Young Professionalism

I have my own desk, a phone extension and an order form for business cards. Sometimes I have to remind myself to use big words and not giggle with excitement when I use the copy machine or print on letter head. I actually thought about stealing some letter head for my scrapbook today! haha. I am so in over my head.

I love my job. All three days of it have been wonderful. I share an office with a woman from Sudan who came to the U.S. during the civil war. The people across the hall speak spanish 50% of the time and this morning when I walked in there was a prayer meeting in the conference room. :) I love it. I love working with disadvantaged youth and a variety of world cultures. It's so me:) I had no idea that God would bring me somewhere so new and different to bring me to life.

How to become what I am

It's been an awkward transition into adulthood. I don't like it at all actually. I thought I would love the freedom and be able to do all these things I never had time to do before: read books, take art classes, work out, cook, hang out, disciple, learn. Which all of that happens to some degree but really just doesnt mean as much when it's ALL you do.

Today I listened to the Mars Hill podcast from Sunday's service. Kent Dobson spoke about Jesus and the children. He said that children are such special creations because they haven't yet begun to understand SUCCESS. They haven't reached success nor are they striving for success, they are simply happy living in the moment. He said the only thing we can learn from success is that we won. We made it. Wahoo how great. Learning and growing comes from pain, failure and trial. I resonate with that. I feel like a failure so often as I'm job searching. I usually think it sounds just like me and then over time start to think of all the reasons why I'm not good enough.

But this trial, this failure, it's growing me.

Se extrano

I'm a horrible blogger. I've been home for about 2 weeks now and it's been almost a month since my last post. The end of my trip was amazing. Chris and I traveled to the coast and stayed a night in Manta at an overpriced hostel, eating turkey-ham from the SuperMaxi for dinner, while Chris recovered from his attack of Altitude sickness. We then made it over to Puerto Lopez where we stayed in a nice hostel and drank fruit juice on the beach all night. It was a small town, no bigger than a few blocks, mostly filled with tourists. Boats lined the water's coast at night after a long day out fishing or touring the Island. There was quite a few good restaurants in the area because of the large amount of tourists. The first night we ate at the Whale Cafe- owned by a few older Americans, most likely in their retirement. After a night of

gross SuperMaxi lunch meat, the $6.00 plate of loaded stir fry was a delicacy! I even made Chris splurge for the brownie dessert:)

Our second day in P. Lopez we went on the day tour to Isla de la Plata. We saw an overwhelming amount of whales on our way out. Some were jumping right at the nose of our boat while others swam underneath and then surfaced so close we thought we might tip!! It was incredible- breathtaking really to be so close to such a rare and beautiful creature. We saw a ton of birds on our hike through the island- lots and lots of blue footed boobies ( Which really entertained me!). We snorkled on our way back and then ended the trip with a breathtaking, picturesque sunset.

Did I mention that I got interviewed by Univision, the spanish channel in the states, about my whale watching experience? Yeah, I did great- talked in spanish and everything!!! lol. Funniest thing ever!



We then spent a few days in Montanita- a small surfer town about an hour south on the Ruta Del Sol. The ATM being our main reason for travel, but probly one of my favorite parts of the trip. The town was like no other place I've ever been. The music didn't stop til 5 in the morning and the streets were lined with Gypsies and Hippies selling homemade jewelery and clothing. The restaurants again were some of the best. Empenadas and corn on the cob from the street venders were my favorite. The hostel was gorgeous- modern yet elegantly rustic- South American style! We went out dancing and spent very little time on the beach since it was quite overcast in the day.

We ended our trip with another stop in P. Lopez to revisit our favorite natural private beach- Los Frailles. Just beautiful. Very few people, clear water for what looked like eternity, and perfectly white sand. It was surprisingly sunny at this beach while it wasnt 15 min down the road in town.

After returning to Quito we took a day trip to Papallacta to swim in the Natural Hot Springs. Long bus ride- but worth it.

And then took the Maya family out to dinner at the Boca Del Lobo. A really modern restaurant in the Mariscal- the party district. It was an emotional goodbye- but refreshing to arrive home to family the next night and be back on American soil.

