.

the return.

2009-12-21T21:59:00.000-08:00

i think this will be my last post ecuador related. which makes me sad. also, i apologize now if i have ever repeated myself here. in ecuador, i did not use a planner, which is usually something i can't live without. i didn't own a calendar, or really keep track of anything. this was a really great break, but it also makes me forget things. so sorry. i also did not keep up with pop culture or news articles....

i feel like i am so distant from ecuador here. all sorts of things happened, and now they're so far away i can't touch them. i will never be able to touch them again. they're intangible or fake. a dream. i dont want to be that person. that person who comes home from abroad and cant stop blabbering about being in a place slightly different from home. even if it was canada, you know people who do this, and you want to hit them. don't lie.
how do you relate your time abroad to those around you? i dont know what to say when anyone asks to hear a story. really guys? thats like saying, hey, can you sum up your past four months in a anecdote?
what do you want to hear? what kind of image of ecuador would you like me to portray?
i could say whatever i want. i could make up tales. i could tell you some sad sad things that i saw, horrible injustices. i could tell you how much fun i had jumping off cliffs and sitting on beaches. i could tell you it was horrible, or wonderful. and you would have no reason to not believe every word i threw at you.

so funny story, my last day in quito i was slightly kidnapped by my host brother. i was out and about all day, doing last minute shopping. then i came home and my host brother says, do you want to go to a play? and i say sure. then we go pick up his girlfriend and her cousin, then we drive around in horrible traffic, then we decide not to go to the play at all, then we go to the mall and unsuccessfully find a suitcase for his mother, then we eat at waffles and crepes, then we go to an expensive bar and stay out until 2:30. Mind you, i am wearing a measly t shirt and jeans because everything else was packed. oh, and i had to wake up at 5 am for my flight home. oh, and i still had to pack stuff and write out my flight directions. and thats how my life goes.
his girlfriend's cousin works for UNESCO. This is probably the coolest thing in the entire world. besides maybe working for UNICEF. i grilled her about every detail of her position. she seems to think its not a big deal.

my host mom woke up at 5 am to drive me to the airport. i didnt ask her to or anything. she just woke up like it was natural and threw my bags in her trunk. the drive was quiet, anxious. she gave me 3 hand knit scarves and told me she had to leave right away because she was blocking the receiving lane. no time for tears, just hugs.

i got incredibly annoyed in the airport because i had to stand in 8 different lines. the ecuadorian security guard made me throw out my brand new jar of jam. and i couldnt bring any water past the entry gate. i.hate.airports. i got a lot of sleep on flight 1 so i wasnt too tired. then i had to literally sprint across the houston airport to get my connection to milwaukee. that thing is the size of a small city. i was exasperated. then i sat in seat A1 on flight 2, which was very strange. i think this made the flight attendant feel like we were friends. unfortunately i wasn't really in the mood to chat with him. i think he took that personally. i was also irrationally upset he was not speaking spanish.

i really, really hate subdivisions. did you know they scar mother earth like unsightly spider veins? think about that one.

on being back.
life is strangely exactly the same here. i see no significant differences. i wish i could show everyone exactly what i saw, like with a movie. then maybe things would be different.
my hair is a little blonder, my skin's a little tanner, and this year i'm actually ok hearing rat pack christmas on repeat. but other than that i'm not too different either.

i went paragliding when i was at the beach. no, that is not the kind with the boat. i will post pictures someday on my picasa site. i also might post pictures of me cooking with my grandmother from milwaukee so you can all be jealous of her amazing lasagna.

goodbye for now blog, i'm sure we'll hang out again real soon. & happy holidays readers.

one week.

2009-12-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

hey all.
my flight leaves at the crack of dawn a week from today. tomorrow i am going to the beach, and it is blizzarding in wisco. i dont know how i feel about that, blizzards. yesterday i went rafting in the amazon, the weekend before i went to cotopaxi national park and the day before that i went up the teleferiqo on mt. pichincha. basically i´ve been doing all sorts of things! so i´ll give a little blurb about all of them real quickly-

Leaving Otavalo-last thursday and friday- my host parents got me a going away cake! it was really nice. we took some pictures and stuff, and i posted them up. unfortnately i hadnt done laundry in a long time so i look odd in all the photos. the next day i said goodbye to them all in small doses. my host dad was last, because he is just at his store all day. this would have been incredibly more sad if i hadnt been crammed in a small taxi like a clown on the way there. and our taxista kept making us laugh. my host dad did look genuinely sad to see me go though. we promised to write and stuff. i am definitely lucky to have had such great experiences with both my host families.

Teleferiqo-saturday is kind of like a ski lift, but with cabinas, that takes you to the top of the highest mountain surrounding quito. there is hiking and gorgeous views. unfortunately we went on a saturday when it was packed and spent more time waiting in line than on the mountain. but it was beautiful. it was also freezing cold, and by the time we were a the top we were starving, and the only food place open had stale chips, which i wolfed down in negative 2 seconds. then a group of people started singing spanish religious songs. this is NOT comforting at this altitude, let me assure you.

Festivals de Quito- week long- almost forgot about this. Quito´s founding was on dec 6th, and every year there are week and a half long festivals celebrating just this one day. there are bull fights, parades, parties, and all out craziness. i went out on saturday the 5th and the streets were extremely crowded. it was incredibly fun though. we ended up going to a street party and dancing until very early in the morning.

Cotopaxi National Park- sunday-Cotopaxi is an active volcano, 45 minutes outside of quito. it has its own huge national park and you have to pay to get in, as well as to get a guide to drive you. otherwise its a 10 hr hike. the volcano was actually covered with clouds and my camera was out of battery, so i will steal photos from my friends and post them later. but this was the second day in a row i was hanging out in clouds all afternoon (the first being teleferiqo). we also saw wild horses running around which were really gorgeous

Quito-monday- monday i went to class in the new CIMAs building, which i hadn´t visited yet. its new location is up in the north end of quito, on a hill with an incredible view of the city. this building is so pimp, i cannot believe i only get to spend two days in it. its like not being in quito at all. it actually kind of felt like a hotel. this day i was extremely tired, and class was pretty pointless. i went home and packed, and left for the amazon for two days.

