Hi everyone!
I'm really sorry that it has taken me so long to post! Google has been being silly and I haven't been able to access my account since I have been here until today. But, I am in Ecuador now and I have been for 71 days!! Today is actually my 10 week anniversary in Cuenca! It's really crazy to think about how much time has passed, but it's actually not hard to believe when I think about all that I have done here. I have met soooo many new people and experienced so many new things that I never could have even imagined before I left. I'd say that now I'm starting to get into the part of my exchange where life is normal and I know what to expect on a day by day basis. Monday-Friday I am in school and after school I usually do something for a few hours with friends, then I come home and talk to my mom and we usually talk and eat something and then I go to bed. On weekends I usually go out with friends on Friday and Saturday and then on Sundays it's family day so I eat lunch and spend the day with the family. There have been two rotary trips so far, one in September to Punta Centinela for Spanish camp and one in October to the Manabi province, and both have been very fun and it has been nice to have the opportunity to go to the beach already jaja :D Today there is no school because this weekend is very important in Cuenca, it is called Fiestas de Cuenca and it's a weekend long celebration filled with a lot of parties and activities and everything to celebrate Cuencan independence. Tonight at 7 there is a Rodeo that I will go to, it has been a tradicion in Cuenca for 25 years but this is the last year that they will have it so I am lucky that I am able to go! My Spanish is also improving, slowly but surely, and I think that by the time I return to the United States I will speak Spanish well. Here I live only with my host mom, and we get along really well and she is a real mom for me. Cuenca is even more beautiful than what I thought before I came here and I couldn't have been more lucky with my placement. Overall, everything is going very well and I'm really grateful to everyone who helped me have this opportunity, and I can't wait to see what these next 9 months have in store for me. I'll try to update often now that I have access to my account, and I think I'll aim for around once a week!
Until next time,
Stephanie
Friday, November 1, 2013
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Single Digits!
Hola a todos,
Since there are only 8 days until I leave(!!!) I thought it would be a good idea to update you on what has happened in the past two weeks! Most importantly, I have heard more from my host mom! We have emailed back and forth a few times now and she sounds awesome and very nice. :) I also found out that I will have a host brother who is going to France for an exchange while I am in Ecuador so I'm not sure if I'll be able to meet him, but my host mom says that she has nephews/nieces my age that I'll be able to meet when I'm there. :) Also, she says that the family is very large and that they all get together for lunch on Sundays which sounds awesome and I am really looking forward to meeting everyone in the family! She also told me about a lot of the opportunities available to take dance classes such as Salsa or Merengue, or even art classes that involve things like making paper mache dolls and handmade jewelry! Needless to say, I will be taking advantage of these amazing opportunities and I can't wait to try all of the new experiences offered to me.
I've been pretty busy the past week or so with buying clothes and other things that I'll need while I'm gone, and I'm almost finished packing (with the exception of gifts for my host family that I will be getting within the next few days)! I haven't weighed my checked suitcase yet, but I'm almost positive that it will be below the weight limit, which is 50 pounds.
I can't believe that I'm almost not an outbound anymore, but I can't say that I'll miss it. It has been a long year leading up to this point, and I'm excited to finally do what I've been waiting to do for what feels like forever. I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for me.
I think my next post will be after I arrive in Ecuador(Ahhhhh!!), since the next 8 days will be filled only with waiting and small last minute preparations.
Until Ecuador,
Steph
Since there are only 8 days until I leave(!!!) I thought it would be a good idea to update you on what has happened in the past two weeks! Most importantly, I have heard more from my host mom! We have emailed back and forth a few times now and she sounds awesome and very nice. :) I also found out that I will have a host brother who is going to France for an exchange while I am in Ecuador so I'm not sure if I'll be able to meet him, but my host mom says that she has nephews/nieces my age that I'll be able to meet when I'm there. :) Also, she says that the family is very large and that they all get together for lunch on Sundays which sounds awesome and I am really looking forward to meeting everyone in the family! She also told me about a lot of the opportunities available to take dance classes such as Salsa or Merengue, or even art classes that involve things like making paper mache dolls and handmade jewelry! Needless to say, I will be taking advantage of these amazing opportunities and I can't wait to try all of the new experiences offered to me.
I've been pretty busy the past week or so with buying clothes and other things that I'll need while I'm gone, and I'm almost finished packing (with the exception of gifts for my host family that I will be getting within the next few days)! I haven't weighed my checked suitcase yet, but I'm almost positive that it will be below the weight limit, which is 50 pounds.
I can't believe that I'm almost not an outbound anymore, but I can't say that I'll miss it. It has been a long year leading up to this point, and I'm excited to finally do what I've been waiting to do for what feels like forever. I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for me.
I think my next post will be after I arrive in Ecuador(Ahhhhh!!), since the next 8 days will be filled only with waiting and small last minute preparations.
Until Ecuador,
Steph
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Pins & Itinerary!
Hello all!
Since my last post I have managed to make 150 pins using ribbon, glue, safety pins, and plastic red, white, and blue stars. I think they turned out pretty well (apart from my lousy cut job on most of the ends, haha) :
Since my last post I have managed to make 150 pins using ribbon, glue, safety pins, and plastic red, white, and blue stars. I think they turned out pretty well (apart from my lousy cut job on most of the ends, haha) :
I also have about 30 pins that I got from my district back at the March orientation, so in total I'll have about 180 pins to bring with me, which I'm hoping will be enough (I think it will; there are only about 150 other exchange students in Ecuador)!
Also, I just got my itinerary today! I will be departing from the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) at 9:35 a.m. on August 22 and arriving at the José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport in Guayaquil (GYE) on August 22 at 10:20 p.m! Here is my itinerary:
Depart from Detroit at 9:35 a.m --> Arrive in Chicago at 9:50 a.m.
Depart from Chicago at 12:20 p.m. --> Arrive in Miami at 4:35 p.m.
