Long Weekend

An eventful weekend to say the least. 

 On friday we had a flag ceremony at school. That entailed dressing up in our monday uniforms (jacket and tie) and then standing outside in arrow-straight lines for about an hour and a half while we listened to speeches, sang songs, and acted like soldiers. Some of it is quite ridiculous, we have different stances that we have to snap into upon command and a marching band in traditional military dress. Oh and at some point we raised some flags, but it wasn't really the main attraction.

 Claudio and I left school early on Friday because all the other students had to watch some video. The whole thing was rather strange but the inspector (yes, there is a woman called La Inspectora) told us we didn't have to stay, I thought it best not to ask questions and was grateful for the free time. 

Later on friday we went with some girls from school into the really touristy part of Quito, (gringo-landia) to go to this games / dance club. It was kind of a strange place, we paid $1.50 and were given a bottle of water each, then ushered through an iron gate and upstairs to a smokey room with a dance-floor and a bar. A bunch of other people from school were there, I guess it is a popular place to hang out!? Anyway, we had a good time. You never really know how bad of a dancer you actually are until you are in front of a mirror the size of the wall, or maybe its just me. I'l just have to practice more haha. 

The plan for the next morning was to go paint-balling with one of the other exchange students, his host sister and a few friends form school. I got a call from Claudio in the morning saying that he was really ill and couldn't go, so I headed off by myself. I had no idea where the place was, only that we were meeting at school and then going from there. I arrived at school to find it deserted, just my luck, after about 20 minutes one of my friends showed up and she said we had to take the bus and that the others were waiting. I assumed "take the bus" meant a 10 minute ride somewhere in the city, but 2 buses and an hour and a half later we met the rest of the group way south of Quito. From there we crammed into a car and drove to the paintball field. 

For about $20 my friend Alex and I played for roughly 4 hours. The others got tired quickly and went back to Alex's house, about a 5 minute walk. The people were so friendly, sharing food, water and even paintballs so we could keep playing. Try and pull that off in the good ol' U.S. of A. 

Afterwards we walked back to the house and had a huge lunch, climbed on the roof in the rain, watched the lightning in the mountains and the hummingbirds in the bushes next-door. Ecuador is awesome. Sorry, I am writing as I think and that just kind of came out, but its so true. We were both still hungry so we walked into the center of the town that he lives in and paid a dollar for quite literally the biggest pieces of pizza I have ever seen. I' serious, these things required two hands. So good.

 His family was going to a party back in Quito that evening, so I just stayed at their house for the afternoon then caught a ride back into the city with them.  It was a really log day, I got home and went straight to sleep. 

Sunday was the big day, time to vote. We got up in reasonable time because Mama wanted to go to her old high school to vote instead of Benalcazar. So we drove to the south of Quito, which is kind of the sketchy part, but every thing is fine in the day time. There were people everywhere, the fact that they were all going to different places to vote and that it was beautiful day so everyone was out and about anyway meant that traffic was gridlocked. At the school there were guards everywhere, the whole thing was actually really quick. Both Mama and my sister voted "Yes", their choice of course. 

Uncle Mario was having a big family party at his house so we went there and had a feast. Homemade empanadas, crazy ecuadorian drinks, and more grilled food than you can imagine, all equally delicious. The feast was followed by more family photos than I think it is physically possible to take. I mean slide show after slide show, most dating back 4, 5, or 6 years. Quite dull for someone who wasn't there for any of it. We got the results over the TV, the new constitution passed with approx. a 75% approval rating. I think we all knew it would pass but still the house was filled with mixed feelings.

I had today off school. Don't think I did anything productive. My sister, her boyfriend and I went for a crazy ride around Quito earlier tonight, they showed where a plane had crashed into the city a few weeks back and some other things. Thats what happens when you put the airport in the middle of the city.

School tomorrow. Ughhh. But at least my mornings area little brighter these days as a result of the box of cereal I bought on friday. I really don't know how I lasted a month without it. 

here are some pictures I took yesterday. nothing in particular.         

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=162504&l=7ab39&id=732860388

¿Si or No?

Everything has been pretty normal for the past few days, school, salsa class, swimming etc. But the the city is alive with demonstrators and political activists. 

