My Spanish(or lack thereof) is going to kill me. Last night we went out for the first time to the Mariscal, which Lonely Planet defines as notorious for "gringo hunting." Anyway I decided to try this drink which loosely translated to "Expect to be on the floor" and contains vodka, rum, gin, and tequila. It was repulsive. And when I tried to ask for change she misunderstood and brought me a second. However, it did give me enough courage to salsa at this one club. Unfortunately, I somehow ended up dancing with a salsa instructor who proceeded to correct me non-stop. I got home around 2:30 and had to wake up today at 7:00 for a city-wide gynkana or "scavenger hunt." It was so much fun and my team won! and I almost know my way around very select parts of the city hahah.
Other things from this week: Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, after class, I had salsa lessons. Surprisingly, I can almost hear the beat/tempo, as long as the teacher is clapping, but once he stops it sort of goes downhill. And by downhill I mean when the song ends I am the only person facing the opposite direction. Tuesday night Liz, Kristen, and I went to Diego's house and watched a movie. Wednesday I already had my first presentation in Spanish!!! It was about child exploitation in Ecuador... I guess it went fine. Hmmm Wednesday we went to a museum and that night I went with my whole family to La Ronda for dinner. I should probably not wait until the end of the week to recap, but that's everything significant I can remember.
Even though I have been using the altitude as an excuse for absolutely EVERYTHING apparently people generally do require more sleep here. I haven't gotten 8 hours of sleep in forever and am exhausted. Now, siesta.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Last night I finally moved in with my family! Clemencia y Luis are my parents, I have a little sister, Estefany, and a little brother, Nico. Yesterday was Nico's 15th birthday (Estefany is 18) so as soon as I got to the house we all left to go to my "aunt's" house for his party. One of the girls from my group, Julie, is living with her... so I guess we're cousins. They wouldn't even let us speak English to each other, which is great but brutal. I was exhausted last night from all of the Spanish. Oh I have two dogs- a yellow lab(ish) named Spunkie and a beagle(ish) named Agustina. Somehow, Agustina makes Tiki seem calm; it's bizarre. I have my own room, including a bed bigger than my bed at home home... oh they also gave me a cell phone that a previous student left with them and saved me around $50! The number, including country code, is 593083192965, which probably only applies to my family. Oh and Liz lives about 50 yards from me, in the same gated/guarded community! It's very convenient. We're so close to the airport that it is honestly terrifying watching the planes go by. We're also really close to Diego apparently which is also awesome. All-in-all I am soooooo happy with my host family! Everyone seems really nice but genuine, not forcing fakeness down my throat. My parents don't speak ANY English so it's finally the real thing ahhh
This morning was the first day of our language and culture pre-semester course. It starts at 9 so my papa, Liz's mom, Liz, and I left a little before 8. It is about a 5-10 minute walk to the bus stop, a 10 minute ride, then a transfer to another bus which is about 25 minutes and that bus stops right by the Universidad San Francisco de Quito. We rode the last bus without our parents, but there were a lot of other people from our group there at the same time. Tomorrow we all fend for ourselves. During orientation we had several talks about safety/security and using our "spidey-sense." So as soon as Liz and I sat down on the last bus this guy switches his seat from one side of the bus to the seat right behind us. We immediately looked at each other and said spidey-sense, but of course we both had our bags securely on our lap so it wasn't a big deal. Less than 5 minutes later I felt something on my hip/love handles and I looked down and the guy had reached his hand between the wall and my seat! As soon as I looked down he pulled his hand back really fast but I saw it, and it was so terrifying in that horror-movie-hand-with-no-arm sort of way. And now all hopes of naps on that bus have vanished and my paranoia has increased tenfold. Ugh.
The culture portion of our class is from 9-10:15 and we have a different person, often a professor, presenting almost every day. After a little break we have the language portion from 10:30-1:00. We are divided into 4 groups based on our Spanish level. The time is split almost 50/50 between conversation and grammar. There are only 4 of us in my group and our profesora is Claudia. She's awesome. For the first time I don't feel like an idiot when I'm corrected (which is a lot). I think having such a small group helps too. We did a lot of introductions, en espanol, of course and a couple exercises. She also taught us a new phrase "tirar con" which means to fuck with. Hahahahaha. I already got a homework assignment for tomorrow. Yay!
