el comienzo- The Beginning

My first week in Ecuador has flown by and it has been full of new experiences, people, and tons of Spanish!

I arrived Tuesday night in Ecuador and my host mom was there to greet me at the airport. Immediately I felt welcome, as she hugged and a kissed me and then of course served me an entire meal at 12:30 am.

My host brother David

My host family lives in a small neighborhood in Cumbaya (yes, just like the word from the Lion King), which is a suburb of the capital city Quito.  They have a beautiful house and I am lucky enough to have my own room with a bathroom, I think it may be nicer than my room at school.  My host mother's name is Ximena and my father's name is Ronald, and I have an 11 year old brother David.  I am happy to say that David will be the newest member of the Vikings in their upcoming season... I hear he can even make field goals from 25 yards away.  I have loved getting to know them this last week. None of them speak English very well, but we have found ways to communicate, and when all else fails I just nod and smile.  David speaks it the best because three out of his seven classes at school are taught in English, so I will speak in English to him and he will respond in Spanish.  I have definitely spoken more Spanish in these last five days than in my entire life and it is definitely improving!

The Ecuadorian food has been great so far and never ending.  My host mom and dad used to be vegetarians and so they know how to make delicious vegetarian food with tons of spices and flavors.  I have eaten tofu, lentils, veggie burgers, lots of salad, and eggs, and a meal is not complete without rice somehow included. We usually do not eat lunch until 3 pm and dinner around 8pm.  I have tried a new piece of fruit everyday and, while I have had no idea what I am sometimes eating, they have all been delicious.

I spent my first few days in Ecuador getting to know Cumbaya and attending orientations at the University of San Francisco where I will be studying.  The university is about a 15 minute bus ride from my house, but I need to take two busses, luckily each bus is only 25 cents. I am still trying to figure out the bus system as there are no actual times that the bus arrives and sometimes it just goes a different direction than expected. I learned that very quickly on my second day when I ended up riding the bus all the way to the end of the line and then patiently waiting for the bus to turn around as the driver took a 20 minute siesta.

My first weekend in Ecuador was well spent with hanging out with new friends, exploring Ecuadorian culture, and getting to know my host family better.  On Saturday, I attended my first ever Olympics! At David's school they had an Olympics ceremony where both the kids and the adults participate.  Each grade (k-12) had a theme and in the 'opening ceremonies' the parents all performed dances in costumes, and it was very impressive.  This was followed by some serious soccer games played by both parents and kids, and of course tons of food.  After a fun morning watching him participate and meeting (and kissing, which is customary in Ecuador) all of their friends I came back home and was told it was time to go to lunch. I was very confused because I was under the impression that what I had eaten one hour before had been lunch, but apparently it was only a large snack!

Shamushakya Waterfall

Otovello Market

On Sunday, today, I went with everyone on my program to the Otovello market, which was about a two hour drive away.  The market was huge and it definitely presented an opportunity to practice my Spanish and bargaining skills. It reminded me of the shook in Israel, but the vendors were a little less aggressive.   Following the market we went to a beautiful waterfall and even though no one was wearing any swimsuits we all went in!

And finally to end our excursion we made it to the middle of the earth!! Today, I stood at exactly the middle of the earth at 0 degrees latitude. On one side of me it was winter and the other side it was summer, who knew I would be so successful in completing one of my goals in just one week.

The equatorial line

My experience in Ecuador thus far has been great.  The people on my program are all amazing and I have never been around so many biology majors at once.  All the Ecuadorians I have met have been super friendly, kind, and happy! It is a country struggling to maintain an economy that is based almost solely on oil with rising unemployment rates.  Yet, Ecuador is also such a beautiful country and Quito and Cumbaya are part of a valley surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, which makes everywhere absolutely gorgeous.

That is all for now, as tomorrow is the first day of class, I guess Ecuador does not celebrate MLK day.

Goodbye, or as they say in Ecuador Ciao

Pictures of Quito:

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