Concierto de Prince Royce, Centro Historico y Sur de Quito,

This weekend was incredibly busy, but so much fun! On Friday I went to the Prince Royce concert with Angela, Erin, Stephanie, and Sharita. On the way there a man in all denim was telling Angela she was beautiful and asked her for her name and he kept staring at me and yelling "Un momento!". When the bus doors opened we all grabbed hands and tried to get out as soon as possible, but the guy had his body up against mine and he was mumbling words and it was creepy as hell. Finally we got away and ran to find a taxi lol. When we got to the concert they were patting people down and I realized I had my Swiss Army knife on my keychain so I stuck it in the underside of my boob in my bra, and luckily they only patted the sides of my chest and the middle of my bra haha. I would've one sad panda if I had my Swiss Army knife thrown away!

The concert itself was really fun, but I felt sad for Prince Royce because the theatre was pretty empty in the expensive sections lol. The open floor section wasn't even halfway full, but Prince Royce put on an amazing show, so I guess the quantity doesn't matter. He had a woman dance on stage with him and he kissed her and gave her a rose, then he threw out a ton of other roses out to the crowd. He was just such a good artist to see live! Ahhg!

On Saturday half of the BCA group and I went on a night tour through Centro Historico. We got a theatrical tour through a church and through a home that was owned by a very prominant and religious woman. Our prompt was: What symbols do you think apply to Quito and the people of Quito? What symbols apply to your cultural background? Personally I think religious things such as paintings of Mary and Jesus are the biggest symbols. Every house I've been in has at least one, especially in the bedrooms. Also, every taxi and bus has something religious on the mirrors or windows. I said that symbols from my cultural background have to be the carvings that my grandpa has made his entire life. Ever since I can remember I've had Native American carvings, drums, clothing, and music in my life.

After the tour Zach, Elizabeth, Erin, Keith, Lily, and I went to a little restaurant called Happy Mondays on la calle La Ronda. Keith and I shared a pizza with ham and cheese and I had a cervesa while he got red wine like the classy man he is lmao. Everyone else got burgers and tacos. It was such a cute place with retro posters of movies like Attack of the 50 Foot Woman and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. I love just going out with parts of the group and sharing stories. I'm going to miss everyone so much.

On Sunday we left bright and early for Sur de Quito! Sur de Quito has become a city in the last 50 years essentially. 50 years ago it was all fields and crops except for a small town called La Magdelina. The buildings are poorly made and most are unfinished. The city is not as colorful as the north side of Quito because the aesthetics are not as important, but that's slowly changing with time. It was amazing that this huge chunk of land was inhabited in such a short amount of time. I couldn't even wrap my head around it.

In Sur de Quito we went to an interactive workshop to meet some teenagers from the area. To break the ice we did humilitating games like putting pens between our nose and upper lip and making other people grab it out of your upperlip with theirs. Then we had to stand in a line with our legs wide and the first person would have an empty bottle and ask the next person a question about them, after asking the question they would run to the back, crawl through our legs, and pass the bottle to the next person. My knees are BLACK AND BLUE lol. They were all so nice and I met a girl named Mely in a small group. We exchanged gift baskets that we made at the end of the session with notes about how pleased we were to meet one another, etc. During our workshop Daniel divided the room into four parts (agree, strongly agree, disagree, strongly disagree) and he would throw out questions like "Do you believe in God?" or "Do you like your president?" and we would go to one of the corners. It was interesting to see the differences in people's views. And we got to learn about one another's views in a non-threatening way, which was awesome.

After the games and basket exchange we got lunch and went to the park where the group played rato y gato (cat and mouse) y pato, pato, gonzo (duck, duck, goose). It was a really fun time :).

Yet again, I'm so thankful I chose to study abroad because BCA is blessing me in so many ways.

Fotografias de Otavalo y Riobamba

Mi familia afitriona y yo en Riobamba! Tia Miriam, Tio Mauricio, mis primos Jose, Juan Carlos, y Sebastian, mi mama Vilma, y mi hermana Vanessa.

Katie and I in our natural habitat.

Watching a man who has made his own yarn for 73 years teach un joven how to make yarn, too :). Otavalo was so awesome!

A family playing music for us! Those Guayasamin prints behind them are REAL and have notes to the man from Guayasamin on them. I am so envious lol. Their music was a pleasure to listen to.

