One month in Quito....

Well, I made it here one month.... sort of crazy to believe!! I arrived at exactly this time one month ago! I wasn´t sure that I would last this long, or that it would feel much longer than it has.... I have to say that it has flown by, thanks to the fact that I am truly enjoying learning Spanish, love the people at my school and love that I have made some great friends here!



One of the highlights of my Spanish progress this week was when I returned to a libraria to inquire about a book for a friend... I´d been in the store 2 weeks prior looking for (let´s be honest, children´s) books in Spanish. I´d garbled my way through the first conversation I had with the owner along with the help of my very patient Spanish teacher, Olga. Olga led the talk and I chimed in when I could. THIS week, however... I went back alone. I was able to ask about the book for my friend, chit chat (en Español!) about my progress and what I was doing this weekend.. etc. The best part was when the owner told me that she wouldn´t have known I was the same person because my Spanish was so much better! That is definitely motivating... because there are some days where I couldn´t have a coherent conversation if you paid me....!! She asked me to come back and practice English with her, and she´ll practice Spanish with me...! Love it.



I also love my hostal... I feel like I´ve sort of been adopted.... the 2 brothers tease me about boys and REFUSE to speak to me in Spanish.... Their parents speak zero English, and I am finally able to have a full conversation.... today especially. I returned home from work and school and went to the kitchen to say hi.... So it´s me and these 2 women, BSing about the differences between Latin American and American guys... all in Spanish. It was great to be able to carry on a conversation without my dictionary surgically attached to my hand! The mom is going to teach me how to make CEVICHE!!!!!!!! this coming week. Ecuador is famous for its ceviche and I can´t WAIT to learn!!



another note on food... I had the pleasure of eating mote with chicharron this week... Yadrina - my coworker at school-- bought it for me..... we gringos are not supposed to eat at this local food market, but if the food is hot you have a better chance of survival....so you walk into this packed place with fruit and heads of animals and soup and juice and everyone yelling in Spanish and steam and etc. And me. The glowing white girl...! ha. And we walk up to this packed stand with different little buckets of corn and meat and stuff.... it all goes into this plastic bag along with some cilantro, etc. Then you put a sauce on top (I abstained since it was cold AND appeared to have been sitting out all morning... and was cream-based!! I have a pretty tolerant stomach but I´ve already regretted some consumption decisions and I wasn´t about to do so again...!!) and eat. O.M.G. amazing. I can´t wait to get more!!!



On that note.... I am going to head to bed. Another morning of Spanish kickboxing....!! I do love that class.... I do LOVE that gym!! This weekend I am headed to a town about an hour from here where my friend has a house... Ibarra... where they supposedly have the best ice cream on the planet. I pretty much can´t wait for that!! And then hiking in the moutains somewhere on Sunday.... (just bought some new hiking boots!! yay!). Can´t wait..... hopefully I will be able to breathe!! (an update on the breathing front....last Sunday my friend and I went for a run... I made it one whole lap around Parque Carolina here in Quito... a mere 2.2K?? and I felt like I deserved a metal. WHICH, since we got the world´s most amazing gelato afterward, I guess I did!!...ha. A different friend wants to train for a marathon with me here.... we´ll see how that goes, considering I can only make it (barely!!!!!!!!!) 2.2K!).

K- that´s all from Quito tonight. :)

P.S.....

just an extra note on the continually humbling experience with altitude and exercise.... the kickboxing class was SO fun, but... SO hard!! She is insane... good thing I know how to say I am going to vomit (voy a vomitar!!!!) en espanol!! :) Am now back from a tour through the grocery store.... it's amazing what is expensive here. Healthy Choice soup in a plastic container thing costs $5!! (I took a pass on that!)..... and in an attempt to add some un-cookable protein to my diet other than tuna fish and beans, I bought some sort of baby food! LOL. If anyone wants to lose weight, definitely come join me in Ecuador. ;) and now, off to the gym/spa for an afternoon of poolside relaxation!! Loving Ecuador....

Friends, Robbers & Protein Bars

Well.......... it's been a bit since I've posted anything, BUT it has taken a bit of adjusting getting settled in..... and I'm still working on that.

okay... and it's been a bit LONGER since i started writing THIS entry. it's sort of crazy how fast a completely different life becomes your new reality and (almost, not quite, but almost...) normal. The picture above is me with 2 new friends here.... Shelley (left) and Deidre (right). A friend (thanks Meaghan!) introduced me to Shelley over email - Shelley has been here for almost 4yrs as a teacher in an international school- Deidre is new to Quito as of August and teaches in the same school- and we had a great time! I'm so lucky to have met them and their friends! It makes Quito a lot more fun..!! AND Kevin & Meaghan were able to visit!! We had a TCSC in Quito ;). I really hope they are able to come back...

