Sorry guys if I really haven’t update this blog for a while… Various reasons… lack of good internet connection, too much work, lot of travelling around in buses for hours, … but this is it, I am 4 hours away from starting a new adventure!

Some of you already know it, some of you still don’t… well I got selected to be part of the organizing committee of YouCan! 2008, and international conference run annually alongside THE AIESEC International Congress. This year, both conferences take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil…. So this is my new adventure… I’m flying to Sao Paulo in a few hours!!!

While I am becoming more and more latin american, my time here is shorter and shorter… As sad as it may be, I will have to leave the south american soil on September 3rd… soon isn’t it?! Teary goodbyes to come, but, to all of you canadian fellows, I’ll be happy to see you guys again after a quite long absence! Have you already forgotten about me?! Almost I guess… Well, it’s the case at least for Courtney !!

I can’t wait to have this adventure started, and I can’t wait to see you, Arnaud!! How cool is that, crazy Ly family back again together… in Brazil!! I’ll hopefully be able to do more updates on this blog from Sao Paulo!! Hasta luego chicos!!

My second week in Loja was mostly work and social activities with the members. I remember saying at the CEED preparation week-end in Toronto that one of my personal objectives is to do a Marketing Call (= Sales Meeting) in Spanish… Never have I imagined my wish will be granted this soon… As a Canadian, I get to accompany Paty, the VP External Relations, to a meeting with the owners of “The Canadian House Center”, an English Institute in Loja. I was really happy to hear that other Canadians leave in the city! I have to admit that I spoke a lot of English too in that Spanish meeting… Oh well, it’s only the first one of many meetings I had, and Spanish, I spoke it more than I have ever imagine I would…

In terms of AIESEC work, I mostly started creating marketing material and updating the AIESEC in Loja website and Wiki page. As usual, the web publishing system bugged, and so the website didn’t get very far… However, the Wiki now looks decent and the MC liked it !

On Saturday, we went to Mario’s house to cook food and spend the afternoon together. Here’s our Cerviche de Camarón in the making That was GOOD!!! We ate it with homemade fried plantain banana chips, popcorn and rice

I cooked apple crust for desert… but we ate so much cerviches that we couldn’t ate the “postre” before long… Here’s the girls… cooking

We then went to “El Sendero”, a very cool place with good food We played Jenga for a while… That was hilarious… I mean playing Jenga with Ecuadorian… specifically Lojanitos How I will miss you guys!!!

More to come sooon!!!

One of the most famous places in Loja are Puerta de la Ciudad and Parque Jipiro. I got to visit both in the same day… that is I walked from one end of the city all the way to the other end. I guess it took around 45 minutes to walk all that distance! Not so bad…

Puerta de la Ciudad

and on the way to Jipiro, I encountered Don Quichote

Parque Jipiro

Love the donkey hehehe… These are the traditional clothes in Loja… but nowadays, nobody wears that, except for a little community that is very conservative. They are the Saraguros.

No I haven’t been kidnapped… mugged… or anything… Sorry for not having been able to update the blog for a long time… But I’ll give you guys all the details of my trip now …

So my last update was on June 6th, about the UTPL… That was my first week in Loja… So what happened to me next?! Let me say that a LOT of things, both good and bad things, have happened… but I totally love my experience here… an experience which is coming to an end imminently, leaving the spot for other more than exciting experiences to come…

Let me first say that I fell in love with Mora (some kind of blackberry I guess) Ice Cream… yummy… You guys know how I can eat I cream ANYTIME… Well, Mora mixed with vanilla Ice Cream is now in my top favorites…

La Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja is very beautiful and well designed. The administration office, library, and cafeteria are very modern, which contrast with the rest of the city (more traditional design). UTPL has only 37 years old and is a private institution that owns a milk production plant (Ecolac), a ceramic hand paint atelier, a hospital, and a hotel. Most students do their practical training/internship in these places. Some of the business/economy students are doing their thesis on these university-owned companies.

