Every Rose Has Its Thorn

 Every Rose Has Its Thorn

First let me start by saying that this was fun. It really was, but it also had its ups and downs. In this section of my blog I’m going to take you through my time and experiences in Ecuador.  So let’s rewind the tape and start from the beginning.  

    When I arrived in Ecuador it was like I’d left the USA and traveled through a portal to a different dimension.  It was completely different than anywhere I’d been before.  First of all EVERYTHING was in Spanish, which was overwhelming.  Keep in mind that throughout the year everything would continue to be in Spanish. Over the next few weeks, I started speaking more, making friends in my urbanización (a gated community of condos), and practicing fútbol.  That brings me to the next chapter of this journey: School.  When I started school it was virtual, which I will state was the hardest thing I have ever done. Period.  Not only was it glitchy with our horrible Wifi but also I didn’t know anybody. Oh yeah, and everything was in Spanish. I spent 50% of my time in class making vocab lists and translating words I didn't understand.  The other 50%, I had my video off trying not to interact. Then there was in-person school.  Imagine this: you arrive at a school where nobody speaks your language.  Then somebody tells you (in very rapid Spanish) where your class is. You then proceed to go the exact opposite direction and have to get told three more times where your class is.  Once you get to your class, your teacher welcomes you and tells you to take any seat.  You sit at the front of the class and turn around briefly to grab your backpack.  EVERYONE is staring at you.  You think: “That’s strange” But then you remember that you’re a 5’10” Gringo. Throughout the first half of the day you endure your classes, some better than others. At lunch you sit alone on the concrete walkway eating a PB&J.  Two of your classmates who are also outcasts sit nearby.  You think about trying to talk to someone but you’re unsure of your speaking abilities. Before you can decide, someone comes over from the circle of classmates.  They ask where you're from, how old and tall you are. They're surprised with every answer, and just like that you're transformed from Sam Beesley to The Gringo, AKA El Vikingo.

      The next few months passed without much happening. I tried 5 different fútbol academies.  The problem is that I'm too tall for my age group, so I'm put with the 14-17 year olds. As you can imagine, that caused some problems. They had been playing for 12+ years and I'd been playing for 4 summers, so there was an obvious skill difference there. 

 

    My family and I would travel around Ecuador on the weekends and school breaks, and as a result I've gotten to know almost all of Ecuador.  It was nice not to have to get to miss a little bit of school, but it came with the guilt of being in the Galapagos while the rest of my classmates were in social sciences. That raises the question: Was I close to my classmates? I was, after 6 months.  I made friends after I could speak maybe 50% of the language. However, the friendships were never as close as my friendships in Alaska. I should take the time to mention that I got a lot of looks in my school. Like a LOT.  Some were more friendly than others, and some were a bit too friendly. But whether they were calling me ‘#$@*%& Gringo’ or just saying hi, I was always suspicious of their intentions. I could never really tell what they were trying to say. I will really miss my classmates, we had some good times together. Whether it was throwing water balloons at cars during carnaval, or just playing a new game that I’d never heard of, it was always something wildly different than anything I would do in Alaska.  

 

    So I guess the moral of the story is that I learned many things in Ecuador: how to solve multiple rubik's cubes, how to cut cards like a really clumsy magician, how to milk a cow at 5am, how to beatbox, how to speak spanish, how to make eggs, how to rip a massive hole in your shoe by playing too much soccer, how to swim, how to play jazz piano, how to solve algebraic equations, how to write poems, how to look like you’re paying attention in math class, but most importantly how to make the best of a situation that (while I may not appreciate it) is extremely valuable for my future.  

Top Fives

Top 5 Things I’m Excited To Go Back To 

#6 Winter

#5 Community

#4 Fitting in

#3 Food

#2 Language

#1 Cultural Understanding

Top 5 Thing That I’ll Miss

#5 Spanish

#4 Tiny donut vendors (Tiny donut) (vendors), not (Tiny) (donut vendors)

#3 Almuerzos (Large lunches that cost $2.50)

#2 Soccer

#1 Friends

Top 5 Things That I’m Not Going To Miss

#5 Spanish

#4 Constantly not understanding

#3 Loneliness

#2 Sucking at soccer

#1 Being the Gringo

Top 5 Most Interesting Experiences

#5 Sex Education for months without understanding everything.  I had to engage my imagination and hope it was right.  (I have a few informative vocab lists though)

#4 Taking the L2 bus and later finding out that it was the last ride after the bus shut down. It took me to a random gas station. (The look on the drivers face when I asked to get off without him knowing that I was still on the bus was priceless)

#3 Rapping “Lose Yourself” by Eminem in front of half of the school at a karaoke contest (My classmates put me up to it)

#2 Going to my friends house to celebrate carnival by throwing eggs and water balloons at each other and in the windows of passing cars.

#1 Meeting a videographer to basically model for a hostel.

(yes I know that the first one has 6)