"Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go..."

I am currently sitting at the computer in my house in Quito. The program at CIMAS ended yesterday, and I’m waiting for my mom to arrive at the airport. I am in disbelief that it really is the 13th of December, and that in one week, I will be saying farewell to Ecuador, and hello to home in the U.S. I am feeling such a mix of emotions right now that I am not sure I’ll be able to describe exactly what I am feeling, but I will do my best! :o)

I feel pretty terrible that I have not updated my blog since the 18th of November. I’ve been trying to think of a really great excuse, but I am not sure I have one! There was a period of time where I felt like I did not have much to say, that working at INNFA was becoming routine, but looking back, I realize that is far from the truth. Each of my days working at INNFA was completely different and beautiful in its own way. There were definitely days when more patients came than others, but each day was different nonetheless. I built some very special relationships with the psychologist, with the women that work at the centers, with the patients and their parents, and with the kids that came to the after school program.

My patients and my treatment skills definitely were tested on a couple of occasions when the psychologist decided attend meetings in a different town, leaving me to attend to the patients, and assuring me that I was qualified. The first time this happened, I was so nervous I vomited in the morning after breakfast, and did not go to work (hahaa). The second and third time, I did not have any sort of warning, which left no time for me to be nervous or sick. So, what did I do? I attended the patients, and I did well! :o) Of course it was a little awkward during the few cases that the parents do not speak at all, but I am pretty proud of the way that I handled the situation.

Although it was hard to say goodbye to everyone at INNFA, it was most difficult to say goodbye to the kids. I became pretty close to some of them in a short period of time, and I know it was difficult for them to understand why I had to leave, and why I could not just come back after Christmas. I do wish that I could be here to see them grow and become amazing people – they will definitely keep a special place in my heart.

During my last weeks in Otavalo, I became very close with my family. I talked to my mother every night over dinner, about anything, just like I do with my real mother. I picked on my little brother and he frequently burst into the room while I was working on my monografia to attack me with little balls made of gelatin-ish stuff. I spent the weekends hanging out with my sister and my cousins. Unfortunately, I was not able to see my dad much, but I still feel like our relationship grew during my last weeks. It was really difficult to pack up my bag with my sister, brother, and mom in the room looking at me with puppy eyes and telling me not to leave. But I had a really great last evening in Otavalo, and will not have to say my real goodbyes until Friday, when I take my mom there to see where I have lived and to meet my family!

I came back to Quito from Otavalo one week ago. I finished my monografia within the first couple of days, and I presented it on Thursday. I am really happy with the way that everything turned out and feel like I have gained a very valuable and unique experience. My relationship with Mary has been great since I´ve been back, which undoubtedly will make it even more difficult to leave. Unfortunately, the food has not improved…haha. It has been great to spend one last week with all of the wonderful people from CIMAS. These past couple of days I have said goodbye to some amazing people that have entered my life through this experience. Luckily, I will see many of them in Minneapolis…but there are many that I may not see for a very long time. I am thankful for each and every one of the people that were here with me – each for very different reasons, and although I am not equally close to everyone, I appreciate each one and know that I am blessed to have met them. The relationships that I have made here have definitely made this experience what it was.

As I am sitting here, I am thinking about how I was feeling 3 and half months ago when I was on the plane to Ecuador. I was excited and terrified at the same time. I was lonely and afraid that I would not make friends, but confident that this experience would change my life. There is no doubt that this experience has influenced me and changed my perspective on life in many ways, some of which I can recognize, and some of which I may not realize until I am home and have time to process everything that I have lived here. There is so much that I want to take home with me, so much that I do not want to forget. I want to take home the affection that I have learned to live here (beware of hugs!). I want to take home my new perspective on family…family as people that live for each other. I want to remember how I have learned that in so many situations that stress is not necessary, that sometimes we have to wait, and that sometimes things do not go at all how we had hoped, but that no matter what, everything turns out okay…or maybe even better than anticipated. I want to remember that relaxation is necessary. And this is only the beginning of the list of things that I have learned and will carry with me…

T-3 hours until Adventures with Teena and Jessica in Ecuador begins! :o) The following week will bring hiking, waterfalls, good food, shopping, catching up…and for me, translating! :o)

This is Jessica Schetter, signing off from Quito, Ecuador.

Abrazos!

