Ecuador, Day 1.

June 18, 2009
Welcome to/Bienvenido a Ecuador! It is crazy to think that I am in Ecuador right now, and that it feels like I literally just returned from China. I added it up and calculated that I have had the opportunity to visit 7 countries in the past 7(ish) months--something I never would have envisioned as a reality for myself.

I had never left the country before coming to Carolina, but I remember being so fascinated with people's travel stories from around the world as a child. The first story that I can recall was told to me by Jan Winfrey (we called her Pebbles because of her bright red hair), my former girl scout troop leader who went to Ecuador when I was in elementary school. She spoke about the culture, the way she was able to help fix kids' cleft palettes, and about how the whole journey changed her as a person. I will never forget the brightness in her eyes as she spoke about those experiences that shaped her. At the time, Ecuador seemed so far away. I could barely imagine what it would be like to live on the line that divides our two hemispheres, the place where the power of the sun is the most concentrated, to live in a place that seemed so dissimilar from American culture. But now, a decade later, here I am.

After about 16 hours of travel (only 8ish in the air) and a plethora of unnecessary face masks later (everyone is freaking out about swine flu), we arrived to Quito, the capital city of Ecuador. I am here (Quito for a few days on both ends of the trip, but for the most part--the Galapagos Islands Santa Cruz and San Cristobal for the rest of the time) for a month in all. I am with a team of 20 UNC Chapel Hill students, and 4 professors, to create a multimedia website that will feature documentary-like videos and photo stories. This is an incredible opportunity for me for so many reasons. I know I will grow so much over the next few weeks, and even cooler, I will be working with "uncovered material." There has NEVER, note the emphasis on NEVER, been extensive multimedia work created about the Galapagos.

I feel a little behind in the Photojournalism program at Carolina, since I was abroad in Ghana for a semester, so I haven't had a true taste of our photo program yet...until today. It was a day filled with the exchange of photo experiences, stories, shutter speeds, technical terms, and aspirations for photojournalism careers in the future. It is so encouraging to be surrounded by so many people my age that share my passion for photography.

First impressions:
--Good group of people, very intelligent, creative, and experienced
--Airports freak out about the threat of swine flu
--It's a lot cooler in Ecuador than I would have expected (their seasons are opposite of the US, since they're in the southern hemisphere; below the equator)
--Apparently the "below-the-equator toilet theory" is a myth...I'll hafta see for myself which way the water spins...