T minus one day

So I have a blog...

Mom says this is a good idea because it'll help her stay more connected to what I'm doing and she'll be able to answer questions when other people ask her what it is that I'm up to. I figure that it is very possible that after the first week or so, the only people reading this will be her and my grandma, but in any case I've created this, there's no turning back, and so I will be documenting my long and hopefully rewarding trip to Ecuador via this very website. My ambitious goal is to write an entry at least every week. However, I had a similar goal in Salamanca, and at the end of the four months I had written a grand total of 2 entries, and didn't post either of them online....so we'll see how realistic this thought is.

For those of you who don't know, I'm going to Ecuador through a program called WorldTeach in order to teach English. I will be leaving the DC area in approximately 28 hours, staying in Miami overnight, and going down to Quito on the 29th, where I will be for the next month. During that time, I will be experiencing an intense orientation that includes 20 hours of language classes, 37 hours of cultural transitioning, and 60 hours of TEFL training, which I'm assuming will help me figure out how exactly I'm going to go about teaching the wonderfully simple language that I use everyday...More intimidating than all of this, the orientation will also include a salsa class, which, as those of you who have seen me dance will know, could result in me getting deported back to the states for desecrating such an important cultural aspect of Latin America. If I successfully avoid the dancing police for this first month, I will then move to the city of Machala, where I will begin my stint as a professor of English at the University of Machala. The city itself is on the coast in the south of the country, very close to Peru. It's the fourth largest city in Ecuador, 280,000 people strong, and is also known as the banana capital of the world, which is nice, because I now know what I'll be getting everyone as a gift for when I return to the US. Speaking of returning, I still don't know the exact day I'll be getting back, but it will be sometime between July 15th and August 15th, so mark your calenders and be ready to drop everything at a moment's notice to welcome me back.

I have a couple of goals that I'm hoping to accomplish in this next year. First and foremost: I want to learn how to surf. I know what some of you are thinking (mom), I'm down here to teach English, my first goal should be to be successful in that. Whatever, that's important too, but do you realize how much more of a badass I'll be as I'm standing on one leg, riding 50-foot waves, a banana in each hand, on a glow-in-the-dark surfboard at night??? I get chills even thinking about it. Second, I want to be able to finally become completely fluent in a foreign language. I have yet to decide between Spanish and Urdu, but as long as its one of them, I'll be satisfied. Third, I want to start thinking of the specific things I want to be doing with my life after this break from the real world ends. And finally, I'm thinking about breeding my own soccer team.

Things that I will be missing from the US: The Redskins, Valentino's, Mugzy, Foursquare (we had a goodbye thing tonight where a bunch of people came out and we played for a good amount of time, thank you everyone who came out, I couldn't ask for a better way to go out. The only negative part was that one of my selfish friends decided to steal some of my thunder by getting proposed to in the middle of it...only kidding of course, congrats Jenna and our second President!)

Things I will not be missing: Drew calling me a Geed, Wake's final's week.

And of course, I will be thinking of everyone back here, missing both friends and family alike, and wishing that the vast majority of you could be going through this with me. I also realize that I am not the only one that will be experiencing new and exciting things in this upcoming year, and so I have one request. As I will try to keep everyone updated with the going-ons of my life, please please do the same as much as possible for my benefit. Updates from back home will make my transitioning into this new part of my life much easier, and I know that reading emails, facebook posts, and other types of communication from you guys will make my days in Ecuador that much better. Also, in the very unlikely chance that you happen to travel to South America, my policy is that if you stop by Machala, I'll pay for your hotel room...quite the incentive I know.

Ok I lied, I have one more request. DO NOT CALL OR TEXT MY PHONE AFTER TOMORROW. My wonderful high-tech fancy phone with one ringtone will be passed down to my sister, and I'd really like to keep her from knowing how many of my friends are dirtbags. I will be getting a cellphone down in Ecuador, and as soon as I get that info I will pass it along.

I hope to hear from you all regularly, and I'll see you in a year!

~BRYCE