Feliz Dia De Gracias

“When upon life´s billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost. Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done…”
Living in a different country so far away from the comforts of the country that I am used to has taught me so much, and has made me so grateful for all that I am blessed with, most things I never took the time to appreciate before. But because it is Thanksgiving time, I decided to make a list of all those things…(Grandpa Don would be soo proud I did this with out him having to ask me to ja ja)
• First, I am obviously grateful for Thanksgiving Day, and the symbolism it brings. It´s weird to be living some where where we don´t have a Day of Thanks. On Thanksgiving day here stores will still be open, school will still be in session, and people will still go to work. However the students at Xplorer are going on strike, and we aren´t going to school on the 27th. We tried to get a whole fall break, but couldn´t pull it off…oh well we´ll take what we can get. We´re going to have a huge feast, with all our families, also a talent show, and a desert contest, (this could be interesting given my interesting (eh amazing) cooking skills) 
• I am grateful for my family. (Here, and in the States) I am grateful for my mom, and the desire she instilled in me to fly, and to chase after my dreams. I am grateful for my daddy, and the fact that no matter where I am, I am always his princess, he taught me the value of hard work and the determination to never give up. I am grateful for my louie and bud, for the ever present closeness I have with both of them. I am also grateful for my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and the support that they give me now and through out my life.
• I am grateful for my family here, for Patty, Heis, and Kimberly. For their willingness to bring a stranger into the home, to open up to me, and to love me, and to give me the love that I am missing because I am so far away from home.
• I am grateful for modern technology and the blessing I have to so easily talk and keep in touch with everyone I love. Through my blog, emails, and phone calls, I never miss a thing, everyone keeps me very updated. I am also grateful for the mail system and the fact that I am able to receive letters, and packages from those who love me in the states.
• I am grateful for rice, and potatoes, yucca, soup, mora, grilled cheese sandwhiches, ritz crackers, nutella, lots and lots of chicken, fresh bread, fresh fruits, bottled water, apple cinnamon tea, and any other things that keep me from starving…
• I am thankful for the beautiful Spanish language, and the opportunity that I have to learn it.
• I am grateful for Hermana G., Elder and Sister Ward, Elder and Sister Ottosen, and all the other missionaries who teach me such great life lessons, take me under their wings, and help me to know what I can do this, one day at a time.
• I am grateful for the Colón Ward, for the church institute program, and for the scriptures all these things that keep me close to my Savior, and offer the support I need when I feel like I just can´t go on.
• I am grateful for Xplorer, for Sofy and Angy, and Goria, and for everyone else at the office. Who work hard to make sure we are all safe, happy, and having a good experience.
• I am grateful for all the friendships I have gained here, all friendships that will last a life time. For Zoe and Gabi especially. Two girls who share my dream, and together we three are able to support each other in this insane adventure.
• I am grateful for Natalie Larsen, who despite the fact thinks I am crazy, always keeps in touch with me, and helps me remember that I am not forgotten. She encourages, and keeps me going…through everything in life.
• I am grateful for my mom, again…she always sends me great emails, and even though this is hard on both sides she knows I can do this..and it´s weird but I almost think we´ve become closer through the distance…I will never take her for granted again.
• I am grateful to Lucy, Mari, and Mr. Leavitt, who instilled in me a love for Spanish, and encouraged me to follow my dreams.
• I am grateful for Kendell, who stepped into this knowing exactly what he was getting into, and yet stayed. And has become such a great reader, listener, and advice giver, and helps me more than I think he´ll ever know.
• I am grateful for Education. For the freedom I have to continue mine, not just in school but in life. For the opportunity I have to each day wake up and choose the person I want to be.
I could keep going but i´ve probably bored you all to death. However, I can actually testify to the song, “count your many blessings” some times being gone is SO dang hard, at times I am ready to pack my bags and call it quits and then I start to think of all the things I am blessed with and I realize ya know…life isn´t so bad. And I think you know this year really is such a short time, why would I waste it being sad???
I´ve lived here almost three months! It´s absolutely insane! Time is flying! The more things I get involved in the better…and the more I feel like I am making the best of my time. I started volunteering at the hospital. I work with a little three month old boy who´s mom just left him. For three or four hours a day I am his mommy. Here rich people go to Clinics, and the average people go to the Hospital. Its such an eye opening experience for me…also I got involved with institute here, and the single adult activities. And in December my ward is going to the temple! I am so excited!
At times it´s crazy to think I actually live here in Quito Ecuador. That this is actually where I am at this time in my life! As I go from day to day it´s weird to think that next year at thanksgiving, i´ll be back at Grandma Norma´s, i´ll walk down to feed calves at Gittin´s, and then the next day i´ll go and hunt Christmas trees, it´s only one year! Only one holiday season! And i´ll be back by the county fair, (and my birthday of course!)
Although I miss everyone SO much! I enjoy taking on all the challenges, and growing and learning in this beautiful country of Ecuador. I am only here once, and so while I am here I am making the best of it. I wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving! Eat lots of pumpkin pie for me(they don´t have it here… and when you miss me just so dang much count your many blessings and know i´ll see you all soon! Until then thank you for all your thoughts and prayers! I miss you all! And love you even more!
Feliz Dia De Gracias,
Emily Ann
“He who recieveth all things with thankfulness, shall be made glorious” (D&C 78:19)

Different Isn´t wrong...It´s just different...

