Los Andes
On the equator
Group on the equator
View of San Antonio de Pichincha (city in the middle of the world)
Independence Heroes Monument in the Plaza Grande in Quito's Old Town
Presidential Palace-Rafael Correa does business here
Ecuadorian Flag on top of the presidential palace
View from the plaza inside of the cathedral on the Plaza Grande
El Panecillo y la Virgen
Avocado tree in my backyard
View of Cotopaxi from my urbanizacion
Well, it's been a little over a week, but it still feels like I've been here for a while. I've gotten used to the ways of life, to an extent, and all is well. Here's a recap:
I adjusted pretty well to the altitude. After spending one night in Quito though, during which I slept very well and quite a lot, the group went to a hostel, Rancho Alegre, in San Antonio de Pichincha, which is known for being the city in the middle of the world. For tourists' sake, it's supposed to be on the equator, although it's off by about 8 seconds. But, I know I've crossed the real equator quite a few times because driving around the countryside takes you to more towns that are "on the equator" but really aren't, but the roads cross the equator quite a few times. The town we were in was pretty small and didn't really have much going for it, but people were nice. I was part of a smaller group that had to walk into a ferreteria (hardware store) and just talk to whoever was there about their business and so forth. The guy we were talking to was pretty friendly. We learned more about the city and what was going on. Apparently, the earthquake in Peru really frightened people into buying more tools and stuff to prepare for an earthquake here.
Orientation took about four days. The group seems to be getting along really well. The academic directors are also pretty nice. We talked about health (with great pictures of worms that people have grown in their digestive track-I can't wait to see mine!), safety, classes, and all of that kind of stuff. We had a very intensive introduction to salsa class that just reinforced my belief that I cannot dance. It was fun though and I hope to learn more, as well as Cambuche (sp?) and others. I learned how to play billiards correctly and also how to play mafia, which is fun with lots of people. We also watched an Ecuadorian movie, La Titan del Ring, which was pretty much the same as Nacho Libre, only in Spanish and slightly more depressing. I also walked right up to one of the mountains, just because I wanted to reach the Andes. The foothills probably start in the towns, but it was cool to just wander to the outskirts of San Antonio and start climbing a mountain. Also, one morning, I woke up at 4:00 to see the lunar eclipse and Mars, which was the closest it would have been to Earth for another 250 years, but I just missed it, by minutes, and could only see clouds.
I went to La Mitad del Mundo (the equator) with a pretty large group of people. It was pretty nice. The museum was definitely worth the $3.00 we paid. We even got a tour which really taught us a lot about the indigenous cultures here. However, it isn't the real equator, but just a wrong guess some Frenchman (I think) made many years before GPS came along to point to the real equator. Our last night at Rancho Alegre, we heard some Andean folk music, which was pretty neat. I bought a c.d. so if anyone wants to hear some, let me know. The next day, I went to a town, Calacali, for a project. Three others and I had to take a bus on our own to the town, walk around and talk to people there, and then find our way back to our hotel in Quito, all on our own. It was actually a pretty good time. We wandered around the fairly small town for several hours. It's known for being the home of the original monument of La Mitad del Mundo, but it also isn't on the equator but is very close. We talked to a guy for an hour and a half about his life, the town, and animals. He was really nice. His wife actually found us wandering around in the outskirts of town and invited us into their home. She left us with her husband who apparently just wanted to talk to us about how he used to be a guide in the jungle, be a farmer in the fields, own a hostel, and now own a salon. He also taught us all these words for different animals that I really don't remember. He had a daughter living with him and she had three kids and they were all really cute. They were fascinated by us and hung around, though when we tried talking to one girl, she kept saying "No entiendo" because our spanish must have been different than what she was used to. I can't help but notice the sensation that I cause pretty much wherever I go. I think it's going to take a while to get used to. Overall it was an interesting visit. Among other attributes, the town also has roosters tied up to trees in one of its public squares and people were cutting up a very recently alive pig right on the sidewalk where we were headed; we took a detour.