I have a new favorite pastime ;o)

¡Holaaaa friends! Woo, it has been a while – but that´s because life is going very well and I just haven´t taken the time to slow down and write!

My internship is going very well. It is not as independent as I had envisioned, but I don´t mind that. It is hard for me do be doing my own thing while I am working with a psychologist, and I´m not exactly qualified to evaluate children. :o) I am definitely learning a lot, though. Most days after I am done working with Soledad I stay and work in the after school program. Although it makes for along day, I really enjoy just hanging out with the kids and seeing them smile.

After lots of thinking and indecision, I´ve finally decided on a topic for my monografía. I have decided to write about maltreatment/abuse within families, especially within the indigenous culture where physical maltreatment is seen as an acceptable punishment. Example: In the indigenous culture, if a child touches something that he or she is not supposed to, it is custom to burn the child´s hands. Soledad and I are working with a boy who cannot bend his pointer finger because it is so badly burnt. I just can´t even imagine that such treatment is accepted.

Maltreatment generally is not the principal reason that children receive psychological help, but I´ve noticed that many of the kids who come in for different reasons also suffer from difficult family situations – and the impact of the abuse really inhibits their development.
I am pretty overwhelmed with actually writing my monografía. Sometimes I feel like I have way too much material to read, and sometimes I feel like it is nearly impossible to find what I want to see…but that´s how school is, yes?

Weekends! Family time. Willingly though – I´ve already decided that 5 weeks is not nearly enough time with my family. But I´ve also decided that all I can do is take advantage of the time that I have. My sister is only home on the weekends, so we try to find bonding time when one of us is not doing homework. Last weekend we went out with our cousins to “dar vueltas.” Haha. Okay so, the phrase “dar la vuelta” has become one of my favorite Spanish phrases. Its literal meaning is “to turn around,” but really, it has many meanings..Like..turn yourself around, flip the tortilla, flip over a piece of paper, turn the car around…or, my new favorite, to “dar vueltas” around town, to drive around town, all night long, just to pass the time. And this is like…a legit nighttime activity. Obviously gas is a bit less expensive here! ;o)

This weekend one of my friends from CIMAS, Emily, came to visit, and we went out with my sister and cousins, dar-ed some vueltas, and went to the “pipas” (hookah). Emily and I taught them how to play the card game BS. On Sunday, while my sister was buried in books, I went with my cousin and his friend to La Cascada de Peguche, a waterfall which is about a 20 minute walk from my house. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the waterfall was lovely. It was a nice Sunday trek.

And now we´re back to Monday. I am trying to remain motivated to get work done on my monografía, and trying not to pay too much attention to how quickly the time is passing!

Sending love and hugs! :o)
Jessica

Cumpleaños(se) and Transitions!

Hello loves! :o) Woo…it has been just over a week since I last updated, but I feel like it has been much longer. My last weekend in Quito went very well. I spent lots of time with Mamita Mary and had some time to just relax and prepare to move to Otavalo. I definitely had that uncomfortable lingering feeling that always takes over with the anticipation of change.

Mary threw me a birthday fiesta on Monday night, my last night in Quito. I arrived home to find a beautifully set table and could tell she had been preparing all day. Really, it was picture perfect, and it was super hard to find that words to express my appreciation. She made a cake (from scratch!!) along with jello and strawberries, empanadas, and tea. Almost the entire family came to celebrate, as well as four lovely chicas. It really was wonderful, and I felt like a part of my family, which was great, but also kind of bittersweet as I knew that I was leaving the following morning.
I woke bright and early on Tuesday morning to say goodbye to mi madre quiteño, lugged my suitcase outside, and got into a taxi with Sophie. Aye, how emotional! At the same time, it was very comforting to have amazing friends that were going through the same transition. Anyway, we arrived at CIMAS to say our goodbyes to everyone, and got onto a bus with the 9 other people that are living in the northern region of Ecuador for their internships. I was the second to be dropped off and by the time we had arrived to Otavalo, I was ready.

My first 7 days in Otavalo have succeeded anything I could have expected. First, my family! I have a mom (Marcela) and a papi (Carlos). My mom works at INNFA, the organization that I am working for. My dad works in tourism and also in auto mechanics (I think). He has a 14 person van for transporting tourists. :o) I have an 18 year old sister named Karlita and she is wonderful. She studies in Quito during the week, so she is only home on the weekends. Last but not least, I have a 6 year old brother named Mateo…and he is wonderful! Being around him makes me miss my own little bro at home! We also have two dogs, and I do not know much about them, except that they are very loud and wake me up around 6 every morning.

