Basilica and Random Home Stuff

Alison and I went to the Basilica and took some awesome pictures and had some wicked fun. I've also added to pictures from around my house.

We actually weren't sure if we were headed the right direction until we saw this sign.

The view from the steps of la Basilica.

Iguanas instead of gargoyles.

See the turtles instead of gargoyles!

The arches of la Basilica.

La Basilica. Beautiful stained glass windows.

Las llamitas! There are llamas by my house.

In true Widmayer fashion, I have to take a sunset picture.

My weekend came and went too fast for my liking, but it brought with it a lot of new bits of life. Friday, Melissa and I finally went out for lunch. It was quite good. In Quito, and probably a lot of Latin America, at lunch time some restaurants serve a menú. A menú is that particular day’s set meal, and generally consists of a variety of dishes. We went to a restaurant in Cumbaya that one of the fellow K students had suggested, and we actually really liked it. First, we were served jugo de mango. Jugo, or juice, is probably one of my favorite things in Ecuador. At almost every lunch, we have some sort of jugo. Thus far, I’ve mostly had jugo of fruits I’ve never heard of, or tasted. My favorite to date has been jugo de naranjilla. I don’t actually know what this specific fruit looks like, but it tastes like a SweetTart, the candy. It’s pretty interesting, and I like it a lot. An Ecuadorian specialty is jugo de tomate de arbol. This specific tomato is a little sweeter than our classic tomato, and is a lighter shade. It makes great jugo, let me tell you. It’s a weird taste, a little vegetable-y but still sweet, and it’s started to grow on me (not literally!).

So anyway, we started with jugo, and then were served a sopa. I literally think the stole this particular soup recipe from my madre because I think I ate the same soup for dinner Thursday. It was potato-y and onion-y and delicious. Then we had a course with frijoles, arroz and carne: beans, rice and meat. I honestly have no idea what the meat was, but it tasted like (and therefore probably was) pork. I haven’t really eaten carne since I’ve been here, only pollo (chicken) because I’ve told my madre that’s the only meat I’ll eat, so the pork was a not-quite-pleasant surprise. But the rice and beans were good. The menú ended with watermelon. It was a nice taste to end on. And after all that food, we only paid $2.50 each. My my, I love living in Ecuador.

After we ate our almuerzo, we wandered around a nearby mall. I ended up buying new sunglasses, and Melissa bought a book about La Malinche, the woman who birthed the Mexican mestizo race. If any of you ever get a chance to read about la Malinche, do so. She’s an interesting woman, and many people have a mixed opinion of her. She was an indigenous princess, highly educated, and very good with language. She had been captured by a different indigenous group, and was being held prisoner when Cortez arrived. She was given to Cortez as a gift, or in exchange for something, I can’t quite remember. But she became Cortez’s aid. She translated for him, and helped him make deals with indigenous tribes. Many people consider her a traitor to her race. She later became Cortez’s lover, and therefore was the mother of the mestizo race in Mexico. For that, she is heralded a hero. It’s really an interesting story, and an interesting debate.

But I digress. After the mall, we made our way back to Quito via the bus. We walked back to my apartment and started to plan our next adventure. One of the other K students, and one of my good friends, Alison, invited me and Melissa to meet her at the Museo Guayasmin that afternoon. So Melissa and I pulled out my map and tried to figure out how to get there. They tell us that we need to know where we’re going, even if we take a cab, so they don’t drive us all around town, or something, in an effort to rip us off. We ended up finding a cab driver who knew exactly where we were going. He dropped us off, and eventually Alison, and another K student Dan, met us at the Museum.

Apparently they give guided tours for free at this museum. It was pretty cool, even though it was entirely in Spanish. Guayasmin, it turns out, is an indigenous Ecuadorian painter who is well known for his depictions of the indigenous struggle and the Ecuadorian fight for justice. One of my favorites in the museo is a painting called "Los Manos" which has a total of thirteen different paintings of hands. Each different painting depicts a different mood or emotion. My favorite of the thirteen was "Los Manos de Protesto." Ecuadorians are infamous for taking to the streets when they desire change or improvements in their way of life. In the past ten years they have overthrown two different presidents. This painting really captured all of that fight.

