Luba Ayzenshtat

2010-11 Outbound to Ecuador

Hometown: Saint Johns, Florida

School: Bartram Trail High School

Sponsor: Bartram Trail Rotary Club, District 6970, Florida

Host: Quito Sur Rotary Club, District 4400, Ecuador

Bio

Luba's Bio

“Where's your will to be weird?” – Jim Morrison

Hola! My name is Luba Ayzenshtat, and I’d like to think I’m more than your average teenage girl. I’m not afraid to make a fool out of myself, I’ve always known what I want, and my heart is bigger than you could ever imagine. I’m creative; I can tear apart an old article of clothing that’s completely out dated and turn into something you would buy in a store today, I can entertain a group of people with a simple bag of marshmallows in seven different ways. I can always find a way to have fun whether I’m sitting at home or sky diving.

I live in Jacksonville and attend Bartram Trail High School as a sophomore. Instead of taking the standard junior year in Florida, I was given the chance of a lifetime to spend my year in ECUADOR!

I haven’t always lived in Florida, in fact I’ve moved five times before I finally landed here in Jacksonville due to my dad’s job. I’ve traveled a good bit with my family, school, and church and have enjoyed every minute of it! At home, I live with my parents, Leonid and Nina, my brother, Thomas, and our dog, Charlie. I do a lot of events to help out my community and donate as much as I can, because helping those who are less fortunate than I am is one of the best feelings in the entire world.

I enjoy hanging out with my friends, playing sports, meeting new people, reading (I’m addicted!), watching movies, going to the beach, shopping, and pretty much every other typical activity a Floridian teenage girl would enjoy. Well, here I am, just taking life one step at a time and waiting to see what’s in store for me.

Thank you Rotary and everyone in district 6970 for making my exchange possible!

October 1

That first morning in Quito I got up and was told to get ready quickly for I was to go play tennis with my counselor and others. Afterwards we headed out to Los Chillos for lunch, which actually lasted until about 1AM. We went to his family’s house where I met about thirty people, none of which spoke English. I walked into the house and was greeted by a woman named Jhamel, who told me how pretty I was and asked if I had a boyfriend, and of course the second I said no, she was gone in an instance to go find her relatives. That weekend involved a lot of hugging, kissing (greetings, of course), dancing, and trying new things, like food.

I had problems with my first host family, which is one of the main reasons I haven’t been able to write a journal, but I’ve just switched into my new family, and I love them to death. They are actually the family of my host counselor that I spent my first few days here with. I feel at home here, my brothers treat me like their siblings and I’m constantly busy with all of them. I have five siblings, Giancarlo, Antoni, Alessandro, Stefany, and Jhamel, but she doesn’t live with us, but is constantly over. Then I have both of my host parents, who are adorable and are always shoving food down my throat and forcing me to dance with all the boys. I eat every meal with all of the family, which is a big and wonderful change compared to always being alone in the other house. They all love to dance; they’re friendly, outgoing, and just absolutely amazing to say the least. I enjoy every day with this family, and look forward to more days to come with them.

Since I had problems with my first host family, my move to the new family included me having to switch schools. I really did love my school, El Colegio de Liga, but switching schools won’t be a problem for me. I made many new friends in Liga, and plan on keeping in touch with everyone! My last day at the school was sad; everyone was taking pictures of me and getting my phone number if they didn’t have it already. Everyone all that week was telling me “Luba, no vaya! No vaya!” and even some tried their hardest to say it in English and would tell me “No go, Luba, no go, we love you.” I haven’t attended my new school yet, but I’ll make sure to include all of that in my new journal.

I’m making tons of friends here and am always busy! I never have a moment to spare here, and sometimes I have to fit about five different plans into one day because everyone asks to hang out with me and I can’t say no to making new friends! The exchange students in the city are awesome; we always have exchange student get togethers and visit all the thousands of malls and movie theatres here in Quito. Within the next two weeks I’ll be in Manabí or the coast of Ecuador for a Rotary trip with all the exchange students in country.
There’s honestly just too much to say about Ecuador to sum it all up in one journal. I could write an entire book only on my short time spent here already. There’s so much culture and beauty within this country, that not even words or pictures could describe it. You’d have to be here to really feel it, and to embrace it. Exchange is like nothing you’ll ever experience. It’s a mix of every possible emotion there is, and the biggest adventure you’ll ever take.

Interesting and random facts about Ecuador!
· During red lights it is extremely common to see people perform acts for money, or for the driver to get out of the car to take of his jacket or get something out of his pocket.
· People will often ask “Do you like me?” or you will have someone ask you “He wants to know if you like him” which I’ve finally learned to just ignore and laugh at.
· If you don’t greet someone with a kiss on the cheek they look at you like you’re from Mars.
· You can meet someone and within hours they’ll go around telling everyone you’re their best friend. And they’re being dead serious about it. Rolly Weaver, you were right.
· People are A LOT more outgoing and touchy here. There is no comfort zone or personal space in Ecuador.
· It is SO beautiful here. There are mountains everywhere, and I can see Cotopaxi almost every day from my very room.
· Lunch easily can last from 1pm to 1am.
· If you don’t know how to dance, everyone will force you to learn how. Trust me.
· I never. Ever. Ever. Want to leave.

Thank you so much Rotary Florida and Rotary Ecuador for this amazing experience… I’ve only been here a month but boy, I can’t wait for the rest of this year. Thank you D6970, Bartram Trail Rotary Club, Daphne, Jody, Al, Jack, Bill, and everyone else who has made my exchange possible. I can’t thank any of you enough.

December 27