Tena- monday-wednesday- Tena is the capital of the province of Puyo, one of the three provinces in the oriente, aka amazon region. its a 5 or 6 hr bus ride from quito, and we got in pretty late, so we just slept upon arrival. the next day we took a 15 min bus to archidona, to go to a monkey park. we hiked around for a bit and took a bunch of pictures of foilage. yes, i love pictures of foilage, dont judge. wednesday we went on a full day rafting trip with some guides and three random people who were all traveling alone. it was kind of surreal. we did a class 4, which is second to only class 5, which i dont think you actually raft on. this being my first time rafting it was kind of scary, but fun. at one point the guide let us get out and slide down a rapid. i guess i slid down the more intense side on accident and i was not prepared to go under. i had no idea what end was up, or where the rocks were. needless to say, i will never do that again. most terrifying moment i have probably ever had. overall it was really fun, and the scenery was breathtaking.

thursday-today- classes were canceled because i´m giving my presentation tomorrow. this is upsetting because if i had known this i would have been able to do a jungle tour in tena, and stay another day. oh well. tomorrow i´m leaving for the beach, then i have one day in quito to bum around, and thursday the 17th i´m coming home. i have already planned a food itinerary for my whole first week back :)

see you soon

the harsh reality of my study abroad coming to a close

2009-12-06T18:57:00.000-08:00

this is a post from actually- nov.

I’m trying to wrap my mind around the concept of leaving this country in three weeks, and its making me dizzy. I feel like theres so much more to learn. There’s so much more to do. Theres so much more to see. Ecuador is one third the size of Texas, and somehow, even though I’ve traveled to at least 10 cities, I still haven’t seen the whole country. I guess the Andes would be the biggest part of this dilemma because they make bus travel take 3 times what it actually should be, but I’m not necessarily referring only to terrain.

I guess this is a testament to what I’m going to miss about my beloved Ecuador.

Random things covered in primary colors- the colors of the Ecuadorian flag
Hanging out in origami class with my host dad.
Waking up to the mountains outside my window.
People putting way too much faith in plastic bags.
Chattering with friendly taxistas, and asking them their favorite things about Ecuador, and if Jackies with me, their favorite dirty words.
Panaderias, Colada Morada, and my Quito host mom’s ingenious cooking inventions.
HOT futbol players, and everyones obsession with them.
The phrases que beastia, que chevere, achachay, and mis guaguas.
Terms of endearment that include, but that are not limited to- mi amor, mi hija, mi vida flaco, gordo, (my love, my child, my live , skinny, fatty) and people answering the phone using these.
Every staff member at my internship except Miguel, because hes a douche.
Succesfully speaking with locals daily. It still baffles me that that understand my horrible excuse for Spanish.
Boys who can dance.
Living on Rio Coca (my street in Quito). For some reason I just love my street.
When Emilia swoops into the classroom and shakes things up like a storm. Or when she sings you are my sunshine and talks about love. She loves to love.

Its like I want to hug everyone and everything and somehow take a piece of them with me.

Like Antonio, one of CIMAs staff members. Sometimes we coincidentally ride the bus together. He wears sweaters and collared shirts everyday. I love him. Analouisa. I love her name, and shes always got the student’s backs. CIMAs is 10 times cooler because of her. My neighbors here in Otavalo, (I have also refered to them as ‘keepers of the key’). They’re both about 4.5 feet tall, elderly, and adorable. This morning the husband told me I was beautiful, even though I haven’t showered and am only wearing a t-shirt. This is a shout out to him. The guy who makes my eggs in the morning, who I secretly adore. Not in a romantic way, but in a I really appreciate the presence of this human being sort of way. I don’t think he has any idea how sweet I think he is because we barely ever conversate. But I always burst into my dad’s tienda in the morning really excited to say buenas dias to him and he looks at me like I’m a lunatic. I love him. My host brother Sebastian, from the Quito fam, who actually lives far away in Guayaquil. He is the sweetest boy alive. The other day he was having an arguement with his girlfriend on skype, but he put it on hold so he could kiss me on the cheek and properly say goodbye. What a stand up guy. Guillermo, my host abuelo from Quito, will definitely be missed in a big way. We like to joke, and I think that our relationship is very special. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. My host dad from Otavalo gets a special spot too. He wears Bill Crosby sweaters and always looks out for me. Hes a dork, and totally ok with it. Hes not into American/European labels, or being fake. Hes completely ok just being himself. Anabel! Anabel is so expressive, so loving, so open and lively. I’m glad people like her exist in life. She gets it. I have decided she is my Ecuadorian aunt.

Quien mas? Quien mas?

Its hard to think about how attached I am here, and how I’d love to stay, but how I’m also excited to go home. Its also makes me wonder how it will ever be possible to do and see all the things in the world I want to. How can you ever really appreciate all there is to appreciate? Or is it that you should just appreciate the fact that there is so much to appreciate?

I have officially been bitten by the travel bug.

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What has study abroad taught me about myself?

I have realized that I really don’t like sharing, unless its something that I don’t want, like food items I don’t enjoy. I have also realized that I am picky with my food, mainly my meat, which I’d prefer not to eat, but I’m getting better. Little things annoy me, like barking dogs, and when people clear their throats once every minute. I prefer it when people reply to my emails in a timely fashion.

People can both support the same cause, but go about it in a completely different way. They can both live love and breathe the cause, but despise each other.

I like to fix things, and organize them.

I feel that the education system fails me at least 7 times a day. I blame neoliberalismo.

A Day in the Life: Otavalo:

Wake up at 6 am with the sun thanks to my lack of drapes, but lay in bed snoozing until 6:35, which is more acceptable.
Debate whether or not I can go another day without showering.
Bus to my host padres tienda and eat two eggs, pan, juice, and tea, prepared by a co-worker of my padre. My favorite meal of the day.
Go to INFA for pasantia, maybe sit in on therapy. Go to a house visit, but not before or without running errands with Sofie and Anabel. (Because we might as well run personal errands and be late for our house visits if its on the way.)
Come back to INFA, watch the computer like a hawk in case it is left unattended. If this happens, jump on computer and check email as quickly as humanly possible.
Listen to Tito play reggaeton and disco music for me on his cell phone. Mind you, Tito is like 40.
Get harassed by Tito and Christian who INSIST I eat soup and rice for lunch. Decline 8 times.
Leave for lunch- this consists of me hunting down the lady with the 1 dollar sandwiches. I love her.
Spend some time in my favorite internet café.
Dink around in Otavalo, buy something I don’t need in the market, maybe go somewhere random with my host parents. Pretend to work on my paper.
Go home with my host parents around 8 or 9 in a taxi stuffed with me, alejandro (12), la nena (1), and the padres. This is also a favorite part of the day, I am not being sarcastic.
Eat dinner, usually rice, French fries, and meat. If I’m lucky I get another egg instead.
Pass out in my bed at 9:30.

