Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful place...

For most of the week I was sick so I really didn't do much. Classes weren’t too interesting either but after class on Thursday Danielle and Keunae came over to watch Madeinusa, a movie we had watch for our Cine class. When I got home Guadalupe wasn’t home so I had to call her and ask if the girls could come over. She said it was fine and that she was on her way home. About an hour later when they were supposed to get here Guadalupe was still nowhere to be found. I was a little worried because the guards at the gate call the house when someone they don’t know wants to come in and I wasn’t sure where to answer the phone because there are two kinds in my house and the closest one to me is in Guadalupe’s room. When Danielle got I didn’t get a call because I guess the guard knows her now. Her guard knows me for sure. Then Keunae came over and when the guard called he told me that someone named Kunef wanted to come in. I knew exactly what that meant, so I said let her in!

Guadalupe still wasn’t home so I gave the girls a tour and we raided the kitchen. I honestly don’t know where much is in there because I don’t make my own food, but we found some suitable snacks for the movie. So we went upstairs and started watching this movie that Keunae had bought. It turned out to be really twisted and ridiculous. It was about this town that thinks during Easter (when Jesus is ‘dead’) there are no sins so they all go crazy. There’s incest and murder. It’s messed up. At one point this guy chomps on a pair of earrings- on purpose. So when we finished the movie Keunae said she was going to eat the DVD just like him because it was so bad!

Then we watched the last three episodes of season 3 of Dexter since the last disc didn’t work in Danielle’s computer for some reason. Guadalupe came home around then and made us popcorn. I was afraid she would want to join us but she didn’t. I know for sure she would not like Dexter. She thought Spiderman was too violent. Then Keunae went home and when Guadalupe came back in from letting her out the gate, she said “arigato” and did a little bow then went to bed. People here don’t understand that Asia is not one country.

 Since it doesn’t really fit in my narrative I’ve been forgetting to mention this but one day while I was walking home I was passing the high school and I heard a clapping sound behind me. As it got louder I turned and saw a pickup truck pass by pulling behind it- on a rope- a horse. It was just trotting down the street! Oh man, Ecuador.

Friday morning I woke up and breakfast was laid out for me as usual, except this time I didn’t have American cereal but a box of granola ‘cereal’ which I mixed into my vanilla yogurt and it was delicious! Then I walked to the university for our trip to the “Oriente.” Oriente literally means East and it refers to the Amazonian region of the country. We went to the region on the edge of the Amazon so we were in the tropical forest but not in the thick of it.

Of course we left on Ecuadorian time- 30 minutes late- and imagine my surprise when we got on the pogo stick bus! Danielle and I sat closer to the front which seemed to help a lot. Also I think the roads weren’t as bad. Anyway, the bus ride wasn’t too long but maybe that was because Danielle and I shared her headphones and thoroughly enjoyed some blasts from the past. My favorite was Say My Name, by the one and only Destiny’s Child, because we acted out the music video to a T.

We stopped about an hour and a half into our 4-5 hour drive to eat lunch. We stopped at some restaurant but didn’t eat there because Christina had bought all we needed for lunch- and then some. We had sandwiches, fruit, chips, juice, cookies and- my favorite- nutella and peanut butter! I ate two spoonfuls of each and it was wonderful. At the place we stopped there was a chick just roaming around being our buddy. It was strange.

Then we piled back on the bus and made our way to the Hostería Hakuna Matata, or at least as far as the bus could go. To get to the hostel you have to cross this bridge that the bus couldn’t so we took ‘taxis’ the rest of the way. The taxis actually ended up being pickup trucks that we rode in the back of. It was pretty fun. The bridge was creepy though because it was suspended, like those bridges on a playground, so it kind of moved up and down as we drove over it.

Once we finally got to the hostel it was amazing. Marcellina gave us a warm welcome- just like the website said!- and then assigned us to our rooms. Somehow, Danielle and I ended up in two different rooms. She left me behind to room with Chris. I was one of the last people to be assigned and since we had an odd number left one of us would have to go to the quad. I volunteered thinking that’s where Danielle and Chris went, but I ended up in the “avocado” room (our key was shaped like an avocado) with Bianca, Betty and Alex. Haha, oops. It was good to branch out, but I was afraid I wouldn’t get a lot of sleep since they had bought a ton of alcohol making our room the party room.

After we settled in we decided to get a quick swim in before dinner. The pool was shaped like a palm tree and fed by only natural water so it was super nice. After my swim I relaxed in the hammock bay for a while. On the pool deck there is a section of about 10 hammocks- they were pretty awesome. Then, after drying off and changing, we went to dinner in the restaurant. Our first course was some kind of cheese and ham thing cooked in a seashell. It was crazy. I didn’t like mine that much so I gave it to Danielle.

Our main dish was ‘curry’ chicken which was just roast chicken with a tasty curry spice rub. Also we had red noodles that were delicious and some cauliflower which Emily L kindly ate for me. While we were enjoying our meal, the waitresses brought out bowls of more food for us to take seconds if we wanted to. I wish all restaurants did that. They kept the extra bowls warm on a hollowed out half log that had candles in it and a grate on top. Dessert was chocolate mousse but sadly we didn’t get extras of that.

After dinner some of us went to Danielle and Chris’ room to play cards. We played BS with Danielle’s cuss cards. Mary, who was a huge liar, put down like five cards and said, “two pieces of shit” because that’s what the one card said on it. We cracked up about that! Then most of us went over to our room for some drinking and stuff. I wasn’t too excited about drinking- plus I didn’t have a glass- so I didn’t drink. We played a bunch of games like truth or dare and marry boff kill but people left pretty early. I was glad I’d get to sleep! 

Up next...more jungle fun!

Hasta luego,

Caitlin

¿Dónde está el Baño(s)?

Saturday Guadalupe took Danielle and me to Baños. Guadalupe had told me about 17 times that we had to leave at 5 AM so we could get there with plenty of time to do things since we weren’t staying the night and it’s about a 3 ½ hour drive. So I woke up at 4:30 to be ready by 5. Well 5 passed by and Guadalupe still wasn’t up. I went downstairs to get some breakfast and when I came back up at 6 she still wasn’t up! I guess she didn’t set an alarm because Pato woke her up around 6:20 and we finally left at 7. So much for leaving early.

