Wednesday I had Translation in the morning. It was fine. Bianca had just registered so the prof told her she had to take a test to see if she could get in the class. He gave her our past assignment and told her to leave the classroom, translate it into Spanish without a dictionary and slide it under the door of his office. Apparently she got it back with a note on it saying she didn’t pass, sorry. I was sure that he was kidding- he puts people on the spot all the time, that seems to be his type of humor- but I guess he wasn’t. Very strange.
After class I went to return my photography book that I no longer needed. I got in line at the customer service desk and when I finally got up there the guy asked me why I was returning the book. I said because I was no longer in the class and he wanted me to prove it by showing him my schedule! I was so taken aback by that- it just seemed so unnecessary- that I just kind of stared at him, so the girl behind me in line told me, in English, that I needed my schedule. I guess that was nice of her to try to help me but a lot of times when I don’t understand someone they think it’s because I don’t speak Spanish but it’s usually that I can’t hear them, or in this case I just didn’t get it. So I went to the copy center, printed out my new schedule, went back to the bookstore, waited in line again and then showed the guy my old and new schedules. All this for a store credit that I don’t even need since I already bought my other books. UGH!
So then he was all ok cool come over to the cash register and this lady will take care of it. Oi. So I got my dumb credit and I’ll let Chris use it since she hasn’t bought her books yet. Then I found Emily L by the lake and we ate lunch. Mary came over to sit by us too and Omar found us just about as soon as Emily left. Then a girl from my Anthro class, another gringa who knows Mary, joined us. We talked ab bit then I went to find a computer lab since our internet was still out. The two I usually go to were closed for classes but luckily I had copied down the room numbers of some other labs from Emily’s notebook. I found one that was practically empty so I checked my email and whatnot. The computers were pretty old but they had internet so I didn’t care.
I went home and started reading for class basically until dinner. Guadalupe called me down and I got myself a glass of water. I sat down at the table, since she won’t let me help or serve myself, and watched the Brazilian telenovela that’s always on. She comes over with my food and says, ‘look at you watching the novela, you like this show!’ I don’t particularly like the show, it’s fine for a novela, but since it’s always on when I eat, it’s either watch it or stare at my plate. So now she thinks I love this show and keeps saying the name all the time. Haha. Tonight, after soup of course, Guadalupe gave me chicken nuggets! They were homemade and delicious but nuggets nonetheless. I ate them all and everything on my plate. I’m finally starting to get my appetite back. Then I went back up to my room to read some more. Both of my classes that have a lot of reading are on the same day so I always have a lot to do those days. I went to bed early since I had class at 8:30 the next day.
Thursday I got up really early (for me) but Guadalupe was of course already up. I don’t think the woman sleeps. At breakfast she offered me coffee and I eagerly accepted even though it was instant. I knew that caffeine would be the only thing to keep me up during this class. It’s interesting but I always have trouble staying awake in early classes. So I went to class and we finished the movie. The ending was sadder than I expected but it was good. We talked about the questions in the packet and that was about it. After that everyone went their own way since they all have class right after. I don’t have class for an hour and a half so I just sat on the stairs and re-read some of my Anthro reading. I was at the inner courtyard and they were setting up tables and food and a band. Apparently the university is celebrating its 22nd birthday so they were having a big shindig.
As I was reading I got a call from Danielle who was supposed to be in class but was at an assembly in the gym where some professors were giving speeches in purple robes. I came to find her, since I had nothing else to do, and we stayed for a while. Neither of us could understand a word the man was saying so we left. We went to the international office to talk to Christina about volunteer work and get our ID cards. We filled out a form for the ID but it seemed to me like it was a credit card. I hope not because I don’t need another accidental credit card. But it’s Diners which is apparently everywhere you want to be in Ecuador. Then we went to Anthro and we talked about the impact of agriculture on society. We did it in groups and our group was pretty good. We came up with some good stuff. The other groups came up with most of the same things but it was still good. Then the first group gave their presentation. They had a little game at the end but I don’t remember who won. Then our group planned to meet up on Friday after class to discuss our presentation. We also discussed going to the artisan fair in Quito.
Then I went to dance class which was fun as always. The first day of dance there were more gringos than Ecuadorians but now it’s the other way around. It’s weird that they must have all dropped but I’m glad I have a class with some Ecuadorian students in it. We learned a new variation and it was cool. My knees and hips and back are starting to hurt from this class though. I have bruises so I’ll have to be careful next time. After dance I went to Soc. We discussed the three methods of solving social problems and broke into groups to create strategies that followed one of the methods.
After class I walked home to find it empty. And Guadalupe wondered why I wanted a key! I played around on the internet for a while then watched some Dexter. When Guadalupe came home she asked me what I wanted for dinner since she hadn’t made anything, having been out all day. She suggested a Spanish tortilla and I was down so that’s what she made. It was really tasty. Of course it came with a side of steak and rice and salad, but I ate it all. Then I went up to talk to my parents on skype. I also talked to Zach then finished the last episode of season 3. I’m going to have to buy season 4 soon.
Friday Miria came back so when I got up Guadalupe was still in bed. I went down to the kitchen though and there was my breakfast, laid out as always. I ate with little Dennis in the kitchen playing with his cars. On my way out I said goodbye as always and, as always, Guadalupe made me late. This time she asked if I had had coffee and when I said no she kind of freaked out. Eventually I gathered that she thought I hadn’t eaten breakfast. When she realized I had, she relaxed. She didn’t even insist on giving me a lunch today since I told her I’d eat in Quito.
I had translation again Friday but there were only three of us in class for some reason. We talked about translation as a science and other stuff and, like always, class ended abruptly. After class I sat by the lake until Danielle showed up. We went to eat a wok n roll for Asian-like food. It wasn’t the best Asian food I’d had but it wasn’t bad. I had orange chicken style chicken wings over noodles. Then Cari- the other girl in out presentation group- and her friend Ericka showed up and we went into Quito to the artisan fair. As soon as we got there Danielle ran off to find her shoes and I stuck with Carrie and Ericka. I bought a runner and a beautiful ring for mom. Danielle had been looking for a ring for a while and we saw this really nice display but assumed they’d be really expensive. The lady opened up the case for us and we fell in love. They were silver with semi-precious stones but the settings were really pretty. I can’t really explain them. The lady was really nice though, and very helpful. She sized our rings for free and let Danielle come back Monday for her sized rings without paying. Her daughter was also there and she was showing and telling us about her creations. She said that all her bracelets were sold! She was cute. At one point when we were talking with the lady about school the little girl said, ‘I have no idea what you just said’ so the mom had to explain it to her.
We left the market and got back on the bus and shortly before we were going to get off, Danielle realized her phone was gone. She thinks someone stole it and that the old lady sitting next to her saw it and told her but Danielle couldn’t hear her clearly. Once we got back to Cumbaya we went to our favorite panaderia for some ice cream. I got dark chocolate with chocolate chips and ‘chocochip’ which was vanilla with pieces of chocolate chip cookies mixed in. It was great! Then we went home and found Guadalupe still in bed in her pjs watching TV as always. I told her about my day and then she got out a bunch of necklaces to show me and she gave me a couple. She told Miria when she came in that she was having her own market. It was cute. But she gave me three necklaces and two pairs of earrings! It was really sweet of her. She liked mom’s table covering so I think I’ll get her one. Or maybe give her that one and get a brighter color for mom. Idk yet. We had dinner pretty much right away and I got soup and a kind of beef stroganoff type thing. She also gave me passion fruit juice. It was delicious. She said that it’s really good with rum in it! Haha.
