Rachelle Reports on her Year in Ecuador

While in Ecuador Rachelle stayed with two families, the first of which consisted of a divorced couple. The host mother with whom Rachelle stayed spoke no English--quite a challenge for Rachelle as she initially spoke no Spanish!  While Ecuador is a beautiful country, Portoviejo is not a pretty city.  There are five Rotary clubs in the city, and Rachelle attended Rotary meetings at least monthly.  She met other Rotary exchange students from Germany, France and Denmark (among other countries).

 

The subjects at Rachelle's school included Spanish, English, French and Physics, and she made friends with both locals and other exchange students.  She went visiting a lot, as well as playing soccer and swimming.

 

Rachelle also saw other parts of Ecuador, including the green mountains that she loved and the Galapagos Islands. She did volunteer work at a soup kitchen and visited South America's largest flea market.  She also learned how the locals celebrate Christmas.

 

The hardest part of Rachelle's journey was saying goodbye.  Her experience was a great one: not only did she learn Spanish, but she also became independent and made lasting friendships.