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lilmisstuna
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Name: Tina
Country: United States
State: California
Birthday: 6/11/1985
Gender: Female
Expertise: Causing your grandmother great fear...
Occupation: Student
Message: message me
Member Since:
4/16/2002
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| The reason why my entry is titled spiderwebs is because I haven´t written here in so long I had to use a machete to break down the spiderwebs. Machete is machete en español by the way...hehe..I learned that when I went to some lodge and some dude offered to get his machete. So, things have been going pretty smoothly around here. I have really been getting into the groove of things, have found my favorite restaurants, favorite places to pick up groceries, noted places to avoid, and even picked up a few new names. First of all, Chinita, of course... I mean, come on, who didn´t expect that? Then there is LaTina. SuperTina or Tinita is another good one I enjoy. What else what else.. ooh! Quito´s soccer team Liga Deportiva Universitaria recently won the Copa Santador Libertadores of South America! They beat Fluminense from Rio de Janeiro making Liga the current best team in South America! They will be playing in a tournament that includes Manchester United. Im-fucking-presionante! The night they won the game was fucking madness. The whole city was out of control, car honking and joy riding till the wee hours of the morning. When I headed to class at 7am, people were still passed out drunk on the street. The entire bar zone smelled like piss and nothing else. Jeno came to visit last weekend!! Of course we had some wild times that included lots of beer, intestines, food, and can you believe it? HIKING! amazing. HAHA.... Together we went to the Teleferiqo to get a high rise view of Quito. Goooood times... Which brings me tooooooo -- I want more visitors! Where is everyone? Why don´t you want to come to Ecuador? COME ONNNNN!! APURRATEEEEE PUTAS!!! Oh yeah. I´m coming back July 26 - Aug 6. I´ll be in LA overnight July 26 and Aug 6 which means full nights of drinking. If you are located in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area (or San Diego for that matter..) I hope to see you out. I will post photos soon. Lots of love from the Southern hemisphere.... | | |
| I have been in Quito for a month now, and I am just getting adjusted to things. It helped a lot that the weather got better...
Anyways, I am a teacher at the Escuela Politecnica Nacional which is the 2nd oldest university in Quito. I actually teach for the Centro de Educacion Continua which is a seperate building off campus, but somehow I got squeezed to the on-campus department. Thus, I am part of the small group of English teachers that actually teach on campus.
My class schedule is 2pm - 4pm, then 6pm - 8pm. The 2pm class is filled with raging teenagers, a few university students, and a few older folks. My 6pm class is all Politecnia engineering students with a few older folks. Both classes are high advanced level. The other night, one of my students dropped me off at home because it was on his way home. He´s a civil engineer that has designed many of the major freeways in Ecuador (including the road we were taking to my house), and is currently working on contract with the World Bank to build toilets in the Manabí province. It´s a priviledge to have students that learn English for such a good purpose.
It`s hard to answer the question "how is Ecuador?" because my time here changes so often and goes through so many highs and lows. Soooo, I guess a better measure would be to mention a little bit about my daily life here...
Because I start classes at 2pm, I wake up, take a shower in my freezing cold/burning hot shower, and have my breakfast. The reason why the shower is both freezing cold and burning hot is not because I choose for it to be like that, but because it is an electric shower, and apparently, electric showers only heat a stream of water leaving the rest of the drops to be neglected. I live with a host family in the far Northern part of Quito. They wake up around 5:30am and are out the door by 7am, which gives me the ability to do some morning lurking.
Around noon, I head on my hour journey across town to the university. This journey is unpredictable to say the least -- sometimes I stand the whole way, crammed between smelly teenagers, indigenous women with baskets of food, and businessmen in suits. Sometimes I get a seat because the bus is completely empty. However, an empty bus means that the bus will stop every 2 seconds and have the bus attendent holler at the window to get more passengers.
