I am finally sitting down to write an account of what I have done thus far in Ecuador!
Let's start at the beginning.... Well, the first day was just travel, and it was exhausting. We had a very long day.. I left at 6:30 in the morning and arrived at the seminary at 1:00 a.m! But, allow me to say, that the day of travel has already been worth it. Unfortunately, the first night, I had to sneak into my room while my new Latina roommate was sleeping. I felt terrible, because I had to turn on the light to find my tooth brush and clothes to sleep in! But the next morning I was able to meet her for the first time, and she was so sweet!
My roommate is named "Lady," although I think she spells it "Leidy." She is from Bogotá en Colombia. She is so sweet, and I have loved getting to know her, although we both seem to be busy at different times. This weekend I went to class with her and her "novio" (boyfriend), and it was great. She is a new seminary student from Colombia, so we are both adjusting to life at the seminary and in Ecuador in general. We are both Elementary Education majors! So we are similar in our temperaments and personalities. :) She has asked me to teach her English, and we have made a tiny bit of progress.. she knows the words "wall" and "light." (We're getting there... we have a few months. ;)) I have had only some problems in communication with her, because her Colombian accent is different than what I have become accustomed to in my classes. But I am very happy to be her roommate.
In general, we are living in Quito, near a small city called Carcelén, and we walk there almost every day for Pan y Pan! (The bread shop in town... they sell empanadas con queso -- bread with cheese and sugar. They are delicious.) Because the city is downhill from our school, we justify our daily submissions to our cravings by telling ourselves that we are exercising as we walk there and back. It's true... but it is also a terrible habit that we have developed.
The actual city is very busy and dirty. Apparently graffiti is not illegal here, so you see it on every building and public wall. There are also stray dogs everywhere, and they are all injured or dirty or hungry.. It breaks my heart every time I see one. :(
The people here are definitely interested by all of the "gringas" that are walking their streets! But no one has bothered us. It's great, because one of the NILI's (girls from our study abroad program) is returning from last semester, and she knows EVERYTHING there is to know about Ecuador. She is also more fluent than all of us, and she knows almost everyone in the seminary. She has been a huge help in helping us learn new terms and the lifestyle in Quito in general!
The first few days after we arrived, we had orientation to help us as we began to learn the many differences between the U.S. and Ecuador. Por ejemplo:
-When you are walking by a table in the "comedor" (cafeteria) when people are eating, you say "buen provecho" (basically wishing them a good meal).
-You also cannot throw toilet paper in the toilet... their toilets won't decompose it... soooo, you put it in the garbage. TMI? Probably. But that's life.
-We sign out with a guard every time we leave the seminary campus. There's a wall around the seminary that protects us.
-We are not allowed to speak in English when a Latin is present.. because it is rude, which I totally understand. But it's hard! I have been thinking and dreaming in Spanish!!!
-We cannot drink water unless it is bottled... this is the case for the whole semester. Thankfully, everything is very cheap here.
-It rains all the time. And it gets really hot at certain times of the day too. But people only ever wear pants/jeans. Shorts are very "American." Sigh.
-Apparently, if you "invite" anyone to eat with you outside of the cafeteria, they assume you are paying for them. You have to be VERY clear that you are going with or without them and that you simply would enjoy their company.
-It's rude to leave food on your plate in the cafeteria. You should always offer your leftovers to the people around you. And usually they will take it!
There are many more cultural differences that I cannot remember at the moment. But I will definitely tell you in the future.
On Saturday, we went to the "Mitad del Mundo" -- AKA: the actual Equator!!! It's only about 20 minutes from our campus! We took a bunch of pictures and had a great time walking around the tourist area. While we were eating lunch, a bunch of llamas walked by us! Not something you see everyday in the States. It was pretty "chevere" (cool)! They also eat GUINEA PIG as a specialty here! Apparently, we will be eating that as well when we go to the Galápagos...
On Sunday I attended church with my roommate and her boyfriend. It was great! I especially love the Latin culture for their church services. Every person is so genuine, and the message was fantastic. After church we walked to a restaurant in town and ate lunch together. It was a lot of fun. I tried to explain to them the differences between the cultures here and in the States. They were extremely interested, and I was able to teach them some more English terms! (I should get an ESL certification for this. ;)) That night, we had a roommate party with all of the NILI's and our roommates. It was great! We ate and played games. It was definitely a bonding time for all of us.
My NILI friends and I went back to town in the afternoon on Sunday to buy some balloons and cards for our friend, Dena, because it was her birthday on Monday! Allow me to fill you in.. my friend Dena does not have much Spanish experience. For the first few days she only spoke in English. So on her birthday, we wrote out a bunch of well-wishes for her birthday in both English and Spanish, so she could learn how to say some things! haha So on Monday morning before breakfast at 7 a.m., my friends and I taped a bunch of cards to her door and then carried some balloons over to throw at her. We knocked on the door, and when she answered we threw 20 balloons at her. Unfortunately, we were unaware that she has a phobia of balloons... so she screamed for longer than we anticipated... However, she eventually came to terms with the idea of balloons for her birthday and appreciated the gesture. :) That evening we went to a mall near "Gringolandia"-- the expensive part of town. It was just like a mall at home, and it was actually a relief to be in a place that was as familiar as that. We brought a bunch of seminary students and the NILI's, and together we got food and celebrated Dena's birthday. It was a great day. Unfortunately, I sat in the sun for three hours without sun block on Monday and burned my face.... I was surprised since I don't usually burn. But it makes sense since we are at a 9,000 foot elevation! All that to say, my face is red in all the pictures. haha!
We also started classes on Monday. We are on a block schedule, so we only take one or two classes at a time for a month and then move on to another class. I was placed in the Intermediate Spanish class with most of the girls (everyone besides Dena). We already have a large amount of homework, but it is not difficult to complete. I love my professor. She had us do a debate today about whether or not aliens exist. I was on the "pro-alien" side, and it was funny to see how intense everyone got. She definitely forces us to be involved in class, which is fantastic!
I won't bore you with more details. But I love all of the people here. I have become very close with a girl from George Fox Univeristy. We hit it off from the start, and we have become "compañeras de compartir" -- we always share everything. We were assigned to share a cell phone during the semester, which works out well, since we have spent most of our time together. We also share our empanadas, soap, and whatever else we happen to buy while we are here. Everyone here is fantastic though, and we have had so much fun getting to know each other already. I love all the seminary students too, and some of them are already great friends to me!
Sorry for the long update, but I had a lot to say. I will try to write more often, so I can write less each time. :)
P.S. If you read all of this, you are a saint. haha!
Sincerely, The Girl with Yellow Hair