Depart from Miami at 7:05 p.m. --> ARRIVE IN GUAYAQUIL AT 10:20 p.m!
It looks like it will be a long day of traveling (with little to no sleep the night before, of course) but I'm excited! I probably won't end up at my host family's house until at least a few hours after I arrive, because it will take a while to drive from Guayaquil also. :)
Even though I don't think I will have anything specific to post about before I leave (which, by the way, is in 23 days!!!) I'm sure I'll post again about my excitement when it gets a little closer to my departure!
Until next time,
Stephanie
P.S. I just realized that there are an insane amount of exclamation points in this post due to my excitement, so please try to just read around them. :)
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Ohio Erie Orientation, Visa, and Host Family Contact!
Hi Everyone!
I can't believe that it's already the 16th of July and there's only one month left until I leave! One month. I remember when I found out about Rotary right around this time last year and it seemed like I would never reach this point, but now I'm so close to leaving that it's finally starting to feel like reality rather than a dream. Just in the past four days I have received my visa, made contact with my host dad, and went to the final Ohio-Erie Otterbein Orientation in Ohio. Also, I (well, my dad) will probably be buying my plane ticket at the end of the week if everything goes as planned, so I'll know my exact departure date then!
I have a lot to say about these past few days, so I think I'll start with the orientation since I spent the majority of the weekend at it. The orientation officially started at 4:00 p.m. on Friday and ended at about 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, and those 42 hours were filled with the most fun that I have had in a long time. There were about 100 other exchange students there and everyone that I met was awesome! A lot was packed into each day, even throughout Sunday morning. Starting at 7:45 was the opening ceremony in the auditorium, which included the best speech/presentation that I have ever seen. It was by a girl who went on exchange to India around 5-10 years ago, and it was just incredibly inspirational and included just the right amount of humor, advice, etc. That lasted until 8:45, and then starting at 9:00 we were all split up according to the region that we are going to and we had a meeting with leaders called our "country contacts." There are about 10 other people going to South America (excluding Brazil, since there were so many students going to Brazil that they had their own meeting room) as well as one other person going to Ecuador. We all spent about an hour talking about cultural differences and country specific information.
Then, from 10:00 to 12:15, we played a game called Bafa Bafa, which I think this was one of the funnest/funniest parts of the whole weekend. We were all split up into two groups, or cultures: the Alphas and the Betas, and went to separate rooms to learn the rules of the culture that we were placed in. I was in the Alpha culture, and Alphas are known as being loud, laughy, touchy, and very patriarchal. We then had to jump right into the Alphan culture and make sure to follow the rules that were were told about the Alphan culture. After a few practice rounds, small groups at a time were taken to the Beta room, while small groups of Betans were taken to the Alpha room, and each group had to figure out how to assimilate into the other, completely opposite culture. This was difficult to do, since when I went into the Betan room, I realized that they did not speak any English and I was not allowed to speak English to them. As a result, I had to sit and observe for awhile, which helped a little, but I was unable to completely pick up on what they were saying and doing. I think that this relates a lot to how it will be in the beginning of my exchange, except to a less extreme, since I won't really be able to communicate with anyone during the beginning.
After Bafa Bafa, we all just talked for a little while before going to our dorms at around 1:30, and my friend Albena and I stayed up until around 4:00 just goofing around. We got up at 6:00 and then headed to the cafeteria for breakfast at about 7:15, realized that we were almost an hour too early, and just hung out until around 8:00 when we went back to the cafeteria. To be honest, I was not fond of the food for the entire weekend (except at the pizza party on Saturday night) so I mostly just forced myself to nibble at fruit and bread all weekend. After breakfast, there was another meeting in the auditorium about cultural differences, and I was really tired so I was kind of drifting off to sleep in that one and I don't really remember what happened, haha. After that, we had our second and last meeting with the country contacts, and this was one of my favorite meetings to go to because there were two rebounds that just came back from Ecuador and Peru who were talking about their experiences and answering all of our questions. That meeting lasted until around 11:45, and then we all went back to the cafeteria and I met up with my friends for lunch (which in my case was a little bit of bread and cheese with lemonade). After that there was another kind of boring meeting about student protection which mostly consisted of watching a video with some of the worst acting that I have ever seen, haha. As soon as that was over, though, the rest of the day was a blast!
The talent show try-outs/sign-ups were next, and they were from 2:30-3:30, and everyone was required to participate. I was in a group with some of my friends and we signed up to do the macarena! We practiced and talked for awhile and then it was time to head back to the campus center at around 3:45 to play another game. This time it was a card game, and we all got into groups of six and were given a sheet of rules to study for five minutes before we began, and once we began, we were not allowed to talk at all. After each round, the two winners and two losers of each table would move to a different table to play with another group. It turned out that we were all given two different sets of rules, and this game was a test to see how we would react to the way that the other players' played the game since we weren't allowed to communicate with them, which also represents how it will be for us on our exchanges, with the silence being the language barrier. Next, at 5:00 we went outside and took a group photo which took about 10 minutes and we had the rest of the hour to relax until dinner at 6:00. Dinner lasted around an hour, and then we had 7:00-8:00 to do whatever we wanted as well, until 8:00 which was the talent show! The talent show was also one of the funnest parts of the weekend, and there were a lot of awesome talents as well as a lot of silly ones. My group was last to go, and we ended up having all of the exchange students coming on stage to do the macarena with us, which was a blast. The talent show lasted until 10:00, which is when we went to the lobby of one of the dorms to have a pizza party until 12:30. The pizza party was great, and I spent a lot of it with my friends listening to music, dancing, and just hanging out. Needless to say, I was beat after the pizza party, and I fell asleep pretty much right away.
