One month in Ecuador!

I wrote this post last Thursday, when I had been in Ecuador for one month, but when I had almost finished writing it, I lost connection and it only got back today. So I will post it now, but just keep in mind that I wrote it on the 17th of September.

Today I have been one month in Ecuador!
It is crazy to think about how long I have been here already and how much I have already experienced. And that changes are on their way - it's gonna be exciting!

I feel really weird about having been here for one month! Because as I said I have been here for quite a long time. I have been away from home for longer than I have ever been before. But I do not feel that I have been away for that long time. It is so weird. I think for now it just feels like a small holiday, but I know that it is not true. I still have 11 months left here, and I really look forward to experiencing more! There is still a lot of experiences that awaits me.

I still do not regret coming here! Sometimes I think "Maybe I would have had a better experience if I had gone to .... Or if I had just spend time travelling to .... Or maybe I should just have started studying...". But I also know that I would not have had any of the experiences I have had so far if I had done anything different! And I would not change any of my new friendships or experiences for anything. I know that this is where I am supposed to be right now, so I have just decided to not regret a single thing and just enjoy my life down here. Maybe I would have another experience somewhere else? But I certainly would not have my experience. And I love my experience!

Furthermore it is pretty weird to hear about life in Denmark. How it is turning into fall and the weather is gray. Seeing a new bunch of students write on my high school's Facebook page. Hearing about people's university studies - life goes on in Denmark as well and I am definitely not the only one up for new experiences.

Tuesday I had a pretty important meeting with VASE and when everything is settled I have big changes in sight and probably some explanation to do! I cannot really update you yet, but so far I am happy!

Today and yesterday I have been of work because I have been sick. Which have also shown me a bit about the Ecuadorian way of doing things! I had no clue on who to contact from the kindergarten as I have been given absolutely no contact information.
The apartment we live in are on top of an office belonging to the administration of the organisation where a couple of persons are working each day, so when my roomie left for work she told them, that I was sick and asked them to call the kindergarten. As it turns out they did not inform the kindergarten before the end of the day and the kindergarten teachers had been really frustrated with the fact that I were not there.
So that is just the Ecuadorian way of doing things! It can be a bit frustrating sometimes, but I just have to get used to it.

As I have taken no new pictures during the last 1½ week or so, I will finally give you some pictures of the apartment I am living in at the moment.
And some funny moments we have had:

Like the bathroom door locking from the inside and us being unable to open it so someone from the project had to come and spend 15 minutes trying to open it so we could take a shower. It has actually happened a number of times, so we have made the agreement: Never close a door unless you are inside a room.

Or that we are supposed to have hot water. Supposed to. During our almost 4 week stay here I have had one shower that was fairly warm. And I have had numerous showers with ice cold water!

We are also washing our clothes by hand, which is pretty ambitious when we have no hot water.

We have also finally gained access to our roof terrace! The door had been locked and the key we where told was the right key was definitely the wrong key. But we have had a temporary roomie who have been living her on and off for two weeks and volunteered on the project earlier. And she knew where the right key was!

Shower in one room and toilet in another.
Toilet i det ene rum og bad i det andet. 

Kitchen and living room in one. I miss something soft to sit in!
Køkken og opholdsrum i et. Der mangler dog en blød sofa.

Night view
Udsigten om aftenen.

Jeg skrev originalt dette indlæg den 17 september, da jeg havde været her en måned. Men da jeg var færdig med at skrive indlægget, mistede jeg internetforbindelsen, så derfor får I indlægget nu.

Wuhuu, i dag har jeg været i Ecuador i en måned!

Det er virkelig vildt at tænke på hvor lang tid jeg har været her og hvor mange ting jeg allerede har oplevet. Og der er ændringer på vej - det bliver spændende!

Det føles meget underligt at jeg har været her en måned. Fordi som tidligere nævnt har jeg jo været her ret lang tid og været væk hjemmefra længere tid end nogensinde før. Men stadigvæk føles det ikke som om at det er en måned siden jeg rejste hjemmefra.

Lige nu føles det nok bare mest af alt som en kort ferie eller noget i den stil. Men jeg har jo stadigvæk 11 måneder tilbage og jeg glæder mig virkelig til at opleve masser af flere ting. Der venter mig jo stadigvæk mange nye oplevelser.