When I arrive in the Marsical, usually in diving form from a moving bus, I take a quick walk to grab almuerzo. My fellow volunteer April and I frequent a place with lunches for $1.50 including a soup, a main plate with rice, meat, beans, sometimes veggies, and a glass of juice. Other times, I grab a hamburger at the hamburger stand near my university. Then I head on my hike up hill to the university.
After classes, I scurry down the hill (making sure to keep close to groups of students) and catch a bus home where I have dinner with the host family awaiting. In the evenings, I plan my lessons for the next day, watch some TV, then go to sleep to await a new day.
I wouldn´t say I have been having the time of my life here in Ecuador.. I have been sick ever since I got here, the pollution is horrible, I get harassed on a daily basis, and it´s freezing cold and rains daily. However, there have been certain things that continue to intrigue me and pull me into Quito. One being the mix of old and new that is present throughout the city. There are many immigrants from rural areas of Ecuador that go to Quito for better opportunities, and fill the city with vibrant indigenous dress and customs. On my way to school everyday, I walk by a guy selling goats in the park.
Oooh, that´s another thing: the parques. I love how on a sunny day, parks are filled with people doing just about everything. Old men play some crazy sport with a giant paddle that looks like a toothbrush.
Anyways, I am sick of writing for now. I went to the Amazon this weekend, but that will be saved for my next post (and perhaps some photos too?) Until then, my friends.
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| Happy Chinese New Years
Gong Hay Fat Choi (cantonese). I don't know how to write it in Mandarin-- Gong She Fah Chai?
Anyways, I spent my last week in Vegas... lost 40 bucks on New Years Day. Does that mean I will be doomed for the rest of the year?? I knew I shouldn't have gambled on New Years Day, but I really thought I was going to be lucky! I should've worn some more red clothing damnit.
Anyways -- 1 week until I depart on my journey to Ecuador to teach English. First, I"m going to Europe to spend some flight credits I had saved up. Yeah, I know, I'm crazy. Then, I'm flying directly from Frankfurt to Miami, spending a short short night in Miami, then flying to Quito the next day. I'll be in Quito a month for orientation. Afterwards, I don't know here I'll be yet.
I'm pretty nervous and don't really know what to expect. There are, however, a few things I am praying that I can have in Ecuador.....
1) Hot showers.
2) Not be covered by a volcanic eruption
3) Sunshine
4) Not fill my lungs with volcanic ash
5) Not get my passport or camera stolen / lost
6) Not live with loud kids
I'll be with a host family in March for a month, then will move host families in April and stay with them for almost a year. I'm pretty serious about #1 on my above list: I HATE cold showers. I can live with anything, ANYTHING, else....but a cold shower will really get to me. Bring on the spiders, cockroaches, uncomfortable bed, bad food, whatever else my trip will bring me, but if I have to take cold showers, I might just seek a rental shower somewhere.
Anyways, I plan to keep my Xanga updated with how Ecuador is working out for me, so keep reading! I wish you all a very happy and prosperous year of the rat!!
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| I woke up today and realized it was January 24th... and that I leave for Ecuador in a month.
A month seems like a lot of time... except for when...
1) 10 days of it will be spent in Vegas (what the hell was I thinking letting my parents drag me into this?!?!?)
2) You have to re-take the GRE (don't even want to start studying again..)
3) You have to raise money, without a job (???)
4) You're leaving the continent for a YEAR
5) You're leaving the continent to teach English, in which you don't remember the names of any tenses, and barely recall names of punctuation marks.. your spelling is going down the drain...
6) You haven't even unpacked from college yet
7) You have to finish grad school applications before you go (which you haven't started)
8) YOU HAVE NO MONEY!!
AGHHH ... I'm really freaking out. This month will put my ability to work under pressure to the test. Still, today I woke up at 12:45pm?!?! What the hell was I thinking???
Anyways.. it's crunch time.
I recently started to volunteer for an ESL class at De Anza College. The students in my class are mothers, fathers, work a few jobs, and somehow end up at ESL class with hope for the future. I need to use them as inspiration.
It's time to get busy.
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| New Years resolution: stop getting wasted. I'm done with hard liquor.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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