What are they demonstrating and being active about, you ask? Well Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, got approval to put forward a new constitution last year. The proposed constitution has been written and now it is time to vote! This is a one time thing, Correa cannot change the draft, propose a new one and you either like it or you don't. Its all the changes or none, Si (yes), or No.

The problem is, many of the proposed ideas are great, for example the new constitution would give better educational opportunities to the poor as well as better healthcare. Some changes are debatable, for instance gay rights, especially seeing as most of Ecuador's population is Catholic. Currently you can be arrested here for being gay, which seems rather absurd, but some people believe thats how it should be. And then there are parts of the new constitution that seem outrageous to someone from a western, capitalist, country. Correa sees himself as a robin-hood type leader, taking money, rights, and benefits from the rich and giving them to the poor.  He has said that he wants to make the country more socialist and give himself more power. He also dislikes the United States, despite having a U.S. college education. Tomorrow he is making a speech where he is going to lead the crowd in a song that criticizes the U.S. greatly, I will translate it sometime to show you. 

This whole situation is very tricky, though many people may not realize it. Currently Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua have socialist presidents, Chavez of Venezuela being the most prominent. He openly hates Bush and the U.S. and is allies with communist China, who are about to gain control of the Panama Canal. If Ecuador starts going left, there will be a significant amount of latin american countries under similar governments, with the backing of a major communist power, China. 

Obviously this is all speculative, but it is something to think about especially with the United States in its current economic situation. 

So Ecuador goes to the polls on Sunday, the new constitution is expected to pass but we will have to wait and see. It is such a huge event, that we don't have school on monday because Benalcazar is a polling station and they are anticipating clean-up to take an entire day. All right!

Funeral

This weekend was very strange. On friday no one was home all day and then everyone returned together at about midnight, I didn't ask where they had been because it didn't really seem that important. 

Saturday I had school in the morning and then went off with some friends to go to a museum (it was our homework, like I'd voluntarily go to a museum! haha) and then to buy books for English. When I got back to the house, again, no one was home, so I decided that I would go back to school and swim, despite the torrential rain. At the school  was greeted by one of the security guards who told me that I could swim if I wanted to but the pool closed in 15 minutes. So I promptly turned around and headed back to the bus stop. Fun times in the rain. 

Mama and my brothers and sisters got home at about midnight again, so I asked them where they had been. Mama explained that there had been a death in the family, she didn't say much else. 

This morning we went to the funeral service. It was Mama's aunt, my great aunt, who had passed away. she was obviously well loved because the service was packed. I don't think they could have picked a better place to hold it. The graveyard was on a huge hill that overlooked Quito, the room had an entire wall of glass, it was truly spectacular. The view from that room was second only to the one from the top of the Teleferico. You could see all the mountains that surround Quito and the volcanoes in the distance. The valley looked like a huge bowl submerged in clouds, it was clear blue skies on our side of the mountains and completely overcast on the other, a few rogue clouds spilling over the edge and into the basin.

The service was long, with lots of singing and instrumentals. I was introduced to countless family members and friends, none of whose names I remember. 

There is something strange about open-casket funerals, every one goes to look, many gasp and turn away, some wail, and other seem mesmerized, but everyone immediately starts crying. I watched several people make their second and third visits, their reactions unchanging. "A crowd of people turned away, but I just had to look" (A Day In the Life). The whole idea is just not for me. Watching a old man close his sister's casket has got to be one of the saddest things I have ever bore witness to. 

After the funeral it was the usual sunday routine, out to lunch then back to Aunt Susy's apartment where I just slept the rest of the after noon. 

School

So in my initial posts, I seem to remember saying how boring school is and how much I didn't like it. Well I guess that has changed, but maybe just for now. 

Apart from the bars on the windows, the air-raid siren that marks the end of each period and the fact that we have class on Saturday mornings, school is good. Everyone here is so friendly, it helps so much, I would be nowhere if I didn't have several people telling me where to go at all times. Many things are really different to Norwell High School, for one, we have breaks during the day where we can go outside/eat/do whatever. Also, if the teachers have to go to a meeting, there are no substitute teachers, so we have free time. 

Seeing as many of the teachers here are also university professors, they have meetings all the time, its great. For instance, the past two days I had only one class each day and the rest of the time off. Today, they knew most of the teachers were going to meetings so they told us in advance that we only had to stay for an hour and a half! 

