Fiestas de Quito

So it's 11:30pm and I'm working on a paper due in about 15 hours (don't ask how far along I am) so there is clearly no better time to update my blog.

This weekend we celebrated the founding of Ecuador's capital with basically, the entire city.  The celebrations started last Friday (Nov 28th) and went all week and finished on Sunday December 6th.  It was really cool, everything was kind of thrown off for the fiestas, very fun.  Class attendance by the Ecuadorians, needless to say, was quite low and very sketchy all week. 
There were bull fights all week, although I didn't go to any.  I figured, knowing myself and my beliefs, although it'd be a cool cultural experience, I think it'd make me really uncomfortable, so I decided to opt out of that one.
Lots of partying going on all week, every day.  Ecuadorians really like to party, and it's not nearly as taboo here as it is there.  "Chivas" (which translates to goat, but don't get confused) are a favorite of everyone, and while you can see them year-round, during the fiestas, they are EVERYWHERE.  Basically, it's a big bus/truck thing with a live band on top that slowly drives around the city, filled with people dancing, drinking, singing, blowing whistles, and basically just having the time of their lives.  Between 1-4 chivas/night passed my house every day last week.  I should mention that while I live by a busy road, it's nowhere near a party district.  The chivas just go everywhere.
All week there's been partying and celebration, and it all culminated this weekend.  By Saturday, almost all the buildings had both the Ecuador and Quito flags flying.  We gringos went out on Saturday night to celebrate too,  (I partied in my yellow Ecuador jersey; I was proud).  We went down to the Mariscal (the gringo-land area filled with lots of clubs, bars, people, etc; we usually go out there, as much as it pains me) and it was FILLED with people (Lolo and I were squished on the bus on the way down there, full of drunk futbolistas coming from the game going out to celebrate; they sang the entire way and would break out into "Mi Lindo Quito" about every 3rd song).  More people than I've ever seen there.  All the bars and clubs also upped their prices for the weekend, which wasn't cool, but wasn't too bad since we just partied in the streets with all the Ecuadorians instead.  The police/army were everywhere (and enforcing stupid rules in my opinion, but i won't get into that) but it was still kinda sketchy, both despite and because of the police.
Us gringos tried to get a Chiva with some of the other USFQ gringos, but there was drama and too many people so us Kalamazoo kids decided to get off and hang out together instead (also will not get into the issues I have with the other gringos).  Although we had a chiva fail, it was still a fun night.  Coincidentally (or not???  haha) Quito and the Berg twins (Tor and Tova) share a birthday, so we spent the night celebrating with them too, culminating with both twins being hoisted into the air on Nic and Nathan's shoulders while we danced around singing happy birthday at midnight.  All in all, a fun night.  It's cool to be part of something bigger than yourself that everyone is a part of, with everyone out and having a good time all for the same reason.

Mi Camino

Everyday I walk about 6 blocks to and from the bus stop. Here are some things I experience on my daily trekk:

-3 parks (de Chile, de Peru, and the one that's right outside my building)
-2 pet stores
-a great smelling panaderia [breadshop] that tempts me every morning
-mountain climbing/biking store
-intense amount of pollution that burn my nose some days
-wall full of environmentalist murals done by schoolkids (you can see it sort of in this picture)
-about 1000 yellow taxis

-equestrian store (in the middle of quito?)
-mute and deaf abuelita [grandma] who sits in the park with her dog (who is always wearing a sweater)

-the smell of eucalyptus
-the shar-pei puppy that chews on its leash while it walks and its older compatriot
-flower stands that remind me of the lei stands back home

Dia Cincuenta, 1/4!!!!

