One month down...

This past week has been fairly uneventful, although still fun. As it was the last week of tropical ecology and we had presentations to work on,  a final to prep for, and a field journal to write, there were no field trips to new and exciting places.

As Ecuador is numero tres (or at least was as of tuesday) in the Latin American futbol cup, there is a great amount of enthusiasm when you're watching the game on a big screen tv with a number of other people or at the stadium in Quito. You think american football fans get excited? Ha, you haven't seen anything until you've watched a bunch of Ecuadorians get excited b/c their team just made a goal. One goal = jumping, cheering, yelling, beer flying everywhere, ect. And the Ecuadorian futbol team hasn't even won yet. Ecuador tied with Uruguay on tuesday (there's no overtime, penalty kicks, ect for some reason), so we didn't exactly win. Would have loved to see the reaction of my fellow futbol watchers if we had.

Futbol on the big screen surrounded by fellow college-goers

Now that I've officially been here for one month I can say I still love Ecuador. Things may not run as smoothly as they do in the US (postal service, for example. Getting a package here is a major pain in the butt) and an Ecuadorian minute is more like 3 US minutes, but you get used to it. Something I will definitely miss when I leave here is the smell of the freshly baked bread that I smell walking past the panaderia on my way to the bus stop every morning. Oh goodness, it's so good!!!

It seems as though most large vehicles don't like to come to a complete stop. Two examples: the buses rarely stop for men, even I've had to hop on or off as it does a slow drive by past the bus stop. In orientation when we first got here we were told we have to be laid back b/c everyone here lives on Ecuadorian time. Well, not the buses! The second example I witnessed the other day on my way to the bus stop. Monday and thursday are garbage days...ever seen the garbage man running after the garbage truck with bags of garbage in his arms? I mean like really run? Haha, it's a fun experience to witness.

Shopping here was a whole new experience for me. Quito has a very large mall (just like the ones we have at home, except this one is 3 stories), which two friends and I went to on wednesday (I know, it sounds like I'm having all this fun and not doing my school work. To be honest I got most of it done by tuesday, so no worries). The sales women practically run up to you when you enter the store, the security guards (there's at least one at the larger stores) keep an eye on you as you walk around browsing the very interesting selection of clothing specifically made for women with big boobs and big butts (at least bigger than mine). A few of the sales women stood very close to me while I looking at an article of clothing or two, and one stood so close and kept following me around the store that I literally hid from her behind a rack of clothing. All I wanted to do was look at things in peace. It's very uncomfortable to have someone standing practically right next to you watching everything you do. It's just not okay. My spanish isn't good enough yet to kindly ask the woman to leave me alone, and the only thing I could think of was f@*! off, which probably could have gotten me a security guard on my other side, glaring at me.

Now that tropical ecology is over for the weekend, we were able to celebrate properly, with the addition of Kari's 21st Birthday! How exciting! I have no recollection of my 21st birthday, which is probably a good thing. A large group of us went to a Tapas and Wine bar in Mariscal, the more touristy area of Quito (also the one with all the bars and restaurants), where we paid ~$20 each for all-you-can-eat and drink! tapas and wine. I paid $30 for a better wine, and well, I can say I definitely drank my money's worth. No problem there. After the tapas bar we headed to a bar that played the greatest old school hip hop from the US! Ahhh, great time.

Me with the Birthday Girl!

My next class is mountain geology which involves hiking around two volcanos, one of them which we have the opportunity to summit. The summit is just under 5900m, or around 19,000ft. Hiking to a height of this altitude requires training. Therefore, I've been running for an hour everyday within my hamster cage (gated community), and today we took the enclosed ski lift up to Teleferiqo, approx. 4050m. From there we climbed part way up Mt. Pichincha, approx. 4300m. From here the view of Quito was just amazing.

Trail up the mountain

That's my volcano! 5900m here I come!

Cotopaxi.