All the classes are really different. Some have 25 people, some have 5. I don't know how that works but I guess it just does. I still have a lot of trouble understanding all of what the teachers say. I have found out that if I pay attention 100% I can get a few complete sentences every time, but then my brain fails me and I quite literally get tired. 

English class is strange, one moment I will be asking someone for help with something in class, then 5 minutes later, when we have English, they are the ones asking me. "So the last shall be first, and the first last". Sometimes I practically teach the class for the professor, he asks me to read and write whole essays for the class as well as explaining terms and pronunciation. 

I still have yet to take a picture of me in one of my 3 school uniforms, soon. 

Weekend

Sorry I have been out of touch for the past 3 or 4 days, the internet here had a bit of a meltdown and I don't really want to travel around the city with my laptop looking for wifi. Anyway, so I wrote this on sunday night with the intention of posting it then but the internet had other plans. So here it is, better late than never right?

Sunday 14th September

Things have slowed down a little, therefore my posting has and probably will continue to slow down. But, I have been far from short of things to do in the past few days. 

Until yesterday I had not taken any real exercise in almost two weeks. A lot of walking, and the occasional sprint for a bus, but I wouldn't consider that exercise. I so decided to swim after school in the pool at Benalcazar, my school, and in doing so I accidentally found the high school swim team. All of who members are about two years younger than me, but whatever. It had to be the most tiring practice I have ever been too. I underestimated the effects of the altitude completely, the air is so thin I was absolutely exhausted after about 15 minutes. So I am going to try and swim every day in the hope that when I return to sea level I will be able to hold my breath underwater for days. 

When I got back to the house, Sharon asked if I wanted to go to a basketball game, it was the college championships and Quito was playing some other team from Ecuador. If Quito lost, then it was all over, but if they won there was one more game the next day. The stadium was in the sketchiest part of town imaginable, there was  huge crowd of people outside the stadium, most carrying some kind of alcohol or another. My uncle made us leave most of our stuff in the car, which was definitely a good idea. 

The game was really fun, not as good as the football game last weekend but still entertaining. Quito won, just barely, so they went on to play again last night, I don't know how that game went though.

 The drive home was an interesting experience in itself, as are most night-time drives here. Red lights mean nothing more than, "honk the horn and glance left and right". It is a little scary but I guess all one can do is have faith in the drivers here. Someone told me that if you get in a serious accident here, all the people involved go to jail!? I don't know if it is true but I think it would certainly give people more motivation to drive safely. 

Yesterday I had school in the morning, from 8 to 10, which seems pretty pointless to me, but anyway I had to be somewhere at 9:30 and I was going to be late, so I didn't go. Instead I killed an hour walking around the main park in Quito, La Carolina. It is enormous. There tons of basketball courts, football pitches, bike paths and playgrounds, all paced with people because it was a beautiful Saturday morning. 

I met my exchange group in the mall next to the park and we et off for the Teleferico, which is basically a gondola that takes you most of the way up the mountain. Being underneath the gondola I felt like I should have had my snowboard and winter clothes with me, it was quite strange. The ride up was really cool, but nothing compared to the views from the top. There is a big glass building at the top with some cafes and things. Then there are paths that go further up the mountain. So some us went all the way until we had to rent horses to get to the top, sadly there was no time for that. From the mountain you can literally see all of Quito and the rest of the valley the city was built in. It really is something. I took about 130 photos which I have figured out how to share with you! I can post a public link to the album on facebook, then you can see them without having an account. The links are at the bottom. There are three albums, one from the park and two from the mountain. The sun is really strong here, I think because we are 9200 feet closer to it, Im not entirely sure. But needless to say I underestimated that too and got a lovely sunburn. 

I lent my phone to a woman who we were standing in line with to go down and she ended up in the same gondola as us. It turned out that she was from Boston and was a journalist for WGBH, it was her first day in country and she was going to write stories out in the jungle and work for an organic cocoa farm. This was really interesting to me because I also love to write and want to study journalism. 

