This morning after I woke up I got to have breakfast with Monse. Isabel (the maid?) made me pan tostado con queso, el jugo de sandía y leche chocolate (grilled cheese, watermelon juice, and chocolate milk). She also put some brown sugar on the table. I didn't know whether it was for the hot chocolate or the grilled cheese. I went with the grilled cheese. (It was actually for the hot chocolate...oops!) Monse is so cute, she was laughing at everything. We played peek-a-boo during most of breakfast. I am jealous of her, when she wants something all she has to do is make a sound and point. I have to formulate something coherent in Spanish.
Later I left the apartment to go exploring. The plan was to meet Tyler and Macie at la cruz (the big giant cross) en el Parque Carolina. I actually found the park fairly easily (I did have to ask for directions once or twice). But the park is GINORMOUS and even though la cruz is a big giant cross and it should stand out, I couldn't find it anywhere. I found lots of other things (people paddle boating in a lake, tons of playgrounds, some policemen on horses, lots of people selling things, dogs everywhere, and a botanical garden), but no cross. I asked one man with a little boy and he said to walk straight and to my left. Actually it was on my right. Eventually I did find Tyler and Macie. We strolled around the park for a bit and then decided to go look for food. Tyler and I both got batidos de coco (coconut smoothies) and then we went to a mall for more food. Oh my, was it crowded! We almost couldn't find a table there were so many people. We walked around Quito some more, and then it was time for us to part ways. I had my map with me that Margarita made, so I was full of false confidence. Oh yeah, I knew where I was going. Ha. This turned out not to be so true. It is difficult to navigate around Quito because the street signs are so darn tiny! And they are sporadically placed around the city from what I can tell. In the US, we have street signs at every light. In Quito, signs are hidden on random buildings. And they are impossible to read from far away (for me, at least, but I have bad eyes). I knew that I need to turn off of la Avenida Alfaro on to Bosmediano, but the road curved and split into a ton of different streets it completely threw me off. I started off in completely the wrong direction but since nothing looked familiar I realized that I had to backtrack. And all the while I was surrounded by unsavory characters that kept talking to me and staring at me. To make matters even worse, it began to sprinkle and it looked like it was about to rain. I had to ask for directions about 400 times, but finally I made it to the apartment. I still felt disoriented, like I was on the wrong side of the building or something. The attendant at the apartment complex told me that I was in the right place. I went on the elevator up to my floor, but nothing looked familiar. The mirror in the hallway was on the wrong side? Where was I? I had to go back down and ask the attendant, and he assured me that I was in the right building. It turns out that I was in the right place after all. I am back home now, all in one piece! I made it just in time, minutes after arriving I heard the rain start pouring down.
0 Comments
Getting lost seemed to be the theme of the day yesterday haha. I am safe though, don't worry! I had to wake up early for my orientation at USFQ. My host abuela drove me and the other three American students to campus since we are still feeling a bit confused when it comes to riding the buses. I was so sleepy during the first half, which was basically just a series of lectures about safety. It took place in the movie theater in the mall across from the campus! At lunch I sat at a table with a group of students who have been in Quito for a month already! They have already gone on several trips together and know their way around. There was also a boy from the Netherlands who had literally come straight from the airport, and a girl from Germany as well. After lunch I took a tour of campus. The university is soooooo nice, it's like a hundred times nicer than Truman. Although Truman has USFQ beat in the drinking fountain department. There are only two drinking fountains on campus, and one of them is way out on the edge of campus. After the tour, I tried to find the spot where Susy said she'd meet us, but I couldn't remember what her car looked like and I couldn't remember which side of the bus stop she said she'd meet us by. My phone has not been working, so I wasn't able to call anyone either. Just as I was about to start panicking I ran into Susy and Tyler. The two girls were shopping in the mall for new phones, so we stayed outside to talk. After Macie and Caitlyn were back we drove to Susy's house. All of the children (besides Monse) were there. They were playing a game in the yard that involved killing plastic dinosaurs with rocks. Darth Vader lasted longer than the dinosaurs but eventually he was killed by a rock too. Caitlyn suggested that we build a cemetery for all the dead dinosaurs and Darth Vader but the boys didn't seem to like that idea. Tyler, Caitlyn and I worked together to build a giant tower of dinosaurs, but the boys weren't too impressed by that either. Soon it was time for my first field trip! Susy drove me to the meeting place, but we were thirty minutes early so we went inside a little coca cola store (they are everywhere) and she bought me some water. She explained how I would walk back to my apartment after the trip, and I understood (or at least thought I understood). We