Blog post 5: First day of class/Teleferico


1) Navigating a very large and new city has been the biggest challenge for me thus far. I am very bad with directions to begin with so I knew this would be a challenge. Everything here in Quito moves so fast so it can be difficult especially when I am on a bus filled to the brim with people trying to recognize landmarks to find my stop. The language barrier complicates things even further. Not being familiar with your surroundings can be fun for sightseeing but when it comes down to trying to find your way around a city it can be stressful. I am trying my best to learn street names and information for important places. Before I go anywhere, especially in a taxi, I try to think through what I will need to say in Spanish or how to get to a place.

 2)My favorite part about Spanish class today was when we wrote about our weekends and read them out loud. I was able to practice my writing as well as my speaking and after I read it my teacher went through making corrections out loud and explaining any mistakes to us or having us work through them. Each person got to do this so I was also able to learn from other people's mistakes. The small class size makes things very intimate so I am happy to be able to get feedback. Knowing what I did wrong and being able to talk through why it was wrong is a luxury that many big classes do not get and is a great way to improve.

 3) I think that the thing I will remember most about the trip to the Teleferico is the view. Even though it was cloudy we had a few minutes when the fog cleared and we were able to see all the way down into the valley. I know that pictures will never do it justice. The hike was fun and the view made it worth all the work. Even in the fog I thought the view looked very cool and mysterious, there were points where I was looking down a cliff but all I could see was thick white clouds. I thought that it was very exciting and I was happy to have the opportunity to make the hike, especially with David as our guide.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meng - Blog 16

1. In Paige's Blog(#14), she mentioned that she used some nonverbal communication to communicate with teachers when they were cooking. It is an effective way of intercultural communication. I totally agree that sometimes, if you don't know how to express yourself, body language helps a lot, and it even works better than language. 2. In Blog12, Tyessa said that she feel not close with her host family, and usually, they don't communicate with each other too much, which makes she felt upset because she wants to get closer to them. In my points of view, it can be seen as an ineffective communication. I think in the process of communicating with people, sometimes you should learn to be proactive. Break the silence first, and take the initiative to communicate with others. If you are especially enthusiastic about other people, they will feel it. 3. An example of effective communication came from  Linsey. She talked about how the communication way changed ...
Read more
      I will admit that the thing I am looking forward to the most when I get back home is some good, processed, junk food. It seems strange, because I like the food in Ecuador, and am almost always willing to be adventurous and try new foods. But that sense of adventure is exactly the problem. I rarely feel as though I can just gulp down anything placed in front of me, secure in the knowledge of exactly what it is and what it will taste like. The classic foods from home will allow me to eat with that security intact, and that security is what I really miss.      I think the thing I will miss the most about Ecuador is the sense of adventure that I could feel every time I left the house, whether it was just to class at the academia or to some other attraction. I loved the feeling that I was going to see new sights, experience new things, and accomplish something impressive every day. The quote that struck me today, as we were le...
Read more

Blog post #15

1) what are you most excited about returning to in the US? What I am most looking forward to about heading home is the opportunity to share my experiences with others. I want to share the funny stories of my host family with my friends and family here in the U.S. so that they too can be exposed to some Ecuadorian culture. I am very much looking forward to returning home because I will use my experience of Ecuador to further think about what it is I want to do with my life. Not having a clear path for my profession is a challenge for me, but through using my travel experience to discover what my passions and interest are, I am always one step closer to knowing what it is I want to do with my life.   2) what will you miss the most about Ecuador? What I think I am going to miss most is the walk to school Carolina and I shared in the mornings and afternoons. In the two mile hike to school I saw mothers sending their kids off to the bus, adults off to work and busses ...
Read more