I Like To Eat Pavo (Turkey) NOT Polvo (Dust)... Rookie Mistake Numero Uno

For those of you who are unaware Quito sits at about 9,200 feet making it the highest capital city in the world. Such an extreme altitude has limited my ability to exercise (my host father says I need two weeks to adapt to the altitude before strenuous physical activity) as well as given me an extreme headache. Thankfully Tylenol or (tee-lin-all) is a word that exists in both Spanish and English.

For breakfast this morning I ate a cereal named "GOLD", which tasted like honey corn flakes, some queso, and jugo de taza. Tazo juice was the first thing I have not liked here so far. Imagine eating hot sun tan lotion... this was similar but probably worse. My host mother then drove me to La Universidad San Francisco de Quito, which is the school I will be studying at. Apparently international students often complain that USFQ is too snobby because it is the best university in Ecuador and the most expensive. Last time I checked those students pay $56,000 a year to waltz around Chestnut Hill in Polo and J Crew.

It was really great/weird seeing everyone from the group and finally having someone to say "what's up" to instead of "que tal". We spent the entire afternoon going over program logistics and getting to know each other. For lunch we ate at a Mexican restaurant named Cactus where I had the sweetiest, tangiest limonada known to mankind. Our coordinator, Amanda, then treated us to some helado (ice cream). This helado, however, is not made with any milk or cream. It is handmade in a way that I did not completely understand. Regardless, I had the guayabana y moro (guayabana and raspberry). After Day One of Orientation was over the host mothers came to pick us up. Kasia, Pat, and I, along with our host mothers, went to Paco to buy notebooks for school. Luckily all of the simple blue or black ones were taken so I will be attending class with one of the following notebook designs: a human skill, two asian girls shopping, two cartoon lovers sitting by a lake, or some dude playing basketball. I am going to make so many friends. We took the bus home which I will be traveling on every day to get to school. The bus will literally start driving while people are walking on and it only costs 25 centavos. Crazy huh?

Despues, my host mother, Marta, y yo went to the mall to purchase my snazzy cellular devise from Movistar, which is equivalent to Verizon or AT&T in the states. My phone looks like it is from 2001 but from the looks of my new notebooks I probably won't have friends to call anyways. In other news... Ricky Martin is gay? I never knew. There was a flashmob in Quito the day I arrived... would have loved to be a part of that. I am almost finished finalizing my class schedule but I think I may be able to take a photography class which would be great considering I dropped 9 C Notes on a baller camera before I left. I wish I could write more but my headache is brutal and I need to rest mis ojos. And yes, I confused the word Turkey for Dust... but it's cool because Marta didn't know the difference between Dork and Duck in English. Buenas noches!