We went to pick Danielle up and we were off. I basically fell asleep immediately but I woke up when we were in some town and Guadalupe was looking for somewhere to get ‘café’ which, for her, means both coffee and breakfast. We drove around looking for some specific place which ended up not being open and then we looked for a different, but suitable, restaurant but apparently there wasn’t one. In this town we bought some biscochos from a lady on the street so Guadalupe could ask directions. Also there was a sign above the bridge in the town that said “cuidad de vivir” ‘a town to live in’ but I thought it said ‘cuidado de vivir’ which wouldn’t be grammatically correct but would basically mean ‘be careful to live/survive.’ I thought it meant the bridge was really treacherous!

From there it seemed like Guadalupe wasn’t sure where we were going. We were heading towards Ambato- following the signs no less- but she stopped to ask four or five people which way to go. They all just told her to follow the signs. Finally we got to Ambato. We drove around there as well to find somewhere to eat and we finally stopped in a little store/restaurant and got a fixed breakfast. We got bread, coffee, juice and an egg- pretty typical. From there we went into downtown Ambato which is a fairly large city. Once we were in town she continued yelling out the window to people, asking them which way to go. Of course they all told her to follow the road she was on. By this time I had already lost count of how many people she asked, but Ambato was just the start.

Guadalupe told us that she had family from Ambato and that they are very good looking there. I didn’t see it but I wasn’t particularly paying attention. Even though she asked every single person we passed on the street we still got turned around. Finally we were out of Ambato and on our way to Baños!

Once out of Ambato there were signs pointing us towards Baños but Guadalupe continued asking people where to go. It was really starting to drive me crazy! On the way we drove through a portion of road that was being worked on but instead of working on it lane by lane the entire stretch of road (both ways) was completely gone! It was just dirt. Good thing it wasn’t raining or there wouldn’t have been a road at all since it was at the foot of a mountain. We also drove through a town that seemed to sell exclusively jeans! Every single storefront had mannequin legs modeling the jeans. Where were all of the torsos??

At one point we had to take a detour because the road was out and the detour was not marked so we pulled over and asked a lady on the street. That was justified. The next 10 people we asked were not. They ALL told us to just keep going on the same road we were on. As infuriating as it was, the drive was really pretty. It was all in the mountains with little towns in the valleys. It was cute. At one point we crossed a ravine on a sturdy looking bridge but Guadalupe was freaking out. I don't know if it was a joke or not.

Finally we made it to Baños, after asking just a few more people, and there was nowhere to park. Also it was 11 by then. Finally we found somewhere to park and Guadalupe took us to “Nicole’s” laundry service/excursion agency to see what we could do there. Apparently Baños is the most EXTREM (yes that’s how they spelled it) place in Ecuador. Just about everything that this laundry service was “full adrenaline” like rafting, canyoning (repelling down waterfalls) and puenting (which is jumping off bridges and swinging from them for a while). They also had horseback riding and a truck that takes you around to see the waterfalls. Since Danielle is allergic to horses it was the truck!

Honestly neither of us wanted to do anything particularly ‘extrem’ plus Guadalupe wasn’t going to go, she was just going to wait around until we got back. So we decided to take advantage of the baños part of Baños- the hot springs. So we went up to the municipal pool which is fed by a hot spring attributed to some Virgen. Guadalupe really didn’t want to go- she said we should go to a spa for a private pool because “everyone comes here”- but I at least wanted to experience the hot springs. Plus it only cost $2. The spa was fairly cheap but they just had a chlorine pool- why would we go all the way there for that? So we went to the municipal with “the whole world” and it wasn’t great. The water was brown- I know it wasn’t dirty but it smelled funny from all the minerals- and there were a lot of kids splashing around. And there were a lot of poor excuses for swim suits which made things uncomfortable. It was basically a public hot tub, but the experience was something.

Just outside the pool was a waterfall where people were washing themselves and we saw one woman drink from it. I think it’s supposed to be blessed. While Danielle and I sat in the pool Guadalupe went to find us some towels because I could tell there was no way she was getting in that water- blessed or not. Before she left she told us to make sure we watched our stuff because she was sure someone would steal it. Just about when she got back with our Galápagos Islands towels it started to rain. So we got out and changed and went back to the laundry service to take our truck ride.

When we got back to Nicole’s they told us the truck left already and we would have to wait until 3 (it was about 1:30) for the next one. We decided that would be too late since we still had to drive home so we went to get lunch. We drove around for literally 20 minutes on the same 5 roads trying to find a suitable restaurant to eat lunch at. We stopped during our search to go into a crap store- Guadalupe seems to love them- to look at souvenirs. Danielle was picking out some postcards and she had one of a little indigenous-looking girl and Guadalupe took it out of her hands, put it back and gave her one with llamas on it instead. She said “do you think we look like that? We don’t look like that. Here, take this one, these you see here.”

In the doorway of just about every store there is someone pulling taffy from a hook in the doorjamb. Guadalupe bought some and we ate it while looking for lunch. It was really hard and you had to put part in your mouth then hit it to break off a piece. After driving around some more we ended up at a little cafeteria and got giant lunches per usual. I had fried steak and it was bigger than my head! We also drank sugarcane juice with lime because it “cleans your blood” and it will cure my allergies.

During lunch Guadalupe- who only had soup- ate a ton of my fries! She even got some mayo for her to dip them in and she didn’t say a word. It’s not like I didn’t have enough to eat but still! Then we left. On the way back we made our way to Ambato only asking for directions 5 times! The ride home was really long but I think it was partially due to the fact that we listened to Guadalupe’s favorite singer the entire time. Apparently she really likes Spanish music and she asked us if we knew any. I said I only knew Rodrigo y Gabriela and she said they were good but I’m not sure if she knew who they were or not. When Danielle mentioned Buena Vista Social Club- who are Cuban the horror- Guadalupe, who had never heard their music, told us they must be terrible just because they’re from Cuba. I asked her what that had to do with music and she said that since Cuba is such a terrible country, all of the music is protest music and awful. I really don’t know where she gets this crap.

