In mid-September I decided to declare my major as Public Health, and more specifically Health Policy and Management (HPM). UNC has the top graduate Public Health program in the country and their undergrad program isn't too shabby either. And because of its not-too-shabbiness, students have to apply to the program and less than half get accepted. Cool, that's not too competitive or anything. Anyway, what does this have to do with me studying abroad? After I "declared" I quickly found out that if accepted, I would not have the chance to study abroad since the HPM program has a set track of classes for its students in their junior and senior years. I found this out mid-September. The deadline for study abroad was September 23rd. You can figure this one out... yep, I spent the next 7 days going crazy. With the help of the fam, I realized I needed to go a place where I could learn spanish. I had Chile, Costa Rica, and Ecuador in mind and after a week of tearful skype sessions with Bear, back and forth emails with dad, late nights working on my application, and me coming this close to pulling out my dreads, I turned in my application to spend spring semester in Quito, Ecuador. But unfortunately, I wasn't accepted. Ah just kiddinnggggg... I AM HERE, AREN'T I?!
I found out in October, but had lots of school work to focus on and an amazing trip to Hawaii for Christmas to look forward to. And to be honest, spending 5 months away from home, scared the beejeezus out of me, so I just put the whole study abroad thing on the bottom of my list of things to worry about... until right about now.
Soooo estoy en Ecuador! I have been here for about 10 days now and it's safe to say that I have experienced every possible feeling there is. Nervous? Check. Excited? Yes. Scared? Of course. Confusion? Most definitely! I hardly speak spanish ya know. But thus far, it has been fabuloso and since this is already becoming the longest blog in the history of longest blogs, I'll try to condense this next part...
BARRIO aka my hood: I live in Quito Tenis, a reallllllly nice neighbor hood in northwest Quito. Our apartment is gorgeous, all the people living in the building are related to my family, and I have my own bedroom and bathroom! An additional upside: I can go running around the neighborhood without hearing many cat calls from creepy old men. The downside: it takes me an hour to get to school from my quaint little neighborhood high up on the hill.
FAMILIA aka da fam: I live with a mom, Ana, an older sister, Lore, who is 28, Lore's boytoy Fer, and Meli, a 17 yr old sis. They are all super nice and generous! The language barrier is still, well, a barrier, but I'm working through it. Today I only had one confusing mix up... apparently Ana said "Necesito un puntal para mi problema de espalda" which means "I need a prop/support for my back problem." Makes sense, right? Well, unfortunately I heard "Necesito una puta para mi problema de espalda" which means "I need a whore for my back problem." Moral of the story: just keep praying that my spanish improves! We also have a cook / cleaning lady, Tere, who makes the best juices in the world. I never ever ever thought I would crave tomato juice... but her concoctions are truly unreal.
ESCUELA aka my excuse for being in Ecuador: My university is called La Universidad San Francisco de Quito and it is in a town called Cumbaya. Basically its the school for rich kids and therefore, probs the most beautiful / coolest campuses I have ever seen. It has all the essentials - a vegetarian restaurant, a Pagoda to zen-out, a pirate ship in the lake in the middle of campus, and a crepe shop - like what more could a girl ask for? I am taking ceramics, a class of Alfred Hitchcock films, a spanish conversation class, and a spanish literature and language class. So far, pretty much all I have learned is I really do not like it when my ceramics teacher tells me my clay-pot-making-skills need improvement.
And quickly, some frequently asked questions:
Yes, I have friends. Mostly Americans (and a large portion of them happen to live within 2 hours of me in the US... how convenient!) I'm still working on the whole amigos ecuatorianos thing, but once learn how to say other phrases besides "can I go to the bathroom?" and "how much does that cost?" in spanish, the natives will be begging to be my friend.
Yes, this country is cheap. I take four buses a day for a total of $1. I eat a humongous lunch with juice for approximately $2.80 and I recently purchased 3 purses for a grand total of $10. So, if you happen to visit me while I'm in Ecuador, please bring me an extra suitcase for all the things I will acquire while I'm here.
