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