After dinner I made plans with some girls for tomorrow which is our hacienda ‘fiesta’ that starts at 7:50 am and ends at 6pm. We will be doing some activities that may get us dirty and we get two beers and a cocktail. I honestly have no idea what to expect. We’ll see what happens. If we ever come back…
Hasta luego,
Caitlin
Monday, September 6, 2010
Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you, tomorrow I’ll miss you...
Wow, this is officially a week late! I'll try to update again soon but in the meantime...
Monday I brought my photo book to school because I hadn’t finished reading and figured I’d do that in my long break. I took the less steep route to school but still wanted to die once I got there. That book is SO heavy! Plus I had my camera, lunch, notebook and two course packets. My first class was Translation which was pretty good. We corrected our translations and talked about interpretation. My prof is pretty weird but funny. Sometimes I have no idea what he’s talking about. I understand what he is saying just not what he means. Class always ends abruptly and it catches me off guard. Usually the professor is the first to leave!
After class I had to find black and white film for my photography class later that afternoon. I walked down to super paco hoping that on the way a camera store would magically appear. No such luck. So I bought two more notebooks but couldn’t find pocket folders. It seems that they only have file folders, essay covers and binders. What is this place?? If all else fails I’ll probably end up buying a little expandable folder thing. Then I walked back past the university to see if I could stumble across something and ran into Keunae. She said there was really nothing the direction she came from so I went back up to the digital camera store to see if they had film. They only had color film and the guy didn’t know where I could get black and white. So I gave up and went back to the university.
I found Chris and Emily sitting by the lake eating lunch so I joined them. I got to meet Emily’s Thursday boyfriend, Omar, and some of his friends. We ate lunch and I decided to drop photography. I knew that class was not going to be as fun as I thought. It was designed for photography minors, not gringas who just want a fun class. Since it wouldn’t count for anything but hours at U of I it might as well be fun. Plus it would’ve been really expensive. After I made this decision I was kicking myself for buying that stupid $100 book! If I return it I can only get store credit- I can’t get my money back. So I went to the library and dropped photo and picked up Lengua y Cine – a gringo film class which seems easy and fun. I would’ve taken a different photo class but they were all full and I didn’t want the hassle of trying to get in.
Then I went back out to the lake and Mary was there with Emily and Omar. He read us a poem- I guess because Mary is a poet too- but he kept translating each line which really messed up the flow! Haha. Then I went to buy my books for class on Tuesday. I went in and found one, took a number and when I realized that I was about 65 away from being waited on I looked harder for my other book. I figured I didn’t have enough money for both, but I was hoping I was wrong. I wasn’t. They ended up each costing $15 (they’re course packets) but I only had twenty dollars. So I asked the guy to hold them while I ran to the ATM. I came back bought them and walked home.
So now I have my giant photo book, two translation course packs, two huge new course packs plus my camera and other random stuff in my bag. I was afraid my bag couldn’t handle all of that weight so I carried my new course packs in my arms. Even going downhill was hard. Finally I got home and just fell onto my bed. No one was home so I started reading in the TV room. Then Guadalupe came home and we drank a colita (a 'little cola') together. She talked about family and how when I have children I shouldn’t work so I can bring them up otherwise they won’t turn out good. I don’t believe that at all- mom worked and I’m fine- but I basically agreed with her to make things easier. She also said that she didn’t like Bill Gates because he created a monster that has made young people lose their hearts. I’m paraphrasing of course but that’s the gist I got.
Then I went back up to do my reading for Anthropology and Sociology but the Anthro one was so difficult I didn’t really have time to read the other one. I went down to dinner and had soup and steak and mote. Mote looks like mashed up hard boiled eggs but I think it’s made from corn. It didn’t taste like much. After dinner I tried again to read but I was falling asleep. So I just went to bed not having really read for either class. Before I went to bed though I heard this really loud buzzing. My windows, and I’m assuming all windows, don’t have screens and they’re always open so sometimes I have little gnat-like bugs flying around my ears at night, waking me up and driving me crazy. This was no gnat that night, it was a really loud fly. I tried to get it closer to me- it was on the ceiling mostly- so I could kill it, by turning on my flashlight and pointing towards the wall but it didn’t work. Luckily once I turned the light off it stopped flying around and I could sleep.
Tuesday was my first day of my film class. The only bad thing about it is that it’s at 8:30 in the morning. Meaning I have to get up at 6:30, and I am no early bird. It wasn’t too bad until we started watching the movie and I started nodding off. I’m going to need a lot of caffeine for this class. The movie we watched was cool though- what I saw at least. It’s about the almost-war between Chile and Argentina in 1978 over maritime rights of a canal. A Chilean patrol gets lost in the pampas and ends up digging their trench right by an Argentine patrol that is also lost. They end up helping each other and even playing a game of soccer! I don't know what happens in the end because class wasn’t long enough for us to see the whole thing.
After class I had to go home because I’m an idiot and forgot my dance clothes. Had I been wearing pants it may have been fine but I didn’t want to be rolling around on the floor like we usually do in a skirt. So, having an hour and a half to spare, I walked home, got my pants and Guadalupe called me a taxi to take me back. There was no way I was walking up that mountain again today. The taxi driver was listening to a Village People cd! I was laughing under my breath the whole ride. I got back a little early for my next class so I sat on some steps and tried to read some more. It was still next to impossible to understand. While I was sitting there my feet were getting eaten up by those damn little bugs like in Lumbisi! They were making my feet bleed! Pretty soon I got up and went to class. Class was much less intimidating than the reading so I felt much better about it. The prof even told us that that first reading was the hardest. What was most confusing were all the names- of groups of people and places I’d never heard of. We divided into groups for presentations and our group is doing Incaic religion. It’ll be interesting and not too hard since I’ve researched it a little before.
Then I went to dance class which was really fun. We even danced to the Beatles’ All My Lovin’ one of my favorite songs! Really the only trouble I have in that class is following the teacher’s sense of rhythm. It just doesn’t seem to be the same as mine. But other than that it’s really good. Then I changed and went to Soc. We talked about what the ‘State’ is and chose our days for topic of the week for the rest of the year. I have one on the second to last day of class, ugh. I usually like to get these things out of the way before I have to start doing big projects and stuff but I couldn’t.
After class it had gotten pretty cold and it looked like it was about to rain. Danielle and I decided to share a cab back to our respective homes so as not to be rained on. I waited while she bought a book and then we went out to the traffic circle to hail a cab. We missed a couple because we weren’t sure if they had people in them or not. Then we finally tried to flag one down but the guy ignored us. While we were doing this we heard honking and there was a cab sitting right there on the other side of the street, waiting for us. So we hopped in and rode home. He gave us each a card so I may call him/ his company if I don’t have another number. Just as we pulled up to the gate it started pouring. So I ran inside but I still got a little wet. I changed and went down to say hi to Guadalupe. We talked a bit then I went up to take a nap. I did my homework and tried to go online but it wouldn’t work. I don't know what the problem was but I was upset because I couldn’t wish Kaitlyn happy birthday today. :( I’ll have to do it late.
For dinner I had soup that tasted like those pasta sides things that come in bags in the US, but better. Then I had tuna salad- without mayo so I actually ate it- and rice as a main dish. Then I drank tea and watched the same show that’s on every night when I eat dinner. I had always been confused as to why it rarely looked like the actors’ mouths were moving with the words I heard. Sometimes they seemed to match up but only kind of. But tonight there were subtitles for some guy speaking an indigenous language or something and they were Portuguese! So it must be a Brazilian show or something. I was pretty excited that I figured it out.
That's all for now.
Hasta luego,
Caitlin
Monday I brought my photo book to school because I hadn’t finished reading and figured I’d do that in my long break. I took the less steep route to school but still wanted to die once I got there. That book is SO heavy! Plus I had my camera, lunch, notebook and two course packets. My first class was Translation which was pretty good. We corrected our translations and talked about interpretation. My prof is pretty weird but funny. Sometimes I have no idea what he’s talking about. I understand what he is saying just not what he means. Class always ends abruptly and it catches me off guard. Usually the professor is the first to leave!
