Back to School

Its been a while since I last posted, but I wanted to at least semi-understand how school works here before trying to describe and explain it to the rest of my world.

Somewhere along the way, I decided that 4 years of high school wasn't enough for me, or, more accurately, I decided that I enjoyed learning enough to go through five years of high school in order to go on exchange. I don't regret that decision whatsoever, but let me tell you, high school here is wild beast that I've got no idea how to tame.

I'll start with the easy part: uniforms.

This is out daily uniform. We also have a gym uniform that I think I'm going to end up loving, just because it isn't a skirt, sweater and white knee-high socks. Were not allowed to wear make up, nail polish, and all hair ties have to be white. I can't tell yet exactly how strict they are about those rules, but I'm afraid to be rebellious because the other day the inspector came into our class and made everyone stand up to make sure that our skirts were long enough. Mine wasn't, even though it was to my knees when I pulled it down as far as it would go. But being fashionable aside, its actually really nice to not have to think about what to wear in the morning. I can be very indecisive on that front.

On to classes. I'm taking 12 different subjects:

Psychology

Investigation (still trying to figure out exactly what that subject is...)

Math (This class is going to be beautiful, because I've already learned a lot of what were covering, so I might actually understand it and have a chance at getting a good grade)

Chemistry 

Biology

Issues in the Contemporary World

Citizenship ( as far as I can tell its essentially government/civics)

English ( My teacher already calls on my 90% of the time)

Language and Literature (The first unit is on fantasy fiction, so the first class we talked about Lord of the Rings the whole time. I can definitely get behind this class!)

Emprendimiento ( I still cant figure out exactly what this subject is and I only have it a couple of times a week)

Gym

Computer class

I have 8 periods every day, and a different combination of classes every day. This schedule is essentially the most confusing thing I've ever had to deal with, and I took AP Calc last year... My saving grace is that we all stay in the same classroom all day and the teachers come to us, so I don't have to worry about moving rooms ever. Its a little strange for me to be in the same classroom all day, but what really throws me off is that there's a whiteboard at the front of the classroom and absolutely nothing on the walls. I'm so used to the walls and classrooms at school being covered in poster and pictures and who knows what else, that having bar walls all around me seems very empty. 

I won't lie, the first day of school felt a little awkward. I am one of exactly two girls without black hair, and the other one is also an exchange student. Also, here I'm the tallest girl in my class, and one of the tallest in the whole school. The first day, mostly people stared at me. They smiled timidly too, but only a few girls talked to me. It was awkward. But, I'm happy to say that after that first day, things started to feel less weird with my classmates, they've definitely become less shy. I routinely get asked to help with English questions, and the other day one of our teachers just didn't show up to class ( that's normal, I guess...) so they all sat in a circle around me and asked a billion questions about everything I could possibly tell them about. It was a little overwhelming to be bombarded with questions like that, but it was also a lot of fun!

School has been where my Spanish skills are being tested, and surpassed. I can hold a conversation about my family or how my day was, but trying to understand chemistry in Spanish is a whole different story. I understand about 70% of what goes on in class, and I'm thankful for my friend Jeimy who doesn't seem to mind repeating the homework from every class to me, because I usually can't catch what the teachers say. I'm struggling most with how the homework is supposed to be presented. There seem to be all sorts of unwritten rules about what you write in your notebook and what to put in your folder, as well as when its okay to copy, paste and print from the internet and when things need to be handwritten. I've already messed up there quite a bit. 

I just keep telling myself that it's okay to not have everything figured out right now, I've only been in school for a week, and I've only been in Ecuador for three. Its really crazy to think about that. Sometimes it seems like its been way way longer than three weeks, and sometimes it feels like I just got here. 

I really do want to write more frequently, but I almost never have down time at home, so it's been harder than I expected. Regardless, I'm going to try to make room for blogging, because, like my darling best friend Olivia pointed out, I haven't posted in forever and she's tired of reading the same few posts. She wants to hear more, so Olivia, this post is for you :) I promise to write more soon.

Hasta luego,

Elisa