I was really surprise to know that this small university, in this very small town, is actually a member of OUI (Organisation Universitaire Interaméricaine). Not only are they a member, but UTPL’s rector is also the actual president of OUI. HEC is a member too !

The UPSI (Unidad de procesos y de sistemas de información)

Right in front of the cafeteria

The cross (Loja is predominently catholic)

Ecuador is beautiful! I got to walked in Malécon 2000, a huge park/Garden bordering the sea. Meant to be a very touristic site, I must say that it beats Montreal Old Port hehehe… Sadly enough, I ran out of battery!!! But Dionne, an intern in Guayaquil, has some… Dionne!!!

National Strategic Meeting 2008

AIESEC Ecuador’s national conference is more like a family gathering, since there are only 5 local comittees. I must say that Ecuadorian AIESECers are have really good cheers! Love them, but I can’t follow them, except for some… like AIESEC Loja’s cheer : Si no conoces Loja, no conoces mi pais! (If you don’t know Loja, you don’t know my country!)

The Transition Ceremony was super emotional. I only got to know the outgoing MC for three days, and already, I felt sad for their imminent departure. A lot of gifts were prepared, from outgoing MC to incoming MC, vice-versa, from each LC to outgoing and incoming MC, etc. And great videos were shown. The conference went really fast!!!

Overall, I love Ecuadorian conference, although they REALLY need to work on time management and punctuality!!! Delegates were supposed to bring their luggage down on the last day of conference and then attend legislation at 1:00PM sharp… They finally started it an hour and a half late!!! Legislation!!!

Legislation is done with all membership, because there are only 5 LCPs, and only three of them have rights of vote… This was the case for the last few years, so a motion was passed on this matter I think 2-3 years ago.

LOJA!!!

I took the bus on sunday night with all the Lojanitos. Everything in Ecuador is pretty cheap (for North American standards). We ate at the bus terminal. I bought a Combo Alitas (rice, with 3 chicken wings, and some sort of fried won ton – not exactly that, but similar to it) and it cost $1.75! But then, it’s not so cheap for Ecuadorian standards.

Loja is really small compared to Guayaquil, but way safer! You can actually feel it just looking at local people. Local bus rides are free, how cool is that. I didn’t see much yet, considering I arrive at almost 6:00AM this morning, and took a nap, because the ride was 8 hours and was sometimes very bumpy!

Sh*t number 1 : Delays, delays, delays…

Alright, so I landed in Miami International Airport at 2:20PM (that is 20 minutes earlier than the planned time. My flight to Guayaquil is only leaving at 6:15PM (boarding at 5:45PM). I went out a bit, wandered in front of the Miami International Airport. When I went back in, passed customs and scans, I realized from looking at the departures screen that my flight was delayed… Departure at 7:15PM… Alright…

Tic… Tac… Tic… Tac… Tic… Tac…

6:30PM… My plane didn’t arrived yet… hum… Usually, planes have to arrive at least one hour before departure for a full check-up… My flight got delayed again to 7:45PM… Great…

Tic… Tac… Tic… Tac… Tic… Tac…

Oh no… Departure for 8:10PM… I finally get to board the plane at 8:15PM… but it didn’t take off for quite some time… Questions marks on all the faces… The pilot finally announced that the mechanics discovered a leak in the hydrolic system… What’s going on?!

Sh*t number 2 : Where are you Guayaquil?

We finally took off at 9:10PM (I was supposed to land in Guayaquil at 9:25PM, I guess that won’t happen…). I got to Guayaquil Simon Bolivar International Airport at 12:30AM, and by the time I passed customs and immigration and retrieved my luggage, it was 1:30AM. Where are the AIESECers that are supposed to be here?! I heard AIESEC Guayaquil are good with intern servicing… I ended up sleeping on the airport bench, which was pretty uncomfortable.

