On Sunday the 20th, I went to a friend’s farm. We
had a fun time. The night before, I spent the night with her, and woke up to a
friend—who happens to be a guy—standing outside of the room. It spooked me,
because I had just gotten up, and was not expecting someone to be waiting for
their laundry to be washed. After eating breakfast, we spent time in their little
car part store with her mom until 12:30. By then, we went to eat lunch; I ate a
very delicious bean soup—it was almost sweet, but oh so good! Then, we went to
the farm. It was an interesting ride, as the adults and young girl went inside
the pick-up truck, the four of us—my friend, her sister, their cousin (the boy
waiting for laundry), and me, sitting in the back. I now understand why truck
drivers have issues hearing (I’m guessing we were going around 60mph, about the
speed of semi-trucks on the freeway). After around 15 to 20 minutes of driving,
we were there! We entered the house, doing our best to not slip on mud, and
greeted everyone. They took me on a five minute walk and explained the
difference between tiny little limes, and what we would consider normal sized lemons,
which in Spanish are “limón” and “limón de vaca.” The lemons that they had were
very ugly looking, kind of like wrinkly and bumpy skin. Nonetheless, I’m sure
they taste yummy! After this, we went to a river and waded for a long time to
get to the perfect spot to swim. It was beautiful, but, sadly, appeared as
though it was going to rain. I was not in the mood to climb rocks or wait for
snakes (I’m pretty sure they were saying cobras…) to come into the river with us,
so I suggested we leave and go back. This time, we climbed up a boulder filled
mud slide, and I nearly fell down, which could have been life taking with the
rocks that were nearby—not to be over dramatic or anything. We ended up walking
in the rain, and I ended up with a cold (of all places to get a cold, right?).
Then, we took showers, changed, and stood around the oven. The ovens in the
country (not country as in Ecuador, but as in farm) are amazing! They are made
out of cement with two pits in the middle. The circular one is for storing the
pots and pans, and the square-like one is for the fire. They put one or two
metal bars across this one to heat the pans. Everything made over an open flame
always seems to taste better! While the family ate “carne de res,” I still have
issues eating red meat, so I stayed away from the cow. Normally here, it is
rude to refuse food, but I was not in the mood for a stomach ache for a few
days, and they were kind enough to understand. Instead, I was given the sides. “Tortillas
de yuca” (I have no idea how to spell the last word, but it translates to
Cassava cakes…more or less),” verde asado” (grilled green plantains—these look
like bananas, but I assure you, they are not, and taste like raw potatoes when
they are raw, but taste delicious when cooked!), and a little bit of “arroz”
(rice). It was delicious, but I couldn’t put another bit of food in my mouth!
This is partially because we ate a huge mango, corn on the cob, and half of a
platano each a little bit earlier! Ooof, that was Spanish! Anyway, that is how
you would say the word for the potato tasting banana that is yummy when cooked!
After dinner, we went back to town, and they dropped me off at the house, where
I took a hot shower and slept for a lot of hours. I loved it there, but at the
same time, would have been a bit happier without getting a cold! I plan to go
back this Sunday with my class, and will be bringing my camera, and hopefully
getting a number of amazing pictures!
Yesterday, I found out that I will be going to my new house
in the first few days of February, but still don’t know what day! One question
was answered—where I will be spending Carnival! With my second official family!
I’m so excited to be in a new house, but at the same time, feel as though I
will have days where I miss something about my current family. I look forward
to being in the center of the city, because I will be closer to everyone I
know, and will not be ankle deep in muck every time I go outside. Oh, and did
you know that it is harder to walk in muck in flip flops than to walk on
slippery ice in tractionless boots? I know that now… I am considering buying a
pair of $5 shoes that grip the mud and are made mostly of plastic. I’m going to
invite a friend who showed me the shoes to buy them with me. Wow, that was
totally off subject of changing houses… Anyway, the other exchanger here will
be going to live with a nice family (not mine) that lives in muck as well, but
have a nice and cozy house that is sure to be a fun place to live. This Wednesday,
I should know when we change. As well, I will probably be giving a speech about
the US, OR, Medford, and finally me this coming meeting. It is something we
have to do before changing families. I
have had this prepared for the past 6 or 7 months, and opened it again last
month to fix some things, and start rereading it, and figuring out what I want
to say. I feel pretty confident about the presentation, but nervous to explain
my life to a number of people!
