Orientation

After confirming with my host mom [I'll call her Ruth from now on] that she was indeed coming with me on the bus to and from the university, a lot of my stress went away. I have to ride the bus solo tomorrow so... we'll see how that goes. I have an 8:30 am class but I've been so sleepy today that I'm sure I'll be in bed early.

I have to walk about 1/2 a mile to my bus. I get on the green bus- not the yellow bus, not the blue bus, not the red bus, but the GREEN bus.There were a few too many hairpin turns around the road on the way to the campus. It's in a valley so we have to go down the mountains, excuse me, the Andes [I love saying that]. The campus was about 75-80 degrees today and fabulous. Everyone still only wears pants or longer skirts though :( The ride home was uneventful except that a woman standing up next to me hit me in the face with her (rather large) tummy when the bus took turns.

The campus reminded me more of a resort than a school. It was magnificent! The architecture seems to have an Asian influence and there are beautiful ponds, hammocks and palm trees everywhere. The whole campus can be walked through in 5 minutes which is perfect since I have two classes 5 minutes apart. I really hope I can figure out how to post pictures soon! There is also a sushi bar, Italian restaurant, bagel place, crepe and salad bistro and a cafeteria. I'm definitely going to come back fat [enter Jessica and Lauren with their evil laughs about me gaining weight]

If you have ever seen the show Beyond Scared Straight then you have a good idea about how my orientation went, except that there were some jokes dispersed in between warnings. They basically told us about every scam that could ever happen to you. It's good that we'll all be aware but it definitely put the city into perspective for me. I won't go in to detail about much of the crime because I don't want to make my parents cry. Just kidding, it's not that bad... okay that was a lie. I will tell you about a funny scam that has happened about 4 times to women in the gringo area. Someone throws poop-[yes I said poop] on a woman (since men would probably not react as badly) and when the woman freaks out, the thief takes her belongings. I'll keep my eyes out for poop slingers but I don't expect to have that happen.

I will just be careful of what cabs I hail; I know which ones are legit now :) I will also never walk anywhere at night, cabs are a girls best friend! I have 4 keys for my house because there is an outside outside gate, and outside gate, an inside-ish gate and the door to the house. I definitely feel safe.

 In addition to the scams, one director basically told us that Americans have a perception of being... hmmm... well, for the sake of not using profanity I say trollops. That was definitely an awkward moment in the room. He also said that men and women usually don't have strong friendships (without being in a relationship) in Ecuador so if you intend to hang out with a local boy and be friends, they think it's a date. The man also went in to GREAT GREAT detail about race and class perceptions [he's an anthropology expert]. Basically, many people are racist against the indigenous people and the afro-ecuadorians.

Changing subjects, you can now add pineapple, pear and lemon/lime juice to my list. Juice is the water of Ecuador. My host mom gives me a funny look when I say I want water with a meal and asks why I don't want juice. I drink the juice I'm given but I still drink a lot of water. I didn't get any altitude sickness except for fatigue so I made out pretty good. I ate normal breakfast food again but for a snack I had cooked corn kernels with cheese and these white beans that Ruth said have a lot of calcium in them.

Hasta mañana