Today was even more exhausting than yesterday was!!! Craaaaa-zy. My family and Maria Daniela's family went to "la piscina" (pool) today at 6am because it takes two hours to drive to Papallacta. It's in the Amazon area, not really in it, but just outside of the area. It wasn't just an ordinary pool, but an area with a bunch of thermal pools, which were so amazing and therapeutic. The pools aren't heated by machines or anything; it's heated by the volcano Cayambe, the third tallest mountain in Ecuador. I thought it was going to be our families just sitting in a huge crater of hot water, but it was actually a real pool with a lot of people in it. I kind of wished they were natural volcanic craters because it would be super cool, but oh well.
My host dad explained to me that Papallacta is actually a pretty famous tourist attraction during the week, and there are a lot of foreigners that come to relax and enjoy the view. But on the weekends, more Ecuadorians visit/spend the weekend here because there's a hotel and spa right next to it. It was super cold today, around 40 degrees... so we went all the way to the top (because it's on a mountain) where the hot pools are and immediately went into the super hot pool. I thought I was going to die burning because it was that hot, but it was much better than standing outside in the freezing cold. We ate "canela," which is cinnamon sugar turned into a candy - so it's like eating pure sugar... But it's supposed to help with the cold since it's a trillion calories.
After being in the super hot pool for forever, we went into the regular pool where there are water jet streams every 30 minutes. My host dad, Daniel, Maria Daniela, and I put our backs against the jets because it's supposed to be very soothing; and it felt like I was getting massaged. Then we went back into the hot pool, but when that got too hot to handle, we decided to be brave and try out the super cold pool. The water in this piscina comes from the snow on top of Mount Cayambe - sweet. But it's also super freezing, but supposed to be good for your circulation. So we dipped our bodies here and back to the hot pool a few times. And then we decided to go home because it was 9:40 and we were only there for an hour and 40 minutes :)
On our way home, we bought a bag of sugar canes on the street. I've never had sugar cane before, so I was really surprised because I thought it would be warm and taste like sugar water (and I guess it does taste like sugar water) but it was really cold and juicy. It didn't necessarily taste like sugar, but just sweetened water with a freshness to it. Que chévere!! We then stopped by this street restaurant that's known for its ahi (chili) salsa, which is EXTREMELY picante, to actually eat lunch. The restaurant kind of reminded me of those Korean houses in the countryside where people stop by to eat kookbap and the place is actually haunted or magical. Secret garden, what's uuuuup LOL. And we ate so much because we just swam and hadn't eaten breakfast. Then pretty much everyone fell asleep in the car... :D
When I got home, we planned the party for my eldest brother who moved out, Diego, because he's turning 29 tomorrow. And since no one has time tomorrow, we decided to have dinner together with Maria Daniela's family and César's (host dad) sister's family. It was fun even though I didn't know the new family. We had so much good food.. I seriously am going to gain so much weight!!! :( ARRRRRGH BUT I CAN'T STOP EATING BECAUSE THE FOOD'S SO GOOD HERE!! hehe We had sausages, BBQ chicken, bread, cheese, and this amazing lemon tea. Then for dessert we had coffee cake and strawberry cream tart. DELICIOUS. Love. Fat...
After everyone left, Rocío, Daniel, and I decided we needed to go for a walk. So we walked around the neighborhood, around 2 miles or so. And then I realized that I should/could run in the evenings because the neighborhood is really safe, and the weather is amazing. I'll be super toned if I keep running everyday until I leave Selva Alegre in 3 weeks. And then in Quito, I can go to the Carolina Park and run there! :D Yay hehehe. Yeah.. But having so many people over (12 in total) was really exhausting and now I'm really tired :)
With love from Selva Alegre,
Gina
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Forever and a Day
It seems like it's been forever and a day since I left Chicago O'Hare Airport.. But it's only been a week and 5 days. HAHA How time flies. So far, I still love Ecuador - I don't think I could ever hate it. The people here are so awesome and kind, and their food is ama-zing. Especially their fruit. We have a different type of fruit juice every single day; it's so crazy that there's such a wide variety of fruits available in Ecuador - many of them exist only here!! My host family even made me an entire list of all the fruits that I have to try while I'm here. There were a total of around 50 something fruits, and I've only tried like 20 something. I'm excited that there's so much more to try!!!
This week has been long, but at the same time, it went by fairly quickly. Mostly it was the same thing everyday - Spanish classes starting at 8 and then ending at 1, except for Tues and Thurs, which ended at 4. On Wednesday, a bunch of us went to San Luis shopping mall, which is the really nice shopping center I was talking about. Lucy, Abby, Laura W. and I walked there right after class to get some lunch. Lucy and I had Sushi by NOE, and it was surprisingly super delicious. It was kind of expensive (by Ecuadorian standards - $7.50 for 8 pieces of great maki rolls), but I guess that's kind of expected when we're in such a place eating sushi haha. Abby and Laura had hamburgers, which was apparently really similar to American burgers. This was super surprising because many times in other countries, "burgers" and not really burgers, but weird versions of them - mind you, they taste awesome, but it's not the same.
