So dear ones who just absolutely
love and hate my blog all at the same time, I must begin with this: When on the
coast with a bunch of other exchange students, just have the time of your life,
and DON’T GET BURNED! Or bitten by bugs. I was smart enough to only go in the
sun in a bathing suit once with sun screen on. However, that didn’t last very
long when I went on the banana boat…and fell into the water, so of course, it
wore off a little. We fell in the water 4 times, and the 3rd, EVERYONE
(7 others) fell on my back, and I feel as though I have whip lash from
it—needless to say, I need a chiropractor again. L
However, there are amazing people, and I will never say goodbye to them. To the
Brazilians and Australian who are going back before the next trip, I will miss
you all, but I will never say good bye. There will always be a spot in my heart
for you! Anyway, after that heart touching moment, I now am going to move on to
something that I have fear of: lap dances. I say this sarcastically, “thank you
for pushing me into the chair that is in the middle of the circle. Thank you so
much.” Never ever get pushed into the chair. Ever. A lap dance is just plain
awkward for me. Oh, and I got married. To a guy from Colorado. By a French
priest. With a French witness. And an American witness. They were also the
groomsman and bridesmaid. Yeah, we got divorced the next day. Shows you how
long relationships last when one of the rings is drawn on by marker! Now for
the VERY scary part, of which I do NOT mean sarcastically. I was lucky that my
room was not broken into, and my things were not stolen. There were people who
were staying in the hotel—of which was reserved ONLY for the exchange students
and Rotarians who were staying with us—who broke in, or opened the door and
took some very nice things, including a credit card, many cameras, many cell
phones, and honestly, that scares me. My room was lucky enough not to be
raided, except when the police came to check it out. They, however, did not
look in any of the bathrooms, only the suitcases. It was not the fact that the
people stole things, but we were supposed to be on a safe Rotary trip, and
people were able to WALK INTO OUR ROOMS at night when we were supposedly SAFELY
SLEEPING. I mean, of course I trust the other exchange students and Rotarians,
but I believe that there was someone who worked in the hotel that cannot be
trusted. I just cannot believe someone would have the heart to steal from
exchange students who are paying to stay there.
Now, we must carry on to another
lovely topic! I was a dama (which honestly, I can only translate to brides
maid, but without being a bride) for my sister! She is the queen of Club La
Union, and her crowning was Saturday. I learned a dance, and felt awkward when my
caballero (translates to gentleman) was shorter than me. He was the same
height, until I put on these 3ish inch heels. He kept trying to look taller,
poor guy! It was amazing, and I did dance, horribly, but I did… People would be
proud (at times). Anyway, I had fun, and went home EARLY at 3:30ish. In the
morning.
The day after, I was woken up at
10 to go to El Carmen to visit some cousins. It was really fun. Right now,
there is a little girl who is in my bathroom (my cousin, don’t get it all
confused, I don’t let random little girls in my bathroom) who will be staying
with us for a few days. Her name is
Yuliana, and she is a doll. She will be turning 8 pretty soon, and I just love
her! I love that age, just old enough to know right from wrong, and yet still
innocent and sweet!
Tomorrow is my birthday, so we are
going to have a dinner with 5 of my classmates. I’m pretty happy for that, but
I won’t “muerda la torta! Muerda la torta!” Though, it does sound yummy!! The
one thing though, is I cannot believe I’m going to be 17 tomorrow. I just feel
like a few months ago I got used to saying 16!
This week, we don’t have school
because it’s The Day of the Dead on Thursday and Friday. I’m loving the no
school thing! It makes me happy!
Something else I hate to admit, to
myself as well as to the public, is that I feel closer to some family here then
I do in the states. For example, I feel more a part of Isabella’s (my niece in
Ecuador) than I do my two nieces back in the states. However, when I get to
thinking about this, I think, “Well, Emma, it looks like when you get back,
things are going to have to be a little bit different.” I want to be part of
each life of my family member’s. If I am related to someone, whether it be
distantly, or very close, I want to be part of their lives. I feel as though
this culture has not taught me that, but has pushed it to the front of my
thoughts.
Chao for now from Chone!
Oh, and PS: Ecuadorians, please
don’t ask me to translate any more dirty words. I’m sick of saying no, and then
when you ask the English teacher and they don’t know what it means, I really
don’t wanna translate it… Please… That was embarrassing… (Wish you could have
guessed when you heard the word “suck” in the sentence…)
Anyway, we’re going to continue
here… My birthday dinner! I had 4 friends over as well as some lovely Rotarians
and a lot of family! We ate, acted
funny, danced to this Chinese song that is sooooooo funny (look it up
Gangdomstop—I think. Just yeah… Don’t hold me to my word on spelling.) And, my
cake had a BUTTERFLY on it. I felt like a little girl again! This had to be one
of the first times here I felt ALMOST completely myself—which I never feel in
the states either, except when I’m with friends. That tells me how perfect I am
with this family and these friends! In the middle of it, I almost got the urge
to cry, because of how good I felt about being here. It was a good tear, but it
never shed. I just felt so good! Life right now could not be happier. Feliz
cumpleaños to me! The pure happiness was the perfect gift!
