"You're experience will be similar to that of Zen Buddhism...

...You must be assertive but not aggressive, sweet but not docile, you have to be focused but not obsessed. You have to find the balance."

So little and yet so much have happened since my last post. I say that because at first everything was a HUGE deal. Now that I've been in country for almost a week my excitement at the little things has diminished and my appreciation for the big things has grown. I left off on cards and beer night, a good choice might I reiterate. The next day we had the so-called "drop-off" which was more like abandonment. Our assignment was simple. We were broken into groups of three and given a town either the north or south of Tababela. It was our job to find a bus to the town, speak to some locals, find a (hopefully) safe place to eat, and then catch the bus back not to Tababela, but to Quito. Oh yeah folks, I'm in the city now. From the bus terminal we had to identify a safe cab (many aren't here) and using our conversation skills give the address of our hotel on the other side of town to the cabbie, and make it there to the Hotel Sierra Madre. My group's town was Checa, a small agricultural town about 15min north of Tababela. After catching the wrong bus we stopped off in Yasuni. From there we waited until the next bus in the direction of El Quinche came. Despite a little confusion we managed to make it to the right stop and into town with the guidance of a nice gentleman. We walked into town and were directed to the towns square, a park in front of a church. There we saw a troop of adorable preschoolers in various colored bucket hats. One was crying near a tree, and an older lady watching beckoned him to come over so she could embrace him. It was such a cute first thing to see in this town. After talking with a park landscaper and a baker we found out that the town was a agri-town focused mainly on the production of Roses; a relatively new industry to Ecuador. It is also a popular destination for people looking to start families. Ecuadorians come from all over the country to Checa and even some from Colombia because it is, as one of Ecuador's favorite words suggests, "tranquilo." Calm and quiet, everyone seems to know each other and there are literally hundreds of kids to socialize yours with. It is a huge community support system, something not unique to Checa, but definitely something locals take pride in. We then moved on to eat lunch at a small cafeteria where for only $2 we got a two course meal. Potato soup and rice with beef avocado and beets. We paid and graciously thanked our cook, although we avoided the lemonade for fear it may have been made with tap water; not an easy task. Making our way this time to the correct bus stop waited for the next bus to Quito. 

Arriving in Quito was amazing. Going from rural/suburban Tababela/Checa to Quito was a trip. The city was bustling with people working and living. On the bus we had beggars, vendors, my friends even had a musician eager to share his music. We got dropped at Rio Coca bus terminal in Northern Quito and rather quickly found a tax to take us to Sierra Madre. With relatively little confusion we made it to Sierra Madre we Fabian was waiting for give us a hug and lead us to reflect on our trip and the info we collected. After our conversation about each city a panel of local college students came and talked to us for over an hour in Spanish. We talked politics, social life, sports. We talked about almost everything, and these students were both willing to share and insightful in what they said. We were even invited to come party with them on Friday, but had to turn that down because we will be with host families. Later in the evening we bought beer, determined to go out. We were ever so slightly (and by that I mean 45min) but Ecuadorian liquor bottles. Who would have thought you'd have to flip a bottle upside down to pour? After a pair of pliers and knife were used, we gave in and asked the concierge at Sierra Madre who, I'm sure got a good laugh out of our predicament. We drank and talked and about 10:30 decided to head out, on traditional Ecuadorian party time. We got lost. One block too much, then retracing our steps, and with a little help from our friendly concierge we reached Cafe Libro. Described to us a a cool college student spot with a mature crowd. Mature was a understatement. The average age must have been 35, and when 11 tipsy gringos pored in, you can bet we distracted these fancy folks from their Tango night. The owner came over and spoke with me briefly, attempting to explain her establishment wasn't the spot for us, at least not tonight. So we left, and with the rain coming down and the closest party district described as "peligroso" i.e. dangerous, we decided to call it a night. 

