...me voy.

sitting in the Miami airport, just beginning the 8 hour lay over- straight from the diablo. Time to do some processing...

things i will certainly miss about Quito:

• the people. of course my fellow semester abroaders, but also the Bible reading gang (Mika, Roberto, Jose Luis, Joe,David, Dan, the twins,... so many!), the host family- Lilli, Ivanhoe,Cris, Gabi, Melba, Mathias!!, and of course... the fine folks over at Christy's store and my beloved Cuban (of, what else, "the cuban store".) 
• the language. I love spanish. I love speaking it and I love hearing it being spoken. good thing i'm from Chicago. 
• the food. rice with aji, lots of avocado,cilantro and regrettably, mushrooms. Soup with bones! pancitos, cafe con leche... ugh, everything. 
• the smells. walking past Arenas Panderia every morning, the natural medicine cart, the pee on the walls... this semester was also an adventure for my nose. 
• the trolley, the bus. public transit in general. What a totally nutso part of Ecuador, but it certainly makes it what it is. 

things i can't wait to get home to:

• the people. mom and dad and all the friends at home make goodbye a little easier on the other side. 
• flushing toilet paper (just did that here in Miami. so weird.)
• certain foods. dr.pepper, rold gold tiny twists, taco bell, chik fil a, pickles, hummus, regular cucumbers. 
• driving my car, feeling like a grown up.
• knowing what to expect when i do things. shopping will be easier, traveling more familiar and greeting new acquaintances will be a breeze. 

Yep. so thats it. el fin. vaya bien, y'all. Cuidate, no?

the lastest addition to the kitchen wall. I will live on in infamy. ask for the story...

same old, same old but not in Same.

Don't be dismayed at goodbyes.  A farewell is necessary before you can meet again.  And meeting again, after moments or lifetime, is certain for those who are friends.  ~Richard Bach

a few steps from our door

... and the goodbyes have started. The cornerstone folks and Caleb left this morning. Sharon leaves tonight, and I head out tomorrow. This is weird. But that's something for another day... 

We returned from the beach town of Same (pronounced sah-may) on Wednesday. You wouldn't believe how beautiful it was, well maybe you would- but i'm from Chicago. Ecuador's pacific coast provided us with great waves, only two jelly fish stingings, sunburns/tans, a great sand castle and lots of memories. We left on Saturday night (spending no more than 24 hours in the apartment after the jungle) and took an overnight (and then some) bus to Same. It was a nine hour bus ride, both ways.... and about as hellish as Ecua transport gets. At one point, we were moving at glacial pace, no A/C and listening to the infernal cries of a 3 year old anti-christ. perhaps that last part was a bit much.

our cabanas at Isla Del Sol

All that said, it was wonderful, relaxing, albeit bittersweet trip. We used the time at the beach to debreif from our  three month crazy bus experience, and just hang out with each other one last time. Did i mention that it was beautiful? It was. It put my sad beach experiences at Lake Michigan to shame. We stayed at cabanas called Islas Del Sol that were right on the beach... it was amazing. 

Barnabay's... yummm-o!

This next part may come as a suprise... but everyday we at shrimp for lunch. Amazing. We walked down the beach to a place called Barnabay's each afternoon... so good. Apparently, Bryan's been going there forever, and he certainly didn't steer us  wrong. Coconut shrimp, ceviche, fried shrimp, garlic shrimp and lime. Lots and lots of lime!... mmmmm. Even better, it was just a walk down the beach.- the whole experience was sans shoes. : ) 

The beach was such a great way to end a great semester. For my last full day here in Quito, I am booked up. I am going to La Mariscal with Alyse, Sharon and Chelsey for some last minute souvenirs, lunch and then meeting up with Jose Luis for the last time in the Centro Historico. I'm even hoping to check out a good friday mass in old quito at El Convento del San Francisco. I'm not wasting a minute. Of course, i'll probably post just one last update. 

the gals. Quito Semester 2011.

view from our room at sunset

jungle boogie

Misahualli, bustling commerce

Wow. Just got home from the jungle. What a wild week. I'm alive, which is also helpful. (fun language fact. The word for jungle in spanish is selva which also means wild. what a fitting word.) We did some construction and hosted a VBS in Pununo all week with an organization (http://www.itsaboutkids.org/home.html) based just outside Misahualli (i still don't know how to pronounce it) and on Thursday traveled down the Napo to Pasuno for a one day VBS. And it was beautiful. Beautiful like you wouldn't believe (well, maybe you would if you have been somewhere tropical) but probably the most exotic, enthralling place I've ever been.

a little monkeyin' around in misahualli

Misahualli looked a lot like other towns we had been to, a few streets with a central park. One fun aspect though- this central park was packed full of monkeys. I'm not kidding. Every morning at about 6:30 or 7 the monkeys come into town from the pier and hung out at the park. They steal food and anything they can get thier hands on. It was awesome. We even witnessed a dog vs. monkey fight over a piece of bread. During said fight, a monkey ran right up the side up of Alyse. again- awesome.

Napo from the air!

Of course, I didn't take enough pictures. Well, I didn't take any pictures- my camera broke the day we made ceviche (a little google image search actually does some justice.) Anyway. Misahualli is on the Napo river- a winding, brown mass of super seguro bridges, long canoes and little villages that I have no hope of pronouncing the name of. In short, it was beautiful. Like most of my favorite parts of Ecuador, I have no hope of describing it here. It was a mix of summers at poskin lake with some possible anacondas thrown in, and every adventurous, Indiana Jones type movie you've ever seen. Incredible.

Now onto the clima in the salva. Picture with me, a scorching hot afternoon in mid august in the second or third floor of a house in Chicago- A/C is out and Sears is out of fans. That sweaty, nasty uncomfortable is pretty much what the jungle feels like. Believe it or not. Well all that plus killer bugs. I wish their was photo documention of Alyse's legs. They swelled to the size of a woman at 9 months and were covered with bites from pinky toe to knee cap. Que linda!

And this is getting long... some high lights

• VBS. Had a great time meeting some great new kids, being in charge of crafts with Alyse and learning new spanish kids songs (like Caminamos en la Luz de Dios, Alabare, and Yo Tengo Gozo) 
• seeing the widest tree in the jungle. vines, crazy kids, it was like the Jungle Book. This tree was about as wide as half a foot ball field. I'm not kidding. You could see it popping out of the jungle from town. 
• getting to work with It's About Kids (http://www.itsaboutkids.org/home.html) Cool ministry, cool kids- generally cool. 
• watching my friends (namely Caleb) jump off bridges in town. I just couldn't muster up the courage for that one. 
• we made our own chocolate. It actually wasn't very good. But i also ate cacoa fruit during day while doing our construction stuff. wierd, right?

...some low lights

• It was hot. see above. swass.
• mixing concrete by hand, like its 1899. (Okay. that was actually kind of fun. for like a minute.) Good thing we brough Stacy, who's calling is to be a human concrete mixer. 
• bug bites
• leaving. 