The next morning, we woke up at around 7:30 and went to the cafeteria to have breakfast and our district meeting. That took around 2 hours, and then I said goodbye to my new friends and headed home. I had a really great time all weekend and met so many awesome people, and it got me even more excited for Ecuador and what these events will be like when I'm there. Speaking of Ecuador, I got an email back from my host dad on Thursday and he seems very nice! In it, he told me what a beautiful city Cuenca is and what an unforgettable year I'll have and that the family is excited to meet me! :) I sent him an email back when I got home on Sunday and asked a few questions, so hopefully I'll hear more from him again soon and I'll update when I do!
Until next time,
Stephanie
I can't believe that it's already the 16th of July and there's only one month left until I leave! One month. I remember when I found out about Rotary right around this time last year and it seemed like I would never reach this point, but now I'm so close to leaving that it's finally starting to feel like reality rather than a dream. Just in the past four days I have received my visa, made contact with my host dad, and went to the final Ohio-Erie Otterbein Orientation in Ohio. Also, I (well, my dad) will probably be buying my plane ticket at the end of the week if everything goes as planned, so I'll know my exact departure date then!
I have a lot to say about these past few days, so I think I'll start with the orientation since I spent the majority of the weekend at it. The orientation officially started at 4:00 p.m. on Friday and ended at about 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, and those 42 hours were filled with the most fun that I have had in a long time. There were about 100 other exchange students there and everyone that I met was awesome! A lot was packed into each day, even throughout Sunday morning. Starting at 7:45 was the opening ceremony in the auditorium, which included the best speech/presentation that I have ever seen. It was by a girl who went on exchange to India around 5-10 years ago, and it was just incredibly inspirational and included just the right amount of humor, advice, etc. That lasted until 8:45, and then starting at 9:00 we were all split up according to the region that we are going to and we had a meeting with leaders called our "country contacts." There are about 10 other people going to South America (excluding Brazil, since there were so many students going to Brazil that they had their own meeting room) as well as one other person going to Ecuador. We all spent about an hour talking about cultural differences and country specific information.
Then, from 10:00 to 12:15, we played a game called Bafa Bafa, which I think this was one of the funnest/funniest parts of the whole weekend. We were all split up into two groups, or cultures: the Alphas and the Betas, and went to separate rooms to learn the rules of the culture that we were placed in. I was in the Alpha culture, and Alphas are known as being loud, laughy, touchy, and very patriarchal. We then had to jump right into the Alphan culture and make sure to follow the rules that were were told about the Alphan culture. After a few practice rounds, small groups at a time were taken to the Beta room, while small groups of Betans were taken to the Alpha room, and each group had to figure out how to assimilate into the other, completely opposite culture. This was difficult to do, since when I went into the Betan room, I realized that they did not speak any English and I was not allowed to speak English to them. As a result, I had to sit and observe for awhile, which helped a little, but I was unable to completely pick up on what they were saying and doing. I think that this relates a lot to how it will be in the beginning of my exchange, except to a less extreme, since I won't really be able to communicate with anyone during the beginning.
After Bafa Bafa, we all just talked for a little while before going to our dorms at around 1:30, and my friend Albena and I stayed up until around 4:00 just goofing around. We got up at 6:00 and then headed to the cafeteria for breakfast at about 7:15, realized that we were almost an hour too early, and just hung out until around 8:00 when we went back to the cafeteria. To be honest, I was not fond of the food for the entire weekend (except at the pizza party on Saturday night) so I mostly just forced myself to nibble at fruit and bread all weekend. After breakfast, there was another meeting in the auditorium about cultural differences, and I was really tired so I was kind of drifting off to sleep in that one and I don't really remember what happened, haha. After that, we had our second and last meeting with the country contacts, and this was one of my favorite meetings to go to because there were two rebounds that just came back from Ecuador and Peru who were talking about their experiences and answering all of our questions. That meeting lasted until around 11:45, and then we all went back to the cafeteria and I met up with my friends for lunch (which in my case was a little bit of bread and cheese with lemonade). After that there was another kind of boring meeting about student protection which mostly consisted of watching a video with some of the worst acting that I have ever seen, haha. As soon as that was over, though, the rest of the day was a blast!
The talent show try-outs/sign-ups were next, and they were from 2:30-3:30, and everyone was required to participate. I was in a group with some of my friends and we signed up to do the macarena! We practiced and talked for awhile and then it was time to head back to the campus center at around 3:45 to play another game. This time it was a card game, and we all got into groups of six and were given a sheet of rules to study for five minutes before we began, and once we began, we were not allowed to talk at all. After each round, the two winners and two losers of each table would move to a different table to play with another group. It turned out that we were all given two different sets of rules, and this game was a test to see how we would react to the way that the other players' played the game since we weren't allowed to communicate with them, which also represents how it will be for us on our exchanges, with the silence being the language barrier. Next, at 5:00 we went outside and took a group photo which took about 10 minutes and we had the rest of the hour to relax until dinner at 6:00. Dinner lasted around an hour, and then we had 7:00-8:00 to do whatever we wanted as well, until 8:00 which was the talent show! The talent show was also one of the funnest parts of the weekend, and there were a lot of awesome talents as well as a lot of silly ones. My group was last to go, and we ended up having all of the exchange students coming on stage to do the macarena with us, which was a blast. The talent show lasted until 10:00, which is when we went to the lobby of one of the dorms to have a pizza party until 12:30. The pizza party was great, and I spent a lot of it with my friends listening to music, dancing, and just hanging out. Needless to say, I was beat after the pizza party, and I fell asleep pretty much right away.
The next morning, we woke up at around 7:30 and went to the cafeteria to have breakfast and our district meeting. That took around 2 hours, and then I said goodbye to my new friends and headed home. I had a really great time all weekend and met so many awesome people, and it got me even more excited for Ecuador and what these events will be like when I'm there. Speaking of Ecuador, I got an email back from my host dad on Thursday and he seems very nice! In it, he told me what a beautiful city Cuenca is and what an unforgettable year I'll have and that the family is excited to meet me! :) I sent him an email back when I got home on Sunday and asked a few questions, so hopefully I'll hear more from him again soon and I'll update when I do!
