Needless to say, my group and I made it back to the hotel in good time. We did not get horribly lost, nor did we get mugged. We departed San Antonio for Quito, and from Quito we took a series of busses to Yaraquí (pronounced yara-KEY). It is a beautiful pueblo to the east of Quito. We learned that it is a town over 400 years old. While there, we had incredible hand-made ice cream. I literally watched them pour liquid into a metal bowl floating in ice water and spin and stir it until it was the right consistency.
The Alston (our hotel) is located in the Mariscal (the tourist zone of Quito). We went out that night to some of the discotecas, and let me tell you a few things:
The local bartenders do not seem to know about “shots” of liquor
Imported liquor that we Americans are accustomed to is ridiculously overpriced.
It cots more to go clubbing in tourist zones than it does back in the states
I arrived to my host family on Friday, and they are awesome. They are a family of seven:
Mamá – Naty
Papá – Orlando
Hija – Alex (17)
Hija – Michelle (15)
Hijo – Raúl (8)
Abuelo – Nilo
Abuela–Tere
They have a ton of patience and have been extremely hospitable. We have come to find that our families are of upper-middle class standing and represent about 15% of the Ecuadorian population. I have my own large room with a private bathroom; although it is obvious that the daughters are sharing a room in order to accommodate me.
Going into a new culture is like turning back the clock and taking the mental capacity of a five year old. You do not have a firm grasp on the language, so you cannot articulate yourself very well. You cannot do anything on your own because you are not accustomed to how things work. You do not even really know the value of money. It is easy for the locals to overcharge you for things and you do not realize it until later. Every time someone speaks to you, you have to ask them to repeat themselves because you cannot keep up. People change the tone and speed in which they talk when they are addressing you, and they assume that when they are talking normally you cannot understand them. It is difficult for the average American 20-year old, as we have grown to be rigorously independent, but here we have to be assisted with everything. We are completely dependant during this adaptation period, dependant on the food and advice that is given to us, the watchful eyes that take care of us, and the hands that hold us up. We have regressed to an infantile state of mind while our bodies say that we are adults. In the three months that I am here, I have to do 15 years worth of emotional adaptation.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Ice is a Commodity
The plunge into the surface of Ecuador was less jarring than I thought it would be. Meeting my fellow classmates was both enlightening and comforting. I thought that I would have been one of the more Spanish-challenged people, but I found that a lot of us were at the same level and even had the same fears.
From aeropuerto UIA in Quito, we gathered at the Alston hotel to form a game plan. There are 23 of us, 5 guys and 17 girls… needless to say I will never be short a partner for salsa.
The first breakfast in Ecuador was magnificent. I did not know what to expect because all we had the night before was a tamale-like corn meal thing and Oreos. At breakfast, we were served granola, fruit, and yogurt. All of us took the opportunity to stuff ourselves full. Ten we found out that we had another two courses. We were given a juice that tasted like a papaya-orange juice, we later found out it was a sweet tomato juice. They also provided us with fine coffee. They then brought out a plate of bread (Ecuadorians love carbs) with jelly and butter. After that, we were served pancakes, eggs and ham. Such a meal is not unusual, so it is evident that we will not go hungry on this trip.
We departed Quito shortly after that for San Antonio, a small town to the South. Our directors wanted us out of the city for orientation. As it turns out, the area in which the Hotel Alston is located has the highest crime rate of the entire city.
When we arrived in San Antonio, I saw ruined streets, crumbling walls and a deteriorating infrastructure. I thought that the hardships were about to begin. We passed through the gates to our hostelaría and I found that I was grossly mistaken. Where we were staying was beautiful, an oasis away from the outside world.
Crime is a serious problem throughout Ecuador. Pick-pocketing, robbing and stealing are common ways of life. The streets are left to the burglars and high stonewalls separate the private residencies from the public. Our resort is made up of several private houses along with the hostel, making a type of secluded estate. There is a pool, soccer field, volleyball field, pool and hot tub—an oasis hidden from the street, surrounded by high cement walls with shards of broken glass at the tops taking the place of barbed wire.
