Just a few thoughts...

This was a pretty normal week, and it was nice to actually spend a weekend in Quito just exploring and hanging out with some of the new friends I've met instead of traveling. Although there's definitely an understandable divide between the Ecuadorians and the exchange students at school, I've been hanging out with a cool mix of some students from here in Ecuador and some really awesome new people from all over the US.

On Friday I went with my friend Kristen (from Texas) and 2 guys, Juan and Esteban, some "friends of a friend" of a girl from her university who studied here last semester, to watch them do all those crazy dirt bike tricks and jumps and stuff in a town by our university. It was actually a really surreal experience...we drove to a neighborhood near the school that was filled with these beautiful old spanish style haciendas and villas. They were all really big, colorful, stucco buildings and there was moss and tropical plants growing everywhere, really like a scene out of a movie. In the back of one of the houses the owner had built a huge bike park with a bunch of jumps, a half pipe, ramps and other stuff for bike tricks. We stayed there till dark watching a bunch of guys do really incredible tricks and it was just a really bizzare and unique experience with the sun setting behind the park, in the middle of this like tropical, "junglely" paradiseon a hill that literally overlooking the entire valley below. haha its really hard to explain in words...but as I said before, it felt like a scene out of a movie or something.

Sunday we spent a bunch of time in the Parque Carolina, the huge park by my apartment. On Sundays it is literally packed with people...great for people watching and playing pickup sports which we've started doing alot of. There are families pic-nicking, teams playing soccer, volleyball, basketball, and tennis, pony rides, people selling all sorts of snacks, a skate park, playgrounds, paddle boats, kids learning to ride their bikes, joggers, walkers, magicians, people flying kites--everything. Maybe its because I don't live in a city with a big enough public green-space (like Central Park or something), but I've never seen this type of activity in the US. I really like the idea of everyone enjoying the outdoors together, and its something I rarely see at home.

Along those lines, as much as I've noticed alot of similarities between people here and at home, there are some examples of cultural differences that I find pretty interesting:

First, here, lunch is the biggest meal of the day, and dinner is really light (like coffee and bread with cheese or something). Lots of people go home from work or school to have lunch with their families like we have dinner with ours. An "almuerzo", or lunch includes a soup, and then a big plate (plato fuerte) of some kind of meat, rice, vegetables or salad, a juice and some kind of desert. If you can't go home for lunch, like alot of students at the university, there are a bunch of restaurants that specialize in "almuerzos"...so you go in, and for literally $2.50, you order el almuerzo del dia and they bring you whatever they've prepared for the day; the soup, main course, juice and desert. so there's no choice involved but its usually something pretty tasty and filling.

Secondly the concept of time. After being in Uganda this summer, its really interesting to see how this aspect of a culture progresses with development. So here, in terms of being really laid back and flexible about time, people are in between the US and Uganda, where there was absolutely no concept of time or efficiency. I think they've got a good balance here between being relaxed, but still being able to count on people to show up for appointments, etc. One of the things that happens here that you'd never see at home is that when people are waiting for a bus, instead of cramming on like they do in the subways, etc at home, alot of people will just wait in line for successive buses to come until they can get a seat. Even though standing up is totally acceptable, like on the metro, people prefer to wait the extra 10 or 15 minutes until they can ride comfortably.

Another thing thats really different about Ecuador, but something I really prefer about the States, is the lack of any school spirit or campus life at the University. There are virtually no clubs or sports teams to take part in, so no ones really involved or passionate about the university they attend. Its weird coming from the US where everyone has so much school spirit and pride, and most people are involved in a few different aspects of campus life. College here is almost just an extension of high school. Most people still live with their parents and maybe even get dropped off each day by them for classes, and not many people particpate in anything on campus outside of classes. Its interesting that for all of us exchange students, the experience is great and we're having a blast, but we were talking the other day and none of us can imagine that people from Ecuador look back on their years in college and think "man, those were some of the best 4 years of my life", like they do in the US. Its just a totally different experience.

Anyway, just some general reflections on things that I've found interesting...hope you all kind of did too!
love,
kate