The day after

I semi-functioned on four hours of sleep today.  I wish I could say it was worth staying out late, but too bad it wasn't.  I just wanted to dance and have a good time, but different people have different ideas of fun.  It's a good thing that Spanish class is entertaining, though.  I drew Yonseili and Christian on the white board while Raquel was grading Yonseili and my homework.  Today was Yonseili's and my last formal/routine Marketing class because we aren't going tomorrow and because our professor Nacho won't go on Monday.  He needs to go to Colombia with his wife... in case you wanted to know.  Tuesday we will be doing presentations and Wednesday we'll have our final.

Yonseili and I had lunch with Brian at S'pan'es before we left to get Yonseili's digital camera from the people she left it with to get fixed.  Lunch was interesting to say the least.  The taxi driver we got on our way to get the camera just left us at who-knows-where-the-heck-we-are and charged us for it of course, even though he took a long and dumb route.  Ridiculous I know.

We had bought E.T. about a week ago and finally watched it today.

E.T.

It is a lot funnier now than it used to be.  I wish I could fly on my bike, too.  The rest of the evening I did homework and packed for our trip tomorrow to Junin Cloud Forest.  We will be staying there tomorrow night, Saturday night, and come back Sunday.  The plan is to hike to waterfalls, swim and relax overall.  As long as my goal to relax is met, I will be a happy camper.  Goodnight folks.

Highlight of the day:  Lunch.  I can only say that it was interesting.

I ate chicken with plastic gloves

Today's list of events...

1. Went to school... had the usual Spanish and Marketing.  Spanish was fun of course.

2. Yonseili and I had lunch at a place called Crazy Pollo.

You can see the gloves here

3. Picked up money from Delta Airlines office.  Since we had our luggage delayed for several days, they told us to get clothes for every day that we don't have ours and they would reimburse us.  Well finally today we got our check.

4. Went home

5. Brian came over so that we could reserve our stay in Junin Cloud Forest.
6. Did homework
7. Got ready for the night; left by 8:15pm to Gringolandia.  I must say that going to these places (bars and discotheques) has been an experience.  It can be very uncomfortable being the only one that doesn't drink, and for other reasons.  You can imagine what happens.  But, looking at the bright side, it has definitely shown me a lot about myself.   

Highlight of the day: Event number 2.  Eating chicken with plastic gloves was great.  I always have such a hard time getting to all the chicken with a fork.  Eating chicken with gloves should be made law.

Yonseili modeling off the gloves

S'Pan'Es

S'Pan'Es Meal

My mission to get more than 5 hours of sleep failed.  But I will try again tonight and I shall be successful.  It’s brutal waking up.

I’ve been able to think a lot since I’ve been here and without a doubt, and unsurprisingly, this trip has changed me and the way I see life.  One thing I’ll never stop wondering is why I’ve met the people I have met.  What makes me wonder such things furthermore is when I have déjà-vu moments; they are insane.  I have realized I’m on a quest…

There is rarely a dull moment in school.  Yonseili and I always have something to laugh about.  We decided we need to give Christian Sarmiento a certificate for having to deal with us in class; but we know he has fun, too.  The liberty I have here and the individual/personalized attention we get in school here is too good.  I will have huge culture shock when I go back to NMSU.

Our professor Raquel teaching Spanish to the best students in the world.

After school I went with Yonseili to a fix-cameras-place and then we went to S’Pan’Es, the Colombian restaurant we really like.  La comida ahi es chevere.  Las arepas y las empanadas son muy ricas.  Y el servicio es bueno.  This almuerzo was great because Yonseili and I had a long talk about different things and we had no reason to rush out of there.

We stopped by a place where they teach different types of dances to check out what they offer and for how much.  I’d love to join but I will first look into other places.  Our homework was finished by 5-ish I wanna say and then we headed out to the park to get on the swings.  The sky looked eerie.  There was a cloud over the mountains that made us wonder whether the volcano had erupted.  The sky is so different here from back home.  Speaking of the park; that reminds me of something I didn’t mention in my blog on Sunday.  Yonseili and I were walking towards Brian’s house and we always have to walk by the park to do so, unless we wanted to unnecessarily take the long way.  Well just as we walked around the corner into the park area a dog came charging at us barking.  I freaked but remembered it’s not a good idea to run so I stayed, kept my eyes on the dog and just mentally prepared myself for the bite while I prayed to God.  Yonseili on the other hand yelled, “deniSe!” and ran back toward the house.  When the dog reached me, he simply sniffed my leg and turned around.  Holy smokes, I was shaking right after that.  The owner of the dog was there and she said he was startled by the other dogs in the neighborhood that were barking.  Yonseili said her plan was to run, and if the dog caught up to her, she was going to kick him.  Yonseili shared that plan with the owner; the owner was happy that didn’t happen.  Too funny.

Highlight of the day:  A great meal at S'Pan'Es and a good conversation with ma homegirl Yonseili.  We ate sooo much.

"Es que yo necesito cafe..." - Yonseili

I went to sleep at 1:30am last night and woke up at 7:50am.  I seriously need to go to sleep early and stop doing this to myself!!!

The walk to school was good because it was cloudy and fresh.  Our teacher for the week (in Spanish) is Raquel.  Raquel is very nice and taught us a lot today AND, after Yonseili said she needed coffee, she took us to Cyrano.  It is a nearby coffee place  where we were all able to get coffee, hot chocolate and/or bread to WAKE THE F UP.  Sorry, don’t mean to offend anyone, but that’s how brain dead we all were that morning.  Even Raquel noticed how alive we were right after that.

