¡Que chevere! [cool/great/enjoyable]

I had a great time this past weekend. On Saturday we had a Spanish review class in the morning, then I had some time to relax the rest of the day. Saturday night my host sisters took me to a discoteca! I met some of their friends, we danced for about three hours straight, and I even tried a bit of salsa dancing! On Sunday my family said we were “going for a walk,” which ended up entailing a 2 ½ hour drive through the mountains and the clouds (literally). I’m not complaining, though, because it was so worth it! They took me to Cuicocha, a beautiful lake in the crater of a volcano (pictures coming soon!). On the way there we made a couple of stops. We ate lunch at a place that seems to be kind of like the McDonalds of Ecuador (although they do have McDonalds here too), but much better. I think it’s called Fritatas Amazonas and they serve many typical dishes. This is how I would describe what we ate: some kind of beef, fritter-like potatoes, boiled potatoes, toasted corn kernels, white boiled corn kernels, and empanadas. It might not sound that exciting, but it was really good. All the food here is very flavorful and I’ve really enjoyed all the meals my host mom has made. I think I got lucky because it seems like not all of the students get to eat as well as I do. We also stopped in a small town called Cotacachi, which is internationally recognized for its high-quality (and much cheaper!) leather products. It’s really cute—I wish we could have spent more time there!

Side note: The driving here is CRAZY. I thought I had witnessed everything having only been through the city of Quito a handful of times (New York is nothing in comparison), but driving on these country roads through the mountains was certainly a new experience. The way people pass cars is quite terrifying, but everyone seems to be accommodating. It’s a strange combination between reckless driving and expertise that I don’t quite understand, but somehow it doesn’t make me nervous because everyone seems to know what they’re doing.

I thought the first day of orientation at the Catholic university was going to miserable and long, but it ended up being a pleasant surprise. It turns out they actually graded the practice Spanish tests we took several weeks ago, and most of the students in our group scored high enough that we didn’t need to take the written/oral exam. We ended up having several hours free, so we walked around with one of our “padrinos” – an Ecuadorian student who has been assigned as somewhat of a mentor. I finally got a cell phone (from the US my number is 011.593.8.319.2409) and we explored the plaza of La Mariscal (gringolandia). Later on we had an information session on safety with a US embassy representative and a tour of campus. I think the university has close to 10,000 students, but the campus is fairly small because it’s not residential. It’s pretty though! Now I have to begin deciding what classes to take…

Cuicocha!

The volcano Imbabura