What A Wonderful World

So I have officially been in school a week, and its going well I guess. I mean, it´s school, what more can I say? It is nice though, I am done classes by 12:30 and I have the rest of the day to do whatever I want. It´s nice.
Yesterday I went to the Mitad del Mundo, or the place in which the equator runs through. It was a good day to go because there were many Ecuatorian families there. I did the typical corny tourist thing of sticking my foot in both hemispheres, and taking pictures of my doing so. Besides that, there were cute little artesan shops that I liked to browse through. I didn´t buy anything besides I knew it was a tourist trap and could get the same things in Quito for cheaper. You can bargain at the artesan shops in Quito, and you can´t at touristy spots because they are used to the tourists that don´t know you can or don´t know Spanish well enough. Speaking of which, my friends and I got a good laugh out of this couple that was attempting to speak Spanish, but it was so bad it was funny.
I also tried ginea pig for lunch. It was interesting. It had teeth, eyes, and claws. It was actually pretty good, despite that. I won´t be getting it again because it was expensive, but it was good to at least try it. We also got ice cream, and I´ll tell you, any place in which you can get ice cream for $0,80 for two scoops is a great place to go get ice cream. Delicious!
I really haven´t done anything else here, mainly because I figure I´ll be here for a few more months and I will have nothing to do if I see it all before then. But, I have made a list of things I have wanted to do, like to to the top of Mount Pinchincha, El Panicello, and see the gold plated churches in the old part of Quito. You can look for many more adventures to come! From now on I am going to sign my posts with Chao, which is chow, the way everybody says goodbye here.
¡Chao!

I have photos now if you would like to see them!!! On the right side of this page, there is a link under blogroll titled: Photos of my semester in Ecuador. They are all there, and when I upload more you will be able to see them!

I absolutely love Ecuador! Everybody is so nice and understanding, when I need something repeated or need help understanding, they don´t mind doing it. I´ve been speaking so much Spanish, and I´ve only been here for 3 days! I love my school, it´s absolutely beautiful (although I do miss Keene). My classes are great and my professors are excellent. I have nothing but good things to say about Quito.
On Saturday night, I went to a party for my mom. Her parent´s have been married for 60 years. My sister and my brother in law, and I went to a club here, and we stayed out until 4, but that´s early by these standards. The only thing I didn´t like was the fact that everyone smokes everywhere, including the clubs. The next day I went shopping in ¨gringa landia¨(land of foreigners) and bought a nice jacket for $20 that I wear everywhere. I got a cell phone and bought minutes for my card as well. I got to experience the Wal Mart version of Ecuador, except they call it SuperMaxi. After, I went to the house of my other sister, and we used her jacuzzi.
I really enjoy Quito so much, I am going to be sad to leave it. I already made a few friends here.
I have also been speaking so much Spanish! I´ve learned both bad words and good words here, along with slangs. I learned that they have many English words too, like Internet and mall. My family doesn´t hesitate to tell me what things mean, especially if they have a different word for things that I learned in Spanish.

