"Solo eran travesuras"

We were totally under pressure today.  I was asked to make 9 copies of a page on a workbook while Yonseili helped the kids with their homework; "make" meaning write out by hand each one.  Yonseili offered to do the 9 copies instead so I helped the kids with the homework.  There is one student in particular, Viviana who is 8 years old, who usually asks for help.  I have learned she is used to getting the answers and seems to get a bit frustrated when I actually make her break up words into syllables so she can spell words correctly.  She tends to eat letters.  Henry, 11 years old and the oldest of the group, tends to be a bit pushy and somewhat of a bully, but also smart.  Anita, 5 years old and the youngest, is asked to do homework that the older kids are doing when she doesn't really know how to read or write.  I hope we can help her a lot.

While Yonseili did copies and I helped with homework, many of the students were finishing up so they played games.  The teacher was insinuating Yonseili needed to go faster so that the kids could start on their assignment. Yonseili called me over so I can help her and even then it took us a while.  When we got all 9 copies, we passed them out.  The teacher used one of the copies to go to a copy machine and make copies that way... I wish we could have done that to save them time.

When we were walking up the hill, that long steep hill which makes me feel like I am completely out of share, I saw a little boy peeing.  What was funny to me about it was that he was peeing on the sidewalk facing the street and he wasn't holding, uhm, himself, his sweats were holding it up for him.  His sister was by him just waiting for him.  He must have been about 4 or 5 and she about 9.  That was unexpected.

The bus ride home was a bit eerie.  First, I don't like how we have to wait by the road for the blue bus.  We've had to wait at least seven minutes each time.  Seven minutes is a long time when the weather's not great and there are a bunch of cars passing by with nasty exhaust coming out of them.  And so, during the ride Yonseili and I got a bit nervous when we saw a man get on the bus who looked suspicious.  There were so many seats available and yet he was standing looking back as if scoping out the place.  I was relieved when he sat down finally.  The entire time, Yonseili and I were standing up so I was thinking it may be easy to run out the back door since we were close to it.  I felt like I was on a board, like a skate- or snowboard because of the balance I had to keep.  Also, regarding the bus ride, there were a girl and boy maybe about 13 who were sitting next to each other.  I couldn't help but keep looking at how the girl was so giggly and flirtatious with the boy.  I couldn't really see the boy's reactions, but when the girl saw I was looking at her she got a bit shy.

I had lunch and after Yonseili left to school I decided to go up to the third floor to hit the gym.  I decided to do some time on the bike since it was really cold.

Highlight of the day: Juan Jose joined me upstairs and did some working out himself on the other machine.  He also walked around the little room and looked through some old magazines stored there.  I had the Zune which I listened to with my headphones over my neck, not directly on my ears, so that Juan Jose could listen to the music as well.... so then Juan Jose bust out with some dance moves!  He was so into it I couldn't help but join him.  I started clapping to the beat and he stopped because he was startled.  Soon he started again, I loved every second of it.  I will have to record him.  When he stopped he had a serious face and just said, "Solo eran travesuras."  Soooo cute.

Yes, the workout did warm me up but only temporarily.  You see, this house is made out of concrete, there is no heater, no air conditioner either.  It's actually very rare to see anything unlike this here.  I worked on a few things here and there and later Yonseili arrived from school.  She told me about her scary taxi ride on the way to school which you can read about on her blog.

At night I spoke with my family via the internet and I got to play chinese checkers with my brother and then with my mom.  I beat my brother, but my mom beat me.

Picture of my dinner below:

Before

After

"El no sabe repasar"

My partner couldn't join me today at the foundation because she has a cold and she could the kids there sick.  That would be the last thing we'd want to do since these kids come from families who aren't well-off.  So I went on by myself.  Adriana called a cab for me and it took forever to get one. The rain made all traffic slow down so it took a while to get to the location.

Today I was asked to make 9 copies of a drawing in a book; it was a swan and her baby.  When I say copies I mean I had to copy the drawing directly by hand.  The first one I did free hand and the rest I copies off of that one.  I felt bad because the teacher was waiting for me to finish them, especially after all the kids were done with their "deberes" (their homework).  As soon as I was finished with them I passed them out and they began to color them in.  I had forgotten how creative little kids can be.  They are not limited by reality.  Anita, a 5-year-old, colored her swan with different colors.  It was a rainbow swan and it was beautiful.  Each drawing had something unique to it.

Highlight of the day:  At around 11am, the kids went upstairs to the second floor for dance class.  They joined the older kids who are leading the choreography.  It was a lot of fun to watch and dance along with them.  As the teachers and the director, Galo, put the music on and talked, I talked with two girls from the older group.  Their names are Jessica and Pamela.  They both very much like the Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez... they don't like Miley Cyrus or Hannah Montana.  So the girls started first.  They danced some modern songs, the kind you hear at clubs, and they had fun with it.  Then the boys danced.  There is one dance that we all danced to, and us three volunteers that were there had to be guys for the routine.  It seems like December 3rd there will be a celebration and dance there so we will all be participating.  Us 'guy' will have to wear a beard.  Can't wait!  It was funny because when the boys danced their part, the teachers told some of them that they need to practice the dance at home, que tenian que "repasar" el baile.  Carmen specifically told one of the older boys that he needed to go over the steps when the room was fairly silent... that's when Anita stood up, pointed at the boy and yelled in her little girl voice, "El no sabe repasar."  Everyone burst out laughing.

I walked up the long and steep stone road with Natacha and Florentina and we headed South on Eloy Alfaro on the bus.  I got off on Rio Coca and passed by the several beautiful flower stands.  I got two bunches for my host mom for only $2! They are beautiful as you can see:

Adriana made good lunch as always.  I enjoyed it and went upstairs straight to my laptop.  I am sad to see I have less than 1gb left on my computer.  I would have brought my external drive but it's nor portable and I would have regretted that it get damaged on the way here.  Now I must find things to delete, buy flash drives... or whatever is good.  I'm considering Photobucket or Flickr, but then I must wait hours for my photographs to upload.  I will try Photobucket tonight I think.

