Phone Call Anyone?

Good morning parents!

Can you believe your daughters have been in Ecuador for 10 days already?! Today is the first travel day for the group, and they will relocate before beginning groupstays this weekend. It is the first time the girls have had to re-pack their bags, include all their textbooks, and move from one hostel to the next making sure they check under beds and behind doors for all their essential items. It is no small feat to move 23 ladies, 46 personal bags and the school library/group gear from Point A to Point B, yet within the next few weeks, these ladies will move like an efficient machine (well, that's the hope anyway.)

Not only is the group moving locations today, they will also try to phone home this afternoon. YEA! The teachers hope to have the girls call between 2-6 pm Eastern time today. Don't worry, in case your daughter misses you this afternoon, the teacher plan to make time for another round of calls after dinner and also on Friday morning. Hopefully, you will be able to pick up your phone when you see a unique number pop up on screen. 

As you can imagine, the girls are as excited as you to talk about and share their adventures. Some may be nervous, some may become emotional as soon as they hear your sweet hellos and some may not know what to say. We encourage you to share a few stories about home/weather/friends as they yearn to know what's happening back home but don't always ask for the details. Ask your daughter a few key questions to help her share the details you are anxious to know and be prepared to simply listen as she tries to summarize classes, peers, teachers, Ecuador, food, the hot springs overnight trip, speaking Spanish and everything else into a 20-30 minute call.

Remember, don't worry if you miss your daughter's call, she will try again - it might be a half hour later or Friday morning, but our goal is for everyone to be able to connect. The teachers will help each student dial the phone numbers via Skype or in a phone cabina as it can be slightly confusing to dial internationally on the first attempt. Please let us know if you don't connect with your daughter in the next few days and we will make a plan to connect you in the upcoming days.

Good luck and enjoy hearing about your daughter's semester. Check out the blog beforehand if you get a chance for a sneak peak of their adventures. We also posted a slideshow of photos on the blog - it's on the right side of the screen. If you click on any of the photos in the posts or sidebars, they will zoom in so you can have a better view.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jennifer, Aunge, Jim and Price