My Expectations

    When I first heard about cuy I was completely grossed out. The same thing happened with the whole throwing the toilet paper away. I'm still a little surprised and weirded out by the differences, but now I am actually excited to try cuy.

    The stereotypes for Ecuadorians seem a lot different than the stereotypes about the United States. The most common ones I have heard are they are too laid-back​, loud, and they all have large families. I'm excited to learn about how the people actually are.

    As a whole the culture in the U.S. is very diverse, but I think it's hard for other cultures to realize how diverse we truly are. I have heard that foreign people see people from the United States like how they are shown in movies, and as gun fanatic and obese. I'm hoping I'm wrong and don't believe the stereotypes.

    I haven't traveled without my parents very often. I'm used to having them take care of me, plan everything out, and helping me through sticky situations. For me, I think the hardest part will be taking the initiative to go out and do things that aren't planned and not just follow the lead of other people. It will be even more difficult to branch out and be independent because of the different languages. I have always been anxious about speaking Spanish with another person, so I will be jumping out of my comfort zone.

    By the end of this trip I hope to be comfortable speaking Spanish with everyone I encounter, and take the initiative to explore and discover new things.

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