Thursday we had another one of our longer sessions, so we had to stay until 4. Afterwards, Sophie, Kara, Chris, Andréa, Lisa, Dan, and I went to the "Mercado del Sangolquí," which is the outdoors market I was talking about earlier (I think.. I can't keep track anymore). Well, it's kind of like those Korean markets you see on television, where there are a bunch of older people selling fruits, veggies, meat, clothes, shoes, anything else in the world at much lower prices. But the fruits and veggies are more fresh than they are in the stores! I saw whole chicken, the kind you see in the stores frozen, with their feet tied together and up in the air - kind of like a yoga position. It was hilarious!! I really wish I had taken my camera, but I didn't because I'm stupid and forgot :(
I seriously haven't been taking any pictures lately, mostly because all I do is go on a bus to classes then take the bus back. Or I go to the mall... And I'm 99.9% sure everyone reading this blog knows what a mall looks like. But tomorrow I'm going to a "piscina," which is a pool, but it's a natural outdoors pool in the Amazonian area, so I'm for sure taking bunches of pictures!! Apparently there's a super cold pool (which is really good for your circulation), and then there's a therapeutic hot spring heated by the volcano!! So excited for tomorrow. We're leaving the house at 6 "punto" (sharp) with my host family's cousin and her family!
Yesterday (Friday), I hung out with Maria Daniela (Daniel's cousin) who is 17 years old and super funny. The way she acts is so cute, and you can definitely tell she's young haha. After class, I rested for a bit because it was FINALLY Friday. Then my host mom and I picked up Maria Daniela and went to Quito to pick my host brother up from work. We all went to Quicentro, a HUGE mall in Quito - bigger than Woodfield! And they had so many American shops like AX, Puma, Hilfiger, North Face, etc. I seriously don't think I'll feel like I'm in Ecuador in a month when I'm living in Quito because it's so similar to the states. I bought a swimsuit (one-piece) because my host mom told me not to get a bikini lol it's solid black with pink straps. It's simple and cute and cost almost 30 dollars..... Apparently that's cheap here? :( my moneys... But I needed one to go to the "pool" tomorrow. It was kind of weird when I was buying it because my host mom and Maria Daniela's parents were helping me pick out a bathing suit... Talk about a little bit awkward lol. But it seemed perfectly normal to all of them.
I really liked that because it made me feel like I was really part of their family and they thought it was normal to help me pick out a swimsuit. Maybe I'm just super awkward and weird. :O After the mall, we all went to Pizzas por Bolivar, a delicious Ecuadorian pizza shop. It was amazing!! The pizzas here are different because they're all thin slices (kind of like New York style, but not as wide) and there's no tomato sauce on it. I'm not a big fan of tomato sauce so I enjoyed it. And this restaurant has a factory where they make their own cheese. It was great. The cheese tastes different in a good way - more fresh and milkier? I can't explain it, but it was really good. They put this chili powder on their pizzas instead of pepper flakes, and it tastes so much better because it's spicier. By then I was really tired, but we had to pick up my host dad from the airport because he was on a business trip in Guayaquil. But we literally had to stall an hour and half because his flight got delayed. So we went out for ice cream. There's this really good ice cream chain store in Ecuador called Pingüino, and they sell these ice cream bars called "Caseros" - I had a "coco" (coconut) flavor and it was SO good. In Ecuadorian coconut ice cream, they actually put coconut shavings in the ice cream, which makes eating it so much better/fun. Awesome.
After we picked up my host dad, which I don't remember at all because I fell asleep on the way, we went home, which I also don't remember because I was sleeping. Today we didn't really do much. After breakfast, we just chilled at home until Maria Daniela's family came over for lunch, which was soup and lasagna. Yummy!! We all had so much that the three of us (Maria Daniela, Daniel, and I) walked around the neighborhood and stopped at a park. It was super calm and pretty there. We saw a caterpillar making its cocoon in a tree!! It was awesome - I wish I had my camera to take a picture, but I didn't :( The caterpillar had like this silk string that started at the top of a tree branch and was all the way at the bottom, twirling itself as it climbed up, making its cocoon. Nature is super cool. On our way back, we saw a parrot in someone's backyard and it started talking hehehehe. All it could say was "Hola" and "Pepina," though, so it wasn't that fun. But it was really cute! He was talking in this super, super high pitch, and when we asked him what his name was, it just kept saying "Pepina," which is a type of fruit here. Haha when we got back, I had to finish an essay so we went upstairs and Daniel and Maria Daniela did karaoke while I typed away. Afterwards, Maria Daniela wanted to Daniel to take pictures of her (like model shots) because Daniel is apparently really into photography, which was really cool. He has so much equipment like lighting stuff and this intense flash bulb and various lenses.. Made me feel super amateur LOL. She had an intense photoshoot. It was really funny because every time I looked up from typing, she kept laughing because I was looking and she kept telling me not to look at her hahaha. For dinner, we had empenadas with cheese inside and hot chocolate. SUPER DELICIOUS. Wow, I love empenadas. Today was a super exhausting and tiring day.