Our house is…nice, not at all what I expected. It was a bit overwhelming at first because I am living in much better conditions than I had anticipated coming into this. There have been moments when I have thought to myself that maybe I should have pushed my limits further to live with an indigenous family or in a lower socioeconomic status. Instead of having regrets or becoming disappointed in myself, I´ve decided to make this a lesson in humility. It is already clearly apparent to me that “things” do not matter, and what is more important is the wonderful people that I have the opportunity to live with and learn from. I will not take my living situation for granted; instead I am going to learn as much as I can while I am here.

Not only am I lucky with my family, but with my internship as well. I am working with psychologist named Soledad, and I know that I am going to learn a ton from her. My first 3 days of work were mostly observing, but I have completely enjoyed it. I am experiencing something that simply could never happen in the U.S. The organization that I work for, INNFA, is a daycare for at risk children that is all throughout the country. They have programs for children ages 6 and under. Also, school age children come after school to eat lunch and to work on homework. I will be working at the center in Otavalo, and will also travel to communities nearby during the week. The majority of patients that come in come for help with speech therapy or stimulation. Some children do not have developmental problems, but their parents bring them in just for extra stimulation. We also work with children who are having behavior problems, family problems, or problems at school. I am already realizing how challenging a career in psychology will be, but I also know that I am going to learn amazing things while from Soledad and my experience with INNFA.

…I know this is long, but, my REAL birthday! :o) The beginning of the day was tough. There was not much to do in the house, the family was busy, and it did not feel like my birthday. I think it was because I´m not experiencing the beautiful fall weather that I usually see on my birthday. Of course it could also have something to do with being in another country… :o) But, the day became much better. Yes, I am spoiled, and had a second birthday fiesta. Three of my friends that are living nearby came to celebrate with me and we had cake, wine, and LASAGNA. Yes, lasagna! And it was DELICIOUS. At night, we went out dancing with my sister, a couple of cousins, and some friends of my sister…and it was wonderful! It is pretty lovely to have, as Marissa says, “insta-friends.” My cousins and my sisters friends are great! Eeps, I´m definitely looking forward to more good times while I´m here.

As always, I´m thinking of you all, miss and love you, and I´d love to hear from you!
Abrazos,
Jessica

Ciao Quito, Hola Otavalo!

Hello loves!

I only have time for a quick update, but I will do the best that I can! :o)

My last day of classes at CIMAS was Friday! Woohoo! We turned in our essays and had oral presentations and everything went very well. The rest of my weekend consisted of: unlimited wine and tapas, shopping for warm clothing, dancinnggg, church, and family time.

My host mom took me shopping on Saturday morning to get warm clothing because...believe it or not, I am cooold! Our mission was successful and I think I´ll be nice and calientita when I move to Otavalo...which is Tuesday, by the way..ahh!

As far as moving to Otavalo goes, I feel like I´m just going through the motions, slowly getting my things together and trying not to get emotional about leaving. Change is always a challenge though, and it really is too bad that I am leaving just as I finally feel part of my family, and I finally feel comfortable in Quito. I´ll miss being around my friends too. I feel like we have been spoiled for the last month, being so close to each other. I am sure that everything will go well, though. I am excited for a new experience.

Tomorrow night, Mary is throwing me a tea party for my birthday, since I will not be here for the real thing. She has made it a priority to do something special for me and I´m pretty excited about it...although I feel like maybe I should be having wine instead of tea for my 21st birthday! ;o) Haha, kiddding! She invited the whole family and I invited a few friends...I am pretty psyched for my Ecaudorian birthday. Woot woot!

Nooww I should be getting home...and next time, I´ll be in a new home :o)

Much love and thinking of you all,
Jessica

Impromptu Adventures, Banana Cake, and “Stressica”

Hello my loves!
(I wrote this Tuesday night..)