Since Yonseili needed to buy some pants, I accompanied her to Quicentro.  There is a really neat store here, Tennis, that sells really cool clothes, but also pricey.  Then again, all clothes here is.  She bought one very cool pair of pants and at another store, Pasa, 2 long sleeve shirts.  I bought a Milky Way on the way out.  We took taxis going to different destinations: hers to school, mine home.

I didn't do much after that.

Time here is running out...

Hola, mi nombre es deniSe. Tengo 22 años y.... ¿Que mas? Ah si, vengo de EEUU.

First day to volunteer at Fundacion Neque y Mas Neque!

We met up with Natacha at the school so the three of us can head over to Manuel Ambrosi lote #5 y Avenida Eloy Alfaro.  The plan was to take the bus but we were running late so we took a cab.  Natacha and I had already been there and it was Yonseili’s first time.  Although she wasn’t feeling too good she was a trooper because she really wanted to go.

The building where this program is, is two-story with one big room on the top next to another room that is used for putting things away.  Below there is a room half the size of the top one that is next to the kitchen and dining room. Yonseili and I are on the bottom floor with the little kids and Natacha upstairs with the older kids.  The name of the teacher in charge of that group is Carmen.  Her sister Narcisa is in charge of the other group.

Highlight of the day: Meeting our group! When class started Carmen asked all the kids to introduce themselves to us by saying their name and their age.  They're all adorable and have so much potential.   Then Carmen read a story to the kids about a donkey and a pig (El Asno y el Cerdo).  The donkey envied the pig because the donkey worked and worked all day and saw how the pig just ate and relaxed all day.  Well, in the end the moral of the story is that we shouldn’t envy others and be grateful for what we have; and others may not have it as great as it seems.  He decided he was happy with his life because at least the owners took care of him.  You see, the donkey saw how the pig was killed by his owners.  He learned the owners were only fattening him up.  What’s funny is that I hadn’t paid attention because I was so distracted with all the kids, what they were doing and saying.   Yet, they were able to talk about it.  They were asked to make a drawing of the pig or the donkey.  They're all very good.

We helped the teacher trace and cut different shapes to make Christmas decorations and at 12pm we left.  I can tell already who the class clown is, the shy ones, the talkative ones, etc.  We got on a bus with Florentina (international student from the Academia) and Carolina who took Florentina to know the place.

I felt a bit out of place and I believe that’s normal because it was only the first day and I need to familiarize myself with everyone.  I look forward to getting to know everyone.

Rio Coca is where Yonseili and I got off the bus.  We passed by several flower stands and all the flowers are beautiful and so cheap compared to home.  I know I will be buying some soon, and I know what colors my host mom likes.

Hmmm, so where to get a bus from there?  There wasn’t any other choice but to get a taxi.  “Porfavor a la Floreana y Fernandina.”  We got home and each went to our homes.  I did homework and after her class, Yonseili came over for a bit to tell me about her new course, Human Resources.  I had dinner and went back to doing homework.  Yonseili and I talked through Skype for a while and later I talked with my family.  Happy to hear my granma’s doing better =).

I said, "Brrr, it's cold in here..."

The morning was long.  I had egg and bread for breakfast and after that I got on my computer to work on a few things.  Carlos, Adri and Juan-jo went to Fybeca and Adri said she'd call me when they were at the grandma's so we can all have lunch there (like most Sundays).

At the grandma's, oh my goodness the almuerzo was one of my favorites I've had here.  It's chicken, potato, lettuce and tomato, white rice and aguacates.  Present was also the grandpa, Nancy (my host dad's sister) and her kids Javier and Micaela.  Micaela and Juan-jo built a little house with the sofas after Micaela and Javier were fighting over the Nintendo or something.  I hung out there with my host fam until we left at 4ish.

It was cold ALL day, and it was cold at the grandma's house.  But dang, when we left her house it was really cold outside and it was raining a bit.  I did not expect this at all.  We thought it would be nice year-round.  Turns out it's going to be like this for the rest of the year.  I hope I don't get too sad with this weather.  I need the sun!

For dinner Ruben and his girlfriend/wife, I don't really know, came over.  His girl helped or showed Adri how to make ceviche de camarones the Colombian way.  It was really good.  We ate that with crackers, or with "cuquis" as Ruben said.  Juan-jo was there at the table drawing and then he got scared when he saw he got a paper cut and started bleeding a bit.  He started crying =/...yes paper cuts are so uncomfortable.  I think more than anything he was scared to look at the blood.

Highlight of the day: At night Yonseili and I just hung out while we finished the rest of the chocolate torta that Raquel had brought over the night before for dessert.  It was more like chocolate mousse.  We talked about several things and just enjoyed the torta.  I couldn't help but laugh after she told me that when she got home she noticed she had chocolate on her lips (which I hadn't noticed).  That's not what's really funny, though.  Her host mom had thought she was asleep the entire time she was over here, to which Yonseili agreed, and even added she'd fallen asleep without brushing her teeth.  She just wonders if her host mom saw the chocolate evidence on the inside corner of her lips.

Plan A: Cotopaxi - Postponed; Plan B: Parrillada - Postponed; Plan C: Order in - Buen provecho!

Up and at 'em!

As I do every morning, I had breakfast.  Martica joined us today and brought buñuelos for us to eat.  After that, the family went out to do errands and I stayed in to work on my final presentation paper.  Literally, I was on my HP Compaq 6515b most of the day.  I listened to music as I worked and once in a while I gave myself breaks in between.  I like how the Zune my brother let me borrow can pick up radio stations.  Quito has plenty of stations to choose from.  I've decided 89.7 is my favorite.

Lunch was deeelicious and Martica also joined us for this.  It was a great soup, so great I got seconds.  The fam left with Martica to help her out with something and said they'd be back.

We planned to make a parrillada (barbecue) but the weather ruined it for us.  All day it was cloudy, cold, and drizzling at the very least.  But that didn't stop us from getting together, no siree Bob.  My host family suggested that if we still wanted to do something we could order food.  Yonseili and I decided to order from Pizzeria el Hornero.  Their menu has several things to offer.

