Here is some of what I've been up to:
Shopping:
I've need some last minute things since I've been here, but also wanted some fun things from the market! We've found two big stores (Super Maxi and MegaMaxi) which are sort of like Walmart or Target. SuperMaxi has mostly food while MegaMaxi has it all :) I bought some socks and snacks there.
I also went to the Quito market (a smaller version of Otavalo) today. Here's what I got:
I know, it's a lot of color in one picture :-P
(From L-R: The linen hoodie from Otavalo, 2 pairs of linen pants ($5/pair!), an alpaca hoodie, and in the front is a scarf ($2). Oh, and the $5 Ray-Ban sunglasses.... obviously legit).
We've also explored some fun little shops and I picked up some snorkel gear for my time on the Galagagos!
Eating:
Im really good at doing this :) We get lunch at the university everyday and have quite a selection. I've had yummy salads, spinach crepes, grilled cheses, etc! My host family has also made me excellent healthy food. Lots of veggies and fish and juice! I can't get enough fruit and fruit juice here - there's just so many types and flavors! It's amazing! Some day-to-day foods:
A mini-banana (called by it's brand name "Orito") - sweet and delicious!
A soda drink that tastes, well, like malt - very interesting
Fruit bowl on our counter
Ahi - this pepper is used to make Ahi sauce which is served at just about every restaurant you go to. Each place makes it a little different but all are a little spicy!
Sweet bread (that's sugar on top) - sooooo good!
This is some traditional food (minus the pork) from our international party (but I eat much of this all the time). It includes two kinds of corn, salad w/ tomato and onion, avocado, a corn based mashed potato type food, and a plantain.
I probably am not doing enough of this and I definitely don't have pictures to post but it takes up time. We have readings for class, Spanish to work on, and papers from our classes this summer to do.
Sleeping:
It's true - I've been taking naps! I sleep pretty well but the amount of sleep I get in the states isn't always enough here. Be it the altitude, the sun, the Spanish, or all the walking I do - I'm definitely much more tired!
Culture:
Everywhere I go I learn lots of new things abut Ecuador, the people, the language, etc. However, I had the chance to go to a natural history museum via my Spanish class. Everything there was quite old and representative of the original people in Ecuador. Here are just a few highlights of cool things we saw/learned:
The piece represents the duality between parallel worlds and balance
This is representative of the cosmos (galaxies/stars/planets/etc)
There were several pieces representing the importance and hardship of fertility and birth
This represents a Shaman transforming into an animal (a power only the Shaman had)
There was a belief that those born with a cleft lip, not fully formed nose, or other problems should be highly respected as they had a closer connection to the spiritual world.
One of a handful of trees growing out from the side of a popular bridge
(This picture has nothing to do with the museum (other then the fact that you must cross this bridge every time you head to Quito from Cumbaya) but just shows how things are sometimes....different.)
Other:
And of course the blogging, journaling, FB posting, internet surfing, etc etc. I spend quite a bit of time hanging with my friends and my host family too. Almost all our meals at home are as a family and they aren't a 1-2-3 affair (generally). Even if we are just having bread, cheese, and veggies we sit down, chat, watch a little TV, joke around or whatever.
So, all in all, life is sweet :)
Early tomorrow morning I'm off to Tiputini Biodiversity Station in the middle of the Amazon jungle!! Pretty excited - fingers crossed for good weather so we can see neat animals like monkeys and anacondas. We also are apparently floating down the Tiputini river in life vests (the river is a white water river - not like in the states, think more like muddy amazon basin style) which has piranas, electric eels, and other crazy species! Oh man! There are also over 100,000 species (not total bugs but just species) of insects in a space the size of a football field. I had no idea that was possible!
We won't have internet (or much electricity for that matter) so I'll be offline until Friday night or Saturday. I'm taking my malaria pills (even though the risk is really low - I know how much mosquitos love me!) and hopefully all will be excellent!!!! Woohoo!
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