Friday consisted of an orientation day at CIMAS. I got to meet 8 of the 10 students in the Washington CIMAS program, and some of the students from the Minnesota program. We also got to formally meet all of the CIMAS staff, minus the teachers, and enjoyed a traditional Ecuadorean lunch with them-locro de papa (potato soup) and fruta. In the afternoon we all took a Spanish Placement test and got a lecture about living with Ecuadorean families. Almost the entire day was in Spanish and I was able to understand nearly everything!
At 4:30 pm my host dad picked me up and we took the bus to “El Pet Shop” the pet food store that him and Cumi own. I got to hang out there for a while and see how their business works. I also got to try “Humes” or “Humitas”, a type of cheese and corn snack that are even better than tamales in the US! At about 7 pm we were picked up by Tamara and after a stop at the clinic and the pharmacy, we headed back to the house. At 9:30 pm we drove down to the Mariscal to celebrate Cumi’s birthday at “Crepes y Waffles”! It was delicious, but I was so sleepy by the end of the meal. Gonzalo and Cumi’s son Juan Carlos drove over an hour to make a surprise appearance at the restaurant and he gave us a ride back to the house to sleep at last!
Saturday was equally as new and exciting. I went for my second run in Quito, and I lasted a whole 30 minutes this time! After a shower and another delicious Cumi breakfast, Centhea picked me up and we drove to her soccer game. Her team, which is mostly made up of other people who she works with at a Medical lab, won 1-0. However, the coach was putting the players in positions that they weren’t used to, so her and her teammates were very disappointed after the game. But she recovered quickly, and next we were off to El Jardin mall where I bought a new camera and a cell phone that will work in Ecuador. And after those big purchases, Centhea treated me to some mango gelato!
Next, we checked out the music festival that was supposed to be happening at Parque Itchimbia, but unfortunately it was cancelled due to the recent political violence. I was super bummed out, but we ended up going back home for lunch, which was simply incredible!
In the afternoon, I walked around the neighborhood and used the internet at a local café. In the evening the entire family, minus Juan Carlos went out to get Chilean Empanadas and Morocho, a milk and corn-based hot drink that reminded me a bit of horchata or egg nog. I’m going to order it every time we go out now!
Sunday is the day that the family relaxes or takes care of business, as it is the only day of the week that “El Pet Shop” is closed. Today when I woke up, there were already three people remodeling/re-tiling the kitchen! Cumi will be unable to use it this morning, and she seemed rather devastated, but excited for a more visually pleasing kitchen too. I hung out at the park across the street from the house in the morning and watched soccer and basketball games. Oh how I wish I could play too!
At about 1 pm, Tamara, Cumi and I went to the MEGAmaxi supermarket, which makes the Supermaxi look like a corner store! It was a zoo, and many families had at least 2 shopping carts full of food and pretty much anything else you could ever need! I bought some healthy whole grain crackers to eat with my nutella and bananas at CIMAS, as I am responsible for my own lunch during the week. We had a bite to eat at about 3pm at a charming place called the “American Café” in the MEGAmaxi food court!
Upon returning to la casa, I went out to use the internet for a bit while the rest of the family dealt with the hammering laborers in the kitchen. Later on Cumi, Gonzalo and I had lentil soup, green salad, rice, bread, and a lime dessert, all of which Cumi remarkably made out of a halfway put together kitchen.
I am so excited for classes at CIMAS to start tomorrow, even though it will mean an end to my 4 month long summer break!
For more information on the CIMAS programs that I’ll be in until June (Conservation Ecology, Public Health, and an independent internship):
http://www.evergreen.edu/studyabroad/cimas/prospective.htm
mmmm i want Morocho too. right now im drinking a hot tea jesse made me that tastes like hot horchata. the tea is kava kava with rice milk and honey. your lunch sounds super yummy and you seem to have lucked out with your host family.
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