We had invited Raquel to come over for the parrillada.  She called me to ask what was going to happen since the weather wasn't good for a barbecue.  I explained and she said she was still down to come and that she'd arrive in half an hour.  I got ready and after a while headed to Yonseili's house.  I heard her coming down the stairs because the bell had rang...not because of me, but Raquel had arrived.  I would have opened the gate but I wasn't sure if in fact it was her, and plus Yonseili could simply push the button to open the gate.  Anywho, I just stood at the doorway and waited for Yonseili to open the door.  I scared her... I wish I could get a dollar for every time she has screamed during our stay here.

My host parents hadn't arrived by 6:30pm but Yonseili and I hung out with Raquel until everyone arrived.  Yonseili ordered the food from Hornero and we waited.  We shared pictures with her and chit-chat.

Later my host family arrived and then Yonseili's host parents arrived.  I felt kinda bad because when Aidita came into the living room, she immediately saw the picture we gave my host family of us and asked where hers was... my host mom told her we were saving it for her.

yummy

Highlight of the day: So the food got there and the food was served.  Around the table was Yonseili, Raquel, Aidita, Don Manuelito, Carlos, Adriana, and myself.  What's interesting is that Raquel used to be Don Manuelito's student at the university.  I remember when we watched Love in the Times of Cholera, she mentioned she read that book in his class.  We had ordered pollo a la brasa with potatoes, rice and pizza.  The pizza had olives and I must admit it was good.  Aidita said a few jokes because Don Manuelito kept telling her to do so, 'cause she puts the 'sal' on them.  Raquel was a great guest and I'm happy my host parents liked her and saw who she was, because we'd always talk about her.

Dinner was a success... although we didn't go to the Cotopaxi like we had originally planned to do with Raquel, and although we didn't have the barbecue, we enjoyed good food and good company.  I'm glad the weather can't get into the house.

Torta de chocolate

pizza con aceitunas

pollo

Yonseili, Raquel and me

Love in the Time of Cholera

Today was an awesome way to end literature class.  But first I must share another piece of good news.  We finished Advertising!  This is how it went down: she got there (late) we reviewed for a while on our own, she didn't have the exam typed up, we had to give her our papers so she can get the questions off of our review sheet, we basically had studied for no reason the night before because she decided we weren't getting the second set of questions, we took the test.  We finished it pretty quickly and we were very happy to have finished that.  I FELT FREE!

Highlight of the day: Back to literature.  We went to Raquel's house to watch Love in the Time of Cholera.  Although it was a movie that showed a lot... I really liked it.  It's sad, but it's a good movie.  We were supposed to watch another but she couldn't find it.  Then when we wanted to watch that movie, the image wouldn't show.  Later her son arrived, Paulo, and helped us out with it.  In the meantime we watched a bit of America's Next Top Model... wow it was great to watch something from back home.  We ordered pizza from Domino's and used a coupon Raquel had - 2 pizzas and 1 soda for $17.  It was good, but too bad the guy forgot to take the coupon.  After the movie she asked us to read our homework.  The homework was a poem for our loved one.  Overall, Raquel's company was great and it was good to hang out with her.  I can't say enough how good of a teacher she is.

She took us back home and we worked on our final presentations/paper some time.  We went to Quicentro before dinner to buy a big t-shirt to cut it and make it into an off-shoulder shirt.  This was for the 80's and 90's party we were invited to.  Below is what we received through Facebook:

"The Best 80´s and 90´s Party"

Time	Friday, November 12 at 8:30pm - November 13 at 3:00am
Location	St. Gallen Haus
Created By	St Gallen Haus, Pauline Verlaine, David Medina RiojaShow all (7)
More Info	This Friday 12th of November at night all the residents of St. Gallen Haus offers you the Best 80´s and 90´s Party, so you don’t want to miss it; dress like Michel Jackson, Madona, or Vanilla Ice and make this party start at 21:00 PM. Cost per person USD $5 dollars includes open bar of Ron, Zhumir and Vodka.

We had dinner, got ready for the party and went out.


Well, overall the party was honestly not fun for me.  Although Yonseili and I danced a bit and interacted somewhat with others... I just wasn't feeling it.  It was more for the drinking it seemed like, than for the dancing or whatever.  There were bean bags we sat on, Yonseili and I had a mini balloon fight... uh... what else.  When we wanted to go home, no one could tell us how to get a freakin' taxi.  We waited a total of about 40 minutes to find Yonseili's ex-professor who owns the hostel to ask him for the number, and for the taxi to get there.  Most people were 'out' by then...


Then we got home safely.  That's always good.

Hola Abuelita! La quiero mucho!

So, what's new?  Definitely not the fact that advertising was boring and a waste of time.  Talk about being unprepared.  What-ever.  Instead of going to an advertising agency we went to a business where promotional merchandise was sold, then we went back to school. Lame.  When we got into the professor's car, she made us go through a very awkward moment.  She argued with her 'papi' on the cell phone and didn't mind yelling.  She may be going through a lot of stress in her life, but she shouldn't have done that.

We went back to school and had an hour of literature.

After that I came home and had lunch.

Highlight of the day: I got to talk to my grandma through Skype.  Actually, I got to see her!  When I went to my computer I noticed my brother messaged me saying I needed to log on so I could talk see her.  I did just that and I connected with the family at the waiting room at Memorial Medical Center.  My cousin also connected on hers and so we did a conference call.  I was able to see the peeps in the waiting room and my grandma.  I cried when I was talking to the fam in the waiting room, but I had to get strong for my grandma.  I was warned she couldn't talk because of the tube in her mouth but that she could hear me.  When in the room, my cousin placed the earphone in her ear and I told her everything I had to.  I saw my aunt wipe her tears.  I then saw my grandma raise her hand barely and she 'sent' me the sign of the cross.  I was soooo happy and thankful to God for the technology that made it possible for me to do that.  I at least got another chance to tell her I love her.