This morning we woke up early, headed to breakfast and then to EIL Ecuador. EIL is my organizations partner and is responsible for running our language lessons. We sat through a lecture on homestays and then current events. After lunch it was our Spanish placement test. To say the least I'm rusty. My conversational skills are good, but my verb conjugations are not, something I will definitely have to work on these next few months. All in all I thought it went well. Tonight the plan is to hit the Mariscal district or Gringolandia as it is locally know. Pick pocket rates our high but it is relatively safe for gringos, and ina  group of 11 it is hard not to stand out as the gringos in town. Tomorrow is both a long and intense day. We have our first experience of bureaucracy in the form of the migration office in Quito where we must go register as being present in the country of Ecuador. Afterwards we have interviews with the one and only Fabian to check in with us and make sure everything is going well. After is the scariest thing of all. The gringos are dropped off at our first homestay in the suburb of Los Chillos Ecuador. I wrote my family a letter before coming, and today received a response from them. My papa is an administrator at a restaurant and my mama is a housewife. I have a host brother a sister. My brother is 23 and studies graphic design, he likes soccer and hanging with friends. My host sister is 21 and married with a baby, who I will most likely be meeting. I'm excited and terrified. They seem to be a very loving family and said they look forward to having me fit in as another son, which makes me feel a little more at ease with the situation. Regardless this is bound to be an interesting weekend. I look forward to posting soon and giving an update.

As for the title, it was yet another Fabianism. The wisest man here who continually gives us deep and profound things to ponder. I'm just feeling very grateful for this opportunity. 

Only in diversity of thought is learning possible

I really don't know where to begin. I feel like it's much to early to already be overwhelmed by my experiences, but at the same time so much seems to already have happened. My flights were, well, for the most part flights. I hastily boarded my flight from PDX to LAX at 5:45pm, two hours later I was in L.A. After bumming around for 3 hours watching Stargate and eating I made my way to my flight to Miami, possibly the most disorienting flight ever. I know I slept, but I am not sure how much like how it went by quickly but at the same time I was so uncomfortable at times ten minutes seemed like an hour. Arriving in Miami in the morning was cool, with only a few hours of sleep under my belt I looked around for the closest sign of coffee and sustenance. This came in the form of a Beanerie (thought nothing like those of my little college town), after miscommunication over what a Mexican mocha was I ended up spending $10 on some sort of caffeinated mocha and a sausage, egg, and cheese (the same type sold at Circle-K). I then realized that the Internet here at Miami International Airport (MIA) was NOT FREE. Not cool. Bro. I gave up on the wonders of the interwebs and made my way through my terminal, out of TSA and into the main area of MIA. I then had a beautiful revelation that the sun was in fact out, and shinning, and that Miami was a wondrous 72 degrees. I felt like I hadn't seen the sun in months and relished int he opportunity to walk across the entire airport outside in it. I took the time to call all of my family members (mother, brothers, and sisters) one last time before leaving to Ecuador. After many half-hour long conversations and goodbyes I went back in MIA to charge my phone and with my extra time start a movie. Around 12:30 I decided to go back through TSA and into my new terminal where I would cat LanEcuador flight XL 517. Being the good American I am I stopped at the airport Mcdonalds and had my fill of grease and fat. At 2:55 my flight began boarding. At about 3:40 we took off, I was finally on my way to Ecuador. Yet again I fell asleep instantly but woke up in time for dinner. International flights are the shit. While I meant to ask for ravioli and ended up with rice and beef, I was offered soda, wine, whisky, and beer, declining all but the foremost. Along with my rice and beef I was served a roll and cheesecake (that's right, dessert). After many failed attempts to go back to sleep and dinner warm in my belly I turned on my headrest TV with offered hundreds of movies, games, and TV shows. After Elysium ended I patiently waited to land.

