Tuesday, January 13, 2009

A List of Things About Ecuador

1. I bought 5 bras for 14$ yesterday.  Not only did i replenish my thieved supply worth upwards of $300, I did it for less than fifteen bucks.  Not bad Ecuador.

2. Today I purchased 4 textbooks for 21$.  WTF American bookstores that exploit poor college students.  Take a hint from USFQ. Thx. (For any middle aged women reading this --my university bookstore sells 'Life is Good' paraphernalia in case you're interested).

3. It only costs 20 cents to ride the busses around here. Nice. But seriously, I've never been so careful with my change before.  Anything upwards of $5 is pretty much out of the picture and assumed to be counterfeit.

4.  The teacher of my translation class, who gave us an exam on the first day and kicked everyone out who didn't get a certain score, is the spitting image Marlon Brando as the Godfather, cotton ball cheeks and all.  He kind of scares me.

5. A text message I just sent to Kelsey:

“I have no freaking clue what I just ate.  It looked like raw chicken skin or raw fish. I tried a tiny bit and it didn’t taste like either which freaked me out more. Then I thought it might be some type of innard like tongue or intestine and I gagged.”

 

Don’t worry, I ended up piling rice on top of the raw looking innards in hopes of making my family think that I ate them. I’m sure you’re worried that I’ll go hungry. Well don’t, I’m eating Ritz Bitz galletas (crackers) as I type! I have a secret drawer with snacks for when dinner is, um, less than palatable. Holler Kraft ®.

6. Today I walked to the ecological park just ten minutes up the mountain from Lumbisí with my dad, my 9 year old neighbor Erica and Alexis.  Despite intermittent mounds of animal poop, potentially a product of las vacas (cows) that wander around, the evening walk was quite nice. When we got to the park, my dad had us run around the “track” a few times and do some push ups. I’m pretty sure I pulled some sort of muscle.  He decided he’s going to train us for a 10k in April.  I guess I forgot to mention that my dad is a champion runner and has like 5 billion trophies all over the house.  I’m assuming that at this high altitude I’ll be running circles around you fools when I get home in June!

7.  My mom washed my sheets to day. Holler! She also washed some shirts that came back, um, different? A pink shirt now has white bleach stains and another has holes.  Oh well I guess its not much diff than doing laundry at school.

8. Windows here don’t have screens.  I like to leave mine open though to get a breeze but last night I went to bed with 5 flies on my ceiling. They were too high to kill so I just had to fall asleep knowing that flies would probably land on my face at some point without me knowing.  It was unsettling but I washed my face pretty good this morning.

9.  There was a prob with my computer battery so today I dropped it off at the “Apple” store, or the store impersonating an Apple store, and they said they’d have a new one sent from Miami in 2 weeks.  I have a weird feeling I will never get another battery for my comp. We shall see.

10.  It’s 9 and I’m pretty much two blinks away from falling asleep.  I go to bed so early here I can’t even imagine staying up past 930 so Ima go read some Other Boleyn Girl and hit the hay.

Buenas Noches!


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5 comments:

  1. Nikki, I just want to say that you and Kelsey's posts are the highlight of my day, week, and month. They are seriously great.

    And I'm happy to hear that you were able to replenish your bras - it's been a little worry in the back of my mind ever since I found out they were all stolen that you've had to wear the same one every day.

    Love,

    Kate

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  2. Tomato trees? Hmmmm. . . .the only tomatoes I know grow on vines. Could it be something else that you're drinking?

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  3. I agree with Kate. Yours is my FAVORITE of the sixteen blogs in my Google Reader.

    My computer battery died over break. It wouldn't hold a charge for more than a few minutes. I called the Apple people and they said that since it was past 300 cycles it had pretty much lasted for as long as it was supposed to, and I had to get a new one. And now I can online shop for five hours without plugging in.

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  4. ay dios mio esto es lo mejor de mi dia todo es increible solamente le deseo lo mejor q ya veo q esta pasando. i would of peed my pants if i had recieced that text message. and your dad seems very nice to train you. or maybe they are just making you strong to then turn you into inards/raw chicken skin/raw fish :-/

    q duermas bien jaja

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  5. Hilarious. Don't go purchasing any life is good apparel though, I have it on good authority that their methods for securing customers' personal and financial info is faulty. No one likes identity theft, especially when you're in a foreign country.

    Also, I can't believe your dad made you run and do push ups. I need a motivational trainer.

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