Volcano!

Today I went to my first volcano! I'm not sure what its name was, but inside had sunk, forming a crator in the middle. Is was filled with crystal clear rainwater. We took a small motor boat out and went around an island in the middle. At one point we could see little bubbles coming up from the bottom! It looked like something out of Jurassic Park. Next time I will take my camera with me because there is no use in having it if I don't use it. I didn't bring it this time because we went to the Otavalo Indian market after the volcano. It was a very large market, selling all sorts of stuff- alpaca scarves, jade, guitars, necklaces, jackets, rugs, blankets... there was so much to see.

Bus Problems

So today was my second day of classes, and getting to the university was a bit difficult. Most of the bus drivers in Quito decided that 25 cents is not enough to ride the bus, and went on strike. Soo there were very few buses to ride, causing the few that were running to be crammed. Luckily the woman I am staying with knew about the strike, and decided to drive me to the university. The other people in my group managed to find some buses that were going, and made it to class on time. Only one person had to take a taxi, and was about 20 minutes late. The strike only lasted from 5am to 9am. I don't know how successful it was since not all the drivers participated. I road the buses back to the apartment alone for the first time, the times before a friend of Jannett's or her maid would go with me. I almost didn't make it off the bus at my stop because it was so crowded. I almost had to push people off who were standing in front of me. One of the girls in the group had her cell phone stolen this morning on the ride to the university. She was holding her backpack in front of her like we have been told to do, but since it was very crowded, she didn't notice someone stealing it. She realized it was gone once she got off the bus and saw that the zipper on the side pocket had been opened.

This is a picture of the area near the park. Don't judge all of Quito by this picture, it is in one of the nicer locations in the city. Not all Quito is pretty, just like any other city.
Its weird to have a maid here, I come back to my room and things have been rearranged. Same for the bathroom. Other people in my group have maids at their houses too; some maids have been in the family for 20 years.
The fruit here is pretty good, I had the courage to try one that is orange on the outside, has a layer of white fluffy stuff and then what looks almost exactly like frog eggs on the inside- the seeds looking like tadpoles. It is actually pretty good, the clear stuff is sweet, and the seeds are kinda sour and crunchy. I just try not to think about frogs while I eat it... There is another fruit called guayabana (I think thats how its spelled) that they make juice and ice cream out of. I haven't tried this yet, but will soon.
I will put pictures up of the things I am describing soon, but I dunno if I can get bus ride pictures since I don't want it stolen.
I went to the park near where I live, and walked around in the botanical garden there- it was beautiful!

Classes start!

Today was my first day of classes, though I only have two. The first starts at 9 and is about mountain ecology, which will switch into coastal and tropical ecology in turn. The teacher is from Greensboro, North Carolina and interestingly enough, also studied at UNC-W, becoming a specialist in ichthyology and majoring in marine biology.
We had about a 3 hour lunch break, but couldn't really go back to our houses because the bus takes about 45 minutes to get from Quito to the university. Soo we ate lunch, got some ice cream, sat around and got sunburnt. The sun is very intense here because there is much less atmosphere shielding us from the radiation. The next class was a Spanish class, which lasted for 2 hours! The teacher is Cuban, and very hard to understand.
Yesterday I went to a park close by and got a break from the cityness. There are beautiful plants there, and a botanical garden complete with a greenhouse with tons of different orchids, ferns, mosses, bromeliads and even a waterfall in it. Later that night we went as a group to watch Batman, which had Spanish sub-titles.

To the University

Today I got up at 7, got ready and left at about 8:10 to catch the first of two buses to get to the university. A friend of Jannette's came with me to show me what buses to get on. The first is a red bus, about 5 minutes walk from where I stay. I had to cross several streets, feeling like frogger in the game dodging cars, taxis and buses. We got off the red bus, which cost 25 cents to ride, and crossed over to a green bus to take down to the valley and the university. The buses are very crowded and stinky, and you have to be very careful of anything you carry, because it is easy for things to get stolen in the crowd. The ride was about 35-40 minutes long. I met up with my group at the college by the central pond. The campus is very pretty, if all of Quito looked as it does, it would be a very nice city. We attended speeches on safety, health, Ecuadorian politics and ecology. I found the politics and ecology very interesting. Over about the last decade, Ecuador has gone through many presidents. One of the most umm, interesting president Lucio Gutierrez (officially calling himself "the Crazy One in Love") danced and sang to the Electric Slide with female strippers. Not only was it on one channel, he aired it on all channels. He was dismissed from office based on the decision that he was mentally unstable... Another decided that the Congress was in need of reform, so he fired all of them and installed
his family and friends instead. Some members had to be removed by the police because they refused to leave. Another escaped by Jeep to the Brazilian Embassy, using a helicopter that flew to the airport as a decoy to distract the protesters calling for his resignation. The president now, Rafael Correa, was a teacher at the university I will be going to, and the mentor of our program went to school with him. She says that power has gone to his head, and that he is no better than any other president. He is heading a group currently re-writing the constitution now.
After the long bus ride back, I walked around this part of the city with two friends whose host families live close to me. We attempted to find our way around, and did a huge loop. I got completely turned around, realized that I really dislike big cities, and got my friend to help me find my apartment again. The good thing though is that if I do happen to get lost and don't have anyone around, I can just flag a taxi, show them my address, and be taken back for only about 3 dollars. The taxis are very safe and are the recommended mode of travel at night.