This morning was the first day of our language and culture pre-semester course. It starts at 9 so my papa, Liz's mom, Liz, and I left a little before 8. It is about a 5-10 minute walk to the bus stop, a 10 minute ride, then a transfer to another bus which is about 25 minutes and that bus stops right by the Universidad San Francisco de Quito. We rode the last bus without our parents, but there were a lot of other people from our group there at the same time. Tomorrow we all fend for ourselves. During orientation we had several talks about safety/security and using our "spidey-sense." So as soon as Liz and I sat down on the last bus this guy switches his seat from one side of the bus to the seat right behind us. We immediately looked at each other and said spidey-sense, but of course we both had our bags securely on our lap so it wasn't a big deal. Less than 5 minutes later I felt something on my hip/love handles and I looked down and the guy had reached his hand between the wall and my seat! As soon as I looked down he pulled his hand back really fast but I saw it, and it was so terrifying in that horror-movie-hand-with-no-arm sort of way. And now all hopes of naps on that bus have vanished and my paranoia has increased tenfold. Ugh.
The culture portion of our class is from 9-10:15 and we have a different person, often a professor, presenting almost every day. After a little break we have the language portion from 10:30-1:00. We are divided into 4 groups based on our Spanish level. The time is split almost 50/50 between conversation and grammar. There are only 4 of us in my group and our profesora is Claudia. She's awesome. For the first time I don't feel like an idiot when I'm corrected (which is a lot). I think having such a small group helps too. We did a lot of introductions, en espanol, of course and a couple exercises. She also taught us a new phrase "tirar con" which means to fuck with. Hahahahaha. I already got a homework assignment for tomorrow. Yay!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Hola Mom y Corey!
So I have already failed at blogging apparently. Liz and I arrived 2 days before the rest of the group so we stayed with Diego and his family. Wednesday Diego brought us to La Basilica where we proceeded to climb some 300 odd steps to see the view from the top... from both sides. I am blaming my extreme out-of-shapeness on the altitude, of course. Later that night we went to El Panecillo to see the Virgin of Ecuador at night. It was beautiful but a little chilly. I definitely did not pack for the weather. His mom gave us a tour of the Historic Center of Quito and we tried canelazo, this (disgusting) alcoholic, syrup drink that is supposed to warm you up. Then we went with his whole family for pizza at midnight. We slept at Diego´s house and left for his farm house the following morning. We did some hiking and spelunking (I have always wanted to use that word!) It was a lot of fun but exhausting. We all took a nap and then Diego brought us to the hotel to meet the rest of the group! There are 20 other people, 19 girls and 1 boy. I can´t decide if he´s the luckiest or saddest guy in the world... The first day together we went through some orientation stuff and then went for a tour of USFQ, where we will all be going to school. We had dinner in the Mariscal, a very big tourist/bar area. Yesterday we did more orientation things and then went back to El Panecillo and the Historic Center as a group. Tonight we meet our families, finally! Hopefully I have internet..
So I have already failed at blogging apparently. Liz and I arrived 2 days before the rest of the group so we stayed with Diego and his family. Wednesday Diego brought us to La Basilica where we proceeded to climb some 300 odd steps to see the view from the top... from both sides. I am blaming my extreme out-of-shapeness on the altitude, of course. Later that night we went to El Panecillo to see the Virgin of Ecuador at night. It was beautiful but a little chilly. I definitely did not pack for the weather. His mom gave us a tour of the Historic Center of Quito and we tried canelazo, this (disgusting) alcoholic, syrup drink that is supposed to warm you up. Then we went with his whole family for pizza at midnight. We slept at Diego´s house and left for his farm house the following morning. We did some hiking and spelunking (I have always wanted to use that word!) It was a lot of fun but exhausting. We all took a nap and then Diego brought us to the hotel to meet the rest of the group! There are 20 other people, 19 girls and 1 boy. I can´t decide if he´s the luckiest or saddest guy in the world... The first day together we went through some orientation stuff and then went for a tour of USFQ, where we will all be going to school. We had dinner in the Mariscal, a very big tourist/bar area. Yesterday we did more orientation things and then went back to El Panecillo and the Historic Center as a group. Tonight we meet our families, finally! Hopefully I have internet..
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
I'm so high!
Liz and I arrived safe and on time after the best flight ever. They gave us so much food, free wine and beer, and I got to choose between watching The Office, Flight of the Conchords, True Blood, and Glee! Bliss. Diego picked us up and we're staying at his house now. Tomorrow he's giving us a tour of Quito :)
Ohh I also found out that I'm over 9,000 feet above sea level!
I still can't believe I'm here!
Ohh I also found out that I'm over 9,000 feet above sea level!
I still can't believe I'm here!
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