Halfway!

Hola amigos!

As I write this, I am 5 days away from the halfway point of my stay in Ecuador. I can't believe it! This is our last week of class and we have one more presentation to give on Friday, then we're done! I will admit that I don't think I could stand one more week of class. We sit in the same dark room for 4 hours in the morning just listening to lectures, take an hour for lunch, and then have 2 more hours of class after that. This week I am finding myself very antsy! However, we have been blessed this week with the presence of some important administrators from the University of Minnesota, including our Senior Vice President of the university, the Assistant Vice President and Dean of International Affairs, the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education, the Interim Director of the Study Abroad office, and the coordinator of the MSID program. They are obviously important people and I'm glad they get the opportunity to see what we're doing down here. It's been a great opportunity to get to know some important people that I otherwise wouldn't know. It's ironic that I had to go all the way to Ecuador to meet them! Seriously, though, it's a great opportunity to be able to get to know them.

So last week was pretty crazy for me! Over the course of the semester we haven't had a ton of work to do, but they piled it on us last week. I turned in three essays, gave two presentations, and took my spanish final. All in one week! It was exhausting. I had kind of figured that since the same person coordinates all of our assignments, they might be a little more evenly distributed, but apparently not. Oh, well, only 3 more days!

This weekend my mom, dad, Susan, and uncle Ted are coming to visit! I am very excited to see them and show them around Ecuador. I think they will enjoy it...especially the sunshine! The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous...think t-shirts and shorts!

I have started to make a list of things about Ecuador that I want to remember, so I will post it on here so that all of you can enjoy it too.

1. There are no free refills on soda. Anywhere.
2. Restaurants do not separate the check for you.
3. Store owners are usually not able to make change for bills larger than $5, and sometimes get angry when you don't have exact change.
4. Ecuadorians are very cheap.
5. Appearance is everything, and it is often accurate to judge a person or business by its looks.
6. Public buses rarely make a complete stop when men are boarding or exiting, but they will usually stop for women.
7. Ecuadorians think it is very important that you visit all the different parts of Ecuador, to know the culture.
8. Most children will live with their family until they get married, when it is common to move into the home of their spouse's family.
9. There are vendors (often indigenous or disabled people) that walk in the streets trying to sell their products to the people waiting at stoplights.
10. It is common to see dogs randomly wandering the city and country. Most are homeless.
11. Rice is served at every lunch and dinner. Even with pasta!
12. Gossip is very common here.
13. You can't put used toilet paper into the toilet-you have to throw it away.
14. Outside the city, it is very common to see people going to the bathroom in public.
15. No one wears open-toed shoes.
16. Shoes are always worn in the house.
17. The women watch their "novelas" (soapoperas) religiously.

I will keep adding to the list. Hope you enjoy it!