Wednesday, January 9, 2013

And classes begin...

I took the bus ALL BY MYSELF today. Yes, I am well aware that my last statement is usually said by kindergarteners but I promise you, it's a big accomplishment. The game plan for my 10 minute walk to the bus stop is to assume that everyone wants to rob me. I have to walk tall and confident [but still look down because I could possibly fall into an open man hole] and I have to keep my bag in front of my chest and be aware of who is around me. The buses are funny because (for men) they don't come to a complete stop so people run along side and jump in. Also, the buses speed off right after everyone enters the bus [when they actually come to a complete stop] and I haven't gotten my bus legs yet so I look like a dumb gringa flailing around trying to find my seat. Note: In Ecuador the word grina/o is used for all white people and not meant to be demeaning

My first class, Andean Archeology, was at 8:30AM and was very interesting. The professor speaks very quietly [and in all Spanish] so it was somewhat difficult to hear her. She told us that  we will be going on two field trips... YAY! One trip will be to an archeological site of the Incas called Karanki and the other is to a museum that holds artifacts and guards a burial site [that I think we get to see] for an old indigenous community. My second class was Spanish Language and Literature and the teacher spoke in all Spanish again [I was expecting that] but with no emotion and very fast. This class is going to be hard :( We have to read a lot of short stories and write a lot of papers. My last class was Intermediate Spanish and this will be a piece of cake. We're learning all of the verb tenses this semester which is what I have been doing since 8th grade. I am surprised that the class was approved to transfer for the credits I need but I'm not arguing ;)

So I figured out how the city stays in some kind of order. Even though the cops suck and can be bribed [there's less than a 1% conviction rate for violent crimes] there are security guards every where. They are privately hired and everyone has one. Almost all restaurants, stores and apartment buildings have security guards out front and they do most of the protecting around here. On my way to and from the bus I make sure to smile and say buenos dias to the guards so they like me and would protect me if I were to be in any kind of danger.

This weekend I have some fun things planned! Friday, I am going with a group of Tech students to register our visas [yeah, I know that's not fun]. Saturday is the welcome party for international students. We're meeting at El parque Carolina (Caroline Park) and riding buses to a rural area called Nono. The party will have food, games, dancing and most of the international students will be attending. On Sunday I am planning to hike a volcano called Pichincha. I am really excited but a little nervous about the affects of the altitude. Hiking the Appalachian Mountains is nothing compared to these monstrous mountains here. Everything I've read [I sound like mom] has said that beginners can take the route that we're planning to go with little problems. Oh yeah, I'm also going with strangers I met through facebook. hahahaha okay everyone, wipe the look of shock off of your faces- It's not really random people. We have a facebook group for ONLY international students from the USFQ (my university) and people set up outings through that. There will be some people from Tech going too... hopefully :)

I had some tomato juice with breakfast again but this time is was more tomato-y so it wasn't my favorite. Good news- Ruth and the maid have started serving me smaller portions so I don't have to gorge myself at every meal. They do serve more food for breakfast than I'm accustomed to though. It usually consists of bread, eggs, fruit, coffee and fruit juice (sometimes yogurt and granola too). The maid [I'll call her Adrianna from now on] calls me señorita Carolina and she's so sweet. She works from about 7:30am to 5:00pm in the house cleaning and preparing meals. Ruth calls me Carol [Caroline is hard for Ecuadorians to say]. One other thing to add- I had some rumbling in the tummy today but it seems okay now. We'll just see how my dinner sits.

BIG NEWS- I am getting a memory card reader tomorrow from supermaxi (equivalent to walmart) and I can finally put up my pictures!

Thank you to my family for the adorable letters! I opened the first one today for my first week and it brought a smile to my face [especially when Mul wrote tikwando instead of tae kwon do. It reminded me of TAWANDAAA from Friend Green Tomatoes. I love and miss you all!

1 comment:

  1. You are seriously having the time of your life, I love it!! Your family there sounds so sweet too. Any cute boys? Love you Cur!!

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