After the museo, the three of us went out to Quicentro, the big mall in the middle of the city. We went to a restaurant called "Crepes y Waffles" which sold delicious nutella-covered, and other such tastey treats. Alison, Dan, Melissa and I throughly enjoyed ourselves. I hadn't really gotten the chance to know Dan before we left, but he is super funny. We call him "Tio Dan" which means "Uncle Dan" because he's living with the parents of another K student's host family. Technically, he'd be his Uncle. Tio Dan has become an alter-ego for Dan, and he makes statements like "Tio Dan fainted in the girls bathroom." (which he did, by the way, the other day. We've had three K students faint since we've arrived. We're not sure if it's anything worse than altitude sickness, but it was pretty scary.) Overall, it was a fun day.

Saturday, we had our final Spanish class in the morning, and we had to take an exam in ours. I feel like I've learned a lot, and I definitely have started picking up a lot more Spanish. It's nice. After class, Melissa and I went to a Mexican restaurant in Cumbaya, and then went back to our respective homes. I had been planning to either go to the partido de futbol (or soccer game) or go out dancing later in the evening, but when it came down to it, I felt really tired. I actually spent a lot of the day watching The West Wing on my computer. Boy, am I glad I brought that. Nothing better than The West Wing to make me happy.

Also on Saturday, my host sister, Anita, had nose surgery. She had been sick since I got there, and after various doctors appointments during the week, we found out she had to have surgery. She had it on Saturday. When she came home Saturday night, my whole familia was there. And by whole familia, I mean Anita, her boyfriend Marco, Marcia, my madre, and her boyfriend Jorge. I've begun extending the label of "family" to include Jorge and Marco because they tend to come around a lot, and treat me as a part of the family. Marco and I have a lot of fun together because he likes to make fun of everything. There are different accents for different parts of Ecuador. And on Saturday I was treated to a complete revue of all the different accents, brought to me by Marco and Anita. It was probably the funniest thing I've ever seen. Then Marco started to imitate American accents. His New Yorker accent is absolutely hilarious. Oh good fun.

Sunday, I slept in. Alison called me around 10:30AM and asked me to go with her to Old Town to see la Basilica. I got dressed and met her at Rio Coca, the bus station. We took Ecovia, which is the bus like that runs into Quito. I'd never been on Ecovia before, but it is just as you'd expect a bus to be. It's jam packed, and half the people have to stand. But I enjoyed it, actually. Mostly because at every stop we were like "hey, where are we? Is this our stop?" We ended up getting off probably two stops after when we should've, but we walked the difference. The Basilica was beautiful. It's this giant church that was built over many decades in the 1900s. It's has fantastic stained glass windows, and instead of gargoyles, there are turtles, iguanas, and monkeys. Really cool.

Anyway, we walked at the end of mass. We watched the communion, and then went and sat in the back of the church. At the end, I heard them say the Hail Mary, and then "Let us go in peace!" in Spanish. It was cool for me. Afterwards, we stuck around and took some pictures, then walked to la Plaza Grande, where we ate lunch.

It was then we realized that we had recieved text messages on our phones inviting us to meet some of the K girls at Quicentro, so we decided to take a cab there. So we were waiting on the side of the street for a cab when suddenly I heard Alison scream. I looked over to see her holding her neck and this guy running away from us. Apparently, some ladron, or thief, had noticed Alison, who is blond-haired, blue-eyed, and decided she must be some rich gringita whose necklace was worth a lot. It turns out that though the necklace wasn't worth a ton of money, it had a lot of personal value. And we were really shook up. We got in a cab, and rode to Quicentro. We started feeling better after we were in the cab. There was nothing we could have done, anyway. Old Town is infamous for being thief-central. And once they decided to rob you, there's nothing you can do. Even if you report it to the police, it's unlikely to have any affect on the ladron. We made it to Quicentro alright, and ended up having a great afternoon just sitting and getting to know each other, and having fun.


