Saturday, August 22, 2009
Finally in Ecuador!!
It's taken me a few weeks to get settled in here in Quito, but I finally have a chance to update this blog! Everything is really great so far. I've learned a lot already, and am really happy here.
My host family is great. My parents are about 60 and 70. Then I have a sister who lives upstairs in our apartment. She has a husband and two kids, an 8 year old son and 1 year old daughter. I spend a lot of time with them also!
I have had three weeks of class so far. I feel like my Spanish has improved, thanks to my professors and my family. They are really patient with me, and answer all my questions.
Quito is a huge city, two million people. There is, of course, a lot of poverty and crime. But there are also a lot of really beautiful things too. The city is surrounded by mountains, and is almost always 70 degrees during the day and 50 degrees at night. The altitude was hard to get used to at first, but I think my body has adjusted.
I've been to the coast, swam in the ocean and went whale watching. It was amazing! I went to the top of one of Quito's mountains this weekend. The view was unbelievable. Here, soccer is such a huge deal. I went to a game the other night with some Ecuadorian friends, it was a lot of fun!
Next week my month of intensive Spanish ends. I have a 5 day break and then will begin the regular semester. During the break, I am going with some friends to a place called Banos. We will ride mountain bikes into the jungle, lay in hot springs, go to super cheap day spas, repel down waterfalls. I think it will be an awesome vacation.
This country is less than half the size of Texas but has mountains, the ocean and jungles. It's really cool.
Some random things about Ecuador: we cannot flush our toilet paper (the plumbing system is too old).........people here think peanut butter and jelly are a crazy combination.....whenever you meet someone here you must greet them with a kiss on the cheek........people here think it's chilly....they were sweaters on top of long sleeved shirts when it's 70 degrees!
Now that I've gotten the blog started I hope to update it more often! Hope you enjoy.
My host family is great. My parents are about 60 and 70. Then I have a sister who lives upstairs in our apartment. She has a husband and two kids, an 8 year old son and 1 year old daughter. I spend a lot of time with them also!
I have had three weeks of class so far. I feel like my Spanish has improved, thanks to my professors and my family. They are really patient with me, and answer all my questions.
Quito is a huge city, two million people. There is, of course, a lot of poverty and crime. But there are also a lot of really beautiful things too. The city is surrounded by mountains, and is almost always 70 degrees during the day and 50 degrees at night. The altitude was hard to get used to at first, but I think my body has adjusted.
I've been to the coast, swam in the ocean and went whale watching. It was amazing! I went to the top of one of Quito's mountains this weekend. The view was unbelievable. Here, soccer is such a huge deal. I went to a game the other night with some Ecuadorian friends, it was a lot of fun!
Next week my month of intensive Spanish ends. I have a 5 day break and then will begin the regular semester. During the break, I am going with some friends to a place called Banos. We will ride mountain bikes into the jungle, lay in hot springs, go to super cheap day spas, repel down waterfalls. I think it will be an awesome vacation.
This country is less than half the size of Texas but has mountains, the ocean and jungles. It's really cool.
Some random things about Ecuador: we cannot flush our toilet paper (the plumbing system is too old).........people here think peanut butter and jelly are a crazy combination.....whenever you meet someone here you must greet them with a kiss on the cheek........people here think it's chilly....they were sweaters on top of long sleeved shirts when it's 70 degrees!
Now that I've gotten the blog started I hope to update it more often! Hope you enjoy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)