From 35,000 Feet

I’m sitting here, on American Airline’s Flight #921 from Miami to Quito and I have been cruising along blissfully until now. I’ve traveled by plane many times before, and usually I do not really think where I am going or what it will be like. Usually the trip or excursion is for a short time period. Then I arrive at my destination and I take it in stride. Even when I moved to Boston on my own, it did not hit me that I was going to Boston until I was already in Boston.

I have been reading my required readings (which I put off all summer until now) and pondering the world. Out of nowhere I was blindsided by the fact that I will be gone for four months. I will not be back at DU until January. I will not see my family and friends for all of that time.

I do not know anyone in my program. I will have to attempt to form new bonds in a language that I speak awkwardly. I do not know anything about the families I will be staying with. I do not have an address or even know what time zone I will be in. My cell phone is cut off and the next time I will have access to WiFi is still to be determined. All my connections to my world have been severed.

There is an immense panic to the idea, but it is also refreshing. With the terror comes a new beginning. It’s like standing on a high diving board. You start running forward and for that instant before you jump, you realize what you are doing. You are afraid of heights and you cannot swim that well. You are moving too fast to stop now, and all you want to do is turn around, swallow your pride, and climb back down the ladder to solid ground, what you are comfortable with. But instead, you take the final step and jump. Your adrenaline is pumping. You feel it course through your body as your heart suddenly feels like it is too big for your chest. Your body is suspended in air for only a moment until you hit the water. I am in that moment. I have not hit the water just yet, but I am surprisingly close.

Less than a Month to Go

Status Update

I have been accepted into a study abroad program called SIT-Culture & Development based out of Quito, Ecuador.
My have received my passport and my Visa.
I had to get over 11 different shots including (but not limited to): Hepatitis A, Typhoid Fever, Tetanus, and get tested for HIV.

The program is based on the idea of field-based learning. The classes are taught in an open style, accommodating the need for flexibility. There will be guest lecturers and openness to a variety of subjects and materials. There will be an intensive Spanish language class, a culture & development class, a field research seminar, and an independent study.

I will be staying with a host family. i don't know anything about them yet.
When travelling, we will be staying in Hostels and/or motels.

I have never been outside of the country. I fear that I fall witin the sheltered American stereotype, that I am not cultured and that I see the world through fogged up sunglasses. My life has not been an easy ride, but I cannot even to begin to fathom what the third world can be like. Sure, I have read first hand experiences and I have learned about such things in class; but until a person witnesses the scenery with his own eyes, and takes in the aromas with his own nose, and feel the richness of a foriegn culture, he cannot say that he knows what it is like.
I am expecting a culture shock. How could I not? I'm going to a country in the Amazon rainforest. While much of western Ecuador is developed, the land to the East is still developing. I have a moderate understanding of the Spanish language, but by no means would I say I am fluent.
I expect this experience to radically change me--both in my view of the world and also in regard to how I view myself. I know I will go through some difficult times, and this is what I want. i chose this program expecting to be challenged, expecting to learn. I could have gone to Europe and had the party of my life. I figured that I will have the rest of my life for Europe, while I may never go to South America.
Will my expectations be met? Will I adjust to culture shock? How will I adapt to te rainforest? Follow my blog to find out.