First Impressions

¡Hola todos!

I love that here you don´t have to search the internet to use spanish characters.

Sorry for the delayed update; it´s been go go go since I´ve arrived, and a series of small misfortunes have preoccupied me.
First, I arrived at the Mariscal airport in Quito on time, without any problems, having talked with some kind and cool people. All seemed smooth sailing, and then upon arrival...no luggage. I was tired and my Spanish wasn´t so good, so after some difficulty, I filed a report including the pickles and barbeque sauce I had. :(
My family met me at the airport, and were extremely warm and welcoming right from the start. Carmen, my mom, said that her house was my house with actual sincerity, and I talk to her about everything. My father, Marcel, works for the airlines, my 16 year old sister Gabby is constantly working on her homework and is very cool, and I´m in love with my little brother Juan Sebastian. He may only be 9, but he´s adorable. We play games, dance, and joke around together; my childishness finally has an opportunity to show itself, and I learn so much from him.
Orientation began bright and early the next day, and continued for the next two non stop. We also got an awesome insiders´ tour of La Iglesia Santa Domingo. We toured the restricted access convent library, musty and mysterious from the smell of old books, many that the Library of Congress only have copies of. It all seemed unreal and as though out of a page of one of the ancient books. Afterwards we climbed to the top of the Mosaic, two high towers, got to open two golden doors behind the statue of La Virgen to a mysterious back room, and go down into a dark and dank cellar that bordered on creepy. We walked the streets of the old town, saw the president´s place of residence (more on him later) and ate at an unfortunately American restaurant. All in all though, it was a very satisfying tourist experience.
Orientation continued, and we received another tour from the University we are attending, La Universidad San Fransisco de Quito. An hour´s drive to the fringe of the city, and then up to Pululagua, one of the only volcanic craters in the world that contains a town. From there we headed to La Mitad del Mundo, the middle of the earth. Actually, there are two; one for real and one that hoped to be. We tried out our skills with a blowgun (I hit the cactus dead on!), see a shrunken head, traditional houses, and do some activities to prove that we were indeed on the real equator. Contrary to contradictions, water really doesn´t spin to go down a drain on the equator, and it´s so much harder to balance! From La Mitad we headed through old town to El Panecillo/ La Virgen de Quito, a huge statue on one of the 7 sacred hills of Quito. The view was amazing, as well as the statue, which was made by the same artist of the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower. Then back to Old Town, where a huge parade of culture and a concert prohibited us from seeing La Compañia, a church with an inside entirely of gold. Also, a tricky man "selling water" stole my newly bought cell phone from my zipped pocket. Hey, I have to give him props for being so good at his job, even if I have to buy another.
The night life here is good, even if you have to be cautious; I actually had fun dancing! I also watched a film last night on the problems of conservation in the Galapagos in concern to sharks made by a local group that I´d like to get involved with.
As far as alcohol goes- the drinking age is indeed 18, but honestly a 13 year old could go to the store and buy a bottle without any problem whatsoever. The local beer, Pilsener, is comparable to my favorite Fireman´s Four; I don´t think I could be any luckier. Everything is so inexpensive; meals for $2, a huge beer for $1, mixed drinks for about $2, and everything else you can imagine.
Yesterday I attended mass with my family, which was a bit long but interesting, and afterwards we drove about an hour to La Valle Los Chillos, where traditional highland culture still lives on. Cuy, guinea pigs, roasted on huge sticks in the street- Juan Sebastian loved to point out their teeth and claws to me- there was a huge open air market with all kinds of bananas and potatoes that I have to go back and visit, and our meal was traditional- potatoes, platano frito, arroz, mote (a type of corn), and yes, I even broke my 6 years of vegetarianism to try un pocotito of cuy, the only meat I´ve decided to try to experience the local culture. As was expected, I still have a bit of a stomach ache, and my appetite is pretty dimished.
Classes have now started at USFQ now- two a day, ecology and spanish, each 4 hours long. Right now I have just finished Spanish class, and my brain is como un huevo revuelto. On Wednesday we go to Riobamba in the paramo, then to Volcan Cotopaxi, and an unplanned side trip to the cloud forest. I have learned so much- about the culture, people, myself, the language, and the landscape; it´s hard to take it all in. It is a beautiful, diverse place with so much to do and see, there will never be enough time.
To clarify, I do not mean to paint a picture of paradise; there are definitely many problems within the country, of which I continue to learn through different perspectives (my mom, my professors, and any Ecuadorians I talk to) and also many more of other countries, including the US. But to me this is a crucial part of the experience, and I try to view the problems I see as challenges with solutions instead of a hopeless reality, so it is not so bad.
And I promise, pictures soon! I love you all, miss you, and will try to keep this updated whenever I can! Now I am off to the Megamaxi to buy some clothes and a cell phone; still no luggage.

Espero que les vaya bien, abrazos, miss you all!

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