Today I had a moment while I was driving and listening to Mami Susy's Spn Christian CD where I just felt completely filled with Joy. I'm so blessed to be here with my family yet hold the memories of all my adventures in my heart. Just listening to those spn songs brought back so many memories of what Ecuador was to me. The Maya family and all the other students. The mountains, the ocean, the rain forest. It seems almost like a movie that I just woke up from. I think I've recovered from my culture shock back to America- and I realize just how much I really loved every painful, joyful, tough and confused moment that I had there. I am so blessed to carry that with me now and forever.

El fin

WOW life is busy and crazy and exciting for everybody huh??

Well, I officially just finished my two classes here at USFQ-- Well actually I am waiting on Chris is finish writing my 8 page paper on Revolutionary Wealth- He has 1/2 a page left and then we can turn it in and run WILD and FREEEEEE from this prison called a University!!!!!! YES- that means that I am done with school. I might have to go back though cause I'm pretty sure that I just failed that econ test with flying colors. But, PLEASE PRAY that there's still enough points and GRACE in this world for me to GRADUATE!! .. I had no idea how hard it would be to be "graduated" but not "graduated".

Thank God for Chris and his paper writing abilities. He is SO good to me. Yeah sure I'll fly to Ecuador and spend a day and a half writing your paper for you. What a man.

Anyways, I've been a wreck all morning nervous as all hell that I wont graduate- but at least now i am done for now and if I do have to take more classes I can rejoice because they will be in ENGLISH. I love that language.

Chris and I went on a fun trip with the exchange students group this past weekend and spent some time with the Maya family, They get the biggest kick out of him.

Mami susy: Gringito hasn't said very much today.
Daughter Susy: Uh it's because he's not able to!!!!
Me: hahahah it's true!
Chris: What?

hahahahhaha. I love my little spanish family. I will miss them a lot but we are not going to talk about that cause I have severe crying tendencies.

We're going to go to my favorite place to eat tonight and do the teleferico in the mountains then tomorrow we peace out to Isla de la plata and other random adventurous travels. Pray for safety and health and then we will see you all on July 23 when we arrive at teh GR airport at 8 at night. Try not to be 30 min late like I was when I picked Chris up from the Quito Airport. oops! ( and he still wrote my paperr....what a guy!)

Love you all! ( and yes some of you may have already gotten this post in e-mail form)

Chiva Bus

Well today is one of my favorite days in Quito. At least it will be come 9 o´clock when Christopher arrives :) It´s really fun because everyone here is excited to meet him and everytime I turn around another person is like Su novio hoy!!!! loca.

One of my classes got canceled for tomorrow so I offically only have 1 more class here in Quito!!!! ..an 8 page paper and 2 exams. So, it´s getting closer every second. Come Monday at 1- if alll my prayers are answered-- I WILL BE OFFICIALLY GRADUATED!

Tomorrow we are taking a trip to Guayaquil and Riobamba- doing some touring by train. It's supposed to be really scenic- and it´s out of Quito with a little fresh air !!! Then next Tuesday it is off to the beaches and an amazing trip to Isla De la Plata ( the poor man´s Galapagos).

Yesterday our large group of exchange students went on a night tour of Quito in a Chiva Bus. Basically, it´s a bus with a bunch of benches in the back and then a big deck over top with a Live Band and a bunch of crazy tourists!! It was rediculously fun! They gave us little plastic whistles and we pretty much caused a scene all over the town. At one point we passed the President´s caravan entering into Old Quito. Yesterday was kind of a big day for him- apparently he took over the two largest t.v. stations in the country and there are some upset people ( i dont really understand cause i thought he broke up a monopoly and it was like a great thing! lol. ..language barrier...) Anyways, we all yelled and someone said he even waved at us out his window. I´m not sure- I was too busy yelling ¨One more term!!!¨¨ haha. Again, one of those things I think has all the humor in the world- especially since they are famous for kicking their President´s out of office here. But really other people just are like ¨ really? Who brought her?¨¨

We stopped in old Quito to change seating arrangements and played a ¨¨King and Queen of the Chiva¨¨ game in the courtyard of a big museum. My msu friend Ashley won the Queen- it was her 21st birthday:) Not quite as exciting in Ecuador seeing as they start drinking out of the womb here- but she loved it. Before the Chiva we went to our favorite place Crepes & Waffles and got some of the best ice cream ever!!! Have I mentioned the ice cream here? They have flavors you have never even thought of--- and lots of them!! My favorite is the frozen yogurt with fruta del bosque ( its like real blackberries and raspberries and you will die after one bite!)

