Perdido En La Traducción (Lost In Translation)

Thank you all for your emails and comments (even the scolding for not writing from Carlos). It has been so nice to receive your good wishes for my travels and I'm happy to finally have some time and internet access to share some stories.

An uneventful flight landed me safely into Quito, the capital of Ecuador, nestled amongst the mountains and volcanoes of the Andes. Forty-five minutes max and after spotting the Ecuadorian Olympic Team, I had collected my bags and gone through immigration and customs to find a representative from my language school, the Academia de Español, waiting patiently to greet me. We climbed into a taxi and made it to my host family's house at about midnight. First impressions were great and off I went to bed.

Then came the mascotas...
Casual talk was going wonderfully with my host mom (Wilma) and we were getting to know each other well. I could tell immediately that I had seriously lucked out to be placed with such an amiable family that was ready to welcome me into their home. But as soon as Wilma and I reached the comfort point she turned to me with a slightly more serious expression. I thought, oh she is just going to tell me one more time how important it is to be careful. How I should carry my bookbag in front of me, not walk more than a block alone in the dark, try not to look too gringo, etc. but nope, that's not what she said. Wilma proceeded, in Spanish of course, "So Ameet, in your application to the Spanish School you said your only diet restriction is that you don't like mascotas. This makes me a little worried. Do you eat mascotas? Are you scared of them?" In general a mascota is a pet, but in this case Wilma was specifically referring to a little dog because she has a pet dog named Lucas. Poor Wilma had spent the better part of the last week discussing with her husband and son what to do to avoid conflict between her loveable pet dog Lucas and this strange American student that was about to arrive. Haha. Oh who knows how this happened, but I quickly explained that dogs are wonderful, I'm not allergic to them, and I definitely don't have any desire to think of them as a type of food. My only true diet restriction is that I don't eat beef. (The picture is of Lucas and Wilma's grandaughter, Nahia)

Aside from the mascotas, this first week has been fabulous. My Rotary Counselor, Claudio, took me out with 22 of his friends and family on Saturday and we enjoyed feasting on empanadas, touring the Teatro Bolivar, floating through historic Quito, and watching the start of the Ruta de Iglesias (a 10 kilometer run through the hills of historic Quito at an altitude of almost 10,000 feet). Sunday was more restful with time spent with friends before the start of classes on Monday. And now I'm settling into the class routine. My class schedule is rigorous as I wake at 7:00 in the morning to be at class by 8:30. I take one-on-one classes with my professor from 8:30-12:30, have a one hour break for lunch, and then go out into the city with another student and professor from 1:30-4:30 to visit museums, eat Ecuadorian food, and engage in the daily life and culture of Ecuador. Quito, my host family, and my Rotary family here have all welcomed me with open arms and I look forward to writing more as time and internet permits. I have internet at my house, but it doesn't have the best work ethic as it needs a two minute break for every one minute it works. No problemo though, internet is not hard to come by and I'll continue to be in touch.

Thanks again for your comments and emails. It's so nice to receive word from home!! And now I'm off to dinner. Chao!