A Day in the Life: Quito

Wake up at 7:05 (thank god for curtains).
Shower, eat breakfast- still my favorite meal- fruit, bread, my host mom’s famous juice.
Bus with Anna to CIMAs,
Sit through boring lectures, usually about nothingness.
Avoid Emilia at all costs, lest she swoop in and start a speech about more nothingness.
Spend one or two hours getting lunch.
Sit through my favorite class- Spanish. Stare at Beto's moustache
Search for something to do in the 2 hours of daylight remaining, get home before 6.
Dink around on the internet, pretend to read the bibliography.
Go upstairs at 7:30 to drink coffee in my abuelas kitchen. Steal the newspaper from Guillermo.
10 pm- curl up in my huge bed

today today

2009-11-19T14:14:00.000-08:00

Today we did a house visit up in Peguche, where the engagement party was. This was probably the worst case I have seen. I wish I could have photographed it. There is a family there with 8 kids, and a single dad. The mom ran off with another man a year ago to Colombia. Seven of the kids haven’t been to school since! Their house is a three room cement block, with dirt floors. There was no bathroom, and no windows. Everything was grimy, and smelled like pee. There were 5 cot-like beds. You could tell which one was the 15 year old’s because it was surrounded, floor to ceiling, with Disney posters: Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, Hilary Duff, etc. The wall was like a massive collage, no space left uncovered. The dad works from 6 am to 6 pm, so he wasn’t home. All the kids looked like they needed showers. We borrowed a comb from a neighbor so we could comb some of the little kids’ hair. Three of them had fevers and a cough so we took them to the hospital. I feel like my mom switch was turned on. All I wanted to do was clean their house, give them showers, wash their clothes, and make them dinner. I just wanted to fix everything. The hardest thing about it is the huge disparity between the rich and the poor. Two blocks away from this decrepit little house, there was a tall, handsome 3 story house, nicely painted with an suv in the front yard.

And I know what you’re thinking. How could that bitch abandon her children? Well, I know its not right, but I understand. In indigenous communities, they don’t use birth control. There is a lot of ‘machismo’ – the feelings and actions men have when they feel like they need to prove their manhood. They think if their wife wants birth control, they want it so they can fool around with other men. They think its best when their wife is pregnant all the time. Also, most women don’t know how to family plan. There is a practice of traditional medicinal massage that delays the next pregnancy, but its not like the woman will never get pregnant again. So many women end up having lots of children, and being dominated by their husbands. Lots of men don’t want their spouse educated, so they don’t have knowledge to get a job. Theres a lot of sexism and family abuse that goes on too. So heres this woman, stuck in a shack with 8 kids that she probably didn’t want, with a drunkard for a husband, and no money. Stay or leave, what sounds better to you?

“Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same.”- the fray.

just a regular saturday night..

2009-11-19T13:51:00.000-08:00

Saturday, two weekends ago, I was invited by my friend Jackie and her host family to an indigenous engagement party. This was really interesting, but I’ll have to get photos from my friend to share. We bought some crates of fruit as a gift, and were driven in the back of a pick up truck to a house in the community of Peguche. Basically what happens is everyone congregates at the groom’s house, eats food, drinks, and dances, then carries the food over to the bride’s house and eats more. First we had chicken soup. When I say chicken soup, I mean chicken soup. We all had a different chicken part in our bowls. We successfully identified the head, the feet, or the intestines. Jackie’s host mom was prepared though. When we couldn’t finish out soup, a plastic bag magically appeared from the folds in her skirt and she poured our leftovers in it.

Indigenous women wear skirts with a tight, beautifully weaved belt, and white embroidered blouses. They don’t have pockets, so they keep their stuff in their shirts or belts. It is incredible the things they keep in their blouses. Claire’s host mom had her cell phone, her address book, her money, and god knows what else in hers. It’s like they keep their secrets in there. You never know what they’re going to pull out.

So anyway, while everyone was sitting around in a circle eating soup, some women were cooking cuy (guinea pig, a delicacy here) over an open fire. Other women were cooking and handing out more soup. Men were walking around with a cup and a bottle of soda. They would pour you a glass, and then wait for the cup back and fill it again for the next person. Basically everyone in the room drank out of the same cup. Then they came around with warm aguadiente- very strong local liquor. Instead of cups they had baby cups that looked like thimbles. Indigenous men like to get drunk, and their wives like to sit around and complain about how drunk they are. Meanwhile, this whole time people have been arriving with crates of fruit, sacks of potatoes as large as me, boxes of pilsner, (local beer), and live chickens and cuys. A band came and we danced a bit. Then some of the live cuys and chickens were tied at their feet to a large stick, kind of like a spit. There were probably 20 cuys on one and 20 chickens on the other. Then we carried the spits, and all the food over to the bride’s house. Thankfully they lived close together. We stopped twice to have a dance session. I felt like we were doing a Chinese fire drill. We stopped the caravan and started dancing in circles, crates in hand, then continued walking. When we arrived at the bride’s house we were of course given more soup. We left shortly after, but the party continued well past midnight.

The next day, Sunday, I went to a kid’s birthday party with my host dad and brother. I think they are friends of the family. My host mom didn’t go because she was ‘ironing clothes.’ I think she just didn’t want to go. There are a few reasons why I don’t like my host mom very much. This was one of them. The party was really interesting. The thing that kind of weirded me out was the clown. I don’t really like clowns to begin with, but he also had his 13 year old son working with him. For some reason I just felt uncomfortable about it. Its so hard to tell ages of people here. This boy looked so much younger than 13! Then one of our newly referred families was there! It was such a coincidence, what a small world. We literally had just spoken with the mom and the girl a few days before about their family problems, and here they were, with the mom’s new boyfriend, at the same birthday party as me.

The next week I spent a lot of time at infa. We started doing a campaign against la mendicidad, which in English means children in the streets begging. I guess you could just call it begging. Its exploitation and against children’s rights, and it gets really bad between now and Christmas time. So in the morning I went to house visits and therapy sessions, and in the afternoon and late evening I went out with staff to start the campaign. We went to different communities and met with the leaders and parents to try and convince them not to send their kids out. First we talk about who we are, what we do, and then we talk about the campaign. And we try to get them to sign the petition. If they sign, I think the next time we come we work with the kids to help teach them their rights, and at the end we bring them candy. I wouldn’t exactly call this successful though.