Now I need to take time to do justice to the food! Every meal has several courses. The soup is not static, it is multi-faceted with a perfect blend of flavors. The rice is filling and pure. Every dish has been completely unique and mouth-watering. They even do American food better than we do! The only thing that has fallen short of my expectations has been coffee. It is all instant out here, which I think makes no sense. Aside from that, everything is cheep. One bottle of rum costs $3.50. An hour of Internet is $.40. A bottle of Coke is $.20. It is all on the American dollar as well. I have everything I could ever dream of, but I did find that something was missing: ice. Nothing is served cold. Our mixed drinks are warm, our soda is warm, and so is our ice. We also cannot drink that water from the faucet due to improper sanitation, and risk of bacterial or parasitic infection. Of all the things I was worried about, I never thought of potable water and ice as a commodity. I never stopped to think that this was something people went without away from the US.
Tomorrow is when the vacation truly ends. We have to depart the hostel on our own, in small groups, and find our way back to Quito, then to certain other towns, specific to each group. All of this has to be done without the assistance of our directors and we have to be back at our hotel in Quito by 3:00. Wish me luck!
From aeropuerto UIA in Quito, we gathered at the Alston hotel to form a game plan. There are 23 of us, 5 guys and 17 girls… needless to say I will never be short a partner for salsa.
The first breakfast in Ecuador was magnificent. I did not know what to expect because all we had the night before was a tamale-like corn meal thing and Oreos. At breakfast, we were served granola, fruit, and yogurt. All of us took the opportunity to stuff ourselves full. Ten we found out that we had another two courses. We were given a juice that tasted like a papaya-orange juice, we later found out it was a sweet tomato juice. They also provided us with fine coffee. They then brought out a plate of bread (Ecuadorians love carbs) with jelly and butter. After that, we were served pancakes, eggs and ham. Such a meal is not unusual, so it is evident that we will not go hungry on this trip.
We departed Quito shortly after that for San Antonio, a small town to the South. Our directors wanted us out of the city for orientation. As it turns out, the area in which the Hotel Alston is located has the highest crime rate of the entire city.
When we arrived in San Antonio, I saw ruined streets, crumbling walls and a deteriorating infrastructure. I thought that the hardships were about to begin. We passed through the gates to our hostelaría and I found that I was grossly mistaken. Where we were staying was beautiful, an oasis away from the outside world.
Crime is a serious problem throughout Ecuador. Pick-pocketing, robbing and stealing are common ways of life. The streets are left to the burglars and high stonewalls separate the private residencies from the public. Our resort is made up of several private houses along with the hostel, making a type of secluded estate. There is a pool, soccer field, volleyball field, pool and hot tub—an oasis hidden from the street, surrounded by high cement walls with shards of broken glass at the tops taking the place of barbed wire.
Now I need to take time to do justice to the food! Every meal has several courses. The soup is not static, it is multi-faceted with a perfect blend of flavors. The rice is filling and pure. Every dish has been completely unique and mouth-watering. They even do American food better than we do! The only thing that has fallen short of my expectations has been coffee. It is all instant out here, which I think makes no sense. Aside from that, everything is cheep. One bottle of rum costs $3.50. An hour of Internet is $.40. A bottle of Coke is $.20. It is all on the American dollar as well. I have everything I could ever dream of, but I did find that something was missing: ice. Nothing is served cold. Our mixed drinks are warm, our soda is warm, and so is our ice. We also cannot drink that water from the faucet due to improper sanitation, and risk of bacterial or parasitic infection. Of all the things I was worried about, I never thought of potable water and ice as a commodity. I never stopped to think that this was something people went without away from the US.
Tomorrow is when the vacation truly ends. We have to depart the hostel on our own, in small groups, and find our way back to Quito, then to certain other towns, specific to each group. All of this has to be done without the assistance of our directors and we have to be back at our hotel in Quito by 3:00. Wish me luck!
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