By Ryo H., guest blogger and Junior Immersion in Quito participant

Mucho gusto, me llamo Ryo. 

Today is the second day of a month long trip to Ecuador, and I am beat.  The trip just to get to Ecuador was something by itself.  The worst part wasn't the 10 hours spent in a plane or the 4 hour layover in the Miami airport.  It was waking up at 3 am, getting to the airport, and waiting for hours, just to find out our plane was cancelled.  To top it off, the next plane was not until the following day at the same time, 3am, so i had to wake up at the crack of dawn two days in a row.  We finally arrived in Quito late that night and my host mother, Susana Garcia, picked us up.  Once we arrived at their pad, we met the son Carlos, age 12, and daughter Andrea, age 21.  I slept very little that night and woke up not so bright but early for school the next morning.  Between fooling around at the airport, the long plane ride, lack of sleep, and the high altitude, Ecuador has made me a tired camper these first few days.

(Photo: Taken at the end of our hike in the cloud forest, picture of me along with my best friends, left to right, Ryo, Marcellus, Garrett)

For months I have been waiting for this trip and finally I am here along with my two best friends, Garrett and Marcellus.  I am 16 years old and attend Albany High School in California.  I am participating in the Junior Immersion in Quito program, arranged by Amerispan.  Amerispan has tons of countries and programs to choose to visit and I ended up in Quito, Ecuador.  Amerispan works with a school in Quito, where I attend class 4 hours out of the day, eat lunch, and participate in the activities they host.

School, at least these first couple days, is long and tiring.  It's four hours in the morning from 8:30 to 10:00, a 30 minute break, and from 10:30 to 1:00.  Although that may not seem that long, concentrating on translating every word someone says and learning Spanish grammar is very exhausting.  After class, however, the school provides lunch for the group; today we had a warm creamy soup with garlic bread on the side.  The group is very diverse, 7 from Portland, Oregon, 1 from Washington D.C., 3 from Orlando, Florida, and 4 from California.  Many kids came by themselves- only 2 people from Oregon were friends before the trip to Ecuador. Since everyone is new to each other, making new friends is easy. 

After lunch is a group activity, today we went to an elementary school and played with the kids there. We played a game, where the objective was to introduce whatever kid had decided to latch onto you.  All the local kids are really nice, adorable, easy to befriend, and intrested in whatever someone does or says.  Ecuadorian kids seem like angels compared to those in the U.S.  I think this is because they do not have so many material goods in their life. They seemed much more happy and appreciative of their new buddies.  After that I returned home with my friends, ate dinner, did my homework, watched a movie with Carlos, and went to bed.

I like Ecuador.  I have only been here a few days but so far it seems fun, interesting, and best of all, it's a relief to get out of my hometown of Albany.  I was a bit worried that I might get homesick, but I'm sure by the end of the month I will not want to return back home.

See other Teenager Summer Abroad programs

See all of Ryo's blogs

Join Garrett F. on his Ecuadorian quest with the Quito Junior Immersion program

My weekend was quite amazing I must say. On Saturday we left the school at 6:30 am for the Bella Vista cloud forest. After a two hour drive we arrived at a cool little lodge in the forest. We ate breakfast then set off on a hike through the cloud forest. Equipped with a guide and boots on our feet, we took a long hike through paths and rivers as we finally got to the water fall. Afterwards we hiked back to the lodge where we had some scrumptious trout for lunch, then it was off to the small town of Mindo.

After a bumpy drive we arrived at our very cool hotel in Mindo. We stayed in little cabins, 4 people per cabin. Then, after dinner at the hotel, we went on a tour of the city and its wildlife areas with a guide from the hotel. A cool thing I saw was crickets that let off bright lights that you could see throughout the forest. The tour ended with a discotheque where I practiced some of the salsa skills I learned from the lessons. On Sunday we woke up bright and early and headed to the zip lines which were pretty awesome. I very much enjoyed glided across the forest tops across the cables. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel to grab our swimsuits for tubing! Tubing was fun and a very cold. As we bumped off rock and rapids, we were drenched by ice cold water! It was a very fun weekend that ended with a long, sleep-filled van ride home.

As my first complete week has come to an end, I would like to share some things that I have learned and some tips you might want to know. In Ecuadorian culture they do not waste food. Unlike in the United States where we often don´t finish plates and take food for granite, in Ecuador you finish ALL the food on your plate and you only have three meals a day unless you decide to buy your own snacks in between. Although you often have to be careful of pickpockets and petty crime, overall the people in Quito are very kind and the city is vibrant.

Chao!