The first visit, no one was there. Apparently there was bad communication about how we were coming. The second day we went and the people were there, but we were late because of the bus and they were crabby because they hadn’t eaten lunch yet. I mean neither had I! They weren’t too keen on agreeing to our petition either. The people need the money. Begging is actually a huge deal. There are some people that drive buses of kids from the north to the town of Ibarra to beg, and then bus them back. (think, slumdog millionaire). The second day we actually went to two, and the second one went a lot better than the first, but I think they were kind of skeptical. We went back the next day to work with their kids. The community lives down by the lake San Pablo which is gorgeous. I took some pictures of the mountains and the lake, and the cows and sheep that were scooting around. It was absolutely breathtaking. We were there right when the set was setting behind the mountains. Some day soon ill post that on my picasa site. We played with the kids and they really seemed to like us. This has nothing to do with how well the campaign will go though. In Ecuador, todo es posible, nada es seguro-anything is possible, but nothing is for sure. The best part about the campaign I would say is that infa as an organization gets to give a plug for our free services, and at least 2 or 3 people always come up and ask questions about them after we talk or give a presentation. So at least we are getting some advertizing out.

theres another post coming, like i said, please read in order...

sorry i've neglected you....

2009-11-16T14:43:00.000-08:00

hello friends, sorry i've been slacking. i try to update weekly, but i am now three or four weeks behind.... and i have much to share.

Monday finally came. After a week of craziness and lack of sleep, I woke up at 5:30 to go to CIMAs to be transported to my internship. I wasn’t actually sure if my host mom was going to drive me, or if I was going to have to hail a cab, but she woke up at the crack of dawn right along with me. All through breakfast I couldn’t believe how sad I was feeling. I was literally choking back the tears when I was eating my papaya. When we got to CIMAs, my host mom hugged me goodbye and to my surprise I finally cried.

my first week started out slow. i got to Otavalo and was 'presented' to my organization, then whisked off to my new home in a neighborhood called san juan. i will not lie to you, i dont know what my street name is. i'm actually pretty convinced there is no name. i live in a three story cement house on a dirt road. my neighbors hold on to our house key. i call them keepers of the key. aparently no one in my family actually knows their names, they just call them 'neighbor'. how reassuring... theyre pretty adorable though and i do have a beautiful view from our roof top. when i arrived my host dad let me nap and left to go back to work. he left his number and told me to call when i was done napping so he could arrange a taxi to bring me into town to see his store. Three hours later i awake from my comatose nap, and i felt kind of guilty so i called and went into town right away.

So I got to the tienda and he told me there was nothing to do. So much for feeling guilty about that 3 hour nap. Then he told me to be at the tienda by quarter to 6, at which point I figured we’d be going home. False, we went to origami class. Class was incredibly amusing for the first hour. The second hour was kind of tiring though; I’m amazed I stayed awake the whole time. This is the point where I decided my host dad and I were going to be friends. He is so goofy. I love that my host parents go to origami class. Its taught by a Korean woman, who I’m pretty sure doesn’t like me… but I love how there is an interest in culture in this small town. Afterwards we climbed in a taxi, picked up my host sibs, and went home. We ate and then I went to bed at 9 pm (don’t think this was special, I go to bed at 9:30 probably everyday except Saturday, voluntarily).

The next day was disheartening. Abby, the other intern at my organization, and I went to infa to begin our first day, but of course nothing was organized. We were told to arrive at 8, but no one actually comes in until 9. Basically nothing got done except a round of 40 (an Ecuadorian card game), and some chatting with the staff. Tito, the lawyer, played us his favorite music off his phone, which consists of Whitney Houston and Men at Work. Gotta love Tito and his style. No one seemed to understand why we were there, even though we had come for an interview a few weeks back. The next day everyone finally got on board when the regional director- Rosario- came for a staff meeting. She handed out our official CIMAs program information and told the staff we were paying them. Yes my friends, I am paying to volunteer. What a great life. It was actually pretty neat because the staff decided to use the money towards something everyone at the center can use, like a digital camera. (Except last week Abby broke the computer, so they might buy one of those instead. In her defense, the thing looked like one of the first computers ever made, but it somehow had windows xp on it. Ecuador never ceases to amaze.)

The week was incredibly short. I arrived on a Monday, had three unproductive days of internship, and then Friday there was Ecuadorian and Otavalean holidays. We actually had a five day weekend, (Friday-Tuesday) because of it. A lot of people from my program decided to go to Montanita, a beach town 12 hours away. This was probably our only chance to travel that far away. Live it up-Vale la pena.

During this trip I realized that there are a lot of things I would not have witnessed through CIMAs if I didn’t do some of my own traveling. We bused from Quito to Manta first, and then bused along the coast to Montanita. Manta was disgusting, and it didn’t help that the day was overcast. It was just muddy, dirty, smelly, and unkept. We saw so much countryside. The south is a different place. Then we arrived in Montanita and there were a lot of newer touristy buildings, which really annoyed me. The place is famous for its chill beach and nightlife, but I get the feeling that the Montanita of the old days was way more legit, and way more of what I would have liked. The town was really small, and consisted of hostels, restaurants/bars, beach, and hippies. There were literally only 4 streets in the town. I don’t even think people live there other than the store owners. We ate repeatedly at a restaurant that served American like food. I admit their pancakes were delicious, but I kept thinking, why did we come all the way here to eat at a tourist joint? Then I realized that tourism was how the town made money, and that there were more toursity restaurants than there were anything else.

The BEST part of my weekend was the second day, we met ANTHONY BOURDAIN from the travel channel!! He made a stop there to try the cheviche before heading to Guayaquil. I guess he was shooting a new show on Ecuador. IT WAS AWESOME. We were secretly hoping that he would stay in town for the night so we could party with him, but sadly he wasn’t to be found.

The next day I took a surfing lesson with Vicky and Brian, which was equally awesome. I actually caught some waves! I stood up on the board and surfed. It was like a dream. My friend took some photos from the beach, so I hope they turn out. I would definitely do it again, and highly recommend. I can’t believe I surfed in the Pacific Ocean.

We came back Tuesday morning to Otavalo but I can’t really remember what happened that week. Its mostly a blur. I actually got to go on house visits with the child psychologist. I sat in on some therapy sessions, and learned about how they do evaluations and such. I really don’t do much in Otavalo during the week. I go to my internship, and then hang out in town until my host fam decides to go home, which is usually 8 pm. I could go home earlier but theres nothing to do there. Then I got to bed, and repeat.

I think this was the week I was out and about with my friends and we ran into a mission group in the market. We were down by the end that sells fake American brands of backpacks, clothes, and electronics, etc. We were both looking at some imitation shoes when they struck up a conversation. My friends and I talked about how much we love the country and they talked about how poor the people are. “Theres so much need here,” I remember one of them saying. We started to walk away and one of them said, ‘I feel uncomfortable leaving this child unattended.’ He was talking about a little toddler whose mom had left for whatever reason. That thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. (The mom had just run off to make change with her neighbor; she didn’t actually abandon her child there). Kids are freaking everywhere. This never really surprised or shocked me. That’s when it hit me, the fact that my experience here, however similar, could still be incredibly different from someone else’s. They were only here for a week, doing missions. They saw poverty. I am here for four months. I see diversity, beauty, difficulties, triumphs.

