Here We Go

Hi all. I have finally been able to find some time to post about my life and work here in Ecuador. So far, life has been charming. I really couldnt have picked a better program. The directors Liz and Therese are beyond organized, have executed amazing teaching training seminars, and even know how to jampack our schedules with fun activities like salsa lessons without completely overwhelming us. The group is also an amazing group of overachivers- jesse went to princeton and just did the Tuck Bridge Business Program at Dartmouth this past summer, Mike is from Aurora but deferred at Harvard law to be here, Sarah wrote grants fror a nonprofit in San Fran, Erin worked for Oprah for 2 years and quit her job to come, Josh defered med school at BU...the list goes on. I am in the presence of greatness but everyone is really grounded, as evidenced by the fact that walked away from their success in the US and decided to get busy living or die (of malaria) trying (instead of working themselves to death in corporate America). I really feel I made the right decision and the rest will fall into place. Both Kane and I have amazing families here in Quito. His house is much nicer but he has a 40 minute commute every day to our learning sites. I am only a 15 minute ride but my neighborhood can be a little dangerous after 10 at night and I dont have hot showers. Eddie (29) and Dorita (21), my host parents, are absolutely amazing. I share them with another girl in our group, Sara. We each have our own rooms seperate from the house so we have privacy and I even have a queen size bed. They have welcomed us with so much warmth and genuine enthusiasm for hosting. Our first night here was spent at the family quincinera,
a true right of passage in the life of a teenage girl here. The family´s home was decked out in hot pink streamers with a barbie-looking cake to match. All the female cousins twirled about the floor in glitzy looking prom dresses. Eddy´s family really enjoys spending time together, especially dancing and singing with guitar accompanyment. I am so glad to be included in the family dynamic.