Back in Quito, I walked around the Mariscal (touristy part) where I ate a croissant with Nutella. Then I ventured into the colonial section with a group. Taking the bus is really easy and it only costs about a quarter to go to wherever you want, one way. The buses are kind of sketchy though-some are really dirty while others have televisions; none really follow driving rules. Old Town was swarming with people. We made it to a plaza and saw a monument and the presidential palace. We took a tour of a cathedral off the Plaza Grande which was nice, and also included a guided tour, and only cost $1.00. It was quite an extensive tour: we saw a tomb of an important figure (whose name I forgot, oops), some catacombs from above, a library, altars, clothing, lots of paintings, and much more. The tour took so long that we soon had to go back to the hotel for a group meeting. I want to explore some more when I'm back in Quito. A few observations from just walking around Quito (as well as San Antonio) is that there are stray dogs everywhere. Most of them are pretty mangy and likely have fleas, but I want to save them all. That won't happen, but I see them literally everywhere, even in my gated community. Also, lots of litter and closed stores. I guess the economy here isn't quite as good as it used to be-perhaps because of dollarization.
Right now, I am in los Chillos, a valley surrounded by the Andes. It's really nice and quiet where I am, but the place where the language school is is kind of noisy and polluted. I'm living in Sangolqui, the main city in Valle de los Chillos. It has a huge mall and a Mega-Maxi (superstore like Wal-Mart). I've travelled around here a lot and I have gone into Quito a few times with my host family, which is really a great family. I am living with a mom and a sister, and there's a dad who stops by all the time though the parents are "divorced" (don't really know what that means). I have been hanging out with my host sister and her boyfriend a lot. We played soccer, during which I scored three goals on Xavier who previously believed that women could not play soccer (I don't know where these skills are coming from) and we met these three kids who live in a huge house but are really poor. Their parents only work in the house and the kids kind of just hang out in the neighborhood during the day. They had two puppies, which they were treating pretty badly. I don't really know yet what to make of the situation. The next day was my host sister's 21st birthday, which was kind of awkward becuase I met more people: her dad, grandma, and cousin. But we didn't do much because she just had her wisdom teeth out and is allergic to most pain relievers so she was in a lot of pain. On Monday night, we drove into Quito to watch Disturbia, which was interesting. The boyfriend, Xavier, drives very, very fast and slightly carelessly, which was a little scary but kind of exciting. At least I was wearing my seatbelt, which a lot of people around here don't do. I also went with my family to visit extended family members (grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws) on Sunday and eat a big meal with them. It was pretty nice. We also watch a lot of the t.v., mostly from the smaller t.v. in the master bedroom while the whole family sits on the bed. It's fun watching t.v. in spanish because it's a challenge to figure out what's going on. I especially love telenovelas and look forwardto watching lots. There are a lot of American shows and movies on, though they are dubbed or have subtitles in Spanish. I watched Mary Poppins, Bruce Almighty, and a show about conspiracies about 9-11. Sometimes I'll hear music in english and feel right at home. We have also gone to San Luis, this huge mall. It has some stores that I recognize but lots that I don't. Everything is pretty much the same though. Clothing is pretty expensive, especially since many people in this nation live in poverty.
