6ix before 7even.

School is the hardest part of all this. In great contrast to the leisure and calm of the rest of this experience, my school work is exceedingly difficult. Not only is it just a lot of work, but it is emotionally draining. At school, I am completely different from everyone else, and in Ibarra that seems to be hardly acceptable. When I smile, the world smiles with me... But when I laugh, the world laughs at me. Just last Friday after getting only two hours of sleep the previous night, I had a soccer game. We tied 2 to 2, but afterwards my shirt was super dirty, and my math teacher made fun of me for it. After I made the excuse that I played soccer in it, he started ridiculing my pants, saying they were like mechanics pants. I try to think though that he is making fun somewhat out of respect. The day before that in math class the teacher made some sort of a code, where we would pick a number from 1-60, and then show the teacher only corresponding letters to our number, after which he would tell us what number we had picked. Once this started, I quickly started to graph all of the numbers and their corresponding letters. I soon found one exception to his code, as 1 and 5 both had the same code of letters. So I went up in front of the class and said my combination, to which he answered 5. I looked at him and said "or 1!" He smiled, and all the class started clapping.
So maybe, my math teacher thinks we can kid each other now. I certainly hope that is the case, and not simply that he is mad at me for exposing a mistake of his in his code.
I really was tired that day too, because the night before I had talked with and played music on the piano with and ate pizza with and did not (because we are not allowed to) drink wine with three wonderful musicians who I had met at a concert. They played Cuban jazz sort of music, and there was a girl who was a beautiful singer, a wonderful violinist, and a remarkable guitarist. I talked to them after the concert, and we went out to pizza together with a few other of their friends. We talked until about 11, and then it was discovered that I wrote classical music, and played a tiny bit of piano. The violinist got super excited, and whisked me off to his house, where he had a wonderful piano. We played and talked until 2. Despite how tired I was the next day, i was happy.

Fiths

In school day before yesterday I got a 19/20 on my English test. Despite how happy I was with the score, all my friends seemed entirely unimpressed, to the point that they laughed at me. I told them that English is very difficult, and they said "yes, but it´s your language! I would get a 20 in Spanish!" "Yes", I replied, "but what would you get in English!?" Nobody was amused.
Kennith (the other American exchange student) and I are finding the environment very stressful. When one of Kennith´s friend´s phones went off in class, he started coughing uncontrollably to try to cover the noise from the teacher. When the teacher asked him sarcastically what was wrong, he put a dumb look on his face and responded "no entiendo" (I don´t understand). Kennith of course speaks Spanish quite well, and the teachers response was "well do you understand leave class?"
When Kennith and I have these situations in which we are sent out of class, or not allowed in because we are wearing the wrong uniform, we usually sit outside and read. I have been reading "one hundred years of solitude", which I so far love very much. It helps me get my mind off the problems I experience, as does writing blog entries.

And for four...

Writing is nice. You don´t have to be good either. As I sit in my room writing this, Struggling to form a bond with my family, and being tested by some strange stomach problem, I find that when I write, I know I will someday share what I have written with all those people I love, and it is almost as though I am talking to those people now. I would love to here them talk back to me, but it is nice at least to be able to feel as though I am being heard. I being Simon.
Yesterday I went with a close friend of mine named Taavi (an Estonian exchange student) to a cafe to talk about how we were both doing so far. I had a banana split, and last night it had me back. Over the last month or so I have been out of the house far to much, and now that I´m sick I am beginning to realize just how important it is that I bond with my family, or more so that I have a family.
This Saturday I will switch families. My new family has no kids, and they live in a small village outside of Ibarra, but despite this, I will have a family.
I am disappointed and frustrated with myself, and just sad that I failed to fully connect with my family. It makes me feel kind of cold and guilty, but it´s nice to know at least I feel cold and guilty. I found out today that my good friends from Portoviejo, Anna and Nathaniel, won´t be visiting this weekend. It is certainly annoying, as I was looking far forward to seeing them again, but it´s not the end of the world.
Perhaps partly because of this news, and other basically solemn news, Ive been on somewhat of a Beethoven binge over the last few days. This is quite painful, seeing as the only piece I have of Beethoven on my ipod is Ave Maria, which I know upside own by now. My host family has already moved my (or really they're) keyboard out of my room, so I can´t play any music either. I know though that I will be able to write much more music again once I witch families.