The rest of saturday was pretty uneventful, Sharon and I hunted around the mall for some aloe vera, which was almost impossible to find, but find it we did, eventually. On the way back we decided that we had to redeem ourselves from our first mountain ascent which was nothing short of an abysmal failure. This time we in a different car, one much better suited for the job. It is pretty much an engine, some wheels, some seats and a roll cage, all surrounded by thin sheets of metal. Oh, and beefy off-road tires. We made it past the place where we got stuck last time with ease, it soon got to the point where even the dirt road ended and we were essentially driving through he forest, on the side of a cliff. Then it all came to an abrupt halt, and we were victorious. On the way down Sharon told me that the people who lived on the mountain hate when non residents drive around on it, like we had just done, and had probably called the cops. Therefore we had to hurry down and get back to he paved streets were we could somewhat blend in with the other cars. Sure enough, not seconds after we were on the main road, several cop pickup trucks went by heading up the mountain with lights flashing. A close call indeed. 

Today was very relaxed, we went to church (concert) again this morning, then out to lunch at a seafood kitchen. They have a certain type of cooking, mostly found on the coast, which uses lots of good seafood. As we were waiting in line to sit down I saw these plates going off to the dining room with whole fish on them. They were about a foot long each, maybe a little more, and the looked like they had simply been battered and fried whole.  I ordered some kind of shrimp dish but instead got friend rice with conch in it! It was still really good. 

After lunch we went and played cards for the rest of the afternoon at Aunt Susy's apartment.  I finally got the hang of this game "40" they have been trying to teach me since I arrived, and we played more "31" too. I can't tell if abuelita (grandma) really has that bad of a memory or if she is quite a cheater, every time I play cards with her I tend to think the latter, but I say nothing haha. 

School tomorrow. I get up at 5:30. Every morning I have to do battle with the shower, in my sub-zero bathroom, in order to get it to surrender it's precious hot water. I am getting the used to it I think, but maybe it has a new trick up its sleeve for tomorrow morning, who knows. 

 

here are the photo album links:

 My Street and the Park:  http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=157134&l=60690&id=732860388

   Teleferico:                                       http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=157137&l=34b40&id=732860388

   Teleferico Continued:                    http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=157142&l=cfa66&id=732860388

Also, I put a counter on this page so I can see how many people visit and there are lots, but still no comments, I feel like I am talking to myself?!

Old City and Salsa Dancing

I went into the old city / downtown area yesterday afternoon with Claudio and his host sister. It is truly spectacular.
I took the trolley to get there, it was my first time using it, a bit nerve racking but I felt accomplished when I ended up in the right place. The taxi ride from the trolley stop to La Plaza de Independencia, where I was meeting Claudio, was incredible in itself. It seemed like every 10 seconds I wanted to stop and take pictures.
Anyway, I met them at the plaza which they had already walked around, so they watched the football match (Ecuador vs. Uruguay 0-0) while I wandered around for a bit taking pictures and looking like a real tourist. Stephanie knew the downtown area better than we did, so she sort of gave us a tour. We went inside some churches, looked at lots of statues and of course, I took lots of pictures. All the streets are narrow and its all built on a hill so it is tiring to walk around but everything is so cool to look at. Most of the buildings are old and have traditional looking fronts, then inside each block there are there small courtyards, some with fountains, the others, rather boring.
There are shoe shops everywhere, and when I say everywhere I mean it. Literally every other shop is selling fake American shoes, most cost $4! We must have gone into about 6 looking for the right Chuck Taylors, fake of course, for Stephanie's brother. Somehow nowhere had the right ones.
After that we got food and went home. Some of the pictures are on the flickr link in the last post, the rest are on facebook.


So tonight the other exchange students and I had Spanish class in a part of town called "Gringo-landia" because its full of gringos and tourists like us. After class the school had organized for us to have a salsa dancing class. So we walked for about 15 minutes from the school and went to this rickety looking bar on the side of the street. Inside there was a tiny dance floor and a bar. Some other older girls from all over the place were taking the class as well so we took up pretty much the entire bar. Anyway, its so mush harder than it looks, and tiring too haha. I am not very good, well, actually I'm terrible, but we all were so good times were had by everyone. Sorry no pictures, but we have the class every Thursday so maybe next time.

