First days at USFQ

Wednesday was the first day of classes. The maid, Gloria, took me to the University to show me how to use the bus system. We left at 7am even though I didn’t have class until noon, but that was fine with me because I got to explore for a bit and use the internet there. My class at noon ended up being canceled, it is a community service class that is a requirement for all USFQ students to take. I have now dropped the class because I found out that it is really only for USFQ students. My next class was Ecuadorian Politics and it sounds interesting, but the Professor is not the most interesting person to listen to for 90 minutes. I am thinking of dropping that class for a class called Introduction to International Relations, but I am not sure yet.

I take two buses to get to school and two buses from school (it takes about 45minutes each way). I went back from school by myself on Wednesday and took the wrong second bus, but it wasn’t a big deal because I was on the street I live off of, so I just had to walk 4 or 5 blocks. There really seems to be no set bus route or schedule, which is a little weird to get adjusted to. Thursday was going to be my first time going to the university on the bus by myself, but when I walked out of my building the security guard asked me if I was taking the bus, I said yes and he told me that the buses weren’t running. I asked him why and he said that they are on strike because they want to raise the amount you pay to ride the bus from 25cents to 35cents. He said that they would start running again at 9am, but since I had class at 8:30am that wasn’t going to work for me. So, I had to take a taxi to where I catch a green bus (these take us to the university and were running).

When I got to school my 8:30am class was andinismo (the hiking class), I found out that it is more like a mountain climbing class where we belay one another up mountains and I started thinking that I may not like this class. The professor was really nice and he told us that one of the mountains we were climbing just became an active volcano and you can see the lava around it. He said he was hoping it would erupt while we were there because that would be “cheverisimo” or “really cool”. After the class ended I went to the computer lab and dropped the class. My other classes on Thursday went well, I had Grammar, Conversation, and Social Problems of Ecuador. I don’t have classes on Friday, but I went to the University anyway because there really isn’t much for me to do in my apartment. Katelyn and her host sister, Dani, were in Cumbaya (where the university is) and so I met up with them and Dani showed us around the town. Last night, Katelyn and Jen came over to my apartment and we watched “The Bee Movie” because it was pretty much the only movie we have here (it was that or a Princess movie). It was nice to have them over.

I am still trying to adjust to living here, but I think it is going to take me a while before I feel comfortable. I hope everyone is doing well and please email me with updates on how you all are doing! I miss you all!

I arrived! :)

The adventure started out in the Portland Airport when we found out that there was a trade embargo on Ecuador, so you couldn’t check bags that weighed more than 50 lbs and most of us had bags that were over 50lbs. So those who didn’t have bags over 50lbs were honored with the possessions of others on the trip J Thanks Jen, Elizabeth, and Rachel for actually packing light for the trip! It was a little a hard saying goodbye to my parents at the airport because I was starting to realize that it was going to be a while.

The flight from PDX to Houston was good and I sat next to Jen and Katelyn. On the flight from Houston to Quito I was sitting next to a guy who was going on the Galapagos program, so we talked for a while. I think that I am going to fit in well in Ecuador because when one of the flight attendants was coming around asking if we wanted anything more to drink, he asked me in Spanish and then asked the guy next to me in English. While we were in the Quito airport, I went to get a bag trolly for Katelyn and I to use and the guy who you rented them from automatically started to talk to me in Spanish and as I was walking away a guy who looked gringo walked up and the renter guy started to talk to him in English. This happened a couple other times as I was going through customs.

When I got out of customs, my host parents were waiting for me with a sign with my name on it. They gave me hugs and kisses and we took my bags to the car. My host mom talked a lot and asked me lots of questions. She said that my Spanish was really good which made me feel good, but not so sure if it’s actually true. My host mom, Martha, is a painter, so her artwork is all over the house. She also has bright red hair, which was the first thing I noticed when I saw her in the airport. My host dad, Telmo, is a retired general from the Ecuadorian army and speaks at least 4 languages that I know of (Spanish, English, Japanese, and Chinese). Martha and Telmo have lived all over the world, some of the places that I can remember are Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Greece, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, New York, and Washington D.C. They both speak English, but don’t use it with me which is good. Once in a while if Martha wants to make sure I understand something really important she will repeat it in English. They have had 25+ exchange students stay with them and have an album with pictures of all of them, I showed them pictures of friends and family (a lot of you were probably in them!) and they showed me all of their daughters and sons from the U.S.A. Martha remembers everything about them and was just about in tears thinking of all of them. She hasn’t mentioned having a single bad experience hosting students and it seems like she stays in touch with almost all of them, so she must be a pretty good host mom. They both seem really nice and have definitely totally opened up their home to me. I have a nice sized bedroom with my own bathroom. After walking off the plane, I could definitely feel the altitude change and it was a little harder to breathe. I think I am adjusting to it now and haven’t gotten sick yet which is good. Martha and Telmo have had lots of experience with host students so they know what I should and shouldn’t eat.

There was a short orientation today for the Oregon group and the larger one will be on Tuesday. I am looking forward to learning more and being around more people (being in a house with two older adults can be very quiet and is a huge change from living in dorms the past two years with roommates). Anyway, it is getting late and I will post this tomorrow when I can go to an internet café to get internet. (Oh, so another big change for those of you who know me. I am a compulsive email checker and am basically always checking my email, so now that I don’t have internet access in the house, it will take me longer to reply to emails).
Ok, hasta luego.
Paz,
Nadia

Leaving for Ecuador :)

Hello all,

I have never kept a blog before, so I am not sure how good I will be at keeping it up, but I will try my best :) After much thought, discussion, and consideration I decided that a blog would be better for me than a mass email because I don't want to bombard anyone with emails and I figure if you are interested in hearing about my time in Ecuador it will be easy enough to visit my blog. :)
Well, I am at Linfield right now, sitting next to Becca in Greens #14 (aka my home for the next few days:) and then I will be going home to finish packing and finally leaving for the airport on Saturday morning. I am getting more excited and more nervous as the week goes by, but looking forward to finally arriving in Quito, Ecuador. :) I will be living with a host family and I know that my host mom is a painter and my host dad is a retired General from the Ecuadorian army. They have two sons who are married and live closeby. That is about all I know at the moment :) While I was in Libya this summer I registered for classes and am currently registered to take: Grammar, Advanced Conversation, Social Problems of Ecuador, Ecuadorian Politics, and a Yoga class (that I may drop for a hiking class). I was trying to take a lighter load this semester because I will also be doing a Psychology research study during my first semester.
I don't really have anything else to say at the moment, but check back sometime in the next couple of weeks and I should have another post :)

Peace,
Nadia