Baseball Is Not a Sport (and other pointless debates)

Last night I went with my host brother and two of his friends to a concert on the other side of town. The group was Sui Generis, an old hippie-rock duo from Argentina that was first popular in the 1960s. They have a very Simon-and-Garfunkel sound, with a little bit of Beatles'-later-years mixed in for some songs. They sing about everything from love and life to anti-war protests to observations of humanity. It was great! Only one man of the original duo performed, with 2 other musicians. He was the most grizzly, charismatic, cheerful old hippie rocker I'd ever care to meet! The crowd simply adored him. I was fascinated that the audience was made up of people from my age to his age, and everywhere in between! This group has really stood the test of time.  I was a little worried when the "9pm start" surpassed Normal Concert start time (9:15-9:30), and then Ecuadorian Time start time (9:30-9:54), and finally started at Thanks-For-Nothing-You-Washed-Up-Bozo-Warm-Up-Band start time (just after 10).  Seriously, they were pretty awful, even for a pop group from the 80s, but once the real show started, it was fantastic!
It's been fun in the last few days to test my language skills by engaging in teasing or debating conversations with Juan Carlos. I explained to him the multitude of reasons for which I do not go fishing, and also expressed my deep internal desire to buy a little sailboat when I have the time and water to use it. I also argued (quite convincingly, as it turned out), that baseball is NOT A REAL SPORT! It is certainly a game, even a pastime (lots and lots of time...), but not a sport. He just got kind of quiet, but his friend started laughing, gave me a high five, and then proceeded to giggle and make faces at Juan Carlos (both he and his friend are in their 40s, mind you). I felt pretty good about myself after that. For the language skills, not the debating skills. I already knew I was right about this. :)

The dress code at school is not nearly as stringent as they indicated in the brochures. At orientation I asked if I could wear pants like the ones I was wearing (which ended at the knee), or if they were too short for school. Daniela, the coordinator, smiled and said they were fine, that shorts and skirts halfway up my thigh were fine! They just don't want kids wearing Squeak Cheek shorts because it draws some unwanted attention... The rule about no open-toed shoes seems to be made up or long ago mutinied, since I don't think I've yet seen 1 local student in closed-toed shoes.

At the last family lunch (Sunday), Daniel, Pilar and Fernando's son-in-law, invited me to take a seat, then began cracking up. In Spanish, the verb used for taking a seat is the same used for drinking something, so he explained that in English we say, "Take a seat," while in Spanish they say, "Drink a chair." He thought that was just the funniest thing he'd ever come up with. I guess the first time you realize it, it is!

Cecilia (the maid) and I had a conversation about food; she is worried that I won't like the food she makes, since I'm vegetarian and she's used to cooking meat. They make a point of making dishes without meat, or with meat on the side, and even getting perhaps a bit overzealous with making sure I get enough protein, in the form of eggs, yogurt, cheese, milk, lentils, fish, falafel, etc. I explained to her that the food is absolutely amazing, and that everything I've tried since I've been here I've enjoyed tremendously, but I don't know if she believed me... After we DIDN'T go get our visas registered yesterday (because someone forgot to call for a car to take us, haha), I went to lunch with the other two US students at a Peruvian restaurant close to my house. We all decided to take a little risk, so we each ordered something that sounded a bit out-there with at least one word we didn't know how to translate. I got a plate of cold octopus in a vibrant purple olive-mayo sauce, with giant corn kernels (mote) and sweet potato as a garnish. It was fantastic! I was a little intimidated to eat what were clearly dark purple suction cups on the underside of some of the pieces, but they really weren't bad - just chewy capers, really. ¡Riquísimo! I also discovered another food item that may have to become my guilty pleasure away from home: Pie de chocolate from Sweet and Coffee (which I also found out is a local enterprise, despite its English name; the founder was a classmate of my grammar teacher's). It is an entire wedge of the pure satiny-fudge chocolate layer of top-notch French silk pie, and it just may be the best, most satisfying chocolate dish I've ever eaten. Phenomenal. The other girl and I each got one, and we've been raving about it ever since, to the point that the other boy may just have to gag us soon (hopefully with some more of that pie!).

