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. : (
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