Que linda es la cuidad (How beautiful is the city)

Greetings from Ecuador! I arrived here on Monday night alter a long day of sitting in the Atlanta airport before boarding my flight to Quito. On the plane I was fortunate enough to have all three seats in the row to myself! I was able to stretch out and take a nap, which made my long day much more tolerable. That night I met up with my group in Quito and we all spent the night in a hostel.

On Tuesday, we were bussed to CIMAS, our school, to begin our orientation. We were introduced to all of the staff, and every single staff member emphasized to us that we are now a family and we shouldn’t hesitate to ask if we need anything. It was very comforting. That afternoon, we met and moved in with our host families. As I told you before, I am living with my mami, Bertha, my 19 year old sister Alejandra, or Ale as we call her. The other daughter that I mentioned in my previous post doesn’t live at home, and I haven’t met her yet. So far I love living with mami and Ale. They are very welcoming and concerned for my well-being.

We live in a 12th floor (which is the top) apartment in a building that is located in the middle of the northern part of Quito. I like to think of the apartment as a penthouse because it is so big! I have my own room and a huge closet! I would be lying if I told you I was roughing it here.

Ecuador is wonderful. Every single person here is very nice. I like Quito because it is a big city (6 million people live here), but it is also clean and friendly. I am a little scared of the traffic, because Ecuadorians are by FAR the craziest drivers that I have ever seen. Also, there is a good possibility of being robbed here, so I have to be careful about that. There is a huge amount of poverty in Ecuador, and so a lot of people turn to thievery to earn their living. For the most part, though, I feel safe here.

There are many cultural differences between the US and Ecuador that I have noticed so far. I think the biggest difference, and I don’t know if this would be considered a “cultural” difference, takes place in the bathroom. In Ecuador, they put their used toilet paper in the garbage can rather than into the toilet. This is because their septic system does not have the resistance to accommodate the toilet paper. I feel very strange doing it, but there is a good reason for it. A cultural difference that I like very much is the practice of greeting each other with a kiss on the cheek. It is a great way to welcome people!

Before leaving, one of the things I was most excited about in Ecuador was the climate. Here it is a balmy 66 degrees and sunny every morning. In the afternoons it tends to cloud over and it rains frequently. The sun definitely shines brighter here! Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I am 9000ft. closer to the sun. I was also a little worried about my Spanish-speaking skills. I have found out (pleasantly) that I am able to understand most of what I hear, but I have a little bit of trouble communicating my thoughts to others. However, as I write this I have been here for three full day sand I can already notice my skills improving dramatically. I think that within a week or two I will be feeling much more confident in my abilities.

Well, this post is clearly long enough, so I will cut myself off here. I hope you are all doing well back in the states. I would love to hear from you, so please let me know what is going on in your lives!

--Lindsey

PS-I was going to post some pictures with this blog, but right now I am in an internet cafe and the computer I am using won´t let me plug in my camera cord. I will try to do a picture post soon!