Keep checking loveleekukies.smugmug.com for updates :)
With love from Selva Alegre,
Gina
This week has been long, but at the same time, it went by fairly quickly. Mostly it was the same thing everyday - Spanish classes starting at 8 and then ending at 1, except for Tues and Thurs, which ended at 4. On Wednesday, a bunch of us went to San Luis shopping mall, which is the really nice shopping center I was talking about. Lucy, Abby, Laura W. and I walked there right after class to get some lunch. Lucy and I had Sushi by NOE, and it was surprisingly super delicious. It was kind of expensive (by Ecuadorian standards - $7.50 for 8 pieces of great maki rolls), but I guess that's kind of expected when we're in such a place eating sushi haha. Abby and Laura had hamburgers, which was apparently really similar to American burgers. This was super surprising because many times in other countries, "burgers" and not really burgers, but weird versions of them - mind you, they taste awesome, but it's not the same.
Thursday we had another one of our longer sessions, so we had to stay until 4. Afterwards, Sophie, Kara, Chris, Andréa, Lisa, Dan, and I went to the "Mercado del Sangolquí," which is the outdoors market I was talking about earlier (I think.. I can't keep track anymore). Well, it's kind of like those Korean markets you see on television, where there are a bunch of older people selling fruits, veggies, meat, clothes, shoes, anything else in the world at much lower prices. But the fruits and veggies are more fresh than they are in the stores! I saw whole chicken, the kind you see in the stores frozen, with their feet tied together and up in the air - kind of like a yoga position. It was hilarious!! I really wish I had taken my camera, but I didn't because I'm stupid and forgot :(
I seriously haven't been taking any pictures lately, mostly because all I do is go on a bus to classes then take the bus back. Or I go to the mall... And I'm 99.9% sure everyone reading this blog knows what a mall looks like. But tomorrow I'm going to a "piscina," which is a pool, but it's a natural outdoors pool in the Amazonian area, so I'm for sure taking bunches of pictures!! Apparently there's a super cold pool (which is really good for your circulation), and then there's a therapeutic hot spring heated by the volcano!! So excited for tomorrow. We're leaving the house at 6 "punto" (sharp) with my host family's cousin and her family!
Yesterday (Friday), I hung out with Maria Daniela (Daniel's cousin) who is 17 years old and super funny. The way she acts is so cute, and you can definitely tell she's young haha. After class, I rested for a bit because it was FINALLY Friday. Then my host mom and I picked up Maria Daniela and went to Quito to pick my host brother up from work. We all went to Quicentro, a HUGE mall in Quito - bigger than Woodfield! And they had so many American shops like AX, Puma, Hilfiger, North Face, etc. I seriously don't think I'll feel like I'm in Ecuador in a month when I'm living in Quito because it's so similar to the states. I bought a swimsuit (one-piece) because my host mom told me not to get a bikini lol it's solid black with pink straps. It's simple and cute and cost almost 30 dollars..... Apparently that's cheap here? :( my moneys... But I needed one to go to the "pool" tomorrow. It was kind of weird when I was buying it because my host mom and Maria Daniela's parents were helping me pick out a bathing suit... Talk about a little bit awkward lol. But it seemed perfectly normal to all of them.
I really liked that because it made me feel like I was really part of their family and they thought it was normal to help me pick out a swimsuit. Maybe I'm just super awkward and weird. :O After the mall, we all went to Pizzas por Bolivar, a delicious Ecuadorian pizza shop. It was amazing!! The pizzas here are different because they're all thin slices (kind of like New York style, but not as wide) and there's no tomato sauce on it. I'm not a big fan of tomato sauce so I enjoyed it. And this restaurant has a factory where they make their own cheese. It was great. The cheese tastes different in a good way - more fresh and milkier? I can't explain it, but it was really good. They put this chili powder on their pizzas instead of pepper flakes, and it tastes so much better because it's spicier. By then I was really tired, but we had to pick up my host dad from the airport because he was on a business trip in Guayaquil. But we literally had to stall an hour and half because his flight got delayed. So we went out for ice cream. There's this really good ice cream chain store in Ecuador called Pingüino, and they sell these ice cream bars called "Caseros" - I had a "coco" (coconut) flavor and it was SO good. In Ecuadorian coconut ice cream, they actually put coconut shavings in the ice cream, which makes eating it so much better/fun. Awesome.