After class I had to find black and white film for my photography class later that afternoon. I walked down to super paco hoping that on the way a camera store would magically appear. No such luck. So I bought two more notebooks but couldn’t find pocket folders. It seems that they only have file folders, essay covers and binders. What is this place?? If all else fails I’ll probably end up buying a little expandable folder thing. Then I walked back past the university to see if I could stumble across something and ran into Keunae. She said there was really nothing the direction she came from so I went back up to the digital camera store to see if they had film. They only had color film and the guy didn’t know where I could get black and white. So I gave up and went back to the university.
I found Chris and Emily sitting by the lake eating lunch so I joined them. I got to meet Emily’s Thursday boyfriend, Omar, and some of his friends. We ate lunch and I decided to drop photography. I knew that class was not going to be as fun as I thought. It was designed for photography minors, not gringas who just want a fun class. Since it wouldn’t count for anything but hours at U of I it might as well be fun. Plus it would’ve been really expensive. After I made this decision I was kicking myself for buying that stupid $100 book! If I return it I can only get store credit- I can’t get my money back. So I went to the library and dropped photo and picked up Lengua y Cine – a gringo film class which seems easy and fun. I would’ve taken a different photo class but they were all full and I didn’t want the hassle of trying to get in.
Then I went back out to the lake and Mary was there with Emily and Omar. He read us a poem- I guess because Mary is a poet too- but he kept translating each line which really messed up the flow! Haha. Then I went to buy my books for class on Tuesday. I went in and found one, took a number and when I realized that I was about 65 away from being waited on I looked harder for my other book. I figured I didn’t have enough money for both, but I was hoping I was wrong. I wasn’t. They ended up each costing $15 (they’re course packets) but I only had twenty dollars. So I asked the guy to hold them while I ran to the ATM. I came back bought them and walked home.
So now I have my giant photo book, two translation course packs, two huge new course packs plus my camera and other random stuff in my bag. I was afraid my bag couldn’t handle all of that weight so I carried my new course packs in my arms. Even going downhill was hard. Finally I got home and just fell onto my bed. No one was home so I started reading in the TV room. Then Guadalupe came home and we drank a colita (a 'little cola') together. She talked about family and how when I have children I shouldn’t work so I can bring them up otherwise they won’t turn out good. I don’t believe that at all- mom worked and I’m fine- but I basically agreed with her to make things easier. She also said that she didn’t like Bill Gates because he created a monster that has made young people lose their hearts. I’m paraphrasing of course but that’s the gist I got.
Then I went back up to do my reading for Anthropology and Sociology but the Anthro one was so difficult I didn’t really have time to read the other one. I went down to dinner and had soup and steak and mote. Mote looks like mashed up hard boiled eggs but I think it’s made from corn. It didn’t taste like much. After dinner I tried again to read but I was falling asleep. So I just went to bed not having really read for either class. Before I went to bed though I heard this really loud buzzing. My windows, and I’m assuming all windows, don’t have screens and they’re always open so sometimes I have little gnat-like bugs flying around my ears at night, waking me up and driving me crazy. This was no gnat that night, it was a really loud fly. I tried to get it closer to me- it was on the ceiling mostly- so I could kill it, by turning on my flashlight and pointing towards the wall but it didn’t work. Luckily once I turned the light off it stopped flying around and I could sleep.
Tuesday was my first day of my film class. The only bad thing about it is that it’s at 8:30 in the morning. Meaning I have to get up at 6:30, and I am no early bird. It wasn’t too bad until we started watching the movie and I started nodding off. I’m going to need a lot of caffeine for this class. The movie we watched was cool though- what I saw at least. It’s about the almost-war between Chile and Argentina in 1978 over maritime rights of a canal. A Chilean patrol gets lost in the pampas and ends up digging their trench right by an Argentine patrol that is also lost. They end up helping each other and even playing a game of soccer! I don't know what happens in the end because class wasn’t long enough for us to see the whole thing.
After class I had to go home because I’m an idiot and forgot my dance clothes. Had I been wearing pants it may have been fine but I didn’t want to be rolling around on the floor like we usually do in a skirt. So, having an hour and a half to spare, I walked home, got my pants and Guadalupe called me a taxi to take me back. There was no way I was walking up that mountain again today. The taxi driver was listening to a Village People cd! I was laughing under my breath the whole ride. I got back a little early for my next class so I sat on some steps and tried to read some more. It was still next to impossible to understand. While I was sitting there my feet were getting eaten up by those damn little bugs like in Lumbisi! They were making my feet bleed! Pretty soon I got up and went to class. Class was much less intimidating than the reading so I felt much better about it. The prof even told us that that first reading was the hardest. What was most confusing were all the names- of groups of people and places I’d never heard of. We divided into groups for presentations and our group is doing Incaic religion. It’ll be interesting and not too hard since I’ve researched it a little before.
Then I went to dance class which was really fun. We even danced to the Beatles’ All My Lovin’ one of my favorite songs! Really the only trouble I have in that class is following the teacher’s sense of rhythm. It just doesn’t seem to be the same as mine. But other than that it’s really good. Then I changed and went to Soc. We talked about what the ‘State’ is and chose our days for topic of the week for the rest of the year. I have one on the second to last day of class, ugh. I usually like to get these things out of the way before I have to start doing big projects and stuff but I couldn’t.
After class it had gotten pretty cold and it looked like it was about to rain. Danielle and I decided to share a cab back to our respective homes so as not to be rained on. I waited while she bought a book and then we went out to the traffic circle to hail a cab. We missed a couple because we weren’t sure if they had people in them or not. Then we finally tried to flag one down but the guy ignored us. While we were doing this we heard honking and there was a cab sitting right there on the other side of the street, waiting for us. So we hopped in and rode home. He gave us each a card so I may call him/ his company if I don’t have another number. Just as we pulled up to the gate it started pouring. So I ran inside but I still got a little wet. I changed and went down to say hi to Guadalupe. We talked a bit then I went up to take a nap. I did my homework and tried to go online but it wouldn’t work. I don't know what the problem was but I was upset because I couldn’t wish Kaitlyn happy birthday today. :( I’ll have to do it late.
For dinner I had soup that tasted like those pasta sides things that come in bags in the US, but better. Then I had tuna salad- without mayo so I actually ate it- and rice as a main dish. Then I drank tea and watched the same show that’s on every night when I eat dinner. I had always been confused as to why it rarely looked like the actors’ mouths were moving with the words I heard. Sometimes they seemed to match up but only kind of. But tonight there were subtitles for some guy speaking an indigenous language or something and they were Portuguese! So it must be a Brazilian show or something. I was pretty excited that I figured it out.
That's all for now.
Hasta luego,
Caitlin
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Harry Potter and the 91-Point Turn
On Saturday we had our first group excursion. Obviously we’ve been going all sorts of places since I got here but this was our first overnight trip outside of the Quito area. I got to the university early- around 8:15 to see if I could buy a water and get more money. We were going to Otavalo which has the biggest artisan market in Ecuador, so I figured I’d need some extra cash. Of course the banks were closed since it was Saturday. I wasn’t broke but I knew that I couldn’t buy a lot and I’d have to bargain hard!
