Last weekend I went to the coast, specifically to La Playa Casablanca in El Same, Esmeraldas (a province). To get there, I had to take a trolley and then walk to the bus station in Quito, ride a fairly nice bus for eight hours to Atacames (another city), and ride in the back of a pickup truck for about fifteen minutes to our hotel/resort. We traveled in two groups based on class schedule, so several people were there before I got there. Before I got there, two girls almost drowned in a rip tide. So, obviously, we did not go too far out when we went in the ocean. Despite that, I really enjoyed the beach. It was gorgeous, the weather was perfect, and the waves weren't too rough. It reminded me of being in North Carolina where my family vacations every summer. I thought it was pretty cool to be hanging out in a bathing suit in January.
Getting home was a bit of an adventure. The woman who was supposed to drive us back to Atacames misunderstood us and was a bit late picking us up. Plus, we had the bus schedule wrong, so when we got to the bus station, we had to wait two hours for the next bus. So, a couple of us wandered around Atacames, taking one last look at the ocean and checking out the local shops. I liked hanging out there for that short amount of time, but I'm very glad we did not stay there the whole weekend. It was a bit sketchy, dirty, and crowded.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Ecuator
On Sunday, I went to the equator! First, we went to Mitad del Mundo (middle of the world) where the French calculated the equator to be. They were wrong, but it was still fun. We ate an Ecuadorian fruit called guaba that grows in big green pods with cottony edible chunks inside, went inside the monument to a museum full of indegenous artifacts, and watched some traditional dancing. We ate lunch there; Kelsey and I ate cuy (guinea pig) which is traditional food in Ecuador. It came whole: head, ears, teeth, whiskers, claws, and all. It tasted like chicken. :D
After that, we went to the actual equator, as calcuated by the indegenous people of Ecuador thousands of years before the French and confirmed by US Army GPS. We went on a tour, which included a few indegenous domiciles, live cuy, a blow dart challange, native animals, shrunken heads, and demonstrations of some scientific properties of the equator. Some of these demonstrations included water going straight down the drain and balancing an egg on a nail. It was sweet!
After that, we went to the actual equator, as calcuated by the indegenous people of Ecuador thousands of years before the French and confirmed by US Army GPS. We went on a tour, which included a few indegenous domiciles, live cuy, a blow dart challange, native animals, shrunken heads, and demonstrations of some scientific properties of the equator. Some of these demonstrations included water going straight down the drain and balancing an egg on a nail. It was sweet!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Protests, protests everywhere
On Thursday, the president of Ecuador Rafael Correa gave his State of the Union address. Many people in Ecuador do not like Correa because of his left-leaning views, alliances (or at least friendships) with Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela, and his lack of action against Colombia. So, there were several protests this week. I only saw one. It was for women's rights and was very peaceful.
Similarly, this week is the inauguration of Obama. I'm interested to see how much impact this historic day is going to have in Ecuador. On a related note, I want to encourage all of you to visit The Virtual March for Equality. This is an issue that is very important to me. Even though I'm in Ecuador, I still care about injustice in the US. ...That's all for my soapbox for now.
Similarly, this week is the inauguration of Obama. I'm interested to see how much impact this historic day is going to have in Ecuador. On a related note, I want to encourage all of you to visit The Virtual March for Equality. This is an issue that is very important to me. Even though I'm in Ecuador, I still care about injustice in the US. ...That's all for my soapbox for now.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Blackout, classes
So, there was a total blackout of all of Quito last night. The lights went out for about half an hour around six and then came back on. They went out for another half hour around eight. Meche tells me the electricians are on strike. Luckily, after the first time it happened, Juli was still around and gave me a candle and some matches for the second time. Unfortunately, they were the most jank matches I’ve ever seen, and their pilot light was out, so I couldn’t light one from the stove. By some strange stroke of luck, there were some souvenir matchbooks on the bulletin board in my room, so by the light of my cell phone I was able to safely light the candle. Unfortunately, I just finished the book I was reading (which was fabulous, by the way), so I entertained myself playing purble place and mahjong on my computer.
This week has gone pretty well. I finally picked my classes. I’m taking human ecology, north and south: processes of colonialization (which I will learn is not the same as colonialism), and two gringo literature classes. They’re all pretty small classes. The gringo classes have less than 10 people and the other two around 25. So, I have to talk in class, which is both a blessing because I need to improve my speaking skills and a curse because I’ll actually have to work (oh no!). The ecology and history classes also have a lot of reading, but I haven’t had too much trouble with comprehension. I come across lots of words I don’t know, but I can get the gist of the readings without looking all of them up.