After we picked up my host dad, which I don't remember at all because I fell asleep on the way, we went home, which I also don't remember because I was sleeping. Today we didn't really do much. After breakfast, we just chilled at home until Maria Daniela's family came over for lunch, which was soup and lasagna. Yummy!! We all had so much that the three of us (Maria Daniela, Daniel, and I) walked around the neighborhood and stopped at a park. It was super calm and pretty there. We saw a caterpillar making its cocoon in a tree!! It was awesome - I wish I had my camera to take a picture, but I didn't :( The caterpillar had like this silk string that started at the top of a tree branch and was all the way at the bottom, twirling itself as it climbed up, making its cocoon. Nature is super cool. On our way back, we saw a parrot in someone's backyard and it started talking hehehehe. All it could say was "Hola" and "Pepina," though, so it wasn't that fun. But it was really cute! He was talking in this super, super high pitch, and when we asked him what his name was, it just kept saying "Pepina," which is a type of fruit here. Haha when we got back, I had to finish an essay so we went upstairs and Daniel and Maria Daniela did karaoke while I typed away. Afterwards, Maria Daniela wanted to Daniel to take pictures of her (like model shots) because Daniel is apparently really into photography, which was really cool. He has so much equipment like lighting stuff and this intense flash bulb and various lenses.. Made me feel super amateur LOL. She had an intense photoshoot. It was really funny because every time I looked up from typing, she kept laughing because I was looking and she kept telling me not to look at her hahaha. For dinner, we had empenadas with cheese inside and hot chocolate. SUPER DELICIOUS. Wow, I love empenadas. Today was a super exhausting and tiring day.
Keep checking loveleekukies.smugmug.com for updates :)
With love from Selva Alegre,
Gina
Monday, September 5, 2011
Homework and Corn
What a great day! First day of classes went by super quickly - 5 hours of Spanish, but it felt like 2. Lots of homework, but also lots of time, yeah? After class, I met up with some of my friends in Santa Rosa, Sangolquí, where all of them live. Except me... :( I walked to Lisa's house and met her sister, and from there, the three of us walked to where Keely, Laura W, and Laura's brother was. The six of us walked all around Sangolquí.
We went to an outdoor market that looked like a typical outdoor market that sells all kinds of goods. Usually, Sundays and Thursdays are the golden days, where most of the people go to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. So we didn't get to see the market busy, but that's okay, because I wanted to take pictures; and with too many people, it's too dangerous to take pictures. All the girls from the group bought rain boots for our excursions to the Amazon Rain Forest and the Coast! I got really simple yellow rubber ones that I am in LOVE with. Me encantan las botas!! Hehe. We also bought this really good bread with chocolate swirls inside for 50 cents - almost everything you eat on the streets is that cheap. It's awesome.
We then went to this small area where there were painters and other artisans in front of this large Catholic church. The day was so gorgeous. The sun was shining, but there was a cool breeze once in a while so we weren't too hot or cold. It was the perfect day. We also visited the Monument of Rumiñahui, who was an Incan warrior/general that maintained the struggle against the Spanish conquerors during the Battle of Pichincha even after the death of Tupac Hualpa. Hehe this is actually very interesting to me because I learned about this in Spanish class last semester!! Sweet. Well, we took many pictures in a variety of combinations haha. And now I'm doing my Spanish homework. One of the assignments is to make up a story, and mine is so good that I really had to share it :) I'll write it in English for all y'all.
One day many years before the civilization and modernization of the U.S. Midwest, there was a family called Malloíz that consisted of a dad, a mom, and a beautiful daughter whose name was Amarí. Now this family was super poor; thus the father needed to work away from home in a small town in Hawaii. So only the mom and Amarí lived in their small house with almost always nothing to eat. A few miles from their town, there was a famous witch known to make people become super rich after following her advice. So one gloomy day, the mom left her house to go see the witch in order to receive some "words of wisdom." The witch told her that in order to become rich, she needs to cut off all her daughter's hair and sell it. Oh, good God - this was a big problem because Amarí's hair was the most beautiful thing anyone has ever seen. It was a bright yellow that shone like gold both in and out of the sun; and it was really long and luscious - so great that it could be on those Garnier Fructis commercials (I didn't write that in my homework haha). Everyone who saw her hair, both men and women, were jealous of her gorgeous, amazing hair. You get the point. The following night, Amarí's mother drank a lot of alcoholic beverages, and when she because super drunk, she slowly and silently stumbled into her daughter's bedroom. As she was sobbing to herself, she cut off all of Amarí's golden hair, and early the next morning, the mother left the house to sell her daughter's hair at the market. When Amarí work up, she was really surprised that she had no hair and began to weep. So devastated and depressed, she cried and cried everyday, covering herself up with one of her thin green blankets. Each following day, she would add another thin green blanket to cover her newfound "ugliness." And this is how corn was born.
The end!
With love from Selva Alegre,
Gina :)
PS: smugmug.com is updated! Link is now in the "About Me" section, too!!