Og jeg fortryder stadigvæk ikke mit valg om at tage herned. Nogle gange tager jeg mig selv i at tænke "Måske ville jeg have haft en bedre oplevelse hvis jeg bare var taget til .... Eller hvis jeg bare havde besluttet mig for at rejse til ... Eller måske skulle jeg bare være begyndt at studere...".

Men jeg ved også at jeg ikke ville have haft nogle af mine hidtige oplevelser hvis jeg havde været et hvilket som helst andet sted i verden og gjort en hvilken som helst anden ting. Og jeg ville ikke bytte mine oplevelser eller nye venskaber for noget. Jeg ved at det er meningen at jeg skal være her nu, så jeg har bare besluttet mig for ikke at fortryde noget og i stedet nyde mit ophold hernede. Måske ville jeg have andre oplevelser et andet sted? Men jeg ville jo ikke have min oplevelse!

Det er også ret underligt at høre nyt fra Danmark. Hvordan det bliver efterår, se nye elever skrive i min gamle skoles Facebook-gruppe og høre om folks nye liv på universitetet. Jeg er bestemt ikke den eneste der får nye oplevelser,

I tirsdags havde jeg et ret vigtigt møde med VASE og når alting er planlagt, så har jeg store ændringer i sigte og formentligt nogle forklaringer at komme med. Jeg kan ikke fortælle jer hvad endnu, men lige nu er jeg glad!

I går og i dag har jeg ikke været på mit projekt, da jeg har været syg (igen). Hvilket også har givet mig en lektion i hvordan man gør tingene i Ecuador.

Jeg har ingen kontakt information på folk fra børnehaven, og vores lejlighed ligger oven på et kontor, hvor der er administrative medarbejdere hver dag. Så da min roomie tog afsted til hendes børnehave fortalte hun dem at jeg var syg og bad dem om at kontakte børnehaven jeg arbejder i. Hvilket de selvfølgelig ikke gjorde før slutningen af dagen og alle pædagogerne havde været virkelig frustrerede over at jeg ikke var der. (Det skal nævnes at de er 3 pædagoger til 70 børn).

Men det er jo bare den ecuadorianske måde at gøre tingene på. Det kan være frustrerende, men jeg må jo bare vende mig til det.

Da jeg ikke rigtig har taget nogen billeder den sidste 1½ uge, kan I endelig få lidt billeder fra lejligheden, der er at finde imellem den engelske og danske del.

Og nogle lidt sjove øjeblikke...

Som for eksempel at døren indtil vores badeværelse gik i baglås, ikke kunne åbnes med en nøgle og nogen fra projektet bruge 15 minutter på at åbne døren. Det er sket flere gange, hvilket har medført aftalen: Du lukker ikke en dør, medmindre du er inde i rummet.

Det er også meningen at vi skal have varmt vand. Men det har vi bare ikke. I løbet af vores tid her har jeg været så heldig at få et nogenlunde varmt bad. Og rigtig mange iskolde bade!

Og vi vasker vores tøj i hånden, hvilket er lidt ambitiøst, når vi jo ikke har noget varmt vand.

Vi har også endelig fået adgang til vores tag-terrasse. Den nøgle vi havde fået var ikke den rigtige, men vi har haft en midlertidig roomie, der har været frivillig på projektet tidligere og som kunne vise os hvor den rigtige nøgle var.

Orientation Camp

In this post I will write a section in English and then in Danish. I will start every Danish section with a word in bold letters.
I dette blog-indlæg vil jeg skrive alle afsnit på først engelsk og derefter dansk. Alle danske afsnit vil blive startet med et ord i fed skrift.



Monday I arrived in Quito at half past 2 after a 15 hour flight. From Wednessday untill Friday I was on introduction-camp.
When I arrived in Quito, I was picked up at the airport. It turns out that I shared flight with all the German volunteers who where going to Ecuador (around 30) so when I was picked up I met almost all the other volunteers! We were taken to the place we were going to stay in a bus. In this bus my first friendships with other volunteers emerged.

