Thoughts on Arriving to Ecuador

2009 was a good year. It was the first calendar year I have spent on US soil since starting college in September 2005. Though by no means do I want to use this fact for bragging, it helps keep me focused on the positive outcomes of five years in college, outcomes which can be shadowed by looming student loans, a less then desired job market, and my only sure fired future residence being my parents house. (No offense of course). Anyway, one of the most recent lessons I´ve learned in college is that my position in US society has enabled me to create and experience a college career that I wouldn´t trade for anything. I remember a conversation I had with Bilal, shortly after returning from Kenya. I was complaining about how much I loathed genetics and how I had no motivation to study such a seemingly worthless subject. He reminded me of all the less privileged peers I have met and seen in Kenya and more or less told me to picture myself in their lives where opportunity rarely knocks and the privilege of complaining about genetics homework would never occur. That conversation struck quite a chord and I´ve often wondered since, why I hadn´t ever interpreted my time in Kenya that way. I remember feeling sympathetic for people we spoke with and I definitely remember feeling hopeless the deeper we dove into human rights, land tenure, land use changes and wildlife conservation in Kenya. There were too many instances of multiple needs butting heads and no clear way to move forward. Now I have learned, or at least I think I am learning, that we mush keep everyone in mind, even ourselves whenever we are discovering a new place and new people. It´s too easy to live life in a vicious cycle of wants and desires instead of thankfulness, thoughtfulness, and immersion. I don´t want to live a thoughtless, emotionless life and it´s important for me to keep myself grounded whatever I am doing or wherever I am traveling.

That is the perspective I have been trying to keep while my adventure in Ecuador beings. After just barely 48 hours in Quito, I can tell you , I have a lot of learning to do. First and foremost, not having a great command of Spanish seems to be crippling me. I try to form simple phrases and questions, but my brain doesn´t think in Spanish as quickly as my mouth needs it to. My conjugations are okay, but my possessives are wrong and half my questions come out as commands. My host mother, Veronica, has been patient and she slips into English when my face looks blank. Her daughter, Maria Clara, teaches English at a primary school and first started communicating with me in my native tongue. Veronica quickly put an end to that, and I know it´s for the better in the long run, but my mind has so many questions to ask and not nearly enough Spanish to ask them. Ah well, such is life as a gringa I guess and who knows, in a few short weeks maybe I will be the queen of conversation. Until then, I will continue to smile awkwardly, try to control my puzzled expressions, and read my "English Grammar for Students of Spanish" book.

Meanwhile, I am sure you are wondering what I have been up to in the two days since I left Midwestern soil. Well, after sitting on the runway at JFK for 40 minutes waiting for the plane to be deiced I arrived safe and sound in Bogotá, Colombia shortly after 6 AM EST. Luckily after meeting up with Christa and Steven at O Hare I had some amigos to sit with at the airport. The airport in Bogotá was nice, though there were droves of drug sniffing dogs...I´ll let you take that for what it´s worth.

Anyway, after departing Bogotá around 8:30 AM EST we landed in Ecuador around 10:15 AM EST. BY 10:30 I was through customs and out the door just in time to see Christa hop into a cab with her host family. Besides Veronica, who greeted me with a kiss on the cheek (how you greet almost everyone in Ecuador) I was alone in Quito.

Okay, hold the drama. The city is beautiful. The Andes are visible from nearly everywhere, ther are parks and cobblestone streets. The airport is close and the roads are busy given the holiday season, but I still look out the window and can´t really believe I´m here. My host home is very nice. It´s two stories with wood floors, a terrace and a garden. I have my own room and own bathroom. There are two dogs, Pelarusa and Gringa. Gringa is starting to show some affection but it´s like she knows we´re the same somehow. :) I´ve also had the chance to meet one of áVeronica´s three sisters, Cecelia. We went to Cecelia´s home in the suburb of Cumbaya for lunch the day I arrived. Cecelia´s daughter Fernanda came over too with her daughter and 8 month old son. I also went to Supermaxi (supermercado) with Veronica. It was an interesting experience. First of all the grocery store was on the second floor of a fancy mall. It´s a huge store, the size of a Woodman´s or maybe even a super Wal-Mart. They had everything you need. After you check out, a young an in a pointy had follows you down the elevator and into the parking ramp, pushing your cart the entire way. Then he loads your trunk and carries on. Strange. On top of that, the parking ramps are tiled and sealed with something that is very squeaky underneath car tires. Speaking of cars, Veronica has two in garage, both small little Chevy models not sold in the US to my knowledge. I get the feeling form her cars and the fact that she said she has domestic help Monday through Friday that Veronica is not one of the 38% of Ecuadorians living in poverty. I am not sure what she does for a living. I know she works in an office at a computer and I think she is in sales. She first told me she works at sailing and I tried to picture her on a sailboat. In a later conversation in a less groggy state of mind and after she showed me her office I think it must be sales. Hopefully there will me many more misinterpretations to look forward to!

Finally you may be wondering about food. Well, so far I haven´t had anything that my travel books say is uniquely Ecuadorian. For lunch my first day I had chicken salad sandwiches and chips. I slept right through dinner, so nothing to report there. Sunday morning I had corn flakes and a banana, still no mystery or surprise. Lunch Sunday afternoon where we were joined by Veronica´s mother, Jemina (spelling?) was a salad, potatoes and a pork roast. Again nothing new except the mustard based potato marinade and the passion fruit hot sauce. Veronica told me that Carmen, the house keeper, cooks during the week so maybe my taste buds will soon meet something new.

I have yet to venture outside the house on my own. Veronica seems somewhat hesitant and I myself feel somewhat the same. At the same time, I am feeling a little isolated with my poor ability to carry a conversation, but tomorrow school starts so I am looking forward to that. For now I will keep my mind open and especially my ears open, after all it´s my last semester and I´m Ecuador, no doubt I have nothing to complain about.