The rest of the afternoon I saw family and was able to say hi to many.  And then Yonseili and I studied for dumb advertising.  We waited for the professor to send a PowerPoint presentation. She did it kind of late.  Yonseili had to call her to send it to us.  We got her number through another professor.  She said she had sent it, blah blah blah... point is that we studied somewhat because it was kind of late and she had said we'd be reviewing the next morning as well...

Oh my gosh, I have gum in my hair

It was supposed to be the last day of advertising but because we needed more hours, as a result of not having a teacher and then having a teacher who showed up late all the time, we have to go until Friday.  It was also going to be the last day of literature, but we wanted to keep going on 'til Friday.  By 'we' I mean Yonseili and I.  It was Christian's and Rachel's last day and so Raquel gave us some parting words.  She's so cool.

I went home and I called home because I knew that my grandma was not well.  Sadly I was told that my grandma was not doing good.  It was one of the toughest days here, but I hope it stays that way.  Things could be tougher, but I hope this is as tough as it gets.  I just hope to see my grandma when I get home for Christmas.

After lunch I asked Yonseili to go with me to the post office.  After that we stopped by a mini mall which we'd never been to.  We cruised it, got a snack, then we headed out.  We looked forward to the Liga soccer game.

All we needed to do was wait for Juan Jose to go to sleep so that Yonseili and I can go with Adriana.  At around 7:15pm, the grandma and Alex (Carlos' nephew) showed up.  She was here to babysit Juan-Jo and he had a car in which we'd all be going in and meet my host dad there.

The drive there was good, my host mom and I won a bet we made with Yonseili.  We assured her she'd gone to eat at Federer on Eloy Alfargo already, but she insisted we didn't even after telling her when, what she ate, and who we were there with.  We danced and sung to a few songs, passed by buses filled with people heading to the game.

Alex parked in a lot where my host dad was waiting for us.  We got our tickets near the gate and got in line.  WOW, the line was loooong and very crowded.  This line, of course, wasn't one person behind another.  It was more of a blog trying to be a line.  People were shortcutting, including us... and it was scary.  Right when we got to the line we saw some people try to shortcut and other people immediately started calling them out and called over a cop to get them out.  So, when my host parents and Alex told us to do so, we were so nervous.  They did it smoothly.  I knew we had to do it, so when I saw some people walking in front of us I just smoothly walked into the line as well.  There were people everywhere so it's not that hard to do so.  Thankfully no one behind called me out.  I looked back and saw Yonseili had stayed in place. Eventually she came because the line was moving.  That line was a situation.

Our first time on the bus does not compare to this chaotic scene.  As opposed to our bus ride, it was dark, people were shortcutting, pushing and shoving to get to the front.  I'm sure we stepped on pee, and we in fact stepped on trash, bottles, other stuff...  We were squished.  I don't know how to explain it any better. I would have taken a picture but I didn't want it to get robbed.  So I got this from the internet:



Uhm... so somewhat like this, except we weren't this happy and it was at night... and we weren't on a train.  We did have to watch ourselves and our belongings.  I prayed to God I didn't feel any hands anywhere.  The only ones I felt were Yonseili's but that was because we needed to stay together.  As soon as we got the chance we pushed through people to get against the wall.  The line was still for the longest time so we were all very happy when it started moving.  The masses were pushing, therefore I didn't have to make an effort to walk.  Just had to go with the flow.

Passed the first and second gate.  We scanned the bleachers we sat at last time, but there was no good view so we went up to the second 'floor.'  We got a good view, too bad there had to be smokers everywhere.  I'm not familiar with the smell, but apparently someone was smoking marijuana near us.  There were people of all ages.  The stadium was almost full when we got there and we still needed to wait an hour and a half before the game started at 9:30pm.  Yes, this was better than Bungalow 6.

What a spectacle it was when the game was about to start and the Liga team was walking on to the field.  The fireworks were great, the white smoke was abundant, the recycled and shredded confetti paper was okay.  There were people with sparklers, including the guy next to us.  We had to make distance from him while it was on.  Below, on the first floor, many youngins and probably young men and older men were climbing the fence.  I see so many things here that would NEVER fly in the U.S..  To our right at the far end of the floor, all of the Argentinians were cheering for their team, Newell's Old Boys (NOB).

The game was good.  I got to see the Liga really play this time.  It was funny to see the man in front of us side-hug his wife every time the Liga did something good.  Almost as if they were on a romantic date or something.  Many soccer fanatics here for sure, have seen too many Liga tattoos.  I heard, again, plenty of "hijo'ep*ta" and other names.  Also...

I could say that our bleachers section from the front all the way to the back was divided in half.  The front half was standing, which we were a part of, and half in the back was complaining the entire game that we sit down.  You see, even if we wanted to sit down, we couldn't watch the game.  There were a few arguments face to face, and people in the back were throwing trash to the front.  We just ignored them as best we could.

The Liga won, 1-0.  We headed out as quickly as possible and went toward the parking lot.  We stopped by one of the knock-off jerseys 'stands' and got myself a red one.  So... here comes the highlight of the day... although not good, it is a 'highlight'...

Highlight of the day:  I wanted to pick up my hair and felt something that didn't belong.  I immediately knew it was gum.  During the shouting of the "sientense/sentase/sit down!" I hoped they wouldn't throw gum at us.  I didn't put on my hoodie until later, though.  FORTUNATELY the gum was small, like one chiclet, and since it was cold, it was easy to take out.  Geeze, people are nasty.  By the way, the gum was white.

Alex was driving a white standard car.  To reach the top of the hill faster, he passed all the traffic.  When we were at the top, my host mom, Yonseili and I had a good few seconds of scare when the car started going back.  Yeah, he needs a little more practice.

I got home and I showered.  I smelled like cigarette smoke.

Yonseili, Carlos, Adriana and me

1-0

Letter Soup!

