, it’s back up and running.

A bit of a current event update for you: Ecuador depends on hydroelectric dams to generate its power. Because the country is currently undergoing the worst drought in about forty years, there’s scarcely any electricity production going on. To help save electricity during the energy crisis, we’re currently undergoing compulsory electricity rationings. At least in Quito, we usually have black outs four to five hours each day. The schedule is quite confusing. Quito is divided into many sectors, and different sectors are on different schedules. When the outages began, they would rotate each day – morning, afternoon, evening, etc. This past week we maintained the same schedule each day. It can get a little complicated. One day a couple of weeks ago I didn’t have power in the morning as I got ready for school, then our power was cut in the afternoon at school, then I went to a pharmacy in the evening to buy some medicine and, well, they didn’t have power. It honestly is not that bad, though. I feel sort of pioneerish as I do homework by candlelight. I have also invested in a flashlight. And watching a four way intersection without traffic lights or police direction can be really entertaining…until I have to cross it. J

On a different note, I gave my first presentation to my host Rotary club “Quito Sur” this past week. Aside from some small technological difficulties, all went very well. I shared about Bryan and what I am studying, the Dayton Rotary Club, the goal of my scholarship, Ohio, and my volunteer work. A funny little side note to my presentation: because the computer and projector were on the other side of the banquet room from the podium, I didn’t have the ability to operate my slides. There was a man from the club operating the computer, who, I don’t think was the most technologically savvy. Somehow, he managed to exit my power point presentation and enter my picture file during my presentation. I remember looking up in the middle of my presentation, and there was a picture of me and some other Bryan students standing in front of a huge batman poster at our Batman themed homecoming banquet!!!!

An important facet of the Rotary Foundation is volunteer work. With this in mind, twice a week, another Rotary student (from Taiwan) and I volunteer at “Chicos de la Calle.” We get to help street kids with their homework after school. The kids are so sweet, and love getting attention and help. It is, however, difficult to try to explain math (which is not my forte to begin with) that I’ve almost forgotten, let alone in Spanish. I do, however, love it when the kids have English homework. I’m currently the only native English-speaker that is volunteering, so I guess I get to be the expert in that department. J

Shangrila

At this point I fear that any followers I might have had have given up hope that I would ever post again. Take heart, I shall be more frequent from this point forward. My computer was not functioning properly, but I believe I have resolved the problem.

I spent last week with a small group from my school in the Amazonian jungle. It truly was the week of a lifetime. I ate ants, climbed waterfalls, played soccer with the children of a small, isolated jungle village, swam and tubed in a tributary of the Amazon, climbed some precarious rock walls using my hands and feet on one side and my back on the other side, swung on a vine George of the Jungle style, had a lizard in my shower, and ate some amazing carrot soup. We also had a pretty awesome, machete wielding Ecuadorian Indian as our guide that led us, everyday after classes, for hours through the wild recesses of the jungle.

Our lodge, called Shangrila, is located on the edge of a cliff. While we ate meals, had classes, and relaxed in hammocks, we enjoyed an incredible panorama of the Andes Mountains in the distance, the Amazonian jungle, and a tributary of the Amazon River below us. Everything except for the living quarters was open air.

I partially expected us to go to a super touristy part of the “The Jungle.” Although our lodge was obviously built for and frequented by tourists, it really was in the jungle.

I was a little disappointed that I never saw a man-eating anaconda or a ferocious, Godzilla sized tarantula, but they were out there somewhere. In fact, I did hear that during our stay at Shangrila, one of the Australian tourists had a tarantula in their room.

Departing was bittersweet, I could get used to the tranquil, laid back, adventurous jungle life. I also became rather attached to the hammocks and their amazing view of the jungle. At the same time, I could live without the nearly 100% humidity and mosquitoes that we encountered.

I apologize for the length of time that has preceded this, my latest update. I had the flu for a couple of days this past week, and opted to retire rather early. Rest easy, I'm quite recovered now, and don't believe my short bout with the flu was of the H1N1 strain. J

Yesterday I had my first host Rotary meeting. I was a bit nervous as I pulled up to the Hilton Quito in my taxi and found my way up to the mezzanine, but the Rotary meeting was very laid back and my host counselor as well as the other Rotarians of Club "Quito Sur" were very friendly and accomodating. I will be giving my first of three presentations in two weeks. I'm excited about assisting the Quito Sur Club with some of their many projects, of which include an outreach to street children, a medical outreach, and an outreach to the elderly.