**we're leaving for the beach here in t-minus one hour for our overnight bus ride to la costa. i am hitting the Estados in 7 days. That feels wierd. I refuse to say that out loud.**

basillica y liga otra vez!

True story: that window is huge.

crossing over the roof of the sanctuary 

The girls and I headed out to old Quito yesterday afternoon to climb up the huge, old basillica in the city. It's wierd, it's probably one of the younger churches in old Quito, built in 1809. It took over a 100 years to complete, to avoid paying taxes to the Vatican. All that work, and no too much to show for it. It's pretty amazing to look at from ground level, but its not so pretty once inside. We climbed up spires and towers and felt like Quasi Moto in the bell tower. It was great to view the city from that high up, not so great to see the years of graffiti layered on top of one another in every corner of the church. I need to do some more google research to get to the bottom of this Quito mystery.

View just before entering the basillica. 

It was one of the weirdest experiences of all time. The city basically opened up this huge basillica to become a tourist playground. After three sets of stairs there is a maze of sketchy ladders and rickety bridges to traverse this old, stone monolith. The ladders were probably the best, and most frightening part. Even better, watching viajitas climb down the ladders on their butts. It was quite the afternoon. Did I mention I felt like Quasi Moto? I may or may not have yelled up the dizzy-ing spiral staircase, "I'm here, Quasi- it's Esmerlda!"

While this looks like cool, ancient writing- it's actually years worth of graffiti. Ecuador's finest ladies and gentlemen. 

More fun to be had tonight as some of hit up the Liga game. It was Liga vs. Quito (I have no idea how to explain that one, Liga is also a Quito team...) at El Estadio. The game ended in a tie, with both teams having zero points. Bummer. Two high lights for the night- empanadas de morocho with ahi (yes, despite Cole's warnings of "eat street, die") and that we sat in the Muerte Blanco section. For more information on Muerte Blanco, please see previous Liga entry. : ) Chelsea Smith bough a CD of liga songs as well. What a night.

Tomorrow we're leaving for Mishualli, a jungle town about 7 hours ?!?! from Quito. Im sure they'll be quite the update to follow... 

It's been a week since I've updated...  because I'm trying to suck the life out of each moment here. Kind of like I've been sucking the oxygen out of the air all semester here at 10,000 feet.

This weekend was quite the mezcla. Saturday I hung out with the Williams' kids, a YouthWorld missionary family that lives in the jungle was in town for the weekend and Bryan volunteered to hang out with their kids for the day. Alyse, Sharon and I went with them to play laser tag at a mall a few blocks from our house. We had so much fun and the kids were great... espera, me cachaste (wait, did you get that?) I'd played laser tag here in Ecuador, in a mall. Weird things. We took kids that have grown up in the jungle to play laser tag and then we ate McDonalds. [insert feelings about western influence in Latin America here.]

Me and Ronald...just hanging out with our Ecua pals!

Sunday. I traveled south with Sharon to visit my friend, Jose Luis's church. He preached at the early service (8 freaking thirty) and then invited us back to his house for lunch. We had an amazing time with lots of bicultural and bilingual laughs. I love Latin culture in that way, even though there is a bit of a language barrier in some moments- the people here are so forgiving. Jose laughs off my terrible language faux pas and I correct his English pronunciation. It's perfect.  We talked about cultural stuff and laughed some more about that, too. Here, in the Ecuadorian Christian community, it's pretty trashy for girls to have tattoos or piercings. ( Oye! I have two tattoos and a nose piercing...!) It was funny that Jose told me, "well it's fine because you're a gringa." I'm beginning to love these Ecuadorian friendships I'm forming and the cultural interactions I get to have. When Ecua meets USA inevitably laughter ensues. Basically, "I'm lovin' it," but not in the way of McDonalds in Quito, even if they label me an aninada (spoiled brat), but that's another story.

Wednesday this week I hung out at the dump with the Chelsea(y)s. Chelsea has been interning there and showing off her cutesy kid spanish all semester, I needed to check it out. Chelsea's job at the dump is helping with the day care run for the children of parents who work at the city dump. Some are scavengers for metals and plastics and others are employed by the city. In my non-biased opinion, all of their kids are cute. Even that 10 month old baby girl who did nothing but cry for two hours straight with a green poopy diaper that soaked through her pants and went up her back, yep- her too. We had a great day.We colored, practiced writing big As and Bs and little as and bs. We even sang a song to learn colors in english and spanish (sung to the tune of farrah jacques!) Needless to say, had no one been looking when I left- I might have tried to take a kid home with me. : )

Ceviche with Mario

Today we made ceviche with Mario, our spanish professor. For those who haven't experienced this latin delight, its a cold soup made of orange and lime juice with tons of cilantro, chopped onions and tomatoes. Our ceviche had shrimp, but in South America there are lots of varieties, some with fish, mixes of sea food or some with clams. I'm glad we played and safe with the shrimp. To a North American palet, ceviche certianly sounds gross- but it was great. Enjoy it will all the Ecua fixins', it'll be reminiscent of the first time you had Chik-fil-a (ok not that good, but close.) The Ecua fixin's are congil (popcorn), tostadas (big unpopped popcorn kernals) and home made chifles (fried plantain chips). You put the popcorn in the soup, and munch on the other two on the side. I know it sounds bizarre, but it really was great.
...oh yeah. I wish i had pictures of our Ecua creation... BUT. we dropped my camera half way into ceviche prep. Thankfully there's a thriving black market here in Quito, full of stolen tecnologia.

We're leaving for the jungle on Sunday. I've got a feeling there will be quite the update when I get back...

the land of no instant pudding

...and i'll continue to be whoever i am, in whatever country i live in.
Case in point:
1.yesterday.
2. today.

"dirt." 

Yesterday I tried to bring a little bit of home to Ecuador."Dirt" and "Sand" for dessert. Dirt being that precariously combined oreo and pudding concoction that never quite tastes as good as it did when you were six and someone's mom made it at their birthday party. Sand being its counterpart, comprised of vanilla pudding, bananas and graham crackers. Apparently, Ecudorians aren't as wild about getting in touch with the tierra, as I couldn't find any pudding at the grocery store- instant or otherwise. In my infinate wisdom, and being dead set on providing my pals with said dirt and sand- i decided to make pudding from scratch.

"sand."

diastre. disaster. hot mess. big mistake. Whatever you call it, it didn't go well. The vanilla pudding didn't set at all, it smelled like a barn yard and Chelsey compared it to baby food all afternoon. On the other hand, the chocolate pudding was pretty good and I referred to my self as a pioneer woman because of my pudding skills. I'm not sure that pudding was a prime chow choice for pioneer dwellers- but we'll call it poetic license. All that being said, both pudding projects were redeemed by the liberal usage of Ecua gummies on top. Usually, this dirt business is accompied by gummy worms- here they have gummy osos. It is what it is. We fashioned a beach scene on top of the sand, complete with banana surf boards and gummy beach balls. My only regret? No photo documentation, TG for google. Now there can be no doubt I'm not the only freak who makes sweets to look like nature.

