Family! School!

I am living with a very sweet family. My mom, Mercedes, is young, 32, so is as much like a friend as a mom. Her husband works outside the city and only comes home on the weekends so I haven't met him yet. I have three little siblings--Jesus (11), Fernanda (10) and Andres (8). They like to hug me a lot but I feel kind of awkward with them because they speak really quickly and its hard to understand them sometimes. Mercedes likes to talk to me a lot because she doesn't have many people around to talk to other than the little kids. The kids like to play Nintendo Wii and they do a lot of homework. Yesterday I went running with my mom in a park and did pushups and situps with Ferni, my little sister. Nobody speaks any English in the house so I am speaking a lot of spanish all the time.

The students on the program are all really nice and excited to be here. The directors and support people in Cimas, the school where we have classes, are all super friendly. We have class from 9 to 4 with a break for lunch and a few breaks during the morning.

I ride the bus to school which is crazy. This morning I got a seat which was fantastic. There were 3 other students from Cimas on the bus too so we will find ways to ride together for safety and comfort.

Gotta run back to class, but life is good! We go on a trip outside of the city tomorrow to bond and explore a little more of Ecuador!