Pretty soon everyone showed up. Christina was our leader for the trip since Maria Teresa wasn’t coming. Zack and Karina- a USFQ student who lives in the indigenous town of Peguche- also helped out. Christina told me that she was really just winging it since she wasn’t given much more information than our proposed schedule. I don’t think anyone could really tell though. We never know what’s going on, we just blindly follow. Anyway we had a chartered bus driven by a nice bus driver who loved to speed over bumps in the road- and there were many. It was like a small coach bus (no bathroom in the back or anything) so I assumed it would be a pretty nice ride. Oh how I was mistaken! It was like instead of shocks this bus had pogo stick springs. We were all tired from the night before, but it was really hard to sleep with all that rockin and rollin. The seats leaned back but I couldn’t get mine to move. I tried to sleep sitting up but that was not going to fly so I decided I would make that damn orange lever move it my life depended on it, I looked down under my seat at the lever and it looked like it had previously been broken and then welded back together. Apparently I’m not the only one who has had this problem. Finally I got it to move by using my right hand. I think it needed to move a little to the right and then up. Either way I was lessvertical . I tried to sleep but every time we hit a big bump my seat would sit back up again! It happened at least three times on the bus ride there. So I got a little rest but needless to say it wasn’t particularly pleasant.
After an hour or so we arrived at the mitad del mundo- or the middle of the world. It’s a point on the equator where I think some scientist determined that yes, it is indeed the equator. There’s a little monument thing and a big stone globe. So it’s basically a roadside attraction. We took a bunch of pictures and balanced an egg on its end to prove we were on the equator. Then we trooped back on the bus and ended up who knows where at a biscocho bakery. Biscochos are little pastries that are kind of like sugarless shortbread cookies. I really don’t know how to describe them but they were tasty. We also got hot chocolate that, once you added some sugar, was tasty too. Unfortunately Emily T didn’t get to drink hers because she spilled it all over Danielle before she had the chance. Poor Danielle had to wear the chocolate for the whole trip. Later on the bus we were talking about cooking shows and travel shows and how you can’t really know if you’ll like any kind of food without trying it and Danielle says, “I don’t think you really know a food or drink until it’s all over your pants.” I almost died laughing.
After a little more time on the bumpy bus we were at Otavalo. This market went on forever. We only had about an hour and 45 minutes so we did not have time to see it all. There was so much to take in, it was hard to concentrate. Walking by, most booths looked pretty similar but if you stopped and looked you could find some nice stuff amid the crap. Danielle and I walked around fairly quickly to try and take it all in but I’m sure we didn’t see near all of it. We both bought some gifts but decided that we definitely need to go back. Bargaining was slightly awkward but I think I did ok. I never really wanted to haggle too much because I know that this is some people’s living. But I didn’t have a lot of money to spend either.
At one stand this woman had little gourd things carved like little animals. Danielle was looking at a little cuy- guinea pig- and picked up a little owl. The lady kept showing me this other owl saying, ‘this one’s nice too’ so eventually I bought it for like a dollar.
Pretty soon we had to meet back up with everyone to have lunch- at 3pm. We went to this really nice restaurant and had a four course meal. We got ceviche, soup, chicken and dessert. Of course it was accompanied by pineapple juice- Ecuadorians love their juice. Tangent: One night I was drinking water with dinner and Guadalupe asked me why was I drinking water and not juice?? She seemed concerned.
After our long, late lunch we got back on the bus and drove to Peguche to climb the waterfall. By then it was getting colder so everyone put on their purchases to keep warm. I didn’t climb to the top of the waterfall, just to the little platform next to it. Some people climbed all the way to the top and across along the mountain ridge. Once they finally came down the sun was setting so we made our way back to the bus. On the way to the hostel the bus had to turn around but the street the driver decided to turn around on wasn’t ideal. As soon as we turned to go up this street we heard a horrible scraping on the bottom of the bus- like we were scraping off all the important parts of the engine. Then of course he had to back up and do it again. It was awful. He kept going back and forth, scraping every time. Each time he would step on the brakes it sounded like an asthmatic duck playing the saxophone. It was hilariously awful.
Finally Christina got out to direct him but at that point the back end was just sticking out into the road. It was getting dark and the cars came whipping around the bend without even slowing down. Each time they did, the headlights would shine right in our window as if they were about to careen right into us. Eventually he backed up far enough- into the ditch on the other side- to make the turn and we all applauded. It was thereafter dubbed the 91 point turn.
The hostel we stayed at was really cute. We all got private bathroom which was a plus and the rooms seemed fairly clean. I’d never been to a hostel before but it seemed more like a little hotel. Before dinner we explored the grounds- in the dark. Our rooms faced a little creek but you could only hear it in the dark. On the creek side of the hostel was a little patio with hammocks and the gates to hell. There was also a bridge that led supposedly to massages but it looked more like ruins in the dark. And it was really dark. The only light people had were their cell phones. They were legit flashlights on the top of the phone and not just the backlight but still. Then we hung out in the hammock chairs in front of our rooms until dinner.
At dinner we got this hot alcoholic beverage called canelazo. I really didn’t like it. I tried to down it like everyone else but almost spit it back up. It reminded me too much of the morenos in Lumbisi… Dinner was bread, soup (of course, Ecuadorians can’t live without their soup) which I didn’t eat since it was broccoli, main course and dessert. My main course was supposed to be a pork chop but it ended up being more like breakfast ham in mushroom sauce. It wasn’t bad, just not what I expected. The dessert was very similar to the canelazo but not alcoholic. It was just a really thin, warm jelly that you could put whipped cream on. It was hard to get on the spoon and not many of us ate it. It was weird.
Throughout dinner we enjoyed almost endless live Andean music. At one point six little kids came out to dance and sing for us. They were adorable. One dance the boys wore these scary crocheted hood-mask things that were everywhere in Otavalo. They took those off, thankfully, for the rest of their set. Their dances were cute because some were good at it and others had to be helped a little more. They sang in Quichua and Spanish and it was adorable. The band played two sets but before they could play their third- which they promised to do- we left. We were all really tired. Danielle and I retired to our room, talked a little and went to sleep.
The next morning we had breakfast at 8. We had coffee, tea and juice to drink and the first course was bread, cheese and tomatoes. Then we got eggs cooked to order as well. It was tasty but I feel like I’m always eating here. I’m almost never hungry because I’m eating all the time. Guadalupe thinks I don’t eat very much but my God I don’t usually eat 15 different things just for breakfast! Anyway, after we checked out- I don’t remember handing in my key but maybe I did- we got back on the bus to go to the instrument workshop. Of course to get there we had to turn around. We turned up a street that had a sign for Hotel Picaflor so I had to take a picture of it. Luckily the driver took a while to turn around. This time it was a successful 3 point turn so we were pretty excited.
At the instrument workshop we had a demonstration of how to make a pan flute. The guy did it in like 5 minutes, it was crazy. Then we had a demonstration of the instruments, he explained a few to us and we had the opportunity to buy.
Then we went to Cuicocha. It’s a volcanic lake with three little islands in the middle. The volcano imploded at one point and runoff from the mountains filled the lake. Given the altitude the lake is at, it should be frozen but it isn’t because the volcano is still active. Occasionally it emits gas but that’s it. It’s called Cuicocha because cuy live on the islands. We got a little boat ride around the islands which was fun but cold. The boat wasn’t extremely stable so people were getting nervous. It wasn’t a long ride though.
Then we made our way to Cotacachi the town named after the nearby volcano/mountain? We got lunch at a nice little place where we got the daily special. It was soup and fried trout. It was pretty good except there were some little bones in the trout you had to look out for. After lunch we looked at some of the numerous leather stores and Danielle and Keunae found a knock off shoe store. Danielle bought herself some AL- STAR high-tops with flowers and pistols on them for $12. Keunae was looking at some NINE high-tops but she didn’t want to pay $18 for them. “Dieciochooooo no, no!” They also had some nice Adibas. Haha.