So... what is life like here in Quito? Well, given the title I assigned this posting over a week ago (oops!) it's not really what I expected..... I'd read a little about the petty theft here before coming, but I thought it would be stats like 1 in 10 people have been robbed.... in reality, it's more like 2 in 1 (because people are getting robbed multiple times!). At first, I was pretty freaked out.... I mean, NYC can be scary at times, but I was never worried that someone was going to use a knife to take the $3 I had on me.... which is sometimes what happens here. I've got my own taxi driver -- he is the absolute best, name is Washington... he speaks English but insists that I speak Spanish so I practice-- and he picks me up every morning and brings me home every afternoon. I adore him- he is one of the best parts of my day without a doubt!! But with regard to the crime stuff, I'm just on the lookout and trying to be safe... we'll see. It could be a good chance for me to put all of the weight-lifting to the test. ;) (just kidding mom!!)

As for school.... it's fantastic!! I can't believe (for the most part!) 4hrs of one-on-one Spanish class per day can go.... It's amazing- a little different from my classes at Carlson! HA! But I am learning a ton and it's possible for me to have complete (albeit broken!) conversations in Spanish. I do notice that the teachers and the people at the school speak pretty slowly compared to the rest of Quito, so when I attempt conversations or questions out in public at stores, restaurants, etc it is often a humbling experience! But I am loving it. In the afternoons, I work at the school.... I'm doing marketing and webpage stuff, which is fun and a little creative..... I just think the whole business aspect of it is pretty cool. There are so many teachers and students here... and you can study just about anywhere in Ecuador.... wish I had more money so I could go to class in the Galapagos!!! Anyway, my boss mentioned something about the possibility of a full-time job running the school while he returns to teaching.... I don't really know what that means exactly in terms of salary, etc, but I can't really picture coming back to the US just now... so it might be a good option! I was also offered the "job" of (personal) training an ex-NYer I met at my gym here...so you never know. Employment opportunities abound!!

As for the rest of life... I'm living in a hostal 2 blocks from my gym... the first hostal I checked into was a nightmare.... I left after 1hr. It was apparently in a super sketch part of town.... it smelled like smoke- the lady was SOOO mean when I told her I wasn't comfortable being there (there was no internet, no phone, shared bathroom, miniscule room.....) and wanted to change. She told me I was absolutely so rude and wanted me to stop talking to her and leave. So that was a great start to the whole trip..!! lol. I thought I was just going to hop on a plane and come back to the US. Luckily, I landed where I am now... the place is great (hello wifi in my room, private bath and hot water!!) and the family that owns it is fantastic. They live here too and there are 2 sons- 1 is 20, 1 is 25- who are sort of like brothers. They tease me and try to help me with my Spanish too. So I'm never really alone....

As for other things...? I went to Papallacta (about an hour from here... thermal springs.... AMAZING!!) last weekend. So beautiful. Though I do recommend that you apply sunscreen to your LEGS even if you think you will be in the water the whole day.... because you won't!! OUCH. burned, still... almost a week later. Such an idiot! Anyway- a completely amazing, relaxing day. I can't wait to return.

As for the protein bar reference.... food here is a bit less than I'd hoped for. Most things I've encountered have been pounded to bits and deep-fried. Not exactly my fare of choice... so I powered through all of the protein bars I brought here with me in about 2 weeks. (this means 2/day in some cases for meals!! GROSS!).... and when I went to the ecua-GNC to buy more, I waas shocked... a thing of protein powder costs $97!!! + tax, which I only discovered AFTER I'd paid for it... I went and immediately returned it!! (all of this made possible by the escort of Washington... who refuses to accept payment for these side trips...! he also takes me to the grocery store - pushes my cart, carries my bags....! he is so great- and married, with kids, and all of that...just in case you were wondering ;)!). So, now protein-barless, my meals consist of eggs and toast in the morning, salad w/beans at lunch... and a gallon of peanut butter, crackers and box of cereal per night- consumed in my room on my bed (see LEFT. ;) Things could be worse, but with an extended stay I need to explore more food options!! A girl can only eat so much All Bran. ;)

Anyway, I'm off to humiliate myself yet again and take a kickboxing class.... EN ESPANOL! It's funny how all classes are basically the same, even if you're on the other side of the Ecuator taking class in a different language...! And maybe someday I'll get used to the altitude. ;) Holy crap, that is NO JOKE. When I return home, I should have no problem running hundreds of marathons. ;)

Atlanta to Quito and FREE WINE!

Surprise, surprise, I nearly missed my flight. It seems that when I have too long of a layover (and a reawakened love for drinking in airports), that I will be the one person running frantically down the hall to get on the jetway before they bolt the doors. Yep, that was me. The last person on the plane. Very smooth, elegant and sophisticated. Oh well.