I thought about changing it up a bit and saving the weekend adventures until last, but that would not make much sense. I left my house early Friday morning to meet up with Sophie and Emily to start our journey to Papallacta…or so we thought. The plan was to spend a relaxing two days close to Quito, hike, and take advantage of some thermal baths…but that plan changed shortly after getting on the bus. We decided that we were not being adventurous enough and that we should take advantage of the fact that there is a jungle in Ecuador, and decided to extend our journey another 4 hours to Tena. We got off of the bus at a crossroads, and waited for a bus that would take us to Tena. After experiencing one of the most bumpy bus rides ever, we ended up in a cute little town in the Orient with 13 other students from CIMAS! I felt HEAT for the first time since I´ve been here and felt that I had finally arrived to the Ecuador that I had envisioned. ;o)

We visited a park where we swam in the Rio Tena and saw some jungle animals (monkeys, parrots, a TUCAN, snaaakes..eep, and some animals that I had never seen before). On Saturday we got up early to explore the town, then went to visit some caves in another town near by. Our guide taught us how to take advantage of the mud baths inside of the caves, and that we did! :o) When we were climbing up out of the cave, I thought I was in the middle of a movie. As we climbed up, we saw more and more light, and we climbed out onto land where it was raining…beautiful! Overall, a great way to spend our last weekend traveling together before we all move to our internship sights.

Last night, I attempted to make banana bread with my host mom. I was excited to show her one of my very favorite foods from home, but that is not exactly how it turned out. First, she did all of the cooking. She insisted that I do not know how to cook and that I should watch her so that when I get married someday I will know what to do. I thought to myself, “We are making banana bread, this is not gourmet cooking. I think I can handle it.” But I did not worry about it too much and let her “teach me.” She proceeded to let me know that we needed more butter than the recipe called for and added a TON of baking powder, some vanilla, and suggested that I put raisins on the top (note: our bread was put into a circular pan). I did not want to give in completely, so I put raisins on half…bahaha! Our creation turned out while, although not exactly the banana bread that I love…instead, we have more of a banana cake…but that works too! :o)

And that brings us to today. This is our last week in Quito, and unfortunately we have to write an essay before the week is over. The essay was supposed to be a group essay, but our professor decided that our track should write it individually, which is great, but I think I hit the biggest creativity block EVERR today. I thought that I had something great to write about, but quickly realized that my idea went way beyond the scope of what we have learned about education, so I decided to start from scratch. I secluded myself in the basement of CIMAS and listened to my ipod and I started to answer a list of questions that our professor had given us as a starting point. One of the last questions on the sheet was, “How has what you have learned in the track of education changed your perception of Ecuador/Latin America?” I´m not sure exactly why that question made me think, but it did. It made me think that I have learned a lot about this country, especially when it comes to education, and I think I have created a special place in my heart of Ecuador without even realizing it. It has been amazing to experience a developing country. But this country is more than developing…it is a country with aspirations for a better life, with motivation to make improvements where there are challenges. I am lucky to be here.

Well, I am off to bed in hopes of avoiding “Stressica” tomorrow! :o)

Abrazos,
Jessica

Spongebob + Outdoor Bed + Mosquito Net = Love

Hola mis amores!

Wowee, I cannot believe that it is already the middle of October! Time is flying by…

Last weekend I traveled with 3 other girls to Mindo, a cute little touristy town about 2 and a half hours from Quito. We got the last 2 beds at a lovely hostel called La Casa de Cecilia, and Cecilia took very good care of us! :o) Before we left for Mindo, Emily and I proposed the idea of camping out in a tent, and although we did not end up doing that, I think we got as close as possible. When we arrived at the hostel, Cecilia showed Emily and I to our bed…she opened the door to what looked like a cute 2nd floor balcony, until I turned my head and saw a twin bed covered in a bright Spongebob comforter with a mosquito net hanging overhead. Needless to say…we were pleasantly surprised.

The highlight of our trip to Mindo was a zipline tour through the canopy of the forest. OOooh my goodness --- so much fun and SO beautiful. We also went on a morning walk to see a butterfly exhibit and then went on a short hike to see a waterfall. We ate some pretty amazing food too…grilled cheese and REAL COFFEE. Haha. It was a nice relief from the food at home, although I think I am finally over my Ecuadorian food low and have been feeling hungry for the first time in weeks.

