First Days in Ecuador

Classes

8.18.08....... Day 6

So, today I developed a real appreciation for my lovely Oregon University, and not to mention the USA. This morning I woke up, showered and left for school in the rain. I walked a little ways then caught a bus and met everyone on campus. We walked to the Linguistics building, where we were to have our first class of the day, Spanish. First, we had to figure out where we needed to go. Here, figuring out your schedule doesn't happen months before your classes begin, it happens sometime during the first week of class. We all knew that we were at least registered for our Spanish classes, which take place from 9 to 12 monday through friday, but that's all we know. We won't be officially registered for any other classes until friday, because we need to wait and see if those classes even get enough students signed up to make them official. It's pretty annoying, and I was stressed out for a while until I was reassured by my resident director how the process works, and that most likely I will be able to get the classes I want. 

I do know that I will for sure be able to be in the Ecuadorian Amazon class, which is awesome. I also know that the yoga class is going to happen, I just don't know the room  number, so I'm going to go back to her tomorrow to figure that out. Yoga will be SO good for me here. I need a way to relieve my stress, and yoga will be perfect for that. 

So, as of now, I'm feeling pretty good about my classes situation, and I think it's all going to be okay. It was just weird because today all I had was my spanish class and then I went home!

I wanted to walk home to get some exercise and to take a look in some stores that I had been passing. On my walk home, I went into a department store that I think was a little bit lower end. I was looking for some nice shoes and a nice jacket, just so I could look less like a scrub compared to the Ecuadorianas. I didn't find anything. I kept walking and looked in the next store I saw. I felt really awkward walking around but it was fun. I grabbed some jackets and tried them on but they totally didn't fit my torso. Ecuadorians are really short and have short bodies, and these clothes were clearly made for them. While I was looking around in the women's department, I noticed that the mannequins look a little different than the ones in the US. They have giant booties and are very curvy. I thought that was awesome. Oh, and later when I was watching TV, I saw an infomercial for jeans without back pockets that supposedly lift and shape your butt. Haha, so funny. All the women in america want to be skinny and the ones here want to accentuate their curves. Pretty awesome. I tried on some shoes too and noticed that the sizing is different here. In the US I'm a 7 1/2 and here I'm a 38. 

After my shopping adventure I decided to stop by the bank to ask if I can cash my traveler's checks (so far NO place has accepted them, and I have a lot, so I need to figure out what to do with them). I walked into the bank past security guards and couldn't figure out what line to stand in. There were three that were for different things that I didn't understand and none of them were moving at all. Everything's a lot slower in Ecuador. People stroll along the street at a leisurely pace and don't hurry to get things done. That was how it was in the bank too, but of course no one seemed to care. But I did! Because I'm American.  I didn't want to stand there all day just to ask a question, plus I didn't even know if I was in the right line! So I left to see if the ATMs were working. Of course they weren't, so I decided to try again another day. Tomorrow I think I also want to go explore the Marriott hotel, which is three blocks from my hotel. I think it's a good place for my parents to stay when they come visit. 

Anyway, I got home and had lunch with Mony, which was fun, and then we watched the OC, in English, with spanish subtitles. It was the highlight of my day. I love that show. It totally reminds me of home. Then she left for class and I hung out at home and did my Spanish homework. 

When Cory got home we all had coffee and bread with jam together, which seems to be a custom here. There's no dinner. Instead there's coffee and a little snack, which I like. I'm going to go to bed soon and class again tomorrow!

Chao! (that's how they say bye here)

A Broken Bubble

8.17.08..........Day 5

My host mom, sister and I woke up early to get ready for a trip to Latacunga, which is 2 hours south of where we live in Quito. My host mom's best friend Loli lives there with here husband (who is from Holland, I learned) and their 16 year old son and 19 year old daughter. I didn't really know what we were going to be doing there, so I couldn't really prepare myself for anything. I just figured we'd go eat almuerzo and come back. I didn't realize what that might entail. 

So we started off, driving south through Quito. We turned onto a steep cobblestone road with hairpin turns that took us past antique, colorful houses lining the narrow street and clinging to the steep terrain. We were going too fast for me to get any decent pictures, but I swear I'll go back there before I leave to document how cute it was. After a major elevation change we reached a southbound 3 lane freeway with no speed limit posted. I noticed that everyone just drives however quickly they want on it. The scenery began to change from hills encrusted with buildings to hills with a little more greenery and trees. The highway also followed along a ridge, so I got a nice panoramic view of Quito and the mountains. As we drove south, the land became greener and greener and farms started appearing. 

