Between Tuesday and Wednesday we had a total of about 7 hours of lecture on the history, development and land policies, and Indigenous culture of Ecuador. These were almost completely in Spanish, but I could understand nearly everything! On Tuesday afternoon the Ecology students had our first Spanish class with Karina. We spent some time getting to know the different provinces of Ecuador, and at times it was a little hard to hear other people, because there was a giant thunder storm going on outside. On Wednesday all of the Washington students ate lunch at a nearby cevecheria! We were mighty full during the afternoon lecture, which was a “How to be safe in Ecuador” talk from a guy from the US Embassy. In the afternoon I walked home again in the pouring rain, started on the first Ecology reading packet they gave us (approximately ½ Spanish, ½ English), and I got to see all three of the Parades kids at dinner!
Thursday was a beautifully clear morning, and I took advantage of this by snapping lots of pictures of the nearby volcanoes, which can be seen from my house and CIMAS. I also walked to school for the first of what I think will be many times with two classmates. We had a total of 4 hours of Spanish class on Thursday, interrupted by an awesome game of Ultimate Frisbee! Another highlight of the day was finally being able to Skype with my mom in the afternoon!
Friday was our Quito Tour day! First we took three different buses and troles to get to the south bus terminal in 1.5 hours. From there we can travel to almost anywhere in the country to the east, west or south. Afterwards, we hopped back on the bus to the Old Town. We got to see La Ronda, the inside of La Companía de Jesus, a closer look at the Palacio del Gobierno, Plaza Grande, and Plaza del Teatro, all with lots of history and facts coming from our CIMAS tour guides Luis and Antonio. After a delicious lunch at Tiaguez in the Plaza de San Francisco, we checked out the under-the-church Indigenous art displays. Before heading back to CIMAS on the bus we stopped for some amazing gelato (chocolate coconut for me)! Most of the other students were heading to Otavalo for the weekend. I wanted to go, but I already have exciting plans with my family for the weekend!
After a morning of walking in circles around my neighborhood, trying to find a place to Skype with my dad at 8 am in the morning on a Saturday, I eventually gave up and walked about 20 minutes to the Ecovía bus terminal. From there I caught a bus to near Parque Metropolitano, and I had a very nice walk through a small section of the park. I hope to go back and explore other parts later, as it is massive! It also seems to be where the majority of the mountain bikers in Quito hang out, so there must be some awesome trails for them too. I hiked back down the hill and caught the Ecovía again to the Mariscal to re-buy an Ecuador guidebook as mine had been stolen. I rode the jolting bus all the way back to the terminal and walked back home quite tired! Part of the family returned shortly and we ate lunch and then we quickly departed to another soccer game. This time, both Centhea and Tamara played, and they will need more players in the future, so they said that I might be able to play as well!
Later in the evening on Saturday, we left for Ambato, a city about 2 hours south of Quito where a lot of my host family’s extended family lives. We stopped in a cute town along the way called Salcedo, which happens to be famous for it’s multi-layered ice cream bars! At about 8 pm we got to the house of Monica, my host mom’s sister in Ambato. After about half and hour the place was packed with grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. and we were all there to celebrate four different birthdays, including that of my host mom and her dad.
The party was incredible and such a good way to practice my Spanish and experience the culture and traditions! We were up until 4 am the next day eating lasagna and birthday cake, talking, singing and mostly dancing to salsa music! I spent the night at Monica’s house and the next morning at 10:30 am Cumi came to get me to drive immediately to the car race going on just a few blocks away. We found a spot with great views of the cars racing through the streets of the town. Sunday was the third and final day of the competition, and Gonzalo and Cumi’s son Juan Carlos raced and placed second in his category! It was quite exciting and the first and probably only car race I’ll ever get to go to!
uh... i thought the lectures were going to be in english... fuck? how can their be multi-levels of spanish if there are only 8 people in the program? and jeez 2 bucks a stamp. i'm sorry dude. i hope you get on the soccer team. i'll have to read to find out.
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