We went to an outdoor market that looked like a typical outdoor market that sells all kinds of goods. Usually, Sundays and Thursdays are the golden days, where most of the people go to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. So we didn't get to see the market busy, but that's okay, because I wanted to take pictures; and with too many people, it's too dangerous to take pictures. All the girls from the group bought rain boots for our excursions to the Amazon Rain Forest and the Coast! I got really simple yellow rubber ones that I am in LOVE with. Me encantan las botas!! Hehe. We also bought this really good bread with chocolate swirls inside for 50 cents - almost everything you eat on the streets is that cheap. It's awesome.
We then went to this small area where there were painters and other artisans in front of this large Catholic church. The day was so gorgeous. The sun was shining, but there was a cool breeze once in a while so we weren't too hot or cold. It was the perfect day. We also visited the Monument of Rumiñahui, who was an Incan warrior/general that maintained the struggle against the Spanish conquerors during the Battle of Pichincha even after the death of Tupac Hualpa. Hehe this is actually very interesting to me because I learned about this in Spanish class last semester!! Sweet. Well, we took many pictures in a variety of combinations haha. And now I'm doing my Spanish homework. One of the assignments is to make up a story, and mine is so good that I really had to share it :) I'll write it in English for all y'all.
One day many years before the civilization and modernization of the U.S. Midwest, there was a family called Malloíz that consisted of a dad, a mom, and a beautiful daughter whose name was Amarí. Now this family was super poor; thus the father needed to work away from home in a small town in Hawaii. So only the mom and Amarí lived in their small house with almost always nothing to eat. A few miles from their town, there was a famous witch known to make people become super rich after following her advice. So one gloomy day, the mom left her house to go see the witch in order to receive some "words of wisdom." The witch told her that in order to become rich, she needs to cut off all her daughter's hair and sell it. Oh, good God - this was a big problem because Amarí's hair was the most beautiful thing anyone has ever seen. It was a bright yellow that shone like gold both in and out of the sun; and it was really long and luscious - so great that it could be on those Garnier Fructis commercials (I didn't write that in my homework haha). Everyone who saw her hair, both men and women, were jealous of her gorgeous, amazing hair. You get the point. The following night, Amarí's mother drank a lot of alcoholic beverages, and when she because super drunk, she slowly and silently stumbled into her daughter's bedroom. As she was sobbing to herself, she cut off all of Amarí's golden hair, and early the next morning, the mother left the house to sell her daughter's hair at the market. When Amarí work up, she was really surprised that she had no hair and began to weep. So devastated and depressed, she cried and cried everyday, covering herself up with one of her thin green blankets. Each following day, she would add another thin green blanket to cover her newfound "ugliness." And this is how corn was born.
The end!
With love from Selva Alegre,
Gina :)
PS: smugmug.com is updated! Link is now in the "About Me" section, too!!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Que chévere!
I have the cold.. or it may have been an asthma attack/allergies. LOL I have no idea, but I coughed and couldn't breathe very well. And my nose was super stuffy and I keep on sneezing/have that feeling. But my host parents were really sweet and caring and keep asking me if I feel better. Seriously, every hour or so, they ask me if I feel better, even though I told them that I do hahaha. And César made me the cinnamon tea again tonight. Que chevre!
I start school tomorrow... Kinda nervous/really excited. This week was going by so slowly because I wasn't doing anything during orientation, and then I was getting used to the homestay situation. But now everything is going to go by quickly, hopefully. Speaking Spanish 24/7 is a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. During dinner today, some family members came over: tío Marcel y tía Lily. They also have an exchange student named Maddy from Idaho (their daughter is currently living with Maddy's family). While we were conversing, it hit me that I wouldn't be talking to actual people (one-on-one) in English for quite some time.. and it made me really sad/frustrated. I didn't think that this would actually happen to me - is this a form of culture shock? Because it hit me like an electrocution. HAHAHA sorry..
Also went to the mall again today. Que chevre y grande! It almost feels like Woodfield, but with more Ecuadorians, and no gringos (white people) whatsoever. Daniel took me to the big store that was selling school supplies, and afterwards, we went into a really nice bookstore. And I bought the Spanish version of The Kite Runner, called Cometas en el cielo. I'm really excited to read it; it looks long, but since I've read the English version before, it shouldn't be hard to understand - I'll hopefully get the gist of it.
Anyway. Here's the schedule I promised:
9/2: Homestay in Los Chillos - César, Rocío, Diego y Daniel (with Winnie y Gato - their two dogs)
9/5: Daily Spanish classes begin with Field Study Seminars (FSS) twice a week afterwards
9/17 - 9/20: Excursion to Cloud Forest in Intag, Ecuador!
9/30: Spanish classes end!
10/2: Leave Los Chillos forever :(
10/3 - 10/6: Excursion to Cuyabena (aka the Amazon Rain Forest in El Oriente!!)