Third being three.

I imagine my school to be the most unjustly authoritative force I have ever come into conflict with. I being Simon. Our inspector, Washington, enjoys nothing more it seems, than humiliating as much of us as he can, as much as he can. He does this to me with unfathomable ease, as I can hardly understand a word anyone in my school says. He made me get my hair cut during school, and thus miss my P.E class, only to later critique my absence in the class. One day he caught me with my elbows on my desk, and told me to "go wash your face to stay awake". The thing he does though whose motive I find most hidden, is tell all the teachers, and representatives, and every other person with the slightest control over my immediate destiny, that I am lazy, and without wit, and always sleeping, and always complaining. He knows first hand how little of the language I know, and he knows I am thus obviously incapable of completing, or even knowing about most of my work. So what can he possibly be expecting of me?
I have decided that the most effective form of retaliation will be to do everything he asks, and exceed in all my classes, thus making him look dense as cement for so much as mentioning my name within the same monologue of "academic concern". Once Ive finished my exchange year here, I will write him a letter of gratitude for his constructive criticism, and the support it has given me. He won´t ever have any other song stuck in his head, or any other taste on his tongue.

Second of two

Over the last few days two friends of Lucas and I have been in our town on a vacation. They are from Portoviejo, a small town on the coast of Ecuador. Lucas and I have been hanging out allot with them, mostly eating and walking around during the day, but dancing and partying during the night. First there is Nathanial, an American from Wisconsin, he is super cool, and funny, and we get along quite well. Then there is a very cool girl from Germany named Anna. She is also very funny, and one of the only girls Ive ever met who says "that's what she said". We all have had lots of fun together, and this morning we ate at a delicious heladaria (Ice cream place) named La Esquina (meaning the corner). Nathanial, Lukas and I all got banana splits for 1 dolor each, while Anna got a delicious looking double cone. The place has several good flavours, but I am especially found of there Leche, Coco, Chocolate, and Ron Pasa. After this I think we will go get something to eat.

Post, the first.

Lucas and I (being Simon) thought this blog would be a useful way to communicate with everyone we miss so far away. Most of our posts will probably be about our experiences here in Ecuador, but I also hope to include any interesting writing works that we might write, if indeed any of them manage to be interesting.
Because this is our first post, it is clearly necessary to mention a bit about ourselves and where we are. I am Simon, and I am from Portland Oregon, USA. I am here in Ecuador for 11 months, but also for Spanish. I live in a very beautiful medium sized town called Ibarra, which is about two hours north of Quito by bus. Ibarra also happens to be about one hour from the equator. The family I am living with is very nice, although it seems as though I will be required to switch families, for reasons perhaps somewhat at my fault. I still want to introduce my present family though, because I love them very much. My mom is the one who probably has to put up with the most from me, and she is very supportive. Her name is Salome, as is my oldest sister, who I unfortunately have hardly gotten to meet, although I know she is certainly very nice. My father, Paul is apparently very funny, and I hope I will get a chance to talk to him once my Spanish improves, because the people around him always seem to be laughing. Paul shares his name with Paul (of all people), one of my two twin brothers. The other brother is Pancho, or Patuli, or Banchis, or Fransisco. Both my brothers are very fun, and funny, and nice, and I assume I will miss them very much. Lastly but not Leastly, my younger elder sister, Paola. She is very nice, and has perhaps saved my life by translating during a medical emergency I had in the beginning of my trip.
I will miss all these people very much, and I hope they might miss me a little bit sometimes.