Good morning! Well, not so much for the host fam.  Apparently the bus that picks up Juan Jose came too early because he and his mom waited 15 minutes for it to pass by, and it never came.  Come to find out, that they must wait five minutes for kids to get to the bus and they're not allowed to beep.  I must clarify it's not really bus.  It's a yellow and black van.  Bus or not, my host parents weren't happy so they called and complained to a lady who lives nearby and works at the school.  She offered to take him to school.  It just so happens that today my host mom needed to leave the house early to accompany the gramma to the doctor.  As a result I had Milo cereal by myself.  It's pretty much Cocoa Puffs but the box is yellow and there's a soccer player, a goalie, flying through midair to block the ball.

So there we were on Thomas de Berlanga again, getting a taxi to get to school.  We went straight to our classroom and then later the teacher arrived.  After that Yonseili left home so she can study for her Business Communications exam.  Don't worry, she did ask Raquel for permission and she was okay with it.  During the break I hung out with Christian and he was telling me about how Gary E. Johnson, ex-governor (29th) of New Mexico, will be running for President.  Geeze, it's almost that time again.  How fast time flies.

Literature without Yonseili was weird.  After that I went home in a taxi with the $5 Yonseili let me borrow just in case of something.  I forgot my money bag today.  When I arrived I saw Yonseili waiting outside the gate for a taxi so that she can go to school and take her test.  I went inside and took a nap.  She woke me up at about 3 and said she got a B on her test.  She did a good job.  Then my host mom gave us, as well as Valentina and Juan Jose, lunch.

Highlight of the day: It was letter soup! and also rice, meat, salad.  The soup was good, especially with a little bit of lemon.

We went up to my room to do our literature homework.  She went to have dinner at her place as I finished up the homework, then I had dinner and we continued homework.

We watched My Family's Wedding with my host mom.  I say "watched" because we were both on our computers and my host mom usually falls asleep during them.  I thought it was a great movie, but I will have to watch it again in English to get all the jokes and things I might have lost in the translation.

Later I talked with my fam and found out my grandma isn't doing well.  She got pneumonia and tonight she seems to be doing okay, she's stable.  Not good news.  'Night.

"De ley"

This day was literally very routine.  So instead of talking about that, I will talk about some Ecuadorian expressions I've learned thus far.

"Bakan/Bakano/Bakanisimo" = "Chevere" = "Fresco" = Cool

"Sapa(o)" = soplón, chismoso, metecuento = someone who's nosy or gossips
"Que Bestia" = (depends on the tone of your voice) the bestia could be a dumb/stupid person; in a good tone it's like "Chevere" about someone... hope that makes sense
"Tenaz" = with a lot of force (ex: El frio ahorita esta tenaz)
"Ñeque y más Ñeque" = ganas y mas ganas = (keep pushing and pushing)
"Alo" = hello
"Chuchaqui" = hungover (Desperte chuchaqui = I woke up hungover)
"Chapa" = the police
"Pilas" = ready/wise (ex: Ponte pilas = Get ready)
"De ley" = por supuesto = of course
"Chuta" = sh*t
"Pana" = a good friend/buddy
"Ful" = full
"Que pacheco" or "Achachai"= how cold
"Arrarrai" = when it's hot or you touch something that's hot
"Ayayay" = when in pain, something hurt or hurts
"Que huevada" = (que tonteria)
"De lujo" = If something is "de lujo," it's cool, nice
"Muy avion" = If you say about someone or tell someone they're "muy avion," it's like saying that person is "pilas"
"Embellecedor" = "Biela" = "Las Frias" = "Las Polas" = beer
"Tella" = (beer) bottle
"ñora" = short for Señora/the wife
"enanos" = the children/kids
"Man" (pronounced in Spanish) = referring to a male or female, like dude, guy or girl
"Choro" = thief
"Jama" = food
"Jamar" = to eat
"Chupar" = to drink beer
"Bravo(a)" = someone who's mad/in a bad mood
"Mandarina" = refers to a husband who doesn't "wear the pants" in the family
"Esta cucho" = saying someone's old
"Estas frito" = saying someone's "fried" or in trouble, "dead meat"
"Chimbo" = refers to something that is knockoff, like knockoff brands
"Acolitar" = to accompany someone somewhere

Review
They use:
cesped instead of zacate
sorbete instead of popote
cometa instead of papalote
ducha instead of baño (duchar instead of bañar)
bus instead of camion
recto instead of derecho
almuerzo instead of comida


When it rains, they ask, "Porque llora tanto?"

Much better

Wow, I woke up feeling TONS better.  I still had a bit of discomfort, but not enough to bother me or affect my mood.  Thank you God.

I joined the host fam and the gramma for breakfast.  I had two beef empanadas and a grilled cheese.  De-licious.  While they went to Supermaxi, I got ready for the day.  I had time to go online and see what my family back home was up to.  I spoke with my bro and then he said, "hold on."  Through the webcam, I saw him go to the restroom and in there were my parents with my niece and nephew, Stefany and Arturito.  Wow, I got so happy I got somewhat 'emo' I must admit.  They were giving them both a bath and it was just amazing to see them.  Stefany's hair has gotten so long and Arturito can practically fly now.  I missed out on his first steps but I look forward to seeing him grow more and more.  I must also admit I did shed a tear or two.

When they got back, we went with the gramma to a restaurant:  La Casa del Cangrejo.  The place was poppin' and we had to get a number/token - the number 12 - to wait.  We only waited about 2 minutes and got a table.  I ordered arroz con mariscos and there was way more brown rice than shrimp.  It was okay, so drinking the gaseosa was helpful.  My host mom got the same thing, the gramma and the host bro got ceviche de camaron, and my host dad got a big bowl of cangrejo.  Everyone that orders what he did, gets a red apron, a little white plastic board and a wooden 'hammer' so that they can crush the crab and eat the inside. I hope that makes sense.

Yonseili had to go to El Jardin to the SuKasa store to ask about her computer.  We met up with her and her host dad there.  When the issue was resolved -temporarily- she went with him to grab a bite and we cruised the mall and made a stop at a McDonalds ice cream stand.  Ice cream was on me.  The vanilla-chocolate was very good and very fulfilling.

