**News from the Equator**

I thought that I would post the contents of some of my daughter's emails since she appears to be too busy to update her blog. Slacker. For efficiency and brevity, I excised the ongoing expressions of love gratitude that I am her mother:) and just left in the stuff I thought would be of general interest for those who know and love her. Or just know her. I also left out the part where she provided detailed instructions for the care of her fish, Che. Needless to say, there has been some anxiety around the house over whether we might kill the fish. Too many animals of hers are being left in my rather inconsistent care. For the record I have almost killed her dog three times since she left for college.

Anyway, here is some of what she said last week.....

The morning after I arrived I went with my family to see a little bit of the city. We went to this hill above the center of town where there is a huge statue of La Virgen de Quito who stands on top of a serpent signifying the dominance of good over evil and I suppose the dominance of Spain and its Catholicism over the indigenous people of Ecuador.

We walked around the center of town with them at night and all the churches and old colonial buildings were lit up. We saw a bunch of chivas, which are these converted trucks that have a band playing on the roof and people travel below in a sort of parade. They played Quito’s anthem and my abuelo tried to teach me how to dance to it, but it wasn’t too successful.

Most days, though I spend hanging out with my mamí and Paula talking about life and holding Paula’s hands while she tries to learn to walk. Paula is learning all the sounds of animals so I have been learning all the songs that she listens to in an attempt to participate in talking with her.

The university is amazing - a little, no very grandiose. There are tons of fountains all over the place and a lake (well, maybe a pond) filled with goldfish and koi. Needless to say I spend a lot of time at the pond staring at the fish. In addition to the carp, there are these black organisms that look like a cross between a tadpole and a fish larvae. I can’t find anyone who knows what they are.

I am taking a Spanish class for the first week that meets three hours a day then I come home and eat lunch and spend the rest of the day with my mamí and Paula. Wednesday is the actual orientation to the university for all the international
students who will be arriving and then I will pick classes and start school for real.

I think the bus ride to and from Cumbaya is my favorite part of the school day. I walk six or so blocks down a steep hill to the first bus I take (all I know about it is that it’s blue) that takes me past the commercial part of Quito, by Parque de la Carolina, this huge park in the middle of town, where I get off. Technically, I am supposed to ride the blue bus all the way to an old Olympic stadium a few blocks away but I still haven’t figured out how to take the bus that far. The bus I always end up getting on turns before the stadium. From there, I take a very crowded red bus to a transfer station where I take a green agricultural bus to Cumbaya. The bus to Cumbaya always plays music according to the taste of the driver (usually some kind of traditional Ecuadorian music). People get on at random places and sell everything from cd’s to El Comercio (the main newspaper) to metal orbes decorated with colorful beads.

Cumbaya is in a valley to the West of Quito so the bus climbs up a small mountain before descending into Cumbaya and as the bus reaches the top of the mountain the contrast between the blue sunny sky, the snow covered mountains and colorful buildings in the valley below muted by a layer of smog is incredible.

Although there are designated bus stops, no one really uses them so when you want to get on a bus you kind of jump on as the bus slows down a little. To get off, you do the same thing, jumping off running as the bus slows down a little. The stop where I get off comes up really quickly because generally I am staring out the window at the surroundings when suddenly I realize I have to get off.


There ya go. Once her email is up and running again, I will try and post more.