Today. Skipped class, tried to register for classes. Had an amazing Ecua- afternoon. A new friend from Juan Valdez (Latin America's answer to Starbucks) asked me to help him practice his English this afternoon. Claro que si. We talked alot about culture, language and how my accent makes me laugh. Also- he told me he can't tell the difference between British English speakers and North American English speakers. Interesting, no? Tonight, theres been a fair amount of procrastinating and listening to all the great play lists i find on 8tracks.com.

Somethings don't change- i love desserts, and i hate homework.

Other news. I went out to CoffeeTree (misleading name, it's a glorified bar.) with Alyse and Caleb on Tuesday night, we had a great time catching up, enjoying totally Ecua (read: non existant and totally foreign here) customer service and getting really decent (sometimes english deserves italics too.)  taxis, both to and fro. On the way, the guy wanted almost double the usual price, which we skillfully argued down. The man on the way home should have been breathalysed, as i'm sure he was barracho.

This weekend should be great- tomorrow going out with the girls to Cafe Mosaico to see some great views of the city and Sunday checking out a friends church to hear him speak and hang out with his family. Any suggestions for next weekend? Its my last free weekend here! (the last two weeks i'll be in the Jungle and at the coast.)

What a long post to say nothing. Life is exceedingy wonderful here in Quito and thinking about leaving makes me beyond sad.

some old stuff and the mountain that severely bruised my ego.

The last week has gone by really quickly. We had a week intensive Worldview course that kept us pretty busy and gave us tons and tons of homework. With the end of all that nonsense- it's turning out to be a rather eventful weekend. 

I posted a bunch of pictures of facebook today, so check those out for maximum creeping. I've been busy busy! Yesterday our Culture class headed to the centro historico to check out the presidents house and a few churches. Awesome. The churches are so beautiful and there are so many close together. The president's house or Palacio de Carondelet was lack luster- the "tour" was a shuffle through three rooms used for meetings and public appearances. Highlight of the Palacio was the guards outside- excellent get ups and stoic expressions.  Obvious tom foolery ensued.  

After Palacio de Carondelet we visited a church built by the Augustinians that I can't remember the name of, and the Compania de Jesus church as well. Lots of pan de oro and old stuff. Breathtaking, but I didn't take any pictures inside. Respect and all, you know.  This is a view of the Augustinian church, walking up to the church from the street- dead on it's just as beautiful.  

As if all that sight seeing wasn't enough we had dinner as a class up on the rooftop of a restaurant a few blocks from Compania de Jesus. The views were spectacular and the cafe con leche and empanadas de morocho eran muy rico! Basically, I love being surrounded by mountains chowing down on Ecua delights with some of the best company Quito has to offer (that's you semester abroad!)

Sounds like a full day, but I'm like Ke$ha and for night- I went hard. Sharon and I had been invited out to La Ronda with some friends for dancing and silliness. Well, a huge group of us went- Ecuadorians and Americans and had a great night. We started out at La Ronda with more empanadas (i'm telling you it's all about those little yellow bags and the woman selling them- less teeth the better) and some mora canelazo and then we all went to la mariscal. After our 10 minute taxi from La Ronda we met back up and found a small, dark, sweaty salsa/regaeton club. Holy freaking fun night. The place was packed like the trolle, only this time the "grind on me" was intentional. It was a half gringo crowd and i'm pretty sure I couldn't have looked any more foolish- but I had a ton of fun. Mika, an Ecua friend showed us some of her moves and laughed with us when we started to look like idiots. We danced our little cans off and then headed home, calling it an early night because this morning we climbed PINCHINCHA. The mountain that borders the city to the west. 

I should clarify... "we climbed" is misleading. I made it all of 30 minutes at 1400 ft. before I realized by little piernas and pulmones would not make it another 5000 feet up. Let me back track. We all took the Teleferico a little more than half way up the mountain, basically a ski lift that gives you some spectacular views of the entire city as you go up the mountain. From the end of the Teleferico its about a four hour hike to get to the top-i'm not sure why, but apparently people enjoy that type of thing... 

Defeat, 14,000 feet.

Not to worry though, as an act of solidarity I did got for a run after I ate lunch. 15 minutes at 10,000- I'm feeling the burn.

                                               

viente-uno and what it feels like to be legal.

Be warned/disclaimed/told/duly note this: The following will be considerably more serious than the usual mallarky you find here. Feel free to stop reading now. Most of this isn't even about Ecuador...

• I turned 21 on Wednesday. I became "legal" in a country with a pretty loose (technically 18 year-old) drinking age.
• Before the el inicio del semestre I signed a life style contract saying I would "live above reproach" during my time here in Ecuador. (read: no boozin', no druggin', no sexin')
• For the second consecutive birthday, I shared the evening with  two professors (here from Trinity to supervise Social Work field placements.)
• My life is absolutely amazing, bu also incredibly different than anything I ever would have pictured myself doing. 

...that being said. I have at least 21 things to be thankful for. 

1. I am a sinner, saved by amazing grace.
2. I was raised by two amazing, very different people. I am one hell of a woman because they love me the way they do.

3. I have enjoyed relative health for the past 21 years.
4. The friends I have are a second family. Absolutely amazing, there's no other way to say it. Some have known me for 21 years, others since middle & high school,now some from college. From any segment of life, these are the people who have shaped a good part of the adult me. 
5. The feeling I get every time I walk into my childhood home. It seems the same, there's usually food in the fridge and mom constantly reminds me that "i'm always welcome."

6.Extended family- both of my parents have a great network of brothers,sisters, cousins and aunts, uncles that demonstrate the truth, “it takes a village to raise a child”. 7. Parkview Christian Church- one of my first "second homes".
8. Trinity Christian College- a great community for me to experience the college years.
9. The Social Work department at Trinity. I have been challenged and encouraged by the faculty of the department in so many ways. I have been able to connect my passion for service with a degree program that gives me so many career options.  Simply stated, the department has created a wonderful, open space for me to “be me.”
10. My ever increasing ability to embrace what it means to be Elizabeth Alice Brice. With all my faults and flaws.
11. The gift of laughter.
12. Music for every occasion and friends that have the same mental soundtrack I do.
13. The Tapestry Project, Oklahoma City, Josh & Amy. A three month crash course in being a grown up and community development. 
14. Coffee. 
15. The experience of coming to Quito, Ecuador for a semester. I have learned so much here!
16. Books that inspire- reading Anne Lamotte has given me an outlet to feel normal about faith and being a woman who is so not a Beth Moore Bible study.
17. Every summer. The smell of the Midwest on a humid night, growing up and spending summers at Chalet on the lake/Beathwalk/Gobles/POSKIN LAKE..
18. freckles. scarves. my favorite accessories. 
19. the city of Chicago.
20. I know already said this one, but seriously. The parents. Tom and Kath are really something. I love them so much. 
21. The gift of memory- without this simple ability I wouldn’t be able to love and appreciate my life the way I do!

whoop whoop!  In the words of Chelsea Smith, I am now Sister-Friend-LB-21.  : )

a lot of things to look at, chronicling the past two weeks.

