Days 11-17: Montañita!

This is my second week in Ecuador and I am starting to get the hang of things. My Spanish has definitely improved since I have been here and I am starting to become more open about speaking with strangers in Spanish. 
The internship

 This week at the internship we met the other nurse that works at the clinic. His name is Juan and he is awesome. Me and Keke found him very easy to talk to because he speaks slowly for us (all in Spanish of course) and makes sure that when he explains anything we understand him. He taught us an easier way to take blood pressure manually, how to put information into the clinic database, what all of the medicines do and how they are used, and how to prepare syringes and give injections! I gave my first injection to a patient on Friday and I was nervous, but I will be more relaxed after a few more times. This week at the internship was great and I learned a lot!

 School

My daily schedule is the internship from 8:30 am-1 pm, a lunch break from 1-2, and then classes and tutoring English from 2-6. Classes are an hour an a half and tutoring is an hour. With this program, we are taking a Spanish course and an Ecuadorian History and Society course now, and then after we are finished, we will take our needed biology courses in Spanish! This week in both of our classes we had to give two presentations. We also took our first Spanish quiz, which was very nerve wracking. For the Ecuadorian Culture and Society course, we learned about previous cultures in Ecuador and then visited the Municipal Museum in Guayaquil. 
Keke and I with Professor Galo and 2 of his English students that helped us with Spanish


Rolling hangout event!

With other students from CEN that are learning English

Pictures from the Museum:

                               

 



Other things we did this week:

This week I decided to try to set up my life here in Guayaquil, so I got a gym membership and a boxing membership to help me stay in shape. My host sister, Keke, and I also went to get our nails done. The prices here are way cheaper than back home. A gel manicure cost $10, compared to $25-$30 back home and Keke got acrylics for $25! We also found out that Snapchat is no longer used here, which was a big surprise for Keke and I. Instead, in Ecuador they use Instagram and whats-app the most for social media and I was told Snapchat is basically extinct.



Food :

These are pictures of food my host mom prepared for me this week. She usually serves soup with every meal, and surprises me with new home-cooked food everyday. She is truly amazing!

  

Variety of food from the popular shop, Naturissimo

Travel

This weekend we went to Montañita! Montañita is a small town on the coast of Ecuador that is known for surfing and parties. We took a 3 hour bus ride to Montañita and when we arrived, we walked around the whole town and went shopping for clothes and souvenirs. Since it is on the coast, it is known for the best and freshest seafood! There are at least 12 ceviche carts set up all around Montañita and almost all the restaurants sell seafood. We ate ceviche twice! At night, we went out on the town and had some fun. Montañita is known to party, so I am glad I got to experience it. I am sad I did not learn to salsa, but maybe I can another time.


Ceviche Mixto con fresh Chifles!
Mixto= shrimp, octopus, calamari
Plate #2 of ceviche de camarones



This is an Argentinian empanada that is baked and has tomato, basil, and cheese! I had 3.









Crepes are also very popular in Montañita! I had 2 in 2 days.



                         
                            



Feelings

I want to be honest with this blog so that others who are thinking of studying abroad can see the full experience. I love being here and being able to experience all these new things and see all of these new places, but I'm also starting to miss home. In class, we learned about the different stages of culture shock and how it may start to affect us. Because I was in my honeymoon stage, I didn't think I would feel the lows. This week I experienced it and it definitely has not been my favorite part of the trip. I just feel very lonely sometimes because I am in another country with people I can barely have a conversation with, and all of my friends and family are so far away. I am missing out on important things back home and it just feels far. This is the longest and farthest I've been away from my family and friends, so the feeling is definitely not the best, but it will all pay off in the long run!




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