13 days? Really? My friends in New Paltz have already started their second week of classes, and I still have almost two full weeks before I board for Australia. How am I feeling? Two words: stir crazy.

          The anticipation is driving me nuts. It’s like an 8 year old’s Christmas Eve excitement times ten. But sometimes it doesn’t feel real. Sometimes I can’t even comprehend it. It settles in a little more with each passing day though.

        As far as preparing goes, it’s taken a lot up until this point. Applications, references, visa, deposits, passports. It’s been paperwork city. I’ll tell you one thing—if you’re looking to study abroad, try as hard as you can to sever any relationship you have with procrastination. I got lucky. I have parents who are meticulous when it comes to getting stuff like that done. In fact, if not for my parents’ help, both financially and emotionally, I would be up in New Paltz reading a textbook right now. Actually, I’d probably be playing Rock Band in lieu of reading a textbook, but anyway, I owe them a lot for giving me the opportunity to go away, especially this semester. (If I were on TV right now I’d give them a shout out.)

         I’ve been working at a job I absolutely loathe (in a grocery store) in order to make enough money to finance my adventures in Melbourne. The hours drag by, and I think I have actual cuts on my tongue from biting back retorts to rude customers, but every time I find myself about to snap, I picture myself on a beach or petting a kangaroo, take a deep breath and remind myself that in two weeks I will be in Australia, and these people will (probably) not be. Then I ask them whether they would like to use debit or credit.

          As anxious as I am to get on the plane and just be there already, there’s still a lot I have to do, packing being the most daunting. I’m looking at my closet and wondering how I’m going to fit it into two suitcases. I can’t even fit the contents of my CLOSET in my closet. (There’s usually stuff scattered all around my room.) Yikes. Looks like I’m going to have to rough it a little bit more than I do at home, but that just adds to the sense of adventure, right? Someone comfort me here.

            It really seems like second semester of Junior year is the most popular one to study abroad. Right now I have friends in London, Spain, the Czech Republic, Italy and other parts of Australia, and every time one of them posts a new album on facebook, it gives me a little jolt in my stomach.

      Well, this has been your look into the dragging winter break of a junior year study abroad student who has yet to get to her destination. To end this, for all extensive purposes of figuring out how to post pictures, here is my pup Jake and his Australian brother from another mother (a koala).

I was surprised to find out that in Ecuador you don´t wait until everone has received their plate of food to start eating. You just eat. I remember the first couple of times I ate with my host mother she would give me my plate and say go ahead eat while she went into the kitchen to get her plate. At first, I was very confused. Is she testing my manners? Is this some kind of trick? I decided to wait until she came back with her plate to start eating. Then when I went out to eat with friends, I noticed the waiter brought the food out one by one. Sometimes it would be a good couple of minutes before the next person got their plate of food. That was when I realized you are expected to start eating as soon as you get your plate. Ecuadorians are more concerned about their food getting cold than eating at the same time with everyone at the table. I´m still not used to this, but I must say on days when I´m really hungry, I don´t mind this custom at all. I dig right in and am more than happy to!

On Thursday I decided it would be a good idea to go see I Am Legend at the IMAX with a friend. Classes were canceled that evening because of a big march that was to take place on the street 9 de octubre. The mayor of Guayaquil was calling all Guayaquileños to this march to protest against the president. To get to the IMAX, I had to pass 9 de octubre. My host mother warned me that it would be crowded and to be careful. I didn´t think it would be that bad. I actually thought that it would be kind of cool to see a protest in Ecuador, so me and my friend walked towards the march to get to the IMAX. Worst mistake ever. There must have been a couple of hundred thousand people. They were waving flags, holding up signs, dressed in white and light blue (colors of Guayaquil), and chanting. We could hardly walk. I am actually surprised we didn´t get trampled. It seemed my friend and I were going the complete opposite direction of the march. We had to walk through the march and they had to walk passed us. It was a bad clash. People were shoving and pushing. At one point I didn´t know if I was going to make it out of this sea of people. We finally saw an opening on a sidewalk and eventually made it past the march. I was tired and had other people´s sweat on me (that´s how little room there was to walk). It was pretty disgusting, but quite the experience. What should have been a 15 minute walk to the IMAX ended up being almost an hour. I only hoped the movie was worth it…it wasn´t really. I was however in awe of how many people came together for that march. I have never seen so much pride in a crowd of people like that…I wonder if the march accomplished what it hoped to…if not, at the very least, their voices were heard.

Whenever people hear I’m going to Australia, they immediately get insanely excited for me. They ask, “Oh my god, how excited are you to be going to Australia?” and I’m like, “SO STOKED!”