10/8: Homestay in Quito
10/10: Daily Culture Study Seminars (CSS)
10/19 - 10/26: Village Study in Santa Manta, a city en La Costa de Ecuador
11/5: Quito homestay ends, and Independent Study Project (ISP) begins!!
12/4: ISP ends and evaluation begins in another place TBA
12/10: Leave Quito at 10:50am and arrive to Chicago at 8:05pm!!! :)
With love from Sangolquí
Gina
I start school tomorrow... Kinda nervous/really excited. This week was going by so slowly because I wasn't doing anything during orientation, and then I was getting used to the homestay situation. But now everything is going to go by quickly, hopefully. Speaking Spanish 24/7 is a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. During dinner today, some family members came over: tío Marcel y tía Lily. They also have an exchange student named Maddy from Idaho (their daughter is currently living with Maddy's family). While we were conversing, it hit me that I wouldn't be talking to actual people (one-on-one) in English for quite some time.. and it made me really sad/frustrated. I didn't think that this would actually happen to me - is this a form of culture shock? Because it hit me like an electrocution. HAHAHA sorry..
Also went to the mall again today. Que chevre y grande! It almost feels like Woodfield, but with more Ecuadorians, and no gringos (white people) whatsoever. Daniel took me to the big store that was selling school supplies, and afterwards, we went into a really nice bookstore. And I bought the Spanish version of The Kite Runner, called Cometas en el cielo. I'm really excited to read it; it looks long, but since I've read the English version before, it shouldn't be hard to understand - I'll hopefully get the gist of it.
Anyway. Here's the schedule I promised:
9/2: Homestay in Los Chillos - César, Rocío, Diego y Daniel (with Winnie y Gato - their two dogs)
9/5: Daily Spanish classes begin with Field Study Seminars (FSS) twice a week afterwards
9/17 - 9/20: Excursion to Cloud Forest in Intag, Ecuador!
9/30: Spanish classes end!
10/2: Leave Los Chillos forever :(
10/3 - 10/6: Excursion to Cuyabena (aka the Amazon Rain Forest in El Oriente!!)
10/8: Homestay in Quito
10/10: Daily Culture Study Seminars (CSS)
10/19 - 10/26: Village Study in Santa Manta, a city en La Costa de Ecuador
11/5: Quito homestay ends, and Independent Study Project (ISP) begins!!
12/4: ISP ends and evaluation begins in another place TBA
12/10: Leave Quito at 10:50am and arrive to Chicago at 8:05pm!!! :)
With love from Sangolquí
Gina
Smugmug.com!! :)
So I made a smugmug.com account to put my photos on! I used to use Flickr, but i had already used 74% of my limit this month.. and I only uploaded 38 pictures - not going to work. And smugmug is so much better. I'm sharing with Kevin, so I guess you can look at his pictures too haha
loveleekukies.smugmug.com :)
loveleekukies.smugmug.com :)
Center of the World
The music is from this Ecuadorian group called "Janan" who play traditional music as well as Bolivian/Colombian-style music. We got to hear them live on Wednesday night and danced for close to two hours. It was entertaining since none of us have danced like that before. It was awkward sometimes because we just stood there clapping our hands because no one wanted to be the first to dance. On Thursday, we had a "Drop-Off" activity as a part of our last orientation activity. The directors leave us at Rancho Alegre in San Antonio and split us up into 4 groups. Each group had to travel to a different city on the outskirts of Quito: Nanegalito, Pifo, El Quinche, and Guayllbamba. My group went to Nanegalito, and because the monument of "La Mitad del Mundo" was on the way, we stopped by and took pictures. It was so cool!! I don't know why.. The monument isn't that big of a deal and the equator is just an imaginary line that goes through the middle of the Earth. In actuality, the monument isn't really on the equator; it's a little off, but I felt so giddy and accomplished that I was able to straddle the equator line! I was able to put one foot on the Northern Hemi and another on the Southern Hemi. Sweet.
Yesterday, I met my host family. It was so nerve-racking, and the whole morning and bus ride to Capelo I was really anxious to meet them. A part of me was scared because I'm living with two brothers, and I've never lived with any guys before. The princess part of me was also afraid that I would have to share a bathroom with the entire family, and I would have to be super cautious around them. I was scared that they wouldn't know what to do because it was their first time, and I would feel really left out. But as soon as I met them, they were really friendly and treated me as their real daughter. Of course it was different and I did feel like an outsider, obviously, but they tried their hardest to make me feel comfortable. My dad, César, is a retired newspaper editor for "El Comercio" and now has his own business. My mom, Rocío, also used to be a magazine editor but now works with her oldest son, Diego - 28, in something to do with the government(?). I couldn't understand what she was saying... to be honest. Haha. Daniel is 22 and recently graduated with a degree in publicity/advertisement. He now works with a small agency doing digital advertising for various companies in Quito. Diego moved out today because he said he wanted to have his own place and be more independent of the family, so it's the four of us living in the house. The family situation is very different than in America because here the children live with their parents until they get married. And even then sometimes they live in their parent's home.
