FTJ: 31-8-08

Today, we went to Catholic Mass. I dresssed up in a suit, but it was way more than I needed. I don't think anyone else was dressed as well as I was, except the Father.

The mass was very short, only an hour and a half. I had only gone to one Hispanic Catholic mass before, and it was more than three hours! I wcould understand half of what was said, and I didn't know the words when everyone talked. However, it was very interesting. The Sisters sang at the beginning, and afterwards the Father, two other holy men, and and some regular people talked. They talked about the different roads we take in life, but there was only one that Jesus wants you to take: The road of Community Service. I have to ask my host mother about tyhis, because I want to do some volunteer work. It's a good way to learn Spanish, and it's important to me.

The church was very beautiful, and very simple. The walls were light blue in color, and had several windows. The windows only had a blue cross in the middle, and nothing else. The only decoration was statues of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and some other people I didn't recognize. There were four Sisters, the Father, dressed in green and white, another holy man also in green and white, and a Brother in brown.

The church is having a trip to Jerusalem soon, and a man talked for a bit to give the dates. But it costs two thousands dollars to pay for the trip. How are the people supposed to pay for that?

In the afternoon, Anita and I were driving to Atuntaqui when someone hit us from behind. I knew that it was going to happen with the way people drive here. It was only a matter of time. No one was hurt, but I scared Anita a lot. She seemed really mad, but I think she was just surprised. The car that hit us was a truck with three people in the front. Anita and the driver of the truck argued for a few minutes. He said that Anita reversed into his car, and he didn't want to give Anita his information. While they were arguing, a couple of kids climbed out of the back of the truck to see what was going on. (NOTE: They do that a lot here, have a large truck with several people riding in the back. It seems dangerous.) She has to go the insurance agency tomorrow to take pictures of the damage. The back door is broken. There's a giant dent in it.

294 more days.

So, I said I was going to try to post some pictures. I forgot. I am very, very, very sorry. I swear and promise that tomorrow there will be pictures. To make up for it, I'll post two entries today. I'm sorry... ::tear::

FTJ: 30-8-08

I woke up at eight, of course, and ate breakfast with Anita. I love the breakfast here. I have a cup of cocoa and a glass of juice from a new and interesting fruit every day. In addition, there's rice, fried with an egg until it sticks together like a rice pankake, or an egg sunny-side up over rice, and bread. It's very delicious.

After breakfast, Anita and I went to the bus station and met up with the other foreign exchange kids. We took a bus to Otavalo in order to go to the gigantic market there. The buses here are very comfortable. They're like the buses of private companies, like tour buses, that cost a lot in the US.

The Otavalo market is very big, much larger than the one in Ibarra, and they sell the "artesanías" there. (NOTE: Artesanías translates to "arts and crafts," or so my Spanish teacher told me. But that doesn't really explain them. They're the traditional works of art of the Indigenous population there, but they are made to be sold. They're handmade, but mass produced. It's weird.) The first thing I saw was the tableclothes, many people selling them. I had to learn very quickly how to say "No!" to the sellers, because there's always someone trying to earn your money in the Otavalo market. I saw many things that I wanted but nothing I needed. There were turtles made of wood and crystal, and very detailed chess boards of the Indians versus the Conquistadors, and many fabrics. I didn't buy any fabric, but I'll return to buy some things for my mom. (NOTE: You hear that, Mom? I love you! Yeah, I know you guys gave me the money, but still.)

It was very fun talking with the other exchange students. The guy from Germany, Johanes, is very funny. There first thing he said to me and the other guy was, "So, fellas, how's it going with the ladies?" Plus he sounds like Arnold Schwartzenegger. Johanes likes Ecuador a lot, because the girls pay him a lot of attention because he's a foreigner. The other guy from Germany, Hannes, had long hair, but cut it because long hair isn't allowed in schools. I hope I don't have to cut my hair too.

Now, in Otavalo there's a festical and they sell a meal called Chicha y Yamor, and we ate it for lunch. It was very tasty, but I was the only person who like the Chicha, the drink made out of seven types of corn, no the five I had thought before.

Finally, I bought an alpaca sweater, with the picture of an alpaca on the front, for twelve dollars. The price was eighteen, but Anita helped me out. I don't buy much in shops, except in the first video store, where I bought two seasons of the X-Files and some movies for $23.50. I never have money, and when I do, I am always very cautious.

It seems to me like the other AFS kids are enjoying Ecuador. I am. I want to stay with Anita, and go to school, and climb mountains. I am DREAMING NEW DREAMS.

295 more days.

Seriously, this mountain thing is big. One of my teachers asked today what we would do if today were our last day on Earth, and I immediately thought, "CLIMB A MOUNTAIN." I mean, I really want to.

