Week One, Part Two (Kasey Rae)

Part Two: The Adventure (Actually) Begins

Now that we were finally in Quito, we could carry on with our scheduled activities. We had developed an excellent skill of rolling with the punches - now when there are unexpected changes, it doesn't even phase us.

Monday

Maya and I woke up around 7:20 am, had breakfast, and were picked up around 8:15-30 to head to Spanish lessons. Alanna and Hollette were picked up first, we were in the middle, and Madi and Meghan were last. The first thing I noticed when we were driving around was the traffic. The cars were backed up like crazy, everyone honked their horns fairly regularly, and pedestrians darted between cars. We found out the pedestrians don't have the right of way here, which is something that's hard to get used to. 

At the school, I was paired with Eugenia - we don't have a big classroom setting like expected, but rather one-on-one tutors, which is far better in my opinion. We all get to go at our own paces and work at our own levels. We also got a break about halfway through - four hours of Spanish is a lot to take in at once. On our break, we adopted Meghan and Madi's roommate into our group - his name is Phillipp, he's German, and as we would later find out, hates wearing shoes (#theshoelessgerman). After class, we were driven home for lunch. Having a private driver is both a blessing and a curse - our time is allotted for us, and it keeps us slightly distanced from local culture, in that we only really see what we're planned to see. 

After lunch (soup, rice, avocado, and beef), we went to see the Panecillo - a huge statue overlooking the North end of Quito. It started raining on our way there, so we didn't spend as much time there as we had planned to, We went to Salsa dancing lessons immediately after - needless to say, we weren't very good, but it was entertaining nonetheless. Afterwards, we went home for dinner, and found out that here they have larger meals for breakfast and lunch, and very little for dinner. We had an empanada, an apple, and hot chocolate; it was surprisingly satisfying, and we weren't left hungry.

Also, our host family has three dogs, so it feels more like home than I expected.

Tuesday

Tuesday also started with Spanish lessons, and we went home for lunch again. I had a short nap after eating - we still hadn't really had a chance to catch up on sleep. It rained again in the afternoon, so instead of going to Old Downtown as we were meant to, we went to the Archaeological Museum. It would have been nice to spend more time there, but we only had 50 minutes. We saw artifacts from before the Inca and during their period, but didn't see much more than that. Afterwards, we went for a walk around Mariscal (once it stopped raining), where Francisco warned us about all the many dangers of being tourists in Quito. While I'm sure most of what he said was valid, but in telling us to not draw attention to ourselves, he drew a lot of attention to our group by stopping and talking for a long period of time in the middle of the sidewalk. He let us go on our own for a little bit after instilling fear into our hearts (or trying to), and we went to get frozen yogurt (absolutely delicious - they seem to have blackberry-flavoured everything here). We made our way back to the school to be picked up, and went home to do homework and sleep.

Wednesday

The maids came on Wednesday, and when we asked Paola (our house-mom) about hiding our money and passports (as Francisco told us to), she got very irritated. She was frustrated that in a cultural exchange, Francisco was still perpetuating stereotypes without reason, as she and her boarders had never had problems with her maids. We ended up being a bit late for the van because of this conversation, but it was definitely beneficial to see a bit of a rift between local attitudes and those of tourists and our volunteer organizers.

We went to Spanish, as per usual, but instead of going home for lunch, we ate at the school/office. We had a choice of what to do after, and decided to watch the F.C. Barcelona game with David at a bar. It was packed, and the crowd got really worked up every time either team got close to scoring - it was even more intense than watching hockey in Canada.

At the Bar. Left to Right: Alanna, Madi, and Meghan

It was here that I most noticed how much we stood out. It seemed like there were no other tourists there, and we were stared at whenever we went off to go to the bathroom (which was also quite different - the toilet paper was outside of the stalls and it wasn't as closed off as in Canada). One of the servers also tried to only sell David beer in threes, and said that if we weren't going to buy in groups of three we could leave. However, other tables were only ordering one at a time (they're massive bottles, but with low alcohol percentage, so one beer is good for a couple drinks for three people). We didn't leave until the game ended, and walked over to a market, where most stalls sold very similar items. I noticed that many of the shopkeepers were very pushy, which deterred me from buying from them - the only things I bought were from people who left me alone. David told us that many things that were there and marketed as "authentic" Ecuadorian goods were actually imported from neighbouring countries like Peru.

When we got home we had dinner and asked for the wifi password. As much as I didn't want to be connected to the internet while here, it also provides a weird sort of comfort knowing that I can still communicate with everyone.

Thursday

Thursday started like the previous days, but we went to the Canadian Embassy right after Spanish, and had to eat on the way. Apparently the tiny office on the third floor counts as Canadian territory, so technically we went to Canada for about an hour. We had a presentation where they mostly gave us the same warnings as Francisco had a couple days before. We then walked over to Juan Valdez Cafe, which is even pricier than Starbucks for what you get, and got home early for decent free time. Maya and I took the opportunity to walk over to a nearby mall, which is mostly comprised of designer stores that have the same prices as in Canada.