So today is officially Day 50 for me here in Ecuador. I’ve been here for about a month and a half, a fourth of my time here in Ecuador, and over that time I’ve gone through the expected phases explained to us by the CIP before leaving Kalamazoo last spring (honeymoon phase, homesick/irritated phase, hate-this-country-why-did-I-do-this-to-myself phase, maybe-it’s-not-so-bad-after-all phase, etc). I’ve found myself settled into a pretty comfortable state of being where I still don’t get Ecuador a lot of the time, but I’m very much enjoying myself and enjoying living somewhere different like this. The language barrier, as I’ve said before, has gotten significantly easier and more rewarding. Although it still has its problems, (i.e. I almost always refuse to talk on the phone in Spanish because I simply can’t understand), I very rarely have problems with it anymore (I can usually almost always understand, more or less, what’s going on in class).
I find myself excited for the next few months, the next 3/4 of the program, knowing that it's going to pass incredibly quickly. I’m actually traveling for the next 5 weekends in a row, so those will be fun times. However, midterms have started up so I’ve got a bunch more homework coming as well, so that’s not exciting.
I am pretty proficient at finding my way around the Northern part of Quito and relatively mobile. I’m slowly discovering more freedom as I visit other friends around the city and learn how to take the busses in addition to having a greater appreciation for walking across the city.
There are still things that get me about Quito (pollution, rubbish, bureaucracy, crime and insecurity) but I’m coming to really appreciate the city. I am also really liking Ecuador and South America and all the differences and unique culture it has to it. It really is a continent with personality and history and I love its distinct character.
Last night a bunch of us K kids went to Dahlia’s (one of my roommates for the past 2 years) house to hang out and have a chill Saturday night. We baked a chocolate cake, hung out with an adorable 6 year old, and watched movies. After we finished our movie, I came to the realization, “wait, whoa, we’re in Ecuador!” Sometimes we just can’t believe we’re here, other times we just forget. It really just felt like another night at the dorms or something. I am having a great time in Ecuador, but every once in a while it’s nice to just escape and relax for a little bit.
To celebrate this auspicious day and making it through 25% of SA so far, I am sitting in my apartment doing homework as midterm season has started up and, of course, Kt is behind on her readings (surprise surprise). Some things may change over time, other things not so much. :-P

Picoflores y cumpleanos :)

I saw a picoflore at USFQ today!! (Translation: Katie saw a hummingbird while studying by the university's lake this afternoon. Twas very exciting.)

Also, feliz cumpleanos a mi hermanita <3
Since it's Kimi's bday, I also must admit, that since coming to Ecuador, I've become an America's Next Top Model junkie. Only, in Spanish...

Lluvia y cumpleanos

It’s not the rain that’ll get you, but the water on the streets. You know in the movies when people are standing on the side of the road and a car comes by and BOOM goes through a giant puddle and a tidal wave basically engulfs the person standing on the side of the road? Well, luckily for me, I remembered this image and was careful to skirt the side of the road on my way homer today. Today was our first taste of Quito downpour, although I’m sure that once the rainy season hits we’ll be quite used to it. Being in a dry valley between two mountains, Quito doesn’t get much rain suring the summer, and Cumbaya is pretty dry too (rain shadow effect and whatnot). Today however, it was difficult to hear in my last class over the sounds of the raindrops hitting the building. It was pretty intense.

The rainclouds have ominously been looming over us the past few days so it’s finally opened up and let it all out. I, of course, looked at my rain coat this morning, thought “I should bring that, it’s probably going to rain today” and promptly left it in my closet.

Traversing the rivers aka crossing the roads today was quite an adventure as I attempted to not drown or get soaked by the cars passing by (as well as the usual attempt at not getting hit by cars in general, but that’s basically anytime you’re near a street here). I spent the extra $0.25 to take a second bus home instead of walking the 6 blocks back. Normally it wouldn’t have bothered me (yay not freezing cold rain!) but I had all my books blah blah blah.

The other night we had either fog or really low clouds. I think it was fog after an afternoon downpour (not nearly as large compared to today). It was really cool to look out and have kinda that creepy misty feeling overlooking my neighborhood and nearby Quito. The city looked, dare I say it, calm?
The rain is a nice change of pace and just something different. Plus it makes the traffic slow down sorta.

us hiding in the bathroom very sneakily...
(L-R: Lolo/Lauren, Annie, Tina. Jordan's body, Tova, Sari)

In other news, we celebrated Gabe's birthday on Monday by hiding in his bathroom. We sneakily went over to his house after school and met his madre there. It was pretty fun to jump out at him and everything. For his birthday, Lauren and I raided SuperMaxi aka greatest store ever (just a regular supermarket, but those are so much fun) and bought him good ole Oreos and a box of milk (Ecuadorians are mad crazy about their boxed milk). And a very interesting magazine appropriately named "Muy Interesante" (Very Interesting). It had an article about zombies. We had to get it.

It's nice to just get together and do some basic things from home. Gabe's birthday wasn't anything special, but it was something we would do back in the states and every once in a while it's nice to escape the Ecuador craziness and just do something habitual and familiar, like sing happy birthday, blow out a candle, and ambush your friends in their own home.

The suprise birthday party :)

Clockwise around the table: Me, Alyson, Tova, Annie, Lolo, Gabe, Jordan, Sari

No sé.... éste semana....

So I don´t really have a topic for this post, but I felt like I should do some sort of update.  It´s been an ok week, I started off sick on Sunday afternoon/Monday, so that was kind of a downer.  Not anything serious (some people have had to go to the hospital and get antibiotics), just really tired and a sniffles.  Solution was to sleep it off (tons of siestas this week) and I think my madre may think I´m a little crazy, but that´s ok.