So, more tomorrow. With some pictures. There are two little posts below this one, if you missed them, so check those out too. I love you guys.

FTJ: 29-8-08

Today, Anita and I went to the funeral of Magdelena. I didn't know that we were going to a funeral, and so of course, I wore brown. Carla, Magdelena's daughter, was there, and so were a bunch of people I didn't know. There were lots and lots of flowers around the corpse, in many brilliant colors, yellow, red, white, pink, etc. Many people were sitting, but four were standing around the coffin. (NOTE: I used corpse instead of coffin, because I don't know the Spanish for coffin. But I meant coffin, and "standing around the corpse" sounds really, really weird.) Anita told me that we couldn't go to the ceremony later, because we had to go to the Pizzeria. I saw a funeral procession a couple of days ago, many people walking in a very large group, all dressed in black.

I want to write more, but I can't remember. The day I'm writing this is 8/31/08.

296 more days.

So, the way I write in my journal is that I'm a few days behind. In that, it's 4-9-08, but I'm writing for 2-9-08. I just can't get up the gumption to write in my journal right before I go to bed. Sorry again for the short post, but I really forgot what else we did that day. The next post is a solid 5 pages, Promise.

FTJ: 28-8-08

Today, I woke up to a call on my telephone. I was very happy, because it was my first call, but I heard Anita's voice saying "Get up! Get up!" I went to the first floor and Rosalita told me that one of the AFS volunteers had died in a car accident. I have a problem with remembering names, and so I didn't know Mrs. Magdelena. Anita was very sad and surprised. She said things like "Life is short" all day.

We saw Barack Obama's speech today. We stayed in the Pizzeria until ten to see it.

Not much happened today.

297 days left.

Sorry, Tom, that this post is so short. And to M, who wanted me to post more pictures on my blog. I will tomorrow, I swear. Well, I promise. Well, I promise I'll try.

FTJ: 27-8-08

(NOTE: Here's where things get iffy.) What's going on in my head is driving me crazy. When I think, I hear the English and the Spanish at the same time. Every days it's even harder to understand my thoughts. I don't know anymore if I'm thinking in Spanish and translating to English, or thinking in English and translating to Spanish. I want to think in Spanish, because to think is to know, but there is a small voice in my head saying, "No! No! Stop it!" when a Spanish word croses my mind. But against the wishes of the voice, it's happening. My memories aren't sacred. I think of a time with my dad when I was nine, and he speaks and the words are in Spanish. The voice rebels, but it can't stop it.

There is a war in my mind between Spanish and English, and I don't know which is going to win. I hope, I wish that I could use both, but I don't know. I don't know.

Today was very normal, or what I think to be normal after four days in Ibarra. It seems to me that I always get up at eight. I woke up this morning and thought, "It's ten, nine at the earliest." But no, eight.

In the afternoon, I always go with Anita to the Pizzeria in Atuntaqui (NOTE: It really is Atuntaqui, I finally figured it out.), and I spend in hour in the internet shop, reading articles from CNN and Electoral-Vote.com. The election interests both me and the people here in Ecuador a lot. Anita told me that she has a daughter in the US as an immigrant, and if Obama doesn't win, she will have to return to Ecuador. Something to do with getting visas and whatnot. There is CNN in Spanish here, and I watched a little of Joe Biden's speech. He talked very well. He will be a good vice president for Obama. (NOTE: I just learned that Joe Biden is anti-peer-to-peer sharing. He just lost my vote. Not that I have a vote. And I still support Obama. Just not Joe "Obey the Law" Biden. Punk.) I also read Hillary Clinton and John Kerry's speeches. Hillary Clinton's was perfect. She said "Obama and I are the same. Are you all that are going to vote for McCain stupid or something?" (NOTE: I'm paraphrasing.)

I'm going to watch CNN more. It makes me happy that they have CNN here.

298 more days.

FTJ: 26-8-08

First, before I start, PICTURES. Yes, I have added pictures to many of the blog posts, so scroll down until you can find them. They're really cool. I'll be taking more in the future, but these are all the ones I have up to date, so you only have to look back at different posts today. You know I love you guys, because uploading these pictures is going to take forever.

Anyways, on with the post.

Today was very interesting. In the morning, Anita and I went to the central market of Ibarra. It seemed to me a lot like the Farmer's markets in the US, but only food and a lot more meat. (Hindsight: They sell farmer's market-type stuff, just in a section I didn't go to.) First, Anita and I entered a very big room that only had meat sellers. In one section, they were all selling chickens, and then I realized that the chickens still had their heads! It was very strange for me. (NOTE: Have you ever seen a chicken head without any feathers? It is disgusting.)