Then we got on the bus and drove back to the university. I called Guadalupe to see if she could pick me up to get film for photography but she didn’t answer so I walked home. On the way she and Pato pulled up and gave me a ride for a couple blocks. Apparently they were at church. As soon as I got back I took a shower since I was disgusting. As I was getting out of the shower Guadalupe says through the door that she has my black and white film and when I open the door she hands me a black and white movie!! In Spanish, camera film and movie are the same word. Even though I thought I was pretty clear it was for my camera she still misunderstood. That was funny but that meant that I would have to find film in between classes the next day which would be a hassle.
Then I went downstairs to have dinner which consisted of bread and little pieces of mozzarella-like cheese. It was tasty and not too much. But I also had lemon ginger tea that wasn’t so great. Guadalupe has a box of a bunch of different kind of teas and I’ve been trying them all. That one has been my least favorite so far. Then I went up to my room to work on my homework and skyped with Zach.
I know that these last few posts have been long so thanks for sticking with it!
Hasta Luego,
Caitlin
Pretty soon everyone showed up. Christina was our leader for the trip since Maria Teresa wasn’t coming. Zack and Karina- a USFQ student who lives in the indigenous town of Peguche- also helped out. Christina told me that she was really just winging it since she wasn’t given much more information than our proposed schedule. I don’t think anyone could really tell though. We never know what’s going on, we just blindly follow. Anyway we had a chartered bus driven by a nice bus driver who loved to speed over bumps in the road- and there were many. It was like a small coach bus (no bathroom in the back or anything) so I assumed it would be a pretty nice ride. Oh how I was mistaken! It was like instead of shocks this bus had pogo stick springs. We were all tired from the night before, but it was really hard to sleep with all that rockin and rollin. The seats leaned back but I couldn’t get mine to move. I tried to sleep sitting up but that was not going to fly so I decided I would make that damn orange lever move it my life depended on it, I looked down under my seat at the lever and it looked like it had previously been broken and then welded back together. Apparently I’m not the only one who has had this problem. Finally I got it to move by using my right hand. I think it needed to move a little to the right and then up. Either way I was less
After an hour or so we arrived at the mitad del mundo- or the middle of the world. It’s a point on the equator where I think some scientist determined that yes, it is indeed the equator. There’s a little monument thing and a big stone globe. So it’s basically a roadside attraction. We took a bunch of pictures and balanced an egg on its end to prove we were on the equator. Then we trooped back on the bus and ended up who knows where at a biscocho bakery. Biscochos are little pastries that are kind of like sugarless shortbread cookies. I really don’t know how to describe them but they were tasty. We also got hot chocolate that, once you added some sugar, was tasty too. Unfortunately Emily T didn’t get to drink hers because she spilled it all over Danielle before she had the chance. Poor Danielle had to wear the chocolate for the whole trip. Later on the bus we were talking about cooking shows and travel shows and how you can’t really know if you’ll like any kind of food without trying it and Danielle says, “I don’t think you really know a food or drink until it’s all over your pants.” I almost died laughing.
After a little more time on the bumpy bus we were at Otavalo. This market went on forever. We only had about an hour and 45 minutes so we did not have time to see it all. There was so much to take in, it was hard to concentrate. Walking by, most booths looked pretty similar but if you stopped and looked you could find some nice stuff amid the crap. Danielle and I walked around fairly quickly to try and take it all in but I’m sure we didn’t see near all of it. We both bought some gifts but decided that we definitely need to go back. Bargaining was slightly awkward but I think I did ok. I never really wanted to haggle too much because I know that this is some people’s living. But I didn’t have a lot of money to spend either.
At one stand this woman had little gourd things carved like little animals. Danielle was looking at a little cuy- guinea pig- and picked up a little owl. The lady kept showing me this other owl saying, ‘this one’s nice too’ so eventually I bought it for like a dollar.
Pretty soon we had to meet back up with everyone to have lunch- at 3pm. We went to this really nice restaurant and had a four course meal. We got ceviche, soup, chicken and dessert. Of course it was accompanied by pineapple juice- Ecuadorians love their juice. Tangent: One night I was drinking water with dinner and Guadalupe asked me why was I drinking water and not juice?? She seemed concerned.
Finally Christina got out to direct him but at that point the back end was just sticking out into the road. It was getting dark and the cars came whipping around the bend without even slowing down. Each time they did, the headlights would shine right in our window as if they were about to careen right into us. Eventually he backed up far enough- into the ditch on the other side- to make the turn and we all applauded. It was thereafter dubbed the 91 point turn.
The hostel we stayed at was really cute. We all got private bathroom which was a plus and the rooms seemed fairly clean. I’d never been to a hostel before but it seemed more like a little hotel. Before dinner we explored the grounds- in the dark. Our rooms faced a little creek but you could only hear it in the dark. On the creek side of the hostel was a little patio with hammocks and the gates to hell. There was also a bridge that led supposedly to massages but it looked more like ruins in the dark. And it was really dark. The only light people had were their cell phones. They were legit flashlights on the top of the phone and not just the backlight but still. Then we hung out in the hammock chairs in front of our rooms until dinner.
At dinner we got this hot alcoholic beverage called canelazo. I really didn’t like it. I tried to down it like everyone else but almost spit it back up. It reminded me too much of the morenos in Lumbisi… Dinner was bread, soup (of course, Ecuadorians can’t live without their soup) which I didn’t eat since it was broccoli, main course and dessert. My main course was supposed to be a pork chop but it ended up being more like breakfast ham in mushroom sauce. It wasn’t bad, just not what I expected. The dessert was very similar to the canelazo but not alcoholic. It was just a really thin, warm jelly that you could put whipped cream on. It was hard to get on the spoon and not many of us ate it. It was weird.
Throughout dinner we enjoyed almost endless live Andean music. At one point six little kids came out to dance and sing for us. They were adorable. One dance the boys wore these scary crocheted hood-mask things that were everywhere in Otavalo. They took those off, thankfully, for the rest of their set. Their dances were cute because some were good at it and others had to be helped a little more. They sang in Quichua and Spanish and it was adorable. The band played two sets but before they could play their third- which they promised to do- we left. We were all really tired. Danielle and I retired to our room, talked a little and went to sleep.
The next morning we had breakfast at 8. We had coffee, tea and juice to drink and the first course was bread, cheese and tomatoes. Then we got eggs cooked to order as well. It was tasty but I feel like I’m always eating here. I’m almost never hungry because I’m eating all the time. Guadalupe thinks I don’t eat very much but my God I don’t usually eat 15 different things just for breakfast! Anyway, after we checked out- I don’t remember handing in my key but maybe I did- we got back on the bus to go to the instrument workshop. Of course to get there we had to turn around. We turned up a street that had a sign for Hotel Picaflor so I had to take a picture of it. Luckily the driver took a while to turn around. This time it was a successful 3 point turn so we were pretty excited.
At the instrument workshop we had a demonstration of how to make a pan flute. The guy did it in like 5 minutes, it was crazy. Then we had a demonstration of the instruments, he explained a few to us and we had the opportunity to buy.
Then we went to Cuicocha. It’s a volcanic lake with three little islands in the middle. The volcano imploded at one point and runoff from the mountains filled the lake. Given the altitude the lake is at, it should be frozen but it isn’t because the volcano is still active. Occasionally it emits gas but that’s it. It’s called Cuicocha because cuy live on the islands. We got a little boat ride around the islands which was fun but cold. The boat wasn’t extremely stable so people were getting nervous. It wasn’t a long ride though.
Then we made our way to Cotacachi the town named after the nearby volcano/mountain? We got lunch at a nice little place where we got the daily special. It was soup and fried trout. It was pretty good except there were some little bones in the trout you had to look out for. After lunch we looked at some of the numerous leather stores and Danielle and Keunae found a knock off shoe store. Danielle bought herself some AL- STAR high-tops with flowers and pistols on them for $12. Keunae was looking at some NINE high-tops but she didn’t want to pay $18 for them. “Dieciochooooo no, no!” They also had some nice Adibas. Haha.