The next few days

The next few days I will summarize. On the first full day I was here, I slept until about 11, got up, ate Frosted Flakes, and went with Jannett driving around the city. My first impressions being made by the older and more run-down part of Quito, I was not impressed. The buildings were shabby, roads badly paved, and generally un-kept looking. Since I had arrived at night, I assumed all of Quito looked like this. The rain didn't help. We got back to the apartment and I attempted to connect my computer, but the outlets were only 2 prong, so I had to get an adapter. Internet here is spotty, I am lucky enough to get it at one part of the apartment, in the living room by the window. Jannette fixed me lunch, which at that time I knew that Ecuadorian meals are very different from ours. Their breakfasts are about the same as ours, but lunches take the place of dinner and usually have more than one course. Soup comes first, then chicken/ rice/ pork or something other substantial, then is dessert. Dinner is usually only some bread, or white corn mixed with cheese or chicken and coffee or tea to drink. I am slowly getting used to this reverse of dinner and lunch.
The next day, me, Jannette and her friend went driving out to the mountains and had lunch there at a restaurant that made its own cheese from the cows out back. I had no idea what to order, so they ordered for me. I had pea soup, chicken, rice, orange and onion mixed together and a drink that had fruit only grown in Ecuador.
Saturday, the whole group met at the apartment of our trip advisor, and we took a bus all around Quito. We saw the virgin of Quito, a military point, the house of the president, and 2 amazing churches. The house of the president is white, like ours, but much less security. The people walk around it just like it is any other building. One church we went to was under renovation, but the part that we could see was beautiful. The walls are coated in leaf gold, and there are many old paintings on the walls. The other church we couldn't go inside, but the outside was interesting enough. It is very ornate, and instead of the regular gargoyles, there are animals found around Quito, the rain forest and the Galapagos Islands. It is very strange to see cement ant eaters, turtles and iguanas sticking out from the roof of a church!
Sunday, me and a girl in the group took a taxi (my first taxi ever) near to where the president's house is. We visited a museum, watched a street painter paint amazing pictures using only spray paint, stencles and pieces of paper.

The Beginning

This is the beginning of my writing on my life in Quito. The flights here went ok, except for the holding pattern we were put in about 100 miles out from Miami. I guess they grounded the planes for the tropical storm? When we got there the clouds were pretty dark but the sun was out. It didn't look all that threatening. I sat at the terminal for a while, met up with others in the group and finally left for Quito. I was pretty tired by that point and slept through the take-off, waking back up once we had reached altitude. We got some tasty airplane dinners, mine was chicken and noodles. I fell asleep again and woke up as we were nearing Quito. It was dark by that point and I could imagine the mountains around us. We landed, and I got through customs with no difficulty. I found my host family (a lady name Jannett) holding a sign with my name on it. She helped me with my luggage out to her car. Then I got to experience Ecuadorian style driving. There are 2 rules, (1) You break, You lose, and (2) The bigger your car, The more influence you have on the other drivers. Green light means go, yellow - go faster! and red is only a suggestion. Seriously. Pedestrians have no right-of-way what so ever.
She attempted some Spanish, but I was too tired to do much besides "si" and smile. We got to her apartment, which is a tall 15 floor brick building. She lives on the 14th floor, and a guard controls the lobby. I have a room to myself, and my own bathroom. She also has a maid who makes my bed, orders my room and generally cleans the apartment. I kinda like my room a bit un-ordered, but oh well. I put some of my stuff away, put pjs on and fell asleep quickly.