Mime this

Three words: Ecuadorian Talent Show.

USFQ had a talent show Thursday night after school. It was a pretty typical talent show—singing, guitar playing, magic tricks, comedians, and a mime. Yes, a mime. An awkward semi-scary mime whose gender was not clearly defined until after the show. Turns out it was a man, and was actually the president of the university. A very strange man indeed. The rest of the show, however, was really good, and even included a trio of older men who sang a beautiful Ecuadorian song.

Friday night was an interesting one. A friend knew some Ecuadorians who were having a party at their apartment in La Mariscal, so we all met at the main plaza to head over there. The party turned out to be only about a dozen people sitting around, drinking wine from a carton, and talking in English. Not exactly what we had in mind. A few of us girls had heard of a free outdoor concert in the old town, so we ditched the party and went there. Just as we were leaving, however, it of course started raining. Curse you rainy season. By the time we got to the concert the rain had become steady. The concert also happened to feature an Ecuadorian punk band—not exactly our scene. So, back to La Mariscal we went. We were with one of my friend’s host sisters, and she took us to this bar/discoteca that was full of gringos or gringo-hunters. By that time we were soaked, tired and a little upset that the night hadn’t exactly gone as planned. We ended up having a little fun, but we were all ready to head home by 1 (which is early by Ecuadorian standards).

On Saturday the host brother of one of my friends had a barbecue in the courtyard of their apartment building. He seriously bought enough meat to feed the entire country of Andorra. It was really good though, and it was fun hanging out with some Ecuadorians too. A few of my friends went out again on Saturday, but after the assault of the meat on my stomach and a day in the sun I was ready for bed pretty early.

Sunday was supposed to be homework day, but at breakfast my host mom informed me there was a family baptism we were invited to and she really wanted me to go too. I wanted to meet some of the extended family and get out of town for a bit so I told her I would. It turned out to be a really nice afternoon. The service was at this super cute church in the country, and the reception was at my host mom’s brother’s house. The house was gorgeous and included an indoor swimming pool, basketball court and even a little clubhouse for the kids to play in. The food was delicious and it was nice to meet the rest of the family.


Last week I was talking pictures from our patio at the exact moment a plane was flying overhead. They are really loud and fly really low, as you can see from the picture, because of the location of the airport in the city. I think I’m finally getting used to hearing them all the time, kind of like the trains back home, but it is still weird to see them so close.

Otavalo Weekend

This weekend I journeyed to Otavalo with two friends. Otavalo is a small town about two and a half hours from Quito by bus. The bus ride there is quite an experience in itself. For about two bucks you get a true Six Flags experience in the form of a rickety bus careening through the mountains at speeds even Matt Kennseth would be jealous of. The bus ride back featured a few feathered friends as well—a man brought two roosters on the bus with him and they made their presence known more than once. Oh, Ecuador.

Otavalo itself is a really cute town, but like Ecuador as a whole is a city of contrasts. On the streets brand new Ford Explorers can be seen passing rundown buildings covered in spray paint. Abercrombie sweatshirts cover indigenous blouses. Vendors chat on cell phones while snacking on fried fish—scales and all.
We arrived in Otavalo (safely, praise the Lord) at about 5 on Friday and found ourselves a cute little hostel for $10. It was actually one of the more expensive hostels but we had our own bathroom, gorgeous rooftop views of the city, a common area with a fireplace, and breakfast was included as well. It was very clean and quant. Being the dork that I am I forgot my camera, but my friends took a lot of pictures and I will post some soon.

On Saturday we ventured out to practice our bartering skills in Otavalo’s market. Their market is one of the largest in South America and is what makes the city a popular tourist destination. From jewelry to blankets to sizzling skillets of potatoes and meat, the market had it all. After a few hours of perusing and purchasing, we decided to grab some food and head back to Quito. There isn’t much to do in Otavalo at night, except for a weekly cockfight that we were not too disappointed to miss. Apparently you can hike a bit around Otavalo too and see some waterfalls and stuff, but we were running low on money and energy and wanted to make it back to Quito before dark.

Sunday was a pretty lazy day, as usual. I’m still working on finding a church down here but have downloaded a few sermons from Elmbrook until I can. It works for now, but I really want to find some fellowship as well. After attempting a little homework I headed down to the Mariscal and met up with a few friends to watch the Packer game at a little sports bar. I was amazed at how many Packer fans there actually were. At least 25 of us cheered on the Pack from thousands of miles away. It was pretty quiet when the game ended and the bar cleared out quickly.