El día de los muertos! Well, on Thursday, I went to my first
Catholic mass. It consisted of a lot of standing, and sitting, and respectfully
waiting as people prayed. I went with my mom and two sisters to show respect
for my father’s cousin who died a year ago. However, the mass was more for
everyone who had died more than just him. After, I went to the cemetery to show
my respect for him. They cleaned up his grave, and put flowers on it, and lit
candles. They played music and many people cried. It was a time of mourning for
his death. My mom and I left half an hour earlier to go get the car from the
store, and went home. This is when I had my second taste of a traditional drink
that they make around this time of year: colada morada. It is really yummy! If
ANYONE has the chance to taste it, please do! On Saturday, we did not do the
traditional thing, however, we did go to the beach! It was really fun, because
there were just over 20 of my family members running around the beach! (Once again,
sorry Bahía, I wanted to come see you!) We drank more colada morada, and had
lunch there. Then, we drove back to Chone, where we packed 11 people in a car
made for 7. We had already fit 14 in the same car, so this wasn’t too bad. We
ate dinner, which consisted of tea or coffee, and various types of bread. I
also ate a banana—so strange, I am! (Hey look, Yoda!) I was so tired, that I
did not go to respect more of my father’s family, and I went to sleep. Today is
Saturday, and my family is somewhere, but I have no idea where! I slept through
it my sister waking up and getting ready, I guess… And everyone is gone, just
me, my aunt, and my grandma, and the maids are here. I bet someone is working,
and the others are out doing something with the family. I feel bad that I
didn’t get to go with them, but I am so glad I was able to sleep. I feel as
though this entire week I haven’t slept very good—including last night (people
running in and out of my room at all hours, screaming all of last night), but
at least I slept!
A few cousins, who I’m not quite
sure how they are my cousins—the family tree here is bigger than the one I have
back home (which is quite hard to say, seeing as my mom has 4 siblings and my
dad has 2, as well as the fact that both my grandparents were married
twice)—were shocked when I said how old I am. I just turned 17, and yet again,
they are shocked! If I had said 18, or 19, would they still have been shocked?
Well, people here believe me to be around 22 or 23, so I guess the answer would
be yes. Back in the states, people would guess around 18 or 19 (when I was 15
and 16), so, we were only talking 3 years. Here, we are talking a 6 year
difference! I mean, I guess it’s okay, but I just wish someone who didn’t
already know my age could guess it correctly. Everyone here looks a little
younger than people in the states. It’s kind of shocking, seeing as the Latin
American culture is so girly, and so macho, and dressed up and such. I’m not
quite sure how that works out…
How’s my Spanish coming, you may
ask. Well, I have to say, my Spanish is pretty good. I can understand people
when they talk normally, but still sometimes have to ask people to repeat
themselves or slow down at times. My problem is technical words—still. I have
to ask for detailed explanations of words that I don’t understand, and have to
ask what some words are two or three times before remembering what they are.
However, my Spanish is coming along great. I have noticed that I use things
that I never used before—present perfect (which is used a lot more than one
would think), subjunctive (I touched on it before coming, but never USED it
much), conditional (again, only looked at it), and the killer thing that
EVERYONE has issues with: por and para. These two words translate to one word
in English: for. I still mix up the usages, which, of course, is expected,
since I was not ever taught how to use them, but I feel as though I get a grasp
on the other things I looked at and touched on before coming, and this still
feels like a foreign language. I might just have to crack down and just
memorize the usages and practice them with someone here for some help. (By
this, I mean memorize the usages, then ask for help with using them. I would
say something with the words por and/or para and they would tell me if I was
right or wrong.)
The food here is so good. I feel
like I’m becoming a real exchange student. Why you may ask? Because I don’t
want to stop eating when I’m full, and so, I do, but I crave more food! I’m
keeping in mind a saying that was said before I came: “So long as you can see
your toes, you’re okay.” I can still see my toes… I haven’t weighed myself
since I’ve gotten here, but am scared to. I’m guessing I’ve gained around 6 or
7lbs. I just hope my body doesn’t decide to gain more! People are already
talking about my pancito (the little pouch your tummy has)! The other exchange
student in Chone and I were talking about that: it is not impolite here to talk
about other people’s imperfections, or give them advice on how to fix them, even if you have them yourself! That will be a cultural difference for me,
because I’m already used to people telling me I’m a gordita.
This morning, there was an opossum
outside the house. It scared me, and everyone told me it was a fox. No, that is
not a fox. I was the calmest, but still made a wide birth around it when I
walked out to the car… Because it was alive.
Yup. Alive. Scared to death? Only everyone but me and my dad…
