When I arrived in the Quito airport late Friday night, I was greeted by my host parents -- "Mama Ellie" and "Papi Poncho." They have four grown children: Sandy, who is married and has her own family; 29-year old Denis; and 27-year-old twins, Pamela and Sofia. Of the four children, only the twins still live at home. A grandson also lives with us, 8-year-old Rickie. We live in a nice apartment in a gated neighborhood in Northern Quito, the admittedly wealthy side of the city. Mama Ellie owns her own hair salon, and Papi Poncho is an architect who specializes in hospitals. My family has hosted American students previously, so they are well acquainted with the BCA study abroad program and the University of San Francisco in Quito (USFQ), where I'll be taking classes this fall.
Saturday morning I got up bright and early to meet the rest of the BCA group for a scavenger hunt through Quito's historical center. As I learned in Mexico last summer, Latin America runs on its own clock. Ecuador is no exception. The plan was for everyone to meet at the bus station at 8:30, but we didn't leave my house until close to 9:30...pero no pasa nada! Other students arrived even later. We time-conscious "gringos" just need to get used to (and learn to appreciate) the more relaxed attitude towards time. The scavenger hunt lasted about four hours and took us all over the city -- I was completely disoriented from having arrived in Quito after dark, and was shocked by the size of Quito. It keeps going. And going. And going! Houses and buildings creep their way up the mountains, making for quite the impressive landscape which even the panorama camera setting can't do justice. The current population is somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.5 million, and the very, very crowded public buses are certainly representative of such a populated city. After the scavenger hunt, I went to my good friend Kate's host family's house. Her host mom just so happens to be Sandy, the eldest daughter of my host parents. There, I met Sandy's husband Alex, and their two children, 5-year-old Taina and 2-month old Julian.
On Sunday, I went to church with the twins, Rickie, and Denis. Surprisingly, they attend an evangelical church. (Catholicism dominates most of the religious landscape in Latin America.) I knew some of the songs in English, and could easily follow along with the translations. In the afternoon Sandy's family joined us for a large meal at our house, followed by Salsa lessons in the living room. Taina even showed us her hip-hop moves. (Apparently, hip-hop is universal.)
Monday was my first day at USFQ. While classes at the university don't start until mid-August, we have pre-semester culture and language classes from 9-1, and a salsa class a few days a week at 4. USFQ is actually located in Cumbaya, a town on the outskirts of Quito. For me, the bus ride is about 25 minutes, depending on traffic. The buses are very, very crowded (especially in the afternoon) but there's always room for 15 more -- at least, that's the joke. The bus costs only $0.25 cents regardless of where you get on. Ah, this brings up an interesting point: A few years ago, Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, "dolarized" the Ecuadorian economy. That is, Ecuador goes by the US dollar. US bills and coins are accepted here, although Ecuador does have its own coins. A dollar goes much further here for food, but not for clothing, electronics, and other imported goods.
Back to school -- the campus is absolutely GORGEOUS! Here's a look:
The last few days, a group of BCA students has gone running after school. Running in Quito is nothing like running at home -- first, there are hills everywhere, and second, the altitude makes a two mile run feel like a five mile run. While it makes running not so enjoyable now, running at home in December should be a breeze! A few of us are thinking of registering for an 8k in late August, as we'll hopefully be adjusted to the altitude by then.
There's so much more I could talk about -- my family, the food, the city -- but this is about it for now! I'll leave you with a picture of Rickie, mi hermanito. Having always been the youngest in my family, it's fun being the older sister!
My little brother, Rickie. Don't even think about
challenging him in the video game Crash.
¡Hasta luego!
Hola chica from the black lagoon! Me alegra mucho que te difrute mucho de todo. Pero ay chica debes escribir más porque me muero de saber lo que pase bajo el sol de Quito! Un beso fuerte desde los EEUU!
ReplyDeletepenelope