The music that we were subjected to was terrible, however. Danielle read that this guy Rafael has been equated to the Liberachi of Spain but I don't know if that's good or bad. Either way it was awful. And to make matters worse, she didn’t have a legit CD but an MP3 CD so we literally listened to it for 3 hours straight. At one point I wanted to throw myself out of the car and down the mountain. Here’s why. On the way back we went back through that first town and found the restaurant Guadalupe wanted to go to in the morning. It was basically a meat restaurant. She wanted to eat there but we had just eaten 2 hours ago, and a lot. So we got a doggy bag for both the house and Danielle’s family. She made us try the pork and a mini empanada which were really good but I had no appetite at all. The counter was full of meat so we wanted a picture but the lady told us to come behind to take it. It was pretty hilarious.

From there we didn’t go the same way home but we did go through a bunch of towns that looked the same. In one their apparent claim to fame is this special layered ice cream which looks like it was made in a cup and while it was still soft, a stick was put in the bottom- like when you make popsicles as a kid. We stopped to get some and it was pretty good but the owners of the store were waiting for us to leave so they could close.

Once it started getting dark Guadalupe seemed to get really lost. She pulled over and asked a ton of people where to go but a bunch of them didn’t know. Finally we got back to Tumbaco and we stopped- again!- to get dog food. By this time this was the most ridiculous trip I’d been on and I just wanted to be home!

Since we were super tired and nothing else was going on we decided to watch movies at Danielle’s house. I volunteered my house but Guadalupe was too tired. I understand though because the tv is right outside her room which inexplicably lacks a door. At Danielle’s we ended up watching Arrested Development on my computer since the tv is in her parent’s room and her computer was locked up. It was pretty great. Emily and Chris fell asleep immediately but Lauren, Danielle and I enjoyed it.

Hasta Luego,

Caitlin

You dance pretty

 Wednesday was Chris’ birthday. To celebrate her birthday she, Emily L, Omar and I went to Bigote for tea and bagel sandwiches. It was really good. I had a caprese bagel sandwich which was very tasty, and we shared a carafe of green tea. The tea was my birthday present to Chris since I didn’t get her anything else, haha. We hung out there for a while taking pictures and Omar read our eyes. He told his that his philosophy (one of many) is that you can read what anyone is feeling through their eyes. He said that both Chris and I are in love and Emily loves to learn or something, whatever that means. The place is pretty tiny- it’s just a couple tables and a small counter outside of the Vegetarian Restaurant- so it when was starting to fill up we left to free up a table.

Then I had about an hour and a half until I had to volunteer so I walked home, put my school stuff away, wrote out a vocabulary list, and walked back to the community center. It took a little longer than I thought it would to get there but it was still locked up when I did. Once we did get in the teacher wasn’t there to I gave a little English lesson using the whiteboard. I basically just wrote out the vocab list and read it with them. Next time I need to get them to participate more because some girls are shy.

When the teacher came in she brought with her a little old lady who was maybe her mother in law? She was 90 some years old but still getting around with only a little help. The girls cut her hair to prepare for Tumbaco (a nearby town) next week when they go to cut the ‘anciano’s’ hair at a retirement home there. Then they learned to do a hair style on each other and I helped by handing out the bobby pins. As the teacher was explaining things I would pick out key words she was saying and write them- and their English translations- on the board.

After class I walked home ate dinner early and then worked on some homework. We had internet for a little while but while I was mid- facebook photo upload it died again. Hopefully this gets fixed soon.

Thursday between my first two classes I went to the iStore in the bookstore to buy a new sync cable for my iPod since I left mine at home. I was disappointed I couldn’t use my credit from my photo book to buy it but it was only $14 so whatever. I’ll have to start buying snacks on my credit so I can use it up. In Anthro we had a 20 minute presentation that went on for an hour. They passed around some weird looking potato things that the Incas grew and they were really sweet and kind of strange.

In Soc we had a pop quiz that I wasn’t ready for. I had been behind on my reading a little and had fallen short a few pages in my reading. Of course that’s what the quiz was on. After that disaster I went with Danielle and Chris to find a computer lab. We hung out there until it was time to meet for Chris (and Grant’s) program-sponsored birthday celebration. We met up at front gate and waited around for 20 minutes or so, for what I’m not sure. When we left we were all following Margoth but when she asked for directions we realized she really didn’t know where we were going. Luckily it was just in the strip mall across from the supermaxi and wasn’t at all hard to find.

We went to Luigi’s which is an Italian deli/café/gelateria. Since there were so many of us we had to wait for them to arrange some tables into a U on the second level just to accommodate us. We all got a dessert with ice cream and I thought we were just going to get ice cream. I got the chocolate mousse cake and some strawberry sorbet- it was delicious. They brought out a cheesecake and a carrot cake with candles for Chris and Grant but then they took them away. I was glad they had the mousse option since I don’t like cheesecake or carrot cake.

We hung out there for a really long time- much longer than any of us thought. By the time we left it was dark. We’re starting to realize that whatever we do with Maria Teresa will take at least a half hour if not an hour longer than we think it will. Once we finally left we were trying to figure out what to do. Danielle and I wanted to go home for a bit to nap or something but a bunch of people wanted to get some beers or whatever. Danielle, Chris, Keunae and I had been talking about painting nails- I really needed to take off that violently pink French I had gotten Monday because it was chipping so bad- but Danielle didn’t want to invite everyone and impose on her family.

After taking way too long to figure out what to do, Danielle and I went to her house to do nails. Salome fed us first and it was one of the strangest things I’ve eaten here. It was bright pink soup! I think it was beets that make it so pink. I didn’t hate it like I was afraid I would but it wasn’t my favorite. Then we got a little tiny portion of stew and rice. I was glad I didn’t have to struggle to eat all my food. The stew was really tasty.

After painting our nails we called Chris who was with Emily T, Betty, Bianca, Keunae and someone’s Ecuadorian convopartner named David. We wanted to go to this bar called Turtle’s Head but there was a $10 cover! Well at least that’s what they thought. It was actually a $10 minimum each but that’s still a lot. So we met up in the park in Cumbaya- no one wanted to go all the way to Quito. David told us he knew a bar that didn’t charge cover so we decided to go there. It was just a little tiny place with a urinal outside the bathroom and an empty dance floor. It was weird but we decided to just stay. Everyone got beers but I just couldn’t drink mine so I gave it to everyone to share.

