My first week in Quito
Okay, here´s my first post since I arrived in Ecuador. Brace yourself, it´s going to be a long one! Thankfully, I finally figured out how to use the website from here so hopefully I can do a better job with the updates from now on. Okay, so I´ve been here for one week and it´s amazing to me that it´s only been one week. It feels like I´ve been here for a really really long time, I suppose because every day is filled to the max with activities and speaking in Spanish.
My host family is awesome. I finally got the real scoop on my ¨host brothers¨: 2 of them are students during the school year and are boarders at the house and not actually related by blood. I think they arrive in one or 2 weeks. In addition I have a host brother and a host sister, which I didn´t realize before. So it´s a good deal because I have a girl and a guy to hang out with. I get along very well with my host sibs. I hang out more with my host bro because we´re closer in age and have very similar personalities. He´s very silly and took it upon himself during my first day in Quito to show me around the neighborhood and teach me bad words in Spanish. My host parents are soo sweet and just generally good people. We often have long conversations about all sorts of topics, which has demonstrated to me also how well informed and also open minded they are. My mom prepares really good food for me. So far I haven´t found it difficult to maintain my eating habits as a vegetarian. There are tons of good fruits, vegetables, and healthy vegetarian dishes so I am happy as a clam in that department.
My classes are going well so far; at first I couldn´t tell if my professor was going to be sort of standoffish or more reserved, but after the first day or two we really hit it off well. We actually confide in each other a lot and talk about a lot of personal things because in class we do a ton of talking to practice, obviously, and so of course we talk about our lives, experiences, thoughts, etc. Between class and practicing speaking with my host fam I hope to improve a lot--Ojalá! It´s funny because sometimes during the past week I´ve felt like I´m improving, but then there are other times when I feel totally useless when I try to say something, or I forget how to say things that I definitely knew how to say before! I´m sure some of it has to do with whether I´m tired, or talking in front of a bunch of people and therefore feel more nervous or something, but it´s a strange sensation. I have to admit that once in awhile my head hurts from trying to communicate and think in a different language and resist the temptation to translate from English to Spanish. It can be somewhat frustrating at times when you´re putting in a lot of effort to communicate something and the result is pretty meager, or when you want to express a fairly complex thought or idea and you just can´t. Ay! But more often than not I am enjoying speaking and practicing and am trying to accept the obstacles as just parts of the learning process.
I´ve met some really chill people at school as well: 4 German girls, one from Ireland, one from the States, and 2 from Norway. We all went on a trip on Friday-Saturday to Otavalo, a city about 2 hours north of Quito to participate in the harvest festival there. It was really cool! There was a parade with lots of traditional dances and clothing, music, fireworks, and vendors with food and drinks. The next day there was a huge market with crafts and food throughout a lot of the city center. After being in Otavalo we traveled to see a lagoon in the mountains and a waterfall. It was frickin freeeeezing at the lagoon but well worth it--we were really high up and the lagoon was completely surrounded by the mountains and clouds. I have to admit, the trip up the mountain was a little hair-raising at times because the road wasn´t in super good condition, it was narrow, and sometimes there was just a huge drop-off only a few feet from the car. Eek! But clearly it wasn´t a problem because here I am writing this update. :)
Let´s see, what else has been going on...after I got back from Otavalo I went out with my host bro, his cousin, and 3 other guys. It was funny, they were my ¨guardias¨, although I wasn´t convinced that I needed anyone to protect me. They were super nice though and we spent some time drinking and taking the piss out of each other before we hit up a dance club. At the club I swear it was a scene straight out of ¨Dirty Dancing Havana Nights¨: a hot sweaty dance club with latin music pumping, people dancing in pairs very energetically for the most part, the majority being latinos, and then there I was, one of the sole gringas in the place and blatantly exhibiting my lack of salsa and merengue abilities. Haha it was awesome. But I did have a good time and I´ll be going to dance classes that they have at my school twice a week so I can improve this dance situation, because at the club we went to they really did play mostly salsa, merengue, and cumbia.
This past week I also explored the older part of the city, Quito Colonial. The buildings and architecture there are beautiful, especially the interiors of the churches and cathedrals--very ornate! I also went to a place south of Quito called Saquisili to visit various markets that had animals, food, and crafts, pretty similar to the markets in Otavalo.
I have to admit, so far I love the climate here. This past week there really hasn´t been any humidity, at least that my hair can detect, so I´m definitely loving that! There´s sunshine every day, although it often clouds over later in the afternoon or evening. No rain yet, though. One thing that´s a little tricky is that the weather can change a lot and quickly just in one day. But mostly the weather is very agreeable and not at one extreme or the other.
Bueno, I think this is probably enough for one entry. Congratulations if you even made it this far! Hopefully I can write again soon with more impressions and thoughts about the culture here and so on. It really is a lot to process sometimes. But I feel comfortable and I also feel like I have a secure support network comprised of my family, teacher, and friends.
I hope all of you are doing well and I would love to receive updates from you as well!