Since Yonseili has been having trouble connecting to the world wide web, my host mom asked a friend to help fix it.  His job is to work on the network or the whatever system for the Pinto stores.  Apparently he's very good at what he does.  We went over to his house, very nice.  His wife and my host mom were pregnant 'together.'  The couple has a boy and a girl.  After checking it out and telling Yonseili that her computer's version was meant to only be sold in Colombia, we came back home and during dinner (which Yonseili joined us for), we had great laughs.  The conversation included laxatives.  Is that TMI?

We did our homework for advertising and said Peace Out to the day.

Highlight of the day: Cheers to better health!

Sick - Part 2

I woke up feeling like crap.  I had a horrible night.  I tossed and turned all night and when I woke up and saw my bed sheets, and as I told Yonseili, it was as if there was a war on my bed.  I was soooo hot.  I remember going to sleep at 9:30 and then when I woke up thinking it must be really late.  Actually, it was 10:44.  I knew immediately it would be a long night.

For breakfast I had cereal and banana by myself because my host family went out somewhere.  I showered, got ready and later for lunch I went with my host mom and bro to El Pacifico where I had caldo de gallina.  Wow, it was a huge bowl and I didn't finish it.  I wasn't feeling too well yet, and I was hoping the soup would help, but it really didn't.

We went home and I stayed there while my host mom and bro went to a friend's house.
All day, Yonseili couldn't connect to the internet, so basically we didn't work on our homework at all.  I didn't feel good and I had a bit of a fever (it kind of went up and down all day) but by the end of the night and after eating the chicken soup that she gave me and the tea, I felt tons better.  Martica joined us for dinner because she also wanted soup.  She hadn't had some in a while; soup's good for everyone.  I knew I'd be having a good night.  Then, we had another meal later.  Carlos brought pizza for us.  Mushrooms and ham.  I took two slices.

By the end of the night I did feel better.  My body was sore and pain went from my neck to my jaw to my chest.  As far as the fever, I think it helped to put on a face towel on my forehead that I soaked in cold water.  My mom taught me that.  I went to sleep.

Highlight of the day: I got better, yay!

El Mirador

Great view

Today was pretty simple.
I didn't really have school today.  Our advertising couldn't teach us today because of personal business so we finished reading the Alchemist.

El Panecillo

Highlight of the day:  For literature we went to a really neat site.  Raquel took us to a restaurant where we were able to see Quito from 'above' and it was so beautiful it looked fake.  We enjoyed some drinks and got cheese-filled empanadas as the appetizers.  Those weren't really good.  When I was going to drink some of my orange juice, I spilled some on the table so I opened up my napkin and saw a very unpleasant drawing of something that starts with p and ends with enis.  I think that drawing speaks for itself.  Before we had even arrived to the place, things weren't going smoothly.  We took forever to leave the school because Rachel and Christian were undecided and had other priorities.  Unfortunately they missed out.  Also before arriving, Raquel parked so that I could withdraw money from the atm.  As we were leaving she hadn't closed her door correctly and had her bag next to it, so when she took off the door opened and the bag fell.  She saw it in the rear-view mirror and immediately said, "mi cartera!"  I was confused but then she parked and ran back waving at a few cars to stop, unfortunately one car did run over her bag, but luckily nothing broke.  To top it off I wasn't feeling good; my body felt a bit sensitive, so as soon as she dropped us off I took a taxi and went home to sleep.  I napped for 3.5 hours.

I woke up and I asked Yonseili to go with me to the internet cafe to print out some paperwork.  We went to Fybeca then the atm.  And although it was a Friday night, all we did was homework and didn't go out.  I did have a bit of a fever and I felt discomfort in my stomach.  I couldn't remember the last time I had gotten sick like that.  Absolutely horrible.

Me not feeling good...=/

Fundacion Ñeque y más Ñeque

What a surprise, we waited for our teacher once again.  While we waited one of the Ecuadorian students talked to us and asked us about our weekend.  He went to Otavalo with his family. Just in case you wanted to know.  But he would have preferred to go to the coast.

Class was whatever. We had our break and were asked to sign up for the dance class by the girl from Belgium, so we did.  I talked to Stephanie about her trip to the Galapagos, which she got an incredibly good deal for.  Then we went to literature class.

When we went to Zona Bamboo, about 20 minutes later Stephanie, Stephan, Christian, and Brice showed up.  We put two tables together and talked a lot about the homecoming events.  A little later Shigeki showed up.  About 5 minutes 'til 2 we left so that those who had class could make it.  I thought I would simply be waiting for Yonseili until her business class ended, but as soon as we arrived to the Academia, Carolina told us we'd be leaving in 5 minutes.  We were a little confused but then came to the realization that today she would be taking a few of us to the organization we could possibly be volunteering at: Fundacion Ñeque y más Ñeque.  Yonseili couldn't go because of class, so I went with Carolina, Natacha from Belgium, Martin from Czeck Republic, and Salome from Switzerland.  We took the bus and it was about a 15 minute ride.

Highlight of the day:  When we arrived Carolina rang a doorbell.  I looked up and I saw a sign that said Fundacion Nieque y mas Nieque.  Immediately I remembered we had learned that from a taxi driver a while back.  I felt like it was some kind of sign.  After a brief moment, a lady by this two-story building opens the window, and it's a lady that went to the Academia.  Another lady opens the door for us and we walk up the stairs to the second floor.  It was great to be greeted by so many kids.  Everyone was so happy to see us and many of them asked for our names.  They were all too friendly with us and they had no idea who we were.  There were about 30 of them and the age range was something like 6-12, I think.  But most were between 6 and 9 if I remember correctly.  There was a big introduction between the students and us.  They got to ask us questions and then each one of them stood up, said their name and their age.  There will be plenty to say about this place as time comes so I will say it as we volunteer there.  We are looking forward to it.  I must say it was a very nice welcome.