The only time we danced at all was to We No Speak Americano and maybe the song after it. David told me that I dance ‘pretty!’ Haha, I was dancing like a lunatic. Then after we sat down some old guys came over wanting to dance. I was happy I was on the side of the table that backed up to the wall so I wasn’t an easy target. Betty and Chris ended up dancing a little and the guy with Chris kept trying to get her to mover her hips. At one point he dipped her and she screamed! Haha, it was really funny.

Friday for lunch a bunch of us went to a Korean restaurant in Quito. Keunae had been there before and said it was good so Chris wanted to go there for her birthday. We took the bus to the Rio Coca station, joined up with Lauren who lives right there, and took cabs to the restaurant. We had our own room since there were so many of us. Most people got the lunch size of whatever meal they wanted but since Bianca and I were hungry we decided to share a normal size meal. On the menu it looked huge but it actually ended up being less food for each of us than if we had ordered lunches. Next time we’ll know. Despite the confusion the food was really good and I hope we’ll go back.

After lunch Lauren decided to go home because she was still feeling a little sick but the rest of us decided to walk to Quicentro since it wasn’t too far. On the way we passed a Forever 21 and had to go in. Was that a disappointment! It was not like Forever 21 at home, there were a lot of clothes but it was all crap. The best part of that detour was that Bianca found a great ‘Engrish’ bag.

When we finally got to Quicentro we made a beeline for the ice cream shop we went to the first time we were there. Danielle and I ended up getting the same thing- no surprise there- and it was delicious. Then we walked around a while but I didn’t buy anything. Danielle bought some top coat because we were planning on painting nails later but I think she’s the only one who bought anything.

Then we said goodbye to Keunae’s friend Jean and all 6 of us piled into a cab to Danielle’s house. When we got in the driver said $10 to Cumbaya but when we got to Danielle’s house he wanted more because it was a ‘different sector of Cumbaya.’ Yeah right. We tried to argue but we just paid. We really shouldn’t have but there were six of us in that car- that can’t be legal. Not that they care about that anyway.

At Danielle’s I painted Bianca’s nails because she couldn’t and then I did my toes. I ended up with orange fingernails and blue toenails! Go Illini! Haha. Then we did our makeup and took “Prom” pictures on the spiral staircase in Danielle’s house- which leads to a loft filled with chairs.

That night Christina was having a roof party at her house and we all needed to bring something so we made our way to the Supermaxi- which was packed- and headed out to Lumbisi. I didn’t buy anything at the Supermaxi because I was planning to get some chocolate bread in Lumbisi, mmmm! Since it was so packed it took some people a while to get out of the store but since there were so many of us and we’d have to take separate cabs anyway, half of us just left. But, on our way to the taxi area we saw a Lumbisi bus and just got on. As it was pulling away we saw some of our group walking by and felt bad they missed the bus. Eventually we found out they managed to get on so we all ended up getting in at the same time.

In Lumbisi Emily L showed us where Christina’s house was but I left with Emily, Chris, Danielle, Omar and his friend Fer so I could get some of that delicious bread. Emily and I both pitched in to buy 10 chocolate rolls and on our way to her house we shared one, it was sooo good! There we picked up her ‘aunt’ who was invited to the party as well and we all walked back to Christina’s.

At the party there was pizza which was kind of strange but good. I really miss Chicago pizza!! Most of our time was spent dancing and taking pictures and cooing over Christina’s adorable puppy, Ella. Danielle and I weren’t planning on staying too long- since we had to be ready by 5am the next morning- but the party started to die down early so a bunch of us shared a cab back to Cumbaya.

Hasta luego,

Caitlin

Hey, I’ve got nothing to do today but smile…

On Sunday I got up earlier than Saturday since Guadalupe made fun of me for it. I had breakfast with Guadalupe but she said nothing of plans for the day. So after breakfast I went up to work on some homework but ended up just taking a nap. Eventually Guadalupe and I went out to run some errands. First we went to the dollar store type place to look at Christmas decorations. It was really strange. She kept saying how nice everything was but it was basically all just crap. All she ended up buying was a crystal elephant, some Spanish moss type stuff and 8 pairs of socks. We were there way too long.

Afterwards we went to the Supermaxi for some groceries. Again she tried to get me to choose food for myself and again I didn’t know what to get. But I did finally get a different kind of cereal. I’d eaten three boxes of Peanut Butter Crunch in a row so it was time for a change. I got frosted flakes. Then we went home and Miria made lunch. We had soup and that fish pasta dish again. It was tasty.

I went upstairs again after lunch to work on some homework and fell asleep again. Guadalupe wanted me to go with her to mass at 5 but I was sleeping when she called me to go. I didn’t even hear her. I really didn’t want to go to mass so maybe subconsciously made myself fall asleep. The world may never know. Dinner was leftovers from lunch and afterwards I talked to my parents and Zach on skype before going to bed.

 Translation on Monday was just me, Mary and the teacher. It was slightly strange with that few people. After class I went out to lunch with Keunae at Vegetarian Restaurant where we shared a chaulafan- vegetable fried rice. The portions are seriously enormous so sharing was a good idea. We were going to eat at the Shawarma but there weren’t any shawarmas! Then we both went to Maria Teresa’s office to talk about volunteer work. I told Maria Teresa that I really wasn’t keen on working with kids, especially teaching them. Keunae works in a school and has to teach for a couple hours each time. She’s taught English to kids before so it’s not too bad for her. I would be a wreck.

Maria Teresa said that there was a women’s center in Cumbaya where I could probably help out but when we went over there it was closed. So Maria Teresa dropped me off at home and said she’d come back for me at 3 to see if it would be open there. I told Guadalupe that I would be working at the women’s center but I think the thought I said the women’s prison because she was really against the idea. She said it was safer to work in the schools or maybe with the children of the inmates. I was like what are you saying, woman? Then as I was leaving she asked if I was going to the jail in Quito. I told her no, I was definitely not going to the jail.

The women’s center is really cute. The government gave the building to the organization for 50 years 25 years ago. They teach the women sewing, computers, music and other stuff. At the time there was a belleza ‘beauty’ class going on so Maria Teresa and I went to watch. Then Maria Teresa left me there to help even though I had no idea what to do. I know nothing about cutting hair or doing nails so I basically just watched, uselessly. After a while one of the girls did my nails. She gave me a really pink French manicure that was pretty good. Plus it was free so whatever.