Even though I’m here for four months, I still feel like its not enough time. I’m just getting to know the people and theres so much more to learn. My Spanish has improved, but it still has a long way to go. Now that I’m at my internship, I’m kind of upset with CIMAs for the curriculum we had. We originally had 6 or 7 tracks to pick from for one of the classes, but they minimized it down to 4 tracks. I, along with at least 7 other people, wanted to do the social services track. That’s a third of the people in my program! But we got an email in august saying all the tracks talked about social services, and that we needed to choose a different one. I literally thought I was the only person who wanted to do social services, so I was compliant and picked the education track, even though teaching was not on my agenda. When I found out that so many other people wanted to do social services I was really upset. There are so many resources at my internship about social services, and there is so much material to cover. Now that I am writing my final paper about a social services topic, I have A LOT of reading to catch up on. I would be less angry if the track had at least been more general, and included other material, but it didn’t. I probably won’t use a single piece of information from my general classes here to write my final paper, which is 20 pages.

ay ay ay, ill be posting more in a bit, so please read in order :)

what you thought you need

2009-10-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

as i sit here typing this i realize that it is my second to last day in quito before i move. i'm moving! time flies like you wouldn't believe. i haven't even started packing yet. i guess not all of you know, but i have a 6 week internship in Otavalo, a town 2 hours north of quito. I'll be shadowing a child psychologist on home visits in an organization called INNFA- institute for children and families (or something along those lines). i feel like 6 weeks is a very short amount of time for an internship, but i feel like it will improve my spanish a lot (at least im hoping). then at the end i have to write a 20 page paper about it in spanish. how lucky am i?

so i guess i could tell you a little bit about last weekend. we stayed out late on friday celebrating my friend's host brother's birthday, and early saturday i left with a few people to spend two days at a friend's hacienda in the south (past latacunga, near pujlo?). i love road trips, but i dont know if any road trip will ever top this one that we had. it was 4 hours long, and i was exhausted, but i couldnt sleep because the andes were rolling past my window. i thought i was obsessed with the landscape here before, but if you look at my photos you'll realize i have become a little bit more in love with mountainous terrain. we drove on the highest point in ecuador you can drive on, and it was the same path che guevera took when he hitch-hiked through south america.

it took us a little bit longer to get there because there was construction, go figure ecuador. when we got there we ate lunch and left for a bull fight. and when i say we left, i mean 10 of us hopped in the back of a pick up truck and drove to homemade bull fighting ring in the middle of a field. it was actually really interesting, even though the bull had to die. the matador was a friend of the family whose hacienda we were staying at, around 19 years old i think. there were only around 30 people in attendence, just us, some family of the matador, some locals, and the coaches. i totally loved the atmosphere. it was a very intimate gathering. amongst chatter and introductions, we picked some fresh wild lemons to eat and settled in for the fight. at first i didn't really understand why bull fighting was such a big deal, especially since it was something that the spaniards brought over. but after it started, i realized that there was a certain grace to it, and a certain pride. I guess its a 'man vs nature' kind of thing. i have video of one of the three stabbings if you're interested. after was all said and done they gutted the bull right there in the river, and i'm thinking they gave the meat to some people in town. i dont really know if they eat it though, they might just give it to livestock.

then we headed back and walked around the hacienda for awhile, checking out the animals and such. my favorites were the piglets. this just confirmed the fact that i want a pet piglet, they were adorable. there were also cows, chickens, ducks, and dogs. then we showered and ate dinner. we dined kind of al fresco, on a screened porch. i'm not sure if it had a specific name, but i'm going to say we ate ecuadorian barbeque. they used an outdoor grill, and the meat sat ontop of flat rocks from the river. all the meat was fresh from the hacienda (which kind of unnerved me because i felt like i was eating a family friend), but dinner was good. the family was so hospitable. and its not like i haven't experienced hospitality before, but i felt like every single person there was genuinely concerned about whether or not i had everything i needed. it was so nice to the point where i almost didnt know what to do. all i could do was enjoy everything and say thanks.

then that night we went out to the nearest down, once again, in the back of a pick up truck. it took us 20 minutes or more to get there, which made me realize just how far out in the country we were. and it was pitch black because there were no house or street lights. then the next day we woke up and road horses for awhile. then we went on a walk to a waterfall that they have on their property. wouldnt that be funny, oh hey, i own a waterfall lol. i have pictures of us swimming in it. i kind of think this is funny because i think i have done this on 3 different occaisons. although this is bias to my own personal experience, i'm getting the impression that ecuadorians like to show off their local waterfalls. and its not like ecuador lacks in this natural resource. i challenge you to visit ecuador and not see a single waterfall.

then we drove home, and the night before it rained, so there were indigenous people out celebrating. its amazing how one night of rain changes the look of the land. also, did i mention we drove through clouds? i love clouds. we also stopped at a crater where it had snowed and snapped some photos. once again, my car-mates slept, but i couldnt because i was somehow wide awake.

this past week in quito we had to go to a few pointless courses, and write a group essay, and that was it. so we went out a lot and have been trying to get all we can out of quito before we leave. some strange things happen when you go out that many days in a row. one of the nights we went out dancing and decided to get late night tacos before going home. we sat down outside to eat them and a sketchy looking ecuadorian man was lingering around us so the vender asked him to leave. then out of nowhere he reappears, grabs my friends taco, throws in on the ground, and runs away. i think he actually hit my other friend in the process, i wouldnt be surprised if there were black beans in her scarf. after it happened around 15 ecuadorians came over and told us that that man is 'dangerous'. haha thanks for the info guys. we did get a free taco out of it though.

then last night, we went out with 5 of us in a taxi, and the man tried to charge us 9 dollars. (it should have costed 5, or less). we ended up paying 8, which i'm still kind of pissed about because some people here still kind of let ecuadorians take advantage of them, and just give in. i think everyones spanish here is good enough to bargain, and they deserve to be treated better, but dont fight for it. when we were about to leave, we tried to hail a taxi, but my friend was sick so taxistas were saying no. then my friend was on her phone and a speedy little ecuadorian snatched her phone out of her hand and ran off. it was like a drive by but with phone stealing. thankfully she was ok. then the same taxista came back and said he would take us. i dont know if he saw the robbing and felt bad, or just wanted the money. then the man tried to charge us 5 dollars to get home, which is still a lot because there were only 3 of us. I got really upset and yelled at him til he said 3.50 was fine. which just goes to show you how crazy cab drivers are. 9 dollars one way, 3.50 on the way back ? crazy people.