After school the trio went to get lunch at some place for $2.75 and had the usual soup and then white rice with chicken and salad.  For desert they gave us a colorful marshmallow.  Yonseili and I had to stop at the DELTA Airlines office so that we could get our money back for the clothes we had to buy since our luggage was delayed.  They told us to go back Wednesday.  BTW, Delta Airlines employees in Quito, Ecuador need to learn how to smile!

On our way back home we were all hungry again, but since Yonseili had to get her digital camera fixed, Brian and I went to El Rancho de Juancho and I will say it was good.  The guacamole needed a little more salt we agreed, but overall I give it a 9 out of 10.  Brian then came with me to my house so that he can check his emails, "catch up with humans," and also to see if my host mom could lend him some scissors so that he could trim his beard.  He later text me saying it took him about an hour to do.  The dude's beard has grown a lot since he's been here.  If you look at his pics from like the second week and compare them to him now, he looks way older now.

Brian younger...

...Brian older

Highlight of the day:  My Spanish class was lots of fun.  We had good laughs.  We talked about a lot including the letters "j" and "g," as in we need to know which to use when.  Well when Raquel wrote Jorge on the board, Yonseili said that she didn't like that "J" and Raquel thought Yonseili meant that she literally wrote the letter ugly.  I cracked up when Raquel erased it and tried to make it prettier and Yonseili didn't notice until I told her.  Yonseili laughed and clarified to Raquel that she didn't like having to figure out which is supposed to be used, the "j" or the "g."  The two hours flew by.  Plus, we went to the coffee shop to get energized only because Yonseili mentioned she needed coffee.  I was so happy she did.

Good food and good times

The Colombian Breakfast by my host mom was delicious.  I had been anxiously awaiting it, since she’s such a good cook. Good food.

My host family took us to a mall they hadn’t been to, El Bosque.  It was nice and big and I finally bought some gafas para el sol.  I had left mine at Ajo Macho a while back and I had yet gotten a new pair.  For our trip to the mall we took the ecovia, and it was only 25 cents, although the guy wanted to charge Yonseili and me more because we were students.  Lame.  But I’m glad Adriana (my host mom) said we were with her so he didn’t charge us more. 

I took a 2-hour nap in the afternoon because of how tired I was.  Definitely an easy Sunday.

Highlight of the day: Yonseili and I went over the videos I had taken at Mindo yesterday and we were just cracking up because they, specifically two, were hilarious not so much because of what I recorded but because of what Yonseili says.  We replayed them God knows how many times.  Below is one of the two.  Good times.

Mindo Canopy Adventures

At Mindo

After 4 1/2 hours of sleep, I woke up and quickly washed my face and wet my hair so that it wouldn't look so crappy.  Fortunately I had showered the night before.  6:30am was the time Brian had to meet us at our gate so that we can go on our last-minute decision trip to Mindo.  Holy smokes did I feel sleepy and out of it.  Four hours of sleep is no bueno.  Yonseili had called up a cab and we went looking for breakfast.  Adriana, my host mom, said we should look for an American Deli place that she thought would be open.  Since we saw it was closed we just ate at a bakery near the bus terminal La Ofelia.  None of the bread looked appealing to be honest, but she offered to make us a sandwich and we asked her to warm it up for us.  It was like eating a cookie with salchicha, fresh queso, and mayonnaise, because the bread was very toasted.  I drank water.

We walked ahead to the terminal and paid $2.50 for our 2-hour ride.  I paid with a $20, and the lady thought she could get away with giving me less than $10 in change.  I don't appreciate that she tried to rip me off right in front of my face.  Our seats were 14, 15 and 16 - I got window seat.  The ride wasn't bad at all, especially after paying only $2.50.  The drive was nice, good view.  I began reading my book "La Mecanica del Corazon," and I can see how reading Spanish books will help expand my Spanish vocabulary.  It started off good, let's hope it ends good.  The music played on the bus was good.  The temperature was good, too.  Sometimes I can't believe I trust drivers here after seeing the way they drive.  I have gotten used to the reckless driving here and the fact that I can't wear seat belts.

On way to Mindo.  Beautiful view.

We arrived at 9:30am to Mindo.  Immediately we bought our tickets to leave at 5pm, the latest we could leave.  Before we went to look for the zip lines, "tirolesa," and the waterfalls we needed round 2 of breakfast. We had egg and pancakes.

Egg and pancakes.  Deliciousnesss.

The owner of the place got us to eat there after he offered us a good deal for the canopy/zip lines and the "tarabita" which is a basket hanging from a cable powered by a bus motor that allows people to get from point a to the waterfalls (a lot quicker than hiking to them).  Before him, two other guys tried selling us the same things and they offered them for different prices.  The third guy was good.

To get to the Mindo Canopy Adventures, we took a chiva for $1.  I can't get over how cheap transportation can be here!  It was either a chiva for $1 and get the amazing fresh air and great view or get charged $8 for a not-as-cool-ride.  The Mindo Canopy Adventures group offered a total of 13 zip lines for $10.  Although we were over it by the 4th one, it was breathtaking to see how high up we were.  There are two tricks you can do other than just "sit," and for both you need a guide with you.  One trick is to cross like Yonseili did, in a superman pose, and the other is called the butterfly, which is what I did.

Thaaaat's me.  I don't know how high up in the air I was.  But it was high.