For the last 15-20 minutes of their class I started teaching a few of the girls English. I really didn’t know how to start so I just started with greetings. Eventually I wrote out a list of beauty terms so I guess we’ll go from there. The younger girls knew a little English but the older girls didn’t at all.

I think I’ll have to figure out how to teach little classes for these girls because right now I’m not being very helpful. I’ll be working there for their class 3-6 MW so I have plenty of time to figure out what I’m doing. When I got home I had dinner and then looked into declaring a double major in IS. I sent an email to the advisor so we’ll see. Then I tried to do some homework but I was too tired so I went to bed.

Tuesday on the way to my first class Danielle caught up with me and we walked most of the way together. We both got coffees at the panadería but I still fell asleep for a bit during the movie today. I think the coffee isn’t very strong. We watched an Argentine movie today that was interesting but there really wasn’t much going on but talking so I nodded off a couple times.

After class I went to find somewhere to take a nap since I was pretty tired. It had rained over night so I couldn’t sit on the grass so I found a comfy chair under the stairs in Galileo or whatever it is. There really aren’t that many comfy chairs and even fewer couches so I was glad I could sneak right in after a girl got up. I started reading for Soc but I quickly fell asleep. At one point I woke up and Lauren was walking by so she came over and sat by me while I napped.

When it was time to go to class she petted me a little to wake me up. Anthro was mostly presentations but Danielle Chris and I were passing a note back and forth the whole time, so I wasn’t really paying attention. The note started out as a little birthday card for Chris but it ended up being about this guy in class who is Danielle’s ‘kind of nerd.’ So we planned their wedding.

In dance class we did yet another new combination but it was fun. On the way back to Soc I passed lil Lauren and I said hi. Then I saw U of I Lauren sitting in the same chair as earlier so we walked to Soc together. In Soc we did the same thing as we do every day- split up into groups and solve the social problems of Ecuador. Some of the people in that class drive me crazy because they just don’t get it. We’ve been doing the same thing for weeks now and they are still confused!

After class Danielle and I walked home and on the way we ran into Emily T who had sent a text earlier about going into Quito that night. Neither of us had replied but she said she’d send us the details and we’d think about it. Apparently that Chinese place everyone went Saturday, Uncle Ho’s, has movie night on Tuesdays so she wanted to go there. Later, at home, I got a text from her saying the movie was Borat. I wasn’t really willing to go all the way into Quito for Borat so we’ll go some other week.

I had no internet in the house that night so I had to find something else to fill my night. I did my homework and read my guidebook for ideas for when Zach visits. Hopefully it will be fixed soon.

Hasta luego,

Caitlin

You’re just a doorman, doorman!

Friday in Translation we talked a little about translation tools so I wowed everyone with my prior knowledge! Ok not exactly but it was the most I’ve talked in that class in a while. After class I went to lunch with Emily, Lauren and Daniel. We went to some place in Cumbaya that had a fixed menu, and it was really tasty. We got a potato based soup, something like beef tips, rice, papaya juice and my favorite, strawberries with whipped cream. Guadalupe doesn’t usually have strawberries in the house so that was a treat. Since Daniel was there we all spoke Spanish which was good but I had to leave early for Tango club!

Keunae came up for tango club too, since she doesn’t have class Fridays, and we were some of the first people there. Once most of the people showed up we got a little demo from the instructors and that got me pumped. I was super excited to learn this and dance with Zach! We split up into two circles of partners since there were so many of us but people still kept running into each other. We also switched partners often like swing lessons, which was nice since that way we learn to dance with anyone, not just our usual partner. Though I doubt I’ll really be dancing tango with anyone besides Zach outside of class.

We learned the basic step and a couple different moves but we didn’t get too far since the vast majority of us were beginners. I had one partner who was obnoxious, he kept making it seem like I was the one who was messing up when he wasn’t leading very well! I’m sure it was partially my fault but don’t blame it all on me dude. Other than that guy everyone was pretty good. Mary’s brother Fernando was in the class too but I didn’t get to dance with him. There was also a girl from my modern dance class there so we said hi and chatted a little. 

After class I went home so I could get in a nap before dinner. I worked on some homework then got ready to go out. I called a cab for Danielle, Keunae and me since everyone else was going separately. We took the cab to the plaza foch and we met up with the Lumbisi gang including: Chris, Emily, Kevin, Zack, two girls who’s names I’ve forgotten and Daniel. We intended to go to this bar called Blues which is supposed to be really cool. We assumed it was close to the plaza but it ended up being a 5 min cab ride away. We took cabs but our driver didn’t know where he was going so it took a while. The first taxi people made it there quick and went in right away since there was a free bar till 10:30 and it was already close to 10.

When we got there the doormen wouldn’t let Daniel in because he wasn’t dressed nice enough. It didn’t matter how we Americans were dressed but since he is Colombian he had to be dressed nicer. It was ridiculously stupid. He had on a polo and a nice sweatshirt- the exact same thing at one of the bouncers. Ugh. We even tried to have him and Kevin change shirts since Kevin was wearing a button down but one guy had to run it by the boss who eventually said that for him to get in we’d have to buy an entire bottle of liquor plus their cover. There was no way that was happening so we left. I really just wanted to yell at the doorman, “you’re just a doorman! DOORman!”

So we ended up back at the plaza foch- well most of us anyway, Emily T, Alex, Grant, Kevin and Betty stayed at Blues since they were already there. Lauren and Danielle came with us. So we went to this place called Lunera or something like that. It was this little bar with loud music. It was fun. Chris, Emily and Lauren left pretty fast but we stayed a while. I danced with two not-nearly-as-creepy-as-those-Lumbisi-guys guys. We danced salsa and neither of them stared at me or called me ‘reina’ so it was infinitely better than the Lumbisi dance. The one guy didn’t even say anything to me. I was totes fine with that. Then we danced some more to some techno-y music and some American music then by the end of the night it was back to salsa.

Keunae, Danielle and I shared a cab back to Cumbaya but the driver was pretty annoyed with us because we were pretty annoying so I gave him a tip- which you usually don’t do here.

Saturday I woke up late. Well 11:20 am, but for Guadalupe that was late. I came down for breakfast and by then it was around noon. Since I didn’t have anything planned with the group that day, Guadalupe wanted to take me out and show me around. So we, Guadalupe, Pato and I, went into Quito to go to the TeleferiQo which is like a gondola ride up a mountain. Pato drove so I made sure to wear my seatbelt and we first made a stop at el Arbolito to get some sandwiches. Pato just ordered three different kinds, all sliced in half, so we could share. We also got drinks and some chifle- banana chips.