this post feels a little random, but i'm just going to leave it at that.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jtrisc

2009-10-11T20:36:00.000-07:00

hey, hello, good evening.
I haven't forgotten you. but i'm going to go backwards, if thats quite alright.
Yesterday I went to a World Cup futbol qualifying game, Ecuador vs. Uruguay. I wasn't convinced we were destined to win, and our dear friend Sebastian said he had a bad feeling about it. I believe this jinxed us. We lost, 2-1, in what was probably the most emotional game of soccer I ever have and ever will attend. Ecuador was aggressive with their offense all of the first half , hanging out by the net without actually making a goal. Then in the second half emotions got high, and the cheers grew louder. One of the fans climbed the 25 (maybe 30) foot partition fence to cheer. Within about 5 minutes, Ecuador scored, the fan fell, and Uruguay scored, in that order. Unfortunately I was mere feet away from the fan that fell. I had to watch as the Red Cross proceded to take around 20 minutes just to reach the guy. I didn't actually see him hit the ground, but I did see him drop 10 feet and get caught on his pant leg hanging upsidedown. Then drop straight down to a concrete floor. The field is a large circle of concrete bleachers, with a steep drop to a concrete channel separating them from the field. After that is a chain link fence with barbed wire ontop, and beyond that the grass starts. This fan was definitely being a drunken idiot, but I still feel bad for him. And I can't really judge the Red Cross for the poor response time. I can't really say why it was so horrible, but it was sub par. They were running around the fence with the stretcher like headless chickens. I swear, this had to have happened before. It was the first thing I thought when I caught a glipse of the channel "wow that would suck to fall." But they couldnt figure out how to get down into the channel. There was even a fence gate next to the accident site. My theories are A. they were unorganized, because there seemed to be a lack of authority, B. the fence was bolted or locked at half the gates. or C. they were looking for a latter? I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt here.
Anyways, after the fan fiasco, we all realized Uruguay had scored while we weren't looking. Within the last 30 seconds of the game, Uruguay got some sort of penalty shot and scored again for the win. There wasn't a game clock so I guess we had to take their word for it. After being so emotionally commited to the game, this was such a let down. What a shitty way to lose. The locker room tunnel was right by our seats and the crowd threw garbage at the players and screamed at them. This was a crowd like I've never experienced. Futbol is life! Being vulgar is basically required. Everyone sits on the edge of their seat, literally. Even though they sit the whole game, (which I find odd), they stand up when anyone gets close to the goal. Then they all yell at each other to sit back down. They sold beer, but they poured the glass bottles in cups so no one would have glass to throw. This didn't necesarily help though, because you could bring whatever you wanted into the stadium. No one checked bags, and to verify our tickets they just felt the seal on the paper. None of this shocks me, but what grosses me out was how long the line for the bathroom was. The men who couldnt hold it (about 50%), started peeing in the hallway when the game started. Actually, I'm surprised this many people actually made it to the hallway, because the stairs were all covered with people. Before the sun went down all you could see in the stadium was yellow jerseys. The stairs were hard to spot. The cool part is how much the people care. And although throwing garbage might seem like something a fan should never do, it shows just how the they felt.

The night before the game some students from MSID and I had a potluck dinner at Brea's house, which was delicious. I made fresh pico de gallo and guacamole. We also had homemade hummus, leaf salad (which is strangely sparse here), deep dish pizza, cookies, scotcheroos, brownies, ice cream cake.... bascially a feast. The part that made me the happiest was the fact that my host mom and her friend ate my leftovers when I got home. I guess it just made me happy they liked them. My host mom cooks me food all the time, but I never get the chance to make her anything. Food is such a social thing here, being the one to offer it was nice.

Speaking of delicious food, my host mom made me Colada on wednesday. Colada is a warm smoohie drink usually made at christmas time. The most popular kind is made of blackerries, en espanol, mora. The blackberries here are lighter in color and bigger, and are usually offered in some form on every dessert menu. They are special, and delicious. My host moms colada morada had pinapple chunks in it. This drink made me miss warm beverages from home. Coffee shops dont really exist, unless its for tourists. Also, if you're like me and enjoy studying in a cozy library, those don't really exist either. If you want to study in a public place, you'll have to park it in the McDonald's in la plaza de las americas, which has wireless and two floors. Its actually considered a nice place to eat, i almost felt underdressed in my tshirt.

Last Thursday we got together at Ngawangs house to drink and get ready to go out together. It was probably one of the most fun nights we've had. Everyone was so happy for the week to be over. Just to being together created a contagious happy energy. The fun part was just sitting around hanging out together at a house, which we never really do here for respect of our host families. Ngawang's host mom actually came and joined us for awhile. I'm glad we did it, but it made me, and definitely some others, realize how sad we'll be when we leave Quito for our internships. On the 27th we get dispersed in a few different towns to start our 6 week internships. Quito is just getting friendly with me, I'll be sad to leave, and I really like my host family here. I'm excited to experience something different for those weeks, but I'm surprised at how home-y Quito has become. Last weekend after being out of town for 5 days, Quito felt calm and familiar when I returned. At first I felt temporary, but now I dont want to talk about leaving.
I guess it snowed in Minnesota the other day, HA. Except I love fall, and I'm so sad to miss it. Not that snow constitutes fall, but it reminds me of actual seasons. Next fall I'm going to eat sleep and breathe fall. I don't feel like I'm missing anything right now because Ecuador is seasonless, but when I come home to snow its going to be a shock. This is the reason I'm already planning on getting a new winter coat to help me survive the transition. I'm thinking intense, full out, eskimo style parka.