Carnaval is coming up in two weekends, so we are working on planning a pretty extensive trip. We have Monday and Tuesday off of school, which for me means I don’t have class for a week. Rumors of a trip to the beach and maybe Mindo have been floating around, but we shall see.

I hope everyone is surviving the cold! And for my fellow Badgers, have a great first day of class tomorrow!

Mango anyone?

A ver…I can’t believe I have been here for almost two weeks already! All in all, it’s been really great so far. I figure it is about that time for a food update…always one of the first few questions I get about life here.

For breakfast, my abuelita usually makes me a grilled cheese and chocolate milk. She is so cute. Seriously, this woman is 90 years old and is up and about every morning making me breakfast. (Usually with a few “Que fría-How cold!”s thrown in there. I had to explain to her that 50 degrees is not cold. Negative 10 degrees is cold.) Sometimes when I have to leave early I have an empanada de viento. It is basically a light pastry filled with a little cheese and topped with sugar. Bread, good. Cheese, good. Sugar, goooood.

Lunch is the big meal for Ecuadorians. If I am home around lunch time (2 or 3), Pasiona, our maid, makes lunch for me. It usually starts out with some kind of soup, usually a chicken-type broth with potatoes and some spices. After soup comes the main course—typically rice, some kind of meat or eggs, little fried corn cakes filled with cheese, and avocado. Sometimes there is also fruit salad, and always some kind of new fruit juice to drink. They have a lot of amazing fruits here that we don’t have in the U.S., most notably one they call el tomate del arbol (a tree tomato). I’ve only had it in juice form, but it’s delicious. Mangos are also a favorite, but are different from the mangos we are used to. They are much smaller and you suck the juice out of them first, and then eat the fruit inside. Our maid also made a huge tub of ice cream out of a bunch of them, which usually follows the massive lunch meal. It’s at about this time I am ready to pass out, throw up, or loosen up the pants a bit. I can’t complain, though, because the food is usually really good and I don’t have to worry about going hungry. Sure beats pasta or pizza every day…

While that meal would most definitely sustain me for a least a week, super-abuelita zooms in at about 8:30 or 9 to make a little cafecita for me. And by cafecita, I mean warm milk with a spoonful of instant coffee. It’s basically like a really weak latte, and actually makes me more sleepy than awake. I was kind of disappointed to learn that a country that exports coffee beans really does not use them. I have yet to talk to somebody that has had real coffee while being down here. And of course, to accompany the cafecita, a grilled cheese sandwich. Man, I thought Wisconsinites loved their cheese. My family eats it with everything. Granted it is usually only in one variety—a mozzarella type—but it is nevertheless present at every meal.
At school if I get hungry I grab a little sandwich from one of the cafeterias or eat some mangos I brought from home. I usually try to pace myself, however, in preparation for the thanksgiving feast that awaits me every day when I come home. There are a lot of really cheap restaurants around the school too, and even a McDonald’s (one of my professors was telling us that is kind of a luxury and status symbol for people to go out to eat there).

Food summed up in a few words: potatoes, rice, cheese, avocado, fruit. Lots and lots of tasty fruit. I think that is one thing I will definitely miss back in the states. Crappy carton orange juice doesn’t stand a chance against fresh-squeezed mango or tree tomato juice.

The first week

Well it certainly has been an interesting, overwhelming and exciting week. I had my first round of classes on Thursday, and I think they are actually going to be fairly challenging. Probably not as hard as Madison, but definitely not as easy as I have heard some other people say. I am taking two literature classes—el Cuento Hispanoamericano and el Quijote, an advanced conversation class and either an Andean anthropology class or an Amazonian societies class. The anthropology class has a TON of reading for it, and considering I already have a lot of reading for my two lit classes I think I’m going to opt for the Amazonian class. Plus we get to visit a tribe in the jungle for that class and one of my good friends is in it. Although I was a little bored this week since I don’t really have any homework and only had one day of class, I think things should pick up once classes really get going. It’s really strange not having something to do all the time like in Madison, but it is a nice change.

Yesterday I explored la Mariscal a little with a friend. La Mariscal is a little district in town that a lot of my host sister calls “gringo landia” because foreigners like to hang out there. It is a really cute area with a ton of restaurants, internet cafes, bars and shops. It’s easy to see why Americans like it. Apparently it can be pretty dangerous at night, however, so it was good to explore during the day with a friend. We ate at a little café that was actually kind of expensive by Ecuadorian standards, but had some really good milkshakes.