Then we went up to the parking lot, parked and on our way up to the ticket office we saw Zack and the two Lumbisi girls. Apparently they were waiting for Margoth for hours. I felt bad for them but Guadalupe and Pato didn’t stop so I couldn’t really talk with them. At the ticket office you had to show ID to get Ecuadorian price but my censo card worked fine so I didn’t have to pay the foreigner price! So we got in line and waited for the car to take us up the mountain. We only had to wait for one to go by before we could get on, probably because it was pretty late.

It was a slow ride up but it was pretty cool. You could see Quito spread out beneath you. I recognized the panecillo and the Basilica but everything else was just buildings. Once we made it up to the top there really wasn’t much to do. We took a really short hike/walk up the mountain and I took some pictures. It was already starting to get cloudy at this point so I wanted to get all I could.

Then we went down to the little church on the mountain. Guadalupe went in a prayed for a bit and then we found a bench to eat our sandwiches. I wasn’t sure what I ate but I know there was cheese and some kind of flavored mayo on it. It was all we had for lunch so I just ate it. It wasn’t that bad though so I didn’t have to struggle to eat. Once we finished eating the clouds had really rolled in and it was starting to drizzle. So we got in line to go back down and that was longer than the line to go up.

In line they were playing the original Karate Kid and Pato told us about this movie he saw about some 9/11 conspiracy theory. On the way down we were in the gondola with two women, one Ecuadorian and a Mexican, and the ladies discussed telenovelas. Afterwords we went to some mall to get coffee and cake.

So then we went to Lauren’s house to pick her up because she and Pato were going out and drove back home to drop Guadalupe off. Lauren and I talked a little but not much. Once we got home they left pretty quick and I had nothing to do.

Also that night, apparently, a bunch of people were going out to Uncle Ho’s for dinner then going out later. I didn’t hear about it until Danielle texted me asking if I was invited. Apparently she ran into Keunae who asked her about it. Later Betty texted me when they were at the bus stop about to leave. I said I might come out later but I didn’t.

I was watching an episode of Dexter when I got Betty’s text and asked Danielle if she wanted to go out or not. We had gone out the night before so I could’ve gone either way. Eventually we decided not to go out so she came over to watch a movie. Guadalupe was excited to hear I had a friend coming over. Earlier in the day she decided that we were going to Baños next weekend and that I could invite ‘Daniela.’ She tried to get Pato to come and bring Lauren too but he didn't want to go. So when Danielle came over Guadalupe told her she had to get up at 5 AM Saturday, even though Danielle had no idea what she was talking about.

Before Danielle got to the house Guadalupe made popcorn, on the stove just in a pan. It was crazy. It over flowed at one point, haha. She also had me put jam on some saltine crackers for movie snacks too. We all talked for a while and munched on our snacks and I almost repeated the choking scene from Argentina. Some popcorn went down the wrong pipe and while I was coughing Guadalupe told me to put my arm up! I had such a flashback.

Then Danielle and I went up to pick a movie. I swear there are 5,000 movies in our house. I guess that’s what happens when movies are only $2. It took forever just look at all of movies in the bookcase. There is a giant box filled with them in the hall too. Finally we settled on Lost in Translation and decided that from now on we can only watch movies with Bill Murray in them. After the movie Guadalupe drove Danielle home and when we came back I finished season 4 of Dexter and then went to bed. 

¡Juanes nos une!

On Wednesday, after Translation, I met up with Emily L by the laguna where I was eating my ‘lonchera.’ We were planning on eating at the crepe restaurant in the university with Kevin and Danielle but we had to wait Kevin to be done with class and Danielle to get there from home. A while after Danielle showed up Emily got a call from Kevin wondering where we were. Apparently he was already in line. On the way to the restaurant we ran into Omar and invited him to join us. The crepes were kind of expensive but pretty tasty. I got pesto chicken which was good. It was pretty cool though because you watched them make your crepe in front of you. They used this little wooden tool to spread the batter around on the griddle to make the crepe. I’d never really seen a crepe made before so I thought it was cool.

After lunch I went to MT’s office to finally check out some volunteer opportunities. Mary and I had gone last week but MT was busy so she told us to come back today. I wasn’t sure where we were going but I was hoping there was some where free of children since I’m bad at working with children in English, let alone Spanish. But when I got to her office she just told me, “you’ll be volunteering from 2-3 Mondays and Wednesdays at the public school in Lumbisi and tell Mary. I’ll be in the cafeteria if she needs to talk to me.” I was a little taken aback but I couldn’t say no.

So I texted Mary and headed home. On the way out I saw Mary coming in so I relayed the message in person and she told me that may not work out for her. I hope it does since I don’t want to do this alone. Lauren was also there and she walked home with me since the mountain climbing gear store she needed to go to is on my walk. I showed her where it is and continued home. I took a nice nap, had some dinner and worked on my homework.

Thursday I had Cine class for the first time this week since we skipped Tuesday. We basically went over the movie packet with class but didn’t have to turn it in. If I had known that I wouldn’t have worked so hard on making it look nice. Good thing I didn’t type it up and print it out. That was a waste of money I successfully avoided. After Cine I figured I’d hang with Lauren since I know she has the same break as me and she usually gets lunch then. Apparently she dropped her 1pm class so she’ll be getting lunch at one. During this break she needed to do some homework so it looks like I’m back to spending my break eating my lonchera alone by the lake. Which I did, in full sun. Not a good choice.

In Anthro we watched a movie about Incan mummies which was pretty interesting but I started nodding off halfway through since the lights were off and I was tired. Once I start falling asleep I can’t keep myself awake, no matter what I do. Then I went to dance class where the teacher grouped me with the good dancers, telling the newbies to watch us if they get lost. I felt really good about that…then I kept messing up. Of course.

After soc, which was fine but not too exciting, Chris, Danielle, Lauren and I all went to the Supermaxi to get chocolate for Mary’s that night. She had sent out an email inviting all of us to her house for movies and chocolate and I was really excited. We ran into Keunae there too. We had the same idea. I bought some Noggy- milk chocolate balls with hazelnut- and an Ecuadorian coffee chocolate bar to contribute and a box of alfajores for myself!