Haha funny story. So we were walking back from the salsa class to where we could all take buses / taxis home and we were all very wary of our surroundings because there are a good amount of pickpockets and muggers in gringo-landia at night. Walking down the street towards us was a homeless man who was hobbling and kind of stooped over, we thought nothing of him. But when we was about 5 or 10 feet in front of us, he jumped out at us from under his blanket, yelling and stomping his feet. He scared the hell out of all of us, and then he just went hobbling along downt he street laughing histerically at. It must have been funnny to watch, he certainly got alot of enjoyment out of it. We were all shaking afterwards. Damn hobo.

here is the link for pictures again:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30226544@N02/

School - Old City

School is boring when you don't understand anything, I should say even more boring but either way you know what I mean. Anyway, we had to register today, nothing fun, lots of paperwork and picture taking. Then Claudio and I got dismissed early because we were going to a Spanish school across town. My literature teacher is funny, even though I don't understand most of what she says. If Ms. Vernacchio had a twin, this would be her. She had the exact same mannerisms and everything, it was quite strange. (If you don't know Ms. V then that last part probably made no sense, but shes basicly the best English/Literature/Life Lessons teacher ever haha). I learned today that I don't finish at 2, like I thought, but instead 3:30 and also that we have classes on Saturday mornings. Isn't that just great!?
Tonight I went to the old city with my sister, Rosa and abuelita. It is really cool at night, all the old churches and statues are lit up, I didn't take any photos but I think I am going back tomorrow to have a proper touristy afternoon. We went up this cool spiraling monument called "el churro" that they used way back in the war of independence.
I am realizing that this post is short and boring because today was rather boring. This first week has been really cool and packed with things to do but I think in the coming weeks my posts will slow down due to school and having actual work to do, but whenever something interesting happens I ill be sure to write about it.

First Day of School

I had my first day of school today. I have to admit that I was little nervous about the whole thing, but everything was fine.
Mama took me and we met up with the other exchange students in my program. Then we were ushered onto the basketball court and into lines according to our class. The whole thing felt very military-esque, especially when the principal shouted "AAAAAATENTION!" into the microphone and everyone stood up strait, heads forward, arms at their sides. We sang the Ecuadorian national anthem and then some song about the school, obviously neither of which I knew. Then we stood through two of the most longwinded speeches I have ever been forced to listen to. I didnt understand most of it, but I was able to pick out the occasional, "Colegio Benalcazar (the name of the school) is the best school in the country blah blah blah" out of the monotone words drifting throught the warm air.
Claudio and I had no idea what class we were in so we just went with some girls who told us to follow them. We went to the wrong class at first but someone told us so we went and found another class to sit in, the people there didn't seem to mind so we stayed there.
First class was physics, the teacher was a short old, man who proceeded to tell us that we needed to buy 5 physics in order to get the most out of the course....yeah right. He spent most of the period telling us about how hard the final exam was, but that doesn't worry me becuase the students take that at the end of next year.
After physics we had a break, the courtyard went from being empty to being a sea of blue jackets and grey pants. There are "bars" one the schoool grounds that sell food drinks ice cream. Its nice, there are no State of Mass. Health Regualtions here so they can sell whatever they want haha.
Back in class, some teachers came in and gave a course selection sheet, I chose a shedule with a philosphy course and ecology. I really had no idea which clases were good so "eeny meeny miny mo" was as good as any way of picking courses.
Ecology was good, I knew most of the terms because for the most part they were the same as the English ones, just with "a" or "o" added on the end.
School ended early, 12:30, which was nice. Fernando met me and took th ebus home with me. I am really starting o like the buses here. You can quite literally go anywhere in the city for 25 cents, even better, if you are in a uniform, it only costs 12 cents.
After lunch Mama was telling me how lots of people here have siestas after lunch, so I decided would try it. I was asleep all afternoon. Thinking is spanish is sooo tiring.

I got some pictures to upload to Flickr. Here is the URL:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30226544@N02/

Church

This was what I wrote for Sunday, but I couldn't get onto the internet last night.

Sunday, September 7th

So I went to church this morning not knowing what to expect at all. We pulled up to the building, which didn't look like a church at all, and parked in a multi story parking lot. The idea of a church having its own car park seems strange, it must be used for normal parking on weekdays? 

We walked through a courtyard in front on the building, it was packed mostly with kids but some adults too, as well as street vendors selling Christian rock CDs and videos from church services gone by. By this time I could hear the music coming from the building, with each step it grew louder and louder. Walking into the sanctuary felt more like stepping into the front row of a concert than a church service. Upon looking around I could see why. On the stage there was a full band (guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, trombone, and singer) belting out a song at top volume and the walls were dotted with professional grade speakers. The sermon was very different than anything I was used to as well. Everything was written in a power point presentation that was projected on the back wall which the minister looked at often. This also allowed the congregation to sing along when the band came back on, adding to the noise. During the songs there was alot of clapping and shots of "Amen!", which can be expected I guess, but also lots of swaying bodies with arms outstretched to the ceiling. Certainly not your average UCC Norwell service, but interesting none the less. 

