This last week in Quito was enough to make me feel like packing it in and going home. It was Semana Santa so I didn't have to teach English. Theoretically, this should have meant that I didn't have to get up early. However, another teacher wanted to meet in the morning in Mariscal (approximately an hour from my house by bus) to listen to music on my ipod for the Mother's Day program. So I drug myself from my bed and arrived in Mariscal by 9 am only to call her and find out that she couldn't come. Since I had to visit a family close to Mariscal in the afternoon I decided to try to make the best of it and spend the morning in Mariscal. It was a loooong morning trying to find things to entertain myself and lacking money. The next morning I realized that someone stole my ipod while I was on the bus going home. The ipod that I wouldn't have had if I wasn't going to meet the other teacher. The other teacher that didn't show up.
I've been preparing to move to a different house with my friends for several weeks. I talked with my host family about it three weeks ago and after much ado, I finally got permission to leave. However, I had a fear that I was not in the clear which turned out to be justified. In the evening on Monday my host mother asked me why I had my suitcases out in the living room. I of course responded that they were out because I was leaving in two days. She then proceeded to try to ask me to pay for the month of May as well. I didn't know what to say, so I called the person who arranged my housing. After several unsuccessful tries I called a friend to ask if he knew why I couldn't get in touch with Daniel (who arranged the housing). Turns out he was in Peru. I ended up getting the number for his assistant (who doesn't speak English) and explaining the situation and she was able to smooth things over and I got out of the house without having to pay for May.
On Wednesday I was able to make my move to the house without too much trouble. However, my suitcase broke so now I have to figure out how to get back home without my suitcase...
So, suffice it to say it was a week that left me feeling frustrated and as I would say, "so over Ecuador." Luckily, my work week was short and I spend Thursday relaxing and then watching the Liga (an Ecuador soccer team) game with some Ecuadorian friends which definitely improved my spirits.
For the weekend I went back to my favorite place in Ecuador, Baños. As soon as we made it through the unbelievable traffic and got in at the station my whole mood changed. I met Emma and her boyfriend, Angus, who were already there and I of course went to eat delicious pasta as soon as I arrived. As the day wore on, more and more of our friends arrived. My friends from Quito, our roommate Anh, our friends Tobi and Byron... In the evening after a lovely dinner we went to our favorite place for Canelazos and the weekend really began.
There's something about Baños that just makes me happy. I don't know if it's the unbelievable beauty of the town, which is nestled in between stunning mountains full of rivers and waterfalls with a view of a volcano on clear days. Or maybe it's the people in Baños. We spent time again with the Reynosa family, riding in the back of pick up trucks and drinking cervezitas with a view of the river.
As we prepared to leave Baños we spent our last few hours with the Reynosas eating lunch. During lunch Sara and Elizabeth disappeared for 30 minutes or so and before we left we found out why. They went to buy parting gifts for us, which they gave to us with mucho cariño. Cariño is a Spanish word that most closely translates to affection, although I don't think that captures the whole meaning of the word. I found it really hard to leave again, and I think if I didn't already have my bus ticket in my hand I might have just stayed. Even though I've already been to Baños twice and I feel like I should see other places in Ecuador, I already know that I'll be back.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
7... or 8?
Every time I meet someone new among the starter questions (where are you from, where do you live, what are you doing in Ecuador...) is always "how long will you be in Ecuador?" I always answer with when I arrived and how many months I have left. Lately, I've been telling people that I have 5 months left and they look at me a little strange. At first I thought that it was a language barrier issue (I'm very accustomed to these) but then I realized it was a math issue. I'm also accustomed to these issues. In my head I was thinking that I had 5 months left... but I've been here for 3 months and 3 plus 5 is 8. I'm only here for 7 months. When I first arrived 7 months seemed like such a long time, but now as I find myself saying "4 more months," it sounds very, very short. The other question everyone asks is "When are you coming back to Ecuador?" And that one I just can't answer quite yet.
Ecuador, like the rest of Latin America, is in a more or less perpetual state of futbol fever but in the past week the temperature has been rising. Ecuador started its World Cup qualifying matches on Sunday against Brasil. The second match was yesterday against Paraguay. If you happen to forget it's a game day, you'll quickly be reminded when you see one of every two people sporting an Ecuador jersey. I was a futbol delinquent for the Brasil game but I went out to La Mariscal (AKA Gringolandia) to watch the game with some friends. In contrast to its name, Gringolandia was filled with Quiteños pouring into bars and restaurants to watch the game. Unfortunately, my friend was late (Ecua time)and we couldn't find a seat anywhere with a television. We ended up "watching" the game with a crowd gathered outside a restaurant with bigscreen TVs and outside seating. Asi es la vida. Given that I've only ever lived in one other city and no one cares about our sports teams in DC, it was a new experience to watch a game with people who were interested in the outcome.
I'm moving to a new house next Wednesday. My main group of friends here found a house big enough for all of us and we've decided to make a go of it on our own instead of with our respective host families. There are things I like about my family here, but I've never really formed much of a bond with them and I find myself bored and lonely for most of the nights that I'm at the house. Although a house of extranjeros isn't exactly the typical Ecuador experience, I think that being close to my support network is a good idea.
Ecuador, like the rest of Latin America, is in a more or less perpetual state of futbol fever but in the past week the temperature has been rising. Ecuador started its World Cup qualifying matches on Sunday against Brasil. The second match was yesterday against Paraguay. If you happen to forget it's a game day, you'll quickly be reminded when you see one of every two people sporting an Ecuador jersey. I was a futbol delinquent for the Brasil game but I went out to La Mariscal (AKA Gringolandia) to watch the game with some friends. In contrast to its name, Gringolandia was filled with Quiteños pouring into bars and restaurants to watch the game. Unfortunately, my friend was late (Ecua time)and we couldn't find a seat anywhere with a television. We ended up "watching" the game with a crowd gathered outside a restaurant with bigscreen TVs and outside seating. Asi es la vida. Given that I've only ever lived in one other city and no one cares about our sports teams in DC, it was a new experience to watch a game with people who were interested in the outcome.
I'm moving to a new house next Wednesday. My main group of friends here found a house big enough for all of us and we've decided to make a go of it on our own instead of with our respective host families. There are things I like about my family here, but I've never really formed much of a bond with them and I find myself bored and lonely for most of the nights that I'm at the house. Although a house of extranjeros isn't exactly the typical Ecuador experience, I think that being close to my support network is a good idea.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