Garrett

See all of Garrett F.'s blogs from Quito

Learn more about AmeriSpan's Teen Programs Abroad

Join Garrett F. on his Ecuadorian quest with the Quito Junior Immersion program

Today is Friday and I have finished my first school week in Quito. Let me walk you through what the day is like for me here:

I wake up at 7:30 am and have breakfast courtesy of my host family. Breakfast isn’t always the same but it usually consists of fruit, toast and tea. Then at 8, my two friends and I walk to school. We can take the bus, which costs 25 cents, but our school is only a 15 minute walk away. On the way to school, I usually buy a water, which only costs 35 cents! School starts at 8:30 and for the first two hours of class, my teacher will usually go over vocabulary, verbs or other Spanish grammar. At 10:30, we have a half an hour break, during which I usually grab a pastry or some kind of snack from the school food stand. Then, for the second two hours of school, we do activities to practice what we learned earlier.

At 1 o´clock I have lunch with the rest of the teen program, along with Maria Paz and Jose Antonio, our program leaders. The lunch, which is made by the school's chef, is always something different yet wonderful tasting. We usually get a tasty little desert as well! After lunch, we do our program activity for the day. So far we've done things like volunteer at a children’s day care and take Salsa lessons. All of the activities have been fun, and I've also learned a lot about the city and its culture through them.

After we're done, we usually go back to our host families' houses, where we have dinner at 7 pm. Dinner is always delicious and enjoyable as we eat with the family. After dinner, we finish off the day watching a movie or playing cards. This week has been great and I’m looking forward to the trip to the cloud forest this weekend!

Hasta Luego,
Garrett

See all of Garrett F.'s blogs from Quito

Find out more about AmeriSpan's Quito Junior Immersion

Join Garrett F. on his Ecuadorian quest with the Quito Junior Immersion program

¡Hola! My name is Garrett and I’m from Albany, CA. I´m 17 years old and this is my first time studying abroad in another country. I am participating in the 4 week Amerispan teen program in Quito, Ecuador. I have only been in Quito for about three days yet the three days alone have been very exciting. My first impression of Quito was simply: "Wow". As I looked out the plane window flying in to the airport at ten o´clock at night, the majestic view of the vast land and mountains covered with lights amazed me. I had only seen a few pictures of Quito and the sheer size of the city was breath taking as the city dazzled amongst the dark night.

What was even better than my first view of the city was the warm greeting I received from my host, Susanna, as I quickly found out that my host was very kind and warm hearted along with her charming and helpful children. The next day, Susana showed us how to get to our school by bus telling us that we had to be careful of pickpockets on the very crowded vehicle. In the day time, the city reminded me somewhat of an urban city in the U.S. There were obvious differences: everything was in Spanish, some buildings looked a bit older and/or poorer, but it did seem like quite a populated and modern city. I arrived at the old style but beautiful building that was our school and started my day with a diagnostic Spanish test to see where my skills were at. Afterwards I was placed in a class with three other students where I began to learn vocabulary and other useful Spanish tools. Then I met the rest of the kids in the teen program along with the teen leaders for the group as we were informed about the rules and what we would be doing in the program. The upcoming schedule of activities looks really fun.

My second day at school and teen program was fun as well and I began to explore the city a bit more with my friends, learning about the prices in Quito and the culture and customs of Ecuador. I’m very excited for what lies ahead on this adventure!

Adios!

See all of Garrett F.'s blogs from Quito

Find out more about AmeriSpan's Quito Junior Immersion

Meet Sofia Valdivieso, Student Coordinator of AmeriSpan's Quito Spanish school (Budget-Friendly)

What is your background?
I’m 32 years old, have a Commercial Engineering degree, and have been working at the school for 4 years. I live with my partner and we are expecting our first baby.

Do you travel abroad often?
I used to, I’ve been to Europe, USA, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay.

Have you studied abroad?
No.

Which languages do you speak or have studied?
Spanish is my mother tongue, then I speak English and am a French Intermediate.

When did you start/join your organization?
I started in 2006, then worked at our partner volunteer program organization, then came back to school almost 3 years ago.

What is your job or function at the organization?
I’m Student Coordinator. The main part of my job is receiving bookings from our Internet page and abroad organizations, organizing the pick-ups, homestays, Spanish program, etc. for each student and helping them with any questions they might have.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?
Being in contact with varied people from all around the world. There’s so many interesting people out there!

Was a person, group of people or organization instrumental in your success?
Our manager, Ms. Luisa Cordova, has taught me everything to be successful in my position. I owe her a lot, she has always been nice to me and has always have the time to answer my questions, doubts, etc..