I do have to give Delta a thumbs-up- the mini tvs with on-demand movies (and more peanuts!) are definitely worth the bit of a price premium I paid. After watching Ghost World (Greg Kinnear, the guy from the office, Tea Leoni—incidentally, an awesome movie), picking at a less-than-appetizing dinner and supplementing it with thousands of shelled peanuts and taking 306 different naps (all while in my lovely lovely exit row seat with nothing in front of me but miles and miles of legroom… so nice!), I sort of forgot that my day of traveling has a destination. I realized that I will be arriving in a completely random airport at 11pm with a TON of crap to carry around. (Oh, Marriott, please find me, and Delta, please don’t lose my luggage. And little piece of crap luggage cart thing that I bought for $14, please work and help me carry my massive backpack!)………..

We just got our last beverage service- and think I can get one more nap in before we land.

........ so now it's Saturday morning and I'm sitting here in the very pimp JW Marriott in Quito- what a difference my hostel will be from this! Upon arrival, I was given a bottle of wine and a huge fruit plate. (The fruit plate included a very mysterious yellow fruit that tasted not so good and is still unidentifiable despite a call to the front desk and an intensive Google search!) Amazing.

So this hotel is fantastic and there was zero drama at the airport (though the $14 P.O.S. luggage cart didn't work). The most interesting event of the night was our landing- I was talking to my seatmate about his upcoming 6 month teaching trip here in Quito, and we looked out of the window and it looked like we were in mountains. Literally, less than 1 minute later, we landed. I've never had such a quick landing! Quito is so high, that there wasn't really a descent at all. We just sort of appeared. Navigating through the airport was no problem, customs was a little long.... but when I made it through, there was the Marriott guy with my name on a sign, right up front! So great.

So I'm having a little problem getting myself into the shower and out the door... Check-in at the next place is 1pm!...........

newark to atlanta

FEB 6; 1:44PM

I have just consumed the most fantastic bloody mary in recent history. Following a Thursday filled with last minute packing (and, let’s be honest… first-time packing. There was no last-minute finishing up about this…. It was full-on, complete packing the night before!) and errand running, I got up at 550AM to finish packing and contemplate the incredible amount of CRAP I’m bringing with me on this trip.

Spending most of January in Costa Rica with clothes I’d barely wear here to garden in (and how I love to garden! Yeah right), I decided that I would not feel completely disgusting for 3 whole months. This was going to require some serious packing. (52 lbs of it, as I would later discover in Newark- thanks to the kind Delta folk for overlooking those 2 additional pounds). I ended up brining more than I need- though I’m sure I’ll still have nothing to wear. Really, is having 4 pair of jeans to choose from such a horrible thing?! In my defense, I really have no idea what I’ll be doing for the next 3 or more months… it looks like my activities could range anywhere from sitting in a cool classroom (albeit in a city that supposedly has temperature swings of upwards of 30 degrees! Quito’s altitude is apparently the culprit for this weather range) to dragging myself through the Amazon. Ecuador has no shortage of geographical diversity, and I really hope to get all up in it. Furthermore, who knows that I’ll even stay in Quito!? I’ve got an open schedule thanks to the recession. I’m currently “at liberty” (thanks to Vicky Cristina Barcelona for the expression) with student loans on my side… I hope to learn Spanish and find some inspiration during this time. I pray that after everything is said and done, that I don’t end up in a cube farm somewhere. But that’s a different story.

(note: OMG! Delta is officially the best airline ever. They still offer PEANUTS on flights. I, of course, had my own supply that I’ve already hacked into- but this is fantastic to know. Definitely worth a premium on the airfare ;)).

Anyway- I’ve got few real commitments. I’m starting my lessons and job on Monday- a job I got by responding to a posting seeking foreign help with marketing efforts to grow the Instituto Superior de Espanol in Quito. In exchange for this marketing genius, I get free Spanish lessons and a place to stay for a month… after that, I have to figure it out. I better come up with an amazing concept ASAP to prove my worth. But, I digress.

Back to the bloody. So my day/night/early morning of packing and running around left me a bit stressed out. After a nice 2hr car ride with my mom- where I prattled on about equal rights and fair treatment for Muslims and other relevant, savvy topics ;) – I arrived at Newark airport. The nausea due to my impending departure was showing its face. I made it through check-in and everything just fine. Still nauseous. So I popped into the nearest bar and had the best bloody mary in recent history. Practically chewable, it was so thick. After some nice IMing and texting with friends, it was time to hop on the plane….. and here I am. Nearly falling asleep, incidentally.

So- anyway, off to nap. Perhaps a bit more of Twilight part II as well. First leg of the journey is underway………….!!!