It's like baseball.. but it's cricket.

Today was a pretty fun day! First I went to Jewelry Making class and we started our first project - rings! I feel like I don't know what's going on all the time but I watch everyone else and eventually figure it out. The entire class is also very helpful in explaining to me, very slowly, the next steps in the ring making process! Today we measured out the silver and melted it together first. Then cooled it, heated it up again (not sure why!) and polished it. Some of the class started flattening their pieces, but I'll get to that on Monday! After Jewelry I needed to go buy a book for Spanish class but instead of having it in the bookstore on campus, I was supposed to go to the bookstore in the mall. Mall, OK! I fully believe in retail therapy. My friend Becca and I made our way to the mall this afternoon, only to find out that the store didn't have the book! How rude! However, I did find an adventure store and was able to buy rope for my climbing class! One thing off the checklist. After this we had lunch; I had BK! And I noticed just how many people were in the mall. I was amazed! And this mall was SO NICE! I think that when coming to a country in South America everyone imagines poverty, but that is not the case in many parts of Quito!

After the mall we headed over to Parque La Carolina and found a cricket game to watch! We weren't entirely sure what was happening at first, this being our first cricket experience, and I'm sure we looked confused! One of the players came over and asked us where we were from. "Estados Unidos" we said, and he then started explaining some of the rules to us! We learned how the point system worked, what the three sticks were for (I think those are called stumps?), and that the two teams playing were Indian and Pakistani. It was really interesting and I am so thankful that he took the time to explain it to us! I was even more excited that I understood almost everything he was saying!

So that was today! Classes have been fairly uneventful, but I have noticed a few other neat things about the city and living in Ecuador:

1.) I really enjoy seeing Ecuadorians wear American sports team shirts. Today I saw a "Chicago Bears" sweatshirt. Yes, I thought of you Amanda (:
2.) Everything in Quito is either uphill or downhill.
3.) The have LOTS of markets! I went to one on Sunday and bought a purse for $5.00!
4.) I feel like I'm going to tear my rotator cuff when I'm riding the bus through the mountains and don't get a seat :(
5.) Hugo (my older brother) plays "Love You Like a Love Song" by Selena Gomez every morning.
6.) I have to carry my backpack in front of me when I'm on the bus so no one steals my stuff and it reminds me of that scene in "10 Things I Hate About You." I hope you know what I'm talking about. If not, Google it?
7.) I found out that 20% of Ecuadorians are unemployed and 44% have "temporary" employment. I think that selling oranges and flowers on the street qualifies as "temporary" employment. That means that 64% of the country doesn't have a stable income. Now aren't you glad you live in America?
8.) You can buy one cigarette on the street. Just one.
9.) Military men guard the parks - in large groups with guns and batons. Scary!
10.) They have really great pancakes here and they are always accompanied by Aunt Jemima's maple syrup!

This weekend I am climbing Mount Quilotoa with my Andinismo class! We leave early Saturday morning and get back to Quito sometime Sunday afternoon. I'm excited for the climb and to see the beautiful lake at the top of the mountain!

Hope all is well!
Kelley

So Much Fruit!

Hola!

This week was a hectic one! At Bellarmine, when I sign up for a class, I usually stay in it. Here, not so much. I went to quite a few classes this week that I didn't like, and some that I did. I've got my schedule finalized and it looks like I'll be taking: Taller de Joyeria, Literatura Americana, Andinismo, Espanol, Geologia, y my BU online class!

Taller de Joyeria means Jewelry making. In the class we will be making our own earrings, rings, necklaces, and bracelets from silver! Although I think it is going to be difficult, I'm up for the challenge! Who knew that I'd have to opportunity to learn such a neat skill.

Literatura Americana is my American Lit class at USFQ. I am the only student from the United States and I think that is going to make the class very interesting. I've already been asked questions such as, "Why did the Civil War really start in America?" and "What did Martin Luther King Jr. really mean when he said that? How did it affect the leaders in your government?" Although I have opinions on many things, I can't speak for all of America when I say something in class! I think I'm going to need to make that point clear next week. Other than that, this is probably going to be my favorite class! It's a little different than English classes I've had before - the profe talks a lot more and then allows us to say what we thought of the works, instead of the other way around? I never realized how much I appreciated the opportunity to say exactly what I thought!

