First days in Quito

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Hello everyone,
So Quito is beautiful thus far. Janushi (another fourth yr medical student and my best friend is here with me) and I landed Sunday and met some other students at the airport and then got driven to our houses. Janushi and I are living together here which is good cuz she is pretty much fluent in Spanish and i am totally not!!! The family is an elderly woman Ruth and her housekeeper Maria. They provide us with all our meals and are very nice. Janushi usually translates the conversations for me, although i can understand a bit. The flat they live in is very very cute. I will take pics and post later when back in the states. There is a 19 yr old British guy George living with the family as well. He is taking time off after high school and doing this and then i think he plans on going to medical school. He been here almost a month and will stay for another 4 months! It´s nice cuz he can tell us about activities around town.
The food here is so fresh and good. The host family knows we are vegetarian and accomodates us so well. The fruits and vegetables here are so much sweeter and better tasting all around.
When I landed there was no culture shock and still is none probably bc of all the traveling to India I have done throughout my life. I expect to see stray cats, street vendors, people driving like maniacs and honking when there is no need to. Things you forget about though is the lack of heat in homes, although since we live in a flat it´s not bad, lack of hot water in showers, and lack of good plumbing ( which means you cant put toilet paper down the toilet)!! But those are all minors things to deal with on a day to day basis.
yesterday we had orientation and spanish classes and out of all 28 of us I am definitely at the bottom of the ladder in terms of Spanish! But hopefully I will learn a lot. This am we will have spanish classes again and then more orientation stuff. Tomorrow we travel early in the am to Otovaljo which is a couple hours away I think. We will be doing different health brigades and more spanish immersion and some hikes in the mountains.
As for acclimating to the height we are at which is about 9500 ft...it isn´t too bad yet. I think some of us feel a bit winded after walking up only 2 stairs or after showering but overall its not bad and I think its getting better. It usually takes a few days for your body to get used to it.
There are internet cafes on every corner and I am using one now. Its only 59 cents per hour. and i can call the usa for 5cents a minute! pretty nice. i think it may be a bit more expensive when we leave for otovaljo tomorrow and we will be there for a week.
I heard the midwest is being hit hard with snow! I am definitely glad Iam not there! Hope all is well!
Love
Nidhi

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