I mandags ankom jeg i Quito halv 3 efter en 15 timers flyvetur. Fra onsdag til fredag var jeg på ankomst-camp.
Da jeg ankom til Quito blev jeg samlet op i lufthavnen af folk fra VASE og det vidste sig, at der i mit fly fra Amsterdam til Quito havde været omkring 30 tyske frivillige fra den samme organisation. Vi blev kørt hen til ankomst-campen i en bus og allerede her begyndte mine første venskaber med de andre frivillige.

Playing a Russian card game with the German volunteers.
Russisk kortspil sammen med de tyske frivillige

The rest of the day, we had the possibility to relax and get to know each other. It turned out that all of the German volunteers already knew eachother, as they had just had 10 days of preperation camp in Germany. For the orientation-camp we stayed at a catholic center, where I shared a room with 3 other girls.
I knew it would be cold in the evenings and in the morning, but it is very cold!

The day after we had to go to the city for our visa-regristration. It took a looong time! They are not as effective as in Denmark. But that is just a meeting with the Ecuadorian culture.

Resten af dagen havde vi til at slappe af og lære hinanden at kende. Alle de tyske frivillige kendte hinanden temmelig godt, eftersom de har haft 10 dages camp i Tyskland inden ankomst. Under ankomst-campen boede vi på et katolsk center, hvor jeg delte et værelse med 3 andre piger.
Under denne tid fandt jeg også ud af hvor koldt det rent faktisk er om aftenen. For jeg vidste godt at det ville være koldt, men ikke at det ville være så koldt.

Om tirsdagen skulle vi ind i byen for at påbegynde registreringen af vores visa. Det tog rigtig lang tid - de er vist ikke så effektive som i Danmark ;-) Men det er jo bare et møde med den ecuadorianske kultur.

Nice view of Cotopaxi near the orientation camp.
Udsigten til Cotopaxi fra vores ankomst-camp.

Everywhere you go in Quito you have very nice views! Almost everywhere you can see mountains.

Uanset hvor du tager hen i Quito er udsigten skøn. Du kan næsten se bjerge overalt.

Mountain view at the orientation camp.
Udsigt over bjergene fra det katolske center.

Wednessday orientationcamp started for real. Now all the volunteers had arrived (which meant more volunteers from other countries! 3 volunteers from the UK, 4 volunteers from Austria and 3 from Switzerland and 1 from Mexico.)

During the orientationcamp we had to get to know each other, but we also had to talk about how it is to be in a Ecuador, about prejudice and about how Ecuador really is. In many cases we had to discuss different things in groups, for an example we discussed the difference between being a volunteer in your home country and in Ecuador.

Onsdag startede vores ankomst-camp for alvor, hvilket også betød at de resterende frivillige var ankommet. (3 fra Storbritannien, 4 fra Østrig og 3 fra Schweiz samt 1 fra Mexico).

I løbet af ankomstcampen arbejdede vi blandt andet med hvordan det er at bo i Ecuador, med fordomme og med hvordan Ecuador så rent faktisk er for et land. Vi diskuterede også en masse ting i grupper. For eksempel har vi diskuteret forskellen mellem at være frivillig i dit hjemland og at være frivillig i Ecuador.

Group for one of the exercises.
Min gruppe til en af øvelserne.

During the orientation camp we also had a ceremony to welcome us to Ecuador and to make sure we are going to have a nice stay here. The ceremony were performed by two Ecuadorians. During this ceremony we where cleansed with smoke and by flapping a set of condor feathers towards us.

Om onsdagen havde vi også en lokal ceremoni for at byde os velkommen til Ecuador og den skulle sørge for at vi får et rigtig godt ophold her. Ceremonien blev lavet af 2 ecuadorianske kvinder. I løbet af denne ceremoni blev vi renset med røgelse og ved at en af kvinderne viftede med nogle kondor-fjer.

Cleansing ceremony
Renselsesceremoni

Cleansing ceremony
Renselsesceremoni.

During the ceremony they worked with all 4 elements and I was choosen to represent the element of Earth - Apparently a very important job.
During the ceremony we burned leaves that would make us fullfill the purpose as to why we are here. We also had to burn some sort of spruce to let go of all of our anger and our problems.

Afterwards we had to roll our own cigarette and for every time we added tobacco we should make a wish. When we burned it afterwards, it would make the wishes come true - But we won't know when! Of course someone tried to smoke it and one of the guys even said that it was the best cigarette he had ever smoken!