Arriving in Quito was unreal. For the first time in my life I was a minority language speaker, and most people were not English fluent (not even many of the flight staff, hence my lack of ravioli). I made my way to customs and was pointed to the "foreigners" line. After a five minute wait I was welcomed to Ecuador (in English) and began my search for my bag and program meeting spot. I found the first quickly, only to leave customs and see not a single person carrying an SIT Ecuador sign or beckoning to all the gringos to come talk to them. Convinced I had read something wrong I ran to the nearest Internet cafe (about 10ft away) and in my extremely broken Spanish got onto a computer and my gmail and reread one of the last emails I was sent. I confirmed that I was right and headed back outside customs where I found my group and met Matt, a junior Philosophy major at Pomona college and Fabian Espinola, program director. After assembling our group we shuffled towards a taxi, where to my surprise I learned my next three days would be a a Hostel outside the city in a town called Tababela (still strunggling to write and say that).  The hostel is nothing like I had expected, I have somewhat of a suit with two other guys (Max and Ryan). I has a huge door for cars and a smaller for persons, and is reminiscent of a combination of old western-moive style pueblos with a distinctly South American flair. Basically it's paradise. We ate dinner and talked until late in the night, waiting for as many stragglers as we could before travel exhaustion set in. We all went to sleep.

Up at 7:30am and determined to shower (I had logged 23 hours in airports plus however much time the night before and sleep, showerless). The water was cold. And I don't mean, "Oh I should hurry up this is cold," cold. I'm talking, "WASH ONLY ONE BODY PART AT A TIME," cold. Ryan and I in stalls next to each other exchanged techniques. After a shocking wake up shower we headed to breakfast where we were served bananas, fresh juice (super fresh), eggs, and toast. After breakfast we oriented some more with Fabian, our program director and the assistant program director (still haven't caught her name). We did a presentation on health (2/3 of which was diarrhea) then after a break ate lunch. After lunch we were given our first assignment. We were split into groups and had to find a building in town. My group and I found very quickly the "tienda de aborrates" aka grocery store. We then made our way down through Tababela we found the rest of our program members involved in a pick up game of soccer with some local kids on their lunch break. Somehow we managed to win 10-7 in 3V3 with one substitute each (granted they were maybe 12). Later we returned to the hostel and debriefed with Fabian. After another break with took us into the hostel's pool for some fun we reconviened for a quick Salsa lesson. Not gonna lie here, I was feelin the Salsa. Our instructor spoke in mostly Spanish, but even from my loose grasp on his words I could see the passion he had. While this may bring to mind a flamboyant Latino man with a black half-unbottoned dress shirt and cold chain, he was anything but. He spoke of it much like the author of a book I was recently reading spoke of Tai Chi. It surprised me how I could see the connection between the two, the centered core the deliberate and concise movements, but mostly moving through feeling your inner energy inspired in part by the music in the background. My pareja and I killed it! She was very much into as I was so we spent a good amount of time perfecting our steps and trying to impress the instructor. From what I've gathered from the other guys they are interested in a salsa night when we get to Quito, and I'm pretty stoked. After salsa was dinner, a little bit of card playing accompanied by beer purchased from town and I am calling it a night.

I wanted to touch on the title before I sign off. It is a bit out of place but I wanted to have it preserved early on. Our director Fabian is an amazingly wise man. He understands the function of the program really well and knows how to push us in the right ways. I'm confident this program is going to be great if only for the fact that he is guiding its implementation. Fabian said this in the midst of our discussion on the purpose of the program, and I immediately wrote it down. I'm excited to see what the rest of the week brings. If you read this far congratulations! If you skipped the middle I completely understand, because I've done the same on many other blogs. I am also gonna throw a disclaimer out there I am soo incredibly exhausted right now so I apologize for my terrible grammar and spelling. 'Til next time!

Packing

Without my 'Tab' button working and the apparent lack of a indent buttong I am forced to start my first post without structure. So, packing. I started today, a whopping three days before I leave (and it's hard). I'm supposed to bring supplies for three months of my life, which would be easy if I was doing a traditional study abroad where I was at a University studying and living a fairly typical western lifestyle. But this is different. I don't really know what to expect from my program. There are two excursions from the city, and I will possibly be spending the entirety of my independent research project (ISP) in the Amazon. So far it's been a bring-everything type event. With an additional 50lb bag free of charge for my international flight I am not lacking in space, but I also don't want to be weighed down. I hope this suffices as a first post. I'm sure there will be more to come later. (fyi editing, an important step in blogging)