Then we got on the bus and drove back to the university. I called Guadalupe to see if she could pick me up to get film for photography but she didn’t answer so I walked home. On the way she and Pato pulled up and gave me a ride for a couple blocks. Apparently they were at church. As soon as I got back I took a shower since I was disgusting. As I was getting out of the shower Guadalupe says through the door that she has my black and white film and when I open the door she hands me a black and white movie!! In Spanish, camera film and movie are the same word. Even though I thought I was pretty clear it was for my camera she still misunderstood. That was funny but that meant that I would have to find film in between classes the next day which would be a hassle.
Then I went downstairs to have dinner which consisted of bread and little pieces of mozzarella-like cheese. It was tasty and not too much. But I also had lemon ginger tea that wasn’t so great. Guadalupe has a box of a bunch of different kind of teas and I’ve been trying them all. That one has been my least favorite so far. Then I went up to my room to work on my homework and skyped with Zach.
I know that these last few posts have been long so thanks for sticking with it!
Hasta Luego,
Caitlin
How are you supposed to drink it if it's on fire??
Friday I went to translation class and there were two more people in it- yay it won’t be cancelled! The teacher was late and when he came in to find a new student he went off to get a copy of the syllabus and assignment for her. While he was gone another new girl came in so when he got back he had to leave again. It was strange, but funny. We read out autobiographies in class and Dita, one of the new girls, told me as we left that she liked GBS several years ago but had never seen them live. I told her about 'the family that stalks together...' and that she should definitely see them live.
Then I went to the tiny, confusing book store to get my books and course packs. The books are listed by subject and that's it. You basically need to know the name of the book or your professor's name to find the right one. I didn’t see my course packs but I didn’t look that hard. I found my photography book, aptly named Photography, and since I needed it for class on Monday decided to get it. I got some money out of the ATM before I came in but was hoping to use my credit card so I would have money for the Otavalo market this weekend. I waited in line and once I got up there the lady said, only Visa. And I was like, this is Visa. And she said, oh I mean only Diners. Apparently Ecuadorians only use Diners Club International cards and not Visa or MasterCard. So I had to pay $99.99 in cash. My penny change just seemed ridiculous. I left feeling cheated and called Guadalupe who was coming to pick me up. I waited outside for 20 before she finally showed up.
When she got there we went to Tumbaco to get me some new glasses. It was a little shop in the mall and the lady must have thought I didn’t speak Spanish because she kept struggling to speak English to me. She even asked Guadalupe to come in and translate for her at one point. She didn’t because she knew I understood. The whole thing seemed really rushed though. I feel like she just sped through the whole exam. I was certainly no Woodstock Eye Care. Then when we went to pick out frames the lady kept picking out purple and blue metal frames for me, the kind that are only on the top. Ugh. I finally told her I like plastic which got her on the right track. A lot of them seemed too wide for my face and too square for my liking. Finally she showed me some purple-y pink ones that I liked the shape of. I asked if there was a different color but she said no. Then it seemed like all the sudden she was ringing them up! When I tried them on I liked them but when they were sitting on the desk and she was writing it all down I started to panic. They looked really pink. I don’t get them until Thursday so I’ll be worrying about them all week.
From there we stopped to get half a roast chicken for Guadalupe and me to share for lunch. We also had potatoes and salad. After lunch I took a little nap and then started reading my priceless photo book and playing around with my camera. It was Bianca’s 21st birthday so I was waiting for word on what was happening that night. I got a call from Chris saying that Maria Teresa was having a little dinner party for Bianca and we’d be going out to the Mariscal after. Then I got a call from Danielle saying that Betty was in the hospital. So dinner was pushed back since Maria Teresa was at the hospital, taking care of business- and Betty.
It took a long time for Danielle and me to figure out what to do and how to get there. We didn’t know Maria Teresa’s address or when they’d get there. Eventually Danielle called a taxi that was to pick Emily T and me up along the way to Maria Teresa’s house. Apparently though, Danielle told him all the directions at once so he just went straight to Maria's neighborhood and they had to go back to pick us up. Then when we made it to the neighborhood we didn’t know Maria’s last name or actual address so we couldn’t get in. Emily ended up calling Andres and having him spell his last name for us. We apologized several times to the cab driver but he still charged us eight dollars which is a little excessive.
Maria Teresa’s house is gorgeous. The front door could fit a truck through it and she has three sitting areas on her back porch alone. When we got there everyone else was at the giant dining table on the porch eating kebabs. Maria squeezed in some chairs for us and we ate baked potatoes, kebabs, chicken breasts and fresh fruit. It was delicious. All of the food was cooked on the built-in outdoor grill. It was so nice. After eating we called cabs and made our way to the Mariscal. It was packed by the time we got there around 10:30.
Bianca got a couple free cumpleaños shots at random expensive bars and then we went to chupitos- which means shots. Just about everyone bought Bianca a shot there. We both did a shot that was on fire- that was ridiculous. You had to drink it with a straw, obviously so you don't set your face on fire, but at the end you kind of drink the fire. Again, ridiculous! Then we went to a club called glass but it looked more like someone’s basement. We think it may have been a mob front though because there was a mafia looking guy sitting at the bar angrily watching everyone.
We danced there a little to the American music they played and left after another half hour or so. By then some of us were ready to go home given we had to be at the university by 8:30 the next morning. So we called Zack’s Lumbisi dad to drive us home. Since we had so much time until he got there we were debating if we wanted to sit at the Coffee Tree to wait. We knew sitting would entail buying something but we didn’t want to just stand around. So we sat down and Chris asks for ‘un menu?’ raising a finger and her voice simultaneously. We all burst out laughing while she hid her face from the confused waiter. Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, a woman was handing out menus. Danielle and I ordered mochaccinos and we got an order of fries for the table. Apparently they don’t pick the potatoes until you order them because it took forever to bring out a bowl of French fries. By the time they came out we had to scramble to eat the fries and count change for the bill because of course, our taxi was there. So we squeezed 6 people in the cab and made it home fine. I forgot my key so I had to buzz in. I felt bad. Apparently my brother Pato went out with three American girls that night and Guadalupe thought they were with my group. I don’t think she knew there were groups from other schools at the university too.
Hasta luego,
Caitlin
Then I went to the tiny, confusing book store to get my books and course packs. The books are listed by subject and that's it. You basically need to know the name of the book or your professor's name to find the right one. I didn’t see my course packs but I didn’t look that hard. I found my photography book, aptly named Photography, and since I needed it for class on Monday decided to get it. I got some money out of the ATM before I came in but was hoping to use my credit card so I would have money for the Otavalo market this weekend. I waited in line and once I got up there the lady said, only Visa. And I was like, this is Visa. And she said, oh I mean only Diners. Apparently Ecuadorians only use Diners Club International cards and not Visa or MasterCard. So I had to pay $99.99 in cash. My penny change just seemed ridiculous. I left feeling cheated and called Guadalupe who was coming to pick me up. I waited outside for 20 before she finally showed up.
When she got there we went to Tumbaco to get me some new glasses. It was a little shop in the mall and the lady must have thought I didn’t speak Spanish because she kept struggling to speak English to me. She even asked Guadalupe to come in and translate for her at one point. She didn’t because she knew I understood. The whole thing seemed really rushed though. I feel like she just sped through the whole exam. I was certainly no Woodstock Eye Care. Then when we went to pick out frames the lady kept picking out purple and blue metal frames for me, the kind that are only on the top. Ugh. I finally told her I like plastic which got her on the right track. A lot of them seemed too wide for my face and too square for my liking. Finally she showed me some purple-y pink ones that I liked the shape of. I asked if there was a different color but she said no. Then it seemed like all the sudden she was ringing them up! When I tried them on I liked them but when they were sitting on the desk and she was writing it all down I started to panic. They looked really pink. I don’t get them until Thursday so I’ll be worrying about them all week.