Until next time,
Stephanie
Monday, June 24, 2013
An Attempt to Update+Clarify my Last Post!
Hello Everyone,
I haven't really found out anything since my last post, but I thought that this would be a good time to sort of clarify the things that I do know and fill you in on where I am in the process now since my last post was a bit rushed due to my excitement and tiredness. :) As of today, I know the name of the school I will be attending, the names of my first host parents, my first address, the name of my host club, the trips that I will take throughout the year around the country, and my arrival date and arrival airport. My school, as I mentioned in my last post, is called Centro Educativo "Las Cumbres," or, Colegio "Las Cumbres." I have found a little information on it on the internet, but mostly it is a mystery and I can't even locate it on google maps or mapquest. But, what I have been able to find out is that it's a private school that enrolls students from kindergarten to senior year (I'll be placed in senior year there, even though I would be a junior in the states), the school hours are 8:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m., and I'll wear a uniform.
I also found out a little about my first host family from my guarantee forms, which is that I'll have two host parents, Nino and Maria, and two host siblings, whose names, ages, etc. I don't know yet. I emailed them so hopefully I'll know more soon! However, I do know that I'll be living right in the center of the city with my first host family, which sounds like it will be very busy but also very cool and exciting; it's right on the river and I think that it will be a great location to start my year in. Next, I did a little research on my host club, Cuenca Patrimonio, and I found out that it is the newest Rotary Club in Cuenca and that they meet on Tuesdays. I sent emails to both my host counselor and host club president too so hopefully I'll hear from them soon too!
I'll also be taking many rotary sponsored trips throughout the year, which I am already looking forward to. First, in September, there are the Language and Orientation camps, which will cost about $380. Then, there is a trip to the Manabí province on the Pacific Coast in October, which is free because my host club will cover the cost. After that, there are the two optional trips to the Amazon Rainforest and the Galapagos Islands. The Amazon trip is in February and will cost $550, and the Galapagos trip is scheduled for late March/early April and will cost $1,300. These two trips are pretty expensive, so I'm not sure if I will be allowed to go on both of them yet, or if I will have to choose one (in which case I would choose the Galapagos I think). After those trips is the very last trip which is in May, and it's a nine day trip around the entire country. The entire cost is $700, but I will only have to pay $350 because my host club will pay half for me.
Lastly, I may have mentioned this in my last post, but I know that I will arrive at the airport in Guayaquil on August 25 (with a slight tolerance of 2-3 days), so that means that I only have 62 days left before I leave (give or take a couple of days)! I'll know my exact departure/arrival date(s) soon when my airline ticket is issued, but before that happens I have to have my visa approved by the Consulate of Ecuador in Chicago. I sent all of my paperwork to my travel agent at IYWT a couple of weeks ago, and I think she'll be submitting soon if she hasn't already, so hopefully there won't be any problems and my visa will be approved within the next couple of weeks so that I can get my plane ticket. I still have quite a bit to do before I leave, such as purchase insurance, get vaccinations, buy luggage, etc., so I have a lot to get done within these next two months, but hopefully it will make the time pass by more quickly. I don't really have any specific plans this summer to do anything exciting before I leave, so time has been dragging on quite slowly already. But, I have the Ohio Erie Orientation soon, which is the final orientation before everyone starts leaving for their countries, in a couple of weeks from July 12 to July 14, so that should be fun. Hopefully I'll have some more information before that, but if not, then I'll update again after the orientation to let you all know how it went!
Until next time,
Stephanie
I haven't really found out anything since my last post, but I thought that this would be a good time to sort of clarify the things that I do know and fill you in on where I am in the process now since my last post was a bit rushed due to my excitement and tiredness. :) As of today, I know the name of the school I will be attending, the names of my first host parents, my first address, the name of my host club, the trips that I will take throughout the year around the country, and my arrival date and arrival airport. My school, as I mentioned in my last post, is called Centro Educativo "Las Cumbres," or, Colegio "Las Cumbres." I have found a little information on it on the internet, but mostly it is a mystery and I can't even locate it on google maps or mapquest. But, what I have been able to find out is that it's a private school that enrolls students from kindergarten to senior year (I'll be placed in senior year there, even though I would be a junior in the states), the school hours are 8:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m., and I'll wear a uniform.
I also found out a little about my first host family from my guarantee forms, which is that I'll have two host parents, Nino and Maria, and two host siblings, whose names, ages, etc. I don't know yet. I emailed them so hopefully I'll know more soon! However, I do know that I'll be living right in the center of the city with my first host family, which sounds like it will be very busy but also very cool and exciting; it's right on the river and I think that it will be a great location to start my year in. Next, I did a little research on my host club, Cuenca Patrimonio, and I found out that it is the newest Rotary Club in Cuenca and that they meet on Tuesdays. I sent emails to both my host counselor and host club president too so hopefully I'll hear from them soon too!
I'll also be taking many rotary sponsored trips throughout the year, which I am already looking forward to. First, in September, there are the Language and Orientation camps, which will cost about $380. Then, there is a trip to the Manabí province on the Pacific Coast in October, which is free because my host club will cover the cost. After that, there are the two optional trips to the Amazon Rainforest and the Galapagos Islands. The Amazon trip is in February and will cost $550, and the Galapagos trip is scheduled for late March/early April and will cost $1,300. These two trips are pretty expensive, so I'm not sure if I will be allowed to go on both of them yet, or if I will have to choose one (in which case I would choose the Galapagos I think). After those trips is the very last trip which is in May, and it's a nine day trip around the entire country. The entire cost is $700, but I will only have to pay $350 because my host club will pay half for me.