One thing that I noticed that made me really happy was that they have Pampus Grass here. I don't know if you know what that is, but it's really common on the Oregon coast and I've seen it in people's yards in Beaverton, too. I just think it's awesome that Quito Ecuador has the exact same plant as Oregon. Little things like that give me a little bit of strength, because they remind me of home and give me some comfort in the middle of all the unfamiliar. Another thing that makes me feel better is that they play a lot of American music here, and today I even got to watch The OC on tv IN ENGLISH. It was amazing. They have a love of American shows here, that they show with Spanish subtitles.

Okay, so back to our trip... I saw two dead dogs on the side of the road, which was horrible; I have never seen a dead dog before. There are a lot of wild dogs that just roam around here, so I guess it's just as common as hitting a raccoon. But I also saw a lot of cows grazing in green fields, which I loved, and didn't think existed around here. 

The mountain Cotopaxi is very near Latacunga, so as we drove we got closer and closer to it. Right now it's dusted with snow and it was an amazing sight. Cotopaxi is the world's largest active volcano, and is 12,500 feet tall from it's base--bigger than Mt. Hood, which is 11,249 feet tall. 

We finally reached Latacunga, which is a small rural town with farms and also a very cute antique district, with narrow streets lined with tall uninterrupted buildings with balconies and interesting old architecture. The family we visited lives in the antique area, so I got to see a little bit of it. We came inside the house and I met the everyone, who were all very nice. I got a tour of their large house and then sat down with Gabi and the son (whose name I forget). They were talking and making jokes together and not really including me in the conversation at all, which I was okay with for the moment.

After a little while, Gabi, Mony (the daughter) and the son walked a couple blocks to a nail salon. Mony was getting a manicure and asked if I wanted one. It was only $2.50 so I thought, "why not? My first manicure will be in Latacunga Ecuador." It was a pretty funny and awkward experience. First of all, I've never gotten a manicure before so I don't know what I'm supposed to do, second of all the girl who was doing my nails didn't speak any English, and lastly I had just bitten my nails pretty short the night before, so there wasn't much to work with. I also didn't have the vocabulary to talk about fingernails. Gaby kept laughing at my lack of communication skills and translating for me. It was enjoyable, though. I was in a good mood and just chuckled to myself about how funny the whole situation was. The manicure was actually really amazing. She rubbed my hands with sugar and oils to soften them, filed my tiny fingernails and buffed them, rubbed lotion on them and dipped them in hot wax then put them in plastic baggies and mitts until the wax hardened a little. She peeled off the wax and then asked me how I wanted my nails pained. I chose a bright orange color with diagonal white tips, which I though was kind of ridiculous but perfect for the first time. It was funny watching her try her best to paint the details on my tiny pinkie nails. They turned out very pretty and I payed my $2.50 and we went back to the house. 

The adults finished preparing the meal and we sat down to eat. I was feeling okay about my lack of communication skills at the beginning, but when I realized that I couldn't really effectively be a part of any conversation, I started losing confidence with my spanish and became very uncomfortable and unsure of myself. Everyone was very good friends, making jokes, and talking very quickly. I got the jist of conversations occasionally, but I couldn't pick up on most jokes, and I couldn't contribute to the conversation. It was SO frustrating. After everyone realized that I really couldn't understand much, they just stopped talking to me as if I wasn't there, which has never really happened to me and was horrible. I have never felt so uncomfortable and isolated. There I was, sitting at the dinner table of an Ecuadorian family in the middle of Ecuador, South America, trying to eat food that I had never tried before, not understanding what was going on the majority of the time, and thinking to myself, "Wow, I can't even believe that I'm here. What am I doing here? Who are these people?" It was like for a second I stepped outside of myself and the situation and looked in, knowing what I know about who I am and what I've experienced, and just being in disbelief of what was happening. It was a very difficult experience for me. At one point, I left to use the bathroom and tried SO hard to hold back tears. I didn't know when we were going to leave and I really just wanted to get out of there and get back into some sort of comfort bubble, because mine was definitely broken wide open. 

After a little more nearly unbearable time at the dinner table, eating donuts and coffee, which I suppose is the custom after eating a big lunch (my stomach is not accustomed to the amount of food), I followed people around trying to figure out what was going on and when we were going to leave. I think the reason why I was so overwhelmed by everything is because it was just way too much at once, and because I was there for a very long time. The stress just kept building. To my relief, we took a little trip to the family's farm so that the dad could show us his earthworms he's using to make good soil so he can grow Hummus (garbanzo beans, I guess). They also had cows on the farm, and chickens, a pig and some goats. I loved that they had animals there, and Cory took a picture of me petting one of the goats, who was very friendly. 