But to be completely honest, up until about a week ago, my “so stoked” response wasn’t so much a sincere reply as it was a reflex. What I mean is that I said that automatically, without really feeling anything about going to Melbourne. I don’t mean to sound like an overprivileged, spoiled brat who can’t appreciate this opportunity; please do not interpret it that way. It just wasn’t real to me yet. It hadn’t clicked within my head that I’m actually going to be in a different country. I’m actually going to be living on a different continent for more than four months. That hadn’t hit me yet.

Then, last week, my friend Steve, who goes to Marist College, left for Italy. He’s studying in Florence this semester. I logged onto Facebook like a good little college student, and saw he had added new photographs from Italy such as this one:

There was an assortment of other photographs involving his school, his apartment, his friends, and his adventures in Italy. It soon became very clear to me that this was going to be my life in a few short weeks. While I’m not going to be in Florence, and while I’m not going to be speaking Italian, I’m going to have my own set of photographs very similar to Steve’s. For example, I might post something like this:

I’m going to be experiencing a new school and a new living situation. I’m going to be making new friends and going on my own crazy adventures. Finally, the fact that I’m going to Melbourne became a not-too-far-in-the-future reality.

So now, if you ask me if I’m excited to go to Australia, and I respond with, “YEAH, I’m so stoked,” it will be sincere. I promise.

     I can now say I´ve been to the Andes. Today we drove up to the mountains and went on a short hike to Cojitambo Peak. I was short of breath as soon as I got off the bus and started walking. I almost forgot I was at such high altitiude. Breathing very heavily, I managed to climb up a cliff. It was difficult but boy was it worth it! You could see everything from there…the small towns and villages…and more mountains. The view was amazing! It was almost surreal. I will never understand how my ancestors traveled up these mountains without cars…and with all their belongings at that! You had to be extremely strong and intelligent to figure out how to get up there in those days. While by the Andes, I saw quite a few bushes with white flowers hanging down. Something told me these weren´t just any bushes. They looked familiar and I remembered reading up on them, but I couldn´t remember their purpose. The guide then told us that some people use the flowers as medicine and some indigenous people use it as a way to tell the future. Then that´s when I remembered, it´s a hallucinogenic. The flowers are called Floripondio. I find it quite interesting that some people use it as medicine…I wonder what it is supposed to cure?

     The small cities and villages  by the mountains, particularly Cuenca, are very different from places in the coast like Guayaquil. The people in Cuenca have different traditions, foods, and accents. The closer you get to the mountains the more indians you see. It´s quite a sight. The women dress in colorful skirts and ponchos. They wear panama-like hats and if they are carrying groceries, they have it in a sling across their back. It´s beautiful. I look at them in admiration and I think about how different I am. Then I realize I´m actually not that different at all. When I look closely I can see we share basic features…similar shape face, small eyes, similar nose, straight dark hair. It´s kind of amazing. Yesterday I went in a shop and tried on one of the hats they wear…I saw my reflection and thought wow all I need is a poncho and I´ll fit right in! No one would think I´m not from here. Everyday I seem to be learning a little more about myself. I wonder what tomorrow holds.

      I arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador around midnight on Thursday, January 3rd. It has been pretty much raining everyday since, and when it rains, it pours! I have never seen it rain so much so frequently. At times the sun comes out and it is extremely hot and very humid. (Apparently the winter is Ecuador´s hot and rainy season). Umbrellas are a must. Also, when wearing flip flops it is important to walk with caution in the rain. I´ve almost slipped numerous times already.

     I live with my host family (a mother and her 27-year-old son) by the Guayas River across the street from the Malecon 2000. It´s a very nice area. On the Malecon there is a shopping center (where I got a spiffy bracelet!), various restaurants, fast food places, parks, and an IMAX theatre. I believe it´s the only one in the country. I actually want to go see a movie later…it only costs $3.70! I´ve been to a few malls already and I was surprised to hear American music playing in all of them! It´s everywhere!…from Sheryl Crow to Rihanna. At times it´s a bit comforting to hear music from home. Other times, I just get annoyed and don´t want to hear anything American (from the United States). I´m in another country to learn about another culture…which is actually the culture of my heritage. My parents were born and raised in Ecuador. They spent most of their time in Guayaquil. Since this is my first visit to Ecuador I am trying to learn as much about my roots as I possibly can. I sometimes get a little overwhelmed with emotions…I feel a sense of pride, at times scared, a little homesick, adventurous…but it is always exciting! So far, I love Guayaquil…it´s people, it´s palm trees, the vendors, the cheap (although at times a bit sketchy) taxis, my campus, the food! This is such a wonderful experience and I´m glad I decided to study abroad here. I got to get ready for classes later…they start today! I hope all goes well.