On Sunday, I spend the majority of the day with family. We went to visit my host mom´s brother for his birthday, then went out to lunch, and visited the Panecillo in the Historical Center of Quito. The Panecillo is a huuuuge, beautiful statue of the Virgen Mary. I really enjoy spending time with my family, and it´s kind of a bummer that I only see them on Sundays. I feel like I am finally starting to feel comfortable with them, but I will be moving to a new city in 2 weeks.

Beyond feeling comfortable with my family, I am finally starting to feel comfortable in Quito is well, and part of me is bummed that I have to leave the comfort behind to begin something new. In 2 weeks I will be living with a new family, in a different city, without any other students, working a new job, without anyone to vent to in English. Although moving to my internship is going to be a huge challenge, I know it is going to be an amazing experience. The transition might be difficult, but I think that I´m ready for it.

...I watched the presidential debates last night! A group of us got together at a friend´s house where we could watch them. Actually...13 of us piled on to her mom´s bed, which we broke. Yiiikes! Anyway, I am not the most politically educated person, so I was really looking forward to watching the debate to better understand what each candidate stands for. I have to say I was pretty disappointed, I could not get myself to focud on McCain´s ideas because I was too preoccupied by his disrespectful and sarcastic behavior. I know that´s part of politics, but I felt like I was listening to some sort of childish argument, not to a potential future president. I won´t say much more than that... :o)

I suppose I should study for my Spanish final now…
You all are always in my thoughts and I hope that life is going well.

Abrazos,

Jessica

Escuelitas, Baños, y Enfermedades

Hola mis lovelies,

I have once again failed at being a loyal blog updater. Maybe every 10ish days is a more feasible goal for me...bah, I´m trying!! :o) I have lots to write about, but I´ll try not to make this too much of a novel.



Last Wednesday and Thursday, the education students went on a trip to visit a couple of rural schools. First, we visited a school in Cangahua that went up to the first year of bachillerato (that´s like the second year of high school for us) and had 440 students. They gave us the most awesome welcome. About 10 of the students dressed in traditional indigenous dress and sang a couple of songs. It was a very humbling experience to see how excited all of the children were to see us there. We returned their welcome by singing them ¨Do Re Mi¨ from The Sound of Music, which we had practiced, full with motions, the entire busride there. Unfortunately, we did not get to spend a lot of time with the kids, but we had a very interesting discussion with the faculty about the challenges of bilingual education.





From there we travelled to a small indigenous community called San Clemente where we stayed the night with indigenous families. This was the part of the trip that I was most nervous about, but turned out to be one of the experiences that I am most thankful for. The community is absolutely breathtaking. Beyond that, the 135 families of the community work together to be completely self sufficient. They have built all of their own homes, raise their own animals (including CUY = guinea pig...a delicacy...so they say), grow corn, potatoes, herbs, grains...everything. We had the opportunity to sit and talk with the dad of the family about life in the community and also helped to prepare the meals (which were by far the best meals I`ve had here). I also experienced some natural medicine! The mom noticed that I was coughing so she warmed about some eucalyptus leaves by the fire and handed them to me to breathe the ¨fumes.¨ Who needs Vick´s Vapor Rub?? :o)

We also visited the school in San Clemente which went from kindergarten to 8th grade and had only 4 classrooms and 4 teachers. It claimed to be a bilingual school (spanish and kichwa) but did not have any bilingual teachers. We definetly did not have to look hard to see the challenges that the face. Despite the challenges, the kids all seemed to be genuinely happy and were very welcoming. Wonderful :o)

I returned to Quito on Thursday to sleep, then travelled to Baños for the weekend with some chicas...photos??

...up before sunrise to go to a mineral bath at the bottom of a waterfall

...at the top of Bella Vista...beautiful hike :o)

Oh AND...I bungee jumped off of a bridge!...I have a video to prove it...but that will have to wait until next time..haha...

After my fabulous weekend, I returned home to be horribly sick on Sunday and could not leave my bed. So I´ve spent the week regaining my energy and working on some pretty intense school stuff...I´ll admit that I may have gotten a LITTLE bit homesick. I feel like that´s an immediate consequence to being sick though :o)

I hope that you all are doing well and enjoying life, I´m thinking of you and sending hugs!

Ciao!

Jessica

Aventuras y Diversiones...