By 3:00AM, there were simply nobody left! Except a worker at the Ecuador Sweet (opened 24 hour), cleaning employees, and two security guards… I ended up chit chatting with one of them, Francisco, for quite a while. He’s about 40 years old and is very interested in Canada, asked me a lot of questions! While talking to him, I realized how Canadians are simply blessed… This was just the first of many things in Ecuador that made me felt that way. He was working 12 hour shifts, but he paid very little considering he’s part of the airport security. He dreams of working in Canada… but doesn’t speak either French, nor English. Most native have not sufficient money to even travel to Galapagos, which is part of Ecuador itself. There are so much tourists in Galapagos that prices are just out of reach for them. I’d say it’s out of my budget too! All inclusive cruises can go up to US$8000!!!

I finally called Gina, the outgoing LCP of AIESEC Ecuador, and she came to pick me up right away. I stayed one night at her house, before heading towards the conference venue, Hotel Orquidea Internacional.

Gina’s mom is so sweet, and cooks some very good food! While meeting so many new faces, I realized there are three questions that are fundamentals in first meeting with Ecuadorians : Do you have siblings? Do you have a boyfriend? What kind of music do you like? I got theses questions from about everybody I met!!!

I was really shocked that I could barely understand what the Ecuadorians say considering that I mostly understand everything that is said in my Fundamentos de la Mercadotecnia and Macroeconomia classes. Their expressions were totally new for me. It took me some time, but I start to get the hang of it and make myself at least understood.

Sh*t number 3 : Bye bye cellphone…

On day 3 of the conference, all the interns invited me to come have a little tour of Guayaquil. Considering that it was planning day and SWOT analisis day (which I can’t really help because I don’t know the reality of AIESEC Loja), I decided to go with them (and I won’t have any other time to do so).

We first went to la Bahia Mall (a market neighbouring the hotel). There are so much people there, so I was really holding onto my belongings (petty crimes/pick-pockets are known in the area)… After about 15 minutes… I realized I didn’t have a cellphone anymore!!! Yup, that’s how thing is… Luckily, my phone was turned off, so whoever took it has to enter a password to turn it on… I still made sure Rogers Canada froze my account! Fortunately, nothing else disappeared.

(Written on May 27th 2008, while wasting time in Miami International Airport…)

Going to the airport today meant the beginning of a great adventure… Passing the US Customs is quite an adventure itself!!!

First shock… Huge, I mean HUGE line-up for the US Customs and Border Protection. I went in and was almost like the 99^th in line. And then there’s this little man, passing on the left side of the line and passing a card into a machine… and he was done!!! He had a NEXUS card!!! Lucky him! I have no choice but be patient. Fine!

The agent asked me one question only : “Where are you going dear?”. Okay, that was easy… Next! Next was that very nice little agent who made me took out all the liquid and gels I had in my bag… “Miss, this [my sunscreen] is a 120mL, you’re only allowed a 100mL. We’ll have to throw this out”. “But…”. “We’re throwing this out, Miss”. FINE (x2!). Then it was the scan. How I love to be scanned. Alright, I took my shoes off, took my laptop out, took any coins out and tossed everything in the bin. That should be good. Passed the scanners… everything good… Put back my shoes and took my backpack and left towards the gates area… Guess what?!

Just as I think to myself : “Um… That wasn’t all that bad”… “Miss… MISS!!! Please wait. We need to scan your bag”. I turned around. A border agent was running after me, lol!!! I almost felt like a terrorist! Almost… “Didn’t you already scan my bag?”. “We will have to do it again, Miss. May I see your boarding pass?”. FINE (x3!). They scanned my bag… and they insist on holding onto my boarding pass… They took out my computer, then scanned the bag again… The agents look at each others in a suspicious way… What’s happening? I don’t have a gun in my bag, do I?

