small pleasures

small pleasures

-allowing the elderly to take my seat in a jam packed bus after an already tiring day

-allowing those trying to push their way past to go in front of me, only to find one man holding his hand out in gesture to allow me to pass first

-finding comfort in old friends

-making new friends with people you would have never met had they not been on the same program because of things like different friend groups or majors at k

-climbing the roof of my house and lying on my back just to watch the stars

-walking in the rain completely drenched, and having an elderly gentleman come up to me with an umbrella to walk with me and keep me dry

-making massage and head scratch trains with a line of people after smoking and getting drunk at 2 am on a thursday night

-thursday dinners, good people, good food

-stopping everything

-stopping class in the middle of the hour cause we can hear the entire school scream "gooooallll" and then dismissing class based on that cheer

-greeting each other with kisses

-sharing the common belief with someone that watching a house or barn burn in flames would be absolutely beautiful and not thinking thats crazy

-playing guitar on my porch in the sun

-telling someone they have a beautiful smile without worry about other connotations

-dancing like no one is watching, in the middle of a bunch of people at a bar

-taking shots with my host dad

-allowing the rain to pour so much louder in my head that it drowns out everything else

-laughing uncontrollably at something thats not even that funny

tradition

so thursdays have become somewhat of a tradition for some of us k kids.. jordan, who is a kid on the program with us that i never knew before ecuador, is an AMAZING cook and one night he jus invited a bunch of people over to his house for a dinner, all pretty much cooked by himself.. and oh man it was SOO good.. and ever since then (like 3 weeks ago) we've had a dinner at his house every thursday night.. a few weeks ago we had steaks and mashed potatoes and salad.. it was delicious and i got the recipe for this amazing whiskey sauce that we poured on top of the steaks.. this past thursday we had tomato soup made from scratch (which i must say, i dun even like tomato soup, but this was pretty damn good) and grilled cheese sandwiches with freshly made pesto, cheese, and some other stuff.. also delicious, and not as expensive as the steaks which was nice.. after we ate, some people left and some of us stuck around.. we jus hung out, drinking around his dining room table, some people smoked (which even though i dun really like the smell of smoke it really added to the mood and atmosphere of the rest of the evening in the best way possible) and we listened to really chill and awesome music. by this time it was probly around 10 pm-ish and i dunno who started it, but we ended up creating a chain of massages and head scratches.. and we switched spots so that we got everyone's different techniques.. it was just the greatest thing ever and we didnt end up leaving till 12 or 1.. yea.. thats right.. we spent about 2 hours giving each other massages and head scratches.. it was a beautiful thing.. got home around 2 am and slept like a baby

friday roxy and i went to our icrp meeting which the last time we went was a living night mare cause we spent all of 20 min in the place and 4 hours of travel time.. it was just a bad day.. but this trip was significantly better.. every bus we had to take (3 one way) came right as we walked up to the stop, and again we spent about 20 min in the place.. and this time it only took 3 hours total.. its really far away from our house.. anyway the good news is that we found an icrp place to work at, yay.. what a pain in the ass.. anyway we got home, napped and then got ready to go out.. we went to a pretty good indian restaurant and ate dinner and then went out to this bar called afro bar in the mariascal, which was absolutely ridiculous cause they had huge tv screens with music videos but were basically porn films.. i had my first margarita there though .. it was DELICIOUS.. way overpriced but i'v decided i really like tequila in drinks, but i dun really like taking shots of it.. the salt is really what bothers me most i think.. anyway after that we went to our friends diana's house who is from ecuador, whom we met through mali and juan... it was SO great.. there were a bunch of people, but it wanst over crowded and juan is the WORLD"S GREATEST bar tender ever so he was in charge of drinks and made us a bunch of different kinds.. it was soooo good.. also it was the reason for my hangover today :p but it was SO worth it and iv been kinda bummed that i havent really met any ecuadorians or have many friends out side the k group, mainly cuase im shy and introverted but with a couple drinks in me that totally changes things.. anyway they played great reggeaton which i am now addicted to and we all danced with eachother.. it was just such a good night.. there's really no other way to describe it :-]

happy eid

in a country with 96 % catholics and 3% christian, i have yet to find a mosque, a muslim, or any sort of community i can spend this amazingly special day with

so i just did the morning prayers on my own, and i think maybe ill make a cake or something later tonight, cause they dont have many of the ingredients here i need to make the traditional arabic desserts that would be eaten on eid

