Grigos a La Mariscal.

After our last day of orientation and Spanish classes with Amanda were were given two treats.. (1) Pizza and (2) a departure date for our trip to The Galápagos. While most of us assumed that we would be taking this journey in October or even November, Amanda surprised us and told us that exactly 14 days from now we would be on our cruise ship (yes, cruise ship) from Guayaquil to The Galápagos! Because we go to BC (why else) apparently we are traveling around the islands of the Galápagos on an all-inclusive cruise ship. If I had not been in a room full of other students there is no doubt in my mind that I would have weeped like a small child or a proud mother at her eldest kin's high school graduation. Moving on to the pizza... surprisingly wonderful considering I am from New York and this is Ecuadorian pizza. We had ham and cheese pizza, vegetable pizza, meat lovers, and Hawaiian pizza. The place was very close to my school and there is a special for a personal pizza, french fries, and a drink all for like 3 dollars so I will definitely be a frequent customer.

La Mariscal, often referred to as Gringolandia, is home to Quito's nightlife. There are so many bars, karaoke bars, discotecas, casinos, etc that I will probably not be able to go to them all during my stay in Quito. La Mariscal is also known for being "The Most Dangerous Part of Quito". While there are many and I mean MANY people around on any given Th/F/S night once you wander a little into the side streets you're asking for a future police report. A member of my group, Toryn, lives right next to La Mariscal so we all aggregated at his house for some drinks and then walked over. Kasia and I were the last ones to arrive by taxi (our program prohibits us from using any other mode of transportation after 7pm). After hearing the lectures about the risks of taxis and people on the street breaking into them, Kasia and I were at full alert. However, this did not prepare us for the man who tried to get into Kasia's door right as we were arriving. Thankfully, the doors were locked and I had to yell at the driver to drive faster. It was absolutely frightening.

When we all arrived at La Mariscal we were completely overwhelmed and stood out so badly as gringos. We wandered around all of the streets getting a feel for the place and trying to figure out where we wanted to go. The first place we tried was WAY too loud to the point where we couldn't hear each other talking and consisted of mostly older people. We danced a little there, which is embarrassing because everyone here is a wonderful dancer and they salsa. Us... well, I am not sure I could give a name or even explain to you the dance moves we whipped out but they were ridiculously pathetic in any country. After that bar we went to a karaoke bar and planned on singing "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus, "Roxanne" by The Police, "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga, and "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson (probably four of the only American songs in the book). However, it was getting late and there was a huge line ahead of us so we decided to leave.

This morning I had to wake up early and go get the rest of my visa paperwork completed. Marta, Isabel, and I ran a bunch of small errands like going to SuperMaxi (market), La Banco Pinchincha (bank), una pasteleria, etc. I tried to take a two hour nap (fail) and just finished eating a late lunch. We had what I would describe as a casserole of egg and tuna fish, platanos, rice, and limonada made with oat. I am not sure why they kept telling me that I had to drink the limonada extremely fast... for all I know it could have been a joke on me or perhaps something with the oat separating or condensing. On a final note, Marta is currently outside mowing the lawn while Jaime is inside washing the dishes. It's something so little like that that makes me realize (1) cultural differences and (2) how concerned with gender roles or appearance women in the US are. As I was watching Marta mow the lawn I realized that there is no reason a woman in the US can't do that... they complete various tasks that require much greater physicality but because mowing the lawn is "man's work" they simply won't do it -or- my favorite, they will hire an illegal immigrant to do it for them. Lazy, Lazy, Lazy.