Ay Chai Chai!

It has been chilly the past few days. When it gets into the 50s and below it is considered cold here. I can't really complain because it is so much better than below zero weather. It's kind of funny to see all the Ecaudorians with heavy winter jackets on. There is a wonderful saying for I am cold that is Quichua but everyone here uses it. "Ay Chai Chai", say my mom, and my niece all the time. It is a great way to say it's cold. When it's hot the saying is "Ay rai rai". Another word that I have picked up and really like is "chevre" (pronounced cheh vray). It means cool, sweet, or awesome. Que chevre no? :)

This week has been eventful and exhausting. We found out that we have to write three papers over the next month and a half which isn't that bad, however, they are group papers which us Americans are not used to at all. The only group paper I have ever written was a report and not a 6-8 pager. Our first one is due next Friday and we don't know if we were supposed to make our groups of three or if we are getting them assigned. On top of that we have to pick topics and since it is Carnaval this weekend we won't have school until Wednesday which means we won't get started til Wednesday afternoon. Everyone is in the same boat in terms of the time crunch but who doesn't love a little late night paper writing, especially one in Spanish that three people have to do together. I don't know exactly what I am going to do because CIMAs closes at 5pm everyday and most internet cafes are not open too late and I don't have a laptop. Oh well, I am sure I will work it out somehow. I might even be able this computer. Fernando is really nice to let me use it for internet. I haven' t had to use a cafe since moving into the house. I also need to write my maximizing study abroad essay which are due Friday as well. I will have to do that tomorrow before we leave for Santo Domingo.

Ah yes, so I decided to go with my mom and dad to Santo Domingo for Carnaval. Santo Domingo is to the west of Quito and still in the sierra but the climate is more humid which will be a nice change from the rainy cold weather we have had this week. I am going to meet that family. Tonight I met the husband of one of my dad's sisters and her daughter. They told me that abuela Acosta is pretty funny and that I will have a great time. I am really looking forward to the festivities. I am not really sure what to expect but I have a feeling the food is going to be good and I already know the company will be great. I am so glad that I really like my family. It has been so easy to be affectionate and embody the wonderful custom of embracing and giving a kiss on the cheek every time you greet someone here. I really want to take it back with me to the US. I know my mom would like it if every time I came into the house and she was there I would give her a hug and kiss and say hello. If anything, this custom has made me realize how nice it is to have contact even if it is someone you don't know well or at all. Immediately, I feel more comfortable and the communication become ten times easier. I wish people in the US would do it. I bet we'd be a lot happier and friendlier.

Funny story of the week: My family was given a rooster as a present from an uncle. We were going to kill it and eat it but it was too flaco (skinny). I wouldn't have had any problem with having a rooster around except for the fact that it woke me up at 6:30AM on Wednesday morning and 4:30AM on Thursday morning. Que bestia! I was ready to chop it's head off myself. It became the joke over the next few days that as soon as I had become accustomed to the planes, the rooster came to make life more difficult for me. I hadn't laughed that hard since I got here. It was over dinner on Wednesday night that we all joked about it. I love that I can joke and laugh with my family. I've told them stories and they have told me stories. The best is when I understand what Jose and Camila are saying since they talk so fast.

On Wednesday after class I went to the Mercado Artesinal with a few of my girlfriends from school and we did a little shopping. I bought a scarf, a shirt, a head band and a wallet all for $14. Not bad. It is a neat market and the stuff is great. I think I will be going back to get some gifts for people. Katherine and I decided to take the Trole to her place so I could see it. Public transportation is pretty good here and although we were packed in like sardines (which I am every morning and afternoon when I go to and from school), it was kind of fun. I have to say that the Trole is definitely harder to balance myself on than the Metro. It is definitely from the jerkiness of the stops. We made it to her place safely and a little while later I was able to navigate myself back to the Metro from the Trole station and get home. I love public transportation. I have calluses from gripping the bars. I am becoming a true Quiteño.

Last night was the first night a whole bunch of us went out together since starting school. We were going to go to a Brazilian music concert but it started raining and we thought it was outside so we decided to go to Papayanet, which is a internet cafe/bar which we had all been to the second night we were in Quito. It was a lot of fun and I met a couple of interesting people. One of them was a friend of a past MSID student whose info was given to a classmate of mine. The other was a Japanese guy who lives with that classmate and only spoke Japanese and Spanish. Both of us were speaking to each other in a second language. Que chevre. I ended up getting home around 12AM. Fortunately, I didn't have class today but we did take a tour of Quito's historic district. I took some really great photos and I will hopefully be able to upload them some time soon. We took the Trole all the way to the south side of Quito and back to the centro. We went into the San Francisan church where there was a mass taking place. I listened to why adultery is bad and why marriage should be respected. No podemos jugar. Los juegos son pecados. Juegos before marriage of course. We also took a tour of Compañia de Jesus, which is supposedly one of the most beautiful churches in latin America. It is baroque architecture so it was ridiculously oranmented in gold from floor to ceiling. We also saw a protest in the Plaza de Independencia which is where the President lives. Apparently, Correa has decided to get rid of the provincial legislature because the municipal legistlature and it were too often running into conflicts with how to run things. As you can imagine, the provincial workers are not to happy about this so they protested. It wasn't too big of a protest but still loud. There were police in swat gear which means they meant business. Our Spanish professor who was serving as our guide said that it was the first protest against the president since he came into office. I have heard mixed reviews from Ecaudorians about the president. The majority though seem to like him. It is the upper class that has a problem since they are the ones that have to pay more taxes. The poor and working class like him a lot though and he is definitely better than Chavez, said one of my professors, but who likes Chavez?

Well, I think this post is long enough. I will most likely be back in a week after Carnaval is over and my papers are done.

Ciao!