Tuesday and Wednesday, I volunteered for the first time for my service-learning class. Basically, we have class for an hour or two a week, where we talk about our service projects and then are required to have 40 hours of service work for this first half of the semester. I'm volunteering at a place called Miguel Leon. It's half orphanage and half-nursing home type place. Both ends of the spectrum, huh? I'm working in the nursing home. Most of the people staying there are not able to do almost anything for themselves; they can't dress themselves, get up to use the bathroom, feed themselves- nothing. It's rather sad. There are a good handful that are ambulatory and actually go down to the dining room for lunch. What do I do? I go around with one of the people that works there and help change diapers, give sponge baths, change clothes, make the bed, and feed the residents (that's what we called the people staying at Gabriel's Villa... they call Miguel Leon a hospital though, so I'm not sure what to call them- patients?) It not the easiest thing to do, that's for sure- seeing all those people in that state; quite sad, actually. But I'm glad that I can help. 

I gave a presentation in my Spanish class today over "Mi Familia" (in Spanish, mind you), complete with a Powerpoint presentation and pictures :) I needed something to get the attention off me. I was so nervous even though I'd practiced it a billion times and felt decent about it. When I stood up though, the nerves just hit me. Hopefully at some point in my life, I will grow up and be able to talk in front of people. We'll see. I am very glad to have it finished. The teacher said I got a 9/10 on the oral part, so I'm satisfied. We also had to write a 3-page paper for it, and she has yet to grade that. My second week of school is almost finished! Woohoo! AND we have Monday and Tuesday off for Carnival. Gotta love the holidays ;)

This weekend is Carnival, and I found out I AM going somewhere with my host family. Still not quite sure where, but maybe to a relative's house? We are leaving Saturday morning. I'm sure it'll be a good time. We're going to eat some chancho (roast pig that they actually kill and roast themselves) and cuy. You'll never guess what cuy is. It's a delicacy here in Ecuador. Tera- I'm going to try one of Queen Elizabeth's sisters or brothers. That's right- it's guinea pig. I am going to eat guinea pig. AHHH!! What an experience, right?

In about 10 minutes, we (some people in the group) are going out for lunch and then on a photo adventure in Cuenca. So hopefully I will have some pictures of my new home to put up soon tomorrow. This weekend I also hope to get some pictures of my family, so you can see them too. Much picture taking to be had. 

Later...

We went to lunch at a place called Classico. DELICIOUS. It was Italian food. Savannah (a girl in my group) and I split a calzone, and it was delectable. I had pineapple juice (my FAVORITE), and when we were all finished, the owner liked us so much that he gave us free pieces of chocolate cake. Good stuff. After that, we went to an ice cream shop. There's nothing wrong with having two desserts, right? Katie (one of the program coordinators) said it was just because ice cream provides good photo ops ;) I concur. I got Oreo ice cream, though there were only about 3 tiny chunks of Oreo actually in the ice cream. I was a little disappointed at first, but then I tasted it, and all was well. That was the creamiest ice cream I have ever had the joy of tasting in my life. Wow. Everyone needs to try it. When you come to visit me, I can take you there ;) We didn't really get a chance to wander around Cuenca taking pictures because it started to rain :/ That's okay though- perhaps another time.

p.s. I was talking with a girl in my group about southern accents (she's from South Carolina) today before class, and she commented that I have a very strong northern accent. I think it's so funny that we always think OTHER people have accents, but not ourselves (because I don't think that I have an accent at all). Just what we're used to I guess. :)

The Weekend

Allow me to tell you that my experience with the water from those kids was NOTHING compared to a lot of other people. One of the girls in my group said she got hit with multiple balloons on the way home, as well as sprayed with a HOSE by an old man. I saw a girl just get pummeled with "bombas del agua" (literally: bombs of water, aka water balloons) as she was walking. These kids are cruel! But at least it's just water. 