Last night I also experienced my first discoteca. When I say discoteca, I literally mean thumping techno music and a giant disco ball. My host sister had wanted me to go with her to one originally, but I felt a little weird going with her and her friends, especially since I’m not really into that kind of thing. One of my friends from Wisconsin has a host brother that likes to go out, and had been bugging her all week to go. She isn’t really into the party scene either, so I told her I would tag along for moral support. We ended up meeting up with a few kids from Virginia Tech, and actually had a pretty good time. I even learned a few valuable lessons for surviving in Ecuador: 1. No matter what, if an Ecuadorian asks you if you have a boyfriend the answer is always yes. 2. Always have a big American boy on standby in case creepy 31-year-old Ecuadorian can’t take a hint. and 3. The YMCA just isn’t the same remixed as a techno song. I had fun, but don’t really have a desire to go back--which could be difficult considering my host sister pretty much goes out every Friday and Saturday and most Thursdays. My friends and I decided traveling will be a nice excuse to avoid the craziness that is Ecuadorian nightlife.

I think one of the most frustrating/hardest things so far has been just getting used to living in a city. While Quito is not really any more dangerous than a big city in the states, it still has its problems. Walking around or taking the bus after dark is really dangerous, especially for women, and gringos. Taxis, therefore, become the main means of transportation at night. In order to get a safe taxi it is much better to call for one. Those taxis, however, usually don’t have meters and are more expensive. They really take advantage of gringos too, so haggling over a price (in another language) is hard and was kind of scary at first. I miss safe ride…haha. Pickpockets also abound, especially on the busy busses during the day. I haven’t had any problems so far, and I think it is just a matter of being aware of your surroundings and not wearing or carrying anything expensive. If you are smart, it isn’t hard to be safe.

It will be nice to settle into a routine finally next week with classes and getting accustomed to living with a host family. Some people talked about going to Otovalo next weekend as well, which should be fun. It’s only about two hours away and has one of South America’s largest markets on Saturdays.

Que vista! (What a view!)

Need I say more?

Since this is my first update since arriving, I think maybe I should. This is a picture of the view from my family’s patio. Absolutely breathtaking. The picture does not do it justice...especially when the clouds are rolling in and weaving their way through the mountains. My family's house sits on the side of the mountain and overlooks Cumbaya, the small city where my university is located. My room faces the same direction, so I have an amazing view to wake up to.

So far, so good. I arrived late Saturday, and after an hour long wait to get through customs, found my bags and my family waiting for me. My family is great—it is just a mom and her daughter, and this little abuelita (grandmother) that seriously pops out of nowhere. She wasn’t here when I arrived, but randomly appeared the next day. I have no idea where she sleeps, but she is here early in the morning and late at night in her cute little nightgown, so she must live here somewhere. It’s not like the house is big or anything, but my room and my host mom and sister’s rooms are all right next to each other on the same floor. The abuelita’s room—no idea. She doesn’t speak any English but is super cute and really sweet, and even made me breakfast this morning.

My host mom, Pilar, is really nice as well and told me I am her daughter now, and she will treat me as such. She works for the government, from what I can gather for the economics minister writing his speeches. Apparently she has the phone number of President Correa himself, so I think she is pretty important. Also judging from the fact that the family has a maid, a driver, a guard, owns a big house by Ecuadorian standards, and lives down the street from the head of the assembly, she is pretty high up in the government.

My host sister, Mariapilar, is really nice as well. She goes to an international school here, so she speaks almost perfect English. Her English is definitely way better than my Spanish, but they are required to speak Spanish with me unless I really don’t understand and it is something important. My mom speaks English as well, so it has been helpful when I don’t understand something.

Yesterday Pilar showed me how to get to the university by bus. It takes about 45 minutes, and I have to take two buses, but they come often and really only go in one direction. Some other students have to take three buses and it takes an hour or more for them to get to the school. Since I will probably only have class two days a week, I don’t mind.

Today we had orientation at the university. Kind of boring, and not really that helpful, but it was still good to get a feel for the campus and meet some other international students. A few of us from Madison also went out to lunch with a couple of the students from the university today. They were really nice and gave us a lot of helpful information about Ecuador.

My family’s driver drove me to the university yesterday, but I took the bus back. I think Pilar wanted me to call her when I needed a ride home, but she didn’t leave me her number when she left for work and I haven’t bought a cell phone yet. When I got home my host sister told me the driver went to pick me up but couldn’t find me…haha oops. One girl I have become friends with was heading back to Quito on the bus so I ended up just doing that and made it home just fine.

Classes start Wednesday. I am signed up for one that is Monday, Wednesday, Friday, but I think I am going to drop it because it is my only class on those days and I really don’t want to have class on Friday. Without that class, I have four—all on Tuesday and Thursday. Not bad at all. :)