Kiyoko and I after hiking the cascada :). Gosh, I adore how happy we look.

We're on the middle of the world!!

Oh, you know, just modeling outside of our hostal haha.

Wearing my pantalones y sueter de alpaca <3

BCA at the cascada!

Familia es Todo

This weekend I went to Riobamba with my familia afitriona :D. It's a 3 hour drive from Quito, but I read the book that Allysa gave me for Christmas, so it flew by. When we go to my mom's sister's house I literally thought we were at a hotel. The house has 4 stories with 7 huge bedrooms all with their own full bathrooms. Everything is brand new and they have a full soccer field in the back yard and a gym in the basement. It was quite overwhelming lol. But my mom's siblings and nephews/nieces are all so sweet and were very kind to me.

That night we got cafe, tamales, sanduches, bolones de verde, and these fried yuca things filled with queso. They were pretty good, and the restaurant was so popular for being a cheap little sanduches shoppe. This old man was playing a guitar and the harmonica in the entry and parades were going down the street all night with people dressed as gorillas, satan, wolves, etc dancing down the streets. It felt like Halloween in January.

Afterwards we went back to the house and the women got tiny shot glasses of Pina Colada that we sipped on, and the men got whiskey. My mom and I hated it because it was warm hahaha. She's a woman after my own heart. We went upstairs and listend to some music together as a family, then I went to bed at 10 because I get so exhausted after meeting new people and only speaking Spanish for long periods of time has been mentally draining (in a good way). I slept until noon and woke up to my host cousin Sebastian knocking on the door (I slept in his room that night), and I was so embarrassed because my hair was a hot mess lmao. After I got dressed and brushed my teeth I went downstairs and Sebastian talked with me about sports and school for a while.

For lunch we all went to a really nice restaurant and everyone got chicken except my mom, who got Cuy (GUINEA PIG!). Yes, it still had its head and feet connected and yes, it still had its ears, teeth, and eyes in said head. I tried a bite of it (of course my mom gave me its little left arm to chew off of), and it honestly was not disgusting. It just had an unpleasant rubbery texture, which I did not enjoy. I had chicken, potatoes, a little salad, a coke, and a little thing of pineapple jello with homemade whipped cream. It was an odd combination, but whatevs lol. After lunch I got a few family photos and it was awesome, then Vanessa and I made the 3 hour journey back home.

It was an amazing weekend and I can't wait for even more memories with my familia afitirona :D.

Conocimiento Versus Sabiduría

The past two days have been SPECTACULAR. My BCA group went to Otavalo and went to Pre-Incan ruins in Cochasqui first, which just blew my mind. The temples they built were not tall because they knew they were closest to the sky already. They were built with volcanic mud, manure, and straw. After the Pre-Incans were defeated, grass grew over the structures quickly because it germinated quickly in the mud/manure/straw mixure. There were sun and moon stations where they could tell what time was best to grow crops, cut their hair, etc by shadows of the moon and sun. They were also so high in the mountains that it was a good place for communication. From Cochasqui you can see 21/34 volcanoes in Ecuador!!

There were tons of pyramids and little mounds that were used for burials. The people were put into the fetal position in jars and buried in these mounds. There is also a fertility pyramid where to this day, people visit if they are having issues with having children. Oddly (or amazingly) enough, when the llamas that live in Cochasqui are mating, they do so by this fertility pyramid!! SO COOL!
Lastly, there is a breed of owls that were said to have been only 20 in total in Ecuador, but now there are at least 30 that live in these pyramids alone. This place was definitely magical! I got to feed llamas and alpacas salt! Chieri and Daniel kept chasing the poor devils around the fields hahaha. My friends are too adorable.

After this we went to our hostal, which was GORGEOUS. The middle of it was open with 3 hammocks, a fire place, and beautiful plants everywhere. We dropped our stuff off and went to the biggest market in Otavalo, Plaza de Ponchos, I do believe it was called. I bought an alpaca sweater, pantalones, a dress for Caitlyn's baby girl, and a bracelet there for just $26. It felt so horrible bargaining with the sellers because I felt like they deserved the asking price most times even though I know it was mostly all mass-produced. I was talking to Daniel afterwards and told him I noticed there was a lot of poverty, but no homelessness and it's because in South America, no one would want their family to be homeless. Family is so important. It's just so amazing to me how a developing country could have an almost non-existant homeless population, when the US, an industrialized nation, has homeless people out the ass. This is the stuff that keeps me up at night.