After completing them all we started walking to the waterfalls.  Fortunately a couple driving by in a pickup truck asked if we wanted a ride, and we said sure.  Well, if I would have known how long the walk was going to be, I wouldn't have just said sure, I would have said "Heck yes!"  I can't remember the last time I was on the bed of a truck.  The wind felt a-mazing. On the way up there we saw a young male and female and they, too, were asked if they wanted a ride.  They agreed as well and the dog that was following them continued to follow them up the hill.  In fact, the dog followed us down to the one waterfall we went to.  He was our guide - the best guide ever.  It was neat to have the dog sit with us on the tarabita.  What was crazy is how the, I guess, guide didn't really have a safe hold on to the tarabita.  If he fell, he fell.  I preferred not to look at him because the thought of him falling freaked me out.

On the tarabita.  The guy in the yellow could easily fall to his death

The walk to the waterfall was sweet.  It wasn't too far and the ground wasn't too rough.  The fresh oxygen was good for my lungs.  I touched as much flora as I could on my way there and it felt so fresh.  The view was green, all kinds of enormous plants with huge leaves.

Yonseili at bridge

Jumanji

We were worried we wouldn't make it back in time for the bus so we had to enjoy the waterfall quickly and get back up, get across in the tarabita and then get back down to the center of Mindo.  After we crossed the tarabita, it was about 3:30 and we were told the chiva may arrive soon.  Well Yonseili asked and turns out there wasn't going to be any more chiva's or taxi's coming up so we asked a guy nearby if he could give us a ride.  He agreed if we paid him $10 EVEN THOUGH he was going down anyway.  All we needed to do was wait for his family to get back across.  During our wait for the chiva that would never arrive, we found out that the guys nearby had been waiting for it for over an hour.  Well, it was kinda funny to pass them on the truck we were able to get in.  We were back in town by 4:30pm so we quickly got something to eat, Yonseili and Brian got a choritazo, and before we got on the bus we bought ice cream.  Yum.

It rained on the way back.  The ride was longer because we made more stops for more people, but thanks be  to God that we got home safe, by 7:45pm.  However, the night wasn't over yet.

My host parents had invited us to a restaurant called Swing where we lied and said that it was Yonseili's birthday.  I'm not sure how old she turned but it was fun.  The live music was awesome, the food satisfactory.

Highlight of the day: Definitely going upside down on the zip line.

The Butterfly Trick

"I don't like to eat dirt" - Brian

I had papaya, a sandwich and hot chocolate for breakfast.  I was looking forward to school so that I can get the Spanish test over with.  For the oral presentation I had to talk about an article on U.S. Hate Crimes.  The written was easy, a peace of pie... okay maybe not that easy.  Nonetheless, I expect a good score.

Our trip to the jungle in Archidona, caverns and waterfalls was cancelled for Saturday because enough students didn't sign up for it.  It would have been too costly and simply not worth it when we could go on our own for a cheaper price.  So, we were like "What the hey? Let's just organize something ourselves to get out of the city."  The final verdict: We (Yonseili, Brian, possibly Anne from Denmark, and I) are going to Mindo and I am very excited.  The bus ride will be $2.50 one-way; it's about 2 hours away.  There is plenty to do for a good price and I will blog about what we do.

In marketing we had a guest speaker.  His name is Eduardo Aylwin and he is Director General Creativo of BANG! PUBLICIDAD.  He told us about himself: One of his parents was a photographer and the other a musician.  He didn't know that he wanted to be a marketer until one day a friend was working on something for work and he helped him out on the spot with a successful jingle.  The friend worked for McCann-Erickson and so he got a job offer there after the boss found out what he did.  Within a month of him working there he worked on something for Coca-Cola and got an award.  I was very inspired by what he had to say.  I am always inspired by people who love what they do/ do what they love and do it well.

With the owner of BANG! PUBLICIDAD.

The walk home was great because the trio (Yonseili, Brian and I) went through the Carolina park so that we could go to the C.C.I. and hopefully find a kite.  We passed the C.C.I. and didn't notice until we were too far away to want to walk back.  We bought E.T. on the way for $1.50 and then stopped at an Asian Gourmet place to eat.

Brian and Yonseili came over to my house so that we could decide what we were going to do Saturday (Mindo).  Later in the evening Lea from Switzerland arrived to stay in Quito for a few days for a friend's birthday.  She told me about her 8-day trip at the Galapago's.  I must go.

Happy Brian

Flores & Terrazas

Highlight of the Day: Today was the first time I sent a plate of food back to the chef.  We went to an Asian Gourmet place for lunch and Brian and I got Arroz con Mariscos.  Well, they had clams all over the mountain of rice with a little bit of small shrimp and it seems as though they didn't clean off the clams too well because we could taste dirt.  That's when Brian said, "I don't like to eat dirt."  It was Brian's first time doing returning food as well so we were both hesitating; however Yonseili encouraged us to do it - in fact she's the one that told the waiter for us.  We were sitting at a table where we could see the chef every time the waiter would go to the back of the house.  The chef looked really young.  Yonseili and I joked that maybe he was 13.

Chiva

I didn't do anything out of the ordinary during the day but I did in the evening.  After school I went home and slept because I was really tired.  I was unsure if I should go on the party bus with people at school but since I decided to do it, after my nap I got ready and met up with Brian to go to school at 7pm.  Our taxi driver to school was a lady and of course that was a first.  She had a friend with her on the passenger side.

The party bus route was from the school to the old part of Quito and then back to school.  But for those who wanted to stay out longer, the bus stopped at the Mariscal.  I went with Brian and others since it was still early (9am) and because I definitely did not want to get back home in a taxi by myself.