This week has gone pretty well. I finally picked my classes. I’m taking human ecology, north and south: processes of colonialization (which I will learn is not the same as colonialism), and two gringo literature classes. They’re all pretty small classes. The gringo classes have less than 10 people and the other two around 25. So, I have to talk in class, which is both a blessing because I need to improve my speaking skills and a curse because I’ll actually have to work (oh no!). The ecology and history classes also have a lot of reading, but I haven’t had too much trouble with comprehension. I come across lots of words I don’t know, but I can get the gist of the readings without looking all of them up.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Other adventures of the first week
I've had some interesting experiences this week besides starting classes and taking the Teleférico. First, I had some issues with transportation. I'm supposed to take a bus from my neighborhood to near the bus station, walk to about four blocks the bus station, and take another bus from the bus station to the university, and the reverse on the way back. The first day of classes, Meche drove me to the bus station, and the maid left me with vague instructions as to where to catch the bus that would take me back to my neighborhood. So, I got sufficiently lost on the way home and wound up taking a taxi. Thursday went off without a hitch. Friday, I got lost again. I caught the right bus, but it took a slightly different route, probably because it was closer to rush hour. It went under the intersection where I usually get off the bus, and I wasn't familiar enough with the other cross streets to recognize it until we got to the end of the line. So, I had to take another bus back to my neighborhood. Despite the many warnings I have gotten about how dangerous Quito can be, everyone I've asked for help when I was lost has been very friendly and accommodating. Luckily, I have only had problems with getting home from the university, so I haven't been late to classes or anything like that because of my troubles.
While on the note of transportation, driving here makes me a bit nervous. Regulations like lane markings and stop signs are merely suggestions. Also, pedestrians definitely do not have the right of way, even in crosswalks. It is quite the contrast to MSU, where pedestrians rule the road.
I've also been able to experience the nightlife in Quito. On Thursday, I went to a welcome party for international students in the Mariscal, an area with a lot of bars and clubs. It is sometimes called Gringolandia because there are a lot of foreigners. That day, the name seemed to fit but, when a bunch of MSU students and I went back on Friday, gringos only comprised maybe 15% of the people there. Meche says that it used to be a lot more touristy, but it has gotten better in the past few years.
It's also been a little hard for me to adjust to having a maid. Because she wasn't here the first weekend I was, I assumed she got weekends off, but apparently she was on vacation that week and actually comes every day. She cooks every meal, tidies my room and makes my bed every day, and does my laundry. She has also helped me get around Quito a bit.
This week I also met most of Meche and Gonzalo's family. I've met each of their three kids and five out of eight grandkids. One of their daughters Lorena lives very close to them, so she and her kids come over a lot. She has twin boys Nico and Sebas and a daughter Gabby. I think the boys are around four years old and Gabby is about nine. The boys come over a lot when Lore is at work. They're super cute and very energetic, and they seem to have gotten used to me. I've only met Gabby once, but she was really sweet and quite interested in my saxophone and pictures of back home.
While on the note of transportation, driving here makes me a bit nervous. Regulations like lane markings and stop signs are merely suggestions. Also, pedestrians definitely do not have the right of way, even in crosswalks. It is quite the contrast to MSU, where pedestrians rule the road.
I've also been able to experience the nightlife in Quito. On Thursday, I went to a welcome party for international students in the Mariscal, an area with a lot of bars and clubs. It is sometimes called Gringolandia because there are a lot of foreigners. That day, the name seemed to fit but, when a bunch of MSU students and I went back on Friday, gringos only comprised maybe 15% of the people there. Meche says that it used to be a lot more touristy, but it has gotten better in the past few years.
It's also been a little hard for me to adjust to having a maid. Because she wasn't here the first weekend I was, I assumed she got weekends off, but apparently she was on vacation that week and actually comes every day. She cooks every meal, tidies my room and makes my bed every day, and does my laundry. She has also helped me get around Quito a bit.
This week I also met most of Meche and Gonzalo's family. I've met each of their three kids and five out of eight grandkids. One of their daughters Lorena lives very close to them, so she and her kids come over a lot. She has twin boys Nico and Sebas and a daughter Gabby. I think the boys are around four years old and Gabby is about nine. The boys come over a lot when Lore is at work. They're super cute and very energetic, and they seem to have gotten used to me. I've only met Gabby once, but she was really sweet and quite interested in my saxophone and pictures of back home.