The house I'm living in is quite nice; it might even be bigger than my house at home. There is a bottom floor with a maid's quarters (yes, there is a maid, but she doesn't live here) and an entertainment room with a HUGE t.v., a bar, a game table, and a bathroom. Going up the stairs from there is the kitchen and dining room. There is also a room with a jacuzzi and another shower, but it only opens up from the backyard. I don't really understand this, but it's pretty nice. Up some more stairs is the study, a sitting room, another sitting room, and another bathroom. Then the next floor has my room and my sister's room as well as a full bathroom and a balcony. Then more stairs lead to the master bedroom with a large closet and full bathroom and another balcony. The tv in the master bedroom is as big as my tv at home. Then up more stairs to another balcony. All this in a very protected house with wired fence on top of an already large fence, as well as two garage doors and front fence that is locked at all times. There are fences around everyone's homes here and people really take their security really seriously, even though we are already in a gated community with guards and another fence. Some people even just put broken glass and rusty nails on top of their fences to keep intruders at bay. There is also a garden in the backyard, as well as lots of bird cages. My host mother likes to garden and she has aguacate (avacado) trees, lemon trees, and mandarin orange trees, as well as another fruit tree that I can't remember. Also, there are some really pretty tropical flowers. She told me it rains a lot here, but so far no rain. There are also some vegetables growing, like lettuce, carrots, and radishes (I think). The birds she has a tropical birds like parrots, cockatos, and others. They make quite a racket in the morning. My room faces the backyard as well as the forest and the soccer field outside the walls of the house. I feel locked in most of the time, mainly because I don't know how to open the doors, but I'm fine as long as I get out of the house once in a while.
The food has been pretty good. I've been eating some slightly questionable things (including a soup that is made with cow hooves, which is apparently somewhat common here), but so far all has been good. The tamales we ate as our first meal were fantastic. I love the soups and desserts. Here's an incomplete list of food and drink I have experienced: tomate de agua drink, lots of tea, tomato-cheese soup, spinach soup, lots of chicken prepared in various ways, lots of rice, lots of eggs (every morning), yucca bread and yucca french fries, yogurt in a cup, and many other culinary delights. They feed us a lot here. At Rancho Alegre, it was thre meals and two snacks. Lunch is huge-soup, then main part with rice, potatoes, and some kind of meat, and then dessert. I expected to lose weight while here, but that won't be likely if things continue going the way they are now. The first day with my family I didn't eat much just because I wasn't hungry. Most people don't eat dinner here unless it's for a dinner party. This means that people eat a snack much later in the day after a late (2:00-3:00) lunch. This is supposedly better for the digestion, especially at a high altitude. My mother told me that it was hurting her (not in a mean way, more of in a caring way) that I wasn't eating so I took a banana. The whole accepting and refusing food thing is going to be interesting.
Well, I'll probably get back on soon to write more and to fill in the gaps. I can't really remember everything because I've done so much, so I'll look back over stuff and update later. Ciao!
I adjusted pretty well to the altitude. After spending one night in Quito though, during which I slept very well and quite a lot, the group went to a hostel, Rancho Alegre, in San Antonio de Pichincha, which is known for being the city in the middle of the world. For tourists' sake, it's supposed to be on the equator, although it's off by about 8 seconds. But, I know I've crossed the real equator quite a few times because driving around the countryside takes you to more towns that are "on the equator" but really aren't, but the roads cross the equator quite a few times. The town we were in was pretty small and didn't really have much going for it, but people were nice. I was part of a smaller group that had to walk into a ferreteria (hardware store) and just talk to whoever was there about their business and so forth. The guy we were talking to was pretty friendly. We learned more about the city and what was going on. Apparently, the earthquake in Peru really frightened people into buying more tools and stuff to prepare for an earthquake here.
Orientation took about four days. The group seems to be getting along really well. The academic directors are also pretty nice. We talked about health (with great pictures of worms that people have grown in their digestive track-I can't wait to see mine!), safety, classes, and all of that kind of stuff. We had a very intensive introduction to salsa class that just reinforced my belief that I cannot dance. It was fun though and I hope to learn more, as well as Cambuche (sp?) and others. I learned how to play billiards correctly and also how to play mafia, which is fun with lots of people. We also watched an Ecuadorian movie, La Titan del Ring, which was pretty much the same as Nacho Libre, only in Spanish and slightly more depressing. I also walked right up to one of the mountains, just because I wanted to reach the Andes. The foothills probably start in the towns, but it was cool to just wander to the outskirts of San Antonio and start climbing a mountain. Also, one morning, I woke up at 4:00 to see the lunar eclipse and Mars, which was the closest it would have been to Earth for another 250 years, but I just missed it, by minutes, and could only see clouds.