oh, i posted new photos on the link above! its a google site for pictures! non of them have captions, and i still have to write about two of those albums, but i'll get there. some of the pictures (like the ones from the game) i have to fill in from my friends albums because i didnt bring my camera, or i was running low on battery or space. questions comments or concerns let me know,
all the best,

mondays are for sleep

2009-09-28T20:06:00.000-07:00

its 10:08, and if i didnt have this small craving to write a blog i would probably be fast asleep in my bed. quito does that to me. for half of my classmates, quito gives you a cold. for me, i get exhaustion. i guess its just the aftermath of my three day weekend. i feel like i did so much i dont even know where to begin. i'll try to post photos to sum it up.
three friends and i climbed the tower of the basilica in old town. i felt like i was climbing up a castle. i love being high up, i could have stayed there for hours. starring out the tower, as far as you could possibly see, all there seems to be is houses. the houses dont end. quito is a very residential city. and although there may be buildings, i wouldnt call them skyscrapers. imagine a city without skyscrapers, with multicolored houses, and you have quito.
when we reached the bottom of the tower, a group of ecuatorianas approached claire and i and asked for a photo. im always happy to take a group photo for other people. its common courtesy, but thats not what they wanted. for 10 minutes, claire and i stood awkwardly as all the ladies in this group took turns standing next to us for a photo. apparently they had never seen a gringo before, and not one with blonde hair. i find this hard to believe. they had digital cameras. why had they not seen a gringo before? i was just waiting for one of them to grope my jeans pocket for the coins i had, but they didnt. they were genuinely interested in the photo op. i find this to be such an odd perception. i'm average, not extraordinary in the least, and each and every one of them wanted a photo with me. i didnt want a photo with them. i most certainly would not ask an ecuadorian for a picture. i felt so distanced.
something of the same nature happened when i was horseback riding at my grandpa's finca (farm/plantation/weekend home...) this weekend. my host brother, host sister, and i took out some horses and we rode around the little town of san miguel de los bancos. i think every single citizen of the town starred out their window at me, or stood in their doorway and pointed. horses are super cool to a 5 year old, dont get me wrong, but is that what they were really starring at? or were they starring at me? or where they starring at me ON a horse? i felt like i was in some odd kind of parade, and i really liked being on the horse, but i kind of wanted to be invisible at the time. i really dont like being in parades, especially ones that arent real.
several people in the last 5 days have told me that my skin is very pale. thank you for the update, i'm glad you noticed how pale my skin is. how would you feel if i said your skin is very brown, or very peach? its like they want me to commend them on being observant.
no one here can pronounce my name or spell it. my name in ecuador is gina. sometimes i forget to reply when i hear gina, but i've gotten better.
i tired cevi-chochos, which is my new favorite street food. we are advised not to eat at street stands. but honestly, how can you pass up street food? its like walking through ny or chicago and not stopping at a single hot dog stand. the key is to find the nice clean ones, basically dont be an idiot.
they have different perceptions about sharing here, at least in my host family. i am always offered a bit of something that i may not have tried yet, but that is not on my plate. a spoonful of my host mom's soup, a bit of my host sisters mote. yesterday i didnt like the sugar cane juice i was given, so my host brother let me pour the rest in his glass. and i offered him the rest of my chicken and he ate that too. it would be so convienent if my host brother was home more often, because i can never finish my food, but he always enjoys what i have left, just like home.
i think the boys are nicer here. but it could also be a 'womens rights' issue, if you will. if i am going somewhere with a male of any age, i am constantly given a hand. help off the bus, directions, a little extra information. i feel like they are trying to hold my hand to cross the street. i'm incredibly stubborn about this kind of thing. i like to do things by myself. when guides try to help me up ladders i usually disregard them because its not necessary, i can climb ladders all by myself. some may feel this is condescending on women, (which sometimes i do), but maybe boys are more polite. i'll have to investigate their motives. i was surprised when no one commented when i mounted and dismounted the horse by myself yesterday. of course my host brother had offered me a hand, but i said no gracias. maybe they're just being courteous because they care more? we'll see...
my bed is calling. i'm sorry that i ramble, but i guess thats how i remember things.

a bad day gone good

2009-09-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

somebody told me i dont write enough in here. i find that hard to believe. but i guess its sometimes hard to put into words how i feel, or make a photo show exactly what i see. like the little boy asleep in a field with his puppy, the old woman with no teeth begging for dimes, the way my spanish professor says 'chicas,' hanging out the bus door, the view outside the window of cimas, the pirate man with aladdin shoes, skyping for 2.5 hours with people in 4 different cities, my host sister wearing my abuelos hat, finding one of my favorite movies among my host mom's dvd collection, my salsa teacher saying uno dos tres, watching my host mom cook with my real moms favorite herb, spending the whole day with people I just met, watching my host abuela play with grass, feeling the sun in my bones, spending a day in a market the same day my mom in the us is, watching park life, getting tired at 10 pm, drinking black coffee in my my abuelas kitchen, putting aji on every piece of food i eat, the smell of the panaderia, dogs everywhere, car alarms, screeching brakes, babys in slings, my parrot saying 'loreca,' my host sisters text alarm, sitting on a bus rolling through the andes, my host abuelas whispering, rolling voice...
i can't capture the moments that just happen, some things just stay with you.

today we had a potluck lunch at school in my small group. we tried 8 dishes, spent 3 hours eating, and had 1 conversation that seemed to continue all day. i feel like the mood of the almuerzo is still seeping through my thoughts this very minute.

running without music

2009-09-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

i am in the funniest mood. ecuador is a whole bunch of crazy that i love. i just spent most of my day at a free rock music festival on a park atop a hill that overlooks quito. not all of the bands were good. most of them were ska, punk, or metal. But the last two bands were legit rock, one from quito and one from buenos aires (babasonicos, muy bueno). i dont think any outdoor concert could outdo this venue. I SADLY did not bring my camera because i didnt want it stolen. but the crowd was so interesting, there were muchos jovenes, kids, teenagers, older people, and dogs. I probably saw 50 dogs running around while I was there. It was funny to see people from quito dressing in the punk/ska style. A diferent side of a quito was alive and awake. When it got closer to babasonicos the crowd grew, the sun went down, and quito lit up. I had a great spot with some people ontop of some stairs on the side of the stage, so we could see the band, the crowd, and the city. The lights and view of quito looked like it did when i was looking out my window of my plane. We left a bit early and flagged the nearest taxi. We drove for under a minute when we had to stop because a bus had crashed into a house. Literally, the bus was INSIDE the house. It looked like the bus slipped backwards down the hill and basically mashed this poor house. I dont know if anyone was injured but i'm going to read the paper and find out. Then the taxista was whipping down the streets like a freaking maniac. I sat there thinking to myself, um didnt we just see a prime example of why we go the speed limit? After we dropped off a few people i considered finding another taxista for the rest of the drive, but decided not to, which was actually awesome. The taxista was so nice to me, and i had a full conversation with him. He asked me about my studies and i asked him about being a taxista. taxi drivers are CRAZY and so random. usually they way over charge foreigners and are creepy and say nothing at all, but mine chatted with me, was in a great mood, and charged me correctly. when i got home my host mom was up, our family friend raul was over, and my host sister got back from quitofest ( we hadnt realized we were both there), and we all sat down and ate bread and this corn pudding and talked about politics. i love the conversations that go on here. they are so lengthy, yet interesting, yet random. i love hearing what ecuadorians' opinions.
Quito has been good to me these last few days. yesterday i spent the day in old town, aka antigua with other students from CIMAS. It was a structured, prepaid, cimas trip, but it was still wonderful. its nice to not have to worry about paying or reserving anything. the weather was absolutely gorgeous. i felt like i was walking around spain, but in the tropics, with palm trees. we ate lunch at a place that was connected to a art gallery and shop so we checked that out. the shop had two rooms, but also had a hallway in the back. the hallway turned into tunnels covered in indigenous art for sale. There was a room full of mirrors with a ceiling like a teepee, there were woven rugs and detailed drawings, and masks, and jewelry. the tunnels just kept going, it almost felt like a secret treasure passage way. i know its not that special because anyone can walk down there, but i felt like an explorer. i love the art here. the culture is so beautiful. i feel like ecuador is the best latin american country ever, and i'm not just saying that. two of the cities are UNESCO world heritage cites, there is mountains, rainforest, and beach, and people are so eclectic. its unlike anywhere else.
one of the coolest things about quito is that i feel like some things are hidden. shops are more like holes in a building, they are masked by the exterior. when you look closer at a building, or do a double take, you find things you didnt see before. the other day when i was running i found the greatest footbridge with an amazing view. its hard to see from the rode i take to school, but they're right next to each other. i feel like ecuador has secrets, and ecuador is definitely the hidden jewel of south america. i love secrets.