After that, I felt a lot better, and I think Gaby could tell I was overwhelmed, because she spoke English to me in the car. We got back, hung around for a little while longer, then left for home. During the car ride home I slept, and when I woke up I felt very homesick and strange (You know that weird feeling that you sometimes get after waking up from a nap). I couldn't believe that I was in a car that was driving on a freeway in Ecuador, and the other people in the car had lived there their whole lives. As we drove, I was thinking about how they were probably having the same feeling I would have driving along I84 and through Portland and then onto 26 on my way home. It made me feel very homesick.

We finally got home after dropping Mony off at her apartment (she is going to la Católica too), and I needed to vent. After I did that for a while, thanks to the internet and it's amazing ability to connect people that I now REALLY appreciate, I got into bed and slept, wondering how class would be the next morning.

My first clubbing experience

So, I haven't posted anything in a few days and I have to catch up!

8.16.08......Day 4

On Saturday morning, I woke up early because I was planning on going to go to La Mitad del Mundo (the Equator Monument) with Caroline and Grace, but I decided not to becuase I wanted to sleep more, and I didn't feel like taking a trip out of the city. So I called up Imogene to see what she and Sierra were up to, and they said they were meeting everyone else around 12 to go to the market and explore the city more. That sounded like fun, so I decided to come along. 

I decided to walk the 12 blocks to school to get some exercise, plus I wanted to accustom myself to the city and the streets a little more. The walk was okay, but I didn't notice a single other gringo on my way there, which was a little unnerving. I've never been a minority before, and now I know what it feels like. It's really not a comfortable feeling. It's funny, I totally feel like I stand out, mostly because my clothes are different. But I definitely keep a low profile, and the way I dress must not be very appealing to Ecuadorian men, because I haven't been harassed at all! Love that. That would be a whole other aspect of my life here that would just make me uncomfortable, but thankfully I don't have to deal with it. I must not look too much like a foreigner... maybe it's the Spaniard in my blood. 

So I got safely to La Católica (the university) and soon everyone else showed up and we made our way to the artisan market again (Yay!). This time while I was there, Sierra and I slowly viewed the jewelry at every booth, and I bought 2 pairs of very pretty earrings for practically nothing, along with a pretty cool Ecuadorian bag. At one booth, we made friends with an Ecuadorian guy who passionately went on and on about his time spent living in El Oriente (the Amazon jungle part of the country), among the Indigenous people. He told us about all the crazy animals he saw and the traditions and culture of the Oulas (the people he lived with). He was very nice and asked for my email so he could send me pictures...I know, sounds sketch, but honestly, what can he do with an email address?

After about 20 minutes of talking with this guy (I forget his name!), and multiple worried calls from out friends, Sierra and I finally met back up with them and continued on our exploration. We were wandering around and came across a huge, beautiful Catholic Cathedral, which I later learned was called El Santo Teresita (I think that's right). We went inside and were blown away by the beautiful gothic arches and colorful stained glass windows. After taking pictures (quietly), we all sat down to take in the awe and spirituality that we were feeling just being in there. I wouldn't call myself a "religious" person, but the beauty and scope of that Cathedral definitely put a calming and spiritual feeling in my soul :)

After the church experience, we began the mission of finding something to eat. After wandering around following Max's instincts of where he thought a cafe was, we finally found a place to eat. Unfortunately, when we went inside and after we sat down, we learned that they were out of food. It was about 3 in the afternoon, after the Almuerzo (lunch) hour, which is the biggest meal of the day here, and happens around 1 or 2. We stayed anyway and a couple people ordered Pilsner (the choice beer of Ecuador, which I do not have a taste for). Everyone else got water. When the beer was finished, we left to find a place to eat, and it started raining. 

The rain here is basically like the rain in Oregon. The weather in general is very similar to that of Washington. Just because we're on the gosh darn Equator doesn't mean we're going to have lovely weather, thanks to the topography. So, we found a restaurant called Mi Playita, which means my little beach, which serves seafood. Everyone's appetizer was a bowl of popcorn and salty banana chips, which was strange and not really that enjoyable. The menu consisted of soup, rice, or types of fish and seafood, and combinations of all those. I ordered a plate which I forgot the name of that had fried fish, rice, and fried banana and potato biscuit type things which are salty but kind of sweet at the same time, and need something to go with them for flavor. The platters are served with limes surrounding all the food (for flavor I guess). It took kind of a long time for our food to come, and not all of it came at the same time, which made us really appreciate the skill of restaurants in Los Estados Unidos. When the last plate arrived, I finally got to enjoy my food. The fish was very flavorful, and  it tasted good to mix the fish, banana thing and rice all together, doused in lime. 