It is also time for me to think about my return date. It’s
such a sad time for me, because I will then be realizing the exact halfway DAY,
rather than month. With my school in the states, it appears that by the time I
am able to give the day, the halfway point will have already passed. If I can
get some books here, and some pretty stable internet connection, it appears
that I may be able to stay longer, but probably not until the end of my visa—July
31st. I dread choosing a date, but know it’s better to choose sooner
than later. I will be asking my Rotary Club next Wednesday about this, as well
as certain important questions about leaving the country. As one of my lovely
friends would say, “Sad day.” I don’t want to know! It feels as though my life
here has just begun, and I have to decide when it will be ending…
A few weeks ago my family had to go to Portoviejo, and I
went along and called an exchange friend. She went on exchange to Medford last
year. That’s right! She was on exchange in my town, and is now only an hour
away from where I am right now! We went on a bike ride for a good 3 hours,
which hurt, because I had not been on a bike in at least 5 months, and the seat
on the bike was very small. It was really fun, and I’m hoping to spend some
more time with her and her family! They are really sweet people, and will be
sending another exchange student next year. I speak in Spanish with her, because I believe
in speaking Spanish with people whose first language is Spanish, and are not
trying to learn English (for example, other exchange students in the USA).
It has been hard understanding another culture, and I still
find myself making mistakes, and asking questions, “Should I go upstairs and
greet them, or should I wait for lunch for them to come downstairs?” “Is it
appropriate to use this word in front of adults, or is it just the slang teens
use?” “Can I do this, or should I just keep my mouth shut?” A lot of the time,
I am not sure, and don’t want to ask my family. Usually I wait and ask some
friends, because I have found they can explain things from the view of a teen.
With all the cultural differences and mistakes that have been made, I can say
THANK YOU (yes, in caps) to all the people who have explained things to me! It
has been very helpful!!
The other day, I had a dream, and nearly woke up in tears,
because I realized it wasn’t near true. My mom decided to come to Ecuador, and
brought our old house with her. I was walking through the living room with one
of my Ecuadorian friends, and saw one of my lovely red headed friends showing
my mom a dance (I have no idea…). I was later making plans to take my mom on a
trip around the country for 2 weeks, and making plans to see my Ecuadorian
friends as well as my friends from the states at the same time. I feel so split
right now, because I want to bring everyone together, so I don’t have to give
up either of them! After about an hour of thinking about this, I felt really
sad, but decided to do something later that afternoon so I would feel good
again. I realized that I miss my mom a lot, but would not be able to go another
five months without her if it wasn’t for the amazing friends I have made here
in Ecuador. They always seem to have something funny to say or some plan
involving me that always cheers me up when I feel homesick. I have found that
when I stay at home, or in the office all day, I go to sleep feeling a bit sad,
because I have thought about my family a lot. If I do something each day, I
feel good and relaxed, and not so homesick.
With that being said, a word for future exchangers reading
this: If you begin to feel homesick, and really just want to spend time in bed
looking through old pictures with your family and friends, take 10 or 15
minutes to do that, and then pick of the phone and make a call to a friend and
say you want to do something with them. If, after that, you still feel homesick,
don’t let yourself have time to think about your family. Give yourself
something to do: write a blog post about something, even if it is about what
your lunch was; watch a movie with your family; go for a walk; take pictures of
your neighborhood or house; get to know the Rotary Club’s Project. If it gets
to the point where that doesn’t help you, find an exchange friend (this is a
person who is currently on exchange in your host country) to talk to and tell
about your home family. Tell them about the cultural differences between the
two, and how something annoys you, or about how you learned something from
someone. I have found that these things help me a lot. I have also enjoyed
talking to someone from my home country that is more of an acquaintance than
friend, explaining something about the host country, or some funny language
mistake, and asking about school in the home country, or even the weather!
Talking to someone that you know, but cannot associate with any important
memories can be helpful when curious about home and are homesick at the same
time. However, it is important to tell your home family that, yes, you do miss
them, but try your best to not talk to them when you are homesick. I have found
it very hard to do, and have collapsed and Skyped my mom when feeling homesick,
but it rarely helps for more than a few minutes. Just remember to keep yourself
busy with the people that are in your host country, because that is how you are
going to keep going when feeling homesick. Without them, you have nothing but
yourself that you can see without using a computer screen.