It just occurred to me this week how peculiar it was that the family hand washes dishes as we use them, despite the obvious presence of a dishwasher on one side of the kitchen. In fact, I realized this anomaly when someone opened the dishwasher and I discovered that it has been converted to a storage cabinet for extra sponges, dish soap, etc. That was a bit funny, and cool that they have still found a use for what I assume is a decrepit non-functioning former dishwasher!

The other boy in my grammar class (from Quebec, now working on his 3rd language) explained to me during a particularly tricky grammar exercise we were working on that one of his teachers once told him that as soon as you pass the absolute-basic level of learning a new language, you should acquire a dictionary solely in that language. The advantage of this, of course, is that it forces you to stay within that language to define and understand a new word, while growing your vocabulary exponentially. I pulled out one of the coolest words that I know (courtesy of my mother, the Spanish teacher and almost as much of a nerd as me) - "circumlocution," or the idea of talking around an unknown word using words you do know. For example: the machine you use to type papers and send and receive emails (a computer). This is a valuable skill in learning a new language, especially in an immersion experience where the person using the word often doesn't speak your native language and can't just "translate" it. He was pretty impressed with my Super Vocab Word of the Day for a common event we all use, and I was excited to both use the word and circumlocute in Spanish! P.S. Mom, in Spanish the word is circunloquio.  Anyway, it sounds like great advice to have an all-Spanish (or all-whatever the language happens to be) dictionary, so I'll definitely look into one when I return (not carrying that thing on the plane; way too heavy). Probably in addition to a book of verbs...

Okay, last fun fact. There is a very well-known Ecuadorian painter I've been hearing about (and seeing his work) named Guayasamin. He was a contemporary of Picasso, although I like his work much better. It has a similar piece-y, cubist look to it, but most of the body parts are still in the right places. His pieces are mostly about human emotions (mostly sadness and grief), but they have a roughness and rawness that makes them both stirring and fascinating. I've included a couple examples.

The above is entitled "Borrasca En Azul."  The one below is entitled "Los Desesperados." For you art enthusiasts out there, I highly recommend Google-ing his name in Images and perusing some of them; they range from chilling to hauntingly beautiful.

Shia Español

On Saturday I went to Salinas, one of several beaches in the country, with the other girl from the US. The beach called Playas is a little closer, but not as pretty, and the beach called Montañita is further and is already the destination for a weekend trip in the Planning Stage. The tricky/interesting/terrifying part of Salinas as a destination was the need to take a bus there. Now, there are several bus lines in the city of Guayaquil; one of them is fairly safe, but the others have frequent muggings, etc. So naturally we were a tad nervous... Then we arrived at the bus terminal, which is essentially a mall connected to a medium-sized airport, except for buses instead of planes! Huge, crowded, noisy, bustling. Eventually we found the ticket counter (after scouring the equivalent of 3 city blocks, with windows on both sides - you can go essentially anywhere in the Western hemisphere from Guayaquil!)  As we walked away, dazedly deciding which way to try first to get to the departing buses, we realized our tickets were for a bus that would be leaving in 6 minutes! AH! So we started scuttling (almost running, but a little more discreet, a.k.a. less graceful) and eventually found it 2 stories up on the other side of the building, just in time. We even had time to settle in and get comfortable, since it left on Ecuadorian time about 10 minutes later. And the ride itself went off without a hitch! They showed what I'm pretty sure was Spanish-dubbed Eagle Eye on the way there (a 2 1/2 hour ride into the city, then another 20-30 minutes to drop everyone off at their respective stops). Then we started wandering off in the general direction that everyone else was, until the driver shouted from 2 blocks away "The beach is that way!" while pointing at a cement wall covered in graffiti. Gee, thanks. But after circling several individual blocks we did find the beach, and it was GORGEOUS! The softest sand I've ever felt; chilly cerulean water; grand, sparkling buildings edging the peninsula; and a ceviche shop every 10 steps! The beach was quite crowded - apparently the coastal region (of which Guayaquil is a part) is on a school schedule essentially mirroring that of the US. The Sierra (mountainous) region is on vacation now, so a lot of Ecuadorian families had traveled out for the weekend. After a delicious lunch of shrimp ceviche (a kind of cold soup with shrimp and lime juice, and red onions, tomatoes, cilantro, olive oil, ketchup and mustard as optional condiments) with chifle (fried plantain chips), we headed across the street to relax on the sand and stave off the street vendors selling everything from jewelry and dresses, to food and beverages, to hammocks, lamps, and temporary tattoos! We spent a couple of hours down on the beach before wandering back to the bus station, where the ride back was equally as uneventful, except that they played the movie Cellular this time, which I more or less understood (yippee!!) and is a pretty decent action flick! When we were pulling away from the parking lot in our cab, I looked over to see a little boy of about 5 or 6 standing next to Mommy, peeing into the taxi pickup lane! Not trying to hide it or avoid hitting cars or anything, just facing the oncoming traffic and letting loose. It was quite comical, as well as a bit shocking.

