Normal normal normal: PB&J and strawberry batida for breakfast. I walked to the bus stop (it's been cold the past two days) and got on the bus... we left Kevin because he didn't show up. At the university, I went right to the library and waited for Ana Maria. We talking about MLA citiation and my final project, a research proposition. I had chosen knitting in Ecuador, how it came with the Spaniards and how the indigenous people adapted it and now it's part of the culture. It was great, AM loved it and I had my thesis all ready. Upon doing some actual research, however, looking up books in the library, we discovered that there is no true equivalent to "knit" in Spanish and worse: no books on knittng AT ALL in the library. I'll probably end up having to change my thesis; I'm thinking of comparing the Popul Voh (pretty much the indigenous Bible) to Catholicism to demonstrate how the mix of religions came about. But I am bummed. AM and I went to the bakery after and I had brought 24 cents expressly for the purpose of buying a croissant, but AM bought one for me and affered to buy a coffee, yogurt, anything else. I need a job. I also ate one of her pan de yucas (er, yuca bread. salty, good.) She corrected my diario (on women in Ecuador and Nature) and I walked back to the University; I sat with Melanie and Andrew and listened to them talk about their desire to marry a Latin American, which was super fun. I waited for Andrew to finish the story we had to read then we went off to class; we discussed this really cool story about this lady who makes her life out to be an opera story (Isabel Allende. I want to read more of her...) and we ate lunch in the cafeteria afterwards (mushroom soup that kind of reminded me of Europe, zucchini and pepper salad, peanutty rice, green/curry pork, and cake with what I'm pretty sure was white chocolate. And mystery juice, which as always means that I just didn't recognize the name of the fruit...) I didn't have any class for the rest of the day, so I checked my next essay topic with a professor, then read aloud our story for tomorrow on this balcony (which was really cool) until it started raining, so I transferred to the library with Margoh and Andrew. It was okay at first, especially since Andrew left because he says I concentrate too hard. He eventually came back, though, and running club Ben came too, so we just talked about Georgetown parties for the rest of the day instead of doing work. The bus ride home was fun; Dan had a guitar and played it. I came back to a mess in the apartment; Z had made this big lunch for Enrique's birthday and hadn't finished cleaning up because one of her daughters called her. I got down to doing homework (more or less) and when I came out to eat dinner (soup, potato pancake, chicken) Z told me that Enrique's daughter Lis and her family (husband and two little bloys) were coming over for cake. I didn't know what to think at first because I was in the middle of writing a paper for Friday, but I figured that I should probably not care too much because it's only Wednesday. They came and we sat and talked a while; Lis is super cool (and her husband, too, and her boys ages 3 and 5 are SO cute)... she's like super mom super daughter super... and she's really pretty and collected. And she's learning English to teach. Z fed them although they weren't expecting it, although she did have cheese, potato chips, two types of boughten cookies, and cheese out for snack, plus she poured tea. We sang happy birthday to Enrique, which was super interesting because we sang in Spanish, in English, then what I'm pretty sure is the equivalent to "for he's a jolly good fellow" except it sounded more like "now you're a little old man." So that was super cultural and whatnot. I snacked like an American while I listened to them chat, or at least what I picked up. Their 5-year-old is losing teeth, and they put their teeth under their pillows, too! Although this guy got $10 (I'm pretty sure this family is really well off). It was still really cure because he went to the store and saw some sort of Spider-Man thing he wanted, which cost $14. Mom wasn't about to pay the extra $4, but somehow this little kid negociated the price down to $10! The boys like Iron Man, too. And I think it's woth mentioning that the older one doesn't like sweets. Anyway, I've decided that most Ecuadorians are a little health obsessed because they talked forever about how terrible it is to not eat breakfast, to eat a lot in the evening, and to not walk/do exercise. I'm pretty sure they were talking about a specific person, plus they kind of bashed the states because they heard that no one ever walks anywhere. I agreed, although I had forgotten about those Saturday adventures where we did nothing BUT walk... I must have looked really tired because they made fun of me for almost falling asleep and told me I could go take a shower, etc. and it's fine. So I didn't (yet) so I could tell you guys about the most exciting cultural experience since Sunday. I will shower and I'll be a sleep depreived student tonight so I cna finish my essay and ask AM to check it over tomorrow.
Random Facts: There are a few words the Ecuadorians use ALL the time. Chévere means cool, easy enough. They alsao say "Claro" a ton, which pretty much means "of course" altough they drag the vowel out so it's more like "claaaro." Finally, whenever you're in the middle of something and they interrupt you or you've finshed eating or something, they say "sigue no más" which means literally "continue no more" which makes little sense. But I think it's funny becuase Z uses it when I come home, after talking for a while, and after I'm done eating and she sends me off to do my work. BUT also she said it to Lis and Javier when they were waiting to eat because no one else was at the table yet. Oh, and the little kids? Almost impossible to understand.
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