We decided to meet at the bus stop at 6:30 to take the bus to Rio Coca and then take cabs from there since it would be cheaper. I tried to call a cab but the number I had didn’t work. So eventually I had Guadalupe call for me. When she asked me if I had the house number and I said it never worked, she explained why and it all made sense. Apparently cell phones and landlines have their own extensions but I didn’t get that at first. So I was a tad late getting to the bus stop but it wasn’t a problem.

We walked from Rio Coca to Lauren’s house, which is really close, and tried to call for cabs there but they said they didn’t have any nearby and couldn’t help us. It was weird. (Side note: Lauren’s house has a sunken sitting room where the seating is flush with the normal floor and the rest is sunk in. Crazy!) So we hailed a couple cabs and got there fine. The address was a little confusing but we made it. Mary’s brother Fernando let us in to a full house. Several of his/Andres’ friends were there along with our group. Their house is sweet.

For a while we just ate chocolate and talked but eventually the brothers’ friends bought some booze and we had chocolate fondue and the party really started! Then they broke out the guitar and the rest of the night someone was singing and playing. Most of the songs we gringos didn’t know but the Ecuadorians did. The main guy playing guitar and singing was really good. Fernando and Andres both play too but Andres didn't really sing too much. The only songs the gringos really sang along with were Wonderwall, two Jason Mraz songs and Juanes! Red cap guy even said, “Juanes nos une” “Juanes brings us together.” It was really fun but we left kind of early since it was a school night after all. At least for some of us.

Hasta luego,
Caitlin

Don't point that gun at him, he's an unpaid intern!

Sunday I got up kind of early to meet up with Cari, Lauren and Danielle to discuss our upcoming presentation for Andean Anthropology. At breakfast Guadalupe gave me my new glasses and I was excited to see that they weren’t nearly as bad as I’d imagined! Anyway, we met at the Esquina mall at the Juan Valdez Café to discuss strategy for this presentation. Our topic was Incan religion but we needed to present it in a creative way- so we decided to make a powerpoint. We divided up our tasks over coffee and then I forced Danielle to invite me over to her house. I kept saying that I didn’t want to go home and have to go to mass until she invited me over.

We walked to Danielle’s house and only her host brother was there but he promptly left. She gave me a tour then we started our Cine homework. We had this packet we had to do with a bunch of different activities and since I was falling asleep that first day of the movie Danielle helped me fill in the gaps. Once we finished that we had empanadas, chatted for a bit then decided to watch a movie. Danielle had recently bought the Life Aquatic and neither of us had seen it so that’s what we chose. It was pretty funny.

After the movie I walked home because it was going to get dark soon and I didn’t want to have to call a cab. At home I had dinner with Guadalupe and we watched the end of Spiderman on the tiny tv set in the dining room. She told me that she didn’t like violence in films and I made note not to ever let her see Dexter. I’m sure she’d think I was completely deranged if she saw it.

Monday, after Translation class I went to lunch with Emily and Omar. I was going to go straight home since I had so much homework that night but Emily called when I got out of class to see if we could work on the Cine packet together. So I joined her and Omar by the laguna, worked on homework a little and then we went to Vegetarian Restaurant by the university. That’s what it’s called, just Vegetarian Restaurant. It’s a sort of generically Asian place but it was pretty good. I had some noodle dish that was tasty. The portions were huge though so Emily and I couldn’t eat all of ours. Omar and his friend Bernardo, who showed up a little later, took care of that problem for us. At lunch we decided we were going to see Harry Potter together, and even though it’s in November I’m excited. Haha.

At lunch Bernardo told us that at one point in his life he trained under Chriss Angel and learned some Mindfreak magic or something. We asked him to show us something but he said he wasn’t prepared so I didn’t believe him. He told us that he could eat a coin and then cut it out of his arm or something weird like that. Obviously if he was a real mindfreak he could do it without preparation, since it is magic after all. After lunch I went home and worked on homework forever, ate dinner and then worked on homework some more.

Tuesday I was the first to get to Cine class and the door was still locked. I wasn’t that early so I was pretty confused. Pretty soon all the Cumbaya girls were there too and the cleaning woman let us in. We waited around until Lauren came in and she told us that there was a big accident on the way to Cumbaya and all the buses were really delayed. She had left an hour early to work on homework but ended up getting to class 10-15 minutes late. Some other students began to trickle in but since the teacher was a ½ hour late we made a signup sheet and left. That morning some of us had this meeting with the international student counselor. There were supposed to be 50 of us and there were 7.

After the meeting our presentation group met at the fountain to do a final run-through. All the girls had printed out exactly what they wanted to say but all I had were the notes I made for the powerpoint. Apparently I was going to wing it. I didn’t think about it before but that was probably not the best idea for presenting in Spanish. In class we gave our presentation and I think it went well. The teacher didn’t correct us or anything so that’s good I guess.

My last two classes were fine. Dance was fun as always and Soc was ok. After Soc Chris, Danielle and I went back to the Quito market so Danielle could finally buy her rings she was having sized. We took a taxi since Danielle had her laptop with her- and since her phone was stolen last time on the bus she wasn’t taking any chances. Once we got there though we couldn’t find the booth with the rings. Eventually we figured out that she wasn’t there that day, even though she said she’d be there every day but Sunday.

Then we looked at the crazy shoes Danielle had bought before because she wanted another pair and I was thinking of getting some for Rachael. They really wouldn’t budge on the price, even when we wanted to buy 3 pair, and I didn’t have enough money so we left empty handed. We walked back out to the main road and tried to flag down a cab but they were all being big dicks. The first driver said he wouldn’t go because we were on the wrong side of the road. Then we crossed the street and flagged another guy down who wanted to charge us $12! So we said no and waited for another one. Finally we got a guy who wanted $7- deal!

The driver asked us if we wanted to take the tunnel or go a different way so Chris just told him to go the easiest way. Since the tunnel route had so much traffic he took this backroads way that we had never taken before. We basically drove down into this river valley on all windy cobblestone streets through several little tiny towns. It seemed pretty sketchy but it was daytime, there were three of us, and there were cars and people around the whole time so I wasn’t too nervous. If we had pulled off onto a road where there were no other cars then I’d be nervous, but we were fine. It actually ended up being pretty fast. Probably faster than waiting in traffic in the tunnel.