After church we went out to lunch at a really good restaurant, the name of which is escaping me at the moment. It must be a popular place for Sunday lunch because the line was out the door and the security guard was in charge of letting people in. But it was worth the wait, not only was the food great but there was a 3 man band that walked around playing spanish ballads to each table! I got called "gringo" again. In fact it was almost the exact same situation as the first time. I was walking by a table in the restaurant when a little boy pointed at me, looked at his dad, and said, rather loudly, "Gringo!" I can only laugh, I stick out so much. Not only the blonde hair and blue eyes, but today was the first time I saw an Ecuadorian who was my height. I never cease to amuse them haha. 

Sharon (Ismael, everyone calls him Sharon) and I were hanging out at the house this evening when Uncle Mario started hammering on the front door, telling us we had go now now now! I had no idea where he wanted us to go but I grabbed a jacket and got in the car. Sharon didn't want to go so he stayed home. I asked Uncle Mario where we were going but he just mumbled something and said we had to get in the car and drive, and drive he did. We flew through Quito, passing cars left and right, constantly honking the horn to get people out of the way. I still had no idea where we were going and I was getting a little nervous. Eventually we stopped and went inside this reception room / dance hall place that was filled with people. Everyone was giving people hugs and flowers and taking pictures. Mama was there, all dressed up, and so was the rest of the family. 

It was only on the ride home that I discovered that it was a graduation party for a course that Mama had done. I probably look very confused in the pictures. We will see. 

One of the dogs, Totti, had a litter of puppies yesterday morning. Today was the first time she came out of the dog house so we could see them. They are a mix of german shepherd and black lab, but they all just look like lab puppies. There are 6 total!

Fooootball

So yesterday Claudio, one of the other exchange students, asked if I wanted to go to the football (soccer, futball, call it what you will) match today. I had no idea there even was a match but sure enough Ecuador was playing Bolivia. So I said that I really wanted to go and that we should get our parents to talk. 

This morning I called Claudio's house but no one picked up so I thought the plan was going to fall through. I was really disappointed and then my brother Fernando just all of a sudden asked if I wanted to go. So he drove Ismael and I to the stadium but I guess he didn't want to go so he just dropped us off. 

The street was a river of yellow jerseys flowing into the stadium. More prime people-watching, but again, no time to waste. We walked around for a little while looking for tickets at a reasonable price, we got 2 for $30 which I thought was pretty good for an afternoons entertainment. 

The game was really fun to watch, the crowd got so into it. Every possible scenario that unfolded on the field had a corresponding cheer, chant, gesture or curse. Ecuador won 3-1 so spirits we high by the end. 

We left tired and soggy from beer thrown by over excited fans, but happy. 

Hunger had the better of us and we decided to go and get pizza. Ismael said he knew a really good pizzeria that was cheap and we could walk to. We got there after about 25 minutes of swift walking through side streets and parks, I wish i had know it was that far, taxis are so cheap here it probably would have cost about $1.40. Anyway, we got there and had a good feed. Food is another thing that is dirt cheap here. A huge slice of pizza and a coke was 75 cents. What a deal! 

I think I am going to church tomorrow. That should be interesting. We will see how it goes. 

Uniforms and Soup Surprise

So far there have been no boring days. There is always something interesting to see, something different to eat or someone new to meet. 

I got my school uniform today. Tensions were running high in the room where they sold them at school because we gringos were holding up the whole line. It was a great relief to get out of there. I think we were about 2 minutes from seeing someone in that line have a meltdown. 

Then we took a taxi, yes, 5 of us in one taxi, to the old city to buy the jackets and pants of the uniforms. I hadn't been to the old city before, it really is something to see. The streets are colorful, architecturally magnificent and bustling with life.  Backpackers are everywhere because it is the most touristy part of the city, and where there are tourists, there are tourist traps. The locals have schemed up so many great ways of parting the tourists from their money. There are fire breathers, jugglers and merchants, and of course, pickpockets. I could sit there on the sidewalk and watch the world go by for hours. 