Sorry for the blurry

Quito at night

Quito at night

Chiva

Highlight of the day: Although I must admit I didn't have too much fun, the highlight of my day was the party bus aka Chiva.  The school organized it so it was nice that everyone on it was from the school and for $5 it was good.  As you are getting on the bus, you are given a small cup (the kind that you get at Peter Piper Pizza for all your tokens) with a string so that you can hang it around your neck.  Canelazo is passed out in water bottles as part of the ride.  We also got a red and blue whistle.  The music was okay, could have been better and louder.  We were taken to the old part where the king and queen of the party bus was chosen.  This is done by having everyone get in a circle, have candidates get in the middle of the circle and dance to the music the bus would play.  When the king and queen were chosen we all danced around them holding hands.  It was an experience.

Goooool!

The morning was blah.  I only looked forward to the school activity that was setup for the afternoon.  Brian paid for Yonseili and my lunch at the place that doesn't have a name, only a sign that says "Almuerzos a $2.50."

In the evening I had dinner and then I learned how to play "Cuarenta" which is the Ecuadorian card game that is played often especially during holidays/festivals.  My host father was teaching me and my host mom.  We had to imagine there was a fourth player because we needed one.  The imaginary friend's name was Manuel.

Highlight of the Day:  We signed up to play soccer, Students vs. Professors.  Although the professors weren't really professors because they were two faculty members who run errands at the school, we had a lot of fun.  There were about 15 players in total.  Among the players were Yonseili, Chen, Brian who was very good by the way, two Australian girls, Julius from Germany, Vincent from Belgium, and a random guy from the park we asked to play who was wearing a Messi shirt (football player).  I had a lot of fun.  My team won, like 13-9 or something and out of those I scored maybe 2.  The weather was perfect because it was cloudy and breezy.  Yonseili and I wore our cool striped pants that we got at the market.

A short lady with a Pokemon t-shirt just stood there as the door opened slowly. Comical.

T.U.E.S.D.A.Y.

Keeping this blog has been great.  Actually, no.  It hasn't been great, it has been amazing and for one really big reason - I don't have such a great memory so it will be helpful to look back at when I return and share my stories.  I have never been the type to really keep a journal but I am very happy that I have kept this one, and kept it updated.  My past diaries have been started and out of the several I've had, none have been completed.  So here's a toast to this blog!  Thursday will be the one-month deniSe in Quito anniversary and I am thrilled to do more in this country.

Like the past mornings, this morning wasn't so great.  School was literally just that - hey deniSe, just because you're on the equator doesn't mean school will be fantastic.

All I looked forward to since the morning was a kite.  I really wanted to go to a park and fly a kite.  Now, is that too much to ask?!  I don't think so... but apparently it is.  After school, Yonseili and I went on a "cometa" hunt and no luck.  We ate in Quicentro at Sbarro... yes there is a Sbarro here and personally I think it's better than the one on Mesilla Valley Mall.  Now, do you ever wonder what the people look like here?  The style/fashion is pretty similar, almost identical, to what was in the states at least before I left.  For all I know you're all wearing spacesuits over there now.  No but really, it's similar.  Taking taxis here I must say is great. I don't miss driving and I don't miss pumping gas.  I do miss my fresh clean oxygen, though.

We met up with Chen after that.  Yonseili and I went to pick up Brian and as he was stepping out of his house there was a failed attempt to scare him.  I will have to try again.  When we got to Chen's house we went to the nearby park to play basketball.  The basketball court is also a tennis court and there was a trainer with two kids.  One of them, about 9 years old, came up to us when he saw wanted to use the court and told us we could wait half an hour because that's when their session would end.  In the meantime we just did chest passes, tried to do cartwheels, and laughed.  When it was 4pm, we saw other little kids going toward the tennis court and so we ended up not being able to play.  Thanks mini tennis players!  First, I didn't have such a great morning.  Second, I couldn't fly a kite.  Third, I couldn't play basketball.

We went back to Chen's place and watched Ironman.  There's a scene where Tony Stark was eating pizza, so we craved pizza and ordered Domino's.  It was good.  The view from Chen's house was also good.  It looked better at night of course when we could see the city lights.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY:  It was so great, I had to capitalize it.  When we arrived to Chen's house, Yonseili had to ask the security guard to let us in.  He asked who we were looking for and what room he was in.  After finally figuring it out because we called Chen and he called the guard we were told (by the guard) to go inside, take a left, go up to the fourth floor, and go to room 522.  So we did what Mr. Security Guard man told us to do.  If it wasn't for him, we probably wouldn't have had such a great laugh.  The first elevator we went into wasn't working and we, especially Brian, were semi-panicking.  We got out and got another one.  The elevator in that building has a 2-second waiting period for people to get in so Brian kept getting jammed in between the doors every time we got out and got back in because we kept getting the wrong floor and room.  It was hilarious.  When we had room 522, Yonseili knocked on the door.  Brian and Yonseili were in front of the door and I was against the wall in a way that when the door opened it would be going towards me.  The door didn't open fast and hit me.  The door actually opened very slowly and it squeaked a bit.  It took about 5 seconds for the door to open all the way.  I thought Chen would be there, but since Brian and Yonseili weren't saying anything I looked to see who was at the door.  Well it wasn't Chen.  It was a short lady, maybe about 5' tall, and to me she looked Hawaiian.  She had short hair and a Pokemon t-shirt on.  She just stood there saying nothing and she looked nervous.  I tried asking her in Spanish and English if Chen was there but she looked kind of scared.  All that was left for her to do was raise her hands in fear as if we were going to rob her.  I asked her what she spoke and she said English.  I slowly asked her if Chen lived there and she just shook her head barely saying no.  Poor lady, we just left her and quickly got back into the elevator that was about four feet away from her door.  I can imagine how frightening it must have been for her to see a white male in gym shorts and a t-shirt with a basketball, a girl with an NMSU sweater and jeans, and another girl with a blouse and jeans.  Definitely one of those things you had to be there to laugh.