This weekend we had Saturday to do whatever we wanted; I hung out with my family all day- went to the park, went to the mall, went to a relative's house. It was fun. I don't think I'm at much risk of buying shoes here: they are SUPER expensive! There was a Payless at the mall, and the lowest price on the shoes was $28. No thanks. 

Sunday, we (the whole group) went to Ingapirca, which is the largest place of Incan ruins in Ecuador. It was pretty amazing. We had a good guide that told us the history of the Incas and took us on a hike around them. Man, I was winded. Going up and down the hills at 11,000 feet is not easy, let me tell you. Whew. I'll put some pictures up at the end of this, so you can get an idea of where we went. 

So, you may be asking yourself what we eat here in Ecuador. A typical meal consists of soup followed by white rice, some sort of vegetable or starch, and a meat usually. The portions are HUGE! I ask for "menos, menos" (less, less) or "un poquito" (a little bit) at probably every meal. They like to give me a lot anyway ;) I'll ask for less rice, for instance, and they take away like two grains of rice :) It's so funny. They go "Ohhhhh como un bebe!" (Ohhhh like a baby!). When I finish eating, they're always like "Do you want more? Please eat more" (in Spanish, of course). They're so nice and sweet. The food is good though. I really like it. I haven't had any tacos yet (Dad asked); I don't really think they're an Ecuadorian food. We have fresh juice at every meal. My favorite is pineapple- yummmm. Blackberry juice is super tasty too; it's called "Mora" and we had it today. Snacks are usually fruit or fresh bread with jam. The bread here is PHENOMENAL! There are bread shops all over, and I love walking past them- smells delicious. There's one across the street from school, and you can get a large piece of fresh bread (in all different varieties) for 10 or 12 cents! Good deal. 

I'm going to walk home now, I believe. It's been drizzling pretty much all day, so that's a bit of a bummer. I think I need to take a nap. I'm exhausted. Have a good day!

Picture 1: Temple of the Sun

Picture 2: Straight ahead is the Temple of the Moon and to the right is the Temple of the Sun

Picture 3: The whole thing

Picture 4: Temple of the Sun again

Picture 5: Me at the Ruins

Let me set the scene:

I was walking home today from class for lunch. It was probably around 1245. The streets were pretty busy because everyone was going home for lunch. I was probably about 5 blocks from my house when I see these 3 boys, probably middle school age, coming toward me with their bottles of water. They were staring intently at me. I knew EXACTLY what was about to happen. They stopped and started to count: "Uno.... Dos..." When they got to "dos", I went "nooooo" and tried to get to MY water bottle to maybe scare them off. Alas! I was not quick enough. Before I knew what happened, they reached "tres" and proceeded to dump their water on me- my hair, shoulders, chest- all wet. I guess I knew it would happen eventually before Carnival, but I think I had a little bit of hope in me that maybe, just maybe, I would be the one person it DIDN'T happen to. I guess I'm fully initiated now. Bienvenidos a Ecuador! (Welcome to Ecuador!)  [It really wasn't THAT terrible- it was rather hot out today, so I guess in some ways, it could have been considered refreshing. It's just the principle behind it, you know? ;)  ]

Sunday, we are going to Ingapirca, a place where there are Incan ruins, I think. So hopefully on Monday I will have some sweet pictures to put up. 

I showed my host family my album of family pictures. They think our family is very beautiful. (Of course, they do; We are a beautiful family ;)  ) 

For your viewing pleasure...

Here are a few pictures for those of you that don't have facebook. The first one I just took because it's got my last name on it ;)   (It means "broadband internet".) The second one is the view from a place we stopped to use the bathroom at. The third and fourth ones are at a lake whose name escapes me. And the last one is at La Mitad del Mundo (the Middle of the World)-- at the Equator. 

En Cuenca!

I tried writing this yesterday, but the internet here (at school) is somewhat touchy and weird and doesn't let me do what I want sometimes.

