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.