Lastly, I may have mentioned this in my last post, but I know that I will arrive at the airport in Guayaquil on August 25 (with a slight tolerance of 2-3 days), so that means that I only have 62 days left before I leave (give or take a couple of days)! I'll know my exact departure/arrival date(s) soon when my airline ticket is issued, but before that happens I have to have my visa approved by the Consulate of Ecuador in Chicago. I sent all of my paperwork to my travel agent at IYWT a couple of weeks ago, and I think she'll be submitting soon if she hasn't already, so hopefully there won't be any problems and my visa will be approved within the next couple of weeks so that I can get my plane ticket. I still have quite a bit to do before I leave, such as purchase insurance, get vaccinations, buy luggage, etc., so I have a lot to get done within these next two months, but hopefully it will make the time pass by more quickly. I don't really have any specific plans this summer to do anything exciting before I leave, so time has been dragging on quite slowly already. But, I have the Ohio Erie Orientation soon, which is the final orientation before everyone starts leaving for their countries, in a couple of weeks from July 12 to July 14, so that should be fun. Hopefully I'll have some more information before that, but if not, then I'll update again after the orientation to let you all know how it went!
Until next time,
Stephanie
Monday, June 3, 2013
Cuenca! Cuenca! Cuenca!
Monday, April 29, 2013
District Conference!
Hello fellow Earthlings,
It's already the end of April! Where oh where did the time go? A bit has happened this month with school and Rotary stuff, and there's only about 3 months and three weeks until I leave for Ecuador! I still don't have my city, which is starting to drive me a bit nuts, but I'll hopefully know that within the next few weeks. :)
Hmm...let's see. I suppose I'll talk about the events this month in chronological order, which means that I'll start with the 10th. This month on the 10th, I had a meeting at Applebee's with a Rotarian named Gary Sobatta from the Novi Rotary Club and the president from my sponsor club, Paul. Gary has been to Ecuador quite a few times to work on a major clean water project (Agua Limpia) and my sponsor club representative, Lorrie, set the meeting up for me to learn about Ecuador and the project. I learned a lot during the meeting, and it was interesting to hear first hand facts about Ecuador. :)
Next, on the 17th, I had my National Honor Society induction! This doesn't have anything to do with exchange, but I thought it was worth mentioning since it was an exciting thing that happened this month, too.
Now, here goes the really long portion of my blog post, so bear with me:
Saturday was the district 6380 conference in Rochester, Mi, that I and all of the other inbounds and outbounds attended. It was from 7:30 a.m. to about 5:30 p.m., and the whole day was so much fun! First, when we arrived at 7:30, after a bit of confusion about what we were supposed to do, we all walked to the fire department down the street to eat breakfast. I sat with a few of the other outbounds, and we were served pancakes and sausage by firemen and boyscouts; one of our "servers" was the most adorable 7 or 8 year old boyscout ever, haha. Everyone there was so nice and it was a really good start to the day. Then, we all walked back to the Royal Park Hotel and went to the memorial service to honor all of the Rotarians that have passed away throughout the year. Next, we went into another room and had a really fun and interesting session with Alan Monroe about the Shelter Box Program. There, all of the inbounds and outbounds split up into tables and I was at a table with Albena (outbound to Russia), Charline (inbound from France) and Rina (inbound from Japan). We then learned what Shelter Boxes are (they are basically big bins that contain everything necessary for families to survive if their homes were destroyed by natural disasters, such as tents, water filters, etc.) and learned about how much they help families in need. We also learned that Shelter Boxes are really hard to get through customs, so we participated in a group activity where all of us had to deal with "crabby customs officers" and work together to get all of the Shelter Boxes through customs. After that, we were split back into our groups, and did a exercise that resembled what Shelter Box deliverers do to get to know each other when they are deployed on a mission and don't have a lot of time to get to know one another (which was getting all of your team members through a small rope without touching it). The moral of that exercise was that in order for the Shelter Box delivery mission to be a success, all members need to work together and have a plan. Overall, the Shelter Box portion of the day was a lot of fun and I learned so much about how natural disasters affect families, and how there aren't always enough Shelter Boxes for all of the families in need. For anyone who is reading this and would like more information or to help, please go to http://www.shelterboxusa.org/
(Here's a pic of all of us in the Shelter Box session with Alan Monroe)
After the Shelter Box Program, we had lunch from about 12 to 1. I sat with about 5 or 6 Rotarians, as well as another exchange student. Lunch went really well, and the Rotarians asked a lot of questions about the exchange program because they weren't very familiar with it. After lunch, all of the inbound students gave a two minute speech about how exchange affected them, and it was really cool to hear them talk about their exchange experiences. It was also helpful, since I'll probably have to do something like that in Ecuador. Also, after the exchange students gave their speeches, we ended up raising over $2,000, which was enough for two Shelter Boxes! Woo!
Next, all of us exchange students went outside to a pretty garden area and we met with some interact students, and did an activity with them about how to spread the word about rotary/interact. That lasted for around a half hour, and then all of the inbounds/outbounds put on our red End Polio Now rain ponchos and handed them out to Rotarians as well, and made our way to downtown Rochester to do a flash mob type thing with everyone attending the conference, which turned out really well. Then, we walked back to the hotel and took a big group photo holding up our End Polio hand symbol thing (I'm pretty sure I'm not seen in most of the pictures because a tall guy was standing in front of me, but I made sure to hold my hand up high so I could be in the picture somewhere. :D) If it gets posted on our district website, I'll steal it and put it on here. I don't have a camera at the moment, so I couldn't take any pictures, but I'll get one soon and definitely take a bunch at the next orientation in July. :)
(Okay, I got it off of the website! Our Polio Freeze group photo, woo! You can see the top of my head if you look closely; I'm in the back row on the grass in the gap between the two people standing on the wall. If you can see the hand that looks like it doesn't belong to anyone, it's mine :P haha)
After the Polio Freeze picture, unfortunately it was time for all of us to say our goodbyes and go home. I of course didn't want to see the day end, though, because I had so much fun hanging out with everyone. But, now I'm looking forward to the next orientation, July 12-14, as well as my departure (exact date TBD, but it will be around Aug. 21 according to IYWT).