The bus was funny cause we had random pedestrians try to jump on with us, cars were driving by and taking pictures of us and the police actually were our biggest fans honking everytime we passed!

I got all my sparty friends to sing the Fight song with me along with the beat of the random band...lol.! We got it on video tape:) Maybe it´s just me but I think it´s so cool to sing the fight song in random places around the world.We also took a big msu group pic in front of the museum with a few MSU shirts in there so we can try to get on the website!! GO GREEN!

Afterwards the bus dropped us off at the Mariscal-which is the party district and the main gathering for white people. They call it ¨gringo-landia¨ casually. We got in some good dancing at one of the clubs called Tequila. It´s always a challenge for me to figure out as many ways as possible that I can avoid the creeper trying to teach me how to salsa. I tried the oh no thanks I´m dancing with my friends right now and when that didn´t work I would try to pawn them off on my friends claiming they were much better dancers than I. Then I got stuck because I was the shortest.....and the short little Ecuadorian man really needed a short partner. ugh. So, I tried to salsa it up as long as I could. He asked where I was from and If I had ever heard of Battle Creek. lol. Then he asked if I spoke spanish and the nice man even offered to help me practice. Long story short, that´s when I ran.

Feliz dia de libertad

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

I wish I was home for fireworks and cookouts :) It's always one of my favorite parts of summer.

Nothing exciting is going on here today- just another day. It is my host sister's 19th birthday!

She had some friends come over and break out the vodka with her earlier this afternoon- I think she invited me to go to a concert tonight but I'm not sure. Language barriers suck. Cause how do you clarify that... " Oh you want me to come?" and then she's like ohhh thats totally not what I said but now I have to invite her! lol. It sucks a little.

So, wednesday was a big day- Liga ( Ecuador's big soccer team) was in the Copa finals against Brazil. This was the biggest game in like 21-23 years! Everyone was sporting a Liga jersey that day! We all had big plans to head out to a sports bar to watch the game together.
Then, on my way home from school I was like my stomach feels a little weird. I take 3 busses to get home and by the time I got to the second one I was sweating profusely- something was seriously wrong. I almost ducked it off the bus a few times sure I was gonna lose it- but seeing as how I had no idea where I was I used all my will power to make it home. The second I got off the bus I lost all of my lunch right there on the street corner. I thought people would think I was making a bit of scene since I threw up a good 4 times there on the corner- but everyone just passed on by like it was an ordinary event. Then I remembered I was in a country where men can freely pee on the side of the road!

Long story short, I didnt make it out to watch the game. Instead I stayed in and puked a few more times. I got out of bed to watch the end- it went into PK's and Liga won!! They showed all the streets on T.V. and they were just filled edge to edge with people!! It was crazy how excited everyone got.

Today I'm just trying to regain some energy and get some homework taken care of. We only have one week of classes done and then finals!!! I want to finish everything this weekend so that I will have nothing but studying for next week. And Chris gets here on Wednesday so I'm trying to open my schedule! I couldn't be more excited or ready for him to come.

Tiputini Biodiversity Station

USFQ has it´s very own research station out in the middle of the Amazon Rain Forest. It´s really easy to get to- all you do is take a plane to the city Coca, then get on a bus through the town to the boat dock, dodge around the monkeys that will sit on the arms and head of any person that is nearby, get on a boat for 2 hours to the oil station, then go through security and load a trolly bus through the Amazon for 2 hours until you get to the little shack that reads ¨ Tienda la Rosita¨ just before the rickity bridge. There, you will load on a long wooden canoe with all of the workers and supplies and head down the tributary for another 2 hours or so until you reach the small cabana on the riverbend. That´s Tiputini. Offically in the middle of nowhere!

We were all given big black rubber boots and bunked up in some small wooden shacks. I roomed with 3 girls from North Carolina whom I love a lot! We had no hot water, biodegradable soap and electricity only from the hours of 11a-1 and 6-930 at night.

> The first night we went on a night hike to look for the nocturnal animals. We saw a snake up close and personal just sleeping right along the trail on a large leaf. There were a ton of crazy looking spiders which I did not like much and even a real walking stick or two!!