From there we stopped to get half a roast chicken for Guadalupe and me to share for lunch. We also had potatoes and salad. After lunch I took a little nap and then started reading my priceless photo book and playing around with my camera. It was Bianca’s 21st birthday so I was waiting for word on what was happening that night. I got a call from Chris saying that Maria Teresa was having a little dinner party for Bianca and we’d be going out to the Mariscal after. Then I got a call from Danielle saying that Betty was in the hospital. So dinner was pushed back since Maria Teresa was at the hospital, taking care of business- and Betty.
It took a long time for Danielle and me to figure out what to do and how to get there. We didn’t know Maria Teresa’s address or when they’d get there. Eventually Danielle called a taxi that was to pick Emily T and me up along the way to Maria Teresa’s house. Apparently though, Danielle told him all the directions at once so he just went straight to Maria's neighborhood and they had to go back to pick us up. Then when we made it to the neighborhood we didn’t know Maria’s last name or actual address so we couldn’t get in. Emily ended up calling Andres and having him spell his last name for us. We apologized several times to the cab driver but he still charged us eight dollars which is a little excessive.
Maria Teresa’s house is gorgeous. The front door could fit a truck through it and she has three sitting areas on her back porch alone. When we got there everyone else was at the giant dining table on the porch eating kebabs. Maria squeezed in some chairs for us and we ate baked potatoes, kebabs, chicken breasts and fresh fruit. It was delicious. All of the food was cooked on the built-in outdoor grill. It was so nice. After eating we called cabs and made our way to the Mariscal. It was packed by the time we got there around 10:30.
Bianca got a couple free cumpleaños shots at random expensive bars and then we went to chupitos- which means shots. Just about everyone bought Bianca a shot there. We both did a shot that was on fire- that was ridiculous. You had to drink it with a straw, obviously so you don't set your face on fire, but at the end you kind of drink the fire. Again, ridiculous! Then we went to a club called glass but it looked more like someone’s basement. We think it may have been a mob front though because there was a mafia looking guy sitting at the bar angrily watching everyone.
We danced there a little to the American music they played and left after another half hour or so. By then some of us were ready to go home given we had to be at the university by 8:30 the next morning. So we called Zack’s Lumbisi dad to drive us home. Since we had so much time until he got there we were debating if we wanted to sit at the Coffee Tree to wait. We knew sitting would entail buying something but we didn’t want to just stand around. So we sat down and Chris asks for ‘un menu?’ raising a finger and her voice simultaneously. We all burst out laughing while she hid her face from the confused waiter. Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, a woman was handing out menus. Danielle and I ordered mochaccinos and we got an order of fries for the table. Apparently they don’t pick the potatoes until you order them because it took forever to bring out a bowl of French fries. By the time they came out we had to scramble to eat the fries and count change for the bill because of course, our taxi was there. So we squeezed 6 people in the cab and made it home fine. I forgot my key so I had to buzz in. I felt bad. Apparently my brother Pato went out with three American girls that night and Guadalupe thought they were with my group. I don’t think she knew there were groups from other schools at the university too.
Hasta luego,
Caitlin
First day of class
I know it's been a while since I've updated so I'll be making several posts to catch up starting with...
Wednesday was the first day of classes. I woke up, took yet another cold shower and ate breakfast. For the past several days there has not been any hot water. Guadalupe keeps asking me if there’s hot water and I finally said no. She said that today she had a guy coming to fix it. I really hope he does because it’s getting difficult to force myself to shower every day.
Anyhoo, Pato had to take his driver’s test today so this morning he was studying off his phone and reading aloud some of the ridiculously easy questions. When he read the one about having your hands at 10 and 2 (in Spanish it’s 10 y 10) Guadalupe got really confused. She insisted that 10 and 10 would be cockeyed. We tried drawing her a picture of a clock but it didn’t work. She was convinced. Then I got a ride to school from Pato since he had to go for his test and I was really early. I wasn’t sure what to do since I was alone and everyone else was with a group chatting and smoking on the stairs that are all over the place.
Eventually I went up to the classroom and waited outside until it was time for class. There were only 5 of us, including the professor. He seems nice but a little crazy. It also seems like the exact same thing as translation practice from last year at U of I so I hope it’s not a waste of time. We just went over the syllabus and introduced ourselves and that was about it. Then I didn’t have class until 2:30 and it was only 12. I met up with Chris and Keunae for lunch at Shawarma because Chris texted me earlier. I just got a Sprite since I still wasn’t feeling good and ate the apple Guadalupe gave me for lunch. She’s been giving me a ‘lunch’ since Monday. It’s really sweet but I’m usually not that hungry and don’t have time to eat it.
After lunch we went to the computer lab because Chris doesn’t have internet in her house. I thought we’d just be there for a little bit so I hung out. But we were there for a long time and I started to fall asleep. I walked with Chris to her class and laid down for a nap before my class started. I slept for a while but couldn’t stay asleep the whole time. So I just lay there, pretending to sleep since I didn’t have anything else to do. I really need to find something to do for those couple hours.
I was pretty early for my next class which was photography I. Finally someone showed up letting us into the locked classroom where we had class. It’s a smaller class but not quite as small as translation. Everyone else in that class is a 1st or 2nd year and Ecuadorian. The class seems a little intense because it’s intended for photo minors and not gringa who want to just take it for fun. I still think I’ll like it. At one point the woman- who is not our teacher but I don't know who she is- asked me if I had connections in the US to get photo paper. Up until then I understood everything she said but once she asked me a question I had no clue what she was saying. It was like I forgot Spanish for a minute. I always feel so ridiculous saying I’m a Spanish major, speaking the way I do. It’s embarrassing. Again, we just went over the syllabus so we got out early.
After class I went to Movistar to buy more minutes and then walked home. When I got back I basically went straight to bed and slept for 2 hours. When I got up Guadalupe made me drink some tea and take a pill which was a capsule with three pills in it. She said that I was sick because I drink cold milk at breakfast and nothing hot. I’m sure that’s not true but I just agreed with her. I’m sure it’s a combination of nerves, altitude and change of diet but she’s convinced it’s cold milk. After drinking my tea I went to bed, talked to Emily and Katie, saw the apartment and talked to Zach a little too. I went to bed pretty early though since I was sick.
My second day of classes I had Andean anthropology, modern dance and social problems in Ecuador. I walked today but still got there pretty early. I saw Mary on my walk in and we chatted until our classes started. Chris ran into us outside the building for Anthro so we said bye to Mary and walked up together. Danielle was already there and it seemed like the teacher had already started talking though I don’t think class had actually started yet. Then some lady came in and told us we needed to be in a different room so we all trooped down the hall, across a courtyard, up some stairs, down some stairs and down a hall until we got to the classroom we were told to go to. Of course it was occupied so we went back to the first room and there was no one there. No clue. It seems like an interesting class though. The prof told us she’d send us the syllabus via email so I decided not to write down anything she put up on the board about grading and whatnot. Chris and Danielle were writing every word down and when she saw I wasn’t Danielle asked “need a piece of paper?” and when I said no she asked “are you dropping this class?” Haha, so I got out my notebook and wrote it all down. That class is a mix of Ecuadorian and gringos so that’ll be good I think.
Since we got out early we decided to get lunch together. I mentioned that the deli where everyone usually gets waters has sandwiches- I heard some Americans talking about it yesterday during my ‘nap.’ When we went in though, we didn’t see any sandwiches or anything. So we left and went to the Shawarma again. This time I did eat one and it was tasty as ever. We came back and I went to dance class. On my schedule it gave me a room number that I don’t think exists so I waited in a hallway that seemed maybe right. Then some girl and her boyfriend asked another girl in the hallway- there were desks there and she was working on something- if she knew where the dance class was. I told her I was in the same class but didn’t know where the room was either. Eventually the hall was full of people waiting for the class. Then the teacher and her little daughter showed up looking confused as to why we weren’t in the classroom.