This weekend was definitely a successful one! I totally dominated my adventure to Otavalo, although I may or may not have been quite nervous the entire day. I got a taxi to the bus stop way earlier than I needed to, and proceeded to get on the bus much earlier than I should have. When the "conductor" came back to collect money, I told him where I wanted to be dropped off and tried to stay alert so that I would not miss my stop. Luckily, the man next to me was paying attention when I said where I wanted to get off, so he made sure that I got off at the right place! I arrived in Otavalo at 1:30pm, an hour and a half before my interview…hahaaa. After asking a few people if they would direct me where to go, I found INNFA – a blue and white building with no sign indicating the name of the organization.

I interviewed with the psychologist of the organization, Soledad. She is a Clinical Psychologist and she spends a couple of days in Otavalo, and travels 2 or 3 days to nearby communities where she evaluates children that are facing challenges. She told me that as part of my internship I could travel with her and be present during evaluations so that I could learn more about how evaluations are done. Um, yes please?!! :o) The remaining time of my internship would be spent at INNFA in Otavalo where they have a guarderia (daycare) as well as programs for school aged children. I can definitely say that this sounds like a pretty promising experience, and I am really looking forward to it. As far as the city of Otavalo goes, I´d prefer to live in a smaller town, but I think by the time October rolls around, I will welcome a change from the huge city of Quito to something smaller, even if it still seems city-ish.

On Saturday, some friends and I went to the Teleferico, which is like a ski lift that takes people up the mountain, Pinchincha. After we reached the end of the Teleferico, we walked a bit further up the mountain, stopping every couple of minutes because a) because of the altitude we could barely breathe and b) the views were…breathtaking…for serious. We eventually stopped at a point where we were near the edge of the mountain looking down a huge green valley and out to the city of Quito. We realized that we truly were 4,000 meters up when we saw airplanes flying beneath us. Yep! Pretty awesome! :o)

Sunday was a good day as well. I have really come to look forward to Sundays. Every Sunday since I have been here we have gone to Mamita Mary´s son´s (Mauricio) house for lunch. His family is the one I met on my first day here. He has two kids, Brian and Brenda, and a lovely wife named Lorena. We had a delicious lunch and stayed to talk for a while. I just really enjoy the family time, even though I feel like I miss out on some of the jokes because I cannot keep up with the Spanish. It is just really refreshing to see the affection that the family shows.

At night we went to church (Mary, Sophie, and I)…also something that is an integral part of Sunday! Although the structure of the mass is the same as at home, being at church definitely feels a little bit different. It is very interesting to feel that I stand out at church – I have this feeling that people are looking me and wondering why I am there. I am sure this is just something that I worry way too much about, and I know that church is the last place I should feel that I don`t belong…but honestly, it`s a very different feeling! Despite that, I really enjoy the opportunity to go to church and I´m sure that soon I will feel more comfortable! :o)
This week we only have class for 2 days – tomorrow and Thursday I am going with the other education students to observe two schools and then to spend the night with an indigenous family!

Oh and YES, the Constitution was voted SI, as expected. Very exciting, but I don´t think any changes will be made at least for a couple of months.

Abrazos,Jessica

Woohoo!

Hello loves!

Wah! I´m so sorry I´ve been slacking on the blog updateage. I´m at CIMAS right now just hanging out for a bit before I go on an adventure to Otavalo for in interview...SOLO! Yikes, this is big stuff. I am a big girl. Otavalo is a small town - about a 2.5 hour busride from Quito. I´m going to be interviewing at an organization called INNFA. I don´t know a lot about the organization, except that it works with children that are at risk and come from difficult family situations, which is exactly what I´m looking for. It sounds pretty promising, so I´m excited to go see it. I´m a little bit nervous about travelling there and back by myself, but I think I can manage!

I was supposed to have an interview last weekend in a small town called Cotacachi last weekend, but after I got there, I found out that the lady I was supposed to interview with was sick. Hm. So I accompanied my friend Eleanor to her interview and took in the scenery of the town. I think that was my first taste of the ´´Ecuadorian way.´´ Sometimes things just don´t happen the way you expect them to! It turns out the organization in Cotacachi was not at all what we though it was anyway, so that is how I ended up with this interview in Otavalo.

The rest of the week was filled with suprises as well. After finding out that I´d be interviewing in a different town, I found out that the students are studying education (thats me!) had class today, while everyone else did not. On Wednesday, I was plagued with a suprise illness, and I also suprised some people on the street my sharing my illness with them on my walk home. OOPSIES! I must have at something bad, and for some reason my body decided that everyone on the street should know that as well. Getting sick in public - definetly something everyone should experience at one time in life. Hahaaa.