Chillin'

The morning was way too long.  There were a lot of new students today from Australia, maybe about 20.  So, we had usual Spanish with a different teacher, her name is Alex, and then Marketing with Nacho.  We had a two-question test.

For lunch we went with Brian, Vincent (Belgium) and Julius (Germany) to a swiss restaurant.  Yonseili and I only had cherry cheesecake.  It was okay.  The server (and I think maybe owner) was skinny, kinda tall and dorky-looking but very nice.  He was kinda/very nervous and was just all over the place.  His eyes were green and were either really small or he had thick glasses.  After that, the walk home was G.R.E.A.T.  The weather was perfect - it was cloudy and fresh.  Yonseili and I ended up eating again at Ajo Macho.  I just really like the burritos there.

Anyone have any requests as to what to do here?  Anything you want me to take a picture of or do? Let me know and I can blog about it!

Highlight of the Day: Finished our homework early today!  We were done by 6:30pm so we had the rest of the time to just worry about dinner and hang out.  Life is good.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Breakfast served!

Yonseili and I began making breakfast for our families at around 8am.
The food? We made french toast, omeletes, pancakes, bacon and huevo con Ecuadorian chorizo.  The chorizo here is sausage.
The guests? My host family and my host dad's mom; Yonseili's host parents.
The amount of time it took us to cook everything? 1 hour
The amount of time it took us to clean everything? 1 hour and half
The results?  The guests were happy and were all very satisfied.  They would love for us to do that again.  Next Sunday we will have a Colombian breakfast brought to us by Adriana (my host mom).  I. can't. wait.

Yonseili and I headed out to mass at 11:30am.  It was good but was better during Wednesday.  We couldn't really hear from the back.  Afterward we went with my host family to the parque Metropolitano... it's a forest.  We walked around a lot and also had lunch there.  Yonseili had a hot dog and I had a sanduche.  My host fam had cevichochos.  There are a lot of schnauzer's here because they're "in."  There were a lot of b.e.a.utiful dogs at the park.  I wanted to take them all... well except for a few ugly ones to be honest.
 <= Schnauzer
That forest really is cool.  We will be going to use the grills soon with our families and spend the day over there.  I. can't. wait.  Pics we took there:

We mean business with our 'staches.

Yonseili's leave is getting away! Love this pic.

deniSe & carlos (my boyfriend and me)

This setting for some reason reminds me of the Mask... when "Stanley Ipkiss" (Jim Carrey) meets with "Tina Carlyle" (Cameron Diaz) at the park.

The rest of the day consisted of us going to the C.C.I. (mall) to cruise it and get more time on the prepaid cell phone my host parents are letting me use and catching up on the blogs.  Oh yeah! and the homework of course. =)

Thanks for reading!

Highlight of the day: Breakfast fo sho!

"Paraguas dos dolares! Paraguas dos dolares! A dos dolares su paraguas!"

For starters, in memory of 9/11:

A Prayer for USA
David Cohen

I pray for the survivors of the attack on September 11, 2001.
I pray for the families who have lost loved ones.
I pray for the rescue workers and police on the scene.
I pray for the doctors and nurses caring for the hurting.
I pray for the reporters who work through intense emotion to bring us the pictures and news of the day.
I pray for the President and other elected leaders who so desperately need wisdom from beyond themselves.
I pray for the pastors in Washington and New York who care first-hand for the spiritual needs of those who have experienced this great tragedy.
I pray for the military and intelligence agencies who seek to find out who would do this so they might be brought to justice.
I pray for our nation -- that this event will bring us together and turn our thoughts toward helping each other to fight and VANISH the terrorism out of the world.
I pray for all those who might be tempted to think that violence accomplishes anything of lasting value. We've seen too much of it in the recent years.
Lastly, I pray for every peace lover in this world.
May God break the cycle of violence to make a difference for His Peace and Grace in this sinful world.
GOD BLESS AMERICA.

Woke up late because I went to sleep late.  Had Nesquik cocoa puffs for breakfast and fruit.  Later we met up with Brian and went to el jardin shopping center.  Brian got a phone f.y.i..  Yonseili and I got a book in Spanish: La Mecanica del Corazon by Mathias Malzieu f.y.i.  We also got a kid's book for Brian so that he can read it when he has his Spanish down.

Afterward we went to "old Quito" just to hang out.  The weather was perfect until we got there.  It was the first time I could wear shorts since I'd gotten here... but I should have known better.  The weather REALLY IS crazy in Quito.  I was also wearing flip flops so it was a bit slippery walking on the bricks.  It was great how immediately when the rain came down there were a bunch of vendors on the streets and in their stores yelling out that they were selling umbrellas... I could hear it all around me: "Paraguas dos dolares! Paraguas dos dolares! A dos dolares su paraguas!"  The voices were all of ladies.

 Nice.

                                                       

                                                             Very nice.

