PUTTING NAMES TO FACES

After arriving at the airport, most of our BCA group loaded our luggage onto a bus and our directors, Daniel Bryan and Miguel Andres, started to talk to us about what the next few days would bring with orientation until we arrived at Hostal la Carolina where we would be staying until meeting our host families. (I promise the hostel was not as scary as it sounds, it was actually pretty nice.) We were all so tired after traveling all day that we pretty much just brought our suitcases to our rooms and went to bed. I did talk to my roommate, Lilly, for a while first; she is from Maine and is so sweet.

I decided to shower before going to bed so I gathered all of my things and turned on the water. The water was FREEZING, like ice-cold freezing. I tried to turn off one knob at a time to see which was for the hot water but I didn’t notice any difference between the two. At this point, I was already ready to be showering and didn’t want to get up extra early the next morning to shower before Lilly so I toughed it out, kind of. I think I still had shampoo in my hair when I got out but I didn’t care. I warned her the next morning about the ice-bath… she had the same issue so it wasn’t just me. *

All of us were to meet downstairs in the lobby between 8:45 and 9 that morning for breakfast before starting day one of orientation. I wasn’t sure what to expect food-wise yet so I was a little nervous. The breakfast ended up being pancakes and pineapple juice and it was delicious! I just tried my first pineapple in December and now I like them which surprised me. We all ate there together with three or four to a table so it was a good chance to start to get to know everyone.

Daniel showed up around 9:30 to bring us to the building across the street where we would have our morning sessions. This first day we talked about the expectations/concerns we had, the first half of the safety and security section, and then we also spent more time getting to know each other. With the facebook group that was set up, I could recognize some of the others there, but remembering about 30 names was a little difficult at first. Daniel actually went around and was able to name us all with hardly any hesitation…we were impressed.

Lunch time made me nervous again. This little picky issue is slowly starting to go away for me now though, hooray! Our entire group walked to the mall for lunch so that we could all pick something from the food court. Once it was my turn to order I did my best to say what I wanted but I wasn’t sure what drink I ended up saying I wanted.  I recognized that the cashier said the word manzana or apple and I thought, hmm, apple, I like apples… “si, manzana”. So there I was, waiting for my order and expecting an apple or apple flavored sauce on my chicken I ended up with orange soda. Good enough for me, I think I have my Spanish down pat.  I’d like to mention that my entire meal that included a full  plate of rice, beans, chicken and a fried plantain cost me somewhere around $3.50…I can’t get over how cheap food is here.

Walking back to the hostel I heard a man down the street talking to someone he knew and said, “mira a todos los gringos”. All of us “gringos” stand out so easily here I felt like I was in some sort of parade. It made me laugh to myself because I am so use to just being in a community where I am part of the majority, but here I am a gringa…a very white gringa. (Don’t worry, the word gringo is not seen as offensive here like it is in other countries. There is actually a business of some sort here called Happy Gringo, haha.)

Our next little outing was al Parque Carolina. This park is absolutely beautiful with so many trees that we do not have in PA, hah. Again, this was to help us all to recognize faces and try to bring us closer. We played ice-breaker like games that made everyone uncomfortable and feel awkward from having to be so smashed together to participate, but I would say that it worked. We actually had a crowd of Ecuadorians watching us so that made it even stranger but more hilarious at the same time. Miguel Andres invited a few students from the university I will be going to too so it was nice to start getting to know people from Quito. We then had some free time to do as we wished but we were all to meet at 5 before it started to bet dark. We were told that this park in particular is not a place to be any time after 6 because of the crime rate. Even though there are places like these in Quito, it is easy to avoid them.

During our free time, some people played soccer, some resorted to the paddle boats, a few just walked around and then five of us decided to play basketball. At first we played around the world and “caballo” instead of horse, but then one of the students from the university joined us and we were actually able to play 3 on 3. Now I know I’m not in the best shape of my life right now, but we were all feeling the effects of the altitude change.  The game was a lot of fun and we eventually accumulated a crowd.

Later that night, Daniel took us to a vegan restaurant for supper even though I don’t think any of us are vegan. The food there was, interesting, but the drink caught me off guard a little bit. It was some sort of pineapple juice and oatmeal mix. Some people really liked it but I wasn’t the biggest fan… I am really trying to try new things while I’m here. The owner of the restaurant had the whole place reserved just for our group so it was nice. Our goal for getting back home was to learn how to call a taxi and give the directions. First, half of us decided to follow Miguel Andres to see where the main area for the night life was.  He took us to an area known as Mariscal (it is possible that I’m spelling that wrong) where there was so much going on. There were some clubs playing only American music, but then again I did hear some playing salsa music and it made me reealllyyyy excited to learn. We were able to walk around for 10 minutes in groups to check the place out and then we all met back up for Miguel Andres to watch us call our taxis. We were told not to pay more than $ 3 to get back to our hostel because many times the cab drivers will see that we are clearly not from Ecuador and will try to charge us extra. We turned down the first cab because he was asking $3.50 and we were absolutely not allowed to pay that price. We really should have only paid $2 but we aren’t comfortable with our bartering skills yet.

Surprise! Now I like bananas. The next morning’s breakfast was a bowl of cantaloupe and bananas and it was SO good! The fruit down here is so fresh. Our morning continued with some more information about safety and the BCA program in general before heading to lunch. My ordering skills were much better this time and I even was able to ask for extra rice instead of the beans! I’m feeling more confident with it now I think. J

The next destination of the day was to El Panecillo and then to the Centro Histórico. El Panecillo was the top of a beautiful mountain that overlooked the entire city of Quito. It really was amazing to see how long and skinny Quito really is and was a great place to take pictures.  Not only is this place known for the view but there is also a large statue there that represents the Virgin Mary. Each aspect of the statue – crown of stars, moon, dragon – represents something but I wasn’t able to understand all of the explanation.  

For Christmas they also added interesting figures to represent the nativity scene. My favorite was how they made baby Jesus in the manger, hah. Unfortunately I was walking around with my friend Nicole from Juniata and we missed the group photo…boo

Centro Histórico is another popular place with BEAUTIFUL churches, monuments, restaurants, shops and the president’s house! Unlike the White House, the Palacio de Carondelet is pretty much just another gorgeous building on the street. There are not gates surrounding the building and although I did see some guards/police officers, it is nothing like back in the states.  Actually, Daniel was telling us that one day he had people come in not realizing that Fidel Castro was visiting. I guess Fidel came out onto the balcony and started to give one of his charismatic speeches; the place was so packed that he had to delay his tour.

Our very last stop of the night was to a restaurant in a very cool place of town. There were streets where only pedestrians were permitted and it was again full with restaurants, shops and music. During dinner a man played the guitar/harmonica and sang a few songs for us. I love hearing all of the Spanish music here! After dinner we walked the street, popping in and out of the shops and just enjoying everything that was going on. We even were able to see the Virgin Mary statue from there.

Well, this concludes my post.  Thanks for sticking with me...it was a long one! (Tab, I think I need your help with figuring out how to upload pictures... I'm still not sure why it isn't working) I will try to do this more regularly so it doesn’t take away your entire day but I can’t promise anything.  J Just a heads up, my next post will be about my new host family!

 

*The others said that their showers were fine. The next day we decided to just leave one knob on for a while to see if it would heat up and it did finally start getting warm after a few minutes. I would like to say I am very thankful for hot water.