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...
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