Feeling Much More Adjusted

The weather was beautiful and sunny and my day followed suit.

Breakfast was papaya and kiwi (two of my absolute favorite fruits) with bread and a warm milky chocolate drink of sorts. Cheers to my stomach for putting up with the dairy and everything I have been eating.

There were no tourists today so during that time Rosita and I worked with the performers on the choreography. This entailed me learning the dances as well which was a blast. I was given a snack of yogurt with fruit and rice crispies with the rest of the students. #eatingalldayeveryday

Rosita and I had a lot of breaks today. In our first break around 10:30, she showed me the recording of a show the orchestra and some dancers did at the Theater in the Cultural Center of Quito. A staff member who works in the office described something to me about watching the movies and the choreography...I really could not pick up what he was saying and didn't know what to do. I tried telling him I didn't understand and he said it in another way but very quickly, and again no idea. Hoping he is not asking me to have something prepared. It maybe sounded like I would be dancing with the students but who knows. Que sera...

At 11 we had another group of students. This was the same group as yesterday with the Occupational Therapists. Rosita had me warm them up and then she worked on some choreography for Cumbia. Oh yes, the other day when I said I thought the dance we learned was Cuban, it is definitely Cumbia and not Cuban...oops. Here is what wikipedia has to say about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumbia


Our next group was giant and so Rosita took half and I took half to warm up. Then we again worked on the Cumbia choreography.
Our last group didn't work out...not sure why but instead Rosita and I just chatted, in Spanish of course, and I ate part of my delicious lunch courtesy of Martha (chicken and zucchini sandwich and a nectarine).

At 1 I was on my way to Spanish class. On the hour long bus, I ate the rest of my lunch: an apple yogurt drink...(to which the first time I thought was apple juice and was quite shocked with my first sip) and a lollipop. I had about 45 minutes to kill once I got to Mariscal (the neighborhood my classes are in) so I found a cafe to enjoy an americano with warm milk, wifi, and a bit of studying Spanish vocab.

Class was great again. Ximena is a great teacher and the one-on-one is very helpful.

On my bus ride home, I met an Ecuadorian man who lives in New Jersey. He was super chatty and very nice. Several ladies around me asked me where I was going and wanted to help me. The bus was once again shoulder-to-shoulder packed. But the conversation with him and the help from the ladies around me made the ride much better. People here are so far extremely nice.

I stopped at an ATM connected to the police station to take out some dinero. A policeman came out to help me but we couldn't get my card to work. He told me about another ATM of Banco Pichincha nearby. With my decent Spanish I explained to him, since it was starting to get dark, that I would go tomorrow when it is light because it would be safer for me. Instead, he offered to accompany me! So basically I had a cop escort me to use an ATM and then to my house (or a few blocks away rather).

I enjoyed soup, fish, and some sort of potato salad with my host mom, younger host sis and her boyfriend. After dinner, Vivi, the older host sis came home with her boyfriend who wanted to practice English before his big exam tomorrow. I had a nice cup of joe and some sweet bread while I spoke with them in English and a bit of Spanish.

After today I am feeling much more adjusted and really excited to be here. My family is really great and people are very welcoming here. Well, looking forward to a short day tomorrow (no Spanish class) and the weekend!

Abrazos,
Zoe