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Nae's Rotary
Report – September 2007 |
Hola Everybody!
I am in Machala, Ecuador.
I am getting used to this everyday greeting of hugs and kisses!
So far, one month has passed. I love my school. My new "amigos" are very
nice to me. At school, everyone wants to talk to me. My Spanish is now
much better than it was when I first arrived. My host parents are always
saying "Nae, tu espanol es mucho mejor" which in English says "Nae, your
Spanish is much better." My friends in school help me a lot. I feel really
happy now when I am in English class and my friends are like "Nae explicar,
no entiendo" and I am able to explain to them in Spanish what they have to
do. In English class, the teacher is always asking me to read or help with
something. Last week, my literature teacher made me write a poem in
English then translate in Spanish. It was a little difficult , but my host
mom and the maid's daughter helped me. After I turned in my poem, I had to
read it in front of the class. That was kind of difficult for me, but it
was a learning experience because the class and my teacher helped me
pronounce the words properly. Sometimes when people correct me I don't
understand the difference because I repeat what they say and they say "noo!"
and they say it again , but it's really funny, I laugh at myself a lot.
For example, I wanted to purchase a card for my phone and I went to the
store in front of my house and I said to the lady "yo quiero un tarjeta
por favor" and she didn't understand me and I repeated it like 5 times
before the maid daughter came and corrected me. Apparently I wasn't
rolling my "r" in tarjeta and I found out that it does matter a lot.
Two weeks ago, my councilor invited me over for lunch at her house with
her family and another exchange student from Germany (Nina). We ate some
kind of cold soup called "ceviche de Cameron" which is a shrimp soup. (It
is now my favorite food here!) When I returned to my "casa" (house) I told
my host parents about my new obsession with Ceviche and the next morning
we all went out and ate ceviche de Cameron and ceviche de pescada (fish)
for breakfast. It was muy delicioso! (very delicious). After breakfast we
headed to another city called Zaruma. We had to go up some mountains and
back down in order to get to Zaruma from Machala. When we were at the top
of the mountain, the high altitude made my ears hurt, but it got better
when we went back down. We went to Zaruma because my hosting Rotary Club
was donating wheelchairs to these 2 little boys who couldn't walk. They
were so cute and they kept smiling at me. =]
At night, my exchange friend Nina and her host family came over for
dinner. I attempted to make cookies like I do at home , but let's just say
that maybe there is something different with the ingredients here because
my cookies did not rise, but the batter tasted really good. Then my host
mom said lets try a cake so she helped me put the batter in a cake bowl
for the oven. However, I was too busy talking with our guests that I
forgot that the cake was in oven so it burned… Well, only the sides burned
, but everyone tried it and they loved my burnt cake! The following week 2
of my exchange friends came over and we once again attempted my "famous
cookie recipe" and this time it worked. =]
Last Tuesday, I was invited to a party for my classmate "Paco." All of my
friends in my class came. I learned a new card game called Animale. It was
really funny because we had to make the sounds of different animals. I
know it sounds weird , but it's really chevere! (Cool). The following
Friday in school was great. We had a few classes then we had to watch a
movie for literature and another movie for the seniors. (Of course they
were both in Spanish , but although I didn't understand every word, I
understood what was happening because of the actions and the background
music.) Later in the afternoon, some of the girls from my class came over
at my house and we were supposed to watch a movie. However, we ended up
talking and taking a lot of pictures. I was so happy that I was able to
understand some of what they were saying! Then, Saturday I had a formal
"fiesta" to attend. Apparently in Ecuador, instead of 'Sweet 16' they
celebrate 'Sweet 15.' All of the exchange students from Machala Moderno
Club were invited. The party was really nice, downstairs was set up for
the adults and upstairs for the teens. I really enjoyed the party.
Recently, I joined the Rotary Interact Club along with the exchange
students from my hosting club. They threw a party to welcome us last week
and I am looking forward to this week's meeting. This week we are donating
toys and clothes to some kids who really need it, I can't wait to see
their facial expressions! =]
Gracias senores Rotarios por hacer possible este oportunidad para mi!
Thank you Rotary for making this opportunity possible for me!
Here in Ecuador, Adios isn't so "popular" everybody says "Chao!"
So I say to all of you,
Chao!!! |
