With love, from Ecuador

I’m going to start off by saying…errr..writing that I’m not really sure how all this blog stuff works, but I’m going to give it a try. Thanks to Mom and Angie for getting it all set up for me. Okay, here goes nothing…

Everything is different here. The food, the colors, the people, the language (especially the language) and the whole mood of this country is brand new. It was when I was sitting in a car parked on the wrong side of the street, facing the wrong direction that it clicked… I am definitely not in Canada anymore!

 Let me start at the beginning. It’s 4:30 am, tired, confused and nervous I stand with Mom and Papa to check my bag in the Moncton airport. Everything after that is a blur of hugs, gifts goodbyes and yes…a few tears. I couldn’t have asked for anything more than to have everyone there, it was a great way to say goodbye. Not to mention I felt like royalty or something.

Skip forward to take off. I imagine I looked like a five year old in the window of a toy store with my nose shoved up against the glass, but I wasn’t going to miss anything! I need to say that clouds are MUCH cooler from the up side. Everything in the airports went very smoothly although I did get a few strange looks from people… but yes, “little sister Karissa” made it to Quito all by herself. I met the other Canadian going to my school in the Huston airport. His name is Usman and I was THRILLED to have someone to actually hold a conversation with. The flight from Huston Texas to Quito Ecuador is…well…LONG. We finally arrived and according to Usman I looked sick as a dog. I was so tired! We made it through customs, security, then said good luck as we went off to meet our new families!

My family is AMAZING! Andrea, David, Mami, one of my aunts Lili and my counsellor Pablo were all there to meet me at the door. All at once questions and introductions in Spanish started flying at me from every direction. All the preparation I had done, the lines I had practiced…nada…  I must have looked pathetic because very quickly Andrea started translating it all for me. Thank goodness, I think I might have died…or fainted…or...never mind. Either way, it was a little overwhelming. I didn’t get much of a chance to explore my new, gorgeous home because at seven the next morning we started out on a five hour trek to the beach!

I’ve come to realise that road signs, lines, seat belts and speed limits are pretty much optional…some of the limits are really funny though : 164Km/h or 57. You pass someone if they are in the way no matter what the lines are even if it means driving head on toward another vehicle. Another thing, there are HUGE speed bumps pretty much everywhere! It makes sense I suppose.

The colours and foods in this country are really amazing. It’s fun to look out the window and see houses and shops painted in bright oranges, blues, yellows, greens and reds. Don’t even get me started on the food! Down at the beach we had fresh sea food every day, que rico! Here, the main meal is lunch and we have it anywhere between 1:30 and 3:00. Supper is more of a snack whenever we get hungry in the evening; usually we have it at 8 or 9. For the first bit I found myself getting pretty hungry, but I’m used to the schedule now. With breakfast or desayuno, we always have fresh fruit. Mami often makes a papaya and tomato smoothie. Now that might sound gross, but one of the kinds of tomatoes they have here is really sweet. They also have this green banana that they fry; it’s treated more like a vegetable. My favorite meal so far has been arroz con camaron (rice with shrimp) along with tomatoes and fried bananas. MMMMMMMMM

I got to do and see so much down at the beach! It was a pretty popular spot, kind of like a small community of beach houses. The water was beautiful, just cool enough to refresh you and there were big waves! I couldn’t help wishing that everyone from the cottage could be there. You all would have loved it! I was there with Mami, David, Andrea, Ceci (my other aunt) and my grandparents. One morning Mami and Ceci took me into the small village to buy some things. We went to an open fish market, it was incredible! Mami assured me twice that all the fish had just been caught that morning. All the streets in the beach communities are either cobble stone or dirt. All the streets (even in my valley) are full of stray dogs, graffiti and you can’t go far at all without seeing chickens or cows. It’s such a different environment! I also got to try “La Banana”; a banana shaped tube attached to a motorboat. SO.MUCH.FUN. The taxis at the beach are little carriages attached to motorcycles. We took one, and I could have reached out and touched every car that passed us. It was kind of scary but very cool.

Well, I’m back from the beach now. I’m getting to know my family, the valley, my house and this language a little better. I’m just taking everything one day at a time, soaking up everything I can about this amazing place. Yesterday in the car I noticed I was really liking the song on the radio and almost cried when I realised I was listening to Seek Ye First in Spanish! As much as this all sounds like a vacation, it is probably the hardest thing I have ever done. Up to now, I don’t think I’ve spoken more than 2 sentences at once since the airport. I really appreciate all the love, prayers and support I’m getting from home. It really means the world to me, having so many people care. I try not to think of home too often though. Obviously there is no way I will forget where I come from or the people I love, but for now THIS is my country, my valley, my family and I’m going to love it all like I never knew anything else.