I went to La Mitad del Mundo (the equator) with a pretty large group of people. It was pretty nice. The museum was definitely worth the $3.00 we paid. We even got a tour which really taught us a lot about the indigenous cultures here. However, it isn't the real equator, but just a wrong guess some Frenchman (I think) made many years before GPS came along to point to the real equator. Our last night at Rancho Alegre, we heard some Andean folk music, which was pretty neat. I bought a c.d. so if anyone wants to hear some, let me know. The next day, I went to a town, Calacali, for a project. Three others and I had to take a bus on our own to the town, walk around and talk to people there, and then find our way back to our hotel in Quito, all on our own. It was actually a pretty good time. We wandered around the fairly small town for several hours. It's known for being the home of the original monument of La Mitad del Mundo, but it also isn't on the equator but is very close. We talked to a guy for an hour and a half about his life, the town, and animals. He was really nice. His wife actually found us wandering around in the outskirts of town and invited us into their home. She left us with her husband who apparently just wanted to talk to us about how he used to be a guide in the jungle, be a farmer in the fields, own a hostel, and now own a salon. He also taught us all these words for different animals that I really don't remember. He had a daughter living with him and she had three kids and they were all really cute. They were fascinated by us and hung around, though when we tried talking to one girl, she kept saying "No entiendo" because our spanish must have been different than what she was used to. I can't help but notice the sensation that I cause pretty much wherever I go. I think it's going to take a while to get used to. Overall it was an interesting visit. Among other attributes, the town also has roosters tied up to trees in one of its public squares and people were cutting up a very recently alive pig right on the sidewalk where we were headed; we took a detour.
Back in Quito, I walked around the Mariscal (touristy part) where I ate a croissant with Nutella. Then I ventured into the colonial section with a group. Taking the bus is really easy and it only costs about a quarter to go to wherever you want, one way. The buses are kind of sketchy though-some are really dirty while others have televisions; none really follow driving rules. Old Town was swarming with people. We made it to a plaza and saw a monument and the presidential palace. We took a tour of a cathedral off the Plaza Grande which was nice, and also included a guided tour, and only cost $1.00. It was quite an extensive tour: we saw a tomb of an important figure (whose name I forgot, oops), some catacombs from above, a library, altars, clothing, lots of paintings, and much more. The tour took so long that we soon had to go back to the hotel for a group meeting. I want to explore some more when I'm back in Quito. A few observations from just walking around Quito (as well as San Antonio) is that there are stray dogs everywhere. Most of them are pretty mangy and likely have fleas, but I want to save them all. That won't happen, but I see them literally everywhere, even in my gated community. Also, lots of litter and closed stores. I guess the economy here isn't quite as good as it used to be-perhaps because of dollarization.
Right now, I am in los Chillos, a valley surrounded by the Andes. It's really nice and quiet where I am, but the place where the language school is is kind of noisy and polluted. I'm living in Sangolqui, the main city in Valle de los Chillos. It has a huge mall and a Mega-Maxi (superstore like Wal-Mart). I've travelled around here a lot and I have gone into Quito a few times with my host family, which is really a great family. I am living with a mom and a sister, and there's a dad who stops by all the time though the parents are "divorced" (don't really know what that means). I have been hanging out with my host sister and her boyfriend a lot. We played soccer, during which I scored three goals on Xavier who previously believed that women could not play soccer (I don't know where these skills are coming from) and we met these three kids who live in a huge house but are really poor. Their parents only work in the house and the kids kind of just hang out in the neighborhood during the day. They had two puppies, which they were treating pretty badly. I don't really know yet what to make of the situation. The next day was my host sister's 21st birthday, which was kind of awkward becuase I met more people: her dad, grandma, and cousin. But we didn't do much because she just had her wisdom teeth out and is allergic to most pain relievers so she was in a lot of pain. On Monday night, we drove into Quito to watch Disturbia, which was interesting. The boyfriend, Xavier, drives very, very fast and slightly carelessly, which was a little scary but kind of exciting. At least I was wearing my seatbelt, which a lot of people around here don't do. I also went with my family to visit extended family members (grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws) on Sunday and eat a big meal with them. It was pretty nice. We also watch a lot of the t.v., mostly from the smaller t.v. in the master bedroom while the whole family sits on the bed. It's fun watching t.v. in spanish because it's a challenge to figure out what's going on. I especially love telenovelas and look forwardto watching lots. There are a lot of American shows and movies on, though they are dubbed or have subtitles in Spanish. I watched Mary Poppins, Bruce Almighty, and a show about conspiracies about 9-11. Sometimes I'll hear music in english and feel right at home. We have also gone to San Luis, this huge mall. It has some stores that I recognize but lots that I don't. Everything is pretty much the same though. Clothing is pretty expensive, especially since many people in this nation live in poverty.
