EIL Intercultural Learning

So today is E-Day plus 14. Two weeks in and I'm having a great time here in Ecuador. I'm still waiting for culture shock to hit in but it hasn't really so far, I'm enjoying Ecuador too much. Between having such a cool family, a great bunch of Americans and enjoying the different culture and way of life I don't see culture shock featuring in a big way anytime soon.  Sometimes I miss things from home but being on the other side of the world experiencing such a different place is to me a brilliant experience that I'm trying to take the most out of while giving back sometime.

Last Thursday I finished community work with one of the American groups. It was one of the opportunities we get to give back to this community who have and still are giving us so much. It was hard work getting the school painted (took us an extra day) but it's obvious that it's a poor area and school so it was worth the effort. It was also a great experience group wise as it allowed us to get to know each other better and have a laugh while working. I really enjoyed the experience and will be doing it again tomorrow as I join up with the other group who have returned from the Galapogas.

On the Friday I went trekking and biking on Chimborazo which was amazing. The group met at 8 in the morning and travelled in 2 vans, I went in a little hippy van with 4 others. We had a laugh along the way as it was snowing lower down the mountain than expected meaning the poor little van couldn't make it to the first cabin we were heading to. Thankfully we hitched a ride with some English tourists. The first cabin was at 14,800 ft and the second at 15,000 ft. We trekked on foot from the first to second and the altitude was crazy, it took us 45 mins to walk that 200 vertical metres (approx 500 walking metres). It only took us 5 to come down. So at the highest cabin, I was further away from the earths core or closer to the moon than you would be on top of Everest. Anyway from the lower cabin we had a 20km bike to a small town called San Juan. It was fantastic. It was proper mountain biking on dirt tracks for half the journey which was brilliant fun and then the rest was a nice easy journey on roads with some incredible scenery along the way. After the cycle we were all pretty tired but our day wasn't over as that night we all went to a Reggaetone concert in Rio. It was a good night but I wouldn't say I'll ever count myself as a reggaetone fan, not really for me. But it was fun being out with the groups as it was the first time since Quito both groups were together.

Yesterday was more relaxed, I spent the morning and afternoon with my host family just relaxing and chatting which was very nice. In the night I met up with some of the yanks to celebrate a host brothers birthday. We've mixed with the host siblings very well here, the Ecuadorians are so friendly they've been brilliant to be around and we get along really well. We all had a great night anyway, I enjoyed it more than the concert.

Today was a real South American experience as my host family took me to a derby soccer match between the teams from Quito and Riobamba. The atmosphere was intense to put it mildy. Compared to matches in Ireland or England, there's so much more drumming and chanting between rival fans. Some of the Americans were with us too and I'm glad to say it was a really good game, the Quito team (who are South American champions) won 3-2 but it was a really close match. Some of the theatrics by players was hilarious though, they make Drogba look respectable when it comes to diving. I really enjoyed the whole experience.

Now after this blog I'm going off to play a soccer match with some of the yanks and their host families. We've booked the pitch myself and one of the Americans played on last week so it'll be a good game I hope. The altitude will be a killer again no doubt. Anyway I hope everyone who's following this is keeping well, thanks for keeping in contact it's appreciated. Gary.