Heeeeere´s Quito

All in all, I would say that my blogs have been a bit...lacking. I guess I just don´t know what to say. That, and the total absence of privacy and quiet time have kind of hindered my writing abilities. I am going to make a concentrated effort to bring more quality to this little blog.

Here is a typical day for me:

I get up at about 6:30, (pray that the hot water is functioning) take a shower, get ready for school, sit through breakfast with or without my family, pretend I understand Spanish throughout said breakfast, knock on Kelsey´s door and listen to the string of goodbyes from her host mother.

Then, we head to the bus stop, wait for our bus to come (pray it isn´t full), the bus is full, wait for more buses, cling to the bus for dear life, climb aboard, stand for 45 minutes with my bookbag on the front of my body for fear of theft, attempt to exit the bus, walk a few blocks to class because the bus let me off several blocks after press the ¨let me off the bus¨ button.

I arrive at school, look at the clock and evaluate how much time I have to get on the internet, see that I have 4 minutes until class starts, use the internet, head to class only after I realize I am the last person not in class already.

Class begins, partake in a debate where I am assigned an arbitrary position that I probably don´t agree with, remember everyone else on the trip is extremely liberal, laugh at them on the inside, continue arguing, stare at clock, play a grammar game, realize how much I don´t remember during the game, read from the book, stare at the clock, listen to people read from the book, stare at the clock while listening to people read, realize it´s my turn to read, check clock again and realize it is time for our break, stare at teacher until she also realizes it is time for the break.

11:30 is the start of our well-deserved break, I use the internet again, tell Matt to get online at 1:30 so I can talk to him, try to load pictures on the internet, get frustrated when the internet stops work, become happy when it starts to work, check clock and realize our 30 minute break has ended, continue to ignore that fact and use the internet some more, realize the teacher is waiting to start class, reluctantly shut my computer and go back to class.

The second half of class starts at 12 and we enter our second meaningless debate, get excited when I hear Lisa´s watch beep at 12:30 and find out we only have an our left, doodle in my notebook, get called on to answer a question while doodling, make something up that sounds possibly right, check peoples´ expressions for confirmation, finish the debate and class.

After school, I pull out my laptop and get ready to use the internet, realize the internet isn´t working, go to the Magic Bean Cafe, let the workers stare at me because they see me so often, order the cheapest thing on the menu, sit there for an hour, try to talk to Matt, family and friends.

I go home for lunch, stare at the rice in disbelief (5 weeks in and I´ve been served rice every day), move the food around strategically, appear to be finished, go up to my room, play with Gabriel and Melisa, feel guilty that I am probably influencing little children to speak with horrid Spanish grammar, decide I want to go hang out with my friends.

Take the bus back to Plaza Foch, meet at the school, walk around aimlessly for a few hours, end up at a cafe, hang out, use the internet, take a taxi home, question why the taxi driver is charging more than the agreed upon price, pay whatever he asks, get out, walk in, go up to bed, attempt homework, realize it is not happening, fall asleep on top of homework, wake up and turn off lights, go to sleep because there is nothing else going on.

Oh, and think about how glorious the weekend will be once you make it through the daily routine 5 times.