I just typed a fabulous entry about the past few days, and it somehow deleted itself (read: I have no clue how to use my computer.) I have reconstructed the following from memory.

Pictures from Carnaval.

Getting "Carnavaled"

Look at that, we're some real beauty queens after our hike/shimmy/crawl up to Pailon del Diablo.

In line for Backstreet Boys... IN QUITO. (this is just before the full on pushing and shoving commenced.)

Now, onto what I've been doing with my life since Carnaval...

On Saturday, we said chao chao to our host families with a big barbecue in Tombillo. One of the host families owns a hacienda (farm) there, about an hour south of the city. Its been in their family for over 100 years and has a beautiful farm house on the property. I acted very much like my mother in the dollar aisle at Target- I stopped to look at everything I could in the house. It's a great, big (not to mention old) house filled with so much old stuff it was almost more than I could bear... 

We milked cows with our bare hands right into a glass- which we promptly drank. We were at a farm after all. I also witnessed cow diarrhea first hand. I highly recommend the experience to anyone with a strong stomach and a touch of nasal congestion. 

Some of my pals rode horses around the property- while others of us visited the baby cows and cuy (guinea pigs).  We moved from farm adventure to farm food- pinchos (Ecua shisk-a-bobs) and salads provided by each family (one of which included some sketch, Ecua potato/apple/beer/mayo concoction.) 

Sorpresa, sorpresa I shed a tear while saying good bye to my host family. Perhaps there overly attached hugs exchanged... I am excited to live with each of the other girls again, but I will miss my Ecua family and our daily cultural adventuras. I may or may not have purchased some queso fresco and pancitos at the grocery store yesterday, in an attempt to recreate my desayunos with Lil and Ive. 

I think i'm leaving little pieces of my heart here in Ecuador, the people, the language, the landscape- it's all so amazing. I can't believe we're half way done. (Now, I know what you're thinking, "Liz, we heard this before when you lived in Oklahoma City... don't even say you want to move there.") This is different, while I love it here- I probably won't live here forever... that makes me savor each experience that much more. 

And now, here we are-- in all our glory...

Carnaval.

Wow. I had, and I don't say this lightly, one of the funnest weekends of my life! By now you all know the drill, I'll give you some horribly pedantic description of each day of tom foolery. Skim, scan, survey as you will.

First, a little background on all this Carnaval buisness. To my understanding, Carnaval is an extended Fat Tuesday, from Friday to Tuesday the city is one big pachanga, complete with water balloons, spray foam and a myriad of other fun things to throw at one another. It has been my experience that the bus, while a hub of other undesirable things, is a prime target for being "carnaval-ed." You step off the bus in the city and are water ballooned, or you chuck buckets of water out bus windows and onto the people on the street. Most of us managed to avoid too much crazy while in Quito- but it was on later in the weekend.

Friday- Carnaval kick-off. Class was cancelled, noses were pierced and guacamole was eaten with Ruffles. For a country with more acuacates than I know what to do with, it's depressing that tortilla chips are not readily available here.

Saturday- Otavalo. About two hours south of Quito, this is a cool little town has a lot of history and is packed full of artesian markets.Sharon and I went with our host families, and had a lot of fun joking around and learning new Spanish words (chuchaqui- hangover, apure- hurry up!.) Although it rained like El Arco De Noe Sharon and I manage to bargain for some good deals. We left Otavalo at about 4- and to our surprise, Lilli my host mom, said it was early and we should do something else... Something else was take a three hour scenic drive of the Ecuadorian countryside. Surprisingly beautiful and interesting, we even pulled off the side of the road on a mountain side for some spectacular views of northern Quito. (pictures to follow)
     As if that wasn't enough for a fun-filled Saturday, I got a call when I arrived home at about 8 that Chelsea was spending the night alone in the apartment. Doesn't sound scary, but you've never lived there. I packed up and headed to the rescue of my fellow S.A.er. We were enjoying a drink and the spectacular views of the city from our roof, when we heard footsteps up the stairs... much to our happy surprise it was Sharon "Chun Bun/Ron/Ron Pasas" Chun! The three of us relaxed on the roof, popped some popcorn (on the stove, like mamma makes) and laughed a lot. After eating half our body weight in popcorn we were still surprisingly hungry, and here's where the fun hits. Washing the dishes we realize that we have no hot water, and the water we do have is exploding out of our facet in yellow/orange bursts. Pretty gross. What's a girl to do? Call Bryan Cole, the dean of men for our program. Not only does he come over to help with the water, he takes pity on our hungry souls and TAXIS WITH US THROUGH THE MCDONALD'S AUTO-MAC. I couldn't make this crap up. Our taxi driver thought we were nuts, but we payed him in dinero and paps fritas and he cranked up the Justin Beiber (which I think he had on CD, not Ecua radio.) If that doesn't say fun, I don't know what does.

Sunday- Banos. Wake up in the apartment to no electricity. Did Bryan forget to pay the bills? Nope, the whole block was with out power, we found out at my favorite Panderia, Arenas.  Sweet, doesn't matter. We're going to Banos! (Not as catchy as "I'm going to disneyland" but certainly more fun.) We trolle-ed to the Quitumbe bus terminal in southern Quito to get on our bus to Banos. About six hours later- we arrived. For reference, the ride home was only three hours. Carnaval is like rush-hour on the Dan Ryan. We passed by a Restarat, mourned the lack of spelling education in Ecuador and got ready to party.
     I'm pretty sure we found the worst restaurant in all of Banos to eat dinner at-  only about $4 a person- but we may have been eating cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets made from cabra intestines. After dinner, we wandered down the main drag of the city, where live music was playing. Oh man, we got carnaval-ed! I was blinded for a bout 47 seconds by a foam shot directly to my eye. It was insane, abuelos, ninos and the whole familia were shooting anyone within reach (especially targeting the gringos) with this soapy colored foam. Another Ecua experience that words lack the power to describe, it was SO MUCH FUN! We went back to our hostel and some people showered (if you know me, you also know I was not in that group) and played some cards while we got ready for our Chiva ride.
      Chivas are the Ecua equivalent of party buses, but are all open and some times have an upper deck you can sit on. Our Chiva left at 11pm and was a hybrid tour bus/party trolley. We Chiva-ed up to the top of the active volcano (!!!)  blasting reggae-ton and watching our friends get shocked by the electric wires that are very, very close to the top of Chiva (true story, Caleb is an idiot.) Sadly, it was too cloudy to see the volcano, but we did witness a huge town camp-fire. The chiva driver told us the men around the fire were paisos (clowns) but with their baggy pants, chained and slicked back hair they looked much more like the average urban teenage to me. Apparently is possible to live on the side of a volcano, and a good number of Banos-ians do. We all kept looking at each other and thinking "where the crap are we?!" It was great. Oh yeah, and there was more Canelazo, the hot, alcoholic drink you know and love from La Ronda. The Chiva driver told us the alcohol was just "flavor." Later on, he tells us it's Parajo Azul and it's "fuerte and barato." (strong and cheap.) classy.