Andinismo translates as "climbing" and we will be doing exactly that! We have a class during the week to teach us the theories of mountain climbing and then we put the theories to practice! There are 12 trips planned for the semester and each student must go on at least 3 of the 12. For each trip you leave Saturday morning, climb a bit and set up camp on the mountain/volcano on Saturday afternoon, climb up and back down Sunday morning, and then come home! It will be a great way to spend a few weekends in Ecuador!

My Espanol class is very, very helpful. I have class Monday-Thursday and it's a lot of conversation practice, along with review of correct conjugation and learning new words! I'm excited to have this class all semester!

Geologia is the last class I am taking at USFQ! I've already taken a geology class at BU but this class focuses more on the geology of the Galapagos Islands, the Andes, and the volcanoes in the area surrounding Quito. I think it will be great to know more about the geology of the area I'm living in until December. This class starts on September 1, and I have high hopes for it.

Those are my classes for the semester! I've made a list of a few other interesting things I have noticed this week while in Ecuador:

1.) They don't have lined paper here. All of the notebooks are graph paper. That will be interesting.

2.) Cooking is a big deal here. Betty and Gina spend a lot of time preparing our all of our meals and drinks. No boxed or frozen dinners, ever. And lots of smoothies because they have to boil all of the water used.

3.) This is a society of patience. For those of you who know me, I don't have much of that. It doesn't matter if you have to be somewhere in 20 minutes - you're going to sit down for lunch and enjoy the meal with your family. I think this will be a good experience for me to learn from.

4.) You can buy 25 roses for $1.00! That will amaze me the entire time I am here.

5.) They rarely say "adios" and instead, always say "chau."

6.) Bellarmine needs more trees in the Quad. USFQ has their own version of the Quad but it's filled with trees, flowers, and even a pond (with a cute little turtle)! Great place to relax outside between classes!

7.) Personal space does not exist and that makes bus rides not so fun sometimes.

8.) Security is a major deal in the city. There are police officers and personal security guards on almost every block, very large guns included. At first I was kind of afraid of seeing all those weapons on the street, but I'm learning to find comfort in that. And I like our building guard. I think I'm his own little gringo (:

I've also started writing down something I'm thankful for every night, just to put everything back in perspective. This week my favorite was, "There were no clouds on the way to school and I could see the snow-covered peak of a volcano."

Life is going pretty well for me - hope yours is too!

love always,

Kelley

PS -
I've signed up to go to Tiputini Biodiversity Station in the Amazon basin September 30 through October 3! Awesome!

"Not getting out of class early during the first week is UN-American."

Hola amigas!

A lot has happened since I left you last week! If you remember, Friday was orientation day! Orientaton was fun and gave me the opportunity to meet the people I would be spending my next four months with! The majority of the day was spent talking about health and safety in Ecuador. I now feel confident that I can take the necessary precautions to avoid robbery, successfully find my own legal taxi, and where to go in case of a volcanic eruption. Not exactly something I would learn at Crossroads, but a learning experience nonetheless. We were also given a campus tour and a lovely lunch. Gina came to pick me up around 430 and we headed home.

Saturday was a lot more exciting! Trip to Teleferiqo! This is a cable car system that takes you up a fairly steep mountain and at the top you have the most wonderful view of the entire city! We had a great time sitting in the grass, as high up as the clouds, and enjoying the beauty of Quito and the surrounding Andes. Definitely helped me realize I was so glad to be spending my semester here. After we came back down, we decided to travel to "Centro Historico." We saw la basilica, la plaza grande, and many other churches and museums that I want to tour! We also stopped for lunch in one of the cafes in the area, I had pollo con arroz. After lunch we sat in la plaza de cultura and I just felt like I was finally being part of the city. It was a nice feeling.

I also did things on Sunday; I'm really moving up in the Quito world. Gina (mi madre) and I took the dogs for a walk in the morning and then headed over to the shopping center. Their version of Walmart/Target is called SuperMaxi. Pretty funny hahaha. We first stopped in the phone store, it's called Movistar and I am fairly certain that it is the only phone carrier in Ecuador. My family has a phone that they let all of their host students use and I only had to buy the new chip for that, $7.00 holla! After this we had lunch in the shopping center at KFC! Win. And then went to buy a suitcase for Santi (mi hermano). I found out that he is studying abroad for a year in Belgium and leaves Sept. 1. How exciting for him! When we were leaving the mall, Gina tipped the security guard in the parking garage. I thought this was strange, but I also understood it. He made sure that no one broke into our car, and deserved something for that! There are a lot of little things that are different here that really add to their culture. We then went to watch Santi play futbol! His team, I believe they are called the Orange Mechanics, won! 2-0.

