Reiko Update
Well, 2007 has already come upon us, and I hope you all enjoyed ringing it in. I also hope the holidays were full of good cheer and happy moments spent with friends and family. I cant believe how fast 2006 seemed to fly by, especially since it was a year Id been so anxious about all throughout high school! I finally graduated from good old RUHS, and after a whirlwind summer, I found myself here in Portoviejo. I really was intent on keeping you all updated regularly throughout the year, but somehow after sending off my last letter, some three or four months passed by before I knew it! So, as my positive start to the new year, Im writing to let you know that Im not lost down here in the southern hemisphere, and Im going to try to be more conscientious about sharing my experiences!
So what can I tell you about my life here in Portoviejo? Well, first I can tell you that I finished my third semester of senior year! Classes ended in December at Cristo Rey, the Catholic high school I was attending. I was in a class with a group of about 24 seniors, all on the verge of graduating. We had every subject together, every day, so needless to say, I became quite close with them. One highlight of the school year was the great success of a group of students, mostly kids from my class, who won a national contest of knowledge, after months of preparation. I was so proud to see the articles about Cristo Rey, arguably the strongest high school in the city, all over the regional newspapers! Outside of school, Ive certainly been keeping busy. In addition to the salsa classes we started back in October, a handful of exchange students and I have enrolled in a Spanish class to help us get an edge on mastering the language. The funny thing is, most of us already find the class too easy, so Im not sure if that will continue to be one of my regular activities!
One thing Im really excited about is the membership I recently obtained to a local m, where Im not only counter-balancing my love of the rich food here; Im working on y latin rhythm. The classes Im taking there are taught by an instructor who changes the routine daily, from salsa, to merengue, to reggaeton (which youll soon discover is a sort of epidemic here in Latin America if you visit any country from Mexico down to Argentina) to traditional step aerobics, to tae bo! So my friends and I are happy to have found a way to work in some physical activity and keep enjoying the amazing food here! It didnt take long to figure out that the main pride of Manab is its cuisine, which is rich with fresh fish, rice, and the plantains that grow like weeds. Then of course theres the incredible abundance of fruit that flourish in the region! Obviously, with Ecuador being the number-one banana exporting nation, we eat bananas and plantains in many forms. But theres also mango, papaya, starfruit, dragonfruit, coconut, and other varieties so exotic I hadnt even heard of them before coming! I actually have a mango tree right next to my house, and I have a friend who has a large backyard with at least four different kinds of fruit trees.
Speaking of the rich array of fruit that can be found here, one of my most interesting experiences so far was staying on an uncles farm for the week after Christmas. He has acres and acres of trees bearing coconuts, plantains, bananas, papayas, tarfruit, yucca (a starchy vegetable similar to the potato) and the key, the fruit of the cocoa bean. Ecuador is one of the main exporters of cocoa (as well as coffee, bananas, and all kinds of gorgeous flowers), and my uncle works for a company that collects the seeds from the curious-looking fruit, dries them, and sends them out to be ground up and eventually used to produce the fine chocolate in countries like Switzerland.
Spending time out in the country was a very valuable experience for me in that I was able to begin to understand what rural life was like here. The land is rich and perfect for farming, but the people live in pretty oppressive poverty. As soon as you leave the outskirts of Portoviejo, there are no paved roads and the houses are mostly constructed in the traditional style of the region - theyre made of the stalks of sugar cane and stand on stilts, and are marked by a very large open kitchen and a hammock in every room! Many people still use mules for transportation, and there often is no running water in the house. Often the farm animals, as well as the people, look seriously malnourished. But one of the wonderful things about being a Rotary exchange student is having the opportunity to participate in projects to fight back against the poverty that prevails in the region. Several times throughout the holidays, I traveled with Rotarians from my club to disadvantaged neigborhoods to give toys to children who wouldnt be receiving much for Christmas. The smiles on their faces rought us so much joy; it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my exchange year so far. Christmas in my own home here in Ecuador also went really well. I had just arrived here in my second house when the holidays began, and it was a great way to bond with my new famliy. We had all of the aunts, uncles, and cousins here in our house for a dinner and gift exchange on Christmas Eve. I found that the custom of last-minute shopping on the 24th seems to be international, as everyone ade a quick trip to the shopping mall that very afternoon! That evening we ate dinner at about 10 and then gave up on waiting until midnight to open the presents. With everal cousins under the age of 10 in my family, the gift-opening ceremony was really fun. I definitely stayed up later than I ever have on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day was much different for me this year, too. Rather than waking up to a frosty rmont morning, we packed everything up at 8 oclock in the morning and headed out or the beach! That morning, as I splashed around in the warm ocean water with my cousins, I realized that it had been an unforgettable Christmas! Somehow among all of the other things keeping me busy, my Rotary district continues to organize wonderful trips around the country. Our trip to Quito, the capital, in December was a huge success, and the next one planned is a week in the Amazon Rainforest! We leave on the first of February; it should be fascinating -- well see if the computer game Amazon Trail measures up to the real thing.
Well, once again, Im sorry so much time has passed without so much as an hola from me! But I do think of all of you and Vermont quite often, and I know these next months will go by quickly, so soon I can share more stories with you in person!
Hasta luego,
Reiko