But we were in a hurry and there was no time for people watching. We went into a small store that seemed never to end. It had an extensive amount of rooms and lofts for such a seemingly small space. The whole shop was filled with uniforms, I'm talking wall to wall, floor to ceiling. All uniforms of different schools in Ecuador and South America. It is really strange going from my high school back home where half the students have never even seen a school uniform, to here, where mobs of identically dressed youth flock at bus stops and bars. 

We got our jackets and pants, none of which fit very well, and we packed back into the taxi like sardines. 

I met my other brother, Fernando, today and we wandered around some of the malls looking for somewhere where I could buy a skateboard. It was a failed mission but, interesting none the less. 

Up until tonight I could have proudly said that I had tried all the foods given to me so far. But dinner tonight tarnished my record. We were having coffee and bread as normal and then Rosa, the cook / maid, gave me a bowl of soup because the night before I had said that I was often hungry later on in the day. So I started eating the soup without asking what was in it because everything she makes is delicious. The television was on as it always is in the kitchen and I was watching the news as I ate, not really paying attention to my soup. I was just about to down another spoonful when I glanced down at my dinner. To my shock / horror / disgust, there was chicken foot floating around in my soup. I nearly dropped the spoon and yelled. It really did scare me. This was a chicken foot, plain and simple, it was scaly and had toes and everything.  I finished the soup, thought it didn't quite seem as good as before, and left the foot. Rosa understood, she thought it was hilarious. 

Getting these pictures up is really testing me. Dan your HTML skills are second to none, but I can't even upload photos to an image hosting site. If you have facebook, I have some up there so take a look. If not, you will just have to wait a bit i guess. 

Parking Ticket - Vulqano Park

We had another meeting at XPLORER today, an agent from the American Embassy came to talk to my group about the dangers in Quito. He told us about all the sketchy places and the easiest ways to get mugged. The whole thing was kind of intimidating but it was all good information. 

Before the meeting I was doing more errands with Roberto and I was waiting in the car as I often do. It had been a long time, probably a little less than an hour and I had no idea where he was. Then I saw this cop walking up and down the street putting tickets on all the cars that were illegally parked. I was hoping that he would see that I was in the car and, despite the fact that we were parked in the worst place possible, keep walking. But no. he pulled out his little book and started scribbling a ticket. So I talked to him and he told me that I couldn't park the car there and that he was going to write a ticket. So i told him not to and that we had only been there for 10 minutes and that Roberto was on his way back. He seemed really skeptical but I just kept telling him that it was fine and i talked him out of writing it. So I guess I lied to a cop, but I saved Roberto from an expensive parking ticket. He wasn't back for a while either haha, it would have sucked if the cop came back. 

So Roberto and his girlfriend picked me up from the meeting at XPLORER, he was acting all cool, it was funny but I didn't say anything. He asked if I wanted to go to the fun park, but he is hard to understand sometimes and I didn't quite get what he said but I said yes anyway. So we drove around for a while then stopped outside a gate and two of his girlfriend's friends came out and got in the car. They kind of took me by surprise, he hadn't said who else was coming. We picked up Ismael from the house and then went to the park. 

The park was called El Parque Vulqano. It was on of the mountain we tried to drive up yesterday but on the other side, where there are actually roads. The place was empty because it was night, cold, and it had rained earlier so everything was wet. The rides were either really well made, or old and sketchy. There was a small roller coaster that rattled like no other and other rides that went upside down maybe weren't supposed to. Who knows. It was alot of fun, but we all left rather queasy.

I am having trouble putting pictures in this blog but when I get it working there will be many I promise. 

School - Phone - Adventure

Today was busy. 

I had breakfast with the family and then went out with Ismael, my cousin, to see my school and learn how to take the bus there. It seemed like my school was on the complete opposite side of the city. It will be a long bus ride in the mornings but thats fine. 

My school isn't much bigger than Norwell High School but there are 4000 students there. It will be crazy haha. I get to wear a sweet uniform too. A jacket, tie and flannel pants on mondays and then a sweater and collared shirt with the school logo for the rest of the days.  Its in a really busy part of town and is really near to the main park in the city, La Carolina. 