After the market we got pizza and cervesa,then went back to the hostal and lit the fireplace outside and told ghost stories for hours. We kept screaming and I think the other people staying at the hostal wanted us dead lmao. Toya is the best story teller in the land! Period.

Today we went to the home of a man and his family who make instruments and have a family band. They played music for us and demonstrated how to make/play some instruments. I bought my aunt a flute shaped like a turtle :D. Stephanie made an amazing point that demonstrations like this can be sort of like exploitation because the girls did not seem happy while playing and sometimes we sum up things like this as being what "indiginous" is, when we may not even know what that means. Everything requires research and communication and I want to definitely ask about a culture before labeling it as anyhing such as "indiginous" or "native".

After this we hiked up a waterfall and it was seriously so fun! It was an intense, muddy hike. The views were just flawless and the sound of the falls crashing down was beautiful. After hiking down to the bottom we got in and spashed in the falls, or if you're me, you went under the falls and almost drowned from the pressure on top of your head lmao. It was incredible to just know that, holy crap, I'm in Ecuador playing in a waterfall with a ton of amazing people that I adore to death. I felt totally blessed. On the way back to the bus I fell down the stairs and lost a gauge, but those are minor details ahhaha.

Next, we went to see a man and his wife make homemade yarn. They were so precious and kind. They work so hard to make their products, I can't even explain! I bought a tapestry from them for $4, which I will cherish forever. I wanted to make sure they made it though, and that it wasn't mass-produced, because they deserve to know that people think their hard work and efforts are important. The man has been doing this for 73 years! I can't even imagine!

One of the coolest parts of the days was going to a place that rescues raptor birds, condors, owls, hawks, etc. The demonstrator had tricks for the birds and since I was in the front row, I got to have some of the birds land on the ledge in front of me or run past me! After the demonstration, I got to hold a bird with one of those leather gloves like a boss! It was really sad seeing the birds in cages, but we found out they get to fly out of their cages every day and most of them get released into the wild if the paperwork gets put in, in time. The condors are suffering from global warming because they're not getting as much water at the heights that they live in, which is endangering their livelihood :(.

After this we went back to the hostal and got lunch, then we left for a little town that mostly sells leather goods. Miguel Andres, Emily, Jazzy, and I spent 30 min eating ice cream. I ate 2 popsicles de coco and Miguel Andres ate 3. Estamos gorditos :P.

Lastly, we drove to a lake that is ON TOP OF AN ACTIVE VOLCANO! Apparently, it was a huge volano that collapsed and turned into a crator, and a lake just formed there, but the volcano is still active and because of this, there is no animal-life in the water and you can see bubbles from the sulfiric acid coming up! I also learned that this lake feeds into the waterfall we swam in earlier in the day! We took a boat around the lake for $2.75 and it was so breath-taking. There were cows on the steep mountains, which baffled me lol. It was a cold, but enjoyable boat ride :).

After our boat ride we had a reflection about knowledge vs. wisdom (conocimiento v. sabiduria) and market economies and whether they're good for Ecuador and its culture. I won't go into everything we talked about, but it was an amazing reflection that really makes me want to be more aware of myself and my surroundings. I want to give back to the people of Ecuador in the same way they give  to me.

LIFE IS GOOD. I just can't believe I'm studying, living, and growing in Ecuador. I was in a boat in a lake on top of an active volcano, dude. Like, this can't really be my life right now. Somebody pinch me...

Mis clases y voluntariado

Today I woke up early to get to school at 8:30 to have my Culture and Justice class through BCA. It was so interesting and I learned a lot about the history of Ecuador. It really made me think about the differences in North and South America and how even though my classmates and I are different people, we all want pretty similar things. Almost everyone in my BCA group wants to help people in some way and/or to break the stereotypes about different cultures. It really makes me happy to know that I'm surrounded by similar people.

I picked my classes today and I'm taking Advanced Grammar, Conversation, and Spanish (3 separate classes), Basic Greek (for if I go to Greece with Becca), International Relations, and my Culture and Justice of Ecuador class. I'm really stoked!

