Blog #5- the journey

1) What has been your greatest challenge in Ecuador so far? How are you meeting it?

There have been two things on this trip so far which has been difficult for me to overcome. The first I will call my tolerance and my ability to be flexible. I was unaware my host family had a dog and even though I am allergic I am making it work and going to take the right medicine to overcome my sniffles. I also have been able to overcome the ability to stick to a strict schedule and be more apt to going with the flow. When traveling with a big group of people, I often feel as is we are constantly waiting for people or trying to organize ourselves, which can get quite annoying after awhile. I freely enjoyed what David said today as we were climbing the mountain. Hiking is not just about what is at the top of the mountain, it is about observing and taking in every little aspect of the journey. This rings true to me because I often find myself wrapped up in the end product and forget to enjoy the path to completion. I am following his words by being more observant and conscious about being in the moment and enjoying everything it has to offer. The other difficulty I am experiencing is that our host family, while extremely nice and welcoming, seems to almost be unaware of our schedule so Carolina and I sat down with them and shared a copy of the activities we are doing with them so we can all be on the same page. I have learned that communication now key, even when there is a language barrier communication still happens. From reading Rita's book this is one thing I had taken away from it. I never really thought about the nonverbal communication I experience while traveling and how important these are to the experience. 

2) What was your favorite part of  your first Spanish class today?

The Spanish class was first a review of the present tense and then a brief explanation of the simple past. While we did copy notes and conjugate the verbs what I enjoyed most was the second activity we did. What we did was the teacher gave us a story we had to read. First we each read it silently to ourselves. Then we had to read it aloud as a group. After this the teacher individually went around and asked us each questions about the story. I was able to get stuck and ask questions about words I didn't know and things I didn't understand, which was something I felt ashamed about in my high school Spanish class because the teacher resented students who asked questions. The teacher and other students were patient and relaxed, and no question was off the table. I truly enjoyed that experience because I felt as if I got to practice my reading, speaking and also comprehension, which is something my high school Spanish did not prioritize.

This is my favorite photo from today! Very grateful for the cloud cover disappearing for a moment! 

3) What will you remember most about our trip to the Teleferico?

What I will remember most is standing there in silence at the top of the mountain, breathing in the clouds and hearing all of the sounds of nature, fully embraced in it. My ears were ringing, my nose running and my heart pounding through my whole body, but still I felt at peace. As a kid I remember wanting to lay on the white fluffy clouds, and today I felt as if I sort of fulfilled that dream of mine. It was an incredibly team bonding experience as we helped each other up the mountain and learn about each other. I learned how some people are in it to go up to the top, take a picture and climb back down, while others are more patient with the climb up and enjoy more of the journey to the top, than the picture at the top. I am amazed that locals made these trails to the summit of the mountain and that they built a system capable of taking travelers to the top. That just have been a difficult task for sure!