Perspectives of a Gringa

As most of you know, I have been attending an all Spanish, Ecuadorian school half time for my Senior year. I'm not going to be graduating from there. Instead, I'll be getting my diploma for the classes that I have been studying at home and via the internet.

The school I'm attending is called Hansei International Christian Academy. My reason for going there? For the experience and to have more of an opportunity to practice my Spanish. The choice to attend school was completely up to me, and I'm so glad that I chose to go. I have learned that you can't really live your life to the fullest until you are willing to try new things even if you have no clue what to expect. I figure if I don't end up liking a new situation in my life, then I'll get over it. But if I do, it could turn into some of the best days, months, or even years of my life. The latter was the effect of my decision to go to school.

Let me highlight a few experiences/cultural tendencies that I have had and seen in the 6 months that I have attended Hansei.

A significant realization: 

I remember my first day of school. The first question that one of the guys in my class asked me (while I was standing up in front of the whole class) was - "Eres cristiana? (Are you a Christian)?" Without  hesitating, I declared, "Si", before fully realizing the extent of what my answer entitled. When this kid (a good friend of mine now) asked me if I was a Christian, he was actually implying something else - "Are you any fun?"
I think it was only a matter of days before I took into account of what the majority of the kids' definition of a Christian was:

Christian (noun) - A person who can't drink, smoke, party, or involve themselves in any kind of sexual promiscuity due to a set of rules they must follow in order to go to heaven. 

Now, this didn't surprise me at all, especially since even though I was at school in a "Christian environment". I have met plenty of people before who have the same view of Christianity. And I don't feel like I have a necessity of clarifying why I don't drink, smoke, etc., but I can tell you that it certainly isn't because I'm trying to win a ticket into heaven. 

Putting my beliefs into practice: 

Something that God has really taught me through out the years is how to be friends with everyone. This school year allowed me to really put this into practice. It doesn't matter what beliefs, opinions, or personal traits a person has - they were made in Christ's image. It's as simple as that. As long as I have Christ's love in me, I have the ability to love everybody. And that's something I will cherish for the rest of my life.

More in depth cultural exposure: 

Something that shocked me when I first started attending Hansei back in October was how much emphasis they put on sharing.  Seriously, these kids share everything. I can't even count how many times people have asked me to lend them my cell phone for "una llamadita", my headphones, "vinchas" (hair ties), pens, paper, my hairbrush. You name it. One thing I love about this custom: People always share their food.  You can be sure that you'll never go hungry at a place like Hansei.

Height difference: 

By far, I'm the tallest girl in the whole school. Actually, I'm almost the tallest person in the whole school, with only a handful of guys who are slightly taller than I am. I probably get asked, "How tall are you?" at least once a week. I like to describe how people at school see my family members and I as:

Juls: "The Giant"

Katelyn and Megan: "The Twins"

Jonathan: "The Mysterious One" 

Micah: "The Non-Gringo Looking One" 

Yes, those apellations seem to be quite accurate. 

One of my favorite experiences I have had at school: 

One day, while sitting in Educacion Ambiental (Environmental Education), I hear laughing coming from the kids sitting behind me. I look back and I see 3 guys in my class, smiling and pointing at the bottom of my desk. I look around my desk, I don't see anything, and I make the fair assumption that the guys are just joking around, which is quite a common occurrence. I continue to hear laughter, and I start to get a little suspicious. I turn to my friend sitting next to me and ask her why she's laughing. She points at my desk. I turn back to my other friend and he says, "There's a guinea pig under your desk." I say, "Seriously?", and he nods his head. By this time I know he's not joking and I jump up out of my desk. Sure enough, there it is...a "cuy" (guinea pig) sitting under my desk right next to my bag. Apparently, the guys in my class stole the guinea pig from the guinea pig farm in the bottom part of my school and decided to let it lose during the middle of class. All of us kids were quite amused by the situation. Our teacher, however, was not. The guinea pig ended up becoming our class pet. By popular demand, the cuy became known as "Sexito." And no, I'm not translating that for you, although I'm sure most of you can figure it out. ;)

Cool kids.