I arrived in Cuenca Sunday evening, after a 9 hour busride from Patate. Our hacienda at Patate was within view of the volcano that is supposed to erupt soon. Saturday night we actually saw some small eruptions! It was super cool. 

My host family is wonderful. They're so sweet and understanding and patient. The mom and two sisters all speak English very well. The father and son of one of the sisters both only speak Spanish, so basically most of the time, Spanish is what they speak. It's nice, though, that the mom and sisters speak English because if I really don't understand something, they can explain it in English. It's kinda rough understanding and replying to what they say. My Spanish definitely needs A LOT of work. I've got about 3 1/2 months to work on it, so hopefully I'll see some improvement. My home is a 20-minute walk from school. I go home for lunch each day, so I get in at least 1 hour and 20 minutes of walking a day! Add an extra 20 minutes if I get lost (which happened yesterday... well, it wasn't really LOST- more like I turned the wrong way down a street I knew and ended up going back to school instead of to my house.. oops!). Man, my sense of direction is terrible and no matter how hard I try, I just don't know that it will get better. Gotta work with what you've been given though, I guess. 

Classes started on Monday. They are 2-hour classes, so that's a bit of a change for me. I will have to work hard to stay awake. I feel like I'm exerting myself so much more trying to understand what is being said and am exhausted at the end of the day! 

There is a thing around here called Carnival. It's technically supposed to be in the beginning of February, but the kids start celebrating it now. And how do they celebrate it? By throwing water balloons and squirting their water guns at passersby. And it's an extra 10 points for Gringos (that'd be white people, in case you didn't know). On my way to school this  afternoon, a bus was passing me and all the sudden I saw this water splash in front of me. I don't know how I did it, because I was not really paying attention, but I managed to step back and dodge it subconsciously or something. Stick it to those little kids with their squirt guns ;)

Welllll.... I cannot really think of much more to talk about.

By popular demand, I have started the infamous blog. I suppose this may be easier than emailing everyone, but feel free to email me because I love getting mail :)

In response to the burning question on everyone's minds (especially Leah and Jen's), we have not been able to flush our toilet paper at all since we arrived in Ecuador. We throw it in a trash can conveniently located beside the toilet. Gross, huh? Amazingly enough, it didn't take too long to get used to. Just wait until I come back. Hopefully I can break that habit as easily as I picked it up ;)

I think tomorrow we are going to a hotel that has a wonderful view of the volcano that is supposed to erupt any day now. How exciting is that?! We were told that if it does erupt, we are completely safe because the lava would flow in the opposite direction. The only problems that we might encounter as a result of the eruption would be traffic ones. So I'll be sure to let you know what happens!

On Sunday, we journey to Cuenca finally. I think we will be spending more than 6 hours on the bus to get there- whew, long time. I'm kind of nervous about meeting my host family, but, as I told some of you, a girl that stayed with them over winter break said I have nothing to worry about and that they are wonderful.

At any rate, I need to shower and get all my stuff packed for tomorrow. We have to be ready by 730. Yikes.

p.s. It has been in the 60's and 70's here. My nose, cheeks, and the back part of my neck (it's really only on the right side of the back of my neck-- looks EXTREMELY funny and is mildly painful) are burned. I forgot to bring sunscreen :) Oops. I'm gonna have the weirdest tan for Leah's wedding. Lo siento :)

p.p.s. The Hotel Quito has a casino, and that's where everyone decided to go tonight. I got a delicious sandwich there. Most everyone in the group was gambling because a. it's really cheap and b. you get free drinks if you gamble. So after my sandwich, I went with Kate and Allison (two girls in my group) to cash in 50 cents for a token to play electronic poker. Yes, I, Ali Banda, gambled. Rebel, I know. I did NOT, however, get my free drink(s), so I'm not a complete heathen ;) In case you were curious, it was a penny poker machine, and I did decent but just played until my credits were all used up.