But my family is a little different than the traditional families we learned about during orientation. Although Ecuador is a very gender-biased country, my parents here are - if you would - liberal. Because both Rocío and César work, they have a maid/cook who comes Monday through Friday and cooks and cleans the house. On the weekends, each person just makes their own food whenever they have time, and sometimes Rocío works. Haha my family is so cute, especially the way they interact. César is 15 years older than Rocío, and he treats her like a queen. He cooks and does the dishes often because Rocío doesn't like to do housework, and he's very friendly and caring. Today Daniel was doing karaoke when César and I came home from watching a bullfighting event, WHICH WAS REALLY CRAZY AND SAD AND A SUPER COOL EXPERIENCE. Que chevre! (How cool!) But it was really sad.. It was for a five-day fiesta originally in honor of the Virgin Mary, but now it's more commonly known for tourism and corn. There were multiple men that were muy chumado (very drunk) and are almost dead/might be dead/seriously injured.. Pictures on my smugmug.com account.
Ecuador is very dusty. Especially at the bullfighting arena. There was so much dust that rose up from the bull pounding at the ground, and the strong wind blows it into our faces. I think I became allergic, or there was so much dust that it clogged my lungs, because I started sneezing every 5 seconds and coughing nonstop. To the point where soon it hurt to breathe in, and I felt as though my bronchi were closing up... I really need to be more careful. I think I had a slight fever for a while too :( And now I'm in bed on my computer because my host parents wouldn't let me go out - I was supposed to go play soccer with Diego and Daniel and their friends. But César made me this good hot water with cinnamon and sugar, which helped with the airway situation. I still have a super stuffy nose and my throat aches a bit, but I feel much better.. What a long freaking week!!! Time really needs to go quicker.. I still haven't even had my first class of the semester yet.
I'm sort of excited to start Spanish classes because I really want to improve. I understand the majority of what people are saying around me/to me, but I want to be able to respond back with something other than "Ah! Sí!" LOL ... Sad. I can't wait to speak more comfortably so that I can really communicate with my family. They are so sweet, and I want to share my thoughts with them too! I'm also super excited for our excursions.. AHHH!! I'll upload the schedule soon.. I promise!
With love from barrio Selva Alegre in Sangolqui of Los Valles de Los Chillos, Equador,
Gina
Ecuador is very dusty. Especially at the bullfighting arena. There was so much dust that rose up from the bull pounding at the ground, and the strong wind blows it into our faces. I think I became allergic, or there was so much dust that it clogged my lungs, because I started sneezing every 5 seconds and coughing nonstop. To the point where soon it hurt to breathe in, and I felt as though my bronchi were closing up... I really need to be more careful. I think I had a slight fever for a while too :( And now I'm in bed on my computer because my host parents wouldn't let me go out - I was supposed to go play soccer with Diego and Daniel and their friends. But César made me this good hot water with cinnamon and sugar, which helped with the airway situation. I still have a super stuffy nose and my throat aches a bit, but I feel much better.. What a long freaking week!!! Time really needs to go quicker.. I still haven't even had my first class of the semester yet.
I'm sort of excited to start Spanish classes because I really want to improve. I understand the majority of what people are saying around me/to me, but I want to be able to respond back with something other than "Ah! Sí!" LOL ... Sad. I can't wait to speak more comfortably so that I can really communicate with my family. They are so sweet, and I want to share my thoughts with them too! I'm also super excited for our excursions.. AHHH!! I'll upload the schedule soon.. I promise!
