Hello North America,
I am so sorry I haven't wrote before now, but the life of an exchanger is extremely busy.

Anyways I have now been in Ecuador for 9 weeks and 3 days, and I have loved every bit of it. I have so far experienced the mountains, the tropical jungle type areas, and the beach. I have been been the whitest person in a group of 50 people and two weeks ago the reddest (the sun is really strong here.) I have been the girl in gym to appear to be the most healthiest and I have also experienced being sick for over a week. It has been such an adventure being an exchange student. I have made a lot of new friends both in and out of the program. I have learned a whole truck load of new Spanish,  tried tons of new foods, and discovered so much culture. I have learned more about who I am,  who I am becoming, and who I want to be. I have realized how amazing Washington and the United States are, being here has really showed me how lucky I am to be from there.

Some major differences between here and home is the transportation, school, people, and politics.

Transportation here is "insane." New York is famous for how many taxi's it has, well Quito should be famous for how many buses it has. There are two main bus companies in Quito, Trolle and Metro. For adults, buses cost 25 cents and for younger than 18 and Seniors it costs 12 cents. However, if you are younger than 18 and you give the money person 15, 20, or 25 cents it's kinda rare that you get your change back. Also the buses don't always stop to pick you up or drop you off. They also sometimes race, which can be funny to watch but scary to be in the bus. And speed limits are irrelevant for everyone. And the police don't care. However, the buses make a ton more sense to ride than in Washington, I take then by myself now, which was a very proud moment for me the first time.

School is probably the most different thing here. First, the schools are all very small compared to those in the states. There isn't a separate elementary that then goes to a junior high and then to a high school, it's all in one building. In my class I have 23 other classmates. I am taking about ten regular classes a week, 8 classes a day. In school we don't eat lunch or have passing periods. Instead we have two breaks, where we either play soccer, snack, or just talk. The first break is 10 minutes, and the second is 20. Also there are no substitutes. So when a teacher doesn't come to school or has a meeting we don't have a teacher so that class turns into a free time, unless there is an English teacher missing, then I get to be the teacher. Another thing is we don't switch classes, we stay in the same room, it's the teachers who have to run to the next class before the bell not us. Also most schools here don't have any afterschool activities, mine doesn't, that includes clubs, sports, and detention. Schools don't have dances, or school mascots, or rivalry with other schools.

Another huge difference is the people. I am not talking about appearance, however that is really different here. But the personalities are very different here. People in general are very immature, that includes all ages. Also the trust level is really really low. Everyone has security alarms, barred windows, and high fences. A fellow exchange student lives in a house where they have motion sensors so he can't get out of bed at night for water without setting off the alarm, luckily my house isn't like that. 

Finally, politics are really different. Unlike the states, people don't get into huge rally right before the election, and there isn't just two main campaigns, I believe there was something like 130 in the elections here a few weeks back, about 100,000 people involved . The voting polls are at schools, so some of my friends had school canceled so people could vote at their schools, and after you vote they stamp your thumb with black ink. They also had 3 days to vote, and no alcohol was allowed to be bought or consumed during the voting. I went to a grocery store during one of the days and all the alcohol was taped down, it looked pretty funny. 

As for my life here, it includes going to school Monday through Friday from eight till two twenty. After school almost everyday and some Saturdays I go out with friends. We go shopping, to new restaurants or cafes, to parks to play soccer or basketball, or to movies. Sunday's we go to other relatives houses for lunch or afternoon coffee, sometime 2 different houses in one day. My dad and I are probably the closest, we go out on a lot of drives, either to pick up my brother or mom or just to go see somewhere, or we go out to buy food, we both like food a lot. My mother and I are very open with each other, so it's really cool to be able to talk to an adult here about things. She just became a Rotarian last week. As for my brother and I, we are really close now, we every once and a while have  arguments at school but at home we are pretty tight like today, we watched Scrubs together and then discussed the importance of smelling for an hour. Right now his band and he are recording a CD sampler. The most interesting family member at this time in my exchange is my dog, Ika. Last night I didn't sleep in my room because two Rotarians had been staying in it while I was on a trip, so I slept in the guest type room. At about 3 AM my dog gave birth to 6 puppies right outside my window, it wasn't my best night's sleep but the puppies are so cute it was worth it. Total there are 6 all black and white spotless Dalmatians, in about 2 weeks they should start showing spots.

Well, I hope this was an OK update. Questions are welcome, I will do my best to reply right away.

Hope everything is going great in the Northern Hemisphere.

Love,

Gabby

PS. I apologize for sloppy writing, it's late and my English isn't being practiced so it's not the best.