A Few Days In...

It has been about 3 days since I arrived in Ecuador and yet it seems like longer. The flight was comfortable enough and I had a window seat which gives me many reasons to be thankful. Over the Gulf of Mexico we met up with the outskirts of hurrciane Dean which more than once gave us a bumpy ride. However, it also allowed us beautiful sights of the clouds coming alive in the darkness from the lightening storms. It was an amazing and indescribable sight, lightening coming out of the clouds!!

After arriving in Quito and collecting my baggage through customs, I headed out to find my host family. There was a woman and her daughter holding a sign with my name and there I was! My new family! My host mother is Corina Chiriboga and my host sister is named Gabriela Chiriboga--Cory and Gaby. They have proven to be a wonderful family and very kind. We also have a dog (a mini, mini, mini Doberman) his name is Doby (after the elf in Harry Potter because he looks a bit similiar). I live in the 6th floor of an apartment building about 4 blocks from the central ¨Mariscal¨ also know as Gringolandia which is translated into the touristy part of town. The most popular bars and clubs are in this area. Although it makes for some noisy sleeping, it´s also nice when I go out because returning home is easy and cheap.

Speaking of going out, we have already been warned many times about the safety of the city. Besides general rules of safety, there are also other things to be careful of. Quito seems to be full of robbers and taking buses, walking alone and/or with anything that appears to be valuable can be incredibly dangerous. The precautions we were told to take (wear your backpack in the front, always have an arm over your purse, don´t keep your wallet on you, etc) I thought were simply overractions from ¨Gringos¨(aka, white foreigners). However, most of the Ecuadorians here take the same precautions and wear their backpacks in the front and always have a hand over their bag. In all of the restaurants, internet cafes, grocery stores, cabinas (places to make calls), there are signs stating ¨Por Favor Cuide Sus Pertenencias¨ (please watch your belongings).
Besides robbers, there are also local drugs and to be careful of. The Ecuadorian government is extremely vigilant about drugs and trafficers. We heard many horror stories of travelers going to jail for many months for things as seemingly innocent as having a small amount of marijuana in posession. They persecute all drugs the same, no matter the amount or type of drug in posession. We have also been vigilantly warned about a drug called scopolamine. This drug ingested two different ways: commonly, drinks are often tainted with this drug. Making sure to be careful about who made your drink, accepting no drinks from strangers, and never leaving your drink alone are the precautions we were told to take. We were also informed that this drug can be taken like acid and permeate the skin through paper. Therefore, we have been told to accept nothing from strangers, business cards, advertisements, etc. This drug erases memory and renders a person virtually helpless, robbery and rape are the most common occurances when under the influence of scopolamine.

However, as much as there is to be warned about, Quito is still an incredibly beautiful city. It is in a valley surrounded by beautiful mountains and volcanoes. The people are very friendly, the food is plentiful and fresh and life ¨runs¨at a comfortable pace. My university is a 20 min walk from the house, a $1 taxi ride, or a .$25 bus ride.
As it seems, life is good and will continue to be good. I´m excited!

Got to Quito, Aug 23

I just finished the first day of orientation at the university and am on the way home. The day went alright, except for a Spanish placement test which I took and that went so terribly that I am taking it again tomorrow!! Agh!!! What happened, I don´t know! However, I am going to study a bit tonight and I hope tomorrow goes much better!!

I had to take a taxi to school today, although I will be walking home now. I ended up getting a little lost on the way to school, plus I left a little late, so I figured better safe than sorry and flagged one down. It was only $1! Quite cheap. They also have buses here, but I am too scared to use them. They ramble down the street at fast speeds with a man hanging out the front door. If he see´s you looking at the bus, he shouts out where it´s going and then if you want to get on, the bus doesnt quite slow down/stop and you have to jump on while it´s still moving! Luckily, as a woman, it slows down much more than it does for the men--they literally have to jump onto the moving vehicle while the man who is standing at the doorway helps to pull him on. So if I call with an injury about a bus running me over, thats why!!

My host family seems great so far and I feel very lucky. The mom is named Corina (Cory) and the daughter (17) is Gabriela (Gaby). The mom is a small petite woman with short hair and wears black most of the time--her mother passed away in the spring and she is still in mourning. She works at a bank closer to the middle of the city and seems to be very busy at her work--I went in to work with her yesterday and it was a zoo! Gaby is like most 17 year olds and likes to go out and talk on the phone. I think we may go dancing tonight! She loves to dance and we live right in the clubs/bar area of town and so it´s just a walk away. We live in an apartment on the 6th floor and I have my own room. Although it´s not ¨home¨ it´s nice and we even have a really, really small dog (like 10lbs!!)