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.
1 comment:
Wow. Quite the variety in recent days! I love that the president of your school did a mime act...especially the fact that he did it undercover. It sounds like Otavalo was a lot of fun! I can picture the randomness of modern technology mixed in with the "old" ways. Although eating fish w/ scales, I mean...come on, I do that all the time. Another thing...animals on buses...is that an everyday occurrence for you?! Do they keep similar pet animals as Americans? The highlight of your past two entries for me was the group of people gathered to watch the Packer game. I never would have imagined. Do Ecuadorians watch our football teams or was it just Americans? Also, I must say Ecuadorians seem to be quite the party animals...all their discotecas and staying out all night...I can't blame you for heading home at 1 am. miss u!
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