*update: i just went to the store and ran into the rum section.. so i proceeded to buy walnuts, rum, and vanilla ice cream to make rum nuts ice cream~ <3>

otavalo aka spoke too soon x2

this past weekend we went to a city called otavalo where the majority of indigenous people live, the spoken language is kichua and its surrounded by 3 huge volcanoes called imbabura, mojanda, and cotocachi. otavalo used to be all farming communities but with the growth of tourism, the town has begun to focus more on making artesanias (handicrafts) which have made the mercados (markets) a very popular stop for toursist, so much so that it has become the town's main industry. depending on traffic its usually a 2 hour drive from quito..unfortunately sometimes the main road has lots of traffic, or ya konw.. landslides :D like on our return trip so we had to take a different route through mountain back roads.. took 4 hours instead

anyway this place is amazing, i loved it SO much

we went al mercado de animales which was a huge piece of land where people would just stand around with animals like cows, goats, lots of chickens, roosters, puppies and guinea pigs.. it was so crazy and chaotic.. many of the people selling the animals literally just had a bag full of guinea pigs, or crates of puppies.. it was kinda sad, but SOOO adorable <3>

after lunch we went to un taller de instrumentos (music workshop) where a guy showed us how to make all these really cool and popular instruments in ecuador and he played each of them too, it was AWESOME and at the very end, he brought out his entire family which consisted of himself, his 2 daughters who were probly about 13 and 16 and his son who was no older than 5 and they all played this one song for us, each of them had an instrument/job.. it was like a family band.. so great. then we had dinner and by this time everyone was about to fall asleep on their food cause we had to wake up at 5 30 in the morning and many of us didnt really sleep on the bus, terrence and i for example ended up just talking the entire way there cause neither of us could fall asleep, despite our attempts.. anyway by the time we finished dinner and arrived to our next place it was like 10pm .. we went to some shaman presentation, in which a woman performed rituals on 2 girls and 2 guys though each one took about a half hour, and after the first 2 girls, half of us were asleep, the other half were getting/giving massages or head scratches or back scratches :D jaja, we were all pretty much delerious but i mean it was sorta interesting the first time.. it consisted of various sayings in kichua, spitting out alcohol, and smoking about a couple dozen cigarets.. ok that probly sounds sarcastic but that was really what she did.. i probly woulda apprecaited it a lot more had i not been fighting so hard to stay awake.. anyway we finally left at about 1am and arrived to a hotel where everyone passed out in their rooms, but before i slept i decided to take a shower since im not really a morning shower person, and there was HOT water and POWERFUL water pressure.. it was SOOO nice to have hot water and pressurized shower heads again, i think i just stood in the shower for like an extra 10 minutes :p

the next morning we walked through a national park, it was so beautiful and at the very end of the trail, there was a HUGE waterfall.. a few friends and i climbed on some rocks to try to get as close to it as possible.. it was actually quite breathtaking standing so close.. we went to some other hikes around the city and learned some other stuff but none that i can remember at the moment, the waterfall was really the best part of the day.. oh yea, and we walked through a raptor zoo, that was cool too, and at the end there was a presentation with this guy who trained the birds.. we got to hold one of the birds on our gloves too.. it was just pure badassery

and of course i would have a bunch of pictures and video to upload except when i was in the fruit market my camera was stolen right out of my pocket, and i didnt even notice.. which i feel really stupid about and i spent most of my saturday being kinda bummed out.. funny thing is after we got robbed i told roxy, i wonder if i would rather be robbed or pick pocketed, and we couldnt come up with an answer.. well know i have one.. definitely pick pocketed.. sigh, when will i learn to shut my mouth :p i dont know if i should buy a new camera, and if so should i just buy some cheap one or a nicer one.. and i would have to buy it from the US cause electronics down here are SO expensive.. then again everyone else will take a bajillion pictures from all our trips and post them on fb anyway, but there's something so satisfying about taking your own... i dunno, havnet really decided yet .. i dun think i can go another 5 months without taking pictures.. i also am now like 200 dollars in debt cause i had to repay for my phone and now my camera is gone, but i wanna travel.. so i really have to see about money sths.. anyway that was the only downer about this past weekend.. besides that, i felt like i was on a high almost the entire time, it was so beautiful