After our meal, we left and started back to all of our individual houses to rest before going out on the town Ecuador style. My host sister hadn't told me the details yet, but she said we would probably meet up around 9 in La Mariscal district, in La Plaza Foche, which is called Gringolandia. It took my host sister forever to get her act together and call her friends and tell me where we were going to meet, but we finally figured it out, and my host mom drove us to la Plaza. It was 10 o'clock and I couldn't believe how much traffic and people were out in that area. I guess it's the happening place. And it was TOTALLY Gringolandia--I hadn't seen so many non-Ecuadorians in one place before then. We sat down at a restaurant that was playing American music videos from the 80s: we heard a little bit of Queen, Rod Stewart, Eurythmics, and more music that I just love, so I was happy. We all ordered Pilsner pints to share in pairs, although I only drank probably a quarter of one. I've decided I'm just not going to drink from now on, because I dislike beer so much and  I NEVER want to compromise my safety with alcohol. Plus, I think it's kind of a waste of money. 

Anyway, after chilling at that place for a while, we decided we would leave and drink another Pilsner then find a club para bailar (dancing)! The brother of the boyfriend of one of the girls in my program was with us, so he was showing us around the area. Something that's cool about being here and hanging out with these people is that we speak English and Spanish to each other. In oregon, I never really felt comfortable using my spanish outside of class, but here you kind of have to use it everywhere so when we Oregonians are together, we are just used to speaking spanish, and want to practice it, so we speak both. I like it. We also had to speak spanish to communicate with our Ecuadorian friend Adrien. 

Something that I thought was funny was that there were police all around, patrolling the area to supposedly enforce laws and keep things safe, but they actually don't really care. For example, it's illegal to drink on the streets here, but everyone was doing it anyway, right next to the policemen. The law can be bent here, I guess, which is probably why there is so much crime....

So! The club we finally decided on (after Annie and I followed Adrien into the cheapest club there was, only to learn that it was probably the sketchiest club around, which had 80% men, most of whom looked like big creepers) was one that had about 50% gringos in it and played amazing electronica, techno, and alternative music, along with some hip hop, reggaton and salsa. We danced to songs like Sandstorm, Relax Take it Easy, some Justin Timberlake, and Nelly Furtado. It was totally awesome. Techno/electronica is totally my favorite music to dance to. 

After a few hours of intense dancing we left the club drenched in sweat and smelling like smoke (EW. A lot of people smoke here), we sat outside figuring out how we were going to get home. It was about 2 am and there were indigenous children on the street trying to sell chicle (gum). I felt so bad for them! They needed to be at home in their beds! After I told one girl that I don't have any money, she began admiring my rings and sweetly begging for one of them. I obviously said sorry, no. We finally figured out what was going on and they all walked me home (my house is only about 6 blocks from La Plaza). It was a very fun night, but I was upset that my clothes smelled so bad because it's a hassle to do laundry here. I went to sleep and that was that!

Marshmallows

The end of Day 3...

So, since I really don't have anything else to do right now, and a lot on my mind, I figured I would write a little more. That's something that I've had to deal with the last few days. I haven't really known what to do with myself in the evenings when I'm at home because I don't really want to watch TV in Spanish because there's nothing that good on, and I'd rather give my mind a break. I don't feel like reading, and a lot of times, nobody is on Skype for me to talk to. Gabi normally does her own thing on the computer for a while and Corina relaxes in her room. I don't have the spanish skills or confidence yet to walk in and strike up a conversation. They do that for me, thankfully, but also I guess I'm just getting into the flow of things. I sure wish I brought my crochet supplies...

