What are the other girls like?
“It has been six weeks. Walking into this family of all females, I felt there would be nothing but catfights and jealousy. I can’t even express how wrong I was! Of course, we all get into our moods and stages, but overall, I don’t think a group of strangers from all over and such different backgrounds could get along as well as we do. We have been through intense mosquito bites to frogs and other things jumping on us or in our room while in the depths of the rainforest. We have tipped our raft while going through a set of rapids during whitewater rafting. We have gotten completely covered in shaving cream and sawdust during the suspenseful week of Carnival and worked and hiked through the sweltering heat.
In the end, we were to deal with hand and sun blisters all over, but we dealt through it all together. We kept a positive attitude throughout each adventure and were excited for the next. From Otavalo’s relaxing Casa and Saturday markets to Quito’s polluted blue skies and reckless driving, to the long bus rides to Tena and the exhilarating experiences traveling in the backs of trucks; from the long treks through lush and mud and the amazing Amazon surroundings to the hard work replacing a water pipe to help 38 families with their needs to the welcoming artsy family which I am now a part of; these past six weeks have been such an experience. On top of that, we haven’t even left Ecuador yet.”
-Bernadette, Rhode Island, junior