This week I watched more fútbol than I have in my entire life,  it´s intense.  Last Saturday Ecuador lost to Colombia but we won Wednesday´s match against Bolivia.  Fútbol here is entertaining, as basically the entire country stops for a few hours while the national team plays.  Literally, there were so few cars on the road (the first time I´ve heard quiet streets in Quito) and the only time you heard people was when they were yelling at the tv.  Also, everyone on planet earth wears their yellow national jersey.  It´s kinda cool and I kinda wish there was something like this in the US, it´s just so unique for apparently every single other country except the US (from what I hear about France, fútbol is huge there too)

Classes have finally started to get going (slowly but surely) and I finally have some homework to do.  Sadly, I´ve been waiting for this as I am usually very bored in my house when I go home after school.  All my classes are cool and I´m enjoying them lots.  The dork in me is loving my Tropical Rainforest class and all the ecology I´m learning.  Volcanology is also cool (we got to smash rocks in class yesterday to see the inner parts for identification), and my Spanish class is actually turning out to be pretty fun.  I´m also slowly meeting the few Ecuadorians that I have in my classes, especially through my Tropical Rainforest class and my drawing class (the only class I have where there are more Ecuas than gringos).

Life in Ecuador is proving difficult and challenging for me, but it definitely has its up days, especially just hanging out around campus or actually getting out and doing things.  This weekend our K College group is set to visit Otavalo, another city a few hours away.  This town is apparently one of the centers of indigenous people and thus also home to the largest artesian market here in Ecuador, so it´ll be fun to go buy some cool stuff while we´re there.

One of the things I´ve been enjoying the most recently is reading everyone else´s blogs from all over the world.  It still is such a crazy thought for me to imagine me and all my friends in all corners of the globe!  I´m checking up on friends in Thailand, France, Senegal, Japan, Chile, Spain, South Africa, and everywhere in between!  So crazy!  Love for all from Quito!

Burocracia

I've had a few run-ins with Ecuadorian bureaucracy, and let me just say that it makes the state of Hawaii look like a smooth running machine. So far, we've had trouble with our visas and censos, and the process it took to deal with both of these was quite frustrating. The first problem was that our visas were incorrectly issued by the consulate in Chicago way back in May so they were set to expire in December (not ok when every is supposed to stay till Feb). Thus 5 of us students and one of our program directors had to go to the office to get them all extended. The reason why this is silly/confusing is because each person can only work with 5 visas at a time, so for a group of 30 of us, we needed 6 ppl instead of just our program director doing all 30 at once. This limit doesn't really make sense to me, plus then we had to wait for forever in the office itself.

Second run-in was this morning when I woke up at 6am to go to get my censo. Getting up so early is not fun on a Saturday, but necessary here apparently. The censo is basically you getting legally registered in the country and they give you an ID to carry. It must be done by the first 30 days of being in Ecuador (or pay a fine between $20-$2000), so ours had to be done by Monday. A bunch of us went after class yesterday only to find out that the office only does 30 censos each day. Why? I don't know. I know for a fact that they have more migrants than that, but whatever, again, Ecuadorian beauracratic silliness. So we were turned down yesterday afternoon and told to come back tomorrow. So there we were, at 730am on a Saturday, a group of about 12 Kalamazoo students, standing in front of the immigration building. Luckily, we all managed to get our censos today and didn't have to come back on Monday.
Still, the bureacratic nonsense is ridiculous. A few of us didn't have manilla envelopes (blue manilla folders instead) and they refused to use them. I'm sure this is how they make their profits: by forcing unknowing gringos to buy $0.50 manilla envelopes instead of using the perfectly fine other ones they bring with them. All in all, frustrating, but bareable.

Today the national Ecuadorian futbol (soccer) team plays Colombia, so everyone is wearing their jerseys and it's pretty cool. Hopefully we'll get to watch it on a tv or something (the game is in Colombia). Every single individual in this country is excited, not even joking. Should be a fun day, although I think I may need a nap to make up for the morning before getting in on all the excitement.

Clases y Gringos

Today was the first day of classes, sort of. On Wednesdays I only have 2 hours of class, and after standing in front of our first class for 15 minutes, another faculty member came out to tell us that our professor is actually in Guayaquil until Friday so we don’t have class till Monday. With 50% of my day cancelled, I only had “Programa de Investigacción del Campo” today. This is the class that K College creates so we can get credit for doing research projects down here. It’s just the 8 K students in the ecology program, so that, in addition to my almost entirely international student Tropical Rainforest class lead to a very gringo-filled day. Still haven’t really met many Ecuadorians much, but tomorrow…. maybe? All my classes (Spanish, Volcanology, and Human Ecology) are pretty gringo-filled, although I am taking an art class in hopes of meeting some Ecuadorians that way.

