Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Today was a better day. Much, much better. We got to school on time. It did not rain ALL day. I got an internet cable that worked. The classes were just as hard but at least we knew what to expect.
The large amount of rain has caused several mudslides in Quito and Ecuador in general. They closed the public schools here for 48 hours because the mudslides have caused traffic problems. Now it is not possible to take a bus to Manta and then onto Puerto Lopez anymore, we have to fly to Manta. We were planning on that anyway but because that is the only way now they raised the price of the flights. It is still less than I budgeted so I am happy but apparently to everyone around here that price is crazy. I read in books that there are Ecuadorian prices and there are Gringa prices so that is what I was planning for anyway.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Last night I got too tired to write. It ended up as just drivel so I quit and went to bed. I did sleep most of the night which is better than it has been. Normally I wake up at 3:30 and start going over my Spanish lessons in my head. I try to stop but my brain just keeps processing all I have learned.
New adventure this morning: We took the bus to class. We were running late and as we were getting ready to cross the street the #2 bus came along so I stuck out my arm and we got on. You can flag down a bus anywhere and to know where it is going you yell out a location to the guy manning the door or you read a bunch of signs on the front listing the different streets it goes on. The bus has a driver and a guy at the door. You get on the bus and go to a seat. When you want to get off you say “Gracias!” and head to the front. You pay the guy at the door as you jump out and hope you are all the way off before the bus starts going again. The bus does not stop for men, they are expected to jump on as it slows down. When we got on this morning Tate was the last on to get on and the bus started to take off before he got his second foot on the floor. From now on I make sure he gets on before me. To add to the chaos of riding the bus, people (even little kids) get on and off to sell candy and other foods. The bus costs $.25 for me and $.12 for the kids, so for 50 cents we get quite an adventure.
Lessons are going well. I was worried about Tate yesterday because he seemed to be getting bored and was not wanting to work, but today they both came out of class smiling and laughing and saying this was the “funnest day so far.” I am working on numbers, feminine and masculine, singular and plural, and general conversation. Still very preliminary stuff. I really like my teacher, Nancy. When Steve arrives with fresh batteries for the camera I will take pictures of the school and the teachers. Travel lesson learned by me. Buy fresh rechargeable batteries before a trip. They worked fine at home because I would take them out of the charger, use them to take a few pictures and then put them back in to recharge. I had no idea they only held their charge for a short time. Every picture I have taken so far has been out of my room window. Not that that is a total waste. The view of the mountain on the other side of the valley changes constantly.
After class today we finally ate some typical Ecuadorian food at a restaurant. We had the almuerzo, which is the lunch of the day. It was a large bowl of soup with potato and pasta and chicken, a glass of juice, a plate of rice, chicken, tomatoes and cucumbers and for dessert, a small bowl of fruit. It costs $2 and not even Tate could finish it. Next time I will order two meals and we can share. The food was fantastic. We only ate a little of the tomato and cucumber because I was worried about our stomachs but the fruit was watermelon so I knew that was ok. At least I hope so.
After walking from our school to our home (about 20 minutes), we dropped our stuff and took the bus to a park. It was raining, of course, but we are getting use to that. Morning sun (while we are in class) Afternoon rain. At least today it was not a hard, steady rain. We went to the Vivarium (reptile museum)$5.50 for the 3 of us, and then rented a paddle boat $3.25 for ½ hour. We paddled around a man made moat and Cora climbed from the back to the front to the back constantly.
Tomorrow I have to take our clothes to the laundry. No more clean undergarments. We drop it off in the morning then pick it up in the afternoon. That means we must leave even earlier tomorrow. It will not be pleasant waking Cora up at 7am. Hasta Luego.
Today was a better day. Much, much better. We got to school on time. It did not rain ALL day. I got an internet cable that worked. The classes were just as hard but at least we knew what to expect.
The large amount of rain has caused several mudslides in Quito and Ecuador in general. They closed the public schools here for 48 hours because the mudslides have caused traffic problems. Now it is not possible to take a bus to Manta and then onto Puerto Lopez anymore, we have to fly to Manta. We were planning on that anyway but because that is the only way now they raised the price of the flights. It is still less than I budgeted so I am happy but apparently to everyone around here that price is crazy. I read in books that there are Ecuadorian prices and there are Gringa prices so that is what I was planning for anyway.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Last night I got too tired to write. It ended up as just drivel so I quit and went to bed. I did sleep most of the night which is better than it has been. Normally I wake up at 3:30 and start going over my Spanish lessons in my head. I try to stop but my brain just keeps processing all I have learned.
New adventure this morning: We took the bus to class. We were running late and as we were getting ready to cross the street the #2 bus came along so I stuck out my arm and we got on. You can flag down a bus anywhere and to know where it is going you yell out a location to the guy manning the door or you read a bunch of signs on the front listing the different streets it goes on. The bus has a driver and a guy at the door. You get on the bus and go to a seat. When you want to get off you say “Gracias!” and head to the front. You pay the guy at the door as you jump out and hope you are all the way off before the bus starts going again. The bus does not stop for men, they are expected to jump on as it slows down. When we got on this morning Tate was the last on to get on and the bus started to take off before he got his second foot on the floor. From now on I make sure he gets on before me. To add to the chaos of riding the bus, people (even little kids) get on and off to sell candy and other foods. The bus costs $.25 for me and $.12 for the kids, so for 50 cents we get quite an adventure.
Lessons are going well. I was worried about Tate yesterday because he seemed to be getting bored and was not wanting to work, but today they both came out of class smiling and laughing and saying this was the “funnest day so far.” I am working on numbers, feminine and masculine, singular and plural, and general conversation. Still very preliminary stuff. I really like my teacher, Nancy. When Steve arrives with fresh batteries for the camera I will take pictures of the school and the teachers. Travel lesson learned by me. Buy fresh rechargeable batteries before a trip. They worked fine at home because I would take them out of the charger, use them to take a few pictures and then put them back in to recharge. I had no idea they only held their charge for a short time. Every picture I have taken so far has been out of my room window. Not that that is a total waste. The view of the mountain on the other side of the valley changes constantly.
After class today we finally ate some typical Ecuadorian food at a restaurant. We had the almuerzo, which is the lunch of the day. It was a large bowl of soup with potato and pasta and chicken, a glass of juice, a plate of rice, chicken, tomatoes and cucumbers and for dessert, a small bowl of fruit. It costs $2 and not even Tate could finish it. Next time I will order two meals and we can share. The food was fantastic. We only ate a little of the tomato and cucumber because I was worried about our stomachs but the fruit was watermelon so I knew that was ok. At least I hope so.
After walking from our school to our home (about 20 minutes), we dropped our stuff and took the bus to a park. It was raining, of course, but we are getting use to that. Morning sun (while we are in class) Afternoon rain. At least today it was not a hard, steady rain. We went to the Vivarium (reptile museum)$5.50 for the 3 of us, and then rented a paddle boat $3.25 for ½ hour. We paddled around a man made moat and Cora climbed from the back to the front to the back constantly.
Tomorrow I have to take our clothes to the laundry. No more clean undergarments. We drop it off in the morning then pick it up in the afternoon. That means we must leave even earlier tomorrow. It will not be pleasant waking Cora up at 7am. Hasta Luego.
Comments
Glad things are looking up. Tater watch your step on those buses!
Cora how much teenage Spanish have you learned?
Is all the rain normal for this time of year?
What kind of reptiles did you see? Anything bizarre?
Love and miss you guys! G