Mailing Address!

Hello loves! I forgot to mention that I now have a mailing address! The post system isn't as useful here as it is in other places, so it's taken me a bit to test the reliability of it: we're good! So here it is:


Marlee Mansfield-Chavez
Machala, El Oro, Ecuador
South America

*Recoger a la oficina de correos
#086791540

Write it just like that and I will receive it!
Hope you all have a wonderful week!

-Marlee

Two Months Already!?

   I cannot even believe that it has been a whole two months since I've been here. While I'll say that the days and minutes seem to drag on, compounded, the time just blinks by! Two months ago, Tuesday, I pulled into this country completely clueless, confused, scared, and SO EXCITED! I'm now nearly completely fluent in Spanish, comfortable and still excited. Even just in the last two months I have grown and changed. I'm sorry that it has been SO long since I've last posted, there's day to day activities that didn't seem to hold much importance, so I thought I'd wait till there came something of some kind of importance.

   A week after RYLA was our resident Brazilian's birthday! He turned 18 and instead of doing the typical Ecuadorian thing and going out drinking and partying during an 18 year old's birthday party (Eighteen is the drinking age here in Ecuador), we partied like Rotary Exchange students: Responsible and Sober! We all met at his house for dinner, cake and dancing. It was so much fun and we took this picture. It wasn't till afterwards that we realized that we're kind of a family. Luis (the Brazilian) is like the dad, always planning our activites and everyone calls me mom, always making sure everyone is being safe! What do you think, one Good Looking family, right?

   School has greatly improved and I am SO thankful for that. Going to school is still a chore, but it has become an enjoyable chore. During the day, I have taken to reading books (thank God for my Kindle, I don't know what I would do without it), drawing little pictures for my friends, and writing letters home. My activities are a time consuming but by the time Friday rolls around, I cannot wait to get out of there. I realized that the one thing that was causing so much frustration with my school was the fact that we don't switch classes! I am so accustomed to having different students in different classes and that is how I make my friends. Having to be "stuck" with the same kids for the whole day, the whole week and the whole year has really put a strain on my personality! Not to worry though, I am pushing through it!

   Okay, for now for the good stuff: This last week was our second Rotary-organized trip. We drove the eight hours from Machala up to the Ecuadorian providence of Manabi and this time the trip included all 140 inbound students in Ecuador. 140 students. 15 countries. 5 days. 3 full sized charter buses to haul us around. 1 amazing trip! I love my fellow inbounds more than words can describe! This is the first time that we've been all together and if I understand correctly, it may be the only time we're together as all 140 of us, but that is okay! Trying to make friends with 140 people is nearly impossible and it takes a lot of energy too- but hey, we managed just fine. The trip lasted from October 15th at 6:30 AM to the 19th at 6pm. While the first and last days were full of driving, the middle days were packed with activities and bonding! 

   On the first day we went to this special beach called Boca Resort. It was like a movie set with pure white beds and canopies and an incredibly teal blue ocean. We spent the morning at the resort swimming, playing soccer and taking tours of the place. There was a little river that led to the ocean during low tide and the resort workers were offering tours down river. We saw about a billion pelicans perched in the trees, it was just a prelude to the wonderful creatures we will be seeing in the Galapagos! 



The USA kids: Represent!



   

 Later in the day on Sunday, we hiked up the the mountain behind our hostel. The city we stayed in, Crusitas, wasn't a very big city, we we paraded through the city with our flags and our national anthems! Once up the hill, we took a couple group pictures and our country pictures. The view from up top was amazing! One boy from Germany had the ingenious idea to tie all the flags together to make a big World Kite and that's what is flying in the picture.

   The next day was another beach day, only this time we spent the whole day on the beach. We cleared the beach of rocks and built ourselves a full sized beach volleyball court and a soccer field for the tournaments between teams! I didn't personally participate in the sport activities, but I did spend the whole day swimming out the ocean, not getting out until too many people were getting stung by jellyfish for my liking. Don't you worry, they weren't bad stings, the jellies were no bigger than a finger, but that made the mysteriousness of the water a little more daunting. Later on that night, we enjoyed a massive bon fire and some fireside singing.

   Tuesday brought on a whole meaning of tired. We all got up early because we had to drive about 45 minutes to a near by city, called Portoviejo, for a huge city parade! I still don't know exactly why we were parading through the streets, but I'm not complaining, it was so much fun! All 140 of the exchange students were included and we even made the local paper! Front page of the "Life" section. The picture to the right is the picture that was put in the paper and I'm in the front row in the middle! After the parade, we headed to to a little town called Montecristi where there was a little market set up especially for us exchange students FULL of Cositas Ecuatorianos (little Ecuadorian things!). We pulled up and there was a live band playing music for us and, like I said, about 20 vendors selling their goodies just for us students! After everyone's pockets were wiped clean, we headed to lunch at what seemed like a 5 star hotel! It was gorgeous and our buffet-style lunch was served right on the beach. Tired from the running around we had done all morning, we returned to our hostel in Crustias for some rest and to get ready for our Grand Evening!

   We pulled into Portoviejo and were dropped off at these big trucks (pictured) with bands on the roof. The drivers were telling people to climb on and at first we were a little scared, but we quickly forgot all means of safety and hopped on! As you can see, people were jumping up and down on the roof, hanging from the sides and standing in the back. For the second time that day, we paraded through Portoviejo, only this time on wheels! For what seemed like 2 hours, we rolled around the city, attracting the attention of the locals and their cameras! It was a BLAST! It has been one of the many times I have been grateful for Ecuador's lack of road rules. We finally pulled into our last destination for the night at a Rotary club for our night of ceremonies. We elected a camp King (from Denmark) and Queen (United States) and handed out awards from our sports day! We ended the night with a long dance party and didn't end up getting back to the hostel until 3:45AM! Mind you, this was a weekday in the middle of the city, the music could be heard for miles! I guess this is just normal though, which I'm so glad for, it was so much fun!

   The last day was just a big send off for everyone. We all left pretty early because we all had a long drive ahead of us. The El Oro kids had the best time though! I love my El Oro kids and we all bonded so well. On the way home, we stopped in Guayaquil for lunch and were happily surprised when we spotted a Subway in the food court. It was safe to say that we were happy campers! I got REAL coffee and Subway all in the same day: highlight of my life. I have bonded with this group of kids so much, I love them like a real family. We are all so close and all so diverse! I love it! I am loving Ecuador too! I hope all is well back where ever you are finding yourself.

Love, Marlee!

PS, a note about the blog name change. EcuaPortlian: I consider myself to have officially crossed that cultural line where I consider myself an exchange student or different. I am practically one with the Ecuadorians and since I am from Portland, the two just kind of morphed together. That's it! Love you all!