Regarding the pictures above.  It was a nice view.  There were also pigeons and Brian wanted to take a picture of them flying.  Well, Yonseili tried to scare them off/make them fly away by throwing a rock at the bunch, but her mission was unsuccessful.  The pigeons didn't even budge.  It was funny.  When it started raining we went looking for a good place to just sit and wait for the rain to go away.  We found a place and ate Panes de Yuca.

<= Panes de Yuca... f.y.i.

Then we went home.  We were tired... as you can see by looking at Yonseili...  We had a failed attempt to finish our homework.

Later Yonseili and I hung out with Chen.  It was the longest cab ride ever, and the most expensive!  Last time we believe a taxi driver when he says he doesn't know where a location is at.  We went to La Ronda and drank hot chocolate, tea and capuccino.  Chen wasn't feeling good but we appreciate that he still went with us, although we very much insisted we should just meet up another time so he can rest.

Highlight of the Day: The cab ride to La Ronda. Although he ripped us off, there was a song that the cab driver put on and it was just random and funny.  The link to the song on YouTube is: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osy3Xhk6y38&feature=related

Chen was making the chicken sound and said "Buenos Dias Quito!" because according to him it was to wake up Quito.  It wasn't so much what he said, but how he says things is hilarious.  He knows how to make people laugh.

La Mariscal and one very happy lady

Thank God for Fridays.

The morning was super long.  It was dis-encouraging to find out that there hasn't been much improvement in our Spanish grammar.  Every week we get a new Spanish teacher and they each get to see our profile that includes all the work we've done; also, we each have a mentor/counselor that is supposed to be looking at them.  This week's professor admitted that they haven't been good professors because they barely noticed that, although we read our homework correctly out loud to them, they hadn't noticed that our grammar wasn't really improving in writing.  What the fudge?  All this time I thought I was doing good and turns out, well, I don't even know what level I'm at right now.  However, I do give the directors props for doing all they can to get us what we need... I hope that in this situation they can do the same.

For marketing we went to a Best Western Hotel to talk to the general manager.  First we got a tour of the hotel and wow... uhm... I don't really know what to say other than their standards I don't think are as high as in the U.S..  Their style was definitely different.  Being that I'm majoring in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management I saw things that I know my professors would not be too happy with.  We were told that Juan Luis Guerra was in that hotel.  Below is a picture of us at the top floor of the hotel with Wall-E.

On our way back to school (we were in our professor's vehicle) we saw Brian walking home so we got off there and followed him for a good 5 minutes because we were trying to catch up to him.  I could barely run because my bag is so long and it was heavy and Yonseili was making me laugh because she was laughing as she ran as well.  Brian ni cuenta se daba which made it funnier.  Finally when we got close enough, Yonseili threw a candy at him, it his his head and he turned around.  It was just too funny, especially because of the way Yonseili threw the candy and how we were both laughing like dorks.

Since it was Chen's last day at the academy we decided we should hang out and so, upon Chen's request, we went to the Mariscal aka Gringolandia or party central.  We met up at CoffeeTree and then we went to a club.  CoffeeTree was pretty cool because we just talked and had good laughs, but it was hard to listen to each other because of the music.  Plus, I have a hard time understanding Chen sometimes because of his thick accent.  The club was interesting.  It was the second time in my life I'd ever been to a club and I must say it is disappointing/gross to see how people act.  Afterward we had hot chocolate from CoffeeTree.  It was delicious.  Hot chocolate is my good friend.

 This is us in the cab.  Picture by Brian.                    

The trolley in the center that has blue lights is a 'chiva';  it's a party bus.  Yeah.... I know.

At Coffee Tree, after hot chocolate. =P 

Highlight of the Day: One lady at the club was dancing as if it was the last time she could do it.  She wasn't doing anything inappropriate or dumb; she was having the time of her life.  It was amazing to see her dancing because she was just so happy in every sense of the word.  She sung her heart out - I didn't hear her because the music was loud but I saw her rise from her chair and look up at the ceiling almost as if she was singing to the heavens.

My host mom is officially official

As of today my host mom Adriana is officially Ecuadorian so we went out to celebrate at a restaurant called Chacal.  Very nice and good food.  The place was clean and they had good music, I repeat, they had good music.

Tomorrow in Spanish we will have a cumulative test and an oral presentation... yuck.  I hope all goes well for all. 

In class Christian mentioned to us that he was really upset because a club in the Mariscal area/plaza/place didn't let him in last night.  The name of the club is Bungalow 6.  Apparently he didn't look "white" enough to get in.

For Lunch, Brian Yonseili and I went to a place named...that's a good question.  There was a poster outside the location that said they had almuerzos for only $2.50.  It was okay.

There is construction near our school so we have been passing by it every morning since school started.  It is amazing that construction workers here don't have the appropriate safety gear that is required back in the U.S..  Safety here is more like a privilege not a right.  For example, the other day I saw construction workers on the top floor, maybe the 7th floor, pulling up a huge sheet metal with rope.  It was dangling and I'm sure it got a lot of dents on its way up there.  It's unfortunate to pass by and see all of that, and it's also unfortunate to have to pass by a lot of men who whistle like it's their job to whistle.

Highlight of the day:  Listening to kiss fm online.  Being on the computer and listening to a familiar station made me feel like I was at home.  Don't get me wrong, I'm having a great time here.  Nonetheless, it's nice to feel at home sometimes.  

Visit to Magic Sound & Music

School was okay. It is just annoying when people assume you are chuchaqui (hungover) because you look tired. I mean, we really did just stay up doing homework. Other than that, there was nothing out of the ordinary. It was a bit chilly so it was nice to get a little bit of sun here and there. For the 30-min break at 10:30am I had my usual sánduche (sandwich), a banana and water. The sandwich always hits the spot, and bananas are always delicious... and I hope I didn't just jinx that.

