On the day that I met my host family (which consists of a mother and my 15-year-old brother), I was taken to their home to unpack. That day was a strong indicator of what my lifestyle would be like living there; busy and exciting. I spent maybe half an hour in the house before my brother, Jose-Maria, took me and a few friends on a gondola up one of the nearby mountains. We hiked and took in the scenery of the mountainous landscape and the city of Quito below. That night they rushed me off to centro-historical, the historical and colonial area of Quito. It's a place filled with incredible architecture, great sights, and lots of interesting stories. The next day I found myself ziplining through the jungle and spotting my first sight of a Tucan.
The next weekend, the one that has just passed, my host-family took me with them on a road trip to the Esmerelda's. The area is an odd mix of beauty and devastation, rich in diversity, but poor in living conditions. Upon entering the city we drove past slums and neighbourhoods of houses propped up on stilts above the murky waters of Rio Esmereldas. Soon later we drove past one of the many beaches situated along their coast by the Pacific. The beaches are beautiful and large, sunny and sandy. To have driven mere kilometres from slum to beautiful beach seemed strange to me. How could the area change so drastically, and so quickly? The houses are small, and the living conditions severely different than what I have become accustomed to in Quito. Before leaving, my brother informed me that some days there is water, but other days there isn't and you can never be sure when you will have the luxury of running water. For the majority of the weekend that I was there, there was no running water, which meant no way to wash your hands. For a period of a weekend, I wasn't much bothered by this as I had prepared myself at least minimally for different conditions. After returning to Quito, I wondered whether I would have the capacity to live like that for more than a weekend. I still cannot be sure that I would. This is not because I'm a materialistic person or need to live with certain luxuries (because I don't), it's more because I am not sure I would mentally be able to confront myself daily with the reality that I may never know what will or could happen.
While in the Esmereldas Jose-Maria and I took surfing lessons. This is something I have wanted to do for a while and finally got a chance. A background n snowboarding certainly helped. The motions and balance were very similar, so we both picked it up quickly. I have yet to receive my pictures from the instructor so those will come later.
Ecuador is always surprising me and amazing me. Although I had not expected to be here (because my initial choice to study abroad was in Ghana), I am finding meanings to why I was led to Ecuador instead. It is difficult, because the country rarely resembles anything to Canada, and because my Spanish is still not great (but I'm learning each day), but difficult is not a bad thing. I'm embracing it. If it were easy to be here, then I may wonder why I am here at all. As I work through this first semester, I am essentially preparing myself for second term where I will find myself in another part of the country. Second term is where I finally get to jump into the field of development work by volunteering with an organization and researching, learning, and eventually writing on what I find. I expect this part of my journey to be even more difficult. Again though, it should be. Whether I find myself learning the way of sustainable coffee farming, or restoring habitats that have been displaced by extraction I know that my knowledge ad learning will be endless while here in Ecuador. To be in this place is beautiful and is constantly opening and stretching my mind. And in the grand scheme of my entire life, this journey is but only 8 months. A very miniscule period, with major implications.
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