I løbet af ceremonien arbejdede de to kvinder med alle 4 elementer og jeg blev udvalgt til at være jordens kvinde, hvilket var en meget vigtig post.

I løbet af ceremonien brændte vi blade, der skulle gøre at vi fik opfyldt formålet med vores år i Ecuador. Vi brændte gran for at få vores vrede og alle tidligere problemer til at forsvinde.

Vi skulle også lave vores egen cigarret. For hver gang vi tilføjede tobak til den skulle vi ønske noget. Efterfølgende skulle vi brænde cigaretten og fordi ilden var meget kraftfuld, så ville alle ønskerne gå i opfyldelse - vi ved bare ikke hvornår.
Der var selvfølgelig nogen der skulle prøve at ryge deres cigarret, og en af drengene sagde at det var den bedste cigarret han nogensinde havde røget.

The package we made during the ceremony.
Den pakke vi lavede under ceremonien.

The last thing we had to do during the ceremony was to make a package with a red seed, a black stone, a white stone and something from the llama, which we had to break in four pieces.

During this time we where also given a bracelet. The purpose of these things is to keep us safe and make sure that we are going to have the best year of our lives! Of course we have to keep the package near us and we have to wear the bracelet.

The ceremony and the local ritual was very interesting to experience and a lot different from going to church at home.

Bracelet we were given during the ceremony
Det armbånd vi fik under ceremonien.

Den sidste ting vi skulle gøre under ceremonien var at lave en pakke med et rødt frø, en sort sten, en hvid sten og en ting fra lamaen, som skulle brækkes i 4 dele.

I løbet af denne proces fik vi også et armbånd.

Formålet med armbåndet og pakken var at de skulle sørge for at vi får det godt, at intet går galt og at vi får det bedste år af vores liv. Derudover sørger tingene for at vi ikke kommer til skade. Selvfølgelig bliver vi nødt til at beholde armbåndet på og beholde pakken i nærheden for at det virker.

Det var virkelig interessant at opleve ceremonien og det var meget anderledes end at gå i kirke herhjemme.

Thursday we also had orientation-camp and in the evening, we had salsa-classes(yes, how to dance it)! It was so funny and I think everybody really enjoyed it.

Torsdag var der også ankomst-camp og denne aften havde vi salsa-undervisning(ja, dans)! Det var virkelig sjovt og jeg er sikker på at alle nød aftenunderholdningen.

Picture with some of the volunteers and the teacher after the salsa-class!
Et billede sammen med nogle af de andre frivillige og vores salsa-lærer!

On the last day of orientation-camp we also had to go on a "scavenger-hunt" in Quito, to become more comftorble with the busses. So during this time we had to find our way to 3 places in Quito.
The mission failed! I'm actually really nervous about having to find my own way with the busses in Quito! I think it will help when I learn Spanish and will be able to ask people for help. Only very few people here speaks Spanish. I hope that I will learn it fast!

Den sidste dag på vores ankomst-camp skulle vi på en "skattejagt" i Quito, så vi kunne blive mere komfortable med at finde rundt i byen og med at bruge busserne. Jeg føler ikke rigtig at missionen lykkedes, for jeg er stadigvæk ret bekymret for at skulle finde rundt selv.
Jeg tror at det bliver bedre når jeg lærer spansk og bliver i stand til at spørge om hjælp - Det er meget få personer hernede der snakker engelsk. Jeg håber inderligt at jeg har nemt ved at lære sproget.

We have been given a VASE t-shirt.
Vi har fået en t-shirt fra VASE.

Friday afternoon I was taken to the apartment I am going to stay at here in Quito. I will be living with another volunteer from Switzerland named Stefanie. It is in the northern part of Quito. There are no more houses behind our apartment.


Fredag eftermiddag blev jeg hentet for at komme hen til den lejlighed, hvor jeg skal bo her i Quito. Jeg skal bo sammen med Stefanie, en anden frivillig, fra Schweiz. Vi bor i den nordlige del af Quito og du kan nærmest ikke komme længere og stadigvæk være i byen. Bag vores lejlighed er der faktisk ikke flere huse.