Monday- El Pailon del Diablo. no big thing. Hiked to the top of mountain, climbed through a very small rock passageway to the top of a water fall. El Pailon del Diablo. Absolutely breathtaking and amazing, albeit exhausting, I won't even try to describe it. Seeing that waterfall after a pretty intensive climb made me more aware of the bigness of the God I serve. Something that beautiful comes from somewhere, and I'm glad I know who He is. I will try to post pictures of it later.

Tuesday- headed out early with the girls for the BACKSTREET BOYS concert. Yep, it was just as ridiculous as it sounds. Lots of stock images from when there were five BSBs and the same dance moves from the original music videos. Absolutely crap-tastic. Love it! The Ecuas knew more of the words than we did which was amazing, but had no clue what they meant, which was evident when any backstreet boy would say anything- the entire crowd erupted in girlish screams, squeals and cheers. Fabulous.

...and thats it. The long and the short of it (most just the long.)

¡Sale Albo!

 It's pretty much been business as usual around here- workin', schoolin', hangin', only gerund nouns, basically. 

    Things at the orphanage are great- in the past two weeks there have been two different teams from the States that have come to help out. Both from Boston, one high school group and one college group, it was refreshing to speak English at work! I also started a new project for the home, electronic memory books. Basically, I am making scrap books on the computer using a special software. Most of you know, this is my ideal service opportunity. I am loving it!

     School is, well- school. Papers and procrastinating- nothing new there. I have discovered that I can listen to my iTunes playlists (sample: Canadians, songs with numbers in the title, food titles...) and play spider solitaire for hours and still write only half a page of a paper. Single spaced.

Now, the fun- and to explain that obnoxiously showy Spanish title (Tom Brice called me a "show off" on the phone on Wednesday.) Last night the semester abroaders went to a Liga Futbol game.Obviously I don't enjoy or understand organized sports, but a Liga game requires little to no sports knowledge to enjoy.We got to the stadium early, like an hour and half early. The perfect amount of time to take in the scenery. The south end of the field is a section called "Muerte Blanca"or white death. Liga's home jerseys are white, and for home games this section is filled up with the craziest, most die-hard fans. So crazy in fact, that they lit fire works from the stands when the team came out onto the field. (The picture above is just a google image search, last night the smoke was red, and much more intimidating.) During this gaseous,smoky haze they also chant, "Sale Albo, Sale Albo, Saaaalleeee Albo!" (come out white, come out white.) That one was easy- two words while jumping up and down. Got it. But, there's also a bunch of longer songs the fans sing during the game (whilst jumping, screaming obscenities, and gulping down the Pilsner like they're going to the e-chair...)  Lucky for us- Chelsea's host dad came to the game with us. Gus has been a Liga fan for all of his 30 somethimg years and was more than happy to teach the gringas a thing or two about his favorite equipo. There was one more chant we learned- "Yo soy de la U!" (I am of the U.) Even with expert townie guidance, I think we had the most fun jumping around and yelling out spanish sports phrases (my vocabulary has grown exponentially...) "Eso Es!" (that's it!) "Si Se Puede" (Yes they/you can!) "GOL!" (goal, duh.) I would like to believe that our expert gringo cheers helped herald in the 3-0 victory for Liga against the Argentina International Club (?) 

In other news, Alyse and I are getting our noses pierced today and i'm heading outing out to the jungle town (?) of Baños for this hopefully, lluvia free, Carnaval weekend. Carnaval is the weekend leading up to fat Tuesday and is practically a national holiday here. Schools get all of next week off and almost everyone doesn't work Monday and Tuesday. I'm going to the artesian markets in Otavalo with my host family on Saturday and the study abroaders are doing Baños Sunday to Tuesday. But wait, there's more! Tuesday night we're also going to see BACKSTREET BOYS in concert. As in, transplant a large portion of my life from '98-'00 and bring it to Latin America. If that's not chevere, I don't know what is! 

I feel like Ms. Frizzle when I learn so much.

Quito is old.

Old, Old. 

Not like the US, with measly 200 year old history...

On Friday I visited a monastery built in 1625. En Serio. 

El Museo De San Diego is a monastery that has opened its art collection, and tours of its church to the public. It's incredibly beautiful- with more art, history and culture that I could possibly soak up in one afternoon. 

Our Culture of Ecuador class visited together with an Ecuadorian woman our professor knows as our guide. This woman could habla pretty rapido and had some definite connections... Let me put it this way, the secret room/burial chamber for deceased infants (language barrier?) behind the altar of the Monastery's church... access granted. We each ducked/climbed into this hidden room through a huge stone door that possibly weighed half a ton. It was an amazing afternoon.

Saturday I returned to Old Quito with my host family to visit a craft store (who knew yarn crafts of all kinds would connect the masses? This girl, that's who) and the City Cultural Center (a smaller, city run museum of what else... culture.) And later on returned to La Ronda (see previous post) for some late night, Euca fun. 

And now, for some pictures. (no lie- going to San Diego was a total surprise. The only pictures I have are in my mind. Invite me out for coffee when I'm back state side. I'll do my best to share.)

                                Three cheerful ladies I don't know. What a beautiful city!

I think this may have been the first picture I took on Saturday, also one of my favorites from last week. I love that you can see the Suda America (sans A here) building along side pretty typical colonial architecture. Not only that, but out onto the mountains, you can see how far the city stretches. I kind of love it here.

Sharon and I with our host mamas. Wow, I'm pretty much a giant. Fun fact, Ecuadorians typically don't smile in pictures. So no, Lilli, my host mama doesn't hate me... she's enhancing the culture experience. 

learning to love llamas and children that aren't mine.

Part of my time here in Quito is actually spent hugging orphans.
This is another one of those experiences that I know my words won't do justice.

As much as I'd love to paint a lovely picture of me as the pipe piper, with adorable children and I dancing in rolling meadows, encircled by llamas in the Ecuadorian countryside- that is not what my work at the orphanage looks like at all. It actually looks really different than I thought it would, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm working out at For His Children- Ecuador (http://www.forhischildren-ecuador.org/fhcmain.php?pg=01) In the northern part of Quito. I take the crazy bus there (literally. please see my post on the Ecua buses.) and jump off on the high way and traverse a mountain side to get there. This sounds a bit more exaggerated than it really is, as I do all of the above every Monday and Wednesday.
 ...Fine, "traverse" may have been taking it a bit far....