Sometimes when I am writing these blog entries i feel kinda selfish...i feel like i am just having a one way conversation with myself...about myself! but they kinda resemble my journal entries. Before i came here i was encouraged to keep a journal, and i have in hopes that the experiences i have here will never be forgotten.
Every day here in Quito is some sort of adventure. Whether its getting lost on the bus, or getting caught in the rain, or taking a filosofia test...or even getting your hair cut, no day can just be normal. but that´s what makes it exciting!
with each day i find my spanish getting better...and my new family is alot of help with that. although they all speak english we´ve yet to speak english in the house. yesterday at school i helped a teacher here with something in english. by the time we finished i think she really did understand! and i felt so great that my spanish is coming along well enough to help teach english.
Although living in the city has been very different for me (for example i have four keys just to get into my house...in idaho i don´t think we even had keys..haha) every once in a while it does present it´s advantages. i can get anywhere i want for 12 cents on the bus or trolley, minus a little cluastrophobia. the views at night are spectacular the city reaches out farther than you can see and the lights snake around the mountains. because we live in an eternal spring here the mornings are crsip and clean and beautiful, and there´s always someone to talk to on the bus or trolle.
I just barely switched families, due to some problems with my last one. now I live very north of the city, where life slows down just a little bit. i live in a three bedroom apartment, it´s small but it´s WARM! and there is a huge supply of hot water, and a maid to do my laundry. i have one sister named Kimberly, and a brother named Heisemburg. oh and really cute little dog named Odee. although we all live kinda busy and crazy lives when we´re together it´s great and even though we´re busy when we´re together we´re really together. and they really like to try and include me in their different lives. Oh and Brian another student intercambio lives next door. when he´s in his kitchen, and i´m in mine, we can see eachother! so cool!
School is going good, each day i understand more and tune out less...however i will never take public educaton for granted again. Here we have to pay for our homework. The teachers run copies and then we have to pay him or her back for our assignments. Here in this culture by about the time students are 15 years old they´ve already decided what career they are going to study. so then in high school you choose what classes to take depending on this career. for example, students choose either to study classes focused on biology, or physics, chemistry, or philosophy...and then they study those classes all through high school and graduate with a specialty in for example physics. This is very difficult for someone who well, changes her mind EVERY day in what she wants to study in college!!!
The students her are geniuses! (i think that´s how that is spelt...haha) their whole lives they´ve studied in a way focused around math, graphs, numbers, money, etc. etc. then there´s me who has a creative brain...and i learn things more focused around art, and theater, and music..so not only do i struggle with the language barrier but i also struggle with the different subjects, and the way they are taught. i´m living in a country where being different is discouraged, and blending in is prefered. a country where students are molded into being mathmatician robots, and then there´s me, blonde, whiter than perma white, artsy, craftsy, and religeous. and trying to find my place in the mold of ecuadorians! (and trying to avoid math at all costs...can you get ANY more opposite?) but for some reason i love it!
When i came here i was warned so many times i find my self thinking... and it´s at those times i know i am learning so much! and i am learning things i could only learn here, and having experiences i will take with me through out my entire life!
I am so grateful for all of my many blessings. for my family here, and in the states. for my friends here and abroad. For the gospel, and the missionaries. I am so grateful I have these things in my life, even though i am all the way here in Ecuador. And most of all i am so grateful the opportunity i have to be here! Thank you to all those who support me, and for you prayers, emails, letters, and just thinking about me! i love you all!
¡hasta luego!
Emily
ps..sorry about bad spelling, grammar, or bad punctuation...ít´s hard typing on these keyboards! haha