said our goodbyes, and I set off to find the other students going on the trip. Even though the vast majority of international students at USFQ are from the United States, there were quite a few people on this trip from Europe. I met a girl and a boy both from England. We couldn't find the rest of the group at first (but it might have just been that we were early). The girl, Grace, has an uncle who used to live in Ecuador. She has been living here all summer with a friend of her uncle. We found the bus, and I sat by a girl named Clementine. She's pretty much one of the coolest people I know. She's from Paris but goes to school in Montreal. She has been to every continent besides Antarctica (but it is on her list) and she speaks French, English, and Spanish fluently. Over the summer she was a mountain guide living on a Canadian ranch. The traffic was pretty bad, it probably would have been faster to get out of the bus and walk. At one point when we were waiting on traffic, a street performer that was holding a plastic skeleton began dancing all around the bus. The roads were mostly all brick and were very bumpy and there where so many hills everywhere. Our first stop was at a cathedral in el centro histórico. I don't remember its name but it was modeled after Notre Dame. Afterwards we got back on the bus and drove to la Virgen de El Panecillo, a giant statue of an angel on the top of a mountain. The view was gorgeous, my pictures did not do it justice. The first picture was a mural of la Virgen from the inside of the statue. The lights were spectacular from the top! Next we went to a little empañada restaurant in el centro histórico. We ordered 2 empanadas grandes, one with pollo and one with queso, that we shared. We also ordered Canelazo de Mora, a hot blackberry drink, for everyone. Everything was delicious! I had to call my host mom from the restaurant to let her know I was running late and that I was okay, but the music and voices were so loud I could barely hear her over the phone! When we left the empañada restaurant, we all sort of lingered in the alley for a few moments. Then a clown came up behind Clementine and me and screamed in our ears! I have never been so scared!
On the bus ride back to el Estadio, Fernando (one of the guides) told us the story of la Iglesia de San Francisco. Legend has it that it was built by an indigenous person. He wanted it to be built by a certain date, but there was no way that it could be done. So he made a pact with the devil, selling his soul in exchange for the construction of the church by a certain date. The church was finished by the date, just like the devil had promised, but it was missing a single brick. This one brick made the pact invalid, so the devil did not get the indigenous man's soul. By the time the trip ended it was quite late at night, probably around 9:30. I was scared to walk home that late since my phone didn't work. If I got lost I would have had to flag down a taxi. Clementine's host mom offered to drive me home, but she didn't exactly know where my address was either. She called Margarita to ask for directions, but Margarita insisted on picking me up. I apologized to Margarita and she was so sweet, she was glad that we called and that I was safe. When we got home she drew me a map to help me learn the city. On Wednesday it was my host dad's birthday! He had to leave early in the morning for work so I didn't see him until the big birthday celebration that night. I woke up in the morning to Donato, my host brother, yelling something about mariposas (butterflies). When I woke up I asked him if he saw a butterfly. It turns out that he was just playing Pokemon Go on my host mom's phone. Donato is 5 years old (6 in September). I couldn't get him to talk to me at first, but we bonded over playing with Rafael, the family cat. Rafael, or Rafi as Donato calls him, is about the friendliest cat ever. He prowls around the house and is constantly crying for attention. He is so playful! He crawled inside this tiny little shelf below the coffee table and Donato gave him a rock. I thought he would just ignore it, but he played with it and batted it around. He was in a really frisky mood after playing with his rock and tried to swipe at our fingers when we petted him. Donato tried to get Rafi to play with his angry bird stuffed animals, but he wasn't as interested in those as he was in the rock! Rafael in his favorite spot, the balcony outside the apartment. The view is so pretty, I love living in a city! You can't see them from here, but there are magnificent mountains to the west of Quito. I'm in awe every time I see them! After breakfast, Margarita (my host mom), Donato, and I went to Margarita's mom's house. She lives close by, it was about a ten minute drive with all of the traffic. Margarita's mom lives in the same building as Margarita's sister, and both of them are hosting students, too! Tyler is from Illinois like me and Macie is from North Carolina. Susy, Tyler's host mom and my "host abuela" taught the three of us how to get to la Universidad. The route is slightly closer from my house but from what I understand it's pretty similar. We had to walk a couple blocks to the first bus stop and then we had to change buses three times. I would estimate that it took us an hour to get there. We walked around campus a bit and met the infamous Verónica. (Her and I exchanged tens of thousands of emails this summer regarding my visa application. That is only a slight exaggeration.) We took the bus back to Susy's house, and she fed us some Ecuadorian chocolate on the way home.
