It's hard to remember all the things that have happened since the last time I wrote.

News Update:

I don't want to go into details but I am living with a new family and they are wonderful. I have a host brother, Paul and a host sister Karlita and a host mom, Cumanda. They are all very kind and welcoming to having me in their home which I am super grateful about. My first day here, we went to the beach in a town near-ish Machala called El Guabo. The name of the beach was Baja Alto. It was super pretty. Unlike the Oregon coast, the water was actually warm enough to swim in. It was cool how you could go out pretty far and still not have the water being over your head. The fact that it was sunny (at least part of the day) made it that much better.

Then of course there's school which is interesting. I try to pay attention as best I can but it's a little hard. I am kind of starting to get the basic idea of the what the teachers are trying to say. My best subjects are English, History, and what I believe to be Government. These are the classes where I have started to participate (or at least try my best). Last week, I was asked to read aloud from the board in Spanish for the first time. It was a little hard but fun. After I finished, everyone clapped which I wasn't expecting. I think they are a little surprised and happy that I can read and write in Spanish.In Government, I tried my best to contribute to finding info from the reading. A little difficult.

When you think of P.E, you think of running or dodge-ball, right? Here, it's a little different. Yes, we run. A lot. Which is tiring when it's already hot outside. Today was different. When we went outside, the teacher had the guys bring out foam mats. First we all had to take turns doing sommersaults. I forgot that I lost the ability to do this without embarrassing myself a while ago. Oops. I didn't know what to think. When we had all gathered around, the teacher said that we would be doing Judo, a form of Martial Arts, I believe. I just stood there and said aloud ''Say what?'' as if he were crazy. It turns out that Judo is pretty entertaining to watch. The guys went first. The goal was simple, try to flip the other person over on the ground as they try to remain in place. We just watched the guys and laughed. It was pretty funny looking. Next up were the girls. Our goal was to try and make our partner lose their balance by tripping them. Try as I might, I ended up as the one who was tripped. It was fun anyway. Fastest way to get all sweaty and gross. Yay! Humidity!!!

Speaking of the weather, a fact I have a hard time getting over even though I haven adjusted pretty well to it physically. The fact that it is November and still hot and humid outside. It's weird wearing shorts everyday and then remembering what it's like back at home. I guess there are some perks to being right South of the Equator. You don't have to worry about being cold all the time. I wonder what it will be like next year going back to the cold Novembers of Portland. It will be a shock, literally. Oh and the idea of it ''raining'' in Machala is Portland's equivalent to it sprinkling.

I almost forgot. Last weekend, my family and I went to Cuenca. Cuenca is a town in the Sierra region of Ecuador that I believe is known for it's history. I'm not really sure. It was a lovely 3 hour car ride. It was interesting to see the landscape change from banana plantations to hills and mountains pretty rapidly after we got out of Machala and nearby areas. Cuenca is really pretty because you can see all the mountains and there are actual hills, not all flat like Machala. Cuenca is known for their bread. There's no real way to describe it without tasting it. The best way is a little sweet, I guess. We stayed at my host aunt and uncle's house a little outside of the town. It was nice and quiet and at night we could hear the rooster and chickens calling. On Saturday, we made the last minute decision to go to concert that was part of a music festival that night. The festival was part of the weekend long celebration of the foundation of Cuenca. The concert was none other than Marc Anthony. He is American and most of his music is in Spanish. He is pretty popular here. It was fun to see all the people in the stadium and here the music live. It sounds so much better than a recording, also because at the start and end of each song, everyone is cheering. Plus everyone is singing along. In our section, there was a guy who kept on saying ''Listos'' (meaning ready) then ''Un, dos, tres'' and starting the 'wave'. It took a couple of tries, but eventually it made it to the other side of the bleachers. I'm pretty sure the guy was American. I think this is one of my favorite recent memories. I should probably mention that Cuenca is freezing at night. With good music, the cold didn't matter very much. I am happy to be back where it's warmer though. Music is what counts.

I'm gonna stop writing now. I will write again when more fun things happen that are worth sharing.

Chao!