My First Impressions

So I've been here for two days and I've had a chance to sort of see the basics that will make up my life for the next couple months. These include my homestay, the office for IES, and la Universidad San Francisco de Quito where I'll be studying. I really had no idea what to expect out of any of these but the first impressions have been amazing.

I live with a family of three and a half. My parents are Gustavo and Paulina and there daughter Maria Paulina also lives in our house. Their son Fausto lives in the apartment attached to the house but he has an odd work schedule and basically lives on his own. There is a second son who is the oldest of the children but I've only met him once because he has his own place afuera de la casa. The house is great. Much of the residential areas are very much like you would expect in a large South American city. Everything is very close together and there aren't many yards. I was blown away the first morning upon seeing a huge volcano right outside my window. The bus station is right outside our door and the public transportation can take you just about anywhere (for cheap! Each bus in the city costs just $0.25). The IES office is about a 10 minute ride and USFQ is about 45 minutes and requires a change of bus. Gustavo y Paulina are immensely welcoming and helpful. The family functions in a very interesting way because everyone has different schedules (Gustavo works at a hospital and Maria Paulina is a student at another local university) so there aren't really family meals which isn't what I was expecting but I am coming around to it. Paulina basically cooks and you can eat whenever. On that note, the food is great. She makes a lot of soups and there are tons of local panaderias where you can buy a plethora of different fresh breads. The fruits and vegetables are also great because they are very fresh. I tried papaya for the first time yesterday and it wasn't bad. Sometimes I end up eating way to much because I don't exactly understand what they are asking me and then after I agree I have more food in front of me. So far my stomach and digestive tract are doing alright, a little diarrhea but nothing major. The only real drawback to my living situation is that the house is about 3 blocks from the end of the airport runway and I hear every plane that comes in to land. It isn't bad during the day, but at nights its a little annoying.

Sunday I spent the entire day at the IES office for an extensive orientation to just about everything I'll need to know for the semester in terms of academics, safety, security, health, etc... 8 straight hours of of Spanish was a lot to deal with on the first day but by the end of it I was could tell I had improved. The office itself is located in a newer part of town close to on the the biggest parks in the city. I haven't explored it yet but from the street I could see tons of people playing soccer and volleyball as well as a mountain biking course and tons of paved trails for walking and jogging. The center staff is phenomenal and the group of students also doing the Direct Enrollment program are great. I am the only guy out of 6 and am one of the worse Spanish speakers. Three of the girls have relatives in Latin America and are fluent already. I would say that I'm probably on par with the other two girls but I know that I am getting better everyday.

Today we had a half day of orienation at USFQ. First off, the campus is wonderful. It is located in a little valley to the east of Quito in a small town named Cumbaya (yes, I start singing the song everytime I think about it...) The bus ride is beautiful because you get the descend down the side of the valley and there are some fantastic views of the area. Campus is about a 3 minute walk from the bus stop and it is a very diverse place. The architecture ranges from the sort of cement block buildings that you usually see in poorer areas to awesome Spanish architecture and there is even a building that is in an Asian style. There are tons of open air gardens and walkways with sweet fauna and a little pond in the middle. Today was a little easier because much of the information (although it was the same as Sunday) was presented in English. However I still feel like today was good because I had to function on my own for the first time really and I was successful. Tomorrow is gonna be a low key day just chillin at the IES Office probably, but classes start Wednesday.

In general, the city (or at least what I've seen of it) is great. I know I haven't been to the rough parts and I know that they exist but for the most part it is much cleaner than I was expecting. You do see some crazy things though. Today on the bus to school a guy got on holding a live chicken. Also sometime when we are driving kids will walk out into the middle of a crosswalk at a red light and perform hoping for donations. Today I saw a girl juggling and several guys breathing fire. Just things you don't get to see everyday in the US. Also, the weather is great. I haven't checked for sure but I would guess that the temperature has been right around 70 degrees during the day (its a bit warmer at USFQ in the valley) and about 55 at night. Its funny to listen to the people say "Hace frio" knowing that back home people would kill for this kind of weather.

Well thats what I have for now. I promise I will have at least a few pictures in the next few days. My time thus far has been pretty structured but from now on I'm pretty much on my own and can take pictures at school and on the busses.

I hope everything is going well!

Paz y Amor

(P.S. As I spend more and more time here, its a safe bet that I will be throwing in more and more Spanish. Although it can be tiring now just having to be constantly thinking about what I'm hearing I know that pretty soon it is gonna be more natural than English. Just a fair warning.)