I've thought of having a theme for this blog, perhaps replicating different famous "bloggers" or diary writers. Doogie Howser one day, Bridget Jones the next, and Mary Chesnut (the famous diary writer featured in Ken Burns' civil war documentary). Unfortunately, some of you might not appreciate making up fake Mary Chesnut quotes as much as I do. Also, a LOT has happened in this first week and I think that themed blogs are better on a smaller scale. So here is my life as of the first week in Ecuador.

Sunday: Leave from first airport at around 7. My friend H met me and R at the airport, she's here for the week. After a layover in Texas, we headed overseas and, around midnight, arrived at our host house.

Monday: Wake up around 6:30 to get all ready because we have a 40 minute walk to school. (with all this walking, if I'm not flaca by the time I get back, I'll eat a llama). The first day was rough. My teacher could have been speaking Hindi and I would have gotten about the same amount of comprehension out of it. At this point I'm thinking, "Blast, what have I gotten myself into?"

The afternoon was better. H, who had been chillin in the school office, met up with us and we went downtown and showed her a few key tourist places: La Compania (supposedly the most beautiful church in Latin America), la Plaza de Independencia, la Plaza de San Francisco, etc. Then we headed back and chilled at our host family's place. Our host family is extremely nice and we're extremely spoiled. We get our meals served to us and our rooms cleaned. I feel like a snobby tourist...or Rick Steves. There is a neat couple here at the same time as us. He's working on his dissertation and she's learning the language while working with her job in the states. They've traveled everywhere, so meals are always interesting.

Tuesday: H went to La Mitad del Mundo (the equator line) while R and I studied more. Second day was a LOT better. I felt like I actually had studied the language before. Then we headed to La Fundacion de Guayasamin (a museum of THE painter of Ecuador. If you hear "painter" and "Ecuador" on Jeopardy, the question is "Who is Guayasamin?" I get 10 percent of whatever you wagered if that's your daily double and you win because of it). We met a guy from Michigan who was giving tours there. Crazy how being "from the states" is a connection over here. Then we walked back. Uffda.

Wednesday: H went to el Teleferiqo (the gandolas that take you to the top of Pichincha- the volcano- for an incredible view). She walked all the way there and back...in a foreign city...where she doesn't really know the language. Basically, she rocked it. In the afternoon we went to la Basilica....and H's wallet got stolen. We should have waited for another trole (trolley, in Ingles). We had waited a few because they were all so full, but then thought we should get on one. H got separated from us and someone cut her bag open and got the wallet that was buried deep inside. I should have gotten her. Those guys are professional thieves and unless you have somebody watching your bag with you, it's impossible to prevent it. Anyways, we still went to the Basilica and climbed the towers. You can get right out on the turrets and could quite easily fall to your death...or something close to that. Then, hating the trole, we got a taxi and I got to barter for the first time in a year (bartering is my passion). She got everything cancelled, but she's still thinking of everthing she needs to replace. In the evening we went to a great little shopping plaza with some excellent people watching.

Thursday: The us(ual) with classes. I actually formed somewhat complex sentences, so I was feeling better about the whole "you want to teach Spanish?" thing. Unfortunately, H got mugged again. She was just reading in a park when people threw stuff on her (some sort of fruit juice, we think) and then, while trying to "help her clean up" stole her bag. The activities organizer, A, came to my classroom and said, "Something's happened to H" and I thought she got hit by a car or worse. I was relieved to here she was "just" mugged. It's really my fault. Quito is fine if you are with others, but even the locals get robbed. I wish we could've left a week earlier just so she wouldn't have had to travel alone in the mornings while we studied.
We did our usual 60 cent lunch: An empenada from the little hole in the wall restaurant next door (there are a ton of those here- they're great) and a cookie from the bakery on the corner. Incredible. Then we got tickets from a taxi agency so we can go to Otovalo today (a GIANT marketplace) and headed back to do hours of homework.

Friday: My crap day in Spanish. Felt like I couldn't conjugate basic verbs. Unfortunate. All the students had presentations on different Ecuadorian cities. I lucked out and got Quito. Each city has a hymn that we all got to sing. Our teachers are crazy so it was pretty fun to get into "la musica". We returned to our house and later on got pan de yucca and yogur de mora. H needed to try it. It's a fav.

Saturday: Right now I'm sitting in my bed after not being able to get back to sleep at 6:30. We're heading out to Otavalo in a bit where I can get my barter on. I'm STOKED.

Sorry for the long post, but other weeks will probably be a lot shorter...and a lot less interesting. H was a good motivation to get us out of the house and reacquaint ourselves with the city.

Hasta luego!
Em