Monday, we had our first day of orientation. Talk about BLAH. It was really boring. But I did meet a lot of other exchange students. It was really strange to see all the gringitos at the bus station. So yeah, that was dull. After orientation, us K kids found Karla and Gabrie, two of the Ecuadorian girls who studied at K last year. We went out to a restaurant called "Sharma Hot!" for lunch, and just reconnected. It was really nice. Afterwards, I went home and hung out with my entire familia again. Marco, Anita and I ended up watching Power Rangers, Sponge Bob, and The Simpsons in Spanish. I was laughing the whole time. It was absurd.

Tuesday, was another day of orientation. This one was a bit better, mostly because this absolutely hilarious guy gave the lecture on Politics. I wanted to take one of his classes, but it was in English, so I don't think I can. After orientation, all us K kids went to the Cafeteria for lunch. Then Alison, Melissa and I went to Quicentro for a while. I ended up having to leave early because Anita had a doctor's appointment. My madre had been joking the night before that the whole family was going to go with Anita to the appointment, and I ended up taking that as a hint to go with the whole family to the appointment. We've been told that Ecuadorians are not pushy with their suggestions, but generally mean what they say. I ended up taking this hint, and I'm glad I did. I had a great night with my family, going out to eat afterwards, and it was great. On our way home, my madre turned to me and thanked me for coming. I'm definitely feeling like I'm part of the family. It's great.

Today, we had our first classes, but I'll bore you with that info tomorrow when I have more time.

Again, if you read all this, you deserve a medal.

HUGE update: 8.18-8.23

Getting to Quito was a long and grueling journey in many ways. I had to say goodbye to my parents at the airport in Chicago, and that made me prone to sobbing for most of that first day. But the group of K students waiting for me just outside of security made the transition easier. The sixteen of us going to Quito from K spent the day together, nervous and excited. We’d been waiting for this day, after all, for over eight months. And here it was! August 18, 2007. Two flights, a little turbulence, and a lot more nervous chatter later, and our eight months of planning finally became something real: we landed in Quito. Our new city.

It was night when we arrived, and as soon as we got off the plane we scattered like frightened chickens. We were all tired, and frightened, and I swear, I didn’t see a single one of my fellow K students after we passed through customs. What I did see, however, was a wonderful sign with “Christine Widmayer” written across it, and a smiling welcoming face. Mi madre, Marcia, hugged and kissed me when I found her, which is a customary greeting in Ecuador, and helped me with my bags. Out on the curb waiting for a cab, it hit me. I was in QUITO. I think I probably thought something like “Holy Cow.” and then tried to convert it into Spanish, which turned into “Vaca Santa.” I don’t think I’ll ever actually say that out loud, but it was a good thought at the time. Holy Cow. I’m here.

If it hadn’t hit me that I was in Quito before I got in the cab, it certainly would have once I got in it. The drivers in Quito are absolutely loco. My friend Melissa and I have decided that whoever honks first at any crossroads or possibly disputed intersection has the right of way. It’s honestly the way it works. And the buses are the same, but bigger. The cab ride home was a little topsy-turvy, but I was able to talk a bit to Marcia over my fear. I found out that she lives in a neighborhood called “Los Laureles.” Los laureles are an Ecuadorian flower of some sort, she said. All the streets in the neighborhood are named after flowers. We live on the third floor of an apartment building off of Avenida de los Tulipanes. It’s a guarded, gated building, which originally made me wonder how safe it was, but I’ve since realized that everyone locks their doors as much as we do (I have to use six keys to make it through my front door). The apartment itself is modest, but still very nice and comfortable. Marcia walked me in and introduced me immediately to her daughter Anita, who’s sixteen, and Anita’s boyfriend, Marco. Then she showed me to my room.

Okay, imagine this. You’ve lived in the boonies of Michigan your whole life, and the terrain is very unvaried. You’re used to trees and lakes, but mountains—you’ve not really seen any since your last vacation out west to Colorado. Imagine having spent all day on a plane, flying to a strange city, and feeling extremely overwhelmed. Now, imagine walking into your new home for six months and seeing out the window in your room the fantastic cityscape of Quito, the biggest city you’ve ever lived in, shadowed nicely by Pinchincha, a giant mountain/volcano. If you could picture all that, you can imagine my reaction. I almost died, I was so happy. It was like, “Welcome to Quito! And oh yeah, you are in the Andes. Enjoy the overwhelmingly beautiful vista.” I tried to take pictures that very night, but it was too dark for my camera.