Needless to say, I´m getting used to the suprises and I´m learning to just go with the flow and be ´´tranquila.´´ That is definetly something I want to take home with me. We read a poem in Spanish class this week written by Jorge Luis Borges called ´´Instantes.¨ It has a ´´carpe diem´´ theme to it and he talks about what he would do if he could life his life other again. My favorite line said, ´´Tendria mas problemas reales y menos imaginarios´´ - I would have more real problems and less imaginary. That really hit home for me because I know that I often create problems for myself. Why make mountains out of molehills, right? I have really grown to appreaciate the simple things, and simple moments here (i.e. spontaneous conversations at school, spending time with family, watching the sunrise above the mountains while running the morning).

Oh! The people of Ecuador are voting on a new constitution on Sunday. I´m really excited to see how everything works out. The new constitution focuses a lot on human rights and respect for all cultures and includes some very positive changes for the country. At the same time, I cannot imagine how such a huge change could be implemented. It seems like a lot of people expect that Ecuador will change into a totally new country after the consitution gets approved (about 70% of the population is for the new constitution), but many of the changes implied by the constitution would take many years to implement. Anyway, it should be exciting to see how it all goes down!

I am off to embark on my adventure!
Love and hugs!
Jessica

"Poco a poco"

Woohoo! I finally have some time to give a full update! :o) I am having such an amazing time that I am not even sure where to begin.

I suppose I will start with school. I am here with a group of 28 other students. Although the majority goes to the University of Minnesota, there are people from California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, and West Virginia. For the first three weeks, we are all taking the same classes together at a foundation called CIMAS. CIMAS is located on a pretty busy street in Quito and is a small building with an auditorium, a kitchen, a few offices, classrooms, and a couple of computer labs. Taking classes at CIMAS is quite the change from Minnesota, it is such an intimate atmosphere…everyone that works there treats us like family, which is very comforting.

We have class from 9am until 4pm, with a break for lunch, of course. The morning consists of classes that focus on development, globalization, philosophy, and Ecuadorian culture, followed by 2 hours of Spanish in the afternoon. After this week, our classes will change a little bit because we will take classes that are related to the track that we have chosen (for me, Education.) I don´t have much background in the things that we have been learning about at all, but I am fascinated by so many of the things that we talk about. I´ve really become driven to really be present in class and completely take in what I am learning. Aside from the awesome professors that we have, I feel very lucky to be surrounded by a group of extremely intelligent and passionate students. It´s pretty amazing. I think we have 6 or 7 more weeks of class, and then we will move to our internships for 5 weeks. Many students will move out to an indigenous area, but the more I read about possible internship opportunities, I think I may end up staying in Quito.

Hm, besides learning a lot, I don´t think I´ve ever eaten so much in two weeks as I have here. Luckily, the food is delicious, the only problem is…I cannot physically fit it all into my stomach. Haha. Breakfast is usually bread with jam, scrambled eggs, a banana, an orange, coffee, and orange juice. Interestingly enough, the common thing here is to drink instant coffee with hot milk. I asked my host mom why instant coffee is more common over real Ecuadorian coffee (one of their leading exports!) and she said simply that it is very expensive. For lunch, I´ve become a pretty big fan of the Panaderia (bread store) close to CIMAS. Panaderias are EVERYWHERE…and you can smell them from a block away…ummm WONDERFUL. Instead of buying a loaf of bread, it seems more common to go buy fresh bread daily…I´m a pretty big fan of that. Okay so dinner. Soup. I´m not talking like…chicken noodle soup, I am talking soup with thick broth, beans, potatoes, corn, meat. I´ve had a different kind of soup each night that I´ve been here. Soup is followed by a plate FULL of rice, some sort of meat, and a vegetable, or potato, or pasta. Lots of carbs. Haha. And juice! The juice here is amazing, I have had juices from fruit that I did not even know existed. Despite my attempts to explain to Mary (my host mom) that I have a small stomach, I have a feeling she will continue to feed me the same amount of food. Haha, it could be worse, right? :o)

