First week... Done!!!

So much to tell, and its only been a week since I left the USA! I’m going to apologize in advance for grammar and spelling and such- my brain is working overtime with two languages and I find myself typing in Spanglish and having trouble remembering/spelling the English words I need. Well, to fill you in on the last week…

I left my house at an early 5:15 on January 5^th, made it through customs. I have no idea why they even let me in their country, but I made it to Hostal la Carolina around midnight with most of the group. It was a long day. But fortunately I wasn’t the one whose trip took 2 days because their pilot wimped out and turned around because of fog- twice! However, to the pilot’s credit, the buildings are quite tall here and there isn’t much room to land so after we did touch down and endure bumps as we broke rapidly, everyone clapped, which apparently is normal…

 But enough about the travel! You’re probably wondering what in the world I’ve been doing since then, and a little bit about where I am staying. Well… we (20 students from various liberal arts colleges) stayed at the hostel until Sunday night. During the day we went non-stop around the city trying to get our bearings. Those of you who drive around with me may know that I am one of the most directionally challenged people you may ever meet. I can navigate with a map, surely, but without I am hopeless. And now, for the next 5 months, I live smack dab in the middle of a huge city (the best comparison would be like New York City- everything high rise). I am, however, proud to say that I took my first bus ride solo (without a map, I’ll have you know). No, I did not get lost. I got to exactly where I wanted to go. J

I am staying with a host family here in Quito. I have a Mami, Papi, and a brother. I actually have no idea what Mami does during the day, but Papi has his own tourism business with a couple buses (so I don’t get to meet him until tomorrow because he is gone at the moment). My brother is 19 and attends med school. In case you were wondering or getting worried, yes, he has a girlfriend :P.  They have this quaint little place on the second of three stories of an apartment. They’re an evangelical Christian family (very rare because Ecuador is somewhere above 90% catholic I think), and are soooooooo great! I spent about an hour yesterday talking to Mami about how great God is, and this morning when I was leaving Mami said hey do you want to open your Bible? Turn to Philippians 4:13. So we read it together in my handy dandy side by side English/Spanish Bible (thanks Mike and Brit :). Oh, and when I’m here on the weekends (or during the week nights for that matter because they have like 4 services or something) I can go to church with them. They have a service for young people (hopefully I can meet some cool college age students), and on Sunday nights they play indoor soccer. Oh and did I mention they have a finca (a farm) on the Coast with a river in front of it where they grow coffee beans, cocoa, and more stuff I can’t remember? They also have cows and a few other animals, and want me to come with them to it whenever I have a free weekend so they can teach me how to make coffee, cheese and chocolate. Yes, they make their own chocolate. Perfect family? I think yes. J  Could only have been chosen by God!

So that’s my family in a nutshell. School… I start school tomorrow, so right now I’m in denial. All my classes are in Spanish, so that will make things very interesting. (Or possibly boring if it goes in one ear and out the other without comprehension, so we’ll see! I take two buses to school (which amounts to about a 45 minute commute, so I’m missing the two minute walk to class at Westmont already!). Universidad de San Francisco Quito is the most expensive school in all of Ecuador, so only the private school kids from the upper class go for the most part. There are 180 foreigners in a student body of about 4500. I have gringa (here it’s a term of endearment for foreigners, not like in Mexico) stamped across my forehead (blond hair + blue eyes = sooooo far from the norm), so no matter how I try or dress, I just stick out. But that’s okay, I’m embracing it. It’s actually kind of nice because everyone assumes you don’t know anything so they don’t blame you for doing things wrong.  

Well, I think that’s about all I have to say for now (though probably more likely it’s all you want to read right now). I’m sure I’ll be back soonish to talk about school and adventures and whatever else happens in my life!

Adios!!!! Te echo de menos!!! Goodbye!!!! I miss you!!!