Thursday, June 14, 2012

My house mom encourages her host daughters so consider ourselves sisters, even if we've never met.  Earlier this week I had the honor of meeting one of my host sisters who stayed here thirteen years ago! She brought her husband and daughter with her.  If was really cool to talk to her and hear about her experience then compared to now.

We went to the park La Carolina.  This is easily the largest park I've ever been to!  There were people playing pick-up soccer games all over.  There were walk ways, entertainment, and a lazy river for paddle boats.  I didn't even get to see all of it!  I'm going to have to go back to see their flower garden and see their animal habitat. 

Today I went to the mercado (market).  It reminded me of a farmer's market.  There was every kind of fruit, vegetables, meat, and more! I asked about some of the things I didn't recognize.  My friends and I decided to all buy something we'd never eaten.  I decided on the fruit called "the grenade."  I was hesitant at first, but it didn't take long for me to see how delicious it was!

Here's one of the song's I've learned on my bus rides to and from school!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKddc6m-JIE

Sunday, June 10, 2012

My roommate here studied abroad for a semester last year and is back to visit for the summer.  She is originally from North Carolina and wanted to make us all some of her home-cooked food.  Cooking American food here is a challenge because is it hard to find all of the ingredients and they are usually a little bit different than we have in the states.  And trying to cook in the altitude is a feat with in itself.  But being the chef she is, my roommate was able to make a delicious hamburger cook-out meal for us, our family, and many of our friends. I tried making brownies, but people had to eat it with a spoon.  People laughed and told me my "fudge" was really good.

I also had my first exam of the semester in my history class and my first project assigned in my literature class.  Although it is summer and I'm experiencing so many great things, I do have to do work.  But I love the challenge of learning Spanish.  So me being the nerd I am, I don't mind doing the school work because I learn so much from even a simple assignment. 

This past weekend I was able to experience more of Quito.  We went to the markets on Saturday and practiced our bargaining skills.  After enjoying lunch in the Mariscal at a great Thai restaurant, we went to a park in the city.  They had tables set up around the walkway like the markets.  Artists also came and set up their paintings for display and for sale.  There were people doing spontaneous shows with crowds around them and many many families and kids spending the day playing there.  But the best part of the day was when we took my roommate on a teeter-tooter for the first time.  The thing about these "sube y baja"s is that they are much bigger than any I've seen in the states.  She and I trying to figure out to get both of us on it attracted many kids to stop and laugh and our friend to take out his phone to take pictures and capture the moment.

Today is the national fĂștbol game verses Colombia.  The University was very helpful in getting us tickets.  However, many more people came early in the morning to go to the game.  Therefore, there weren't many tickets left and they were much more expensive than anticipated.  Unfortunately I didn't get to go to the game, but I did get to see the excitement of a game day.  It reminded me of what it's like before a college football game, but even more energy!  Everywhere you looked there was a sea of yellow shirts and flags being displayed.  While we have big sports games in the states, it is usually American city verses American city.  Having a whole country unifying to show their pride was a very cool thing to see.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

This week I've spent a lot of time getting to know my host family and other students a lot better.  I am involved with Intervarsity on Central's campus, so I got in touch the Intervarsity in Quito.  By doing this I had the opportunity to meet students from other universities and different areas of Quito.  After catching up on some homework, I took a trip to the middle of the world, La Mitad del Mundo.  On our bus there we met another group going to La Mitad as well.  They were students from Switzerland, The United States, and other European countries. We traveled with them and explored La Mitad with them.  Since coming to Quito I've met so many people from every continent (except Antarctica).   When I decided to come to Ecuador I figured I'd learn a lot about Ecuadorian culture, but I never thought I'd learn so much about cultures from around the world.