Anyway, something else we did today was go to the supermarket, which is called "Supermaxi." It's just like a Safeway or Albertson's, but of course there are differences. For one, they have a counter that exclusively sells perfume and cologne. I've noticed walking past people here that the majority likes to wear it... interesting. Another thing that I loved about Supermaxi was their huge marshmallow selection. Seriously, I've never seen such a wide selection of marshmallows together in one place. They had dinosaur marshmallows, rainbow shaped marshmallows, orange flavored marshmallows, big ones, small ones. I took a picture, so you'll be able to actually see them, and Im totally going to buy some to bring home when the time comes. Another thing, is there's no fresh milk in Ecuador--only powdered. The powdered milk is sold in the cereal isle (the cereal selection here is probably only one-eighth of that in Oregon), and there are more brands of it to choose from than cereal. Apple Jacks are called Apple Dapples here, which I love, and they have Reese's Puffs, but most other brands are slightly different. They also don't refrigerate the eggs in the store.

Something else I forgot to mention about the city is that there are so many interesting buildings and statues to look at, from all sorts of different time periods and architectural styles. I've never seen anything like it. 

One good thing about Quito that I just thought of is that there are NO bugs here. Seriously, I think the only bug I've seen was a single housefly. No spiders, moths, ants, mosquitos, nothing. I guess nothing wants to live at such an uncomfortable altitude in such a polluted city. 

It's raining for the first time right now, and I mean raining! It's a downpour out there! I haven't seen rain like this since las Springtime in Corvallis. I was wondering how the rain would be. Now I get to wear my new raincoat! Oh goody. 

So, classes start on monday and I'm really glad because I'll finally have an actual schedule and feel like my life here has purpose. I feel like I don't know what's going on half the time because of lack of communication thanks to language barriers and technology inadequacies. I'm also excited that I'll be able to be a little more independent and take the bus for the first time by myself. After walking around on the streets today I feel like I have a pretty good lay of the land and that I would be safe if I was alone. 

Welp, voy a dormir ahora. Hasta luego!

La Ciudad de Quito

8.15.08.........Day 3: Exploration!

I spent the day today exploring the streets of Quito with Caroline and Grace. It's crazy how different it is here than anything else I have experienced before. First of all, there are SO many children on the streets trying to sell things to you. I bought some chicle from a little girl, just because I hadn't before and she and her little brother looked so pathetic ( I know that's part of the act). About 10 blocks later they came up to us again, but we told them no. It's just so sad and shocking to see children as young as 3 and 4 selling things on the street so they can survive. And it's SO hard to say no. 

It's also hard to say no to vendors in the markets. They are very friendly and persistent and keep lowering their prices the longer you hesitate at their booth. I ended up buying a really pretty blue scarf, a cool picture of flowers and a hummingbird made out of leaves and a pair of earrings. Everything is pretty cheap. I loved how colorful the market was. I just wanted to stop and look at everything, but I couldn't because the vendors would try to sell me things and I don't like saying no. 

I also love how colorful the Quechua (indigenous) people are here--their style is so unique and beautiful. The women wear skirts down to mid-calf with stockings usually, and always a black or brown fedora hat with a feather sticking out usually. They wear colorful shawls either wrapped around them or tied around their necks and usually thier hair is in one or two braids wrapped  in a colorful ribbon.  They sit on the sidewalks and try to sell their handmade bags, scarves, jewelry, and other things. They always smile and of course I feel like buying something from every single one of them. 

There is a lot of garbage in the streets and sidewalks and the air is pretty thick with exhaust. I don't think I'm going to run at all while I'm here. I'll find other ways to exercise. No one runs along the streets like in Portland, because the sidewalks are narrow and broken and full of people. And the parks that people do run in are all far away (I would have to take the bus to them), and they're not very safe at most hours of the day. Plus, I think I would get way to much attention going on a run around here. 

There's a blonde girl named Caroline in my program who gets a lot of comments from the men around here--some slightly derogatory. I blend in a little better because of my dark hair and complexion, although I don't dress like an Ecuadorian at all--none of us do. I think I already mentioned the way Ecuadorian women our age dress. 

So I was just talking with my host sister and she said that she and her friends want to take me and the other girls to a club to go dancing tomorrow night! Sounds like fun, and we'll be safe because we'll be in a big group with a couple of Ecuadorianas. 

So, that's all for now! I'm going to go watch SpongeBob Squarepants in Spanish. Yep. 

Coffee, Cell Phones and Jazz

8.14.08.....Day 2: 

So, it's kind of awkward posting about days past but that's just what I'm going to have to do. 

Yesterday was much better than my first day. I woke up after 10 hours of sleep, showered, and ate a grilled cheese sandwich with ham (made by my host mom) with her and Gabi. The other thing she made me I thought was a little strange. She asked me if I wanted coffee with milk, and if I wanted it hot. I said yes, and figured, well yeah I want it hot, doesn't coffee always start out hot? But then she poured milk in a cup and put it in the microwave. I was confused. When it was really hot, she took it out and set it on the table in front of me, along with hers. She took out  a jar of powdered coffee and put a spoonful in her hot milk. I did the same, added some sugar, tasted it, and was surprised that it tasted like a latte.