For His Children is an amazing organization that does great work in the lives of the kids who live there. There are four houses for the kids, divided by age. One for babies, toddlers, and then two for school aged kids. Most, if not all, of the older kids at FHC are special needs in some way, and each present a unique challenge for the staff. Each house is staffed by Tias (spanish for Aunt) who function as "house moms" of sorts. They spend the most time with the kids are some really incredible women. I am so impressed by the level of care the kids recieve, and how happy each of them are. FHC is an incredibly joyful place that makes me feel alive in a real way.

Completely unrelated, but highly entertaining, is the orphanage's pet llama. It is the mangiest creature I have ever seen, and in miniature. Yep, a mini llama with dreadlocks serves as a "pet" to 40 or so kids.

My job at FHC is to simply help the Tias with what ever they ask in the Casa I'm assigned to that day. Sometimes, that means cleaning around the house, washing and folding laundry or taking kids from one house to another. This week, I worked in Casa Harlow. Casa Harlow is home to the oldest kids at FHC, all of them are high needs. I had a ton of fun! Jumping on trampolines, going for walks, playing on the swing set- it was great! In between all this warm, fuzzy, fun- a 12 year old girl named Adriana bit me. According to one of the Tias, it was because she was excited to see me. Awesome. I mean it.

In other news... I'm in love all-ri-ri-ri-riiight- with my crazy Quito life.... (just a lil' Ke$ha to keep it fresh.)

tonight we're going hard...

I can't believe last night happened. To warm up, and to keep me on track- here are the highlights.

1. "dinner" with the "church ladies" at La Ronda.
2. Morocho Empanadas
3. ...four restruants later.
4. Karoke

5. Drugged out Argentinians.

(yeah, only a Ke$ha title could do this blog justice. & it's gonna be a long one, don't say I didn't warn you.)

     Lilli, my host mama told me she was going to out to dinner with some ladies from church for La Dia de Amistades (valentines day). Cool, perfect, told her to have a great time. Half way through the conversation, I realized I was invited. Perhaps that should have been my first indicator that this wasn't yo mommas girl's night out...

     Sharon and I met our host moms outside the youthworld office a little after six, to catch the Trole to La Ronda. Here is probably as a good a place as any to describe La Ronda. Its a two or three block area of old, historic Quito that is gorgeous. The colonial buildings are beautiful and the area is hoppin' with night life! Great resturants, bars and artesian shops line the curvy, pedestrian-only alley way. (if you're curious :http://www.suite101.com/content/la-ronda-street-in-old-town-quito-a56129) La Ronda is almost the end of the Trole line, but absolutely worth the wait (maybe not worth the Trole ride.) We got on an empty Trole at "La Y" and procured four seats! Having a seat during a trole ride is like going through the taco bell drive through and getting an extra crunch wrap supreme. It happens, but not often- and when it does its the best part of your day. All that to say, we had seats, front row seats to watch the Ecuas pile in. I watched one old lady get stuck between the open door and the wall of the stop as she exited the Trole. I'm pretty sure I saw a man get pick pocketed. And I saw countless instances of pushing, shoving and general barbaric-ness. If ever there was a time to employ the phrase, "two cats couldn't dance there" this is it. People were so smooshed together on that Trole, I'm shocked a window didn't break or a tire didn't blow. 

    That is just the build up, we arrived at the La Ronda at about 7:15 to meet with the other church ladies. There was about ten of us total, and new faces mean muchos besos. Once all of the group had assembled and touched faces, we start walking, I don't know where- it seemed aimless at first. When we stopped, a bit suddenly, outside of a stand selling morocho empanadas. Lilli asked if I wanted one, and I don't think I could have said no. I am glad I didnt! Morocho is a ground white corn, that covered in greasy empanada dough is excellent. Pretty sure those will be highly craved once I've returned stateside. 

    Apparently, empanadas aren't enough. We had to go to a full out Ecuadorian dinner. We went to one place, to find a 15 minute wait. In the course of 37 seconds we were 1.going to wait, and it was fine. 2. going to wait, but weren't happy then,. 3. absolutely not going to wait and leaving, stat. The next restaurant we found looked great, they had live music set up and a menu in English and Spanish. Again, about 45 seconds later- we had to leave, too expensive. Finally, we found another restaurant, for real this time, and sat down. Remember, La Ronda is colonial Spanish buildings, we had to duck around a narrow, winding, spiral staircase to the upstairs dining room in which myself and the other north americans couldn't stand up straight. I'm not kidding, the Ecuadorian family that was siting in the room starting giggling at us like we were uni-cycling, side show freaks. There was another,taller room, with an open table. Perfect, a little head room.

    Dinner was great, Chavo de Gallina (chicken and rice) with great ahi. Accopanied by Spanish music courtesy of two old men with guitars, and lots of dancing and singing from Melba, Lilli and all their friends. Followed by hot booze juice. Yep, here's where things really start to pick up. Melba, Sharon's host mom, told us about this hot juices that's popular at La Ronda, then she told us it had "just a little bit of alcohol." What really happens when you order this drink is that your juice comes accompanied by a Styrofoam cup of what smelled like rubbing alcohol. Sharon and I didn't order one, but Melba had us try hers. Wow. She didn't mix it, so I sipped straight hot booze. barf. 

    After dinner, we were tired, it was late- we think the night is winding down. Oh no, these gals can party. Off to the karaoke bar. Surprisingly less eventful then I had anticipated. Mostly people sang sad, slow songs and there was no stage. Gimme some feedback here, is that standard fare in the K-bar scene? We sipped our virgin Pina Coladas and listened to some truly dismal songs for almost two hours, when Lilli decided we had to go. They had just requested their songs and were next on the list, but she had enough... Not the craziest thing to happen that night. 

     Here's where I have to add things like, "sorry Mom- part of the adventure," I took the trole back from La Ronda with Sharon and the church ladies. I'm pretty sure I heard 359698354 times that you SHOULD NOT take the trole at night, oops. We waited fooorrreevvveerrr for the Trole to come, but not with out entertainment. It seems that "night" here warrants a convenience charge, the Trole is double at night, $.50. We all shrugged our shoulders and payed up, but a group of about a dozen young (about my age?) Argentian travelers were just not having it. Let me set the scene, there were about four girls among the rest of the all male group. It was apparent they had not washed their hair in about a week, or had some really terrible dreadlocks (I'm not here to judge, no body likes showering less than me.) One of these new friends had on great, 80s floral leggings as pants- which she dug into to retrieve money, among other things. And at least one of the men had a full out unibrown complete with a large necklace/chain constructed from the tabs of pop cans. Awesome. We heard sweet Argentian accents fight with the guards for about a half hour. (instead of yo tengo- it's sho tengo. wild.) Needles to say, Lilli and Melba were gettin' their mama on- pacin', furrowin' browns, crossin' arms- the whole shot. Trole came, we got home and called it night. A wild night.

needless to say, Ecuador is great. Hanging out this weekend, climbing Pinchincha was canceled, and Monday heading back to the orphanage. 