I am finally here! I arrived in Quito, Ecuador at around 11 last night, but by the time I got my baggage and went through customs it was almost midnight before I met my family. All my flights left late. I was supposed to leave Logan at 9:40 but didn´t until 11, and I was supposed to leave Houston at 4 but we didn´t board until then. The meals on the plane were alright, but I did enjoy the Kit Kat I had for lunch and the Milano cookies I had for dinner. Oh, and the free blanket and pillow courtesy of Continental.
The only thing about Quito that I didn´t like was the altitude problem. It is about 9,000 feet above sea level, and it does a number on those that are used to sea level altitudes. I walked for about 2 minutes from the gate to customs, and I was already tired. Keep in mind that when I was in Houston, I walked about a mile to get from gate C to the international terminal in heels with not so much as a break. I am still feeling the shortness of breath and stuff, but I am going to take it easy so I can get used to it.
My family met me at the airport. My family made me a welcoming balloon. They are very nice, and I have an amazing home. I have two bathrooms, which is really nice. I have a baño social (I love the keyboards here, it makes the letter ñ so much easier to type!) that has a toilet and a sink, I have a room with just a shower, and anothe bathroom with just a toilet, and a sink on the outside. In my room, I have a television with satellite. Their house has an amazing view of the city and of the mountain Pinchacha as well.
I just got back from a drive to check out PUCE and the rest of Quito. What an amazing place! If only I could live here all the time, I think I am going to fall in love with this place.
I don´t know how often I will update my blog, but I will try to do it at least two times a week or so. I do have access at home and at the university, however.
It took me awhile to get used to this keyboard, because of a ; after the l it is a ñ. Here are the other keys that would make my life so much easier if I got a Spanish keyboard: ç, º, ª, ?, ¿ ñ It took me forever to find the @ symbol, which is in the 2 along with “

I LEAVE FOR ECUADOR TOMORROW AT 9:40 AM!!!!

I found out who my family was in Ecuador, and I was provided with their email address. We’ve been emailing back and forth, and I can’t wait to meet them. They have 3 daughters: a 34 year old that is married with two children and she lives in North Carolina, a 29 year old daughter that is divorced and has no children, and a 24 year old daughter that just got married this past July. They sound so cute! My father’s name is Julio Moscoso Tobar and his wife is Graciela, but she goes by the nickname of Becha. I just emailed them back telling them all about my family, and I sent them a picture of me so they can find me easier at the airport.
I started packing and I’m almost complete. Most of what I am bringing is clothes. Even though Quito is on the equator, it is about 9,000 ft above sea level, so it gets cold. I brought clothes for every weather condition so that I can be prepared for anything.

A week from today, I will be in Ecuador!! I started packing today. I still have a long way to go before I am all packed, but I raided my closet to see which clothes I need to bring with me to Ecuador. I am going to make a list of everything I bring so that way I’ll know what I need to pack on the way back.
I still can’t believe that I am leaving here for four months. It still hasn’t hit me, and it probably won’t until I’m on the plane. I’m weird that way. I’m also weird in the fact that I’ll probably be enjoying Ecuador so much that I won’t even think about the things I miss back here. I went out to California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona for a whole summer a few years ago and had so much fun I didn’t realize what I missed in NH. Granted, I wasn’t by myself and it was still part of the US.
This weekend is my last weekend at home, and I plan to make the best of it. Tonight, Carla and Nicole are coming over to play Singstar, the kareoke game for PS2. Then tomorrow, Lindsey and I are having a girls day and we are going to go shopping and eat at Panera. Sunday I am getting together with my family, and then all next week is prep period, where I’ll be packing all day and all night!!!
I’ll write back before I go, I promise

ETA: I got my family’s address in Quito. They are located about 3 miles north of the school that I am going to. The bus ride to the school is .25 cents, and I can run or walk on a nice day. The good thing is, they have an email address, which means there is a possibility they have access at their house.
I’m not quite sure how to address a letter exactly, but:
Liz Nute
Brasil N40-60 y Charles Darwin
Quito Tenis
Quito, Ecuador
America del Sur

Well, after a nice break, it was time for me to get back to work. I was a sub at my old high school today, and after my day today, I can say that I’m glad I did not chose to teach high school. I was talking to a para that was there when I was a student, and she told me the students get worse and worse every year. Great. Well, I know how to deal with elementary school children, but high schoolers are a bit more difficult because they know how to manipulate you; elementary and middle school students do too, but they can be outsmarted. And I get to do it all again tomorrow!
Although, the exciting thing about all this was getting to talk with my former teachers on a colleague level. It’s a weird feeling, wanting me to call them by their first name. It seems weird to me, but I guess to them, they don’t care.
On another note, I leave for Ecuador in 16 days!!!
Oh yea…
HAPPY 2008 (a day late)