The Journey of a Friendly Giant

It's very rare that your first time traveling will be your only time. Once exposed to the exciting and unpredictable newness that often comes with leaving home, the chances of you making more travel plans are very high. What I enjoy most about traveling is the reminder it gives me that life comes in different colours, flavours, tastes and smells. Traveling also does a wonderful job in teaching lessons of humility and tolerance of different ways to live life. I'm no rookie to the traveling game, my travel bug has become more of a monster; I've lived in over 5 countries and visited over 25 in my lifetime so far. In fact, this blog originated as a travel blog for an international internship I was fortunate enough to experience with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). I wouldn't be the person I am today without having traveled as much as I have, and I hope my now 14 month old (already!?) can say the same one day. Needless to say however, like most thi...

Being away from home is amazing, you get to meet new people, immerse yourself into a new culture and way of life, learn a new language and experience more newness than you’ve ever imagined. When things are going well with both your personal life and professional life, everything is pure bliss. However, recent events have made me realize, that when things begin to go wrong, and you feel upset or sad about anything for any given reason, suddenly being far away from home becomes slightly excruciating. At the pre-departure orientation for this internship over 4 months ago, the interns were warned of a “breaking point”, this might be mine. It’s strange to realize how much I rely on my support system at home; my family, fiancé, old friends, my neighbors and that familiar feeling of belonging exactly where I was. All of those things combined bring both comfort and encouragement to me, and I got so used to it, that I barely noticed how helpful and important my support system is in my day-to-...

Everyone is their own toughest critic. As Derek mentioned in his blog, learning a new language is not an easy task to take on. Despite the amount of compliments I do get from my nice Ecuadorian friends, my never ending mistakes tell me that my Spanish needs great improvement. There must be nothing more embarrassing than a language error while speaking. Saying the wrong word can turn a very serious conversation, into an instant joke. Laughing is fantastic, however when people are laughing at you, the blushing ... oh the blushing. "The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it and join the dance." -Alan Watts  Not knowing much Spanish, has never stopped me from trying to speak. Though it has been a few years since my first spanish class, in the beginning, as horrible as I was, I attempted speak just as much as I do now. And through corrections, and constant reminders, I learned more and more. Being afraid to make a fool of myself had to be out o...

As you can tell from the majority of my blog posts, there are many very positive things about Guayaquil. I do have to be honest though, unfortunately, despite my wishes, it's not always sunshine and lollipops. I contemplated whether or not I should post this blog, but after receiving some good advice, I decided to go ahead with it. It's a good thing to let people know and be prepared for, and it's also a reality, and I am not here to give any false impressions. That being said, excessive attention definitely has its downside. Especially when it comes to the aggressive men here, my GOODNESS. The lessons I have learned for when you get hit on, and you are not interested: 1. Do not let people know you’re from another country: Being from another country instantly associates you with money, and this can be dangerous, especially when they want to borrow some.  2. Do not give them your real name. – This can result in them hollering your name from a distance, thus, exposing it t...

Every country has their share of crazy drivers. But here in Guayaquil, saying "just a few" is the understatement of the century. My ears eventually got used to the constant sound of beeping, and people shouting out their car windows, but that isn’t my main issue. Many of the street lights don’t work, and most the ones that do, don’t have a “walk/don’t walk” sign. When crossing the street, whether you believe it’s rightfully your turn to cross the street, you always have to be alert. Many cars don’t follow the rules, and keep driving even when it’s a red light for them. Sometimes, in the center of Guayaquil, there are more than 20 people crossing on both sides at one time, but that doesn’t seem to faze them. They simply keep driving, and people are forced to suddenly stop before them, or run across past them to not get hit. The people don’t have the right of way, and are not “royalty of the road”, as I was taught in Canada. Here in Guayaquil, the cars are in control. I almost ...

This post could be considered as my first ´´culture shock´´ experience. In the past, as a shy person, attention has never been something I looked for. However since I couldn´t help but get an abundance of it, eventually, I learned to work with it through humour, smiles and friendliness.  [cartoonstock.com ] For those of you who may not already know this, I am unusually tall for a female, and taller than most men for that matter! An old teacher used to tell me, ´´Feeling weird about your height, will only make other people feel weird about it. Strut, be proud, they will see your beauty if you feel beautiful.´´ Without shoes I stand at 6´3 inches in height. I´ve always been the tallest woman by far in every location, at school, in my neighborhood, and even in my city if you ask me. When I´m in Canada, almost every day I hear the following things: [torontodominicano.com ] Stranger : ´´Wow you are tall!´´ My response : ´´Thank you, I didn’t notice ;)´´  Strang...