Sweet death...

An International student died Thursday. His name was Cody. As hard as it is for you to read this it is even just as harder to write this, but I feel like people should know. Cody was a nice boy I met him around October and he seemed cool. He talked about friends and family, why he came to Ecuador, how he got to Ecuador. Really the basic you go through when you are meeting someone for the first time that is traveling. This pass Thursday him and his girlfriend went to Banos, a place where a lot of us International students go. It like and activity driven place. One could do white water rafting, rock climbing, bridge jumping, almost any activity one could think of it is a possibility at Banos. Cody and his girlfriend decided to rent a 4-wheel drive and take it for a ride. It did not seem out of the norm for either one seeing as how Cody drove on these roads all the time, I recall from a conversation with him. The roads are dangerous and still needs a lot of work. It is a one way on each side a cliff on one side of you and mountains on the other side. As they were driving on this curvy dangerous street Cody could not make the turn and they fell off the cliff. His girlfriend rolled down the cliff and Cody, well he broke his neck and died instantly. I have tried over and over again to ask what went wrong. Was he drinking, or doing any drugs, but the answer was NO. He was just taking advantage of being here in Ecuador and taking advantage of things we all don't really get a chance to do in the States. For me I think it could had been either one of us. Anyone of these International students could had been their that night. I can understand that our parents worst fears are us leaving the country and coming back in a body bag. That is how his parents will most likely receive him unless they come and get his body themselves. My point is this, as international students we have a mind set that things like this won't happen to us, and we don't think the last time we said bye to our parents would be the last. We get here and all we tell ourselves is this is South America lets live it up. This is South America we need to have as much fun as possible. All of this is true, but we need to not lose sight of why we came here in the first place. Like I said Cody did not do anything wrong and I wish I did not have to tell this story but it is something that impacted me greatly on my study abroad trip that I must share. This is not to scare anyone thinking of studying abroad it is just to give a warning. When you go to another country you are tempted to do any and everything but do know that sweet death has not characteristics, or people picked out. It can happen to all of us. R.I.P CODY, YOU WILL BE MISSED 2011....

New Years in Ecuador

First off Feliz Nuevo Ano!!!!! My fellow readers I must say that this New Years is nothing anyone could ever experience in the states! I never seen this type of New Years party in my young life. I went to Montanita, my favorite beach/party town. I have a blog about Montanita if you need a refresher on such a great place. There is a tradition here in Ecuador that when bringing in the New Year they burn these life size dolls called Ano Viejo. When translated literally it means old year. They buy these dolls and dress them up and when it strikes midnight there are fires on the beach, on the streets with these dolls burning. It is a sight to see! There are all type of characters; Woody from Toy Story, Micheal Jackson, Simpson's, even presidents from the United States and Ecuador. Most people put fireworks in the dolls and when they go in the fire there is this big explosion of fireworks and dolls blowing up. I did not know what to do with myself, but enjoy bringing the New Year in on the Beach. One thing I found amazing beside the burning dolls was that there was maybe a group of 20 surfers that brought the New Year in surfing. It was the most liberating thing for me. Everyone did what made them happy and I could not do anything but respect that. I will never forget this New Year, for Ecuador is the only country that burns dolls for the New Year, to my knowledge. I can say I was apart of that. I cannot forget the people who run around two days before New Years dress live devils making this loud noise. Its kind of scary, but a tradition none the less. They do these little dances for the tourist its so funny! If you cannot find a reason to go study abroad let it be bringing in a new year in another country be one of your reasons.

4months in 4months out

Hello my fellow reader, I am excited to share with all of you that I have got through my first semester here in Ecuador. I do however, have 4 more months to go. Since my four months here I have talked about culture shock, racism, the September 30 event when the President cause more than a little uproar, how to budget, etc. but what I have not really got into is the affect Ecuador has had on me. When I first got here I must admit that I wanted so bad to go home. I felt like this was not for me and that this experience was going to hurt me. Some say it was culture shock, and part of me believes that. Here I am in a foreign country with no kind of training on the language to get around. It was so hard trying to deal with that. Sometimes I wanted to stay in bed and just wait for night fall. I, however, found ambition to get up every day and work at not only the language but getting to know people and this culture which was my goal also. Now I am at a level in Spanish where I can hold a conversation, and with four more months to go I hope to be fluent. One thing that I will take back to the States with me is the knowledge of what another country tries so hard to get that in the United States is so much easier to get; jobs, homes, cars, welfare, government help, rights, acknowledgement. All these things I took for granted are now different to me. I know that the United States is suffering, I am not saying we are all mighty and powerful, but what I am saying is compared to Ecuador we are very rich in everything. We have more opportunities than we allow ourselves to believe. I want to be that person that understand the wealth we have and to really grasp the opportunity we have in the States because, if we do not then someone else will, then we notice what we had but only once it is gone. I do not want to wait until then, no one should. This experience will follow me throughout my life. It has transformed me into a totally different person. I want more for myself than I ever wanted because I know it is possible to obtain. I know that at the age of twenty-one, if I could go to another country for the first time for an entire academic school year, that anything else that comes my way is just simply a little road block, or stepping stone to get me to the next level. I said goodbye to some really great people that I met along this experience. I will never forget what they have brought into my life. I not only learned about Ecuador, but I learned about Mexico, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Australia, and even Africa. These have changed my lives and if it was not for this experience I would have never realize what I have and the choice to be someone so grand and important. I hope to change someones life throughout this journey we call life. I hope that one day I can live up to my potential and be satisfied with the out come. Continue reading my blogs in 2011. Happy New Years and Happy Holidays to all...