Tell us one of your biggest challenges in starting your organization.
Personalize our services to the needs of every student. There are so many different wishes, perspectives, expectations, that sometimes it’s hard to make everyone happy! But we sure try.

Tell us one of your biggest mistakes in your job, studying/teaching a language and/or traveling abroad.
The biggest mistake at my job is when we have a lack of communication. For our activities to be successful we need to have every detail taken into account for every part involved. If there is a mistake, we can have a student lost in the airport, a family that hasn’t been notified about a student’s arrival, a teacher that hasn’t been booked, an invoice with errors, so many things! Of course we are humans and sometimes this mistakes could still happen, but our goal is to have zero errors with every booking, which I can say is practically done. We love to bring the best service possible, and we do make some mistake we do everything that is in our hands to solve it.

Can you tell us about your school’s philosophy, specialty and/or why you think it is special?
Every student is special to us and we are always looking out for their well-being. We are not machines, but humans, and we love to be in touch with every student and hear what their needs or problems are. Our staff is always open to help them. We are not too many people working one school, which makes a cozy office and makes a nice atmosphere for everyone.

Anything else you'd like to add? 
Well, from our experience I can tell you that individual lessons are definitely the best method. You can learn better and faster and have also many opportunities to share with other students/teachers during the coffee breaks, afternoon activities, weekend trips, etc… And if the student is a complete beginner, it’s not a problem if the teacher doesn’t speak English. I myself studied French from the very beginning and my teacher never used a word in other language to make me understand. Ecuador is the greatest place to travel! Starting in Quito, at the Middle of the World, you can travel in just a few hours to other beautiful cities in the Andes, the Rainforest, the Coast, the Jungle, and of course, the wonderful Galapagos Islands. Plan your time ahead, since I have many students that book several weeks at school for studying, but then they marvel at how many opportunities of traveling the have and prefer to continue traveling rather than studying!

Learn more about AmeriSpan's Budget-Friendly  Quito Spanish school

The school, close to the center of the La Mariscal district, has welcoming and friendly atmosphere, with a great staff and encouraging instructors. The school's facilities offer a computer lab, free Wi-Fi, many classrooms, a dancing area, a patio, and much more.

Find out more about our Budget-Friendly Quito Spanish school

Original Update below:

As it's one of our most popular destinations in Latin America, AmeriSpan is following the news in Ecuador closely.  So far, we feel that the reports in the media don't quite match what is happening on the ground. In other words, the reports tend to make things seem worse than they are.  This is somewhat being fanned by President Rafael Correa's fiery personality.

We have been in touch with our contacts in Ecuador and this is what we have learned:

• The protests are mainly the police protesting a new law which will result in a cut to their benefits. This was not an organized countrywide coup attempt with the military backing. 
• The protests are mainly at police headquarters, stations and academies and are not wide spread. For instance, our contacts in Cuenca informed us that all was quiet there and classes were held as normal.
• International flights had been canceled earlier today in Quito and Guayaquil, mainly because police handle customs & immigration. Domestic flights have supposedly continued to fly.  As of 20:00 EST, the Quito airport is open again to international flights.

Our Analysis

In the 17 years that AmeriSpan has been sending students to Ecuador, we have seen several coups where the President has been forced from the office. We have even seen one week where Ecuador had 3 different Presidents.  It is important to note that this is NOT like these past cases because President Correa has an approval rating of 50% or more Ecuadorians and the military is backing President Correa.  Also in the past Coups and coup attempts that we have witnessed in Ecuador and other Latin American countries, there was not widespread bloodshed and our participants were more or less unaffected.

As of September 30th, our opinion is that participants should NOT postpone or cut short Ecuador study abroad programs.  However, AmeriSpan never wants financial considerations to factor into your individual decisions and with this in mind we are doing the following:

1. Any fees related to postponing or changing your program will be waived if you are scheduled to start an Ecuador program before October 20, 2010.
2. If you are currently participating on a program in Ecuador and want to leave early, we will refund you for any unused time or transfer those fees to another AmeriSpan program.

For additional information, we recommend:

www.stratfor.com – an excellent source of worldwide information

US State Dept Ecuador News

BBC Coments from locals

By Keeya J, Guest Video Blogger in Montanita, Ecuador

In this video, our guest video blogger, Keeya, and her friend, Tiffani, take us to the school where they have been volunteering to teach English. Later, they take us to a party at the Spanish school. Keeya is participating in the  Spanish & Surfing program in Montanita. 

See Spanish in Montanita Ecuador.