Sorry, it's been a while. This semester has picked up speed, everything is hectic and for the first time ever I'm struggling to ensure that all of my work gets done. None of my classes are hard, I could sleep through all of my classes and still make at least all B's rest-assured (no pun intended). The only problem I face is the workload itself... learning and doing work in a different language tests one's ability to stay focused on the task at hand. I often start even the smallest tidbit of homework in Spanish and don't wind up finishing it for hours, just because a single word in the directions will completely throw me off. It's just something I have to get used to, whether I like it or not, but I have a feeling I'll manage. I'm taking two classes just for Spanish, they're both extremely useful in helping me with my Spanish here. The one thing about learning a different language in your country of origin is that the oral portion of the language is left unchecked; back home in school teachers don't care how well you speak the language, it seems to be more about reading, writing, and listening. Fortunately I have two amazing classes in Spanish here with two awesome teachers, and the only way to pass the classes is to talk on a daily basis in Spanish. No problem for me there, talking is a God-given gift. I'm also taking a basic ecology class about the resources here in Ecuador. I more or less picked Ecuador as the country I wanted to go to in South America because I knew kids from my home school who came from Ecuador, and they told me the Spanish was easy and the school was amazing... plus Ecuador has possession of the Galapagos Islands and part of the Amazon rain forest, and because of my environmental studies major I thought, "Ecuador sounds perfect." Turns out this is only half of the story, though. This single ecology class has shown me so much about what this country has to offer. It is the most bio-diverse country in the whole world for a variety of reasons, you're more than welcome to look them up. Truth be told, I'm only taking this ecology class because it is an easy A and I need some ecology electives for my degree back home, but it definitely wasn't a bad choice looking back on it. I'm taking "History of Jazz" as a class here. It is taught in English by a cool professor and I have it first thing in the morning. This class only requires me to show up and then take a little nap while we listen to jazz and watch greats like Satchmo and Duke Ellington play their instruments like none others, but again, this class I am taking only for the basic requirement credits I still need back home.
Finally, what I would consider to be my most important class of them all right now... Foreign Policy. This is a class dedicated strictly to the participation in the National Model United Nations held every year in New York City. Thousands of kids attend every year, and at the collegiate level it is a pretty big deal. While most schools have a Model UN Club, the school here in Ecuador gives a full semester long class to the project, allowing us to delve into the foreign policy of whatever nation we have to portray at the Model itself. Now normally, I would have shrugged this class off and not given it a second thought... you mean I should dedicate a WHOLE class to the foreign policy of some small Eastern-European nation with a name I can't even pronounce, and then spend a wop-ton of money flying to- and staying in New York for ten days just to represent this country? Yeah right... under normal circumstances. This year, as it turns out, things are going to be a little different for the class from Ecuador. Our assigned nation is The United States. Of the hundreds of universities representing nations on every continent worldwide that will be present in New York, my school in the quaint city of Cumbaya got the bid for the United States. This is the first time in the history of the Model UN a South American school has ever been allowed to represent the United States of America in the conference, a.k.a a BIG freakin' deal! And as the only kid actually from the United States who will be representing the United States, it feels like there is a lot of weight on my shoulder to pull through in clutch time and make sure that while in New York I do my best to represent my country. Plus, if I do good, it will definitely be a nice resume-filler. So, I spend hours a week, in and out of class, studying America's foreign policy. It's pretty neat to actually finally dive into the diplomatic policy of our own nation. I'm able to relate news and different happenings worldwide to the policies of different American Statesmen; it kind of sheds a light on the country we live in, it's pretty darn cool. That's that, though. I can't wait to go to New York on April 2nd and participate, I hope everything goes smoothly, but we'll see.
I'm making a lot more Ecuadorian friends this semester, it seems like all of the new international kids only have the capacity for being friends with Americans, which is kind of sad. One quick piece of advice for anyone reading this who might ever study abroad... when you get abroad, meet people! So many kids come here through there school programs, and they love the school, and the food, and they enjoy getting accustomed to the culture and blah blah blah. But then Thursday night comes around (Most kids don't have classes on Friday), and all of these kids take the night bus out of the city to travel and go to the various hot spots Ecuador has to offer. Cool, it's wonderful to travel. But these kids do this EVERY weekend. Or if they stay in Quito, they spend their weekends in La Mariscal, the club district, going to the same exact clubs every city boasts back in the United States, just in a different language. What is wrong with this picture? I have wonderful American friends here, but honestly, what purpose does it serve to befriend Americans and then travel with them every weekend to a different city? The whole point of this trip is to meet and understand the people living here, not the people who hail from my origin country. The only way to do that is by going to things like family reunions and house parties and other occasions where people gather to have a good time. This is the culture, this is what foreigners need to learn. Of course, go ahead and explore the country a little, visit the mountains once, the jungle once, the beach a couple of times, sure... but if anybody wants to take an experience back to their home country with them, then they need to interact with the people of that country, period. So that's one of my pet-peeves I guess, American kids being typical American kids even when they're in a different country. Oh well.
So, that's pretty much life here right now, nothing too exciting. I'm preparing for one of my best friends from back home when he comes to visit in March, hopefully that will be exciting. Other than that, I'm just continuing on with my Ecuadorian life, going with the flow as always, putting X's on the calendar until my return on May 22nd. I'll try to write more often, but no guarantees. Chao!
