My first shower in Ecuador was rough. You see, it wasn’t only that the water was cold. I could live with that. It was rough because when I tried to adjust the head of the shower, it electrocuted me. No, really, I thought I was dead. It took me a few minutes just to stand up. It turns out there was a wire above me touching the wet metal. To this day, I hesitate before touching any showerheads.

I guess I should let you how I ended up in a shower over 3,000 miles away in Quito, the capital city Ecuador. I went to Ecuador with 25 other people during the summer to study Spanish, as a part of MLC’s Spanish immersion program. I studied at the Academy of Spanish Quito and completed over 140 hours of Spanish instruction; however, I learned much more than just Spanish during the month I was in Ecuador.

I learned that Ecuador is divided geographically in three regions—the coast, the mountains, and the rainforest. Quito is located in the mountainous region of the country. On a clear day in Quito, you can see a mountain peak in every direction. Quito itself is a beautiful city. In fact, in 1978 UNESCO named the colonial section of Quito a World Cultural Heritage Site for its well-preserved churches, plazas, and cobbled streets. La Compañía de Jesus, a 16th-century church in Quito that took 163 years to complete, is said to be Latin America’s most beautiful church. I’ve never seen so much gold in my life.

While in Quito I stayed with a host family, the Herrera’s: Cecilia, Rodrigo, Santiago, María José, Salomé, and Victoria. Cecilia, my Ecuadorian mom, made me supper every night—a lot of supper. Every meal started with soup, and you could always count on a generous helping of rice. Cecilia always talked nice and slow so I could understand her, and she told me all I needed to know about her beautiful country. With Rodrigo, her husband, I probably only understood half of what he was saying. Before I came to Ecuador, I have to admit I was a little worried about staying with a host family, and I had many presuppositions—not all of them positive. After only a few hours with the Herrera’s, I realized my fears and assumptions weren’t necessary. They became my friends, and it was hard to say goodbye to all of them.

I spent my third week in Ecuador in the jungle. I now have a better understanding of why they call them “rainforests.” It rained every day without fail, and nothing ever really dried. During my first three nights in the selva, a murciélago sang me to sleep and then proceeded to drop its guano on my mosquito net. If you are thinking a murciélago is a beautiful colored parrot, you’re wrong. It’s a bat, and it is the reason I slept with my eyes open for three nights in a row. I can’t say I really miss the jungle, but I do miss the people who called the selva their home. For having almost nothing, they were the most carefree and kind people I have ever met.

My trip to Ecuador ended with a three-day trip to the coast. The beaches were the most beautiful I have ever seen in my life. We visited an island that has many of the same animals as the Galapagos Islands. On the boat ride to the island, we saw whales, sometimes only a few yards from our boat. On the island we were able to see blue-footed boobies and go snorkeling in the crystal clear water that surrounded the island. It was a nice way to end an already great trip.

Ecuador was a trip that I will never forget, with experiences that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. To end, I decided I would give my top six experiences in Ecuador. I could probably list hundreds, but for the sake of time…

1. The First Shower – It has to be number one. I almost died.

2. Whale Watching – I am scanning the ocean waiting for a glimpse of a whale—a tail, a fin, anything. Then, out of nowhere, this whale, this gigantic mammal as big as a minivan, emerges from the depths as if it were light as a feather. Then it crashes back down and makes a huge, loud splash. Talk about a rush…

3. Jungle Nights – There are no lights in the rainforest, and one night there were no clouds. I actually think there were more stars than darkness. I could have watched it forever, if I wasn’t so afraid of the dark. It was incredible.

4. The Children of the Streets – Seventy percent of the children in Ecuador live in poverty. This was hard to see. Everywhere you looked in the city, on the sidewalks, in the streets, were children selling candy or begging. Many of these children have no home and need to work in order to pay the 10 cents needed to have a bed and meal every night.

5. Cayambe and Cotopaxi – Cayambe is Ecuador’s third highest peak, and Cotopaxi is the world’s highest active volcano. I climbed them both. Okay, maybe climb is too strong of word. But I did walk on both, and I felt like I was on top of the world.

6. Guinea Pig – I knew the Guinea pig was a delicacy in Ecuador, but I don’t think I was prepared to watch people, my friends, eat them. I had chicken.

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