asi es la vida

2009-09-07T18:09:00.000-07:00

Today I spent 3 hours with brian trying to find a gymnastics gym. The streets are bizarre. They have signs with arrows pointing to where you will eventually find the street you are looking for, but the actual street signs are small. Sometimes instead of the name of the street is has numbers, like N###. The streets have the weirdest names. Some are importante dates, como el 6 de diciembre, o el 10 de agosto. Some are fruits, some are important people or presidents. I live on Rio Coca. Yesterday my host aunt, uncle, and cousins came home from a visit to peru with lots of items that said 'coca' on them. This is actually kind of funny because coca is the plant that cocaine is manufactured from, and its grown in Peru. Its not cocaine until its manufactured (in Colombia). At first I was confused, because my uncle said, in decent english, "don't step on the grass, smoke it." I think he was talking about the seeds he wanted to plant. Then I realized you can use the coca plant for other things, like the tea and candy he was holding.
We were basically a few blocks away from the gym, but we still somehow managed it completely miss it. When i got home my other uncle was over, standing in my grandpa's bathtub trying to fix the rusted pipes. Half of the pipes were on the floor, next to a pile of tiles that he had to pry off the wall to get to them. there always happens to be something going on. and even if my relatives dont know my name they always say hi to me and try to show me what going on. I was invited into the bathtub to inspect the pipes and got an explanation in spanish about why they dont work. I still know nothing about pipes.
then we shared food, which is like my favorite thing to do. i love eating food with my relatives. my grandpa is the absolute funniest. i love the fresh bread and juice they have. whenever we have cake they eat a piece, and then pick at the actual cake with a spoon. almost all of them do this. usually after we are done sharing dessert the cake is mangled from all the spoon-handling. then they eat bread with a slice of cheese.
On saturday it took me nearly 10 minutes to tell my host mom i was going to call a taxi, but might need help. she was like, you want me to call a taxi? and i was like no, i want to call the taxi, but i might need help. this went on for awhile, then she said, you want to call a taxi, but you want me to stand next to you? and i was like YES! it was such an aha moment.
Sometimes i feel like my host mom can read my mind. she'll be like, do you want eat? and i'll realize i'm hungry, or she'll ask me if i want to pack/unpack, and i'll be amazed because i will have been thinking about doing just that. she'll ask me a question, and i'll be like wow, yes, how did you know?? while i was away during the weekend she searched through my room, found my 3 hidden dirty clothes spots, and washed/folded everything. then placed them neatly in my closet. then she showed me how to use the washer, and showed me my host brothers shorts. i dont really know what she said about the shorts. it was odd.
i have some photos of my neighborhood i'm excited to share with you, but facebook hates me and wont allow it, so i might use google. Somehow, my computer knows i'm in Ecuador. i keep getting these adds for ecuadorian singles.
tengo tarera ahora. chao.

tengo frio...

2009-09-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

ecuador is beautiful, dirty, chaotic, strange. they drink their yogurt, drive on the sidewalks, and seem to always be wearing sweaters, even midday.
my first few days have been very busy. my first night after class my host mom came late to pick me up because she was watering her plants. well, ok, she really just had the time wrong, but she told me she was watering plants so i like to envision that. i´ll have to post a photo of her little garden room. es muy lindo. i live in a nicer area very close to relatives. actually, they live above me. i live in a house, but my floor is for my host mom, paula, sebastian and i. the upstairs is my grandparents, and across from them is my aunt and uncle. each floor is separate, with its own kitchen and bathrooms, and living rooms, but the floors are a unit, not an appartment. i met them all in a whirlwind my first evening. i even met a few people who may not be related... but they look like they could be. they are so incredibly sweet and mi abuelo is so freaking adorable. i don´t know enough spanish to follow exactly what they are saying, but thats ok for now. i will learn, but not being able to reply just yet gives me an excuse to learn from them before i do things. its like they dont expect much from me so there is less pressure, which makes me more at ease. it also leaves quite a few gaps in my knowledge about them. i forgot some of the names of my extended family, and i think my host brother lives in guayquil, but maybe hes just there temporarily? no sé. he comes home friday so i´ll met him then. and i´m pretty sure my host mom said i could visit him there, but i´m not sure. i would love to visit him though. my host sister goes to school and works at the university until late so i dont get to see her until 9. i want to get to know her more, she seems super nice, but its only the 3rd day. shes friends with my friend´s host sister so thats cool.
oh, and its cold here! its wonderful in the afternoon, perfect tshirt and jeans weather. but at night i layer on the clothes. my bed has the best comforter ever! it keeps me so warm its hard to leave in the mornings. also i´m tired from the altitude.
i think one of my favorite events so far was this morning when my host mom walked me to the bus stop and antonio was there. hes one of the staff members at my school, cimas. the first week the parents ride the bus with the students, but since antonio was there my host mom was like chao! and i rode with antonio. it was funny, to say the least.
i could write more, but it would really just be a narrative of my first days. there will be more to come. hasta luego.

hi hello good morning

2009-08-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

this is my attempt at a blog. use it to keep tabs on me, otherwise talk to me on skype, just search my full name, or email me here : trisc005@umn.edu. i'll have access to internet pretty regularly for most of my trip. if you'd like a mailing address just ask.

wish me luck

un abrazo

jenna