The adventure has now begun...

23 August 2009
It is hard to believe that I am finally here in Ecuador. After months of planning and anticipation, here I am sitting in my new room and reveling in the realization. Yesterday was a decent adventure. It was the first time that I have ever navigated an airport completely by myself and that was a bit frightening. Several times I had to just sit back and take a deep breath, saying a prayer for strength and comfort to make it through. God was even good enough to let me connect with another NC State student at the baggage claim so I was not alone going through the last part of the process in the airport. Walking through those doors to find my host family was made easier by knowing that I had other students behind me. My host mother had a sign with my name on it that helped me to easily find them. The only issue I encountered was not being able to call my parents right away as they wanted me to for the knowledge of knowing that I was safe and had made it there just fine. Of course, yet again I was provided for and was allowed to use Manuel’s cell phone at the house to call my mom and quiet her worries – and let her finally be able to relax and go to sleep.
The house is more of an apartment but it is still spacious and comfortable enough for me. My room is simple and has more than enough room for all my things, which are not numerous to begin with. I have a little table in my room with two chairs where I am sitting right now as I write, a simple metal desk that will come in handy when classes start, a beside thing that has a lamp on it which is very convenient, a mirror and dresser and a decent wardrobe that Lupe provided with hangars for my clothes. Good thing considering I did not bring any. What makes the room homier is having the two little dogs come and visit whenever my door is open. Coqui is by my feet right now and begging for some attention and petting, he is a tad spoiled. His compatriot Negrita is a poodle who is also spoiled yet terribly loving. It is harder to miss bandit when I have two little amiable companions. They even jump on the bed like Bandit. The last part of the house well worth mentioning is that if you walk up a couple flights of stairs past other apartments then you will be taken to the roof. The roof itself is nothing special but the view it affords of the city is just breathtaking! Lupe says that it is a good place for me to bring friends at night. I might just take her up on that sometime. Of course, it will have to wait until I have my own key, but I am in no hurry for that.
I awoke early this morning due to the constant noise of cars and motorcycles going by outside. This was not a big deal since it gave me plenty of time to attempt to eat breakfast and take a cold shower. My tastes and appetite have no yet conformed to the atmosphere and food yet, though Lupe said not to worry about it that it was normal. With the shower I am pretty sure that I just did not pay enough attention to my tutorial – though it had seems so easy at the time. Guess I just wasted less water that way. After I was dressed and dried off a bit Lupe invited me to go on a walk to become acquainted with the surrounding area. We took the dogs too who were extremely energetic and quite rebellious during the walk. Lupe showed me a Christian church since I had said I wanted to attend church while here. I was also shown the main avenue that people go to where, not surprisingly, you could find the mall fully equipped with a McDonalds. How I would love to go somewhere that did not have an American restaurant. Don’t get me wrong, its good comfort food if you get homesick or desire accustomed food, but I find it does take away from my experience a little. It was hot outside, still is as I am writing, and we decided to head back to the house by way of a shortcut. While doing so, Lupe told me how to orient myself with the mountains if I ever get lost and pointed out the Movistar store where I am apparently going to have to get a cheap temporary cell phone. It seems that everyone, or at least the people I will be regularly hanging out with, all use cell phones to stay in touch etc kind of like in the US. Coming here I thought I was rid of a cell phone for four months, but come to find out that is not true. I only hope that Lupe is right about it being cheap. Also, I would love it if I could call home and friends with it instead of having to buy phone cards. That will soon be figured out I suppose.
For now, I am just taking it easy at the house until 1pm when Manuel will return and the three of us will go for an outing. We will eat lunch in the historic district – which I am very excited to see – and tour some of the area. Though I probably should, I will not be taking my camera. Due to safety concerns I will not even be carrying a purse the majority of the time. Plus I have four months in this wonderful place to explore and take pictures. There is just no point for me to go overboard today on photos. And I love the idea of not carrying around a purse too; if I cannot fit something comfortably in my backpack with my books then I do not need it. Basically, I just need a sparse amount of cash on me, writing utensils and my trustworthy lip gloss and I will be perfectly fine to go through the city and attend classes. That will not be hard for me to acclimate myself with. Having no wireless internet connection will be a slight struggle since I wish to keep in touch with everyone back home, but I can use the Ramirez computer as needed which is a blessing. Therefore with my flash drive I will be able to write out my daily adventures and post them regularly so that you know how things are going along down here in northern Quito. That seems to be all I have to report for right now, so hasta luego – it is time for a short nap and some Jane Austen before lunch! J

8pm
As I am taking a break from reading for a few minutes as dinner should be taking place soon and the little dogs have left me alone for the time being, I thought it in my best interest to recount the afternoon before I forget it all. I did get to read more of Sense & Sensibility which I am enjoying thoroughly, and I also had the pleasure of a restful siesta. How tired I truly was did not dawn on me until after I had slept an hour or so. The pleasantness of waking up from the nap at 1:05pm would have remained had the house, including Negrita and Coqui, not been completely silent. I became immediately worried that the worst had happened. Lupe had said we would go out for lunch and a tour at 1pm – maybe they had decided not to bother me in my slumber and had simply left! It did not quiet my fears any when I did not see the main car in the driveway when I walked downstairs. Just to be sure I even walked up to the roof. The gorgeous panoramic view could only bring so much joy when I was hungry and felt abandoned. This all could have been avoided though had I had the guts in the first place to at least call out for Lupe, for when I finally did after wondering around for 20 minutes in the house she came speedily out of her room readily inquiring after me. Apparently, Manuel was simply not back from the hospital yet and we were just awaiting his return. My fears were thus unfounded and I sorely wished that I was not such a picky eater that I had eaten next to nothing at breakfast.