Classes
Classes started this week on Wednesday. At USFQ, students get the first week and a half to arrange their schedules. As such, I went to many different classes this week to figure out what classes I should take. I went to sociology (gender and society), two EAI (Spanish for international students aka Gringo) lit classes, an actual lit class (oral Ecuadorian histories), history (North and South: processes of colonialism), human ecology, and cultural anthropology. I still want to try one more class called Andean anthropology.
I decided I didn't want to take sociology, oral Ecuadorian histories, or cultural anthropology. The focus of the sociology class was not what I thought it would be and would have been a lot of work for something I don't find all that interesting. I think the lit class would have been over my head, plus it fulfills the same requirements as the history class, which I really liked. And the anthropology class was too generic: I wanted an anthro class specifically about South America or Ecuador, which is more like the Andean anthropology class.
I really like all the other classes. One of the EAI's is half reading hispanic (as in Spanish and Latin American) lit and half learning about Ecuador and Quito. The other EAI is half Latin American lit and half Cuban lit, which we will connect to Cuba's history and politics. The history class is pretty self-explanatory: comparing the English colonies with Spanish colonies during the colonial age and now. Also, the class is about half gringos, and the professor made a point to say that no one should be embarrassed to participate in class, which I thought was cool. The human ecology class is pretty sweet: the subject matter is intriguing, and I like the professor a lot so far. Although I haven't been to the Andean anthropology class, I have read they syllabus and talked to people who are in it and it seems quite interesting and we have an optional field trip into rural Ecuador to see what we've learned in real life. Because of the way the schedule works out, I have to pick four of these five classes, a decision I have yet to make.
I decided I didn't want to take sociology, oral Ecuadorian histories, or cultural anthropology. The focus of the sociology class was not what I thought it would be and would have been a lot of work for something I don't find all that interesting. I think the lit class would have been over my head, plus it fulfills the same requirements as the history class, which I really liked. And the anthropology class was too generic: I wanted an anthro class specifically about South America or Ecuador, which is more like the Andean anthropology class.
I really like all the other classes. One of the EAI's is half reading hispanic (as in Spanish and Latin American) lit and half learning about Ecuador and Quito. The other EAI is half Latin American lit and half Cuban lit, which we will connect to Cuba's history and politics. The history class is pretty self-explanatory: comparing the English colonies with Spanish colonies during the colonial age and now. Also, the class is about half gringos, and the professor made a point to say that no one should be embarrassed to participate in class, which I thought was cool. The human ecology class is pretty sweet: the subject matter is intriguing, and I like the professor a lot so far. Although I haven't been to the Andean anthropology class, I have read they syllabus and talked to people who are in it and it seems quite interesting and we have an optional field trip into rural Ecuador to see what we've learned in real life. Because of the way the schedule works out, I have to pick four of these five classes, a decision I have yet to make.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Teleferica
Today almost all of the MSU/USFQ students went up Pichincha, the mountain just to the west of Quito, in a cable car system called the Teleférica. It was amazing. The cable car took us most of the way up, and you can walk a bit farther. The view was fantastic. When we were about halfway to the top (from where the cable car left us) we took a horse tour of part of the mountain and saw a small waterfall. During the tour we could hear thunder, but we were so high up that we were above the storm. By the end of the tour, I was pretty tired, but we all wanted to get as far up as we could, so we kept climbing. This was a bit of a physical challange for me because I'm still acclilmating to the altitude, I think moreso than everyone else. So, I had to go slowly and take breaks. By the time we got as high as we could on acutal trails, it was starting to get dark and foggy: time to go back. I had to walk a lot slower than everyone else to get down, so one other girl (Jackie) and I would up getting separated from the group. By the time we made it back to where the horses had been, it was so foggy that Jackie thought we were lost. Not soon after that, we met a few policemen/soldiers who walked us the rest of the way back. It was quite an adventure.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Orientacion, lluvia, y celular
Today I got my first taste of typical Quiteño weather. In the morning, it was chilly--around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Then it got hot, and then it rained. Luckily, I was already out shopping and had bought an umbrella when it started raining. More on that later...
The first order of business today was the international student orientation at the university. My host mom Meche drove me there and dropped me off, doing her best to point out the bus stops I would be using when I eventually have to get myself to school. Orientation went well. We listened to talks about safety, health, culture, and politics, and took a tour of campus, which is small but gorgeous.
