I never realized how awkward it is for Sarge when I’m looking him straight in the eyes, talking to him as if he understands me, when in fact he really has no clue what is coming out of my mouth. Now, after two weeks in Ecuador, I can understand his awkwardness. His situation of course is different than mine because he actually cannot hear a single word I say, but I would have to argue that my situation is comparable. Living with a host family is great – they cook me breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day, each meal with a fresh fruit smoothie made on the spot included, and since they have the best fruit I have ever tasted here, the smoothies are well worth the awkwardness of trying to hold a conversation throughout the entire meal. I get my own room with a WiFi connection, and my parents don’t really care where I go or when I come home as long as I tell them what I’m doing – this latter part is again a struggle in itself. But while the mounds of delicious food is great, if you haven’t caught on yet, the language barrier poses a minor problem for me. It was pretty bad at first, and I felt like a complete idiot, but now, its not so horrible. I feel like I can understand most of what they say to me, I just have trouble trying to respond back. Yet, if the improvement I’ve seen in the last two weeks continues, I should feel pretty confident by the time I leave, fingers crossed.
Despite the fact that Quito is one of the most dangerous places for robberies in the world (and one of my friends have already gotten robbed) I would have to say that the people I’ve met are some of the most welcoming and hospitable people I have ever met. Even take a look at the robbery - the girl had most of her money, besides 2 bucks, tucked away in her bra and it was pretty obvious she had things stashed there, but the robber did not even notice - consequently, we can conclude that he was at least a conscientious robber who didn’t stare at womens’ chests. In seriousness though, the first day I was walking to class my sandal broke and immediately my friends dad who I was walking with knocked on the tailor we were passing and asked her to fix it. Two minutes and 50 cents later, my shoe was as good as new! Thankfully, because I would have stood out more as a gringo, the pet name Ecuadorians call us Americans, not only with light hair and light skin, but walking around with only one shoe on – basically wearing a sign that says, “rob me now.”
On the topic of gringos, our favorite place to go is La Plaza Foch, or Gringo Landia, where all the gringos go to get there party on. Its basically just a huge strip and bunch of side streets of bars each with their only advertiser standing outside nagging you in Spanglish come in. Inside Gringo Landia it’s supposed to be relatively safe, but step a few blocks out of its territory and you have reason to worry - I feared for my life when the taxi driver ripped by telling us we were there, and finding out we were still 8 blocks away – these guys can spot our ignorance from a mile away. Also there are nice salsa bars which would be cool if I knew how to salsa dance. However, after a few drinks, I’m determined I know everything and decided to test my inner gracefulness. Had it not been for three different guys teaching me three different ways to salsa, I may have learned by the end of the night, but needless to say I’m still a failure. Good thing they’re offering lessons at our school, that way I’ll go back and really show these Ecuadorians my stuff.
I had my first day of actual classes on Thursday and they don’t seem like they will be too bad. In my Spanish classes, we are only allowed to speak and ask questions in Spanish, and if she catches you speaking English, you have to get up and dance in front of the class. Punishment? I think not… it merely gets me warmed up for the nights activities! My econ one seems pretty interesting and not an overwhelming amount of work and my bi-dis one just seems like it’s going to be a chaotic debate between the economists and the environmentalists over the oil crisis in the amazon todos las dias with nothing getting accomplished. I’m also doing community service two days a week where I work with disadvantaged kids, ages 4-6 old, after school. I’m hoping that being around these kids who speak absolutely no English will help my learning curve grow even faster.
Sunday I’m going to the Liga de Ecuador vs. Barcelona game. Don’t get too excited, but its not Barcelona de Espana as all of my friends and I thought at first, its Barcelona de Guayaquil. It’s supposed to be a huge rivalry game though, which the staff at our school, ACLAS, warned us not to go to because it’ll be dangerous. If I survive, I’ll let you know how it is.
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