And yes, I WANT VISITORS. ANYONE. ANYTIME. VEN AQUI POR FAVOR!!
Fun things I've done so far? Played paintball with Ecuadorians, partied in La Mariscal - aka gringaland aka tourist land aka a really fun time! - twice, spent a wonderful evening with the Melos (my extended fam who lives in Quito), made the soccer team at the university, and been asked for my hand in marriage by a cab driver. And fun things I have planned? Lots of hiking, Medio del Mundo, the beach, the Amazon, more hiking, Machu Piccu, Argentina, the Galapagos, & more!
...okay sorry about that. If you made it this far, not only do I congratulate you, but you are now one of my best friends. Thank you! The future blogs will be better, I promise, and hopefully funnier. I really don't think I can compete with Erin for the funniest blog award, but I'll try to entertain.
Love you all! Te quiero.
stay chevere,
sha
BARRIO aka my hood: I live in Quito Tenis, a reallllllly nice neighbor hood in northwest Quito. Our apartment is gorgeous, all the people living in the building are related to my family, and I have my own bedroom and bathroom! An additional upside: I can go running around the neighborhood without hearing many cat calls from creepy old men. The downside: it takes me an hour to get to school from my quaint little neighborhood high up on the hill.
FAMILIA aka da fam: I live with a mom, Ana, an older sister, Lore, who is 28, Lore's boytoy Fer, and Meli, a 17 yr old sis. They are all super nice and generous! The language barrier is still, well, a barrier, but I'm working through it. Today I only had one confusing mix up... apparently Ana said "Necesito un puntal para mi problema de espalda" which means "I need a prop/support for my back problem." Makes sense, right? Well, unfortunately I heard "Necesito una puta para mi problema de espalda" which means "I need a whore for my back problem." Moral of the story: just keep praying that my spanish improves! We also have a cook / cleaning lady, Tere, who makes the best juices in the world. I never ever ever thought I would crave tomato juice... but her concoctions are truly unreal.
ESCUELA aka my excuse for being in Ecuador: My university is called La Universidad San Francisco de Quito and it is in a town called Cumbaya. Basically its the school for rich kids and therefore, probs the most beautiful / coolest campuses I have ever seen. It has all the essentials - a vegetarian restaurant, a Pagoda to zen-out, a pirate ship in the lake in the middle of campus, and a crepe shop - like what more could a girl ask for? I am taking ceramics, a class of Alfred Hitchcock films, a spanish conversation class, and a spanish literature and language class. So far, pretty much all I have learned is I really do not like it when my ceramics teacher tells me my clay-pot-making-skills need improvement.
And quickly, some frequently asked questions:
Yes, I have friends. Mostly Americans (and a large portion of them happen to live within 2 hours of me in the US... how convenient!) I'm still working on the whole amigos ecuatorianos thing, but once learn how to say other phrases besides "can I go to the bathroom?" and "how much does that cost?" in spanish, the natives will be begging to be my friend.
Yes, this country is cheap. I take four buses a day for a total of $1. I eat a humongous lunch with juice for approximately $2.80 and I recently purchased 3 purses for a grand total of $10. So, if you happen to visit me while I'm in Ecuador, please bring me an extra suitcase for all the things I will acquire while I'm here.
And yes, I WANT VISITORS. ANYONE. ANYTIME. VEN AQUI POR FAVOR!!
Fun things I've done so far? Played paintball with Ecuadorians, partied in La Mariscal - aka gringaland aka tourist land aka a really fun time! - twice, spent a wonderful evening with the Melos (my extended fam who lives in Quito), made the soccer team at the university, and been asked for my hand in marriage by a cab driver. And fun things I have planned? Lots of hiking, Medio del Mundo, the beach, the Amazon, more hiking, Machu Piccu, Argentina, the Galapagos, & more!
...okay sorry about that. If you made it this far, not only do I congratulate you, but you are now one of my best friends. Thank you! The future blogs will be better, I promise, and hopefully funnier. I really don't think I can compete with Erin for the funniest blog award, but I'll try to entertain.
Love you all! Te quiero.
stay chevere,
sha
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