For lunch Christian, Stephany, Brian, Yonseili and I went on a "wild goose chase" as Brian called it, for a restaurant that was recommended to us. The place, Magico Sabor, charges only $2 for the almuerzo (lunch) and it includes a really good soup, and another plate of white rice, chicken, and a salad. To drink we had tomate de arbol. Yum. And for desert I had ice cream. Yum yum. FYI The kitchen is really clean. Nice.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of hanging out with Brian at the internet cafe. Out internet at home was down for some reason. My host father left at 7:30ish to a friend's house to watch the soccer game between his favorite team, Liga, and the university students of Argentina. Liga won and I'm sure Carlos is very happy.

Yesterday was Juan Jose's first day of school, but today was the first day he had to wake up early. He got up 20 'til 6am and was ready to roll. Because of school starting we have noticed an increase in people traffic on our walk to school. The school uniforms are nice.

Highlight of the Day: Went to a studio today, Magic Sound and Music, where voice-overs and sound effects are recorded for different purposes. They told us that the guy who talks for the Discovery Channel (in Spanish) is from Ecuador and he records in that studio! Yonseili and I will try to see if we can get the hook up and meet him. They've done commercials for DirecTV and food products. They also just finished a minimum 4-month job for a movie, "A Tus Espaldas." We went with our Marketing professor for class and learned as well as had fun watching how they do things there. Thank you to the staff for being nice and taking the time to talk to us! Their Facebook link is below

http://es-la.facebook.com/pages/Quito-Ecuador/Magic-Sound-Music/111321217709

I take my singing career very seriously.

Group picture

Singing my heart out.

Say Magic Sound and Music!

FYI: I found out that poverty in Ecuador is at 80%... 80%! There are 14,573,101 people. So, that means about 11.5 million are at poverty level. =/

I am officially official

Woke up with about 5 hours of sleep. Tired.

For breakfast I had egg, two toast breads, and a bowl with slices of banana, apple, mandarin and strawberry. To drink I had hot chocolate. A delicious breakfast if I may say so myself.

School? It was good. I was upset because we didn't watch the movie in Spanish class, but that only means we will be watching it for a longer time tomorrow. Score! It also meant that I didn't have to do a summary of what happened today (in the movie). Score! And third, I just want to shout "score" again. Score!

In marketing we were having technical difficulties at first but we learned not to rely completely on technology, as well as other things about Marketing Research.

Afterward Yonseili and I took about 5 taxis back and forth and all over the city because we needed passport pictures and her passport. At 2:30 we had to meet with an employee of the academy so that we could get our Ecuadorian ID's. So at that time we went him him to the D.M.V., I mean, the Ecuadorian immigration services place (whatever it's called). We lasted two hours there, waiting to get our ID's and jet outta there! When our numbers 814 and 815 were finally called we were shocked that we had to take a picture there on the spot. Yonseili and I had a deep conversation during this time.

We went to El Jardin (the mall) and I ate McDonald's. I got a Big Mac and although it was good, I was disappointed because I thought it was supposed to taste exactly the same everywhere. It had been months since I had eaten one, so there's a high possibility that I just forgot what it tastes like back at home. At the mall we saw a little girl falling down the escalator, actually semi rolling down the escalator, nonetheless she was in a dangerous situation but she recovered magnificently. I remember I heard a a guy whisper loudly in shock/confusion as he put his hand over his mouth, "p*ta madre."

Highlight of the Day: Got my Ecuadorian visa today. I am officially official.

Soreness and sickness

This morning was a mess. We weren't feeling 100% because the hike, as well as other things, really took a toll on us. I didn't feel how sore I really was until I sat down in class for a long time and had to get up. Holy smokes my legs were sore every time I got up after a while of sitting. But I made it through the day.

For Spanish class we began to watch El Niño Con El Pijama de Rayas (The Boy in the Striped Pijamas) and although the story itself is fiction, it's still hard to watch (for obvious reasons). Of course there have to be Spanish subtitles and the voices must also be in Spanish. Who ever did Bruno's mom's voice in Spanish, I must tell you it's hard to understand you!

About an hour into marketing research, Professor Nacho offered to take Yonseili home because she wasn't feeling good, then from there he would take Christian and me to a Venezuelan food restaurant NaGuara. The purpose was to talk to the owner and investor of the chain and find out how they started, with how much money, etc. I tasted Tequeños on the house. They were like mozarella sticks. After that, Professor Nacho took us back to school, and then I walked home with Brian who talked to me about his Spanish classes and about he had to role play in class as part of an activity. He had to pretend to be a doctor, who owned a home. Yeah.

When I got home I stopped by Yonseili's place to check up on her and yes she was in bed resting... finally! That girl will not stop going and going and going and going... Anyway, she rested and I went home to rest. (By rest I mean sleep.) She came by at 4:15-ish so that we could to go the bank to withdraw cash money and to go to the SUPERMAXI, the Ecuadorian version of Wal-mart. There she got a bunch of Gatorades, waters and sopas huevonas. I can't forget, she also got Tabasco sauce... in place of salsa Valentina which they don't seem to have there. She was really happy to consume something made in the U.S. of A. as you can see for yourself.

Word.

Highlight of the Day: I received a letter from my cousin Nadia Porras! Apparently it took about 10 days to get here. In it she said that the family says hi, so shout out to the family! Love you all!