After breakfast, Corina took me on a drive through the city to a park up on a hill overlooking Quito. I think she said it was called Pichincha. It was full of large straggly trees and grass for ground cover--really not the best looking park--but the air was cleaner than in the city and there was no noise of car alarms and constant honking. (the car alarms here are very sensitive I guess, and are going off all the time. And people honk basically for everything, but never really to be rude.) We took a little stroll in the park and she told me that it's a good place for people to go running. I asked her if it was safe to go alone (which obviously I'm not going to do) and she said yes, because usually there are a lot of people there.

After that, we drove back home to pick up Gabi and go eat lunch. We talked about religion, and I learned that she is Catholic, but believes that all religions are worshipping the same God, and that people shouldn't let different beliefs separate them. I saw a sign for the movie WALL-E and told her about it, and that it's really good and she should see it.

We ate lunch in the mall, in which there was a Taco Bell, MacDonalds, and Pizza Hut. We ordered salads from a place that they like and I enjoyed a bottle of Dasani water, to my surprise. I noticed at the mall that all the women and young women wear really nice shoes-stilettos, boots, or nice flats. They also wear very tight jeans and tight and sometimes revealing blouses. The girls were told to follow the example of the women here, but I don't think that's such a good idea.

After that, she drove me to Católica for another orientation, which was about safety, and useful information for us, all in a handy booklet for us to keep. I noticed how I don't really have the Spanish comprehension to pick up on the subtle (and not subtle) jokes that our director was making. That frustrated me slightly, but I know I'll get better. 

We then all went down to the Movistar to purchase cell phones. The process was very slow, and I had to force myself to be patient and not let my blood pressure rise. I did end up getting my cell phone, and some extra minutes for it.

The highlight of yesterday was meeting up with the people in my group and going to a Jazz Club called El Pobre Diablo (the poor devil). We had a hard time finding the place, and were roaming the streets of Quito for a while, but we asked someone and eventually found it. To our delight there was an performance happening that night, which turned out to be absolutely amazing. The performer was names Shaniqua Monique and she was obviously American. They performed songs like At Last, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Falling by Alicia Keys, and Killing me softly. She was a great singer and the band was fabulous and it was really nice to hear familiar music. 

The four girls took a taxi home together and I got home and used my three keys to get back into mi casa, where Corina was waiting for me to see if I got home safely. I then went into my room, got on my computer, and thats when I learned I had internet. 

So now I'm sitting in my bed, about to take a shower and go to the market today to purchase some hand crafted Ecuadorian items! I'll let you know how that goes :)

Hola

Hi everyone! So I'm really excited because last night I got on my computer, and to my surprise, I have a full wireless signal! That means that I can post things whenever I want, and be on skype prettymuch every night! So if you have an account, be looking out for me!

I am now in my third day of being in Ecuador, and I've written some journal entries that I would like to post. Here they are!

8.12.08....Day 0: To Ecuador I go!

So, as I’m sitting on the plane in about the third hour of a 6 hour flight from Houston to Ecuador, I’m feeling so much better already about my upcoming adventures in Ecuador.

As I walked through security at the airport, away from my mom, brother and Brad (my dad was on the phone with my mom), I could hardly hold back the tears of doubt, fear of the unknown, and worry about my self-competence. My chin was trembling and I was fighting the tears as I put my sandals back on and stuffed my laptop back into my bag, then blew a kiss goodbye to my loved ones, my sources of comfort and security.

But I didn’t have long to let my emotions overwhelm me, because when I reached the terminal I met two other girls flying with me to Ecuador—Sierra and Caroline. On the flight I sat next Sierra and we talked about all of our fears and doubts and how awesome it’s going to be of course, and we made each other feel SO much better.

In Houston, we relaxed with Caroline and ate and then found our way to another Ecuador-bound Oregonian—Grace, which made us feel even better. Then we found Rick, Max, and Imogene, while we were waiting to board. We all talked about our host families and traveling and how nervous and excited we were.

This whole summer I have been freaking out about having to actually USE my Spanish, and I mentioned it to everyone else, who basically feels the same way. But when we were boarding the plane I used Spanish on a real live Spanish speaker for the first time! I had to tell him that he was sitting in my seat (using the polite usted form of course, and showing him my ticket). He was looking at the baggage being loaded into the plane so I asked him, “Ve sus maletas?” (Do you see your suitcases?). He responded in a friendly way but I didn’t really understand what he said.