Dia De Deportes

Hey Everyone!!!
For those of you who don´t know spanish Dia De Deportes means day of sports. This past saturday i had the opportunity to participate in Home Coming...Ecuadorian style that is. Saturday morning started early for us at Benelcazar. We had to arrive at 730...on a saturday! how crazy is that¿? anyway...the day started with a huge parade! Each class was dressed in matching jerseys and divided into classes. Each class also had a mascot. my class the sexto B.I. (Sixth Course) had matching white t-shirts with penguins on them. and so our mascot was a penguin. well who do you think was a penguin? yours truly! ME! i wore a cute little penguin hat and then we all waddled like penguins around in the parade. The parade also had marching bands, color guards, pets...and lots and lots of students! Well after the parade we all sang the national anthem, and then we lit the torch and let the games begin! Because i am in the sixth course we were in charge of selling food. the whole patio was set up with tons of vendors. we sold Hordanado, which is pork along with corn, potatoes, rice, etc. etc. it was so delicious. The one thing i found really interesting about this school function was...the amount of alcohol sold. i helped unload case after case of beer, which was sold to anyone who wanted it. There was no drinking age limit, everyone was buying and drinking beer like it was soda! (at least the teachers were a little loosened up that day! haha) 

also in the Dia De Deportes they crown a queen. this process was alot like a junior miss pageant. The participants had to have a talent, a sport, a formal dress, a casual fitness routine etc. etc. and then on Saturday the queen was announced. My friend Lorena participated in this, it was fun to be a part of!

This day was so much fun, because i had an inside view of the fact that even though Ecuador seems a little wierd at times they are able to and have fun participating in regular kid activities. and once again i am grateful i am able to be a part of it. 

Before i came here i had this whole idea about the meaning of "culture". I defined culture as different food, different clothes, and a different language. Never had i ever imagined that culture also was a way of thinking, a different way of mentality. I never thought about how a whole country of people could think the same way. That the idea of right and wrong could be so different. That honesty was seen as a dream, and not  reality. This has been such a big struggle for me. Almost more than the language. Learning how these people think. Mr. Abbott my high school speech teacher would go crazy here, trying to decide where everyones minds are! haha. I love the people, language, food, and sights of Ecuador. But coming here has made me appreciate SO many things that i was just blessed to have my whole life. 

most of all i will never take my family for granted again. There's so many things our moms, dads and brothers and sisters do for us that we don't realize until we don't have them. i am so grateful for the way i was raised, and for the country that i was SO blessed to be raised in. 

Things have been a little crazy here lately as i have been shuffled around from family to family, but i know things will start to look up shortly. And as President Hinkley would say, "Everything will be ok!" (that's my new motto). 

Hasta Luego, 

Emmy Ann

Getting Your Dreams...Complicated...

I should have started a blog before i came to Ecuador, and then I could have told more people about it, but as it is i am starting now, two months into my adventure. So today I thought I would do a quick over view so that we're all on the same page, i wish i had time to email everyone...but time seems to get away from me! I am sorry about that. 

When I decided to come to Ecuador i honestly had no idea what to expect. But i came fearless, and ready to conquer the world. Boy was I surprised of what i found here! First off, Quito is FREEZING! i quickly learned that although it's name means equator, not all of Ecuador is warm and tropical. in fact, i don't think i've ever left the house with out a sweater on. There is no way to prepare for the weather here. It's really crazy, but each day follows about the same pattern...an eternal spring. our averages rang from about 50-70 degrees, but because S.A. houses don't have internal heating your body is never able to get warm. so i'm always FREEZING! and i was dumb and only brought one hoodie. It rains every afternoon about 4:00, and you'd think i would have learned. but i haven't and i always forget my umbrella (para aqua). when it rains it pours!!! and the streets look like you could row a boat down them. 

i can not beleive two months have already come and gone. at first i was super homesick but now i am only home sick at times, but i'm able to function haha. 

I am here with a program called Xplorer. They are a program that sends students intercambio, and also brings students into Ecuador. There are seven of us, Adam, Brian, Claudio, Gabi, Saara, Zoe, and Me! Although we all come from different countries and different back grounds, here in Ecuador we're all able to be really awesome friends and almost like siblings. Me being the oldest most the time i take on the role of older sister. Yes i am here with a program, but don't let that fool you. A lot of the time i wish some one would just hand me a missionary tag and send me to work. Most the time i feel like a little lost 18 year old girl in a scary foreign country, and i don't have anyone to help me!!!

I am attending a high school here. Benelcazar is a a huge school, that has students all the way from 12 years to 17 years old. We all wear really sexy uniforms. Monday is formal day so we wear suit jackets, ties, plaid skirts, nylons, and heals. tuesday and thursday is dia de deportes and so we wear a wind suit style uniform. Wednesday's and fridays we wear our plaid skirts, blue button up shirts, with pull over navy sweaters, along with knee high blue socks. (if you would like a full description of this just rent the movie Princess Diaries, they look exactly the same! i swear!) School here is very different from the states, at times i feel like i am at military camp. When a teacher walks in a class room you stand up, and when a teacher walks out of the class room you stand up. Also the teachers come to you, i stay in the same seat from seven until 3:45. There are no fine arts classes offered strictly math, sciences, physics, chemistry etc. etc. (some how i ended up taking calculus and trig in espanol?! how did this happen haha)

I am a part of the Colon Ward here. i love church here, there is a different spirit here in S.A.  I think it comes from not being all generation Mormons. They are so strong, and they carry an enthusiasm about the gospel that is down right contagious. I also am blessed to be really involved with the missionaries. The senior couples went straight into adopting me as their daughter. I have FHE with them, and i am often found at their houses after church. I am a frequent mission office visitor, and sometimes i am escorted places by young men in suits with tags. It has been so fun, and so awesome to be so involved in the missionary work. Not just by watching the comings and goings of the missionaries, and not just by hearing their stories, but i have had so many opportunities since i got here to really teach about what i believe just by being me! 