> The next day we were up and the crack of dawn for breakfast and then a 3 hour hike through the Rain Forest, up to our knees in mud!! We saw a ton of monkeys!! They were all just playing in the trees above us throwing things and making mischief. Our guide had some binocs so we could take a closer look! We also saw some tracks of a big Pig the size of a small cow. Tapier- I think the name is. ( I actually think I´m wrong cause I can´t find it on Wikipedia!) oh well. I saw a picture later and they are some real ugly things. Our Guide Jose has been living in the Rain Forest his whole life as part of an indigenous tribe. When he was 10 he was lost in the forest for 2 days with only a machete and a stun gun. He´s a tough one. He knew all kinds of things about the trees and plants. We learned a ton! There is even this one type of tree that when you crack open the branch a whole village of ants lives inside- and the ants taste like lemon!!! Yes, we tried them! I just licked one for the taste but my crazy friend Karrin ate up the whole thing!!! Sick huh!?
We did a lot of little hikes. Our second trip was to a watch tower where I saw some Toucans through the binocs and a monkey came right up close to us in the tree next to the tower! He was just chillin and eating and scratching like you seem them do on t.v. and at the zoo!!! It was nuts! We also took a little canoe in the lagoon to look at some crazy parrot species. Again, the name escapes me. But they were very colorful with big spiky feathers on their heads. That was pretty cool.

The second day was my favorite. We sat around in the morning waiting for the rain to pass ( it rains a lot in the rain forest! ) We saw a Boa curled up in the station hiding from the rain. Then we went out to anohter tower and didnt see much. THEN, in the afternoon we went PIRANHA FISHING!!! We only caught like 2 or 3- and the guide got a catfish! We fished with little wooden sticks and chunks of red meat. Comforting that they eat red meat huh? I almost had one but I couldn´t get him hooked with my little stick and he got away once he reached the surface. Also, there were sardines up the wazooo in the water and those little pesks would just nibble away at the bait!! I hated them so much. Later that night for dinner they cooked up everybody´s piranhas and we all shared. It´s actually a pretty good fish. If you can get over the fact that the teeth were still in tact on the platter!

We all jumped in the water with life jackets and floated down the river on the way back to the station from fishing. We were warned not to pee though b.c there are these little animals that climb in your urethra when you pee and expand out little barbs. You have to get them out- and the barbs dont go in!!!! yikes!! I don´t think anyone got one though! whew!!

One night we watched a slide show of all the animals in the forest. National Geographic sponsers a study with hidden- motion and heat sensored cameras which catch all the wildlife in action. they´ve been able to get a picture of almost every species in the forest. We saw some pretty cool leopards and monkeys and even some huge anteaters the size of a big dog!

The last night was my favorite! We got to go out in the boat at night and spot alligators. They´re called Caymans here and are a little bit smaller than alligators. We saw a bunch and were able to get pretty close in our boat. We saw about half a dozen- one was even albino! Then our guide, Santiago, who is like Survivorman meats Chuck Norris- just reached over the boat and grabbed one!!! It was a baby Cayman but baby or not he put that thing right in our boat!!!!!!!! Talk about a man with some balls! GEEZ LOUISE!!! So of course everyone flipped a lid and started taking photos right and left. One disturbed passenger who couldn´t see tried to yell at me to move and I jsut turned and told her if she kept it up I was gonna throw her off the boat! lol. I felt bad so I attempted to talk with her in a mature manner about the matter afterwards but she ran away from me while I was talking! haha. oops! To make matters worse she is the ¨ socially awkward¨ girl that I keep telling everyone Jesus loves too! I guess I just let the gator excitement get the best of me- but it was kinda funny!!! I think she forgives me.



On one of the many long stops on the way home we were at a hotel with a ton of animals just wandering about. These tiny monkeys would just eat everybody´s food and jump on everyone´s head. They are funny little guys! They also had an anteater, sloths, a turtle or two and a peacock just walking about! It was great!!!!

OH and!!! Turns out one of the guys from UNC had some friends who had some friends from Michigan and he was a HUGE Nertz fan!! ( its a card game we always play at state!) I thought my friends like made it up- turns out no! So, we had a nertz tournament everyday!!!! IT WAS GREAT!!!! :)

Now, it´s back to school. Only 7 days of classes left- I think there´s a small chance I can make it out of this alive.