¿Pero crees en Dios?

Si, claro! Not so sure actually, but when mi abuela asks me if I’m a god-fearing chica despite being some variety of heathen (not Catholic, obvi), I’m not gonna say no. Little does she know how much of a heathen I am, nor will she.

It is still surprising how religion—or at the very least, religious symbolism—is an omnipresent part of life here. In my room, I have a painting of the Virgin Mary in a teddy bear picture frame, and a carving of the nativity on the wall. Plus there’s a big Jesus painting in the hallway and crucifixes all over the place. Although at first all this Jesus stuff was quite disconcerting, I kind of don’t notice anymore. It’s just scenery, just like La Virgen del Panecillo is just a big statue, and not an admonishment to women to maintain sexual purity. Even la Universidad Catolica seems remarkably benign in this context. I can totally deal with this variety of piety. It’s so refreshing to have this level of religiosity combined with radical politics—something I haven't experienced in the US.

irony

At NoBar, there is a bar. And their playlist is hilarious, but I'm not sure they're aware of that fact. Last night, we mueved our culos to gems such as "Sweet Dreams" (Eurythmics), "YMCA" (Village People), "Wasn't Me" (Shaggy), "Living on a Prayer" (Bon Jovi), and the MACARENA, of all things.

Robbie said he felt like he was back at Wes... and yes. Drunk, shrouded in smoke of various kinds, sweatily gyrating... to amazing music.

gringolandia

Two nights ago I went out to La Mariscal and with Beyonce pounding through every cell of my body, drank a free Sexo en la Playa (before 10, El Bungalow only admits women, and the drinks are free) and un Pilsener (Ecuadorian beer, totally decent) and felt a little guilty for being so happy to hear shitty pop from Los Estados Unidos.

It was incredibly cathartic, though, to be with so many gringos grinding away just like in Eclectic, except with fewer skinny jeans and angsty haircuts.


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Note:
I don't really have internet in my house yet, although it will supposedly happen next week. Occasionally I get a very faint wireless signal from who-knows-where, but not most of the time. So if you wanna Skype me, hold on a few days.

wesleyan, redux.

So for my first breakfast with my family, they served me granola with yogurt. Did they suspect I'm a huge hippie and go out and buy these items to satisfy my crunchy-breakfast needs? Or is this something they eat usually? I wonder.

toilets flush clockwise!

So I'm here in Quito, and this is my first night with my host family, all of whom I have not yet met, but there are seemingly thousands, therefore I'm not particularly surprised.

I'm a sea-level kind of woman, though, and this crazy Andean altitude is getting to me, so I'm muy muy cansada and am going to bed. The house seems to be right below the airport, with planes taking off and arriving all the freaking time. Smells a little funky in here too.