Well, I think that's all for now folks. I know that this post was quite the eyeful, so props to you if you read all of that! I think next time will be a vlog, so I can get in the habit of doing them; hopefully it will be soon, because that will mean that I'll know my city then. :D Oh, and I added a few little trinkets around the page, like a translator to the right and an email follower thing at the bottom if your interested in making use of those. :)
Until Host Club Time,
Steph
It's already the end of April! Where oh where did the time go? A bit has happened this month with school and Rotary stuff, and there's only about 3 months and three weeks until I leave for Ecuador! I still don't have my city, which is starting to drive me a bit nuts, but I'll hopefully know that within the next few weeks. :)
Hmm...let's see. I suppose I'll talk about the events this month in chronological order, which means that I'll start with the 10th. This month on the 10th, I had a meeting at Applebee's with a Rotarian named Gary Sobatta from the Novi Rotary Club and the president from my sponsor club, Paul. Gary has been to Ecuador quite a few times to work on a major clean water project (Agua Limpia) and my sponsor club representative, Lorrie, set the meeting up for me to learn about Ecuador and the project. I learned a lot during the meeting, and it was interesting to hear first hand facts about Ecuador. :)
Next, on the 17th, I had my National Honor Society induction! This doesn't have anything to do with exchange, but I thought it was worth mentioning since it was an exciting thing that happened this month, too.
Now, here goes the really long portion of my blog post, so bear with me:
Saturday was the district 6380 conference in Rochester, Mi, that I and all of the other inbounds and outbounds attended. It was from 7:30 a.m. to about 5:30 p.m., and the whole day was so much fun! First, when we arrived at 7:30, after a bit of confusion about what we were supposed to do, we all walked to the fire department down the street to eat breakfast. I sat with a few of the other outbounds, and we were served pancakes and sausage by firemen and boyscouts; one of our "servers" was the most adorable 7 or 8 year old boyscout ever, haha. Everyone there was so nice and it was a really good start to the day. Then, we all walked back to the Royal Park Hotel and went to the memorial service to honor all of the Rotarians that have passed away throughout the year. Next, we went into another room and had a really fun and interesting session with Alan Monroe about the Shelter Box Program. There, all of the inbounds and outbounds split up into tables and I was at a table with Albena (outbound to Russia), Charline (inbound from France) and Rina (inbound from Japan). We then learned what Shelter Boxes are (they are basically big bins that contain everything necessary for families to survive if their homes were destroyed by natural disasters, such as tents, water filters, etc.) and learned about how much they help families in need. We also learned that Shelter Boxes are really hard to get through customs, so we participated in a group activity where all of us had to deal with "crabby customs officers" and work together to get all of the Shelter Boxes through customs. After that, we were split back into our groups, and did a exercise that resembled what Shelter Box deliverers do to get to know each other when they are deployed on a mission and don't have a lot of time to get to know one another (which was getting all of your team members through a small rope without touching it). The moral of that exercise was that in order for the Shelter Box delivery mission to be a success, all members need to work together and have a plan. Overall, the Shelter Box portion of the day was a lot of fun and I learned so much about how natural disasters affect families, and how there aren't always enough Shelter Boxes for all of the families in need. For anyone who is reading this and would like more information or to help, please go to http://www.shelterboxusa.org/
After the Shelter Box Program, we had lunch from about 12 to 1. I sat with about 5 or 6 Rotarians, as well as another exchange student. Lunch went really well, and the Rotarians asked a lot of questions about the exchange program because they weren't very familiar with it. After lunch, all of the inbound students gave a two minute speech about how exchange affected them, and it was really cool to hear them talk about their exchange experiences. It was also helpful, since I'll probably have to do something like that in Ecuador. Also, after the exchange students gave their speeches, we ended up raising over $2,000, which was enough for two Shelter Boxes! Woo!
Next, all of us exchange students went outside to a pretty garden area and we met with some interact students, and did an activity with them about how to spread the word about rotary/interact. That lasted for around a half hour, and then all of the inbounds/outbounds put on our red End Polio Now rain ponchos and handed them out to Rotarians as well, and made our way to downtown Rochester to do a flash mob type thing with everyone attending the conference, which turned out really well. Then, we walked back to the hotel and took a big group photo holding up our End Polio hand symbol thing (I'm pretty sure I'm not seen in most of the pictures because a tall guy was standing in front of me, but I made sure to hold my hand up high so I could be in the picture somewhere. :D) If it gets posted on our district website, I'll steal it and put it on here. I don't have a camera at the moment, so I couldn't take any pictures, but I'll get one soon and definitely take a bunch at the next orientation in July. :)
After the Polio Freeze picture, unfortunately it was time for all of us to say our goodbyes and go home. I of course didn't want to see the day end, though, because I had so much fun hanging out with everyone. But, now I'm looking forward to the next orientation, July 12-14, as well as my departure (exact date TBD, but it will be around Aug. 21 according to IYWT).
