After the Jungle - Hard to Follow up to That!

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Like the title says, a week after being in the jungle just can´t be too exciting. And it´s true, but not to worry, I am off to the beach in a week! Last Saturday I went to the weekend market with Nicole and bought a few things. Later on we met up with some friends and went out to lunch. I met the Ecuadorian guys that a few of my friends are ´dating´which was really interesting. They are nice but the machismo is so so so strong here that I really have a hard time dealing with it. I guess it could also be that I am not a very touchy-feely person and these guys hang all over the girls and they are super lovey-dovey. At night I met one guy and I put my hand out to and said ´Mucho gusto, me llamo Andrea´. He flipped out and I didn´t get it. My friend, his girlfriend, said that he was kind of offended because guys are supposed to initiate the greeting and handshake so I just said, ´Well, I´m a strong and forward lady!¨. That still didn´t go over well and it got worse. He was trying to get my other friend to kind of be with this guy that night but she didn´t want to so I said, ¨Sorry, she´s with me tonight! We have a date!!¨, kind of jokingly. And he looks at me and says, Óh so you´re a lesbian, let me look at you¨. I said, ¨I´m not a lesbian but lesbians are just the same kind of beautiful and straight women so why do you need to look at me?!¨Add in some bad words going through my head at the time. I was just so shocked that this guy was such a jerk. Maybe he wasn´t a jerk to anyone else but I guess I am absolutely not used to the machismo stuff and I don´t put up with it. I refuse to let people talk down to me or treat me as if I am an idiot which is what often happens. Oh well, its part of being in Ecuador and I am just happy I try to keep myself out of it. But I have to say, the drama with the guys and my friends, since I am not directly involved, is highly entertaining. I went home that day and I think I watched a movie. It is hard to remember what I did a week ago! On Sunday I worked on a presentation on the Galapagos for my spanish class. After school on Monday I also worked on my project. It is very obvious I can´t remember any details... hahaha. On Tuesday I know for sure I did my presentation which I think went well. After school Sarah and I went to see Lions for Lambs or Lambs for Lions, I can´t remember. It was alright, but it kind of ended abruptly. The great part of the movie experience was that Radiohead´s Karma Police was playing in the bathroom so we rocked out to that before the movie started. Excellent. Last time it was techno... hahahaha. The rest of the week was just normal school stuff. Thursday night I went out with my friends to Mariscal (Gringolandia). I used the cabinas and then we all met up at this gorgeous restaurant called Boco Lobo. It is the most beautiful restaurant I have ever been to. We had drinks and I had french onion soup (because everything else was fish, mushrooms, or octopus... all my favorites!!! hahaha, not...). My daquiri was deelish. After dinner we hung around Mariscal for a while but it´s crazy there because all of the people who work there know us American girls so they are always trying to get us to go in clubs. I went home around 10 with a couple friends because I was not into going dancing with the Machismo dudes again.

On Friday my host mom asked if I wanted to go with her to the opening of a water exhibit/park/museum called Yaku. She was invited by the mayor who is my host sister-in-law´s uncle. It was really fun and interesting. The best part was seeing the effects of music and different kinds of emotions on the formation of water crystals. It was really beautiful. We had some free ice cream and then I played with the bubbles in the bubble room. Afterwards we went to the Mariscal to look at Galapagos travel agencies. We went to about 15 different ones trying to find a good deal on a complete boat package. It is really tough to find trips at a reasonable price especially because we aren´t Ecuadorian citizens. I will be calling on Monday to see if there is space on a boat we found for the 4 of us. I really hope there is room!! We walked back to catch a bus and waited for a few minutes for a bus. This is so scary though. Within a few minutes I looked around and an elderly woman was on the ground. I am one of those people who freeze up when scary things happen but luckily a bunch of people helped her up. She was bleeding above her eyebrow. I realized from everyone yelling that the woman was trying to get on the bus and it just started going. It knocked her down so hard on the ground. Everyone was yelling at the bus driver and he yelled back and just drove away!!! I could not believe it. Immediatley when this happened though, my host mom looked at the bus number to report it to the police. The poor woman was bleeding so much and the tissues someone had given her were soaked in blood. A policewoman came by and everyone told her what happened but not once for a good 5 minutes did she ask the woman if she was ok. And the woman who was hit wasn´t crying or anything which makes me think that this is something that happens much more often than it should. They asked if she had insurance and she said no so they couldn´t take her to a hospital which she obviously needed. Eventually the policewoman walked away with the lady but I don´t know what was going to happen from there. I was so shaken up by the whole thing that I felt awful. I could not understand how the bus driver could just drive away so quickly without even seeing if the woman was fine. When we got home, my family asked if I was hungry and I said not really after what happened. My host sister said, well that´s Ecuador. I just didn´t know what to say. I really hope the woman is ok and I wish that I knew that wouldn´t happen again but here the buses are like that. Especially for males, the buses don´t stop, the guys just hop on while it is moving. It´s definitley an inconvenience but more than than, it´s extremely dangerous.

On Saturday morning I took a cab with Sarah to our friend´s house to and 5 of us met there to take a bus to Otavalo. The bus ride was fine and we did lots of good shopping there. I bought a very silly shirt that is going to be really embarrasing to wear but I don´t care, I need some really touristy shirt... You will be lucky if you see me in it!! Hahahaha. We went home and I stayed at home with my family for the night.

Today I went to Mitad del Mundo (The Middle of the World) with my host mom and sister. Later my host brother, his wife, and their son met us there. It was interesting to be there and we got a few pictures. But I can´t wait to go to the real Mitad del Mundo with Evan! For those who don´t know, the big monument is actually wrong. The real ecuator is a little farther away. So I think we are going to go there for my birthday so I can say I was celebrating in two hemispheres!! After that we drove to a volcano nearby and went out to eat. Now I am at the only internet cafe open on a Sunday. It is time to write my paper for class so I will write again soon! Thanks for the messages!! Hope everyone is doing well and I hope in Washington that it isn´t too rainy. It is hot and sunny here! Adios!

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Comments

[Sylvi]

Good for you!!!
Hey Andrea: I am very proud of you, don't let those guys bother you or I will kick their little behind too. I am glad that you are going to the beach for thanksgiving. I can't wait to hear about it, are you guys going to cook Turkey???? Mash potatoes (your specialty!! mmmmm) We missed it these year. Well I am at work so it is a short masage like me. hahahah. Have lots of fun Love you lotttttttts Sylvia