Kathryn E.-Quito, Ecuador-Spring 2010

When I arrived in Quito, Ecuador´s capital, my host mother met me at the airport. She lives in an apartment with her 23 year old son, who attends the same university as I do during the night. I'm very lucky to live right next to the supermarket, movie theatre, and mall. Also the metro stops directly in front of the stairs leading to my apartment.

One of the best things about Ecuador is that there are a variety of great places to travel, and travel is cheap. A two hour bus ride into a mountain town is only two dollars, and the metro and regular buses are only a quarter each. You can always find a good meal for under $5.00 if you aren’t too picky. You do have to make sure that the food is safe, though, and whether or not you eat anything bad most people have some stomach discomfort at least once during their stay. Chifles (Chee-flays), or banana chips, are about the only safe homemade food that you can buy from street venders. In Mindo the safe place to zip line costs $10.00 for thirteen cables and I hope to take advantage of that again because it was one of the coolest things I have ever done.

In school I am doing well because I understand about 90 percent of what people are saying; however, my literature class is a bit difficult because the language is so much more formal and they sometimes use obscure words or regional dialects to set the scene (many of which are not in the dictionary). I am giving English lessons to my Math teacher for an hour after class because I have nothing to do between my morning math class and my other classes.
Because I am in the service-learning program, I have 5 classes (Monday, weds, Friday) and I am an assistant teacher and sometimes substitute in a school called Colegio America Latina on Tuesday and Thursday.

Differences in eating style are that we have juice all of the time, and that lunch is usually very large and eaten at 2 or 3pm with dinner being very small if not only a snack. There are also a lot of weird fruits to try. You cannot flush the toilet paper, that is why there is always a trashcan (ew). You can only drink bottled water, but that’s not too annoying. There is a lot of pollution (like visible black smoke trailing the buses). Nothing opens before 10am and everything but clubs and restaurants begin to close around 8pm. Sun block and bug spray are about $15.00 a bottle, which is really expensive for here, but you can buy DVDs for two dollars (ka-ching!).

Also, time is an absolute mystery because when people say “right now” it could mean anything from five minutes ago to an hour from now. This is very annoying when my host mother says we are leaving ´right now´ and we do not leave for another twenty to forty minutes. Everyone is like this, and there is hardly ever a clock in any room, including university classrooms.
I know that we are supposed to try and make friends, but really it is nearly impossible in a university where they have on average 200 foreign students. The Ecuadorian students know that we are leaving in four months and do not attempt to become close to us, which I understand. I am, however, getting along very well with my program group. We travel almost every weekend, and have even gone to the rainforest.

People are pick pocketed on the bus, but it is nothing to worry about if you watch your stuff; however you need to take a secure taxi at night. Also, at night they do rob people in certain areas (near the mall). I saw that almost happen last night to some kid down the street. The law does not mean a lot here. There are legitimate stores full of pirated movies every other block and no one does anything to them. People steal and sell dogs all of the time. Minimum wage is not enforced (partly because no one would be able to pay minimum wage and half of the people of Ecuador would be laid off if they enforced it). Also, police will not protect you from being robbed. Businesses and apartment buildings hire security guards because the police do not do their job sufficiently. Also, security guards are serious. They have the right under the law to shoot and kill robbers.

Really, though, if you are not stupid Ecuador is a much less violent country than the United States. They will rob you on the bus but they are much less likely to shoot you afterwards.
I like being in Ecuador a lot because I love to travel with my group on the weekends and see different things. My host mom is very friendly and I get along very well with the other girls. My service work is fun and valuable experience for my future in education, plus I like kids. That´s about it for right now.