Then Sierra and Caroline yelled at me to come sit next to them in an empty seat so I had to tell him, “Voy a cambiar sillas, perdón.” (I’m going to change seats, excuse me!). I was SO excited that I had actually communicated with someone! I know it’s silly but it was totally a big deal! And if this is a big deal I can’t even imagine how awesome (and freaking DIFFICULT) it’s going to be to have an actual conversation.

I’m excited and terrified to land and meet my host family and try to communicate with them! I guess it’s not that big of a deal that I didn’t call them. It’s really just an optional thing to do. A few of the others said that they couldn’t get a hold of their host families, either, so I’m trying not to worry.

So, this has been my experience so far! Not very much has happened, but my outlook on everything has changed so much already! Having all these other people going through the same thing is totally comforting, and a good distraction to me having to feel strong negative emotions. I went from freaking out about EVERYTHING, to as of now, at least not worrying about who the people are who I’m going to be in Ecuador with. That was one thing that was causing me stress. The next stress factor that I will take care of is meeting the host family!

8.13.08....Day 1: A tough first day 

So, starting again where I left off yesterday…

When we arrived at the airport, the air was chilly and felt amazing after being in a hot plane. We went through immigration, picked up our bags (both of mine were there if the same condition that I left them!), went through customs, and met up with our host families! I looked around and saw my name on a piece of paper being held by a smiling woman with kind eyes—Corina, standing next to a her daughter Gabriela. They both gave me a big hug and took my bags, welcoming me and asking about my flight. I had to immediately use my Spanish. Maybe it was the fact that I had been so high energy and full of adrenaline, or that I was just excited to use my Spanish, but I communicated very well. I talked to Gabi in the car while we waited for Cori to pay the parking fee. It turns out she’s going to be starting her first year at Católica at the same time I am, so we’ll be able to walk to and from school (it’s a 20 minute walk) and maybe have a class together if we get lucky. I also learned that she is studying medicine, too, so that will be something that we can talk more about later. (I also learned later that she speaks nearly fluent English, but she hasn’t used it) She’s a gorgeous girl with a beautiful smile, and very open and spunky. As we drove through the street-lit city past buildings that I didn’t notice to be very different from those in Portland, we talked more about the flight, what sports I like, their dog, and Corina told me a little about her view on being safe in the city. She says the secret is don’t go out alone, at night go out in big groups, and I forgot the last thing. I was struggling SOO much to catch everything they were both saying. Gabi told me that she was impressed by my speaking ability. She said that normally students can hardly communicate, so I guess I should feel okay.

We arrived at the apartment complex and Cori had to honk multiple times to wake up the guy who opens and closes the locked gate to the parking garage. (She later told me that the manager of the complex is a grumpy old man who insists that it remains closed and locked at all times for safety reasons, which made me feel good, but seemed to annoy Corina.) Once we were safely inside the garage, we took the elevator to the sixth floor to room 6A and went inside. They have a tiny dog that looks like a Chihuahua, but I guess is a sort of miniature Doberman. His name is Dobi, and he is adorable, but he does pee a lot and Gabriela thinks he’s ugly. The apartment is a decent size and has large windows on three of the four edges of the unit. My window is the length of my outside wall. My room is bigger than the one at home and my bed is a double rather than a twin, so yay! I was SO excited about everything last night, wanting to talk about everything and ask questions. It was all so new and amazing. It took me forever to fall asleep (even though the bed was really cozy), because my mind was racing all over the place. I was thinking about the cool people in my program, my amazing host family and how lucky I felt, my Spanish and any mistakes I had made, and what the heck would happen tomorrow.

One more thing that I forgot to put in earlier is that I couldn’t have gotten a more perfect host mom. My first night here she told me that she wanted me to feel at home, and comfortable to tell her anything—any problems, food I don’t like, any questions I have. She made me feel very welcome and at home, and so did Gabi. She treats me like a friend who she’s known forever, and Corina treats me like a daughter, even calling me “mi hija”, which means my daughter. 

So, after I finally did fall asleep, I didn’t stir at all until the next morning when the bright sky lit up my room. Something different here is that the sun here is MUCH brighter than in Oregon. It was overcast all day and I was squinting much more than usual. Anyway, I woke up and got my things together to take a shower (tomar una ducha, literally, “take a douche”, thought that was awkward). Corina had asked me the night before what I usually do in the mornings, so she knew I was going to shower, and showed me how it worked and everything. It’s a normal shower, but I had problems with it this morning. I turned it on and literally for 7 minutes it was glacially cold. I figured after about 5 minutes that I would just have to suck it up if I wanted to get clean, so I got my hair wet, but wasn’t being very successful at cleaning myself. Luckily the water finally warmed up and I ended up being able to take a warm, normal shower after all, although I was trying to go as fast as I could so I wouldn’t be rude. (Corina later told me how Gabi takes 3 hour long showers, sheesh.)

 After showering I got myself together but then realized my hairdryer didn’t fit into the outlet, which is weird, because it said online that Ecuador has the same outlets and everything—I think this apartment is just out of date. It was no problem, though, because Cori has a converter, so I got to blowdry my hair. After that she made me scrambled eggs and I ate some cornflakes in blackberry yogurt (for some reason they don’t have milk).

She then drove me to Católica, giving me a taste of terrible and unsafe Ecuadorian driving (not her—she was very safe, but no one else on the street was). She made sure I took note of landmarks and buildings that will help me recognize where I am and figure out where I need to turn to get to school. We parked, she showed me around the campus, and then I met up with my Oregonian friends in the Orientation, where a nice and funny man talked to us about health concerns in very slow, easy Spanish.

After that we were talked to by a nurse who I didn’t really understand (no one really did), and then we left to take our Spanish placement tests. I did all right, got myself into level 4 out of 7 (I think a few people in our group got 5 as the highest. 7 is basically fluent). Then our resident directors Marlene and Franco helped us figure out what classes we want to register for. I’m hoping to get into Ceramics, Yoga, and the Ecuadorian Amazon, on top of my Spanish classes. The whole process was pretty stressful, but we all got through it. After that we ate and I hydrated myself, then went to an information session about activities that we can get involved in while we’re here. Their powerpoint was broken, and I’ve learned recently that I’m a very visual learner, so it was difficult for me to understand what the presenters were saying—mostly because they were speaking very quickly. I did get a few things out of the presentation. Some of the girls and I want to join the Salsa club and try to learn to dance a little bit (none of us are dancers). Another thing that I liked about the session was that the drama department put on a one-act play, which I hardly understood at all, which frustrated me, but I did enjoy because of the actors.

After this, we were all exhausted, but wanted to explore just a little during our 1-hour break. We walked across the street to a Movistar store (the most popular cell phone company) because most of us need to get phones. It turns out the best way to go for me is to use my actual phone but get a new Ecuadorian pay as you go SIM card for it. The only complication is that a technician needs to work on my phone to unlock something in the phone so that the device will work with the Ecuadorian card. The guy seemed like he knew what he was talking about and said that the phone would still work at any time with my other SIM card, back in the US. So, tomorrow we’re going to go back (another girl is doing the same thing), and I’ll have them set up my phone for only $13.

While we were waiting for Sierra to finish a call, a few of us were sitting outside Movistar when we saw a tiny, literally less than 2 feet tall, indigenous boy wandering around by himself crying. His clothes were filthy and there was no one around who he seemed to belong to. Max tried to talk to him and ask where his mama was but he just stared back. We looked around and Max saw another dirty child down the street by herself. Max talked to her and figured out they were brother and sister and we brought them together again. It was crazy! They were all by themselves without their parents, in the street. The girl looked about 9 or 10 and the boy was hardly past walking age. I guess that’s going to be the first of many crazy things I’m going to see here, because of the poverty.

After that we were all exhausted but had a salsa class to attend so we willingly did. It was pretty easy and fun and I’m excited to learn more, although I don’t really like the fact that the only way to is to really get up close and personal with an Ecuadoriano. We’ll see.

I met up with my host mom at 5:30 where we’d planned to meet and we rode the bus home. I feel like my Spanish confidence and skills deteriorated throughout the day. Yesterday I was totally confident in myself, but today I was really doubtful of my ability. I felt like everyone was communicating better and knew how to say things more than I did, and it got to me throughout the day. It’s just so frustrating and exhausting trying my very best to understand, and communicate and I just can’t.

I’m feeling like that right now. Exhausted and frustrated, and unsure of my abilities. I just turned down a dinner with my host mom, sister and her friend and her son, telling her that I really need to rest right now and rest my mind and sleep. So I’m going to try again to get a hold of my family or Brad, then go to sleep. Maybe tomorrow will be better.