After we went to the school we got ice cream and walked around the city a bit. Then it was time for me to get a cell phone. The number is 086418817. You will have to dial out of the US or where ever, then into Ecuador, then the number. 

After that Ismael had to go to driving school so i went back to the house and had lunch with Mama and abuelita (grandma). Lunch as good as always, we had an interesting soup then pasta with chicken and all sorts of veggies. We were talking about music for a while and abuelita, who is 80 something i think, got very distressed when she learned that Elvis was dead. It was so funny for Mama and I but abuelita seriously had no idea, and she loved the guy. 

After lunch we played ping pong for a while. They love to play and have a table in the basement. Then the rain came. Its cool, because we are on a hill we can see the rain coming from miles away and when it rains, it rains! 

So Ismael and I sat around for a while playing pong and wondering what to do. We finally decided that we wanted to go for a drive so off to the city we headed, but then the traffic was terrible and we turned around and decided that it would be more fun to drive up the mountain. So we basically went past our house and keep going up and up and up. Its getting dark and the streets are really wet so this is already a sketchy operation, but we continued, soon the pavement turned to dirt and the dirt road to a muddy path with deep ruts and potholes. Its really dark now and we can't see much and eventually the car gets stuck in the mud and we are sliding around on the edge of a huge drop, fun fun. So we are trying to get the car moving again while a couple of the locals are standing there probably laughing to themselves. We finally we got it free. It was only after the whole ordeal was over when I actually looked at the city below. It was such a view! If you look at the picture I posted a few days ago, imagine that view except a thousand times better. I will go back up on a dry night with my camera sometime. 

My spanish is getting better each day, conversations flow much easier and I have to use my dictioary less and less. But, as i write this, I am realizing that my English is in rapid decline, so I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistake or if it generally doesn't sound great. As long as you get the details, everything is fine. 

One more thing, i just went through some settings here and I didn't realize that only registered users of this site could comment. So i changed that, now everyone can and should comment!

Days 3 & 4

The last two days have been pretty normal. 

I went to the mall for the first time yesterday. It is huge and so clean. It puts anything on the south shore to shame. Then I went and had lunch with Mama, Grandma and Aunt Susy. We went to a small restaurant on a side street. The food was really good. Soup, a main dish with rice beans and some kind of meat and then a dessert which wasn't quite to my liking but I ate it anyway haha.  

After that we drove around alot then went to Aunt Susy's apartment and had coffee and bread and cheese with the lunch crew plus Susy's daughter and granddaughter. This late afternoon coffee and whatever is dinner in Ecuador. We eat big lunches and small dinners. I was always starving at first but I am getting used to it. 

After coffee then taught me a card game called "31". It was really easy and fun. I won a dollar in the end so that was good too. The granddaughter, who is 2 i think, couldn't stop looking at my hair. In a place where everyone has black hair without exceptions, blonde hair is fascinating. 

Then today I did some errands with Roberto, mostly standing in line for him at various banks so he could do other things and not have to wait, but thats fine with me. I love looking at all that is going on in the streets. There are always people on the streets selling things and doing tricks. 

At 2 I had to go to XPLORER, the program that has set up my host family and school, for an orientation. I met two more kids going to school in Quito. One was a boy from Switzerland and the other a girl from Finland, both my age.

We had lunch down the street in el centro commercial (mall). It was a strange restaurant that served things on crepes, I had the equivalent of a huge taco, on a crepe. Strange but very good. I love writing about the food here because it is all so different. One of the uncles was telling me today that you could eat a different Ecuadorian soup everyday of the year there are so many. 

Then we sat through a loooong presentation about the program and all the rules and things. We were all glad when the clock struck 6:30 so we could leave.

 Mama, Grandma, an aunt and an uncle picked me up and we went for coffee and empanadas at a restaurant called La Tortilla. When we walked into the restaurant a kid, maybe 9 or 10 years old, blatantly pointed at me and told his Dad that I was a gringo because only gringos have blonde hair.  I had to laugh at him, but it is disheartening just as you are getting used to being in Ecuador, for someone to remind you that you are still a gringo. 

Anyway, the empanadas were delicious and the coffee too. All we have on the house is Nescafe which is basically fake coffee so it was great to have the real stuff again. 

We came back to the house and watched Blue Crush (a quality surf movie/chick flick) in Spanish haha. I can't wait to go to the beach, whenever that will be. 

Thats all for now.