This weekend I went with a group of people to a city called Otavalo. It is a smaller city that has a large indigenous population. We stayed at an awesome hostel that had an outdoor fireplace. At night we had a fire, and in the morning we got up real early to go to the indigenous market. WOW. The market was huge, and to see all of the work that many of the people had done by hand was amazing. The market was filled with panchos, sweaters, scarves, artwork, jewlerly, and a large part of it was for food. The whole street was lined with fruits, vegetables, spices, and people cooking authentic rice and meat dishes. Besides the market, we had some pretty awesome conversations. I am thankful every day that I have been so blessed to have this opportunity and to get to know so many beautiful people. So, needless to say, life is pretty wonderful. I am happy. And as ecuamami (hostmom) says, ¨Poco a Poco.” Little by little, I´m learning the language, I´m getting to know the city, and little by little, I´m feeling a bit more at home.



Props to you if you have actually read all of this, I know it was long…oopsies. I miss you all tons and love to hear from you always (schet003gmal.com).

Love and hugs!
Jessica

It´s True, I´m Alive!

Waaah! I am here, I am alive, and life is beautiful! I am currently on my lunch break, so I only have a couple of minutes, but I will try to type quickly in order to give you all a full update! The flights to Quito went very smoothly. We stayed in a hostel for the first night where they served us a delicious dinner. On Tuesday, we lugged all of our suitcases to CIMAS (that´s school) for orientation, and moved in with our families in the afternoon. My host mom is more like a grandma, her name is Mary. Her and I live in her house, while her daughter (Nancy), daughter´s husband (Manuel), and her grandson (Pablo) live in a part of the house that is sort of connected, I don´t see them much though. I have also met another one of Mary´s sons, Mauricio. He has two children, Brenda who is 12, and Brian who is 18. They are absolutely wonderful. Everyone is so caring and warm here, which is definetly a wonderful feeling.

The first week was sort of difficult. It was hard to become comfortable when living with just one person and dealing with the language barrier, but I have opended up and am starting to feel much more comfortable with my host mom.

This past weekend was amazing. We visited a place called San Miguel de los Bancos. I can´t wait to post photos...it is SO gorgeous. We took a walk through the forest...the mountains and everything was SO GREEN. This country is so unbelievably diverse. Anyway, so the walk! We walked to a river where there was a breathtaking waterfall and a place to swim in the river. Seriously. Breathtaking.

It´s time to go to class, but I love you all and hope that everything is going well. Please, leave messages! Tell me stories! Email me!

Love!

T-18 Hours to Departure

(It WAS 18 hours when I wrote this!)

Well, I have officially left home! After a couple of weeks of “goodbye-for-nows” to my wonderful friends and coworkers, I said goodbye to my house and Lucy (that’s my car) this morning, and I’m currently in the backseat of my mom’s car on the way to Minneapolis. My Dad, Christine, and Brandyn are coming to send me off as well. We’ll be staying in a hotel tonight and getting up real early for my flight to Quito in the morning.

I am trying to think of ways to describe the way I am feeling right now, but it is nearly impossible! It seems like my emotions are constantly changing. For the past week I’ve been in this pre-departure zone of disbelief, nervousness, excitement, apprehension, and anxiousness. I don’t think I’ve ever felt a combination of so many emotions at such intensity, EVER. It’s definitely an indescribable feeling. I feel like I have been telling people about my trip to Ecuador for so long that I began to think that departure day would never come. It still has not hit me that I am actually doing this, and I probably will not realize it until I arrive there.

I am super excited to meet the wonderful people that will be in Ecuador with me. I am looking forward to meeting my host family. I cannot wait to finally see the country that I have been admiring through photos. I am excited to hear and to speak Spanish. I’ve got to be honest though, one of my largest apprehensions is the language. I am confident in my ability to communicate in Spanish – but it is a bit different to talk to a native speaker than to another person in my Spanish class. Of course, it’s always a little nerve-wracking to step outside of my comfort zone, and I am going to miss my family and friends a looooot. Despite all of my worries and apprehensions, I know that this is going to be an amazing experience, and I truly do feel ready (as ready as I’m going to be!) I am ready to love every moment of my time in Ecuador, to grow, to learn, and to have the time of my life.

I will do my best to keep you all posted!
I have posted my mailing address in Ecuador, but I think the most reliable form of communication is going to be through e-mail – and I’d love to hear from you!

Love and God Bless!
Jessica :o)