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beelikejThe minute I left the house yesterday I remembered the attraction of traveling: I love the headspace I'm in! Of course I'm alone all the time, but traveling on your own adds this whole new dimension to your brain: you really have to rely on yourself 24/7. My senses are alert all the time. It can be very tiresome, but for now I'm loving it:-)
I spent most part of Saturday and Sunday on planes: flying from Amsterdam to New York, spending the night on a bench at JFK and then continueing to Panama for the final part of the trip to Quito.
Heh: waiting in line for the toilets at Panamy City Airport I feel like a giant: I'm more than a head taller than all the woman standing in front of me. Not so funny: the toiletbowl is also build for very short people. Still: I'm huge, wahey!
When I get to Quito I'm supposed to be picked up by someone of the school, but at the airport there is nobody waiting for me. Luckily a very nice lady takes me to a taxi/information desk for stupid tourists who don't speak Spanish. Another woman tries to contact the school and manages to talk to director Ceasar who explains I wasn't expected until tomorrow. Fortunately he does have an address for me to go to. I'm put in a taxi that takes me to Ceasar's house, where I can take a shower while he tries to locate my host-family.
Found it: I'm staying with Rosa de Bravo for the next two weeks. She lives in an impressive apartment with an amazing view of the mountains. It's only a ten minute walk downhill to get to the school: perfect location:-)
It's definitely not your average Ecuadorian house, I'd say Rosa has a lot more money than most, but I'm not complaining;)
I'm staying here with Helene from Danmark, who has been traveling South America for some weeks and Joff from Canada who's working as a volunteer in a children's clinic downtown (and who has very very long eyelashes. Le sigh.) Needless to say they both already are able to speak Spanish. I'm not.
I feel so inadequate. I should've done some studying before I got here. It's so fucking rude not to be able to speak the language of the country you're supposedly so interested in. The really bad thing is that I can't even remember basic words. The second someone starts talking to me (cabdriver, helpful informatiedeskgirl, Rosa) my mind starts to struggle, combining Dutch, English and French while all the Spanish it's able to produce consists of CSI-Nick yelling 'Innocente, innocente!'. Stupid brain, it could at least try to make complete sentences in English, especially when people are nice enough to try speaking that. But instead I'm acting like some dumb tourist, just pointing and spitting out single words, expecting others will make sense of my ignorant ramblings. SHUT UP NICK.
I'm very nervous about going to school.
Next day: Let's get this party started: first day of classes
Pictures week 1
I spent most part of Saturday and Sunday on planes: flying from Amsterdam to New York, spending the night on a bench at JFK and then continueing to Panama for the final part of the trip to Quito.
Heh: waiting in line for the toilets at Panamy City Airport I feel like a giant: I'm more than a head taller than all the woman standing in front of me. Not so funny: the toiletbowl is also build for very short people. Still: I'm huge, wahey!
When I get to Quito I'm supposed to be picked up by someone of the school, but at the airport there is nobody waiting for me. Luckily a very nice lady takes me to a taxi/information desk for stupid tourists who don't speak Spanish. Another woman tries to contact the school and manages to talk to director Ceasar who explains I wasn't expected until tomorrow. Fortunately he does have an address for me to go to. I'm put in a taxi that takes me to Ceasar's house, where I can take a shower while he tries to locate my host-family.
Found it: I'm staying with Rosa de Bravo for the next two weeks. She lives in an impressive apartment with an amazing view of the mountains. It's only a ten minute walk downhill to get to the school: perfect location:-)
It's definitely not your average Ecuadorian house, I'd say Rosa has a lot more money than most, but I'm not complaining;)
I'm staying here with Helene from Danmark, who has been traveling South America for some weeks and Joff from Canada who's working as a volunteer in a children's clinic downtown (and who has very very long eyelashes. Le sigh.) Needless to say they both already are able to speak Spanish. I'm not.
I feel so inadequate. I should've done some studying before I got here. It's so fucking rude not to be able to speak the language of the country you're supposedly so interested in. The really bad thing is that I can't even remember basic words. The second someone starts talking to me (cabdriver, helpful informatiedeskgirl, Rosa) my mind starts to struggle, combining Dutch, English and French while all the Spanish it's able to produce consists of CSI-Nick yelling 'Innocente, innocente!'. Stupid brain, it could at least try to make complete sentences in English, especially when people are nice enough to try speaking that. But instead I'm acting like some dumb tourist, just pointing and spitting out single words, expecting others will make sense of my ignorant ramblings. SHUT UP NICK.
I'm very nervous about going to school.
Next day: Let's get this party started: first day of classes
Pictures week 1