Seventh Inning Slump

Torrey and me at the official Equator line

So at the beginning of our semester, we HECUA-ns had hours and hours of orientation warning us for the possibility of upcoming frustrations or negative experiences. At the time, we listened, but also we were all so excited to finally be in Quito, meeting eachother, and getting used to our lives in the city, that I'm not sure if many of us really listened.

Well, I'm here, at the beginning of my seventh week experiencing what I'm deciding to call my "seventh inning slump" (baseball on the brain--Twins :-(. In the recent weeks, my frusterations have outnumbered my moments of clarity, and I often find myself questioning my motives for being here in Ecuador. Do not get me wrong, I do not regret coming AT ALL, and I do understand that this is all a part of the process-- my homesickness and/or negative feelings sometimes do not belittle my experience abroad, because they are a part of my experience abroad.

Anyone who speaks/has learned a second language knows that there are good days and bad ones (at least I hope that's the norm). Some days, the Spanish is clicking, I don't really have to think about it, but others, like many of my days recently, it is an extreme challenge to simply communicate. What a headache. I think that this week, coming back from the Amazon, a cool but extremely wearing experience, my body was physically tired, and my brain mentally so. I was much relieved to return on Monday and remember that we had a short week. The entire country had Friday off to "celebrate" Guayaquil's independence (it felt a little Columbus Day-ish to me... no work/school being the biggest celebration). After a kind of downer week, Friday was a welcome opportunity to sleep-in, watch a movie, catch up on some homework, and watch the Twins game with some fellow Minnesotans and a Yankees fan, fun I know.

Saturday I spent the day with Torrey, and I remembered why I am so thankful to have such a close friend in the same city, needless to say the same continent. We visited the las Mitades del Mundo-- the Equators. North of Quito there is the official Equator line, complete with monument and museums, and then there is the actual Equator line, which has been proven through GPS monitoring as well as other "experiments"-- A giant stone monument would be too hard to transport, so I guess there will forever be two Equators in Ecuador. We watched the Ecuador/Uruguay World Cup qualifier game at this great hole-in-the-wall restaurant that we stumbled upon. It was a really fun, excitement-filled environment... until we lost. I'm starting to feel like a bad luck charm.

One of my struggles is not feeling exactly a part of my host family. I mean, no one said it would be easy being dropped suddenly into someone else's life. I just didn't expect to feel this much on the outskirts all of the time. I've decided that a good way to appease this situation, because realistically it is simply figuring out a way for me to stop feeling left out, is to simply fill up my schedule. If I stay busy with my own things and create my own life here in Quito, I will feel less sorry for myself when others are living theirs, right? This morning at the English Fellowship Church I filled out a card to learn about some of their ministries during the week for college students, and also if I can fit it in I'm thinking about going to the local photo club with a student that I met at our conversation exchange at the local university. Well here's hoping!

Ready to get back on track,

Eliza

Torrey and me at the actual Equator- Museo Inti Ñan

Balancing an egg on a nail, possible at the Equator line due to the difference in gravity.