In another part of the market, we bought fruits and vegetables. Many of the people that were selling the fruits were Indigenous. I don't know why. It's possible that the Indigenous people live in the country where the only work is as a farmer, or perhaps the Indigenous people have always been farmers. I don't know.

Many children were working with their parents in the market. One girl asked us if we wanted to buy strawberries. Anita of course bought some. I think that the children are still on summer vacation. (NOTE: And circle gets the square.)

I am tall in a short country. I was always hitting my head on the market roof, and the roof is made of metal. It hurt a lot. Many people are surprised when they hear that I am only seventeen, because I'm so tall.

What is happening in my mind is very interesting. I have begun to think in Spanish, but in a very broken way. If the grammar and vocabulary is very easy, I think and Spanish, and then, in the next second, I say "What am I doing?" and I stop. And then Ithink "Why did I stop?" but the moment is lost and I think in English. However, it encourages me that I am beging to talk in Spanish in my head. (NOTE: It's how I think schizophrenia, or Multiple Identity Disorder, feels.)

I asked Anita what "Vote Yes" and "Vote No" mean. She explained it to me. The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, is trying to create a new Constitution for Ecuador. There are some good laws, Anita told me, like those for immigrants that gives them monetary credit. But the Constitution would also give a lot of powers to the president, and so Anita will vote "No." It is very interesting to see the political process in another country. In the US, no one would think of suggesting to talk about changing the Constitution. To us, the Constitution is sacred, from the Founding Fathers that could do nothing incorrect. The political process interests me, in the US and in Ecuador.

In the morning, I had told Anita that I wanted to go shopping. So she, instead of taking me to the Pizzeria, brought me to the house of a volunteer for AFS. The volunteer's daughter, Carla, went with me to go shopping. We went to buy many things. A chip for my cell phone, and so I have my own phone now, my first cell phone. I also bought tape to fix my journal, which has page falling out, and many DVDs. My brother told me that they sell DVDs for $1, and I didn't believe it. But I now have the first and third season of The X-Files, the first few episodes of Deathnote, Hellboy 2, The Mummy 3, for only fifteen dollars. It's incredible. I'm not going to have any money by the time this is over.

299 more days.

Again, thanks to the people who are commenting on the blog. I love you guys. And don't forget to check out the pictures!

FTJ: 25-8-08

Today, I got up at eight and decided to shower. I hadn't showered since Frinday in Miami, and so I felt dirty. (NOTE: I told you this was going to seem juvenille.) I entered the bathroom and realized that there are diferent letters on the taps in a Hispanic country. It isn't "C" for "Cold" and "H" for "Hot," but rather "C" for "Caliente" and "F" for "Frio." I turned the "C" to get hot water, but only received cold. I asked my host mom and she told me that you have to turn on a switch. It seems to me that there isn't a general water heater for the house, but rather they use electricity to heat the water before using it. I spent fifteen minutes under the water. I couldn't turn the tap on much, because the electricity can't heat more than a little bit at a time.

After showering, I brushed my teeth and shaved. I also combed and put oil in my hair. When I have oil in my hair, it isn't in front of my face. I felt very good. (NOTE: GAH this is embarassing. It totally sounds better in Spanish. I swear.)

Anita and I went downtown because she had to go to the bank. We went to four or five banks before she finished. The machine in the first bank didn't work, and so we went to another bank. I don't know why she needed to go to so many banks, but she found what she wanted.

After leaving the last bank, we went to the Esquina de Coco, a corner where there is a coconut tree, in order to meet a woman that was looking for work as a doctor. Anita went to help her. We, with the woman and her husband, drove to another town to turn in the application,l but the doctor wasn't in the building. The woman and the man left by bus to Quito. Anita and I went to Contachi to open the Pizzeria.

When we were in the Pizzeria, Anita's niece, Alisson, began talking to me. I think she's thirteen. She asked me about the type of music that I like, and the TV programs. It wasn't difficult to answer the questions, and after she and I went around Contachi and she showed me the shops.

It's very difficult to write my thoughts in Spanish, because there are a lot of words that I don't know. My vocabulary isn't large enough. But it's good for me, because if I can write, I can talk, and I can practice writing without talking.

300 more days.

Man, it is very embarassing translating to English, because it sounds so horribly contrived. I used "bank" like, thirty times. Whatever. To those of you who posted a comment on my last post, thanks, Ben, M, and Tom. I very much appreciate it, especially those of you on my blog in the wee hours of the morning. And there will be pictures soon, I SWEAR. I'll put them on my flash drive tonight, and then upload them tomorrow. I don't know how many I'll be able to upload, because internet here is very slow, but I'll try.

ÑñÇç¿¡ÁäÊ躪 are all the keys I can find on this keyboard that I can't on an English keyboard. Except the Euro key, which I don't know how to get to yet.