Marcia, Marco, Anita and I talked a little, but Marcia soon decided that I should rest. So, I went to my room and unpacked to help me settle down a little. I was, of course, quite overwhelmed by everything. But above all else that night, I was happy to be in Quito. I went to bed that night happy, nervous, and excited. I ended up waking up more than once during the night for very specific reasons, and things I will always associate with life in Quito:

1. The planes. You can hear them very very loud and clear no matter where you are in the city. And it’s easy for them to wake you up. They also have flashing lights at dark that will draw your attention right to the window. They actually add a little to the whole cityscape.
2. The dogs. There are dogs all over the place, including in the parking lot below my window. They love to fight with each other, so I can hear them barking allllll night. But they are very cute. I haven’t tried to pet any because I’m afraid I’ll get rabies, but they’re fun to look at. You get used to them pretty quick. I’ve already learned to tune them out.
3. The early sunrise. The sun rises here at around 6:00AM. The sun certainly doesn’t care that I sometimes want to sleep in. But that early morning wake-up call from Mr. Sun brought with it my first glimpse of Quito during the day. Let me tell you, it’s incredible.
4. The chicken, or rooster, or whatever it is next door. There is a chicken, that is clucking all day, and a rooster, or maybe that same chicken, that crows in the morning. I seriously laughed out loud to myself when I first processed in my sleepy brain what that strange noise was because it made/still makes me think of my dad (since he’d really like some chickens). I kept saying that I’d bring some chicken decorated stuff home for him. But I honestly didn’t expect to encounter any chickens so soon. I was, of course, pleasantly surprised.

Although I went to bed that first night excited, by morning I was more nervous than anything else. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to communicate, and I was still in that place where everything is just too different to get used to. I spent most of Sunday in a polite, but reserved silence. Whenever Marcia tried to talk to me, I could barely elaborate on my “Si” or “No” responses. I felt very very lonely. Top that off with not being able to call home, and I was a wreck by the end of the day.

I was relieved when Monday dawned. All the Kalamazoo students met at the bus station to take our first trip to la Universidad San Francisco de Quito. It’s just northeast of Quito in a town called Cumbaya. Everyone has to take at least one bust to get there. I, being as lucky as a four leaf clover, live closest to Rio Coca, the bus station from which we have to depart for Cumbaya. I walk the five or fewer minutes each day, and just climb onto a bus, and within twenty or so minutes I’m getting off in Cumbaya. Some of the K students have an hour or more commute. And I am so glad I don’t. It was one of my biggest fears. And it allowed me to be pretty independent right of the bat. My familia doesn’t have to come pick me up from Rio Coca each day to make sure I get home okay. That gives me some flexibility this first week. I’m not expected home at any real time, necessarily, except for meals. Right now there’s a bus strike going on, too. So a lot of the K students have to take a cab to the bus station, which is much more expensive than a bus (the bus costs $0.25 per ride). I’m very fortunate.

Anyway, the school is very beautiful. We haven’t really had the opportunity to formally tour it, but what I have seen of la USFQ is very nice. There’s a gorgeous little pond with fish in it, and a water fall. It looks just like everyone has described it to me: like a country club. I really like it. Plus, it has free wireless internet for students. Needless to say, I’m going to spend a lot of my time there. When we arrived on Monday, I was relieved to be with my fellow K students, and I also was very happy to be down at a lower altitude. Cumbaya is a valley, and is more than 1000 feet lower than Quito. Sunday, I had terrible altitude sickness, which included nausea and headache. But being in Cumbaya has definitely helped me get over my altitude sickness faster. So overall, la Universidad has been wonderful to me.

Also on Monday, we took our Spanish placement exam. This first week, we take an intensive Spanish course, but we have to be placed in a level first. Somehow, and I honestly don’t know how, I placed in the advanced level. Some of it is a little over my head because I might have a good grasp of grammar on paper, but speaking is a fumbling mess for me. But I’m glad I’m in the advanced group. We’re reviewing things I really need to review, and the class has only six of us in it. I feel like I’m learning a lot very quickly. I’ve already, after only three Spanish classes and less than a week in Quito, noticed that I can understand and distinguish a lot more Spanish than I used to be able to. That makes me feel better about it all, though my speaking is still a bumbling, mumbling mess.

