Sunday, August 30, 2009

(right: the cathedral of Santo Domingo in an area of historic Quito called La Ronda. This is about a 5 minute walk from my house)

Hola todos!
Today was a great day. It was my first full day with my host family. There two of us volunteers living here for this first month. When I leave for Portoviejo at the end of September, Christine (the other volunteer) will stay here for the entire year. It’s a really great set up. We each have our own rooms complete with a big-girl bed (aka a double), a tv and space for all the things I packed. The room locks from both the inside and the outside, which is nice, but I’m not terribly worried about it because the family is so respectful, caring and generous. They treat us like their own daughters and they’ve been hosting volunteers for over 20 years. Marco and Elisa are my host father and mother who live with us. We also get to spend a lot of time with their 25-year-old daughter Doris and her husband Edy. Doris is 7 months pregnant with their first child, Nicholas. Down the street are Edy’s parents. They are all super helpful in showing us how get around and which buses to take. Not to mention they feed us all the time! This morning I was journaling outside when a neighbor approached. He greeted me enthusiastically and when I told him who I was, he said he already knew! Needless to say, the people here are pretty great. Our house is in an area called La Loma Grande, which is located about 20 minutes south of downtown in the historic part of the city. The buildings and architecture here are very beautiful. Near our house is the touristy section of Old Quito called La Ronda. The streets are narrow and made of brick, there are lots of little shops and even more history. This is also where one can find the amazing old cathedrals like La capilla de Santo Domingo.
One of the biggest cultural differences I’ve noticed so far is how the family spends time together. Today, around mid afternoon, we all returned to the house after a group picnic. Christine and I were then ushered into the master bedroom where the entire family sat on the bed at watched TV together. It’s called un descanso, or a rest. With the Biography channel (in Spanish) highlighting Andy Garcia in the background, we all sprawled out on the bed and chatted, watched the program and even napped a bit. At first, it didn’t feel like much a rest to me because I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on. But I went with the flow and eventually nodded off a bit. I think this practice, while somewhat strange to Americans, is something I could totally get used to. Who doesn’t like to siesta in the afternoon?! Well, there’s no doubt I could write more, but I need to get some sleep as tomorrow is our first real day of training, Spanish classes and probably much more. Hasta luego!

Tuesday, September 1st
These past few days have been rather full with orientation type things. Lots of discussions on safety and culture along with Spanish classes at a local school. Most of the activity happens in an area known as Gringolandia or Mariscals. It's a really fun, touristy part of town. Think 8th Street in Holland but busier, more places with live music and dance clubs. If I didn't emphasize this earlier, my host family is really great. On the 19th Christine and I are going to a baby shower for Doris. The entire family is so accommodating.
This Friday, the entire group of volunteers are going to a place called Papallacta. It's a famous geographical site with hot springs, gysers and the like. I'll know more after Friday :)
Funny story: I was trying to chat up the owner of this cafe to practice my conversational Spanish and she told me that she doesn't speak English. I guess I wasn't aunnciating well. But fear not, I can already tell my Spanish skillz are on the rise. I'm starting to think in Spanish, understand more and soon, I will probably be dreaming in Spanish. Maybe. It's up for debate.

I'm hoping to post more pictures soon. Unfortunately, the uploading speed is rather slow at the moment. If my FB album is successful, check out more there. If not...then just hang tight.