Today I learned the subtle difference of intonation: Dólar (dollar) vs. Dolor (pain). Instead of saying “it costs four dollars,” I said, “it costs four pains.” Oops!

I also tried a fried plantain, or "platano" in Spanish. A plantain is a type of non-sweet banana that is cooked before eating. The dessert was surprisingly good! It tasted like a cooked banana surrounded by fried dough.

I learned the word for paragliding today: Parapente. Paragliding is when you jump off of a cliff holding onto a giant kite that flies you around. It turns out there are a handful of parapente clubs around here, and we can try it once we’re used to the elevation. Sounds like a blast! 

This is the view from my room! Last night we couldn’t see much, but the view was quite the surprise this morning. Muchas montagnas con pequenas casas de todas colores! Beautiful! It’s crazy how the city rolls up and down with the mountainous landscape.  

We took a quick walk to eat breakfast and I tried grenadia for the first time. It is very similar to passionfruit. Strangest thing… an orange fruit with a tough outer shell you cut through to get to a weird inside filled with slimy pods with seeds in them.  So much better than I expected! You know how cucumber seeds have a little pocket around them? Think that, but 3 or 4 times as thick, with a little seed that crunches like pumpkin seeds do. Surprisingly sweet, especially with the grey expectation. Mango-papaya-like sweetness in the shape of slippery pods with a crunch. Cool!

Maria, the Trent in Ecuador (TIE) coordinator, is so nice. Her English is very good. She has flat grey hair just past her shoulders and wears classy little square glasses.

Perhaps it was the 17 hours of traveling or the elevation that made us sleepy, but the group took it easy for the rest of the day. We went to a large supermarket to buy lunch/dinner. When at home, I often feel conflicted buying fruit from Chile, Mexico, or even California because that leaves an awful carbon footprint, not to mention the often low-paid laborers indirectly impacted by these purchases. Here, when I pick up an apple from Ecuador, I don’t feel that guilt. Plus, here you can literally buy bags of pure fruit pulp!  

The 12 other girls and I talked for hours just laughing and telling stories. The sun went down at about 6, but we kept talking until 9 (even though it legitimately felt like midnight).

Great first full day in Ecuador! 


-L

Hola amigos! 

I wanted to thank somebody on my flight for switching seats with me by giving him a little maple candy. I explained that the candy is made from dulce agua (sweet water) from certain arboles (trees) donde yo vivo (where I live), and the dulce agua (sweet water) is cocinó (is cooked) into jarabe (syrup) for pancakes. I explained the candy was solid pancake syrup. No idea if he understood... 
Oh well! He seemed to like the candy anyway. 

Writing this...

• "Estoy presentimiento en Quito. Muy bueno! Con juste un poco de español en mis orejas, estoy confidente que voy a aprender la lengua rápido. Wow!" 
  

...took me only about twice as long as it takes me to write an english paragraph of that size, which isn't too bad for my first day here (though I am sure there are grammar mistakes). Turns out I'm almost fluent!

What I am hearing is pretty neat. In essence, Ecuadorians party hard. I have great view of the mountains from my room. From this side of the building, we're hearing a spanish dance club blasting some traditional ecuadorian tunes. (Think Mexican meets Italian meets workout zumba music.) I have a recording of it below in the video! You'll hear it better if you turn your volume all the way up. Very cool. I don't understand any of it... bahaha they speak so fast! It's a good thing I'm a heavy sleeper because it is decently loud. The "dorms" in the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar residence are comparable to rooms in a 4 star hotel. We're staying here for a week before meeting our host families on Friday. We each have our own little rooms and we're sharing common rooms with 2 other people. That includes 2 bathrooms, a living area, and a kitchen. Just a tad better than first year residence! 

Tomorrow, I am leaving for Ecuador for 8 months… Wow! 

In a nutshell, I’ll be living with a host family in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, for one semester while studying international development at the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar. The second semester, I will be doing an independent research project, or placement, most likely in the Amazon. I’m super pumped since I’ve been reading National Geographic since I was seven! I’d love to study the impacts of Canadian mining companies on indigenous communities, even though my mom will have quite the anxiety when I am without phone service for two and a half months. 

Important tidbit of information… I took my first Spanish class this past summer! Bahaha yikes. I’m very excited to live in the host families, but also nervous that I will not be able to communicate. I am probably most excited about weekend trips during the first semester to the Andes, to Andean communities, to the coastal region, to the rainforest, and to other cities. Muy Bueno! Many adventures to be had.

(Click to the right for more!)