Futbol

Man oh man excitement runs through my body as I type this blog up. I have experience one of the best things of Ecuador. A futbol game!! I never been to a futbol (Spanish for soccer) game not even at my College in the States, but after experiencing what I did today I have such a greater appreciation for the sport its self. Thousands of people gather in the stadium to watch Barcelona (an Ecuadorean team) play against Quito. It was a very important game seeing as how if Barcelona lost they would be done for the season, but if they won they would be put in third place. Crazy part is when Barcelona and Quito played before, Barcelona lost, so the spirit was high in the stadium. In the end Barcelona won!! I was hugging people I did not even know, fireworks went off in the stadium, songs were being song in Spanish it was such a cultural enhancement for me. I loved it!

Pictures of Hogar de Cristo

Giving back

Before I made this journey to a different country, I always thought about what this experience was going to do for me. What I could gain from this experience, what I could learn, but not once did I actually think what I could bring to this country, these beautiful here. Never once did I think about how I could change someone else life just by being here. Even though I did not think like that, now I can say maybe just maybe I can or have already impacted someone life. November the 20th a group of us international students volunteered for Hogar de Criso. Hogar de Cristo is a place that not only provide homes, but build the homes from the ground up for the most neediest people in Ecuador. If you are not aware 80% of Ecuador's population is poor. There is no middle class here. You are rich or poor, and with such a big gap the people at the bottom are the people that a treat with no respect and ignored in an economy that is trying so hard to become greater. The thing is the poor people are being forgotten, as they never really got anything from their country in the first place, but now it is even worst with only 20% of this country population growing. Hogar de Cristo is a place that looks out for those poor people, for those who are being left behind. The house cost about 800 dollars and last about 8 years minimum. Now I sure you saying what kind of house is that, but to those who have nothing and nowhere to sleep this is their palace and quite frankly with all the hard work that is put into it feels like a palace to those who build them. At Hogar de Cristo they manufacture the parts for the houses there and then send them off to the location and volunteers like us go out and start literally with the ground itself, but by the end of the day it is a rewarding experience when those kids, or families run in their home and can finally say they have a place to lay their head. It was the hardest work I ever did in my life because it meant so much to me. Hogar de Cristo is a blessing for those that cannot even phantom what a home looks like. They give back to their country. Donations pay for mostly everything and it is what keeps this place going. If you want to donate contact me and I can get it all done. Email me at eryka.sandridge@gmail.com the thing about donations is that the amount is not what is important as the thought of giving is. Realize in the states we see twenty dollars easily everyday come and go now imagine seeing twenty dollars every month!!! Can you even phantom that in your mind what it would be to live off $240.00 a month. Well these people here can and that is the amount for the working people. That is the minimum wage for people who do the same jobs as we do in the states, so know ten dollars can go a long way here. Give to your hearts content... Here are photos...I will put up more besides these...DONATE IF POSSIBLE. "THROUGH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE"

Montanita

This is a place your parents do not want you to go. This is a place that the teachers stay far away. This is a place to relieves all worries of school work, jobs, and even relationships. This is a place where the young can have fun, and where the old can regain their youthfulness. This place is Montanita. It is a small beach town in Ecuador. It is maybe three or four streets big. I know you are think well how can such a small place be so much fun? I will only try. This place has shows in the middle of the street. An entire street dedicated to drinks, many clubs to go to all night. This city does not sleep for I am telling from experience. I recently just went for about five days and I got all of about five hours of sleep my entire visit. The streets is the party as well as the clubs. Music you can hear from your hostal no matter where you are staying, and the music keeps going all night and morning, it never stops. There are people selling everything from rings, necklaces, bracelets, purses, pipes! The best part is everything is made by hand in front of you. As you walk down the street you hear drum, you meet people from all over the world that speaks many different languages. You being to fall in love with this place right before you leave. The best part of it all is that its on the beach. You have the opportunity to take surfing classes, scuba diving, anything to your hearts content. I cannot even explain therefore I have photos to do some of the explaining, and I am also going to try to put up videos on you tube.