I also talked to Miguel Andres about what volunteering I would like to do and over the next few weeks I should start teaching yoga to pregnant teenagers or teens who are already mothers and teach English to juniors in a local high school, so that if I apply for the Fulbright in the future, it will look good on my resume. I'm so freaking excited to teach yoga to the teenages because I feel like when someone is a teen mom, it's extra stressful and yoga will help the mothers de-stress, become healthier, and give them something solid to look forward to. Plus, I'm going to teach them positions that they can do with their babies/children so that they can be healthier, too! I can't wait!

Every night I talk to mi mama for HOURS and I can honestly feel my Spanish improving ten-fold. It's so easy to talk to her because she's so nice and patient. My sister is the same way. So freaking patient. I love talking with them and have actual deep conversations. It's too exciting for words.

I can't wait for classes to begin tomorrow! It's going to be overwhelming, but I'm going to tough the first weeks out and just let the Spanish get easier to comprehend. Yippy! Also, I get to see Miriam finally! I'm too excited to give her gifts to her <3

Mi Familia!

Today was a pretty busy day! I woke up at 8 and got breakfast with my friends in the lobby of the hostal. We had huevos, pan y cafe. After breakfast we had a health talk with nurse Sarah and then had a 2 hour long lunch. First we went to a little hole in the wall place by El Jardin, where we got a soup with cilantro, chicken, and yuca (a kind of potato), chicken, rice, cucumbers and tomatoes, half of a cooked plantain, and a choice of dessert all for $2.75! Then we went to El Jardin and got gelato. I got coconut because I'm a coconut freak!
After lunch we talked about our host families and what they are like. We received a pamphlet with their information and I was so excited to see that I had a doggy! It's a little shaggy haired cutie! At 5 we got to meet our host families and we were all freaking out. Some of us were tearing up and a lot of us were just so nervous. But all of the host families came into the room and they would come up one by one and say who their child was and we would walk up and kiss them on the cheeks and leave with them to their houses.
My host mom is an angel! Her name is Vilma and she is so nice. She wants me to learn and is all about staying calm and not worrying about everything. She loves coffee just like me and she LOVES La Navidad like me too! Her daughter, Vanessa, is so nice and patient with me. She's so interesting as well! She's been to France, Germany, Colombia, and a few other countries and she knows French as well as Spanish. Vanessa has a nephew that lives with us named Kevin who is 19. He's very nice and has tattoos, which is chevere lol.
An hour after I got to my host family's home, mi mama's granddaughter, Ariana, came over and she is such a cutie. She loves to dance and she loves making jewelry and selling it for $1 lol. She is probably the one who's going to teach me the most Spanish ;P. I talked in Spanish for 5 hours today and it was so fun! I am rusty on conjugations and vocab, but it'll get better. I'm so excited!
Mi mama is going to teach me how to knit and sew, which is going to be amazing! I can't wait lol.

La Primera Dia

I am safe, happy, and TERRIFIED in Quito, Ecuador right now! There are over 30 of us staying in La Hostel Carolina, which is really pretty and accomodating! We get a hot breakfast every morning and our rooms are so lovely.
Today we went over safety procedures and for lunch we went to the mall, Supermaxi: El Jardin. I ordered Locra media, which was a half order of a soup comprised of potatoes and cheese. I also got a bolon de verde, which is a fried ball of dough and seasoning filled with cheese. They were pretty decent.
After lunch we went to Parque Carolina where we did team bonding games. I got to paddle boat around the beautiful park with a girl named Megan from North Carolina. She's so nice and funny. The people in Ecuador do not hide their affection! I swear I saw at least 10 couples making out along the canal path like their lives were depending on it hahaha. The city is so breathtaking. There are mountains that surround us and palm trees all over. There are cacti plants and gorgeous, bright flowers. Everyone is so friendly! Family is a huge deal here and there are so many pet dogs running around, too.
For dinner we went to a vegan, all organic, all fair-trade restaurant that usually is only open for breakfast and lunch, but they stayed open just for us. We took up the entire restaurant! They gave us hot ginger tea (SO BOMB), pureed apple juice (everyone said it tasted like baby food, but it just tasted good to me haha), a soup with corn, carrots, potatoes, and cilantro, and for the main meal we got rice with spinach, potatoes with a tahini-like sauce on top, carrots, lima beans, seasoned broccoli, and a tamal with spices and herbs inside (YOU KNOW I LOVE TAMALES!), and for dessert we were given a slice of fig cake with blueberry sauce on top. I almost died from how yummy it was. And I got to eat it all with chopsticks haha.

Day 1 in Quito has been amazing :D.