Today I took the MetroVia (the "safe bus") to school for the first time! Well, first I have to walk about 20 minutes to get to the station, which is actually nice because it gives me an excuse to get outside and exercise to work off all the starch in typical Ecuadorian fare. Then I ride the bus for 5 minutes, about another mile down the road, for 25c, a fraction of what I paid for a 'driver.' And it was easy as could be! So I'm planning to do this the rest of the semester.

This evening I had a brief Tai Chi session with my host father, Fernando. He has suffered 7 strokes in the last couple years, and I think he's over 70, so both his physical and mental faculties have declined considerably. But he asked if I would teach him some stuff in order to exercise better and more completely, gain some flexibility, and relax. And it went great! He does speak some English, which he learned while serving in the US Air Force for 20 years. But I led the form and helped him entirely in Spanish! I was so proud of myself!

Our Conversation class went half an hour over time today because we were talking about the political system of Ecuador - fascinating! Every day it seems to get a little easier to understand people and to form coherent sentences. I can't wait to look back in a couple months to see my progress!

Hormigas en mis Pantalones

Needless to say, not everything translates word-for-word, as one of the other exchange students found out when trying to explain the expression "Ants in one's pants" to his host family, amidst stares of confusion and suspicion. Nonetheless, it makes for some interesting conversations and cultural learning experiences!

So, now to tackle the big question I know has been on everyone's mind. (Okay, maybe not everyone, but nerds like me find this kinda stuff interesting.) What kinds of cars do people drive?? Well, I'd estimate at least 3 in 5 are Chevy's, and the rest are lesser known brands like Hyundai, Kia, and Daewoo. There's the occasional Toyota or Nissan, but not nearly as many as in the US, which I found interesting. Also, most of the cars are relatively new! Shiny, at least. More than I expected, and more than most places around home. And, what tickled me the most, most of the yellow taxis are Chevy Aveos, the same kind of car I have!

Okay, okay, down to news. We decided in my grammar class to start an hour earlier and go for 3 hoursevery day in order to end almost a week and a half before the other classes end! So the classes will be long, but we have a lot to cover, and it's interesting, so I'm sure we'll find something to do.

Jack (spastic yet adorable dog/surrogate son) makes a habit of escaping the confines of the kitchen every 2 or 3 evenings (making a mad dash for it, usually with someone cursing on his heels), and last night he was due. He slipped out unnoticed and wandered into my room, so we had a tender moment before I returned him to his cruel incarceration. I thought Juan Carlos was just being a grump when he explained that the "shit dog" (his words) needs to stay in the kitchen because he'll make the whole house smell like dog; but I found out what he meant when Jack lifted a leg at my backpack! Little dirtbag. So I lured him back into the kitchen, where we discovered the joys and terrors of Dog Tag. We played for several minutes (just enough to get him revved up, I fear. Whoops.) before I headed back to my room.

