Ok. So first of all, I think an apology is in order! So I really do mean to write more often but life just takes over and leaves me with no time at all! Anywho, let’s get the update ball rolling! I’m sad to report that I have been sick since Thursday. I think I must have eaten something that didn’t agree with my stomach on Wednesday night. Therefore, I missed classes on Thursday and didn’t go to my morning classes on Friday. Now that it’s Saturday afternoon, I’m finally starting to feel better. So all is well :) School - [View Full Entry]

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Two Saturdays ago (the 22nd of August), I left Gringolandia (finally) and moved into the volunteer housing at El Centro del Muchacho Trabajador (CMT). This place is absolutely spectacular. I have a giant bedroom with windows overlooking Quito (right now I’m sitting on my bed at 11:30 pm, typing, listening to music, and looking at the city lights crawling up the mountain sides ) Yes, this is life. Anyway, I don’t nearly have enough stuff to fill up this unnecessarily large room. Seriously, a group of 4 could do yoga in here comfortably… I also have a private bathroom [View Full Entry]

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Ok! So after I’ve been in Quito for a whole week, I thought I’d write about some of my first impressions: 1)Right now, I am living in Gringolandia and it really is full of gringos (go figure…) I am so excited to get out of here! I am only taking Spanish classes here through Friday and then will be heading to northern Quito (away from the tourists) to live and work in El Centro del Muchacho Trabajador. 2)Quito is a city of 2 million people but it is very clean (there are even trash cans here !!! :) 3)Cost comparison: 1)Lunch [View Full Entry]

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I´m in Quito!!! After an uneventful flight, we (Sarah and I) made it to Quito (with all of our luggage :) at about 11:30pm Monday night. Someone from the language school where we are taking classes came and picked us up and took us to our host family. Our host family is wonderful :) It´s actually just a single woman, Patti, who must be in her early 30s. She is one of the nicest and most helpful people I have ever met! We each have our own bedrooms and there are two other students living with us (one from scotland and [View Full Entry]

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So. The 'countdown to Quito' has officially transformed into a countdown of hours rather than days. As of right now, I've got a measly 26 hours before I need to be in the car heading for the airport. So I'm now starting to realize that up until this point, I've done a really good job of failing to acknowledge the fact that I'll be away from everything I've known to be comfortable and familiar for an entire year. Well, now that it's dark and I'm alone in the house, that 'sinking/what the hell am I doing/am I really ready for this' [View Full Entry]

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Here I am, May 31st, officially starting the blog that will share with all of you my adventures in Ecuador! I will be flying to Quito, Ecuador August 10th, 2009. After two weeks of Spanish courses, I will be volunteering with an organization called the Working Boys Center (check out their website for more info http://www.workingboyscenter.org/). As the start to my year long trip approaches, I will post more details! [View Full Entry]

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