Well, I think that's all for now folks. I know that this post was quite the eyeful, so props to you if you read all of that! I think next time will be a vlog, so I can get in the habit of doing them; hopefully it will be soon, because that will mean that I'll know my city then. :D Oh, and I added a few little trinkets around the page, like a translator to the right and an email follower thing at the bottom if your interested in making use of those. :)
Until Host Club Time,
Steph
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Vlog #1
Hello again,
I know it is earlier than I said I'd post, but I made my first vlog and posted it on youtube so I thought I'd share it here. I tried to post it here as well, but the file is too big and I can't figure out how to shrink it. :P So, here's the link if you're interested! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCoRGfxNpHQ
It's basically a summary of everything that I already wrote about in previous blog entries, so if you're new to my blog and want to skip all of the long posts below, well, here you go. :)
Now, until next time (district conference or finding out my host club!),
Stephanie
It's basically a summary of everything that I already wrote about in previous blog entries, so if you're new to my blog and want to skip all of the long posts below, well, here you go. :)
Now, until next time (district conference or finding out my host club!),
Stephanie
Monday, April 1, 2013
Orientation #2
Hello all! Sorry it has been so long since my last post, but there hasn't been much worth posting about except the orientation from last weekend (March 23). I'm still anxiously waiting to find out my host club so I know where in Ecuador I'll be staying, which means that I'm constantly checking my email and, therefore, constantly being disappointed. But, on the bright side, I received information from my travel agent at It's Your World Travel and set up an account on the travel agency's website, which means I can now start filling out the required paperwork in order to obtain my visa. :) Also, the website said that that I'm expected to arrive in Ecuador on August 21, which means that I leave in approximately four months and 20 days! It feels like just yesterday that I found out about Rotary and was accepted into the program, so it feels surreal that I leave next season. (I know no one uses the phrase "next season," but it makes it sound really close, which it is :P) It's crazy and exciting at the same time.
Okay, now the orientation. :) It took place in Ypsilanti at the Ypsilanti Free Methodist Church and included another district, 6600. The main focus of this orientation was to get familiar with the travel agency we are working with and its procedures, so a representative from It's Your World Travel spoke for the majority of the day. Most of it was dry facts that I already knew, but he told a few funny stories and shared some country specific information which was nice. I was told that it would be a bit more difficult to get my visa than students going to most other countries because I had a lot of specific paperwork to fill out, but that's okay because Ecuador's worth it. ;) Then, a member from my district's "committee" spoke for around an hour about cultural differences that we may notice while we are gone, and we started by comparing the differences between the two countries in my district, the USA and Canada. One of the bigger differences people noticed was definitely the dialect (Canadians say "ay" and "aboot" :P). Then, another member of the district committee gave a funny presentation about the stages that exchange students normally go through throughout their year abroad. Lunch was somewhere in between all of that, which was fun because I sat with a couple of the other outbounds that I haven't seen since the last orientation. Then, a woman from my district briefly spoke to us about the district conference, which is coming up on April 27 in Rochester, Mi. All of the inbounds and outbounds will be there, and it sounds like it will be fun. After that, there won't be anymore events or orientations until the last orientation from July 12-14 in Westerville, Ohio, which will include all of the districts in Ohio-Erie.
Lately I've been thinking about beginning video blogs to post here and on youtube occasionally in place of regular blog entries, because from reading other exchange blogs, I've noticed that most exchange students get too busy to blog while they are in their host countries, and I think vlogs will be a quicker alternative to blogs when I don't have much time. I'll mostly do the vlogs while I'm in Ecuador, but I'll probably do one or two while I'm here first. :)
Until next time (which will either be after the district conference or when I find out my host club!),
Stephanie
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Orientation!
Why hello there to the two or three people that actually read my blog! ;)
Where to start...Well, pretty much all of last week was kinda boring. I didn't really do much besides schoolwork/act prep after school. I have a feeling that the rest of winter is just going to slowly drag on....but, enough of my complaining. :D
Orientation was last weekend, and it went really well! A lot was packed into 2 days though, let me tell ya. I was practically dead on the ride home on Sunday. I shall start with Saturday morning:
I awoke before the crack of dawn at the dark and early time of 5 am, and left my house at about 6 with my dad pestering me to get out of the door because I was "running late." (I was on schedule though, mind you. He told me we'd leave at 6:15!) Then, we got to the Ambassador Bridge around 25 minutes later (we didn't end up taking the tunnel. Boo.) and drove in the cornfields of Canada for about 2 hours until we got to the place where my orientation was-I think it was called Blenheim District High School, but I can't remember for sure. And when I say we drove through the cornfields of Canada the whole way, I mean it. There was nothing there. Just fields, windmills, and a few trees here and there. But hey, on the bright side, no traffic ;) Anyways, we got to the high school, and we were pretty much the first ones there so we just sat in the parking lot waiting for someone to come so that we knew we were at the right place. Then, when they did, we got inside and registered and I started talking to some of the fellow outbounds there until the leaders of the district exchange program (I'm not sure what to call them. I know there's a name for them. Oh yeah, I'll call them the exchange committee!) started talking to us and giving us a run down of how the day would go. We started off doing an ice breaker, which was cool because it wasn't the kind of ice breaker where you have to stand up and "tell a little about yourself." For the ice breaker, we were each given a sheet of paper with a list of interests for each outbound on it, and we had to go up and meet everyone and match their name with their interest. That took about ten minutes, and then we got right to business. ;)
We were given a folder, a bag, and a big fancy binder, and inside the folder were a bajillion papers with information that someone from the "exchange committee" briefly went over. Then, the parents and students split up for separate sessions. All of the students went to the library, where some members of the committee talked to us about the upcoming events that we have to attend within the next few months, when we should be finding out other information about our exchange such as our host district and city, our "homework" assignments, and the new insurance policy. Then, we were given scenarios about problems that could occur in our host countries and had to discuss amongst ourselves how we would deal with them. I learned quite a bit during that part, which was good.
Then, everyone went to the cafeteria and we had lunch. I didn't really eat much because I wasn't a big fan of the options, but I had a good time talking to everyone. After that, the committee basically just talked about stuff that I mostly already knew so I kinda stopped paying attention. They gave us directions to go get our blazer fittings, and us Americans got to go first :P Haha. The girls got fitted at a store called Cleo Ricki's in a mall in Chatham, which I thought was pretty stylish. :) Our pants are black and I our blazers are supposed to be a mediumish blue instead of navy blue like I thought, which is nice. After we finished getting fitted for our blazers, the orientation was officially over and the swimming/bowling/skiing event started.