After classes on Monday, we all took the bus back to Rio Coca together, and were met by our host families. My hermanita, Anita, met me, and we walked back together and talked a little. I felt a little better after being with my friends, but I was still feeling very lonely. Once we arrived back in the apartment, I started feeling very lonely again. Neither Anita nor I knew what to say to each other. By the evening I had worked myself up into such a tizzy that I almost had a breakdown. But I finally asked my madre if I could call my parents and she took me to the phone booth place around the corner to call. I called my mom sobbing, and it honestly really helped. I just felt so isolated and I had been so worried about not getting to talk to my parents that I was going to explode!

The next day I felt a lot better. I worked out my Ecuadorian cell phone, which has done wonders for my feelings of isolation. Firstly, I asked Anita to help me set it up, which initiated a long conversation about lots of stuff. Secondly, it allowed me to have more freedom because I can call my casa and let them know I’m not going to be around for lunch or dinner, and instead I can go off with my friends. That hasn’t happened yet, but I still feel much more connected to everyone, having a cell phone and everything. That was Tuesday.

Wednesday, we had an extra long day at USFQ. We had Spanish again all morning and then we had a meeting in the afternoon with Nelson and Tania, our Resident Directors here in Quito. We went out for pizza for lunch (which we all thought was funny because that’s exactly what K would have done if we were home…feed us pizza. It’s just a college kid staple, I guess), and afterwards talked about everything including classes, and our Integrative Cultural Research Projects. Afterwards, we all decided to go out to a store near USFQ and buy school supplies. Then, some of us went home, but I went with a group to Supermaxi, the main super market in Quito. I had been once before with my madre, but it was more fun with the K students. We looked at all the Ecuadorian fruits, which are incredible, by the way. But if I were to tell you about all the food, it’d be a whole different long story. Suffice to say, it’s really good. After that, we all went home because it was getting dark.

Thursday was mostly a boring day. My madre told me last night that she was going to be gone for all of today until tomorrow morning, so I was hoping to go out to lunch with some people from K. Lunch, or almuerzo, is the biggest meal of the day in Ecuador. Since my madre wasn’t going to be home, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be home for it. I ended up staying at USFQ to use the internet and call home before returning in the late afternoon. I ended up exploring Cumbaya a little more, but decided to just eat almuerzo at a McDonalds. I know, I know. Not very adventurous. But I didn’t want to be sitting alone in some restaurant eating my four courses (lunch is often times multiple courses) alone. It was at least a little amusing to be there. I got to order in Spanish and stuff. Luckily they have numbered selections.

So anyway, that’s the long version of what I’ve been up to thus far. It hasn’t been much because my familia does a lot of stuff outside of the house. My madre works all day, and Anita has been sick. This weekend, though, all of us K students will be able to organize ourselves (because hopefully we’ll all have cell phones) and we’ll go exploring Quito. That’s something one definitely doesn’t do alone. Especially not for us women. And especially not at night. At least, that’s what we’ve been warned. And considering it gets dark here around six or seven, that’s saying something.

I hope all of you are well, and if you made it through the end of this novel length email, thank you for your persistence. Obviously, I have too much spare time. Feel free to ask questions! I know this is very detailed, but I left out a lot, believe it or not.

I'm going to update for real soon, but here are some pictures!

This is of all of us in the airport in Atlanta. From left to right, front: Stephanie, Melissa, Russell, Marina, Elana, Peter, Dan, Me, Lauren; back: Thom, Emily, Katie, Matt, Michelle, Alison, Phuong.

Melissa and I in the airport on the way to Ecuador!

The first of three parts of the view out my window. See that blue fence? I walk along that road to get to the bus station, which you can't really see in this picture. But it's right past that group of trees on the left past the mechanic's.

Part two of my view. The mountain you see here is Pinchincha, which is also an active volcano.

Part three of the view. It's so beautiful.

This is my bed. A little hard, but nice.

This is my desk. I have a closet, too, but the picture won't turn right.

This a picture of a part of the university. We have this cool little lake thing. It's nice.