Hasta luego! xoxo
My host family is awesome. I finally got the real scoop on my ¨host brothers¨: 2 of them are students during the school year and are boarders at the house and not actually related by blood. I think they arrive in one or 2 weeks. In addition I have a host brother and a host sister, which I didn´t realize before. So it´s a good deal because I have a girl and a guy to hang out with. I get along very well with my host sibs. I hang out more with my host bro because we´re closer in age and have very similar personalities. He´s very silly and took it upon himself during my first day in Quito to show me around the neighborhood and teach me bad words in Spanish. My host parents are soo sweet and just generally good people. We often have long conversations about all sorts of topics, which has demonstrated to me also how well informed and also open minded they are. My mom prepares really good food for me. So far I haven´t found it difficult to maintain my eating habits as a vegetarian. There are tons of good fruits, vegetables, and healthy vegetarian dishes so I am happy as a clam in that department.
My classes are going well so far; at first I couldn´t tell if my professor was going to be sort of standoffish or more reserved, but after the first day or two we really hit it off well. We actually confide in each other a lot and talk about a lot of personal things because in class we do a ton of talking to practice, obviously, and so of course we talk about our lives, experiences, thoughts, etc. Between class and practicing speaking with my host fam I hope to improve a lot--Ojalá! It´s funny because sometimes during the past week I´ve felt like I´m improving, but then there are other times when I feel totally useless when I try to say something, or I forget how to say things that I definitely knew how to say before! I´m sure some of it has to do with whether I´m tired, or talking in front of a bunch of people and therefore feel more nervous or something, but it´s a strange sensation. I have to admit that once in awhile my head hurts from trying to communicate and think in a different language and resist the temptation to translate from English to Spanish. It can be somewhat frustrating at times when you´re putting in a lot of effort to communicate something and the result is pretty meager, or when you want to express a fairly complex thought or idea and you just can´t. Ay! But more often than not I am enjoying speaking and practicing and am trying to accept the obstacles as just parts of the learning process.
I´ve met some really chill people at school as well: 4 German girls, one from Ireland, one from the States, and 2 from Norway. We all went on a trip on Friday-Saturday to Otavalo, a city about 2 hours north of Quito to participate in the harvest festival there. It was really cool! There was a parade with lots of traditional dances and clothing, music, fireworks, and vendors with food and drinks. The next day there was a huge market with crafts and food throughout a lot of the city center. After being in Otavalo we traveled to see a lagoon in the mountains and a waterfall. It was frickin freeeeezing at the lagoon but well worth it--we were really high up and the lagoon was completely surrounded by the mountains and clouds. I have to admit, the trip up the mountain was a little hair-raising at times because the road wasn´t in super good condition, it was narrow, and sometimes there was just a huge drop-off only a few feet from the car. Eek! But clearly it wasn´t a problem because here I am writing this update. :)
Let´s see, what else has been going on...after I got back from Otavalo I went out with my host bro, his cousin, and 3 other guys. It was funny, they were my ¨guardias¨, although I wasn´t convinced that I needed anyone to protect me. They were super nice though and we spent some time drinking and taking the piss out of each other before we hit up a dance club. At the club I swear it was a scene straight out of ¨Dirty Dancing Havana Nights¨: a hot sweaty dance club with latin music pumping, people dancing in pairs very energetically for the most part, the majority being latinos, and then there I was, one of the sole gringas in the place and blatantly exhibiting my lack of salsa and merengue abilities. Haha it was awesome. But I did have a good time and I´ll be going to dance classes that they have at my school twice a week so I can improve this dance situation, because at the club we went to they really did play mostly salsa, merengue, and cumbia.
This past week I also explored the older part of the city, Quito Colonial. The buildings and architecture there are beautiful, especially the interiors of the churches and cathedrals--very ornate! I also went to a place south of Quito called Saquisili to visit various markets that had animals, food, and crafts, pretty similar to the markets in Otavalo.
I have to admit, so far I love the climate here. This past week there really hasn´t been any humidity, at least that my hair can detect, so I´m definitely loving that! There´s sunshine every day, although it often clouds over later in the afternoon or evening. No rain yet, though. One thing that´s a little tricky is that the weather can change a lot and quickly just in one day. But mostly the weather is very agreeable and not at one extreme or the other.
Bueno, I think this is probably enough for one entry. Congratulations if you even made it this far! Hopefully I can write again soon with more impressions and thoughts about the culture here and so on. It really is a lot to process sometimes. But I feel comfortable and I also feel like I have a secure support network comprised of my family, teacher, and friends.
I hope all of you are doing well and I would love to receive updates from you as well!
Hasta luego! xoxo
2 Comments:
Thanks for telling us about the mountain roads. I've been looking for something to keep me awake at nights.
I notice your English is starting to sound as if it's translated from Spanish. That's a good sign. (I'm kidding, of course. Your English is as impeccable as usual. It's even getting Englishier [e.g., "taking the piss out of"].)
More dispatches! More dispatches! [pounding on table with fork and knife]
As for us, we have no news. Time has stopped for us. We sit in the semidarkness with candles burning, wondering when time will start up again.
Really, though, claw your way to those internets and type a bit more.
Thank you.
haha yer funny.
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