     

because walking isn't an option.

                Yet another reason to believe Harry Potter is more truth than fiction: the buses in Ecuador. The buses here remind me so much of the knight bus in the third Harry Potter book. The bus I took to school today had fuzzy, blue rearview mirrors and excellent 80’s music (think soft rock meets regeaton) and, I’m not sure why, but it seems that you always have to hurry on the bus. Not just put some pep in your step to catch the bus, but, jump-out-of-the-bus-at-your-stop-because-it-will-not-come-to-a-complete-stop. On each bus there is a man who calls out the stops and takes your money- he also hangs half way out the bus, trying to solicit business from the passerby. It really is like the Knight bus, with the money/yeller constantly shouting, “sigue, sigue, sigue no mas. Rapido!”  (continue, continue, keep going. Hurry up!) All this hurrying whilst the bus is being operated as though it is in a live action game of pin-ball. I equate it with surfing, which I’ve never actually done, the amount of balance needed to remain standing while the bus is in motion is quite a feat.  Granted, I have the balance of a one legged, fat man- but I try to hold my own. So that’s the bus. Despite all evidence to the contrary, it is completely inefficient and one of the most nerve-racking parts of my day.

                As if the bus weren’t enough, I have to take a trolley after the bus to get to Spanish school. I’ve been taking the trolley for the past two weeks, and it hasn’t been too bad. I wrote previously about our score keeping game, where every day we don’t get robbed the USA gets a point…. Well, today Ecuador got a half point; some old bitty slashed by book bag at some point during my commute.  Thank God, I still have my wallet and phone- I suppose I’m still pretty good at the game, since the thief wasn’t able to take anything. Yep, that’s my tale of an almost-armed robbery.  (Even cooler part of this story- my host mama, Lily walked with me to the tailor and I’m getting a sweet leather patch  to cover up the slash on the bag for $3. I am the height of Ecua cool.- it’s that not a huge exaggeration, I don’t know what is.)

                I’m sure I have other news, but the transportation stories will have to do for now. Flex-i-dor is the adventure of a life time. God is good, life is good, lovin’ livin’ it up in Quito!

besos, comida, "chicles y coca"

First Sunday at Lili and Ivanhoe's- I'm bursting at the seams with cultural experiences. Living in a spanish speaking country has been a dream since I was 14. Now, after removing the rose-colored glasses, I'm really experiencing it! (that means i'm going to be myself here, and honestly report on the experience.)

ah, priemero- besos. I believe I've discussed this cultural phenomenon in the past, but here's a refresher. When you greet someone you give them a fake cheek kiss. Let me tell you, I touched cheeks with about 20 strangers today. barf.
la iglesia- spanish church, quite possibly the longest thing in the mundo. We got there at 10 and didn't leave until 1:30. I wish I was kidding. Interestingly enough, Lili and Ivanhoe go to a reformed church - and today's sermon was on the calvinist classic, election/predestination. Yep, just picture it... a two hour sermon on predestination, in spanish. : )
la comida- for lunch today Lili and her sister Melba (Sharon's host mama), made mexican food (?).  It was great, but totally different than mexican food in the states. Guacamole, sour cream(?), lettuce and tomatoe with what tasted like baked beans and ground beef. Sounds nuts, but tasted great (yes, I even had a little beef.)! Fun fact- the Ecuas eat tacos/burritos with a knife and fork. Another fun fact, not one ounce of kilol (bacteria killing solvent that makes fruits and veggies safe for the gringos) was used in preparation for this meal.
chicles y coca- yes, you read that right- gum and cocaine. I'm not sure how we got on this topic, but Lili and Melba were telling Sharon and I about the dangerous nightlife in La Mariscal (tourist neighborhood where my spanish school is.) Apparently, little kids and middle aged women sell drugs under the rather lame guise of "chicles, chicles, coca, chicles." They pretend to sell gum and candy- then slip in the cocaine. Fresh breath and controlled substances, is there a better pairing?

All in all, this has been a great two days. I am so excited to get to know Lili y Ivanhoe and their family more. I'm sure by the time homestays are wrapping up, my espanol will be mucho mejor!!!! As they say in Ecuador- hasta pronto!

     I am way to too tired to give anything, in-depth or well detailed here. Please enjoy these small snipets of information, none of which will be remotely pedantic.
today is the day we all have been dreading. (in a nervous, sweaty palms, first day of junior high way.)
today was the start of homestays.
     Youthworld, the missions organization I am traveling with- has made connections with Ecuadorian families that are willing to host north american students. These are some of the kindest, most welcoming families I have met- and the family I am staying with is no exception. Lily y Ivanhoe are los padres and they have two daughters. One of them, Cristina lives next door with her husband and their son. The other is Gaby, who is 21 and lives down the block.
     We met our homestay families at 11 this morning at the Youthworld offices and then off we went. (That sentence was a nice way to skip over the sweaty palms, crying, freaking out, threatening bryan, etc.) Lily and Ivanhoe drove me back to their house with Melba, Lily's sister (Sharon's homestay mama.) When we arrived, I helped Lily make lunch, then it was time for more introductions. Jorge, Lily & Ivanhoe's nephew came over and we all went shopping for a dinosaur lamp for their grandson (Cristina's son, Mathias.)
     I am sure homestays will be great, but its definitely going to take a little getting used to, and a serious improvement of my spanish skills. I can't count the number of times i looked/sounded/acted like a total idiota today... pues lo es que lo es (well, it is what it is.)
**as promised photos coming soon.**

...you can be my Quito dream when you make ahí.

"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered." -Gilbert K. Chesterton 

"An adventure may be worn as a muddy spot or it may be worn as a proud insignia. It is the woman wearing it who makes it the one thing or the other." - Norma Shearer.

     I found both of these quotes over the past few days and I really love them. The Chesterton quote is so true of Ecuador. I've had to really learn to embrace "flex-a-dor." Case in point, "the baby place" we visited for an almuerzo two weeks ago has started closing every afternoon when we walk by. I asked why and the woman working told me they close everyday at 11 and don't reopen until 12:30. Firstly, I was impressed with my own spanish skills for having that conversation, but secondly- I simply couldn't believe the cultural difference there. In the states, a restaurant, or business- would not imagine closing for an hour and half each day, here it's commonplace. Mostly, I laugh it off- but its makes up a huge part of my Ecua-adventure. 
      Bad news for "the baby place" though, as the girls and I had the best lunch yet at a place a few blocZAks from our school. Arroz con pollo con tomato y aguacate (chicken and rice w/ tomato and avocado) SO GOOD! The ahí at this place was also unbelievable. We followed the whole meal with cafe con leche (coffee, or rather, nescafé- with warm milk and lots of sugar.) I could get used to this, no problem.
    