We went back to the school and arrived at like 4:15pm.  Our dance class was supposed to start at 4pm but since 3 of us who signed up were gone, David the Colombian guy waited.  A total of six of us signed up: Lauren, Natacha, Martin, Yonseili, Joe from Canada, and I.  Then David had to ask another David from Seattle to help out so we could all have partners.  It was pretty fun, but I must admit that I don't really like Salsa.  Before I thought I didn't, but now I can say I don't really enjoy it.  Cumbia was good, Bachata was okay and Merengue was kinda like Salsa.  Nonetheless, we learned new steps and it was a good experience.

We still needed to print a few things out so we wanted to get to an internet cafe.  Geeze, that was hard to do. We couldn't get a taxi for some reason, so we ended up walking to Quicentro which was our first time doing so 'alone' and at that time.  Of course, there was still plenty of people around, but it was somewhat dark and we had our backpacks.  At Quicentro we couldn't find the computer place and when Yonseili saw the ice cream place, she wanted to get some.  I went to sit down and waited for her.  When I looked up and saw she had her ice cream and had already paid, I noticed she was looking for something.  She was looking for her money bag.  Well, after looking for it repeatedly in the same places, we concluded she was pick-pocketed right under her nose.  Yep, theft can definitely be an 'art' here.  That was very upsetting.

Nothing went the way we wanted, it was almost like we weren't meant to print out our paperwork.  We got a taxi to get home.

The rest of the evening we did other homework and that was that.

Our lungs took a break

Today was "aight."

In the morning, since we were running a bit late, we walked toward Thomas de Berlanga to get a taxi.  We look both ways and the street was practically empty.  As Yonseili said, it would have been great to have a camera handy.  We wouldn't see the street that way ever again.  Today was the last day of the holiday so people would be arriving later.  We had no more than 15 minutes to get to school and that would usually mean we'd be late.  But, even though it took us a while to get a taxi, we were still able to get to school on time.  It took us FIVE minutes to get there because of the lack of traffic.  It was amazing and definitely the first and last time that would happen.

School wasn't too populated either.  It felt empty.  Sure, the University wasn't having classes, only the Academia was, but it's not like the University students are always around where we are.  And although the university wasn't having classes, Yonseili and I still had Publicidad.  Then we had Literature.

After school we ate at Ajo Macho's.  Later I felt bad because Adriana told me she was expecting us for lunch.  I had no idea obviously, but I guess since she knows Yonseili doesn't have the afternoon class on Wednesdays she expects us.  Then the rest of the day literally was homework and a little bit of internet surfing, and okay okay, a little bit of Facebook.

Martin from school had messaged Yonseili about whether or not we were going out.  She had mentioned to him that we were definitely looking for something more chill and different than Bungalow and that's what he and some other international students were looking for as well.  Either way we had too much homework and so we didn't go out.

Highlight of the day: NO TRAFFIC! YAY!!! Which meant LESS POLLUTION! Our lungs rested for a while.

Hit by Ecuadorian ways again...

I thought we would be going to the park today, el Parque Metropolitano, for a "parrillada" but that wasn't the case.  You see, my host mom had mentioned to us that they and another family they know through church wanted to grill on the last day of the "feriado" (holiday).  Well we had been thinking since then that it was still happening.  ACTUALLY, when I was eating breakfast and my host dad and mom were leaving to Megamaxi, my host dad said that they would call me when they would get to the grandma's house (which by the way lives 2 blocks away and you can get there by walking through the park) so that I can head over.  And so I asked him if he meant so that we could all go to the park for the parrillada.  He looked confused and so my host mom stepped in and said that it wasn't going to happen anymore because that's how people are here.  That they offer to do something but in the end nothing happens.  So, Yonseili and I were left without any solid plans really.

Nonetheless, I went to the grandma's house for lunch and it was good.  The grandparents were there (and my host family) as well as my host dad's sister and his nephew (Javier or "Javi") and nieces (Jessica and Micaela).  They had bought a lot of guaguas and they had made colada morada as part of the tradition on the 2nd of November.  That is the only day, supposedly, when they eat that then they must wait another year to do so.

I didn't eat any guagua's or colada morada because lunch was filling enough.  We played sequence and of course there was a lot of conversation about whatever the topic was.  I really enjoy those family conversations.  During sequence Yonseili came over for me so we could go to Quicentro to get a gift for Sandra.  She is the older of the two daughters of the lady that works at Yonseili's house.

We came back and a few moments later the family showed up and we wrapped the gifts for Sandra who is turning 9 on the 4th.  The internet took up the rest of our time...

Oiga ¿si me podria ayudar subirme arriba de ella?

So, first things first: we woke up

I had empanadas for breakfast with the family.  My host dad didn't work and Juan Jose didn't go to school (just as I didn't) because of the holiday break.  It's more like a tourism encourager holiday.

I then killed many hours doing random work on the computer because I just couldn't focus on one thing.  It was hard for some reason.  But, I did do something productive on the internet when my host mom asked me to go online for her to buy movie tickets for them.  They currently don't have their laptop because it's getting fixed.  I bought the Guardians of Ga'Hoole for them and the grandma for the 4pm showing.

Tonight was the Jonas Brothers concert.  Yonseili couldn't find her tickets since a few days ago.  She looked everywhere and actually didn't find them until I was literally leaving the house.  I heard her scream my name so I walked back to her house door, heard her coming down the stairs, she opened the door and I saw the ticket in her hand.  So she got ready and we headed out to the concert.

We arrive to the Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa and there are huge lines and a lot of trash as well.  We went to the back of the line and the line, thankfully, was moving pretty fast.  We did arrive about 2 hours in advance so we didn't really have to worry about missing part of the show.  What was crazy was seeing the merchandise being sold outside the stadium, such as the burned CD's of the JB's wrapped very nicely with printed pictures of them and the camp rock 2 people.  There was a lot of shortcutting and we saw a girl crying to two security guards who seemed to have cared less.  What we think happened is that her ticket was stolen because it seemed as though her bag was ripped from one side.  There were many vendors trying to sell ponchos and umbrellas because it looked like we were going to be visited by the rain.  Thank God it never happened.  We got past one gate and then another.  We got inside and ended up getting a seat on the field.  I had taken a poncho so we used that to sit on the floor.  Yonseili got us popcorn and hot dogs.  All we had left to do was wait.  The crowd was made up of all ages.  I thought we would only be seeing young girls with parents, but that was not the case.  We also saw young boys, teenagers and I mean, literally every age.  I was anxious to hear them sing the songs, because to my knowledge, the JBrothers wouldn't be singing in Spanish.  The show began and the crowd went wild.  Even before the show beginning, the crowd was making waves and cheering every time they put on a JBrothers video on the screens.  So, when the show began, it was insane.  All over the stadium there were glow sticks lit up.  And, according to Nick Jonas, there were 35,000 people present.  It was their first time in Quito and they said it wouldn't be their last.  All their songs were great.