$8.50 for: cable car, heart-in-throat sensation, hard climb, beautiful view, and a marriage proposal... YEEEEAAH

Woke up by 6:30am on a Sunday..... zzzzzz.....

Mission: Climb Pichincha Volcano which summit reaches 4787m (15,705.3806 feet) (click for more info: http://www.ecuador-travel.net/andes.volcano.pichincha.htm)

Team members: Kristian Chervenock, Yonseili Flores, Stephany Spivey, Christian Sarmiento, Brian Crescenti, Chen Edri, and I deniSe Terrazas.

Gear: handmade beanie bought at the mariscal market, T-shirt, long sleeve shirt on top, grey Hurley jacket, black windbreaker, scarf, Levis jeans, long socks, another long pair of handmade socks bought at the mariscal market, and my black Nike tennis shoes. Also, black and small Swiss Gear backpack.

Food: Bread, peanuts and Tesalia water

Charge: $8.50...

...Experience? Priceless

Kristian Chervenock invited us to go with him on one of the toughest climbs I've ever done. We were supposed to leave at 7:30am, but he postponed the time until 9am... which was good because everyone needed energy boosters AKA coffee or chocolate and bread. Of course, Yonseili and I met up with Kristian and Brian at 7:30am because we didn't know about the time postponement until that very hour. Anyway, we went on a search for breakfast on an early Sunday morning. We ended up at the school at around 8-8:15am because we didn't find a place on the way. To our surprise Chen was there! Yonseili had mentioned to him we were going but it was unsure whether he was going or not. So we all went to search for a place to eat. The guys were so desperate to eat they were about to buy yogurt at a pharmacy nearby, but thankfully Chen saw a coffee shop across the street that was open... so we crossed the street. Guess who we saw there! Yeah, Stephany! Although I wasn't too hungry because I had leftover pizza and slices of banana for breakfast, I still got bread and hot chocolate =) We went back to the school to wait for Christian and when he got there everyone made sure to go to the restroom before we left. Then to the Pichincha we went!

We had to take two cabs up to the teleferiqo. In one cab was Kristian, Christian, and Brian. In the other cab we were Chen, Yonseili, Stephany and I. The ride was interesting and hillarious thanks to Chen.

Foreigners have to pay $8.50 to get on the teleferiqo, twice what Ecuadorians have to pay. In the first cable car was Christian, Stephany, Yonseili, and I with a girl who works at one of the gift shops at the top of the mountain (where the teleferiqo reaches). I had to try not to think about the height, it was making me a bit nervous. But, Thank God, we got up safely.

The day before I didn't know what to expect and even when we began our journey, I still didn't know what to expect. It was until I started climbing all the steep hills that I knew what the journey would consist of (more and more steep hills). For the most part, or all the part, Yonseili and I were behind the group. I seriously started to feel my heart in my throat. It was pumping fast and hard. The altitude was kicking in so any chance I had I took a good break. It was AMAZING to look around and see how far up we were. The city looked like a huge mural. What was more amazing was seeing the clouds all around us... no joke. One second I could see the city, and the next all I could see was a cloud. The climb was hard and I cannot stress that enough, but I am glad we didn't give up. But, not all of us were having such a hard time. The guys definitely climbed it quicker and easier than us girls. Chen (who is from Israel) was like a pro. He booked it and was way ahead. Brian was behind all the guys only because he waited for us and helped us out a lot. Thank you Brian!

When we got to the rocky part of the climb, it was also wet, cold, and muddy. There was also a little bit of snow. On the way there we met three Cuban males, one of which continued further than his friends. His name was Lizdey, if that's how you spell it. They all shared with us that Cubans have three big dreams: (1) Leave Cuba (2) See snow (3) Go to the U.S. He, too, was a huge help for me climbing up the rocky and muddy parts. I look back and I am amazed at what we did with the "gear" we had. Kudos to all of us!

Going down was definitely harder than going up. I seriously just wanted to roll down or be rolled down the volcano and the mountain. It got to the point where I ran down a hill because it was a lot easier, faster, and less painful. At the bottom I would literally have to be stopped, and Brian was my stopper, otherwise I would probably lose control, trip and fall or twist my leg. Well, I did land on my butt one or two times, but that wasn't painful.

Overall, the trip was composed of going up steep hills then going down steep hills. It was cold and hot (because I was wearing a lot of clothes). It sprinkled a bit. It was cloudy (Aleluya!). There was dirt, slippery dirt, mud, snow, water running down the trail, grass, daisies and a beautiful view all around. I played Marco Polo with Yonseili... once. We began the walk at around 10:15am and we were back at around 4pm. Hmmm, what am I forgetting? Let me think, let me think... ah yes, the marriage proposal.

Well, after Chen's proposal to Yonseili and I failed he decided to ask Stephany. He began by complementing her on the cab ride in the morning by saying she looked great in red. At the top of the volcano, Chen shaped ice into a ring and well you know the rest. I really don't remember what Stephany replied because we were all laughing out loud and taking pictures.

Special thanks to all the guys on the team. I seriously do not think I could have done it without your help and patience.

Mission Status: Complete

After that we all, except for Chen who went home, went to the Mariscal to a restaurant called The Magic Bean. We were all exhausted at first, but as soon as we ate, it was like we all came back to life. It was funny we were all really quiet as we were eating. And then, even though we had walked all day, we still walked another hour and 15 minutes to get home. Kristian's last day in Quito was today so he couldn't miss out on another chance of walking. It was pouring but we were all prepared.

Goodnight.

Highlight of the day: Climbing the Pichincha volcano... duh!