its odd cause overall i really love it here, and i couldnt imagine myself being anywhere else, but it seems as though when im on my highest highs, i get robbed :D i mean i have already set a record for times being robbed in quito for the k program.. jaja i dunno, its just odd how much i feel as though im being challenged by things here, but not things you would expect.. sure the language barrier is hard and making friends is even harder and the milk and yogurt here just inst the same and.. well the list could go on, but those are all things i already knew would happen.. and though they're a constant challenge, they're not the things that are really getting to me like they are with some other students here.. rather, getting robbed with a knife or pick pocketed are the things that are just bringin me down and are causing me to think a lot about things.. like the real reason people rob.. is it to feed their families, take care of medical bills, what's the reason.. i wont really ever know but i do know that my phone and camera arent being kept as a phone or camera, they're being sold for money..who knows for what.. the poverty here is really high.. *sigh its conflicting

despite all thats happened though, im thinking in staying for 9 months.. call me crazy

well, i think thats all for now

hope everyone's doing well

i spoke too soon

basically roxanne and i were walking home from a supermaxi with the ingredients to make cooooooooookies, and on our way, there was some guy that passed us on the street and then about 20 feet infront of us turned around.. he looked lost, but he actually just had a knife. on our right was a bunch of lanes of trafic and on the left was a huge cement wall.. i thought about running, i thought about saying i didnt have my phone with me, i thought about a lot of things.. amazing how many thoughts your mind can process in just a matter of seconds.. roxanne was walking closest to the wall so she was able to pass him, but he kind of walked up to me with a knife and pushed me against the wall.. all he wanted was my phone, so i gave it to him.. we walked back to the supermaxi shocked, found a phone and called one of our parents.. granted it wasnt even dark out, only 4pm.. but anyway my mom couldnt come get me from literally FIVE minutes away cause some guy was installing shelves in her house so roxanne´s mom came to get us, an HOUR later..

*sigh-- the phone wasnt really a big issue, i have already replaced it.. actually considering everything, we´re really lucky since that day we had our passports with us to get our censos.. but now just walking around our relatively safe neighborhood.. i cant seem to relax.. every guy i see i hesitate and hold my breathe wondering if anything will happen.. i also feel lucky that roxanne was with me at the time. since then we´ve walked around everywhere together, and that night after we made cookies, we fell asleep in her bed watching a movie.. neither of us really felt like being alone i guess...

being robbed took me by surprise, no doubt, but i have to say they did warn us a bajillion and 10 times about the possibility of it happening.. what bothered me the most is that my mom wouldnt leave to come pick me and roxanne up after what had just happened.. she suggested taking a taxi instead.. as if we really felt like getting in a car with another stranger after that happened.. it just seemed cold to me..

anyway, i guess its an experience..

i just walk around a lot more paranoid now and i HATE it.. we went to a new discotec in the weekend, and some guy screamed ¨baila¨ louder than the music or any other noises.. and although it just means dance, for some reason it freaked me out a lot, i think its just cause it was in a small place with very bright flashing lights and reminded me of somone robbing the place with a gun.. i dunno, i konw that probably sounds crazy ..anyway roxanne and i left with a few people to go to the more familiar discotec where we spent the rest of the night drinking and dancing

the best of it all is that earlier that day i said to roxanne.. ¨now wouldnt this be the worst day to get robbed, jajajaja¨ . . . . . *sigh

my first 3 weeks here have been amazing.. though since we were robbed, iv just been craving a familiarity that i cant seem to find anywhere

getting started

--finally after a week of orientation boredom, we started our real classes. im taking THREE art classes!! a spanish class, a volcanology class and an ethnography class. so far they all seem pretty good, my art classes are all with the same professor, so i hope i like his style :p he seems pretty cool, though he talks SOOO fast, had i not had the sylabus in front of me i probably woulda missed 70% of what he said.. im hoping that changes over the semester.. eek >_<

--as for the rest of the university, im going to go ahead and steal katie's words and call it a "country club" the campus seriously looks like there should be a 5 star hotel sitting in the middle of it. its a university for people who have a LOT of money in ecuador..who pride themselves on their appearance, their clothing, and the way they carry themselves. most everyone wears nice jeans, brand name clothing, jewerly, expensive stuff... and if you wear something else, you're strange.. wearing my cargo half pants the other day gave me a million looks, and i dont usually stick out as much as some others do from k

