Bellavista

It's hard for me to pick a specific favorite part of Bellavista, but I loved the more difficult parts of the hike near the end the most. For me, feeling the strain on my body and having to climb over difficult parts of the trail is exciting. I also loved climbing up the waterfalls. It was something I never quite thought of ever doing before and being able to do so was exciting. The difficulty was fun, new, and exciting.
The biggest challenge, or the thing I liked least about Bellavista was being in such a large group. It was hard to keep everyone together and to hear what our guide was saying. It became frustrating, but I overcame the frustration by having a good time with the people who were in my general group along the trail. Despite being somewhat separated into three groups along the trails, the people in my "group" and I were able to see some amazing scenery and take nice photos.
My thinking about communication has changed a lot this week, especially. Originally, I was very nervous to speak Spanish, as I feel my Spanish is obviously not up to par with other people. However, I overcame that very quickly when I discovered my host family spoke almost no English. Practicing at the Academia and with the kind corrections in my grammar and vocabulary has helped me gain a lot of confidence in my ability to communicate in a different language. Additionally, I have learned a lot about the very welcoming culture here in Ecuador. I love that everyone seems to be ready to hug you with a friendly greeting. It makes me feel welcomed and a part of the community. Next week, I want to be able to improve much more on my speaking abilities and have less mistakes when I speak. I hope to also be more involved locally, since we have already done many of the more tourist-y things. Additionally, I want to spend more time with my host family, since I feel as if we were gone a lot during this past week.