The house I'm living in is quite nice; it might even be bigger than my house at home. There is a bottom floor with a maid's quarters (yes, there is a maid, but she doesn't live here) and an entertainment room with a HUGE t.v., a bar, a game table, and a bathroom. Going up the stairs from there is the kitchen and dining room. There is also a room with a jacuzzi and another shower, but it only opens up from the backyard. I don't really understand this, but it's pretty nice. Up some more stairs is the study, a sitting room, another sitting room, and another bathroom. Then the next floor has my room and my sister's room as well as a full bathroom and a balcony. Then more stairs lead to the master bedroom with a large closet and full bathroom and another balcony. The tv in the master bedroom is as big as my tv at home. Then up more stairs to another balcony. All this in a very protected house with wired fence on top of an already large fence, as well as two garage doors and front fence that is locked at all times. There are fences around everyone's homes here and people really take their security really seriously, even though we are already in a gated community with guards and another fence. Some people even just put broken glass and rusty nails on top of their fences to keep intruders at bay. There is also a garden in the backyard, as well as lots of bird cages. My host mother likes to garden and she has aguacate (avacado) trees, lemon trees, and mandarin orange trees, as well as another fruit tree that I can't remember. Also, there are some really pretty tropical flowers. She told me it rains a lot here, but so far no rain. There are also some vegetables growing, like lettuce, carrots, and radishes (I think). The birds she has a tropical birds like parrots, cockatos, and others. They make quite a racket in the morning. My room faces the backyard as well as the forest and the soccer field outside the walls of the house. I feel locked in most of the time, mainly because I don't know how to open the doors, but I'm fine as long as I get out of the house once in a while.
The food has been pretty good. I've been eating some slightly questionable things (including a soup that is made with cow hooves, which is apparently somewhat common here), but so far all has been good. The tamales we ate as our first meal were fantastic. I love the soups and desserts. Here's an incomplete list of food and drink I have experienced: tomate de agua drink, lots of tea, tomato-cheese soup, spinach soup, lots of chicken prepared in various ways, lots of rice, lots of eggs (every morning), yucca bread and yucca french fries, yogurt in a cup, and many other culinary delights. They feed us a lot here. At Rancho Alegre, it was thre meals and two snacks. Lunch is huge-soup, then main part with rice, potatoes, and some kind of meat, and then dessert. I expected to lose weight while here, but that won't be likely if things continue going the way they are now. The first day with my family I didn't eat much just because I wasn't hungry. Most people don't eat dinner here unless it's for a dinner party. This means that people eat a snack much later in the day after a late (2:00-3:00) lunch. This is supposedly better for the digestion, especially at a high altitude. My mother told me that it was hurting her (not in a mean way, more of in a caring way) that I wasn't eating so I took a banana. The whole accepting and refusing food thing is going to be interesting.
Well, I'll probably get back on soon to write more and to fill in the gaps. I can't really remember everything because I've done so much, so I'll look back over stuff and update later. Ciao!
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