Day 4

It’s only 4:30 and I’m already happier today than I was yesterday. I think actually doing things has put me in a better mood. Since I got my phone yesterday, today at school when I saw people I knew, I could get their numbers. So anyways, today I got up around 8:30am, which could also be a leading factor in my happiness, considering I’ve been waking at 6:00am. I took a shower and got ready. I left the house around 9:30am, when our maid was arriving. I got on the bus, transferred at the station, and arrived at the university with plenty of time to spare of course. I left early on purpose in order to set up my internet on campus with the people there and to find my classes ahead of time so that I would be on time. I did get my internet set up, as you all know by now due to the earlier postings of days 1 & 3, and realized that the university WiFi has sites such as MySpace and Facebook blocked, like William Byrd did. I wonder why a University, a college-aged group of people, have sites blocked for them. I don’t quite understand this, but oh well. I will try to find ways around this. I emailed some, updated the blog, etc.
Then at 12:15 I headed to my first class, which started at 12:30pm. Evidently they do things differently here. At VT, on the first day of class, most people are usually early. Here, most people are on time, or a few minutes late. I can assume that this correlates to the idea of time in a circle that is prevalent here. At home, we see time as a line, with a beginning and an end. However, here, they see time as a circle, many things happen at once, and some things may never end. Anyways, the first class is a Spanish lit class, much like the one I just took at VT last semester. It sounds interesting, the hardest part will be reading, of course. The professor suggested that the students buy one of the books in English, as well as Spanish, because the majority of students are American, and he said that that particular story is very difficult to understand. I then had lunch, a pesto vegetarian crepe, very yummy (By the way, the food on campus so far has been fantastic. The only downfall is that there is no meal plan so your money goes quickly. Although the food is cheap, it adds up). Then I headed to my Intermediate Conversation class. This class is basically 8 american students who need help. It actually seems very interesting. Every Monday a student presents a news article of their choice and teaches the class 10 new vocabulary words to help us communicate better. Then they present 3 open-ended, opinion-like questions which the class then attempts to answer. Every Wednesday, a different student presents a topic (ie: drug trafficking, political status, etc) and 10 new vocabulary words associated with that topic, also asking 3 open-ended questions. The whole point of the class is to talk and to learn new, and necessary, vocabulary that we may not/do not already know. All in all, it was a good day.
At the end of classes, I found my bus & headed home. The only problem I have encountered today was that I could not open the front door when I arrived at the house. We all know that I have problems with keys, but this was especially difficult. Luckily, MariClara was home and opened the door for me. However, I do plan to get either her or Veronica to show me exactly what to do so that tomorrow hopefully I can be a big girl and open a door by myself.
I ate my lunch which had been prepared for me which consisted of: tuna (not tuna salad, just the meat), rice, and a potato soup thing. I also decided to treat myself to some bread & jelly. It was nice. Probably the first meal that I have eaten plus some since I arrived. Usually my lunches that they have prepared for me have been a meat, rice, potatoes, and a soup. Which is fine by me, anything with potatoes involved is a-okay. Now, I’m not sure what I am going to do. I actually made myself a list of things to do but they all involve the internet or going somewhere, which I’m not ready to do by myself yet. I need to: find an ATM, register my VISA, get my Ecudarian ID, get a third notebook for class, probably need to get some books, too, E-mail Calvera to inform her I did not get the classes I had planned, get a map of Ecuador.
Tomorrow, a few girls that are also international students and I are going to this place called South American Explorer Club. It’s basically like a nice little club that helps people out that are here. I mean, how more basic could that sound. The “clubhouse” has wireless internet (which I hope wont have blocked sites), coffee & tea for members, activities every Thursday night, lots of connections for volunteering around the area, and lots of connections to good travel agencies & bus companies for traveling around the country, etc. I’m pretty pumped about it. I’d like to get involved with something like that. It costs $35 to join, but I think that it’d be worth it to not have to pay for wireless internet in an internetcafe and to have those connections. Thing is, I need an ATM before then. It’s not too far from the house, either. But, Veronica said I should probably take a taxi, anyways.
Evidently, the maid took my dirty clothes to wash them today. I don’t really know how I feel about that. She has been opening my closet to put away my shoes and pajamas when she comes to clean & make my bed, but I didn’t really think she would just open my closet and take my dirty clothes away. Oh well, I guess it’s her job.
Seems like I have a whole lot to write about when I sit down to write, when really, I haven’t done much of anything. I guess if anyone sat down and wrote hour by hour what they did it would probably take up as much space. For some reason, being in another country makes detailing out your life more interesting, I guess. Hope you all are enjoying this, although, I think it might bore you. that’s all for now.



...i wrote that last night. right now i am waiting for time for my modern dance class. im scared. nothing else really to report for the time being. just waiting for friends to happen in my life so i can have a life haha.....much love.