I got dropped off at a funky building, which is where everyone attending (outbounds, inbounds, rebounds-pretty much anyone who wanted to go) dropped their stuff off and ate dinner. For the first few hours, everyone just kinda hungout, talked, listened to music, played games, whatever they wanted. It was pretty fun, and I met a lot of new people. Then, we walked to a pool called Gable Ree's Rotary Pool (I think that's the name..once again, so horrible with names) and we went swimming for around 1 or 2 hours. I had a lot of fun, and that was probably my favorite part of the night. Then, we went to a bowling alley, which was pretty funky. Instead of having 12 pins at the end of the lane, there were 5, and the bowling ball was tiny and didn't have finger holes. I'm not really into bowling, so that was eh, but it was still pretty cool. We were there for around 2 more hours, and then we went to the ice skating rink. I didn't have skates, so I borrowed a pair from one of the other exchangers. Skating was fun, but I wasn't really good at it! I felt accomplished at the end, though, because I didn't fall like I thought I would. :D We got back to the main building at around midnight, and everyone just kinda hung around until lights out, which was at 1:30 am. We had to get up at around 7:30 am the next day, which was crazy! My dad picked me up at 10 am, and I was extremely exhausted the whole way home!
Overall, it was a fun weekend! I'm excited for the next orientation, which is on March 23. It's a multi district orientation, and I think we are combining with district 6600 for this one, but I'm not 100% sure. Anywho, I'll keep you guys posted if anything exciting happens between now and then! :)
Until next time,
Stephanie
Where to start...Well, pretty much all of last week was kinda boring. I didn't really do much besides schoolwork/act prep after school. I have a feeling that the rest of winter is just going to slowly drag on....but, enough of my complaining. :D
Orientation was last weekend, and it went really well! A lot was packed into 2 days though, let me tell ya. I was practically dead on the ride home on Sunday. I shall start with Saturday morning:
I awoke before the crack of dawn at the dark and early time of 5 am, and left my house at about 6 with my dad pestering me to get out of the door because I was "running late." (I was on schedule though, mind you. He told me we'd leave at 6:15!) Then, we got to the Ambassador Bridge around 25 minutes later (we didn't end up taking the tunnel. Boo.) and drove in the cornfields of Canada for about 2 hours until we got to the place where my orientation was-I think it was called Blenheim District High School, but I can't remember for sure. And when I say we drove through the cornfields of Canada the whole way, I mean it. There was nothing there. Just fields, windmills, and a few trees here and there. But hey, on the bright side, no traffic ;) Anyways, we got to the high school, and we were pretty much the first ones there so we just sat in the parking lot waiting for someone to come so that we knew we were at the right place. Then, when they did, we got inside and registered and I started talking to some of the fellow outbounds there until the leaders of the district exchange program (I'm not sure what to call them. I know there's a name for them. Oh yeah, I'll call them the exchange committee!) started talking to us and giving us a run down of how the day would go. We started off doing an ice breaker, which was cool because it wasn't the kind of ice breaker where you have to stand up and "tell a little about yourself." For the ice breaker, we were each given a sheet of paper with a list of interests for each outbound on it, and we had to go up and meet everyone and match their name with their interest. That took about ten minutes, and then we got right to business. ;)
We were given a folder, a bag, and a big fancy binder, and inside the folder were a bajillion papers with information that someone from the "exchange committee" briefly went over. Then, the parents and students split up for separate sessions. All of the students went to the library, where some members of the committee talked to us about the upcoming events that we have to attend within the next few months, when we should be finding out other information about our exchange such as our host district and city, our "homework" assignments, and the new insurance policy. Then, we were given scenarios about problems that could occur in our host countries and had to discuss amongst ourselves how we would deal with them. I learned quite a bit during that part, which was good.
Then, everyone went to the cafeteria and we had lunch. I didn't really eat much because I wasn't a big fan of the options, but I had a good time talking to everyone. After that, the committee basically just talked about stuff that I mostly already knew so I kinda stopped paying attention. They gave us directions to go get our blazer fittings, and us Americans got to go first :P Haha. The girls got fitted at a store called Cleo Ricki's in a mall in Chatham, which I thought was pretty stylish. :) Our pants are black and I our blazers are supposed to be a mediumish blue instead of navy blue like I thought, which is nice. After we finished getting fitted for our blazers, the orientation was officially over and the swimming/bowling/skiing event started.
I got dropped off at a funky building, which is where everyone attending (outbounds, inbounds, rebounds-pretty much anyone who wanted to go) dropped their stuff off and ate dinner. For the first few hours, everyone just kinda hungout, talked, listened to music, played games, whatever they wanted. It was pretty fun, and I met a lot of new people. Then, we walked to a pool called Gable Ree's Rotary Pool (I think that's the name..once again, so horrible with names) and we went swimming for around 1 or 2 hours. I had a lot of fun, and that was probably my favorite part of the night. Then, we went to a bowling alley, which was pretty funky. Instead of having 12 pins at the end of the lane, there were 5, and the bowling ball was tiny and didn't have finger holes. I'm not really into bowling, so that was eh, but it was still pretty cool. We were there for around 2 more hours, and then we went to the ice skating rink. I didn't have skates, so I borrowed a pair from one of the other exchangers. Skating was fun, but I wasn't really good at it! I felt accomplished at the end, though, because I didn't fall like I thought I would. :D We got back to the main building at around midnight, and everyone just kinda hung around until lights out, which was at 1:30 am. We had to get up at around 7:30 am the next day, which was crazy! My dad picked me up at 10 am, and I was extremely exhausted the whole way home!
Overall, it was a fun weekend! I'm excited for the next orientation, which is on March 23. It's a multi district orientation, and I think we are combining with district 6600 for this one, but I'm not 100% sure. Anywho, I'll keep you guys posted if anything exciting happens between now and then! :)
Until next time,
Stephanie
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