The outing was splendid though! We drove to El Centro of Quito where we were to eat and start the afternoon tour. The first building pointed out to me was the president’s residence – ironically a huge white building. The US is not the only one to have a White House I suppose. Where we ate was a place that at first seemed to me like a mini mall with several floors of souvenir type places and food. To my astonishment though it did have fast food dining options and places where postcard and such purchases could be made, it actually housed the bishop on the top floor. The bishop! Here he lives in an upper floor all business with the church and below him is like fair game where commercial enterprises are free to take place. If this were Bible times, I wonder what Jesus would have said to that? I guess it technically is not a temple or a religious institution, but it still shocked me. On the other hand, the bishop’s residence/mini shopping place did afford me a splendid lunch. Hunger had been with me too long and I was praying for food that I would actually enjoy eating. If only I could remember the name of the place, but alas it escapes me now, but the prices were cheap and my food was delicious. Imagine a little combo meal of rice, beans, some fried thingy and a piece of meat with a drink for $3. No lie. I was thrilled and now hope to find such reasonably cheap prices for food around the university so I do not ever have to be concerned with going over budget for my food. The only negative of the meal consisted of the dessert that Lupe bought for me to try. The name was strange but basically translated into cheese and figs in sauce. At first look it could have been mistaken for cheese cubes on chocolate chunks, but the first bite would have been more than enough to say otherwise. I have never been a fig person and I only tried it to not be wasteful. But I definitely do not care for any more figs for a while. I made myself eat my two cheese cubes covered in the rich fig-y sauce. Then I was done. Lupe was eating the second half of it anyway and I was thankful that it had only ever cost $1 to begin with.
I have never known a place more filled with museums and churches than Quito. Whereas the US has a fast food place on every corner, Quito has a church, a museum or a convent – or some combination thereof. There is a basilica that is the oldest church in Latin America. Time to eat!
8:43pm
It was definitely time to eat, for I was once again quite hungry. And I have just come to the realization that I am becoming one of those annoying people who say way too much about every minute detail about their day when writing. So I promise to not be so bad, especially once classes start and I do not have much time. But until then while everything is new and wonderful to me I will just continue to report everything I find amusing no matter obnoxious it might be.
Back to the tour… The church was gorgeous and I do plan on going back sometime to tour it and appreciate its history even more than I did on first sight. One museum that we walked by was actually a hospital originally, the first hospital in South America I believe is what Lupe said. Just walking through the numerous streets and soaking up all the cultural and historical richness was bliss in and of itself. It is my sincere wish that I visit as many museums and cultural landmarks as possible in my four months stay in Ecuador. Otherwise, this trip will just not hold the same significance. Anyways, we were in El Centro for a couple hours before we headed back to the car and headed for a short glimpse of northern Ecuador. More so, it was an excursion for Manuel and Lupe to get some coffee. I was graciously treated to some hot chocolate with marshmallows for I was not brave enough to try the version with cheese. As it is, the way they make the hot chocolate here as it was also in Peru, is that it has the chocolate flavor and all but is lacking in much sweetness so one must add sugar to the drink until it has an agreeable taste. Along with this the three of us partook of these tea cookies that were good but to me a tad bland. At least they tasted better than the fig thing enough for me to eat two upon prompting, yet not a third when pleaded with to eat the last one. After such refreshment we walked around in the mall right down the sidewalk. I swear it is bigger than Oak Hollow mall in High Point and probably has more name brand stores in it too. It was amusing but I have always preferred mercados and random side street shops when in foreign countries to large commercial establishments. Maybe I am just weird but that is my taste.
On coming home I continued to enjoy all of the sights I could see along the street and the people watching. Some of the obvious poverty is heart breaking especially children trying to sell mandarins on the street corners, but there was still joy to be found in the ride. Since being back at the house, I have not done too much. A short nap and plenty of reading have been my main employments, though Negrita did offer me some company by lying in my lap during my reading. She really only wanted to be pet which I obliged her with for a while. Then I had the pleasure of sitting down to dinner with Lupe and watching a Spanish version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” I actually got a couple questions right and even enjoyed my food! J It was a simply corn dish with two little slices of cheese on the side. I believe it is called something like amita, but I will have someone correct me on that point later. To compliment this there was this soy juice that has fruit in it. It is pretty good. The late dining thing is going to take some getting used to, along with eating large lunches and tiny dinners. All in all, I find that it will be good for me as I am already eating healthier in a sense, and smaller dinners are encouraged for improved, or at least good I guess, weight. In any case, that has been my experiences so far and though I dislike thinking of the fact that I have to get up at like 6:30am tomorrow morning for orientation, it will be nice to meet the other international students, have a tour of the campus and figure out everything like the cell phone and buying my books for classes on Wednesday.