May 27, 2011 evening

Given my limited Internet access, one of my bus buddies gave me the idea to type and save everything on a flash drive; blog it later. So let’s see if I can do this. But first, a note about my luggage. It probably would have been okay, except I kept remembering things that were kind of important, like soap. And pajamas. Incidentally, medical scrubs make great pajama pants. Anyway, after getting off the plane and standing through customs for forever, I met my administrator and she directed me right to my hostmom. “Esta es su mama y esto es su papa.” Wait a minute… papa??? I supposedly only had my hostmom Zeheivy, but I wasn’t about to ask questions. They took me right away, the dad bravely dragging my suitcase, and we got in a car where I heard… a song in English (you are amazing). I made some nice small talk in Spanish and Zeheivy even complimented my speaking. The traffic was terrible and the drivers were crazy. I used to condemn that, thinking that oh, all drivers in Phoenix are crazy or oh, all drivers in DC are terrible… but I think just city driving in general, wherever you are, is a mess. Although it was not quite seven it was already dark, so everything we passed automatically looked sketchy. But their apartment building is GORGEOUS! Its floors are nicely tiled, it had a pool, a kids’ park, a parking garage, and a gym, and the lights turn on by motion detectors. Their apartment itself was also beautifully decorated and everything. I knew that I’d get my own room, but I also have my own bathroom! They left me to unpack (which took much less time than I thought) and Zeveivy made me grilled cheese (white cheese, wheat bread) and poured me some drinkable yogur, Spanish for yogurt. You know, like those Danimals drinkables things?? They were really sweet, my shower was almost too hot, and Señor even took a look at my computer. Yeah, I can’t figure out this wireless thing; I need a security code and I’m not about to ask right now. It was really loud at night because we’re in the middle of the city. Dogs, car and car alarms, and sometimes people made a lot of noise, but it didn’t matter because I was that tired. I woke up at 6:30 to catch a bus. Zeheivy (I’m not allowed to call her Señora, and it’s pronounced SAY-vee) made me batilla, which is like a smoothie drink, out of naranjillas, these little things that are the shape and size of clementines, but their skin is smooth.I also had bread with PEANUT BUTTER and jelly. Granted it wasn’t quite American peanut butter, but at this point, I don’t care. She also explained to me Enrique, mi papá. He’s her pareja, which doesn’t really mean boyfriend; I guess I would say partner. Both their spouses died years ago and so they spend a lot of time together, although he doesn’t live here. She spoke so plainly and beautifully that it didn’t seems weird, although I’ve never been to familiar with the concept of older people “dating.” It actually turned out to be a good thing because I hadn’t brought a gift for Enrique!We walked to the bus stop. Everything did look rather sketchy to me in the daylight, like the litter, some graffiti, and dog poop on the sidewalk, but I’m pretty sure it’s normal by city standards; I can’t judge because I’m used to almost-rural suburbia and the rich preppy Georgetown neighborhood. I wore my hair down because I decided to look nice after not caring for so long because of exams and being by myself at home, but I think that was kind of a mistake, just because Zeheivy and I passed a group of oh-so-mature boys on our way to the stop and one of them made kissy noises. I swear it’s the hair… although I did meet a USFQ (Universidad San Francisco de Quito, where I study) student today, completely Ecuadorian, with hair blonder than mine. The bus was late, but I didn’t care because I met a couple of other program students and I SAW RUNNERS. Not A runner, but multiple! In packs!! AND I met a program student from Hofstra who would run with me. Anyway, bus to the university by way of nearly-vertical roads down to the valley. We listened to the U’s president speak and some other guy gave us like 10,000 years of extremely compressed Ecuadorian history. Some guy talked about the GAIAS program that we’re in, too, but at that point I was really feeling the altitude-fatigue thing so I just sat there and absorbed what I could. Oh, and it was all in English. On a more exciting note, some REAL USFQ students came in; they’re our buddies for the stay. We went to the cafeteria to ear with them (soup with meat and possibly cilantro, salad with lettuce and something else, rice, beans, a salty meat, fruit mousse for dessert no joke, and iced tea). I sat with a couple of the buddies and got to know them a little bit. It was really cool because their attitude was so relaxed; the speakers were mostly the same way. Heck, the president of the U fired a professor who is now the president, and they thought it was hilarious. They felt kind of like Georgetown in the way that they were serious about real (life) studying and real change, but they had an attitude that made me believe that prestige doesn’t exist. Plus I felt awesome because the Spanish is coming so easily; I was worried about not having spoken it in a while. It’s so natural that it’s kind of scary, in a good way. Anyway, they gave us a campus tour, I probably got sunburned, and some other gringo talked about health and safety in the most blunt manner you can imagine (to help you imagine, here’s a hint: he is also a theater teacher….) My professor talked a little more and began the mandatory Spanish rule. I was worried that the other kids wouldn’t care and would speak English anyway, but now I’m not. Profesora is really strict and these guys want to learn Spanish too, plus we all help each other out. We took the bus back and Zeheivy was waiting for me. I told her about my day and she gave me a complete tour of the apartment. She left me to read the info booklet I had gotten and we looked over pictures of my family, my runners, and my chicks on six. She made my dinner (quinoa soup, fish, and vegetables) and I watched TV with her after I showered; it was some kind of weird game show.This is a lot of stuff and I’m not sure how interesting it is, especially considering the limited effort I’m putting into in given that I’m rushing so I can sleep so I can wake up early again. I suppose the beauty of the blog is that you can tell me if you don’t care what I’m eating or if you really DO want to know that the health and safety guy told us that 90% of students get travellers’ diarrhea…