Living in the city has been a big adjustment for me. Especially since i am such a little farm girl. it's been hard to rely on taxi's and bus systems to get around, instead of just grabbing my keys and going. I miss the noises of the open fields at night, because instead i hear cars honking, dogs barking, planes flying over head which then set off the car alarms. But there is a sense of beauty to this city, especially at night. (that is when your in a safe place looking out) it's weird to always lock doors behind me, never carry a purse, and watch out where i am going at all times. 

Well it's getting late, so i should probably wrap this up. When i came to Ecuador i had a perfect vision of what i was getting into. It didn't take long to realize i was in for much more than i bargained for, but that doesn't make it any less exciting or chevere! it only makes it...un expected. This adventure has so many ups and downs, the ups and downs don't even come with day to day they come minute to minute. But just in the two months since i have been here i have learned SO much! I've learned how to be myself in a completely foreign country. I've learned how to catch and direct a taxi. I've learned how to order off a menu in espanol! I've learned how to debate politically in spanish. i've learned how to do trig home work in spanish. i've learned how to bear a vanilla version of my testimony, and how to hand out Book of Mormon's (Books of Mormon...?) with out fear. I've learned how to stand up for what i believe in, and also bring people into a little bit of my light with out even knowing it. But most importantly i have learned alot about my self, i never knew i had. And even tho this adventure is expensive, and emotional, and rocky, and like Grandma Betty Lou would say, "Down right crazy!" I would not trade being here...for all the shoes in the world! 

So i think i'll go...Try Defy Gravity! 

Hasta Luego,

Emmy Ann

Thanks For all your prayers and support 

You Know you live in Ecuador When...

• You can see your breath in the morning, at noon your stripping layers, and every day at four your drenched in rain.
  
• every kitchen table never is with out NesCafe, lechecita, and pan
• you can't shower with out asking to please turn the hot water on
• you feel overwhelmed when you walk in the grocery store, because of the HUGE variety of fruits
• your mind forgets the meaning of Fine Arts because every school is based on physics, biology, chemistry, math etc. etc.
• you can go to a movie in English, but with spanish sub-titles
• every kind of food you could EVER want can be delivered to your front door
• your entire life revolves around taxi's and bus schedules
• you have rice, and beans, and potatoes, with EVERY meal...
• your contact lenses kill because of the high altitude
• every scheduled meeting starts at a minimum of 30 minutes late...on time...is fifteen minutes late...
• they decorate for christamas before halloween
• they have WHOLE stores dedicated to christmas ALL year long!
• there are more pharmacies than grocery stores
• you can buy fresh bread almost anytime, any where you want! (my personal favorite thing)
• you have two recesses a day, with a "bar" full of cheep food at school
• your outfits are already automatically picked out for you...(i just love plaid!!!)
• you stand up when your teachers walk in and out of the room
• if your teacher doesn't show up....FREE PERIOD, there's no such thing as subs here...
• left overs mean bad luck

There are of course many many more i will continue to add, but these are just a few we thought of at this time. Of course Ecuador has it's little quirks and funny things...but it also has it's beauties and wonders...the mountains here are breath taking, it's costal regions are fantastic! and it's absolutely gorgeous on the top of the mountains looking down. The language is gorgeous, although challenging it's totally worth it. although the people are  a little too easy going at times, they are wonderful! I am so blessed to be here right now, i know that this is where i am supposed to be at this time in my life. Thank you for your thoughts, and prayers! i love you all!

Love, 

Em

Hey Everyone!

So...before i came to Ecuador i was really very un advanced in technology...but after being here for a while i've been itching to have a blog...because i thought it'd be really fun. and then it will make it easier on my parents and everyones unending questions.

so for all of you who are wondering what's going on...i'm in Ecuador. I live in Quito...i am going to the high school Benalcazar. I love the spanish language, and enjoy the challeneges and the fun times. I have been here a little over two months, and time is literally flying! 

Although i have had some stress with having a host family, i know that i am watched over, and that all will be ok. This is my dream, and i am looking forward to accomplishing all that i am supposed to while i am here. 

i'll write more later! Thanks for your love, support and prayers. 

Hasta Luego,

Emmy Ann