Orientation

Today, for the first time, I actually felt relatively acclimated. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was surrounded by American exchange students, many of whom had less experience with Spanish than me. Or maybe seeing the campus for the first time, and learning where my classes would take place. Probably, it had more to do with the fact that I’m more adjusted to the altitude and had successfully eaten fruit without getting sick. Either way – it feels good to be here.

Tomorrow morning, my first class starts at 11:00 am. I’ll wake up around 7:00 in order to get ready and walk to the bus by 8:00. It only takes about 25 minutes to drive to campus, but the buses make frequent stops and will probably take longer. Then I’ll have a good two hours to get on the internet, write some emails that I’ve been meaning to send, and add photos to the blog (as well as this post, even though I’ll probably make it say I posted it the previous night. Mwahaha…). If there’s time, I’d like to meet with the International Programs staff – they were incredibly welcoming and friendly at orientation, and even if I didn’t have a few questions about classes I would probably drop by anyway.

The 'Pagoda', where my Philosophy and Religion in India class will be held

This morning started super early (okay, at 6:40 am) so that my host mom could drive me to USFQ’s campus by 7:45 for orientation. It was good to see Tom and a lot of the other kids we met on the plane on the way in. There are a ton of girls from North Carolina – UNC, NC State, High Point, UNC Wilmington… the list goes on. They are, of course, being North Carolinians, incredibly nice. We all hung out and sat through a few quite entertaining lectures over the course of the morning, and broke for a campus tour. USFQ students who had studied in the United States guided it, and they were incredibly welcoming. If they are anything like the rest of the student body, I really don’t think getting to know local students will be a problem.

After the tour and a coffee break, we got a very serious talk from a representative from the US Embassy here in Quito. Let’s just say there will be a post later on entitled, “Not Doing Dumb Things in Quito.” Preview – my favorite quote of the lecture: “In Ecuador, sometimes bad things happen to good people. But usually, bad things happen to stupid people.” Let’s just say I’ve registered with the US Embassy online so I can get emails telling me which field to head towards with my passport in order to be airlifted out in the event of an earthquake or (apparently, relatively frequent) government overthrow. [Sidenote – okay, the last one was a bit of a joke, not in that it won’t happen while we’re here – not likely in the next few months I’m told, though more or less an eventuality – but that if it does, it really isn’t that big of a deal.]

We finished around 1:30, but even though a group of kids were heading out to eat, my host mom had already arranged to meet me at the front gates and I still lacked a cell phone to call her. So, after returning home for lunch, we went to the Movistar store at Quicentro, from what I gather one of the nicest malls in Quito and within walking distance from the apartment. For $60, I got a Nokia phone and nine dollars worth of minutes and texts that won’t expire for 30 days. I think it’s 8 cents per minute, but since the whole conversation with the representative was in Spanish that’s a little fuzzy. I think it’s 8 cents to other Movistar users, and 19 cents per minute with other phones. Texts come in there somewhere, I’m pretty sure they’re cheaper, but this is cell-phone math that defies normal laws of calculation.

El Parque Carolina, about four blocks from my apartment

With the newfound freedom included with the phone, I headed out soon after to meet Tom in front of the Stadium across from Quicentro. We walked around Quito for a while (don’t worry Mom, it was still light out) which, okay, not the most exciting thing in the world, but fun to explore.

And since no one is probably still reading after this ridiculously long post, I’ll wrap it up. ¡Hasta luego!