Orientation and my new familia

Left KCI January 1st at 11:00 AM. Got into Atlanta around 2:30 with the hour time change. It was raining. I grabbed some grub and headed to the gate from where my plane to Ecuador was leaving. That was where I met Julie. We were the first two there. Then Keita, and Wesley, and January. Then everybody kinda came at once. We left at 5:30. They had individual TVs on the back of the seats. They were touch screen and you could choose from movies and TV shows and you could play games. They also had a bunch of music and you could make your own playlist. Technology sure has come a long way. I watched Easy A, an episode of Psych, and Going the Distance. For those of you who know him, Mike Birbiglia made a short appearance in that last one. Pretty cool. We landed around 11:00 and we exited the plane via a staircase where we were ushered into a bus and taken to the airport. Half an hour later we made it through the immigration line. Then we got our bags, went through customs, and met Martha and Daniel (the program directors) by the airport exit. Once we were all together, we loaded the bus and headed to Hostal La Carolina. Random room assignments put me with Sophie from MD. By the time we got to the hostal, it was 1:00 AM so we just basically went straight to bed.

The next morning we had jugo de piña y huevos revueltos (pineapple juice and scrambled eggs). The mountain Pichincha is to the west of Quito and we could see it out the windows of the hostal. We did some orientation stuff in the conference room in the morning, and then Daniel walked us to the mall, Jardín for lunch.   In their food court they have things like Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, and KFC. They also play North American music like Michael Buble and Katy Perry. Es interesante. Then we took a bus up to the statue of la Virgen de Panecillo located just above el centro historical de Quito, which at that altitude gave us a great view of the city. Quito is HUGE! It is fairly thin east to west, but muy larga north to south. Even at our altitude above the city we weren't able to see the end of the north or south edges. We rode back down to el centro historico and toured some churches in the area. Then we ate a three course meal at a restaurant near our hostal. I had a chicken empanada, llapingachos (potato pancakes - not latkes, though) and fruit salad. I also had jugo de mora (blackberry) y fue delicioso. That one was just for you, Gregorio. Haha. We took taxis home in groups of four. We were supposed to try to bargain the cost down to $2, but it was after 8 and pouring rain, so we paid $3. That's still pretty cheap for a taxi, though. And bus rides only cost 25 centavos! Very cheap. But then you start acting like a penny pincher because you know just how far every cent can get you. Oh well.

Day two of orientation included more breakfast (jugo de piña y panqueques) and more orientation stuff in the conference room. We were on our own for lunch again and so a few of us returned to the mall for the second day in a row. In the afternoon we took the green buses down to the valley of Cumbayá where the university (USFQ) is located. Martha bought us all ice cream cones when we stopped and I had mora (of course). Then we toured the campus. It is extremely gorgeous, but a little confusing. It doesn't seem to big, though (especially the soccer field) so I'm sure I'll be able to find my way around. We had two tour guides, Kelly, a BCA student who studied at USFQ last semester, and Miguel, a USFQ student who studied at Messiah College through BCA and now studies at Iowa State University. Apparently he knows many former BCAers very well, including mi hermano, Gregorio. He couldn't believe I was Greg's sister and kept saying "Qué chévere. Superchévere." Haha. He also called me Greg Jr. several times. There is a small pond on USFQ campus and Miguel had our tour cross the pond on some very slippery stones. We all thought he was kidding, but he insisted we do it. USFQ is also apparently big on pirates so they have pirate ship wreckage in the pond. After the tour we went to an indigenous vegetarian restaurant that is big on nutrition and food preparation. They served lots of quinua and also had apple-oatmeal juice. It wan't my favorite, but it was interesting, and parts of the meal were pretty enjoyable. After supper, Miguel invited us to the Mariscal, which  is an area of restaurants and such to go to a bar and hang out. Got back to the hostal around 9:45, went to bed.

Last day of orientation. Jugo de piña and french toast for breakfast. Then we spent the day talking about host families and health while in Ecuador. For lunch, some of us went to a restaurant that specializes in yogurt and pan de yucca, but they also serve lots of other things. I had an empanada de pollo (chicken). At about 3:30/4:00 we were given information sheets about our own specific host families. Until then we had no idea who we were going to live with. I have a host mother and a host brother and a teeny tiny host doggie. My mom, Sol, works in the Japanese Embassy and makes jewelry in her spare time. My brother, Sebastian, is 18 and is studying English in a nearby university. He is also in a band and can play the guitar and piano. My doggie, Bibi, is a French toy poodle. I live in a very nice and secure apartment complex. My room is small and I share a bathroom, but my family is very sociable. I have a great view of Pichincha from the living room window, and my apartment is only a block and a half from the Rio Coca, which is the large bus stop here in Quito. They picked us up at 5:00 from the hostal. We were halfway through pairing families with students in the lobby when the power went out. Haha. Guess that's Quito. We got my things home, I unpacked, I was fed supper, and then we sat around talking, watching telenovelas, and looking at my host mother's facebook pictures. It was a long day, but things are looking pretty good.

More later,
Lizzie

The view from my living room window: