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 :)