Highlight of the day: So Yonseili insisted that I get on her shoulders so to get good pictures.  Where we were standing, there was no way that was going to happen.  I mean, if it wasn't for the screens there was no way we could see them.  And that would have been horrible because it's like watching them on TV.  So I got on Yonseili and I had to ask people the two times I did it to help me get up.  I just needed a little support.  Wow, Yonseili is strong.  It was funny to look to my sides and see little girls next to me on their dads' shoulders.  I sure felt grown up.

The concert was good.  All their songs were great and the crowd sang along as if English was their first language.  I'm sure their English teachers would have been impressed.

We always get asked if we're sisters. I see why now.

JoBros in the distance

Dude, we're in South America

view from our  hostel 1

view from our hostel 2

A gasp from Yonseili woke me up this morning.  It was 6:09am so we missed church.  We got ready and asked the hostel owners if they could hold our stuff in the mean time until we got back.  They went ahead and let us put our bags in their small kitchen/dining room.  We looked for a place to have breakfast before 7:30am so that we can ride the go-karts to some of the waterfalls, and didn't have much luck.  There were several places open but they had too many people and we didn't want to wait... well we couldn't really. We went to the indoor market and just had to settle with bread.  We didn't even have anything to drink.  On our way to the go-kart place we saw everyone coming out of church.  That should have been us as well.  It was nice to see how many people went to mass that early.  I saw a little kid with who I think was his grandma.  His hair was a little messy, indicating he just got out of bed before going to mass.  He also had a notebook up against his chest.  Maybe he had catechism?  One of the options we had for breakfast was fried food.  Wow, there was plenty of that and we couldn't understand how people could have that so early in the morning.

The weather was nice.  Not cold, not hot, and cloudy.  It wasn't loud, but you could hear chatter everywhere, businesses opening.  There were four somewhat young people eating at a table right outside one of the restaurants we were interested in.  I am almost 100% sure they were out all night.  The eyes of two of them were red.  They probably slept until 2 after that... or later.

We arrived to Motorsport Adventure (the place that rents out go-karts, quads, and other extreme sport stuff).  We paid the rest of the 'bill' and he gave us instructions on what road to take.  It was a 3-hour deal to and from the waterfalls.  He explained there would be tunnels and roads and he indicated which to take and which ones not to take.  This is because of the awful drivers that could possibly kill us.  We were given our helmets and then told about how to drive the go-kart.  Yonseili had to give her driver's license and I gave my cedula.  The process here is way faster and cheaper than back home.  We would have had to show proof of this, proof of that, blah blah blah.  Of course, it's not good when things go wrong, but to our convenience, if careful, it's great.  Around this location/business there were other similar businesses and therefore there were plenty of go-karts parked on the street.  I got to drive first.

We took a few wrong turns but eventually got to the first waterfall.  On the way there I must say that I was thinking a lot about my trip.  "Dude, we're in South America."  That's something we find saying to each other at times when I think it blows our minds that we are here doing the things we are doing, such as driving a go-kart by and around and active volcano.

Highlight of the day: Going through the tunnels was the coolest.  We got to feel the sharp hits of water drops on our body coming down from within the tunnel.  I remember telling Yonseili the tunnels made it seem like we were on a Disneyland ride.  This is when we needed to use the lights on the go-karts, and the beep, only if we wanted.  The beep we used at curves mainly.  It was pretty loud.

To every waterfall we went to we had to use a tarabita.  They're pretty cool.  The weather overall was more humid than anything, but still a bit fresh.

When we got back to town, we parked our go-kart and said thank you to the man.  We looked for a place to eat.  Yonseili suggested we eat at Cafe Hood, where we visited Lauren and her friend.  The food they were eating looked delicious.  So that's where we went.

Definitely delicious.  I got 2 burritos and Yonseili got enchiladas.  The place is pretty cool.  There are paintings all over the place and overall very artsy-looking.  There are plenty of books on one wall.  There was a sign that said you can only look at them with permission and you could buy them for $20/e.  I'm pretty sure that meant you couldn't buy them.  But I think you could exchange.  I left that place full and very content.

We then went to the hot springs and check it out.  We went by taxi and when we go to the location we saw the line and knew immediately we weren't going in to the pool.  There was on the side, a place where supposedly there was holy water and plenty of people were wetting themselves with it and their kids, even dogs.  I went up this ladder where I could get closer to the waterfall and it was a good view.  I got a bit wet, but no complaints.  When I got down Yonseili and I were passing by two horses used for picture taking.  The photographer talked us into taking a picture on them.  Well, to be honest he didn't really have to insist because we thought it would be great to have.  And yes, the picture definitely is hilarious.

Then we went back to the hostel to get our stuff and then we went to the church.  We had our moment and then went to the bus terminal and took off back to Quito.  I pretty much slept the entire time.  I was too tired. Sleeping 3 hours might have been the cause.

Or taxi ride home was through the city instead of through the freeway.  It took longer but was cheaper.  It was weird to see El Panecillo from the back.  That was an indicator we were pretty far from home.  Then we unloaded, showered and later went out for pizza at Pizzeria el Hornero with my host family and their friend Ruben.  We had very interesting conversations.  Our next stop was Fybeca and then we headed back home.

It was a looooong day.

shotgun

weeee!

Thaaat's meee

Inside the tunnel

cascada...

wowww

Yeah... there was no way we were going to get in there

deniSe Terrazas