Today was my first day of class! It went as well as I could have hoped. I left the house around 10 and made it to school by 10:30. I found all of my classes, after going up the same staircase four times, and felt confident in myself at my new school! The first class of the day was "Taller de Joyeria" aka Jewelry Making. Although I don't know a lot of the vocabulary, I think I'm going to love making my own rings, bracelets, and earrings out of silver! After this class I had lunch, Pizza Crepes, with one of the girls in my class and then we met up with a few other international students to chill during our break. Next was my international relations class. Although I don't care too much for the professor, I think the class will be relatively just the same as any other class in the states. My final class of the day was my Spanish class. There are only five students in this class! How perfect! I'm definitely going to be improving my skills!

I've got two classes tomorrow, Amer. Lit and Spanish. I need to start working on my homework now though, no fair! I'll hopefully post again on Thursday evening and let you know how the week went and what my plans are for the weekend!

love you all (:

-kelley

Quito, Ecuador!

Hola amigos!

This semester I will be studying abroad at Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. I have decided that blogging about my time here would be the best way to share my experiences with everyone back home! Hope you enjoy (:

Tuesday August 16 - My flight from Cincinnati left at 12:00pm to Houston. I arrived in Houston and had lunch, called my bank (which I forgot to do earlier) and hopped on the plane to Panama. Both of these flights were simple and I had no problems - we were even given dinner, chicken sandwiches! While I was getting off the plane, I found a few other students who were also going to Quito to study at USFQ this semester! This was a major relief. It was great to be able to talk to other students and have a few new friends in a city where I thought I would be alone for a few days at least. There were six of us in total, and I'm excited to see them at orientation tomorrow! We finally bored the plane from Panama City to Quito and I had the pleasure of sitting in front of three children who looooved kicking the back of my seat. Thank goodness this was the shortest flight of the day. We made it to Quito around 11:30pm and went through Immigration, waited quite a long time for our bags, and finally went through Customs. The next part was very intimidating. I had to walk through what seemed to be hundreds of people and try to find my host family. There were so many people waiting to pick up students/friends/family. I finally found a USFQ employee and we found Gina and drove home! The apartment, or should I say "penthouse" is more than I could have ever hoped for. I have my own room and it's very spacious. After we did a small tour, I went right to sleep!

Wednesday - I woke up and had breakfast with Gina (mi madre), Santi (mi hermano), y Betty. After breakfast I decided to unpack my bags. Everything fits fairly well and I was happy to have little pieces of home all around me (: We had lunch around 2pm and Gina explained some of the house rules to me. I should really say "tried to explain" because I don't understand everything she is saying. The family is trying to help me understand them better and I appreciate their efforts. I hope this gets easier very soon! In the afternoon I just hung around and we had a very light dinner around 7pm. I spent the rest of the evening relaxing!

Today, I went down to breakfast (my room is on the second floor, along with one other bedroom) around nine and had an egg and bacon mixture along with fresh fruit. Gina then asked me if I wanted to go to the pool with her. I said of course, what else do I have to do, right? So we gathered up our swimsuits and towels and drove to the pool. It was about a 7 minute drive and this was not just a pool. She called it the "club" and it was that indeed. First we layed out for 30ish minutes, she said something about me being too white, and then we went inside to the sauna. After the sauna we stayed in the hot tub for awhile before swimming in another pool that was inside. It was a lovely spa day! I asked mi madre how often she comes to the club - 3 times a week. Hopefully I can come back! While we were driving to our next destination I noticed that there are lots of people selling things on the street. You can buy lots of fruit (12 oranges for $1) , sunglasses, coloring books, kitchen towels, and many other things! There are also street jugglers and clowns! ahh! After Gina finished her errands we came back to the apartment for lunch with the familia (madre, padre, y hermanos) and ate corn (literally cob slices) and potato soup, tuna salad, and peas. Interesting! It almost felt like something they would have at UDH so no big deal! Right now it's storming in Quito but hopefully it stops soon, I want to walk around a bit tonight before having to find my way to school tomorrow!

Orientation at USFQ starts at 730am! Gina said we needed to leave at 7 in order to catch the bus and make it on time. Goals for tomorrow - buy a bus pass, not get lost, make plans to do something this weekend with my new classmates!

I should also say that even though I'm getting the opportunity to experience a lot of new things, this is hardest thing I have ever done and I think it's going to take me awhile to get used to living in South America. I hope you enjoy reading about my journey and a big thank you to my friends and family who have supported me so far!