After a giant three course lunch, we were off again, this time to do some shopping at the MegaMaxi. We finally made it back to the car, but Susy got a call from Margarita that we needed chocolate birthday cake, candles, and flour so we had to go back inside and do some more shopping. We finally made it to Susy's house, and I left pretty soon afterwards with Margarita. Before we knew it, it was time for the giant birthday celebration! We had 16 guests, which was a lot of people for such a little apartment! One of the other relatives was hosting another student. Her name is Caitlyn. The other students in my family were there too, so we all sat together and talked. I finally got to meet my host sister, Monse! She is only one and is absolutely adorable. Donato was there too, along with all the little cousins in the family. One of the girls performed a few songs for us. One of them was Rolling in the Deep by Adele. Her voice was beautiful. At the end of the evening I gave my host family all of the gifts that I'd brought for them from the United States. Monse especially liked her gift, a stuffed border collie (like Sneakers). She gave me a big hug and carried it around with her! Wow. This photo was taken three days ago, right before I left for the airport. It feels more like three weeks ago now. It has been a busy past couple of days! My first flight left Bloomington at 11:30 in the afternoon. I sat next to a darling old lady and we talked all the way to Atlanta. To my surprise, she knew Mr. Sax (my high school history teacher) and a few others from the El Paso Gridley area. By the time the plane reached Atlanta, it felt as if I was saying goodbye to my grandma. I was a bit apprehensive about navigating through the Atlanta airport, but it was much easier than I thought it would be. I even found a good omen in my fortune cookie at lunch! My flight to Quito was just about the opposite of what my heart desired though, at least at the beginning. It was cramped and I mean CRAMPED. Since there was no room in the overhead compartment, I had to keep my massive 30 pound backpack next to my feet. I had essentially no leg room to speak of. My two seat mates were both Ecuadorians, a boy about my age and an older lady. They spoke in rapid Spanish to each other for the first five or ten minutes after we boarded. I understood maybe two percent of it, which did not do wonders for my confidence. The boy fell asleep before the plane even took off, and stayed asleep for about half of the flight. I wished that I could fall asleep. But unfortunately there was a toddler seated right behind me who was babbling incoherently and kicking the back of my sleep. On the bright side the sunset over the ocean was gorgeous! At some point Alejandro woke up. He became my first Ecuadorian friend when we discovered that we go to the same school in Quito! He was flying home from a summer internship in China, which explained why he was so tired! Once we finally landed around 11:00 pm, Alejandro was an absolute life saver. When my phone stopped working he offered to lend me his so I could call my host parents. He guided me through immigration and baggage claim and customs and security, rented a cart for us to share, and helped me look for my host-person. I was originally told that my host grandma, Susy, would be waiting for me with a sign that said "Olivia." Instead I was welcomed by my host dad, Juan Carlos.
I liked my host dad immediately, he was so friendly and he talked slow enough for me to understand almost everything. The airport is on the outskirts of the city so it was about an hour long drive, but there was plenty to talk about. We got home at about 12:30 or so, but I wanted to unpack so I wasn't in bed until past 1:00. What a day! I will have to save day 2 and day 3 for later, but keep posted, I will be writing again soon! Here is a picture of my room! It is small, but it is very cozy and comfortable! And I get my own private bathroom! The bedspread and blankets are so warm, I will never have to worry about being cold at night.
My "in three more days I'll be in Ecuador" face. It only took about 7 takes for me to look genuinely excited. ¡Estoy emocionado, lo juro por mi vida! (I really am excited, I swear!)
|
Hola, soy olivia.After living in the Midwest my whole life, I packed my bags and moved south to Guadalajara, Mexico where I'm working as an English teacher and studying Spanish. Keep posted to hear about all my adventures!
Archives
August 2018
Categories |