With love from barrio Selva Alegre in Sangolqui of Los Valles de Los Chillos, Equador,
Gina
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Little Fish in a Big Pond
Brace yourselves for a SUPER long update :D
These past four days have been so hectic that I still haven't been used to the fact that I'm here Ecuador. It doesn't feel as though I'm going to be spending the next three and a half months here. As I entered the country, I was super nervous and anxious. I met the group at the airport right next to this cute flower booth (that sold balloons with "Feliz cumpleaños!" stuck on with sticker letters) just before the automatic exit doors. We took what seemed like an hour-long bus ride to Alston Inn Hotel in Mariscal, Quito. I didn't get to see much on the way because it was around 7pm and completely dark, but I did get to see some parts of the city. It surprised me because I came thinking that I'd be riding in one of those pickup trucks rattling down a dirt path. No. Quito is a very developed, bustling city - perhaps as busy as downtown Chicago. You may also be wondering why it was so dark at such an early time since Ecuador is supposed to always be warm and sunny. Apparently, since it's on the equator, it gets equal amounts of sunlight and darkness; this means that the sun always rises around 6am and sets around 6pm. Cool!!! Hehe
Bustling city of Quito
The hotel we stayed at was pretty large and quite nice. But there are no elevators, so my roommate Lisa and i had to lug all our luggage (no pun intended) four flights of stairs to our room, which was really spacious with three beds. The beds were really comfortable and the bathroom was really clean. Hot water worked fine, thank God. Basically it was the same as many of the 3-star hotels in America. Oh, and there was free Wifi, but my computer wasn't working so I was kind of bummed out.. And for future references, the Alston is considered our home base-type place because we move around a lot. I'll put up a schedule sooner or later :D
Fast forward all the boring introduction stuff and on to our first day of orientation. Let me just stop to comment on how much food they gave us for breakfast: fruits with yogurt & granola, coffee and eggs and thin spam-looking ham, pancakes, and this amazing freshly squeezed juice. Amazing. As in never had anything better to drink. The food here is so great. We left for Rancho Alegre, a hostel, in La Mitad del Mundo (literally "the middle of the world") in the San Antonio region. As the name suggests, we're currently on or very near the equator. There's actually a monument fifteen minutes away where you can straddle the actual line. We haven't done it yet, but I hope we can during our free time tomorrow. It's a quaint town with not too many people, but this hostel we're at is so awesome. It's very cozy and cute, and everything is pretty much made of wood. There's also this cool hammock chair/swing outside on the main porch. It's so "tranquilo" - or relaxing/calm - to just sit there and breathe in the crisp air. Ecuadorians say that a lot, and it's a really high form of praise if one is "tranquilo." The food here is also amazing. Holy crap they will not stop feeding us. I really wanted to lose weight during my stay here, but now I'm highly doubting that possibility at all. During orientation, we have breakfast then break (half a sandwich) then lunch, then break (some sweet breads) then dinner. I am going to get fat. But the food is so delicious, "muy rico" as they say in Ecuador, that I just can't say no... It's all good.
Small road in front of Rancho Alegre in San Antonio
Our first night in San Antonio was amazing because we had a salsa lesson right before dinner!! At first, I was super hesitant because I don't really like dancing, especially in front of people that I just met. But it was so much fun. And I can now dance the basic salsa. If you ask me, I'll teach whoever when I get back :) Awesome fun. And later than night we all just got up into the loft in my and my two other roommate's room and talked for hours. How our room is set up is that there are two beds as you walk in, and then a small staircase to the loft where there are three beds. So I stayed downstairs because it's cooler, and Laura and kara stayed in the loft because it was warmer. So after dinner, we clambered up and spread out on the three beds and talked about almost every single topic possible.
Our group dancing salsa with partners
My groupmates are amazing people and have wonderful personalities/experiences. I already mentioned Lisa, Laura, and Kara, but there are also Sophie, Abby, Andréa, Keely, another Laura, and the lone guy Dan. I feel as though I've known these people for years because we just talked so much about ourselves in such a short time. We stayed up waiting for two more people whose flights were delayed due to Hurricane Irene: Chris and Joi, who are both really nice and funny. We're also waiting on one more person, Lucy, who is supposed to be arriving tonight. So 13 of us in total. Remember their names because i'll probably be talking about them a lot. :)
Being in Ecuador so far is really surreal. There are mountains as soon as I walk out the door, and the air smells so fresh and crisp. No such thing as humidity in the Sierra, which is the middle area of the country with a lot of mountains and dry-ish lands. On average, we'll always be at an altitude of 10,000 feet above sea level. So it's a little harder to breathe up here since our lungs have to work that much harder. Even walking around the block makes us all lose our breath sometimes. But we will get used to it, and by the time we go home, we'll have a hard time adjusting to sea level air. Haha just kidding, probably not. The weather is really interesting. It's usually warm for the most part, but it has been getting chilly/cold after 3pm these days. It's also apparently not strange for many places to be really sunny and warm, then get a bunch of rain, and then strong cool winds, and then be really hot and sunny again. Strange... So I never know how to dress. And I definitely didn't bring enough sweaters haha
Orientation is long but useful, and pretty scary. The culture is so different here than in the States. There are just so many things we need to be aware of as foreigners regarding our safety and security. There are to many to discuss right now, but maybe I'll bring them up one by one later on. Right now there's just so much info in this post that I feel no one made it to the end.... And if you have, thanks so much!! I'll try and update as often as I can so there isn't always this much writing in one post. And I wish I could take a bunch of pictures to post, but I probably can't/shouldn't for two reasons: 1. If Ecuadorians see me carrying a nice camera.... They'll think I have a lot of money and want to steal or attack me for money. True story people. 2. My memory card can only hold 2G because I am stupid and forgot to buy a bigger one before I left. Oh well. I wish I could get in a decent amount of photos though :) So far everything is going great and I do miss everyone back at home. I can access Internet pretty frequently because there are NetCafes everywhere and it's really cheap. I also might have Wifi at my homestay house. But it's not very helpful for my immersion into the culture... I'll probably be on at least once a day or every two to three days. I shall update again soon :)
From San Antonio, Ecuador with love,
Gina
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