I am glad that it is societally acceptable to be scared of bugs, because I am scared of bugs. There are bugs in my bathroom. I don't even want to describe them. I guess 400 meteres down really does make a difference.
However, today was, if not fun, at least extremely productive, which is odd for first days and definitely for Ecuador.
I met my dueña, Tamara in the parking lot by the supermarket by school. She took me to the house which is like 2 k up a mountain from the highway. This will be my form of exercise, I will call it "adventures in urban hiking." The house is really excellent, except for these bugs. It has lots of exposed roof beams, little alcoves (hiding bugs, I bet), uniquely bending staircase, a balcony by my room, and an avacado tree. This is all I could ask for. Additionally, I am in love with someone in the family but I don;t know who. My room has some stuff in it from the rest of the family, including a cabinet filled with at least 300 cds, all of which I already love or want to listen to or have never heard of or forgot I was obsessed with. And these are not burned disks on a spool, no, they are in thier cases with booklets and coverart. There are boxsets of Wilco, Dylan, Bowie, Green Day. This is audiotory heaven. And the bookshelf! My current forrunners are "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" but Murakami, "Please Kill Me: An Oral History of Hardcore Punk," and a Patti Smith book, all in spanish. Now that's what I'm talkin about. There are also biographies and coffee table books of Lou Reed, The Clash, and Mafalda. Someone had ganas and disposable income. And behind me are at least 40 dvds: Bottle Rocket, seasons of the simpsons, T Rex, Pavement, and Sigur Ros concerts. You know. Just bragging. So I will not even complain a lick about those bugs in my bathroom.
So after seeing the wonderful house, I went to school and did some computer stuff. Then I went to Puembo and surprised everybody. Spent a lot of time with Doña M and her kids who both love me and I like them. They are very down to earth and happy. I am impressed. They have puppies and a new room. The doc still thinks I am weird, I think. There are two medical students that are also assisting/watching, one from Venezuela and one who actually goes to George Washington U and UMD for undergrad. Small world.
Anyway, we all ate lunch, but me and the kids second b/c there wasn't enough space. After lunch, I went back to La Primavera, where I live. Tried to find a telephone cabina, but there were none. Pilar had told me she would be at the hospital with Santi (the sick guy) at 3 and it was like 330 so I decided to walk to the clinic. It was my first adventure in urban hiking! I walked uphill for 45 minutes, stopping twice to ask directions and once to cry. I got to the clinic and Santi was sleeping and his mom was there and she called Pilar who told me to come to the consultorio. SOOOOOO I rode the bus for another hour then go to Abuela's house (where the consultorio is). Sat around for 2 hours, chatting with: Abuela, Diego, Monika, Paulina, Carlos, the Cuban physical therapist, someone with a baby. Gaby came, went to the hospital. I didn't need to wait there for so long because pilar had given me the keys, but I really didn't wnat to get a taxi from the house for myself, I was worried it would cost like 30 dollars or at least 13. So after a long time (including a really weird session with abuelo, I'll go off about him later), Piliar, Ilidan and I left the house and ran into Miguel, the taxi driver friend. He took us to Pilar's house, Jimmy helped me carry my stuff down, and the Miguel and I chatted all the way to Cumbayá and I didn't have to worry about getting murdered. It all only cost $10.
Around 8 Tamara and Alberto came home, and we ate locro, choclo, chicken, and salad. Note to self do not eat empanadas and bread at abuelas house, you will be well fed at home. I like my new dueños, they are friendly and are giving me a ride down the hill at 645 tomorrow. Maybe only one session of urban hiking a day.
24 hours in Ecuador and I've already:
-Taken 2 taxis, 3 car rides, and 8 car rides
-eaten chicken organs, pork cutlets, empanadas, white rolls, sugar-not-corn-syrup-cola, big-kernal corn (choclo), and mayonnaisse-based cream sauce, national foods of Ecuador
-been whistled at three times
-made a goofy error ("They laid down" instead of "they were assaulted")
-forgotten everyone's name
-gotten sunburned.
-checked my pocked for my money 456,878,874 times.
-rode a llama (jk lolz)
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