Finally, some more musings for you language and culture nerds out there. Or maybe just me? There is a chain here called Sweet & Coffee (in English, which makes it kinda cute and kinda commercialized, depending on your perspective and level of pessimism). It's a lot like Starbucks - they're all over the place, they play light indie tunes, and they serve marginal coffee (though it's pretty good compared to most of the coffee here) and snacky foods. Obviously, their specialty is sweets, like this otherworldly chocolate fudge cake that I was blessed enough to try, muffins, and a dozen types of cakes and pies, though they also have little sandwiches. It's a fun little establishment, and a great place to relax a little and grab coffee with friends. Anyway, what made me smile the first time I went in was the food item labeled "Negritos." Brownies! I found it adorable. Again, I know I'm a nerd. Sorry, I just can't help it. Deal.

I brought my flute along and have been practicing in my room, much to the delight of my host parents, who think it's just so pretty and relaxing to hear it in the other room! It makes me feel a little guilty doing tone exercises and scale excerpts, but otherwise it's pretty encouraging! As I start to establish little routines and preferences, it helps me feel like I'm settling in and not just on a brief vacation, which is nice. And as I gain confidence with listening and speaking, it makes me feel more at peace, like I've just been waiting for this trip forever. Okay, enough with the deep sappy stuff!

Okay, fine, but I still don't like it.

My host mother, Pilar, is a typical mom. She worries almost as much as my actual mom, and her sworn duty in this world is to care for all her "kids" (the dog and me included). She is honestly one of the sweetest people I've ever met. One of the nice things she's decided to do for me is save a plate of lunch in the fridge for me to eat when I come home from class, since they don't eat a large dinner here, and she thinks the food on campus is less than ideal... So I came home today to a giant plate of pasta with a sort of tuna salad mixed in (tuna, diced red onions, celery). Well, I'm not exactly a fan of canned tuna OR of celery as a seasoning device (only by itself, with liberal amounts of peanut butter and possibly some chocolate chips), so I thought this might be a little rough. Come to find out, it was great! Something about the combination of flavors I don't like created something completely new that I did like! I still maintain that I dislike both canned tuna and celery, mind you, but this was an interesting little discovery.

After dinner, Juan Carlos took me down the street so I could try morocho, which we'd talked about in class today. Morocho is a type of corn, but it also refers to a drink made from the grain. The kernels are soaked in water and cooked down to a thick chunky mush, then mixed with sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, and whole raisins. The whole beverage is served hot. Juan Carlos told me that it's pretty dangerous because all the other gringas who have lived with them have become enamored with morocho and can't get enough! But it tastes quite a bit like oatmeal with sugar, milk, and raisins, another food which I maintain I do not like (except on the occasional subzero winter day, sans raisins of course), so I think trying it was enough for me. But it was interesting nonetheless! One thing about the food here is that it is built upon dozens of different grains paired with lots of cheese and eggs. This has proved beneficial for my vegetarian-ish-ness, since there's never a shortage of choices or protein, but it is unfortunate for anyone trying to maintain a less than rotund figure. Other than the guilt factor, however, the food is absolutely amazing!

I had a couple eruptions of quasi-coherent Spanish chatter today, which was very encouraging! Most of the time, I speak like I do in English - in fits and starts, as I whip between trains of thought and decide which route to take - only slower and concentrating a lot harder. But today it was a little easier: exciting! Grammar class is difficult in that it's a lot of info thrown to us at once, and I still usually require some "processing" time to work through a concept in my own head, but there's also lots and lots of conversing in that class, which is great for practicing and hearing these concepts. Also, there are only 2 of us, so we get very specialized attention and lots of time to talk! Conversation class is obviously a lot of talking as well. Today we read an Ecuadorian legend about the Incan treasure hidden beneath the hills in Quito, and our assignment for Monday is to recount an American folktale or legend in Spanish.

Yesterday I finally ventured out on my own! I walked down to a little office supply bodega to buy a folder (something I hadn't thought to bring, but desperately needed). It sounds a little silly that it took me a week to walk somewhere by myself, but with my sorry excuse for a sense of direction and the winding one-way streets that all look the same, I'd say that's quite an accomplishment! Then I had to try to explain my idea of a folder, which evidently doesn't exist here, but I got something close enough.