We were warned ahead of time that it’s difficult to make friends with many of the Ecuadorians, since they’re pretty cliquey and it’s hard to enter, especially as a gringo. We were also warned, that as ecology students it would also be hard since we only have 2 electives outside of our 4 required classes.

On USFQ: It looks and feels like a country club. I know we were also warned about this ahead of time, but it’s true. It actually kind of reminds me, in a way, of Punahou, and how many of the students have lots of money and put much of their ego into their appearance (clothes and otherwise). It’s a very different environment than K, were most students wear fleeces and have nalgenes (not to say that K kids are all hippy environmentalists, although that would be awesome…, but simply that I get the sentiment that it’s a lot more relaxed in terms of appearance and status). Or maybe I’m oblivious to it at college, I’m not sure. In any case, there’s definitely a different vibe coming off the students, both Ecuadorians and gringos alike. At the international student party last night, there was definitely the vibe of some sort of pressure. Last Saturday, all of the K kids went out together (with a few Ecuadorian friends too) and we had a great time just hanging at the bar and dancing at the discoteque. At the party last night (which was gringo-landia for sure), there was almost a “stiff” feeling to the energy being emitted. It was interesting. Also interesting was that I once again felt very small compared to the very large, much older looking Caucasians that dominated the majority. After being in Quito for only one week, it was actually difficult for me to speak in English and be in the company of very white, very American students who are all much larger than I am. These are many of the same sentiments I felt when I first arrived at K for LandSea. After only week, I’m already feeling these things, so it’ll be interesting to see what comes after being here for longer.

Regardless, I am very excited to have something to do, like school, and to be able to be learning again, especially about super cool things like biodiversity in Ecuador, of all places! Although it reminds me a lot of home (lots of hibiscus, eucalyptus, and other flowers and trees, little birds that look like our java sparrows, and a larger bird that I think is some sort of myna…), there are still tons of things I don’t recognize. The fruit, for one, is very different. Have you ever heard of a guyanaba? I haven’t. Or tree tomatoes? I had it as a juice for breakfast this morning, and it kind of tastes like raw guava or not quite ripe strawberry guavas. Although guayana is guava, so that’s familiar, as well as Lilikois, although they have a Spanish name I can’t remember. We also have some of the hugest plantains/bananas I’ve ever seen too.

All in all, Ecuador has been a broad mix of things very familiar to Hawaii due to their tropical similarities, yet completely different from the United States as a still developing world.

El Parque de Cometas y Orientacion

Yesterday we went to the Paque Itchimbía, one of the larger parks in Quito. It’s up at the top of a hill in the middle of the city so when you’re up there you can see all the way around the valley and get a 360 view of Quito. It was really cool. Because it was Sunday, it was of course crowded. I’ve noticed that Ecuadorians really like their parks, and thus they are significantly more crowded, especially on the weekend. The park was filled with families, people riding their bikes, walking their dogs, and I think more kites than I’ve ever seen in one park. Hopey, Marcia, and I walked around the park and got an awesome view of the city, while getting to be in a relatively calm place. I really liked that there were lots of plants and trees throughout the park.

Hopey and I, being the biology/ecology geeks that we are, got really excited at one point when we saw a bug pulling a dead spider across the road. It was super cool, almost as good as national geographic.

It was nice to have a calm day and get to take a little retreat from the crazy traffic of the city. I have never lived in a city before, and this is unlike any city I’ve ever spent an extended period of time in. There’s tons of traffic and pollution, while still being incredibly beautiful and surrounded by mountains and with streets lined with trees. It’s a very interesting juxtaposition between an ecological hotspot and an overpopulated, super-urban center. If you’re off the main roads, the neighborhoods are actually quite calm and relatively quiet.

One of the nice things about being in such a populated city is that the public transportation system is incredibly strong and HIGHLY utilized by everyone in the city. The buses themselves are exciting enough that they deserve their own post so more on that later.

Today we also had the actual USFQ orientation with most of the other international students. It was fun to be on campus and have other students around. Us K College kids have been on campus all last week with intensive Spanish language classes and K-specific orientations, so today was mostly review of last week’s things and pretty boring. Despite this, I’m really excited to meet other students, not just from Ecuador (they come on Wednesday when classes start) but also from the US and other countries. I met a few students from Holland, Oregon, California, and other places around the US. After one week of slowly getting used to Quito, things are finally starting to get rolling!

Journaling from the past week: 8/20

20 August 2009
Today I got to go to the Centro Historico! It was really awesome because Mali (a former exchange student with K-college) and her friend Juan took us around and showed us the sights. It was really interesting to learn about some Ecuadorian history. Quito is old. Like, antiguo old. It was also really fun because it’s some of the first exploring I’ve gotten to do since getting here and although I felt like a huge tourist it was still really interesting.

foto de mi from the balcony of the President's house. Too bad it was too late, because they actually let you walk around. Very different policy from the White House.

More Centro Historico, that's Juan on the right being a great tour guide :)

I’ve been journaling on my laptop so I’m going to post a little of it so you can get a peak inside my brain. WARNING: Kind of emo at times and also usually long. Since I usually am writing at night, I tend to be tired and more emo than normal. I’m actually fine and having a great time.
Journaling: I think the thing I’ve been having the hardest time with is a) communication b) loneliness

I am very frustrated about not being understood. I never realized what a privilege that is: to be understood wherever you are. To speak to friends and have them understand; to speak to professors and have them answer your question on the first try; to have your own “mother” understand what it is you’re trying to tell her. To not have to be completely dependent on others and to not struggle with basic sentences. I miss comprehension. To understand what’s going on during the news, to understand what employees in the store are saying, to understand what other passerbys are saying. It’s frustrating. To be dependent on other people in order to perform basic functions in life is incredibly humbling but also really frustrating. The fact that I needed the help of Lolo and Dahlia in order to add minutes to my phone in the movistar store is frustrating, especially for such an independent person like myself. I miss being understood straightup.

I walked home at dusk today and that was un poco sketchy because I’ve been told numerous times to not walk alone at night. I was definitely on superguard and I walked really fast (difficult at an altitude of 10,000ft). I miss the comfort of not being on guard all the time. I literally don’t feel like I can ever relax and it’s frustrating. I miss being able to let down my guard and just let go. Even in my house I feel on guard as I feel my way around interacting with Marcia as well as just living in her house (a different world para mi).

Marcia’s house is super clean and efficient, perfect for her, but it’s almost too clean for me. She cleans my room every day and it’s hard for me to feel comfortable when I always feel like I’m messing something up.

Everyone asks me how it is to live with just her and me, and in all honesty, it’s difficult. I get lonely, but I also feel like I never get a break, it’s always just her and me. It’s also difficult because I can’t remember a time when I’ve been this solitary. Growing up in a house with five people then living on the third floor then living in my crazy suite, and now here. I have literally never been this alone. I am so used to being surrounded by other people that it’s strange, and lonely, especially when it’s difficult to communicate with the only other person around. It’s barely 9pm and we’ve already retired to our rooms. I was so desperate to spend time with other people that today was a godsend. To be able to hang with other people for six horas was amazing. I miss other people. The other hard thing about the loneliness is that I’m actually alone. It’s not like I can go on facebook or something or text someone. Well, I could text someone, but that’d waste minutes, and interrupt their night tambien. Entonces, I am, literally, for one of the few times in my life, literally, alone. I can’t text or facebook or call or yell into the next room or just chat with my roommate. I never have this. I don’t ever have this alone-time. Literally alone. At first it was kind of nice, and now it’s dificil. I am so used to having life and craziness surrounding me that this, of all the things I’m facing, is one of the hardest parts. To live with a divorced woman in a very clean apartment by myself without outside contact. It’s not the food, or the language, but this has literally been the hardest part for me so far. I bet that’s a new one for the CIP. Most people are getting used to huge families, but I have the exact opposite problem. I actually miss the insanity of huge family gatherings. I miss just having noise and human contact. I sit in the kitchen just so I can be around Marcia.

But at the same time, the apartment is a nice retreat from the craziness of Quito.

¡Estoy en Quito y no estoy muerte!

So I´m in Ecuador now. I sitll don´t have internet on my laptop so I can´t post a long blog but here´s the basic lowdown:
I have a host mom, Marcia, and it´s just her and me here in our apartment. She´s really nice and is definitely looking out for me.
Classes haven´t started yet, but we´ve been in intensive spanish classes every day this week so we´ve been on campus but without the other students.
My spanish is already getting better since being here though it´s still difficult to understand when ppl speak quickly. It´s good practice to be 24.7 in Spanish though it sometimes gets overwhelming and I just want to speak in English. Also, speakign in English itself is getting harder as I almost always think in Spaniglish now.
More later, as I don´t want to use up all my mom´s internet. I miss everyone and wish you all were here with me!!! 4 days down, only a bajillion to go!!!

Me, my host mom Marcia, and Hopey (another K student) at USFQ
My room in the apartment