So anyway, more pictures to come soon. And an update soon, too!

Worried

Today was a day of worrying and not doing. I worried a lot and got nothing done. But I did have a good day.

Ironically, this was the Poem of the day today from my Writer's Almanac emails. It goes well with my mood:

The Worriers' Guild
by Philip F. Deaver

Today there is a meeting of the
Worriers' Guild,
and I'll be there.
The problems of Earth are
to be discussed
at length
end to end
for five days
end to end
with 1100 countries represented
all with an equal voice
some wearing turbans and smocks
and all the men will speak
and the women
with or without notes
in 38 languages
and nine different species of logic.
Outside in the autumn
the squirrels will be
chattering and scampering
directionless throughout the town
because
they aren't organized yet.

Jamie's home, though. Which is great because I got to see her before I went away for ten thousand months (also known as six). We went to Mike's and had lunch, then went and watched some TV. It's good to have friends. Cheryl's home too. Must visit her.

I have so much to do, though. I'm still living like it's the middle of the summer, which is bad because my room's a mess, and I need to do laundry, and pack everything up and weigh it. My mom got me a second huge suitcase today, and I'm terrified that I'm now going to pack too much. It's pink, too. Which seems absolutely absurd to me, but I like it.

Tonight I went to my brother's show. They were great. But I've been worried all day and going to the show left me in a bit of a state of distress. All the tension because I left late. All the worrying about not having done anything in relation to getting my room and life organized for Ecuador. It's just...crazy. Crazy. Chaos. I can only describe it as those.vAnd now I'm all worried. I think I'll just make a list of everything I need to get done so that I may relax a little and just start doing things tomorrow.

It's also weird because I've started saying goodbye to people. Like today when I was leaving Jamie's and when I left David's show. It was all hugs and goodbyes. That's so weird. I hugged David's girlfriend Bethany goodbye and we just started talking about it, and I felt kind of sad. I had to say goodbye to Sarah and Ryan, too, and it was just...I can't believe I'm about to leave for so long. It's huge for me. It's scary as hell, and I'm so excited at the same time. It's just...such a big thing.

Argh. Now I'm just babbeling and not making any sense. Okay. Time to list-atize everything.

Scary.

In one week I'll be in Ecuador. And settled. Talk about scary.

Las Clases!

I registered for my classes in Ecuador last night. I'm taking:

MWF

9:00-10:00 - LIT222: Literatura Oral Ecuatoriana (Oral Lit of Ecuador)
10:00-11:00 - HIS225: Historia de América Latina Republicana (History of Latin America)
11:00-12:00 - POL307: Temas de América Latina (Latin American Issues)

TR

10:00-11:30 - ARTRAC: Acuarela (Watercolor)

I also have to take a seminar with my Resident Director. And I'm not sure how the Spanish class thing works yet. I emailed Pancho and asked. But I'm pretty excited. I'm glad I registered last night. I checked just now and there are TEN people on the waiting list for Temas de America Latina. And it had been full before I went to register, so it's awesome that I got in.

I also might drop Watercolor. But I want to take an art class, or something easy. So yeah. Who's excited?!

ALMOST A WEEK LEFT!!

Vacation

Owww...the sunburn.

Other than that, this is fun!

Almost Quito-time!!

And Thus the Dusk of Summer Begins

I'm leaving for Ecuador in two weeks. Oh my gosh. I'm done with working for the summer. I'm going to miss everyone at the store. They have been my major social contact this summer. I bought some more clothes. yay. I went to a baseball game with my dad tonight. We made fun of the people around us. Especially the crotchety old man sitting next to my dad, and the people in front of us, who we called "vulture" and "perfume" accordingly. The Tigers lost. But the fireworks were amazing. Good times with my father. I re-repacked my bags for Ecuador last night. One is now overweight. I must take stuff out in order to make it work. Plus, I need to wash my clothes and pack for vacation. Urgh. This weekend I have the Najor Family reunion and then leaving for vacation. It should be good and relaxing, I hope. Debo estudiar español. Now I get to sleep. And rest for the rest of summer. It's almost over. I don't know if I'm ready for this summer to end. But at the same time, I am. Hmmm. Pensive. More likely, I'm just sleepy.