The bugs really haven't been bad; I can count on one hand the number of mosquitoes I've seen. However, I know they exist, because apparently they think it's really hilarious to chew up my wrists and forearms while I'm asleep. I suppose if I were a mosquito, I'd think that was really funny too, but being on the receiving end, I don't. But I don't yet have gangrene, and I haven't seen any of those gigantic hairy baby-eating spiders I hear about (knock on wood!), so I'm really doing well! ;)

Otherwise, things are great! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous - usually some periods of cloudiness interspersed with full or partial sun. Not too hot, and often a nice breeze to go with it. Cooler overnight, but not enough that I need to close the window or bundle up. They say it gets pretty unpleasant around December, but I'm willing to give it a try!

Never have I ever been to Catholic School... Aw, man!

Kinda funny to think of myself going to a Catholic University... But it's not THAT Catholic, if you know what I mean. Or maybe it is, but not for international students. Anyway, they don't make me go to their church, and I don't have to wear a uniform, so what do I care, right? :)  I have two classes right now, but a third one starts in the middle of next month. I'm taking Advanced Grammar (2 hours, 4 days a week), and Conversation II (3 hours, 2 days a week). It makes for some long days, but I think it's going to be a lot of fun. My teachers are helpful and very supportive, encouraging us to TALK TALK TALK TALK TALK as much as possible. There is one other student, a boy from Quebec, in my grammar class, and a boy from Indiana in my conversation class. That's it. It was a little odd having classes of 2 students, but it's also nice because we get to converse a lot and ask individual questions.

My teachers were explaining today that words in Spanish have dozens of synonyms, and they also have several meanings, depending on context. I'm certain this is part of what makes Spanish such a beautiful language - speaking or writing it (well!) is an art form in itself! Among the things that made me smile: el hospital para cámaras digitales (digital camera hospital), el jardín de infantes (literally, the garden of infants), and oso perezoso (literally, lazy bear; we know them as sloths). Speaking of things that make me smile, here is Take 2 of Jack, the beloved son of my host parents, and quickly becoming my best friend. Or I his, more likely. (He appreciates me for my clumsy, food-dropping self!)

Yesterday, my host sister and her family took me along to El Parque Histórico Guayaquil, a combination botanical garden/preserve, zoo, and historical recreation.

The majority of the grounds are preserved mangrove forests, complete with teeny crabs growling and swearing at passers-by. There are several semi-enclosures with various animals, mostly from Central and South America, though some species I recognized, like white-tailed deer and snapping turtles! These macaws were close enough to touch (though also close enough to bite, so I didn't dare!), and my host sister explained that macaws mate for life. That made the love shots of this pair even cuter.

Of course, everyone loves monkeys. Including the monkeys! They started playing tag to show off when we arrived.

Otherwise, things are slowly settling into a rhythm. It was much cooler today, but otherwise it's been absolutely beautiful out, albeit a bit overcast. Thinking of everyone back home, of course, but delighted to be here and looking forward to the adventures to come!

The joys of traveling...

...can be found in the little things. I'm a firm believer of this. These are the unexpected occurrences that make you smile and give you something to talk about. Anyone can plan a trip, research the heck out of the destination, and have an idea of exactly what it will be like. But it's those random tidbits that make a trip fun, exciting, and completely worth actually going there.