--i think id consider myself in the "luckier" part of the group, seeing as that many people cannot tell im from the US, until i open my mouth that is :D *sigh, i wish my spanish was better.. i find it generally easier to understand grown ups, my parents, professors, administration, etc.. mostly because they usually dont use much slang when speaking. UNLIKE the younger generation.. its really quite frustrating to not be able to make the jokes that i normally would or to not be able to converse easily with kids who go to school with me, not to mention the ecuadorians are super cliquish, much like the k group is except they're really hard to meet or get to know, since most of them are used to foreigners attending their school and leaving after a period of time ...augh.. anyway besides the language barrier though, many of us can easily pass as ecuadorians because we have darker hair and skin tone... iv been asked a few times for directions from the locals while waiting for the busses.. i guess its a nice thing to be able to fit in so easily, some of the girls with really blonde hair and lighter skin tones have been getting a lot of cat calls which has significantly bothered them and compromised their feelings of security. for me, its a strange feeling to be considered in the majority, since for most of my life i'v been considered in some sort of minority

--i didnt realize how much i would miss my guitar, even though i usually just mess around or learn specific songs, nothing great..especially since i cant even read music.. but on some of these nights, there's nothing id love to do more than sit out on my porch at night and strum my guitar

--after going to k for 2 years, i'v gotten used to a certain way of living..school pretty much takes over during the week, and during the weekends, (mostly friday and saturday nights) people hang out with friends, relax, party, etc.. but in ecuador, its completely different (or at least so far).. we have SO much free time, that after a while, going out to a bar gets old.. i have found myself wondering what else is there to do.. in fact, i actually want to have homework.. may sound crazy but at times, it can get pretty boring around here.. though for me homework is mostly painting so its not as crazy as it may sound ;]

--that being said, there IS always something to do in the weekends, and some of the weekdays too.. but being convinced to go out this past friday-cuase it was a "friday" when i didnt really feel like it.. i kinda had a shitty time. so the following day i trusted my instincts and just stayed in. roxanne and i ended up cooking my favorite banana and chocolate chip muffins and watching a movie, it was a great night, relaxing and just a good time. on saturday i was feeling more up for going out, so we went to a hookah bar, which i'v ALWAYS wanted to try :-] then we went for some dancing afterwards and i learned a few salsa moves from some people at the discotec.. just an observation- ecuadorian guys are super flirtatious.. which on the one hand can be annoying if someone is interested in them, you cant really tell their motives, single guys who go out to a discotec act the same as non-single guys who go out to a discotec by themsevles... on the other hand it can be really quite nice cause they're super friendly and open to teaching you dance moves or talking or whatever, anyway, that also turned out to be a good night.. AND THEN on sunday i went with some girls to juan's friends' fathers house in the south of quito.. Hay De Mi~!! it was by far the nicest house iv ever been to.. it had a pool, gacoozy (which i know i cant spell) a sauna, ping pong table, orange, grape and avocado trees, a bar..etc.. so we barb-q-ed some food, ate, and marinated in the gacoozy for a couple hours while drinking, then when we got cold, we went into the eucalyptus sauna and relished there, it smelled and felt sooo good ~.~ and they had aloe vera plants that we rubbed on our faces and hands.. and i rubbed a bit on ma' bella' so now my face, hands, and bella' are super~ smooth... .... ... ... ...

and so there i sat, in the middle of a gacoozy on a moonlit night, with friends, some old, some new, in the middle of ecuador.. and i thought to myself, if this isnt the most surreal thing ever... what did i do to deserve it all..

first week

i have i decided to blog about my travels. my journal has been useful for more personal use, but there is so much i would like to share with the outside world and its only the first week. i dun think ill be writing much in proper paragraph form.. more so points of interest, things that surprise me, highs and lows, a little background, etc

--the flight from atlanta to quito was the best flight i have ever been on..we flew through a lightning storm at 36,000 feet..it was, by far, one of the most beautiful things i have ever seen; it completely relinquished any nerves i had about meeting my family or living in a foreign country for the next 6 months (which is saying something cause i had a lot of nerves :p)

--there is a $40.85 charge to leave the country of ecuador by plane..before i leave i have to make sure i have at least that much in my account :|

--the bus system is looked down upon by the richer people in ecuador, they hate to use it, its often times described with the expression "que pena" which can mean any of the following: what a shame, how embarrasing, what a pain.. in any case its used in a very negative way

--it takes me a little longer than an hour to get to school, sometimes longer depeding on the 3 buses i have to take

--it is also very easy to get lost if you take just one wrong bus, or if the bus is sometimes incorrectly labeled. the first day i was here, mi madre took me to school and showed me each bus i was supposed to take.. seemed simple enough at first.. green bus followed by red bus with #10 followed by the bus that goes to cumbaya.. unfortunately there are SEVERAL green buses that dont all go the same direction and the red buses arent always labeled with a number. needless to say i got lost this past wednesday. i was sure i was on the correct bus, only to find myself in a very unfamiliar and sketchy part of quito after dark. so i got off, and waved down a taxi to take me home. to my surprise, the driver over charged me $5 EXTRA dollars not because my spanish was weak, or because i looked like an american, but rather because i stupidly mentioned to him that i was from the states *stupid *stupid.. i tried arguing the price with him cause it was so OBVIOUSLY too much, but didnt know any words in spanish for unfair or taking advantage of, so i finally just paid up.. i was pretty lucky just to find a taxi in that part of town actually :p but i learned my lesson