     The "adventure badge" I've been wearing most has been my spanish conversation skills. I'm loving living in what I find to be one of the most beautiful languages I've heard. Everyday is a challenge, but also a great learning opportunity. Today I had a conversation while waiting for the Trole with a man who works for El Ministerio de Educación (ministry of education.) He told me all about this job, his son and his opinion on international politics. I even understood most of it! It was amazing to hear his opinion on the US and how much freedom and wealth he thinks we have. I suppose this is where most people usually wax poetic with patriotism, but I'd rather here what you, my family and friends think about this man's statement- as I was taken aback by it. 


So for now, that's all. I'm loving life, and living quite the adventure. (oh, i'm hoping for a photo post soon.)

on my love for the grocery store and giving coca light another chance.

     I know I preached of my utter disdain for coca-light- but today I thought perhaps I'd give it another chance. Knowing that there is nothing quite as refreshing as a fountain soda, today I toke the plunge an ordered a coca-light at McDonalds. It wasn't great, it wasn't even very good, but better than the bottled version....moving on-
     The past few days have been uneventful, of course I've tried some new foods, had some humbling language experiences, but all in all I feel like I'm falling into a routine here.  Life is good and easy for the moment in Quito. In leiu of trying to string together the experiences of the past three days, please read these as though you're enjoying the CNN ticker during Anderson Cooper 360 (how I miss that man.)

• Thursday I met cute dog in the park, the owner was also pretty attractive. However, I too self conscious about my lack of language skills to approach said owner.
• Almost everyday now, I visit the market on my way home from school. Santa Maria, is a little like Walt's- homey, full of old ladies and overall makes me very happy. My roommates find this profoundly funny and love to mock my grocery addiction. In my defense, it's not just Santa Maria that I like, there is also an open market next door, where you can bargain and practice Spanish. I got some of the best bananas I've had for 40 cents from a woman with three teeth AND some apparently expensive flowers for $2 bucks. (pictures to come.) Fun fact, the first woman I tried to buy the flowers from got lil peeved when I tried to buy the same flowers for a dollar. So peeved, that she rolled her eyes and walked away from me. Awesome.
• Ecuadorian tamales are a touch on the nasty side. Slices of boiled egg and green olive in the side? No, gracias.
• Fiora Vanti Soda has been the pride of Ecuador since 1868. Comes in strawberry, pineapple and apple flavor, yummm.
• The other S.A.ers and I play a game everyday after we get off the trole. Current score- Ecuador 1, USA 9. That means one pick pocketing to 9 robbery-free rides. : ) 
• Today was the "Turkey Bowl" at Alliance Academy, some of the S.A.ers played. The Youth World team won, and all of us left with some totally great tan lines. I should say burn lines. : )
• After dinner tonight, we ran to the story for ice (for Sharon's sprained ankle from said Turkey Bowl.) Latin America isn't big on ice. Upside- store clerk was even cuter than the dog owner from the park. I can creep on this store from our living room window- excellente!
• Today I bought string to make friendship bracelets, it was 98 cents per skein (?). Just an FYI- it's 10 cents a pop in the States. En Serio?

bruises,blisters and another almuerzo...

Another school day, getting up early, falling asleep while Mario drills spanish grammar into our cabezas...
and another almuerzo, those $1.50 lunch specials that are one of the biggest south american food gambles you can take. You may remember from my last post, "spanish class, salty snacks and a whole lotta walking", that my first almuerzo was quite the adventure. Today, the other S.A.ers and myself visited another small restaurant offering cheap eats and perhaps traveler's diarrhea (unfortunately the "baby place" from Monday was closed?) and ate soup, chicken, rice, mashed? potatoes and tang(the kool aide of Latin America.) Fun fact about Ecua soup-- it has chicken bones/cartilage/random parts of chicken anatomy in it. Skeeeetch, but tasty. Followed by rice with a little ahi- not too bad. This place can't hold a candle to moldy-paneling-cracked-glass-baby-tied-in-bouncy-chair-place... but it was still a ton of food for $1.50. I think between all seven of us we only found one hair and one little bug. Not too bad.

If that description isn't enough to turn your stomach, there's more. My feet have begun to rebel against me. From all of our walking I now have in total, 7 blisters between both. It's like stigmata of the feet. I was tempted to post pictures, but apparently that's gross? : ) Additionally, my killer bruise from zip lining is the nastiest, most unnatural, gray/green/purple I have ever seen.

Ecuador's still ballin' at about 70 and sunny- happy snow day, chicago!

spanish class, salty snacks and a whole lotta walking...

From my first few postings, it may have seemed as though i'm here in Ecuador on an extended adventure/ vacation. This is true, very true. : ) But today we started the classes to justify this extended adventure. The other study abroaders and my self began our spanish classes today- not as wild and crazy as ziplines, but an adventure none the less!
      Us girls treked all the way down the hill on our street, Via Lengua, to meet the boys at our usual rally point- Pollo Gus (a late night, greasy chicken joint.) We walked to the trolé and took the green line south to our school (the danger level is much less than the green line south in Chicago.) Our classes are held in El Mariscal, a very cool neighborhood with lots of tourism because of the many hostels. The language institute we are taking classes at is held inside an old restaurant that was once the Mango Tree- now it's less comida and more habla. Love it! We have two professores- Mario y Fauky.
    The real adventure came after class. While most of the S.A.ers visited the artesians market in El Mariscal- myself, Sharon and Chelsea went out for una almuerzo. "Almuerzos" are lunch speicals that cost about $1.50 and are usually traditional Ecuadorian food. The restuarnt we went to was a hole in the wall place and we stepped over a baby in a bouncy chair to enter, then ducked down into a cramped, cavernous basement dining room. (a pretty literal "hole in the wall") The place was very small, and a little dirty- perfect for cheap almuerzo. The atmosphere definately left a little to be desired, as the circa 1970's wood paneling was molding in some places and Chelsea's mango juice was served in a cracked glass (classy, right?). We felt very adventurous and it payed off. The food was great! Chicken, rice, avocado and ahi (a special Ecuadorian sauce like salsa that is unique in every resturant.)... and i haven't gotten sick yet! (I guess i should admit that today's lunch went against all the advice i was given before i came to Ecuador.... eat in clean resturants, don't drink the water in foreign countries, etc. but what a great day we had.)
     After that adventure we took the trolé back north (after a wrong stop and some horribly fudged spanish directions...) and made a quick trip to La Santa Maria grocery store to buy snacks for our breaks during class- turns out Rold Gold are not a staple in Ecuador... which is one of the less enchanting aspects of Ecua culture- i love pretzels. : (