Don't ever say no to someone who is selling you roses...

My trip started off a little rough. My flight to Houston, which was supposed to leave at 6:20AM, left 9:45AM, and landed at 3:30 in Houston. We made it to our gate by 3:45, and only because we speed walked like I’ve never walked before, only to find that our new plane, the one supposed to leave at 4PM for Quito, had a leak in the engine that needed fixing. The plane was worked on for 2.5 hours. Luckily, there is an adorable girl, I think at least partially Ecuadorian sitting next to me. Her name was Mia, she’s 18 months, and was quite entertaining.

I woke up the next morning and had breakfast which was provided for us. I had ham and eggs, this juice made from tomate de arbol (a really delicious tomato only found in Ecuador), which was REALLY good, and half a crossaint. The beds weren’t bad at all, probably partly because I was so exhausted from lack of sleep, but they were fine! Then we hungout for a bit, We then (Katie and I), a girl in my program, walked around Quito, new town, through a park that was hosting a market, went through some shops and then ate a cup of fruit which was a combination of papaya, watermelon, banana, orange and mango, I think. It cost 50 cents. Everything is so cheap down here. Later went out to “Gringolandía”. Ecuadorians call white tourists “Gringos.” We went to Sutra, this smaller bar, but everyone but Katie and I ended up leaving. We ended up talking to one of the waiters, Carlos, and Fausto. The one thing I do not like already about Ecuador is the amount of smoke here. Apparently approximately 80% smoke and man, the bars are awful. You go home reeking of smoke and needing to take a shower because your hair smells so horribly. Be thankful (well, if you don’t smoke) for the rules we have in Washington!

The next day, CIMAS (our school’s name) picked us up and took us to our “school,” essentially an office building for introductions, warnings, what to expect, etc. It was a little bit overwhelming. Lunch was really good, it was Locra, a potato soup, a traditional piece of Ecuadorian meals. There was also fresh watermelon and mango. The fruit here is absolutely delicious. We have a fresh juice every morning and also with dinner, and the avocado is to DIE for down here. After lunch we learned about the computers, what to expect from our families and what they will expect from us. I was picked up by my “Mama,” y technically, my “brother,” who is 33 years old. My mami’s name is Olga, my papi es Marco y mi hermano es Marco Emilio. I met tons of the family that day, as Marco y Olga’s daughter, husband and kid(s) were leaving for the US. So, I went with them to the airport, and everyone was crying. I started crying. I felt so ridiculous because I had just met their family, but it was really sad seeing everyone say goodbye to their sister/daughter/grandchildren, etc. My family is really nice, and told me that their house is my house and I can use anything. I have my own bedroom and bathroom. I feel very fortunate.

The next morning Katie and I walked to school. (It’s THAT close.) A lot of people have to take the bus to school every morning, even possibly 30 or more minutes away. I feel very fortunate. The buses are extremely crowded and hot, thus the reason why it is necessary to always keep your backpack or purse in front of you. It is not uncommon that someone would cut your backpack in order to steal from you. Also, I guess one needs to watch out for little kids because they will surround you, or if by themselves, will pickpocket you. It makes me so sad that these kids are so incredibly young, and forced into this situation. It’s even more sad that I know this kids are bringing the money straight to their parents and not seeing an ounce of it. We visited MANY churches. I think that just in old town Quito, there are 27 churches. Incredible. We saw Santo Domingo, San Franciscan y Basilica. We also visited the city museum. Basilica was by far my favorite. It was the most amazing church I’ve ever seen in my life. The stained glass they had there was SO, so beautiful. We climbed all the way up to the top of the towers, and had to climb these really, really steep steps in order to get to the top. The view was absolutely beautiful. You could see all of Quito. For lunch we had an empanada, I think it’s called mote, which is a cousin of corn, tortilla de potato, fried bananas, and lettuce, tomatoes and onions. This also is a very traditional plate in Ecuador. There is almost always a soup to begin with and then meat, potatoes and/or rice. We had limonada to drink, it was fabulous. It was really, really nice today. It was fun too because I got to talk to a bunch of the people in our group and get to know everyone a little bit better. We went to city center though also. We walked all day long, but it was really a fun day. I just looked at our syllabus for school and it looks pretty awesome. We’re not going to Guyaquil anymore which is a little disappointing, but I’m sure wherever we’re going will be great. Honestly I am SO SO lucky with my homestay. I am so close to school, so I will save money on transportation, and I have WIRELESS. A funny story from one of the nights… Little boys and girls constantly try to sell you things at night, and the police shoo them away from selling to tourists. Anyway, so this little girl was trying to sell us roses, and was chewing on a pedal in her mouth. There were four of us (Misti, Allison, Katie and I) sitting at this table saying, “No gracias…” Well, apparently she didn’t like our answer because she SPIT the chewed up rose pedal right in front of me on the table. Thus, if anyone offers you rosees, please buy them. Food/drinks… EVERYTHING is really cheap down here. You can easily get lunch for $2 and there is this place in town where from 4pm to midnight, every day of the week, they have happy hour. They have like 10 drinks that are 2 for 1—So, each drink is $1.50. Pretty incredible.


Today I went to church with my host mother, father and empleada. It was only a few blocks away. One of the things I love about Ecuador is how close everything is. It’s probably because I’m in an enormous city, but at least where I live, I’m within walking distance from a LOT of things. After church Katie and I left around 11:30 to meet Joi and Erica to take the bus to La Mitad del Mundo. (Middle of the world.) We took the bus ($.25) and had to switch buses again, where I ended up sitting next to an older man named Victor Hugo. He was SO SO sweet. He pointed out different things, saying their Spanish names to me for the entire bus ride (This second bus ride was about 30 minutes long). He was adorable and 77 years old. So, when we finally arrived at the Mitad del Mundo, he took on the role of being our personal tour guide for the day. Apparently he comes quite often, as many of the workers knew him well. Sundays are really fun at the Equator in Ecuador because there are tons of demonstrations with traditional dancing and music. There are a ton of people there, including Ecuadorians who where Salsa dancing to the music. So, we took tons of pictures of the monument, walked around a bit and then ate lunch in this café that overlooked the dancing. Victor made sure to talk to the waitress because he wanted us to be able to see the dancing while we ate. He then left. Afterward we sat outside and watched the dancing and walked around a little bit more upon meeting back up with Victor Hugo. We bought and egg to see if it would balance on the equator, and it DID! It was crazy. We’re wondering if maybe there is some trick to it and it isn’t really true, but it was pretty sweet. I got a few pictures of it. Tomorrow I am going to go walking with my host mom at 6 in the morning around a nearby park. So, I’m off to bed soon. I will have more exciting updates later on as I go on weekend trips and my excursions with school. Tomorrow is the first day of school and I am looking forward to it as the topics we are studying seem very, very interesting. The weather here is incredible. I heard it's pretty cold, even snowing in Seattle and I can't say that I miss the weather at all. It's been about 70 here every day, but feels much hotter since we're so close to the quarter, and approximately 8,000 (I think?) ft up. Hope everyone is doing well!