“Do you have any tweezers in your bag, Miss?”. “Euh… No?! I don’t think so”. “We’ll have to check that up.” And he starts to take my stuff out… Then it hit me!!! “Oh! I have a pair of scisors in my first aid kit!”. “You have a first aid kit?!” Yeah, I do! “Yeah, it’s right here.” Showed him the kit. He took the scisors out… Tiny, round-edge medical scisor… “Okay, that’s fine. I’m very sorry for all this trouble, Miss. “ Gotta love airport security…

I finally board the plane!!! And it took off smoothly from Montreal-Trudeau International Airport. I was seated by the window and nobody next to me! Only a guy on seat 24C (mine was 24A). I looked out the window the whole time up until the plane got to an altitude of about 30 000 meters and stabilized itself… How nice is it to be above clouds!!!

I sleep a bit… then woke up to this… A rainbow !

I slept some more… and woke up about 10 minutes before the landing… Miami is amazingly beautiful from the top… I mean, the beach part… I’ve been seing this place on CSI Miami countless time, but actually seing it from the plane… wow… Such a shame I can’t go there! It’s sad I couldn’t take any pictures…

Residential and industrial area in Miami are incredibly… ungreen… Streets are very square, houses are all aligned, and have orangish roofs. Those roofs are like… everywhere!!! There’s a lot of square aqua or green water lakes as well!

MIAMI International Airport

As soon as I arrive, I checked the departure screen and noticed that my next flight, Miami-Guayaquil, got delayed for some reason. Great… Why don’t I go walk around a bit… Just finding the exit is quite a job, lol!!! Maybe it’s because I was text-messaging at the same time, and I wasn’t paying attention to the signs…

Anyhow, I finally got out. I spoke with the agent that is calling the cabs for the tourists. Apparently, if I want to go see the beach, it’ll cost me 32$ in a cab… Are you kidding?! Back and forth would cost like 64$… Alright, no beach for me… What can I do… I went to eat inside the airport first since I was starving and it was CRAZILY HOT outside… The airport has actually bought HUGE fans and put them at the entries to cool the area off… lol…

I walked around the airport… Traffic time was starting in Miami, so it was useless for me to leave the place even if I have almost 4 hours, because I will be caught in the traffic on the way back and I still have to pass through the scans and stuff once more… Too bad…

The area right in front of the main entry is actually really nice. I sat there for a bit, and enjoyed the sun!

1^st culture shock : MIAMI International Airport is bilingual : English/Spanish… Actually, I don’t know which is spoke more… Even the girl working at Restaurant La Carreta (cafeteria-like restaurant) whote down orders in spanish… I asked for a grilled chicken sandwich… She wrote down : S/Pollo… !

7:25AM…

After what feels like a sleepless night (cuz I actually slept ), the waiting is actually coming to an end… This whole month of crazy jumps between final exams, CEED week-end, Pre-Conference, NLDC, and my own departure preparation is now coming to this very moment… In a few hours, I’ll be sitting on a boeing, flying with American Airlines… I still can’t concretely realize the amplitude of ‘See you in 3 months’… 3 months… Some of you, I will only see in a year, because I will not be able to catch you before you leave for your exchange, as you will not be back on time before I leave again for Singapore… This thought is kind of scary, but at the same time, I know that it will only make us appreciate every next moments we’ll have together… <3

I will now head to the airport… yeah… This is sooooo IT…

Wish you all a great summer (I know it’ll be hard without me ), full of laugther, love and sun!

See you in September!!! <3

It is now 11:10PM, that is EXACTLY 12 hours before I leave Canadian soils…

I can barely think… I just can’t realize it… I will not realize it… until I really put a foot on Ecuadorian soil…

Mom, Jade, Soso… This is the begining of my adventure… Distance is just a matter of physical mesure… Don’t over worry… I know you will

I will keep in touch (Yes, I promise )…

See you all around Montreal, in three months!

———- I will now go to bed, even if I will not be able to sleep… ———-