Then I went with Danielle to buy a new phone since hers was stolen. It ended up costing less than her original phone which she bought with the group in Quicentro. At least $20 less, actually. I think the group was kind of ripped off. Then we walked back home and I had dinner with Guadalupe. I topped the night off with the usual episode of Dexter.

Hasta luego,
Caitlin

Don't pass out in the sack!

Saturday was one of the strangest days of my life. I signed up for the international students’ welcome party, run by the international programs office because I figured it’d be a good way to make friends and it’d be fun. Well it sure was something!

The Lumbisi girls took a cab to my house where Danielle had joined me so the taxi driver wouldn’t have to drive all over Cumbaya and charge us a ton. So I woke up at 5:30 so I could shower and get ready. Since we were going to get ‘very dirty’ I didn’t want to be smelly too. When I went down for breakfast Pato was up. I have no idea why he was up so early, but we had breakfast together and chatted until Danielle rang the bell. Keunae had also called that morning wanting to know how we were getting to Quito so I invited her to share our cab. We picked her up in the plaza and made our way to the ‘tribuna de los Shyris’ which is like stone bleachers on the edge of Parque de la Carolina that faces out towards the street and the parking lot that is in between the two lanes of traffic. It’s odd. We were there really early, like 7:11am and the buses weren’t leaving until 8am.

Daniel, the Office of International Programs director, was there so we waited with him while everyone else showed up. He made fun of us for still being on American time, where everyone is early, as opposed to Ecuadorian time where everyone just shows up whenever. Once everyone was there we all piled into buses very similar to the one we took to Otavalo- aka the pogo stick bus- and we were off, to where I had no idea.

I mostly slept on the way- luckily this bus just looked like the other one, the ride was fairly smooth- but I woke up near the end of the ride and we were really high up in the mountains. The road was basically on the side of the mountain so the drop was really steep but the view was amazing. Eventually we pull up to a little plaza in some little town and we were there. At least that’s what the bus driver told us. In the plaza we divided into groups led by an Ecuadorian student and we marched up the mountain to get to the hacienda where we were actually going. I was glad I wore my hiking boots because it was a fairly steep climb.

Once we got to the house we all basically collapsed into the chairs set up for us under a little tent and wondered what to do next. Most of us were pretty thirsty and looking for water when Daniel and the other coordinators start putting beers on our tables. Keep in mind it is now about 10am. So we sat around talking and drinking beer since it was all we had. Guadalupe had sent me with a lunch, as always, but since Danielle came over to share the cab she added stuff for her too. So we ate fruit with our beers. At 10 in the morning. Oh yeah, it gets weirder.

After a while someone announces that it’s time for the games to start. And “bring your beers, there’s no games without the beer!” If I wasn’t already wondering what the hell we had gotten ourselves into, I was now. We found our groups again and gathered around the circular corral that had nothing in it but a tall pole. Our group’s name was “chocolate sensual” which looks like English written out but it’s Spanish, trust me. It's ridiculous in both languages.

The first activity was to have two representatives from each team try to climb the pole, which was greased. We were also told that there were three marks on the pole and that if you only got to the first one you would have to take 1 ½ shots. If you got to the second, 1 shot and so on. So to recap: we are on a school sponsored trip, with university representatives at 10 am in the mountains where they have given us beers and now we’ll be taking shots of Zhumir, an Ecuadorian, fruit-flavored alcohol, from these representatives.

The greased pole climbing didn’t go well for anyone really. Bianca did pretty well but probably only got to the first mark. So it was 1 ½ shots for her. Then we did a potato sack race relay. With an alcoholic twist of course. You had to hop to the pole, down a cup of beer that was at the base, continue to the other side of the corral and back so someone else could do it. There was also at three legged race and that game where you spin with your forehead on a baseball bat then try to run. But, of course, all games involved getting shots of Zhumir poured down your throat. Or in my case, up my nose…

Chris and I did the wheelbarrow race, in which I was the wheelbarrow. Unfortunately I had no idea before deciding this that I wouldn’t be able to support my weight while walking on my hands so we fell immediately. Once we got to the pole in the middle I had to lay on my back and have a shot poured in my ‘mouth.’ Only the girl basically poured it all over my face and shoulder. Mostly what ended up going in, went up my nose. Given that that’s my preferred way to take a shot normally it wasn’t a problem, I just wasn’t expecting it is all. After that my shirt smelled like mango, it was delicious.

After all that madness I had to take a break so I sat the last few games out. By this time we were inside a cloud and it was getting cold. Since we were in the mountains the clouds literally engulfed us by the afternoon. Being inside a cloud is not as cool as it seems. It’s pretty much just cold and damp. I watched everyone play flip cup from afar with Mary and Emily who don’t drink and therefore had nothing to do for hours. They couldn’t even sit nearby since there was always someone coming around with a bottle of Zhumir to pour some in your mouth. It was a little too intense for me after a while, though one group seemed to be really enjoying themselves. They called themselves los borrachos (the drunks) so that was to be expected.

Finally, at 1pm we were allowed to eat! We had pulled pork with mote, some kind of orange potato like stuff, salad and plantain. Chris and I went back for seconds of meat and the potatoes. It was really good. During lunch they passed out masks and big confetti shooter things. It was weird.By the time we finished eating the clouds had really rolled in and it was getting pretty cold. A bunch of people were dancing in the tent, but a bunch of us were really tired and didn’t join them. Danielle and Betty even climbed into two of the beds in the hacienda. Once we finally left we had to go wake them up.

When we did leave it was raining so we had to make the trek back to the buses in the rain. Back in Quito we grabbed a cab after turning down two- one didn’t know where to go and the other wanted to charge us way too much. We went back to the supermaxi stop and we got ice cream at Kikos. We wanted hot fudge sundaes but I don’t know if they exist here. I’ll have to find that out. We settled for that chocolate that hardens like the dipped cones at DQ. It wasn’t great but it was good enough. From there we went to the cinemax and I got the 4th season of Dexter since I was close to finishing the 3rd season.

Once I got home I watched a bunch of episodes of Dexter and then went to sleep. It was a nice ending to a most ridiculous day.

That's plenty for now.
Hasta luego,

Caitlin