This past weekend I went on a delightful trip to Otavalo and Cuicocha. Otavalo is a small town of indigenous Ecuadorians. Every Saturday there is a huge market of handmade artesian items. Otavalo is home to the largest Indian market in South America. Cuicocha is a gorgeous, volcano formed lagoon located near Otavalo.

Interesting fact: Ecuadorians love Kentucky Fried Chicken. Thus far I have seen at least three KFC's in Quito! One of them was two stories with a play place! I don't believe I have seen this phenomenon in the US!

It is hard to believe that it is already week three. Today I went with my school to what’s called “teleférico.” It’s a system of cable cars that ascend Pinchincha, the mountain my province is named after. The cable car ride was pretty amazing. Although it was pretty warm at the base of Pinchincha, once we dismounted from the cable car, it was windy and cold. After we arrived at the cable car landing, we hiked the path further up the mountain for a few hours. Breathing was rather difficult at times, both because the hike was quite rigorous, and because the atmosphere was a bit less populated with oxygen. The struggle for respiration was completely worth it, though. The view was absolutely breathtaking. The only bad result from this trip is that my ears are currently so burnt I think they shall soon fall off.

Cultural mishap dos: last night, right before dinner, my host mom gave me a spoonful of something to taste. The flavor was quite good, but the texture was a mite squishy. And I really can’t take squishy. It is for this reason that I abhor mushrooms. I was polite, however, and told them that it was really good (I wasn’t lying, because I really did like the flavor.) It was then that my host parents proceeded to tell me that the dish that I had just partaken of was chicken hearts and all other manner of chicken entrails. I pretended not to be almost sick. However, when they asked me if I wanted some for dinner, I decided to risk being thought impertinent, and politely said “no.” My host parents thought it was absolutely hilarious. My host mom had anticipated this, because she knew that we don’t generally consume entrails in the US, and had already prepared me an alternative dish. I believe that from now on I will conduct a thorough investigation of all edibles before I ingest them. J

I’ve now been here for over a week, and am beginning to adjust. For instance, I no longer fear that I’ll get lost on my way to or from school. I know how not to get ripped off by a taxi driver. I know to immediately grab the handles inside the bus, because as soon as you have one foot inside, it’s moving again. I’m also making some pretty cool friends.

Quito is gorgeous. It’s surrounded by the towering, snow-capped Andes. The city itself is constructed in a valley, but is so hilly that it could probably make San Francisco look really flat. It’s also much larger than I had imaged. Although not extremely wide, it’s almost forty-seven kilometers long!

God has really blessed me with a very kind and hospitable host family, really great professors, and good friends. Oh yeah, and wireless internet J.

So far I’ve gotten to do some pretty crazy stuff. I got to climb some extremely precarious ladders to an awesome vantage point in a tower of the Basilica in Colonial Quito. I got to stand simultaneously on the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, as well as balance an egg upright on the head of a nail at La Mitad Del Mundo. I got to try at least ten different fruits that, up to this point, I never knew existed. I got to eat at an Afghan restaurant (in Quito).

I know you are all eagerly awaiting to hear of the cultural faux pas that I have thus far committed. And hear you shall. Last week I went to take a shower, and I turned on the knob that had a red “H” written on it. It occurred to me that it could be written in Spanish, but I thought that since this was the guest room in which they host foreign students, it was probably in English. Besides, “Frio” starts with an “F.” I waited a couple of minutes, but much to my chagrin, the water never warmed up. I knew I had no choice. I took the coldest shower I’ve ever taken in my life; the water was literally so icy it hurt. The next day, with my mangled Spanish, I managed to convey what had happened to my host mom. As she attempted to hold back her laughter, she proceeded to tell me that the “H” stood for “Hielo,” which means “Ice.” Why it was written in red shall forever remain a mystery.

I'm here!

After over a year of waiting, I'm finally here in Quito. All of the nervousness and uncertainty that I never felt in anticipation of this trip finally hit me as I deboarded my flight and went through customs and immigration. Thus far, my foreign travels have not extended beyond the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. The realization that I was alone in a foreign country, that speaks a language other than my own, was a bit disconcerting. Fortunately, over the past two days, many of my qualms have been dissolving. Right now, the major problem that I face is, not surpisingly, the language barrier. Being fully aware that my Spanish had much improvement to undergo, I had prepared myself to experience difficulty when trying to communicate. I often feel as if I were watching a silent film: their lips are moving, but I have no idea what they are saying! Worse yet is the fact that I can understand much more than I can speak, so it's quite frustrating to have many things to say, but no words to formulate them. I must say, however, that I have perfected the "smile and nod"!