greetings from ecuador.

after trying to send individual updates to each of my loved ones, i decided it would be much easier to give in and start a blog that everyone could access. forgive me if it seems as though i've dropped off the face of the planet. we have been moving forward nonstop and i havent had much time to communicate.

i don't know where to start, i have been in ecuador for maybe three weeks, but so much has already happened and there is no way to put it all into words. here are some highlights of my trip thus far:

//i live in a dorm on a seminary campus in northern quito, ecuador. it is a couple of miles from the equator. i have the most incredible view from my window. my roommate is a girl named rosa from Santo Domingo, Ecuador. She is just incredible

//our group consists of eleven students. we have really united as a group and are really close. everyone is super down-to-earth, easy-going and flexible. i don't think it could possibly get any better.

//my spanish is improving like crazy. i have spanish class Monday through Friday from 9:30 until 12:45. it is really intense, but our teacher is incredible and we have loads of fun. my classmates are Ben, Sarah, Betti, and Keren.

//i am also taking a Philosophy of Theology class that is really racking my brain. The class consists of nine students, so it is pretty interactive. I have only studied a little bit of philosophy prior to this class, so a lot of the concepts are really new to me and sometimes i think my head might explode, but i am learning a lot and learning is good. can i get an amen?

//we went to an incredible art museum called La Capilla del Hombre. It consisted of artwork by the ecuadorean painter Oswaldo Guayasamin. His paintings were huge and very heart-wrenching. I encourage you to check out some of his work and read up on his life.

//last weekend we went to Baños. I am not referring to toilets; I am referring to a town. Anyway, we ate lunch there, shopped around a bit, and then went out into the WILD. We drove past Mount Tungurahua, which is an active volcano. It was steaming out of the crater. Then, we hiked down to an enormous waterfall. Then we took a tiny open cable car across a huge valley and over a waterfall. In twenty years of life, i had never seen anything so beatiful. I cried. God seemed more real than ever.

//we went to our first futbol game. Ecuador v. Colombia. We went crazy. Ecuador lost by a point, but regardless, we had a blast.

//i am adjusting to the bathroom situation. Most places dont have toilet paper, and you cannot flush toilet paper anywhere. I am a creature of habit and i am probably responsible for several clogged septic tanks. It just seems silly that if you can flush a mass of human waste, you cannot flush an itty bitty 2-ply square of paper. excuse my impropriety.

//it is a bit colder here in quito than i had anticipated. although we are right on the equator, it is rainy season and we are way way up high in the mountains. i understand that chicago has been a lethal tundra as of late, so i am by no means asking for your sympathy.

//for once in my life, my lack of punctuality is acceptable. living in a culture where the clock holds little value has been quite the blessing. i think my mom would die here.

//ecuador is a very touchy culture. personal space is not as important. I think it has come from large families living in very small spaces together. you ALWAYS kiss eachother on the cheek to greet eachother. if you don't, the other person might think you are mad at them.

//we do all our shopping at the local store called SUPERMAXI.

//over the weekend, we went to Otavalo. It is an indigenous town north of the equator. I am still trying to process the experience. We spent our days outside of town way up in a village hidden in the mountains. we spent our nights at a hostel in town. The people were so incredible. They have held on so tightly to their culture and have refused to conform. It is crazy to think that for the most part, they are the same way that their ancestors were before those dirty spanish conquistadors arrived.

//meals are very important community time here. we eat breakfast at 7:30, lunch at 1:00, snack at 4:30 and dinner at 8:00. Lunch is the biggest meal. We eat some form of meat, mixed vegetables, an enormous pile of rice, and soup. (soup is one of the national specialties) Snack is fruit usually. Dinner is about the same as lunch, but smaller portions and without soup.

//i ate guinea pig yesterday.

//Yesterday, we took a boat out on a lake in a crater in a volcano. un-be-lieeeevable.

// i have been taking photos. you can see them HERE.



overall, i am having the most amazing time and things are going well. I will be leaving for the Galapagos Islands on Friday!!!!


love,
jacki

p.s. my posts won't usually be this painfully long and difficult to read.