--taxi drivers here are either super nice and friendly or complete assholes

--the word for american, or really any foreigner is "gringo/gringa" in other latin american countries such as mexico, this can be a very derogatory and offensive word.. but in ecuador its not at all, and ecuadorians make it a point to emphasize that during their conversation with you. in fact many host families will call their students mi gringita (my little white one) as a term of endearment :)

--the word "chuchaqui" means hang over, many students have a joke on campus that its the first word foreigners studying in quito will learn :D

--mojito: white rum, sugar cane juice, lime, sparkling water, ice and fresh mint leaves --this has made for a surprisingly nostalgic drink, not because of the alcohol, but because of the smell and taste of fresh mint.. i used to live in troy, mi where the soil is perfect for growing mint. we had an entire garden full of mint plants, and when i was younger i would pick the plants, clean them in our basement and either sell them to our neighbors or hang them upside down to dry and pack them in cans for later use.. it was an entire process that was so calming and rewarding for me as a child.. in much the same way painting is for me now

--cuba libre: rum and coke, always served with a lime, which to me, lessens the really strong spice of the rum.. its a nice complement

--you can buy alcohol here for SUPER cheap, especially beer. you can find pints for less than $4 and fish bowls for less than $8.. thats right, FISH BOWLS :p the national ecuadorian beer "pilsner" is better than most beers in the US, especially for the price, but it hasnt really changed my opinion.. im still not much of a fan

--if you decide to come to ecuador, REMEMBER the air is soooo much thinner here since the city is at 10,000 ft.. which really messes with alcohol tolerance.. so take it easy the first week or 2, to allow your body to readjust. i can only drink about half as much as im used to before i feel buzzed, and walking up the hill to get up to my house everyday has left me out of breath this past week

--i am happily allergy free here!! :) the air is dry and crisp.. if you're standing in the sun it can be super brutal but it often times is chilly in the mornings and evenings

--my first night here, i accidently ran into my 18 year old host brother, Martín, as he was coming out of the shower...ha~ we both kinda nervously laughed it off, whooops~! anyway he's super silly and fun, im bummed he's traveling to WA to study for a year in a few weeks, i wnot really get to know him very well

--my host sister, Lucía is a sweet 14 year old.. i have yet to really bond with her, but i hardly see her during the week which makes it difficult, not to mention we're both on the shy side

--my host dad, Carlos, would do almost anything for me. he's a very generous and funny guy, often times making jokes, however like Lucía i hardly ever see him. he works long hours as a surgeon in a nearby hospital

--my host mom, Patricia, loves to talk and hear about my day, she loves shopping, but i get the feeling she is often times very lonely... since her husband works so much, and her kids are often out doing their own thing, she finds herself reading books and watching movies to pass the time.. as i sat down for dinner last night, i asked her what the telenovela was about that was on tv and she replied: "no se, solamente pon la televisión para un companero" (i dunno, i only put the tv on for a partner/some company)

--the family cat, Claudia.. super soft and fuzzy, very clean, mostly a warm white/grey color with some orange and darker grey on her tail, paws, and face. i dont think she likes me very much, but she loves to curl at the end of my bed and sleep.

--my meals heavily consist of carbs, carbs and more carbs.. breakfast is bread with jam and some juice or tea, lunch, the biggest meal, usually has a serving of rice AND potatoes and dinner is the lightest meal..my family isnt really into veggies.. and they dont drink milk :( but the fruits here are amazingly tasty! also as far as food goes, you have to be really careful about what you eat and drink.. pork is really a big think here too, but its not hard to find chicken or other meats :)

--in a city of 2 million people, 96% are catholic, 3.4% christains, and the rest are "other".. sadly there is not a single mosque in all of quito

the way i see it.. there are 2 opportunities for this trip.. 1. complete self reflection or 2. complete integration.. i havnet really decided which i would like my trip to be.. strangely i have been much more extroverted this past week than normal.. though im pretty sure that energy will ware out with the initial excitement of being here. idealy i would love for this trip to be an unequal combination of both self reflection and integration, but we'll see