Having said that, I hope I don't bore you with all the fun things I've been giggling about! Last night I went with my host brother, Juan Carlos, to his friends' house for "café" - really a small evening meal (in Ecuador, the large meal is eaten in the middle of the day, and a smaller snacklike meal is eaten later in the evening). It was a riot! Though I understood very little of what was said once they got going at approximately the speed of light, they made a point of checking in once in awhile to include me. At one point they were even telling dirty jokes, which were much easier to understand, much to their surprise and alarm! Ecuadorian humor is a lot of good-natured self-deprecation. One of the men at the gathering last night was nicknamed "El Gordo" (fatty), and that's what they all called him, what he called himself, and even how he was introduced to me! People seem comfortable with their flaws, accepting them as part of their personalities, allow their friends to tease them, and then reciprocate. Another main part of the humor appears to be making fun of Quito (as Quito does to Guayaquil). Last night someone remarked that if I were studying in Quito, my name would be Raquelita (pronounced like the French name 'Jacques' -elita), which brought the house down. They called me that the rest of the night, and today my host brother has been calling me that and cracking himself up!
Most of the drivers here are certifiably insane - they weave and swerve all over the road, ignoring all but the most obvious traffic signs, squeezing between each other and the oblivious pedestrians. Remarkably, no one seems to get hit, but going anywhere by car is a harrowing experience, to say the least. By that token, though, walking anywhere wouldn't be much of an escape!

 Today Juan Carlos took me downtown for some errands. We went to El Parque de Iguanas, which is exactly what it sounds like! It's a small park between busy roads, with a small water feature with huge koi and turtles, winding paths with benches, lots of trees. And, in addition to the hordes of pigeons, there are IGUANAS! EVERYWHERE! Big, small, old, young, green, orange, you name it! Walking around, sunning themselves, napping in trees, falling out of trees - it was nuts! Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me, but Juan Carlos has promised to take me back for some pictures.

I've been enjoying my daily run-ins with the dog, Jack. He's adorable! And very well behaved. They joke that he's their baby. At one point yesterday he was trying to sneak into the hammock, and Fernando (my host dad) said "Son!" and Jack stopped abruptly and turned, looking a little sheepish. He's so quiet that the last couple of days when I've gone into the kitchen for some breakfast, I walked back and forth several times before noticing a little tickle on the back of my leg as I walked - Jack, trying to sniff me.

I also managed to snap a [rather disappointing] picture of the little gecko who showed up to watch me shower! Who knew lizards were such voyeurs?

P.S. I apologize for the lack of paragraphs! They're in my draft, I swear! I'm working on figuring out how to make them appear in the final post...

¡Bienvenido a Ecuador!

I made it! After an entire day spent en route, it feels strange that I ended up only about 6 or 7 hours away by plane, and in the exact same timezone! But after sleeping almost 10 hours and finishing all my unpacking, I'm beginning to settle in. My host family is very nice - a friendly older couple - and I've already met their grown son, daughter, and the dog. Now: I wait. I have a couple days to get the hang of things before orientation at the school on Friday.

What I've seen so far is beautiful! I'm living close to the airport - which sure was convenient coming in so late last night - in a pretty neighborhood of white stucco houses with wrought iron gates (pictures to follow!). The garden is gorgeous and very tropical-looking. The dog, Jack, is adorable, and Pilar and Fernando (host mom and dad) couldn't be sweeter.

I'm doing better than I thought with Spanish. My vocabulary is seriously suffering, but some of it is starting to come back. And I have periods where I can intentionally direct my thought process in Spanish, but then when I let my mind wander, it sounds like some bizarre combination of the two - something like miaodobaweid;jkgjebw... So that's still transitioning. Otherwise, things are great! Looking forward to the gorgeous (hott!) weather and avoiding the chilliness soon arriving back home.

So for now, I'm settling in and enthusiastically awaiting the next steps!

Parting poems

These two passages seem to strike a chord with me and my travels. Enjoy.

I am being driven forward
Into an unknown land.
The pass grows steeper,
The air colder and sharper.
A wind from my unknown goal
Stirs the strings
Of expectation.

Still the question:
Shall I ever get there?
There where life resounds,
A clear pure note
In the silence.
- Dag Hammarskjold, Markings

Always in the big woods when you leave familiar ground and step off alone into a new place there will be, along with the feelings of curiosity and excitement, a little nagging of dread. It is the ancient fear of the Unknown, and it is your first bond with the wilderness you are going into. What you are doing is exploring. You are undertaking the first experience, not of the place, but of yourself in that place. It is an experience of our essential loneliness; for nobody can discover the world for anybody else. It is only after we have discovered it for ourselves that it becomes a common ground and a common bond, and we cease to be alone.
- Wendell Berry