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By Bradley Rehak - Guest Blogger studying in Quito, Ecuador
In preparing to leave a place where one has lived for two months, I believe it's good to contemplate a bit on one's successes and failures--in travel and entertainment as well as in language learning. Here, then, are the most prominent points for me.
Failures: As previously mentioned, a family with kids my own age would have been better--there would just be more to talk about, and there of course would not have been hearing problems to deal with. Given the situation, though, I think I found quite a bit to talk about with my family. I completely failed in climbing a volcano, Cotopaxi, due to altitude sickness. As I have learned, it takes many weeks to adjust to altitudes like that of Quito when you have lived close to sea level your entire life. I similarly failed to find a close group of Ecuadorian friends to spend most of my time with. Although I did meet many people, my base group of friends for travel, going out, etc were all European or North American descent. Although I can hardly be blamed for the Ecuadorians going to work during the week and having less money.
Successes: I learned quite a bit of Spanish. My speech has improved significantly (and significantly more after a beer or two) and I have learned a ton of vocabulary. This was exactly what I set out to do. I also met a lot of people--even if I didn't form strong or lasting friendships, I still had many lengthy conversations in Spanish on a wide variety of subjects. I ate a lot of good food, which compliment can be paid directly to my host mom, who almost never repeated meals and kept me well-fed. I managed to avoid being robbed (up until now), having only lost a stocking cap while in Quito. And I took a ton of good pictures, with which to bore my friends and family for years to come. In sum, I believe I can say Mission Accomplished.
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