When I got home, I played with Meche's grandsons and watched the Spanish (as in from Spain) version of Wheel of Fortune.
Later, I went to the mall with our maid-type lady Juli. The mall is about a twenty minute walk from the house--not a big deal. There, I bought an umbrella, some toiletrees, and a cell phone. I let Juli do most of the talking at the cell phone store, so I really don't know how the service works. From what I gather, it's basically pay as you go. By the time I left the mall, it was pouring rain, so I got to put my new umbrella to good use. When we were about halfway home, Meche called Juli to see where we were and then she came to pick us up.
After dinner, Meche and I had a very musical night. First, she insisted that I play my saxophone for her. Then, she played the accordion for me. Next, we both played the piano. Finally, she played some CD's for me of traditional Ecuadorian and Latino music, including a CD of my host dad Gonzalo's band. I had a lot of fun, and I feel as though Meche and I really connected through our mutual love of music.
Tomorrow I have to go to the migration police to register my visa and get my "Censo" (ID for foreigners), and classes start on Wednesday.
The first order of business today was the international student orientation at the university. My host mom Meche drove me there and dropped me off, doing her best to point out the bus stops I would be using when I eventually have to get myself to school. Orientation went well. We listened to talks about safety, health, culture, and politics, and took a tour of campus, which is small but gorgeous.
When I got home, I played with Meche's grandsons and watched the Spanish (as in from Spain) version of Wheel of Fortune.
Later, I went to the mall with our maid-type lady Juli. The mall is about a twenty minute walk from the house--not a big deal. There, I bought an umbrella, some toiletrees, and a cell phone. I let Juli do most of the talking at the cell phone store, so I really don't know how the service works. From what I gather, it's basically pay as you go. By the time I left the mall, it was pouring rain, so I got to put my new umbrella to good use. When we were about halfway home, Meche called Juli to see where we were and then she came to pick us up.
After dinner, Meche and I had a very musical night. First, she insisted that I play my saxophone for her. Then, she played the accordion for me. Next, we both played the piano. Finally, she played some CD's for me of traditional Ecuadorian and Latino music, including a CD of my host dad Gonzalo's band. I had a lot of fun, and I feel as though Meche and I really connected through our mutual love of music.
Tomorrow I have to go to the migration police to register my visa and get my "Censo" (ID for foreigners), and classes start on Wednesday.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
I made it!
I write this post from Quito!! Everything went as smoothly as could be expected. I sat next to a girl from band and one of her acquaintances on the plane. I met a girl from Crystal Lake (the town just south of McHenry) in the line for customs. It made me a lot more comfortable to be with other people going through the same experience as me.
My host mom is very nice. We had tea and snacks and chatted a bit once I got settled in. She was very pleased to hear that I'm Catholic and that I want to go to Mass with her tomorrow. She also said that I spoke Spanish very well, which put me at ease because I was quite nervous about the language barrier.
I like the house so far. It is a normal size for a city setting and I get my own room and bathroom. It is also only a block or two from a bus stop that serves many bus lines, including the one that I will take to the university. I'm very excited that I have internet access in the house, something the coordinator of the program said was rare. So, I'll be able to check my facebook frequently and I'll have access to Skype whenever I'm home.
Well, I'm off to unpack and get some rest.
My host mom is very nice. We had tea and snacks and chatted a bit once I got settled in. She was very pleased to hear that I'm Catholic and that I want to go to Mass with her tomorrow. She also said that I spoke Spanish very well, which put me at ease because I was quite nervous about the language barrier.
I like the house so far. It is a normal size for a city setting and I get my own room and bathroom. It is also only a block or two from a bus stop that serves many bus lines, including the one that I will take to the university. I'm very excited that I have internet access in the house, something the coordinator of the program said was rare. So, I'll be able to check my facebook frequently and I'll have access to Skype whenever I'm home.
Well, I'm off to unpack and get some rest.
Friday, January 2, 2009
The adventure begins...
For all of you who don't know, I'm spending this semester in Ecuador studying at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito. I've been preparing for this trip all semester. I applied for my visa and got several vaccines this fall. Over break, I went to the consulate in Chicago to get my visa (after waiting for three hours), did some shopping, packed, and said goodbye to my family. This past week I have been in Orlando for the Capitol One Bowl with the marching band. Today, I flew to Miami, and I depart tomorrow afternoon for Quito. I'll be staying with a host family, who should be picking me up from the airport tomorrow. I'm nervous and excited for this big change. I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow, so wish me luck!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)