The class is a mix of gringo and Ecuadorian students too. We went over the syllabus and did introductions then started dancing. I was not expecting that so I wasn’t wearing appropriate clothing. Oops. We did some crazy warm up a couple combinations and a cool down. We did a combination to Twist and Shout. I just wanted to dance to the song and not do the combination. Then I went to Soc and saw Danielle on the way. We met up with Emily and Chris who were talking to some people. Then we went to class and it was another typical syllabus day- awkward Spanish introductions and all. Everyone in that class but one is from the States. It’s supposed to be a really good class so I’m excited.
From there Chris and Emily went off to the computer lab and Danielle, Keunae and I went to get my translation coursepack which they printed off especially for me in the copy center. It was kinda weird but I can’t complain since it was $8 and some change. Then we went the pastelería on the way home to get a sweet. I got a little chocolate bocadito and then ate some of Guadalupe’s lunch. She had sent with me this huge bottle of what looked like cough syrup but turned out to be some sort of diarrhea treatment for children. Since I was fine today, not a child and it’s creepy, I did not drink it. I just left it in one of the elevated garbage holder things where you’re supposed to put your household bags of garbage but people always leave their loose garbage there too. Danielle and I walked home and I went to my room to do homework. I don't remember what I had for dinner that night but it was probably soup.
Hasta luego,
Caitlin
Wednesday was the first day of classes. I woke up, took yet another cold shower and ate breakfast. For the past several days there has not been any hot water. Guadalupe keeps asking me if there’s hot water and I finally said no. She said that today she had a guy coming to fix it. I really hope he does because it’s getting difficult to force myself to shower every day.
Anyhoo, Pato had to take his driver’s test today so this morning he was studying off his phone and reading aloud some of the ridiculously easy questions. When he read the one about having your hands at 10 and 2 (in Spanish it’s 10 y 10) Guadalupe got really confused. She insisted that 10 and 10 would be cockeyed. We tried drawing her a picture of a clock but it didn’t work. She was convinced. Then I got a ride to school from Pato since he had to go for his test and I was really early. I wasn’t sure what to do since I was alone and everyone else was with a group chatting and smoking on the stairs that are all over the place.
Eventually I went up to the classroom and waited outside until it was time for class. There were only 5 of us, including the professor. He seems nice but a little crazy. It also seems like the exact same thing as translation practice from last year at U of I so I hope it’s not a waste of time. We just went over the syllabus and introduced ourselves and that was about it. Then I didn’t have class until 2:30 and it was only 12. I met up with Chris and Keunae for lunch at Shawarma because Chris texted me earlier. I just got a Sprite since I still wasn’t feeling good and ate the apple Guadalupe gave me for lunch. She’s been giving me a ‘lunch’ since Monday. It’s really sweet but I’m usually not that hungry and don’t have time to eat it.
After lunch we went to the computer lab because Chris doesn’t have internet in her house. I thought we’d just be there for a little bit so I hung out. But we were there for a long time and I started to fall asleep. I walked with Chris to her class and laid down for a nap before my class started. I slept for a while but couldn’t stay asleep the whole time. So I just lay there, pretending to sleep since I didn’t have anything else to do. I really need to find something to do for those couple hours.
I was pretty early for my next class which was photography I. Finally someone showed up letting us into the locked classroom where we had class. It’s a smaller class but not quite as small as translation. Everyone else in that class is a 1st or 2nd year and Ecuadorian. The class seems a little intense because it’s intended for photo minors and not gringa who want to just take it for fun. I still think I’ll like it. At one point the woman- who is not our teacher but I don't know who she is- asked me if I had connections in the US to get photo paper. Up until then I understood everything she said but once she asked me a question I had no clue what she was saying. It was like I forgot Spanish for a minute. I always feel so ridiculous saying I’m a Spanish major, speaking the way I do. It’s embarrassing. Again, we just went over the syllabus so we got out early.
After class I went to Movistar to buy more minutes and then walked home. When I got back I basically went straight to bed and slept for 2 hours. When I got up Guadalupe made me drink some tea and take a pill which was a capsule with three pills in it. She said that I was sick because I drink cold milk at breakfast and nothing hot. I’m sure that’s not true but I just agreed with her. I’m sure it’s a combination of nerves, altitude and change of diet but she’s convinced it’s cold milk. After drinking my tea I went to bed, talked to Emily and Katie, saw the apartment and talked to Zach a little too. I went to bed pretty early though since I was sick.
My second day of classes I had Andean anthropology, modern dance and social problems in Ecuador. I walked today but still got there pretty early. I saw Mary on my walk in and we chatted until our classes started. Chris ran into us outside the building for Anthro so we said bye to Mary and walked up together. Danielle was already there and it seemed like the teacher had already started talking though I don’t think class had actually started yet. Then some lady came in and told us we needed to be in a different room so we all trooped down the hall, across a courtyard, up some stairs, down some stairs and down a hall until we got to the classroom we were told to go to. Of course it was occupied so we went back to the first room and there was no one there. No clue. It seems like an interesting class though. The prof told us she’d send us the syllabus via email so I decided not to write down anything she put up on the board about grading and whatnot. Chris and Danielle were writing every word down and when she saw I wasn’t Danielle asked “need a piece of paper?” and when I said no she asked “are you dropping this class?” Haha, so I got out my notebook and wrote it all down. That class is a mix of Ecuadorian and gringos so that’ll be good I think.
Since we got out early we decided to get lunch together. I mentioned that the deli where everyone usually gets waters has sandwiches- I heard some Americans talking about it yesterday during my ‘nap.’ When we went in though, we didn’t see any sandwiches or anything. So we left and went to the Shawarma again. This time I did eat one and it was tasty as ever. We came back and I went to dance class. On my schedule it gave me a room number that I don’t think exists so I waited in a hallway that seemed maybe right. Then some girl and her boyfriend asked another girl in the hallway- there were desks there and she was working on something- if she knew where the dance class was. I told her I was in the same class but didn’t know where the room was either. Eventually the hall was full of people waiting for the class. Then the teacher and her little daughter showed up looking confused as to why we weren’t in the classroom.
The class is a mix of gringo and Ecuadorian students too. We went over the syllabus and did introductions then started dancing. I was not expecting that so I wasn’t wearing appropriate clothing. Oops. We did some crazy warm up a couple combinations and a cool down. We did a combination to Twist and Shout. I just wanted to dance to the song and not do the combination. Then I went to Soc and saw Danielle on the way. We met up with Emily and Chris who were talking to some people. Then we went to class and it was another typical syllabus day- awkward Spanish introductions and all. Everyone in that class but one is from the States. It’s supposed to be a really good class so I’m excited.
From there Chris and Emily went off to the computer lab and Danielle, Keunae and I went to get my translation coursepack which they printed off especially for me in the copy center. It was kinda weird but I can’t complain since it was $8 and some change. Then we went the pastelería on the way home to get a sweet. I got a little chocolate bocadito and then ate some of Guadalupe’s lunch. She had sent with me this huge bottle of what looked like cough syrup but turned out to be some sort of diarrhea treatment for children. Since I was fine today, not a child and it’s creepy, I did not drink it. I just left it in one of the elevated garbage holder things where you’re supposed to put your household bags of garbage but people always leave their loose garbage there too. Danielle and I walked home and I went to my room to do homework. I don't remember what I had for dinner that night but it was probably soup.
Hasta luego,
Caitlin
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