A Small Boy Trapped in a 20 Year-Old Body

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.