For dinner, we went to a street cart with Paola, which was really good. The cab was only about $1 each way - unheard of in Canada.

Friday

The morning started with lessons carrying on as usual, ending with a game in Madi and Alanna's classroom.

Eugenia and I - Selfie Time

We went home for lunch. It was the first time I had seen that many people in our apartment - Paola, her husband, Pablo (roommate from Spain), and another Canadian were all there with us. For all the people who live here, you would never know... I still don't know how everyone fits here without being on top of each other all the time. In the afternoon, Maya and I went back to the mall, accompanied by The Canadian (as we call him, as we tend to forget his name), and then had another Salsa lesson at 4:00. It was the last one until the end of the month - I don't think anyone's really heartbroken!

Top Row: Maya, Hollette, Francisco (Dance Instructor, not Coordinator), Madi, Me
Bottom row: Alanna, Phillipp, Meghan 

First Impressions: Quito is most different from Canada in its appearance. Its position in the Andes causes the layout of streets to be different, as they have to roll with the landscape more than in Manitoba or even Toronto. The houses and apartment buildings nearly blend in to one another, hidden by gates which are often topped with broken glass or barbed wire to keep people from breaking in (I assume). Some places have electric fences on top of their gates, and some have metal spikes. Most of the shops are tiny and have garage door type closures instead of regular doors, and there seems to be less distinction between residential and commercial areas.

Also, it's interesting (and saddening) to note that the advertisements for most beauty salons and hairdressers feature white models - it seems to be common for women to dye their hair blonde too. Western influence manifests in other ways too; Quito has the largest McDonald's, Burger King, and KFC that I've ever seen in my life. Most of the cars are Ford and Chevy, although there are also many makes like Kia and Toyota around the city.

I find that it's the small cultural changes that you aren't really prepared for. You expect the language barrier, and we were told about differences in gender equality (or lack thereof in some cases), but small things like wearing your shoes in the house really take you off guard. It's normal for middle class families to have maids, which is also off-putting. 

Week One, Part One: Weekend Edition (Kasey Rae)

It's been just over a week since leaving Winnipeg, and I've only been able to tell people bits and pieces of what's happened since Nick dropped me off at the airport around 3:30 am last Saturday. I guess I'll start from the beginning...

Part One: In Transit

#OccupyPearson2015

It was supposed to be a smooth day of flights, connecting at Pearson International in Toronto, then Panama City, then Quito. Our first flight left at 5:15 am CST, and that went really smoothly. We all showed up, met up with David (when he told us to behave and whatnot, before going off to check in for his own flight), and checked in. With the exception of a screaming cat/child at the beginning of the flight, it went really smoothly. When we landed, there was an American plane at our gate, so we had to find another one to go to. We had an hour between flights, so once we finally disembarked, we ran to the bathroom and grabbed our bags. Our connection was in a completely different terminal, so we figured out how to get there using the train thing that they have. We were all determined to make it in time, walking in a flying V formation (not even kidding, people moved out of our way; we were clearly on a mission) down the hallway to our gate. So far it was going great. We were (I was) joking about being on the Amazing Race, and how we were kicking ass making it to the gate so soon.

Road Block

Of course, we jinxed ourselves. Okay, maybe it was me; I was convinced that it was going too well, and travelling just doesn't work like that. When we walked up to the gate, there were three employees standing there and nobody else. We immediately found out that they stopped boarding the flight an hour before it was scheduled to leave - we touched down at 8:45 am EST, and they closed check-ins at 8:55. We were doomed before we even got there. Despite my angry arguing, they said that there was nothing that they could do, and it was the fault of our travelling agency. Panicked, we tried calling Suzie in Winnipeg, and David, but to no avail. Maya went to find an information desk, and we decided to call the Travel Agency. Hollette did the calling, and we got through to an emergency line, where we encountered Angie. She became our main contact through the following hours. We were still blocking the check-in counter, and Hollette's phone was dying, so we all shuffled over to the only electrical socket we could see, by the payphones. We all huddled around the phone (yes, we looked ridiculous), as Angie assured us that she would sort it out, and we would probably be able to make an American Airlines flight for 11:30, connecting through Miami to Quito. She said she would need to get everything confirmed, and she would call us back with the details. We marched back over to the first terminal where we arrived, and waited for her confirmation. I bought fries for everyone because we hadn't eaten since before arriving to the airport in Winnipeg, and we sat around. Finally she called us back at 10:30, and said that four of us (Maya, Hollette, Meghan, and Alanna) could make the AmAir flight, but two of us had to get on a Delta Airlines flight to JFK Airport in New York, then through Panama City to Quito. We weren't sure if we could make that work without approval from our coordinators, but since the flight was going to leave in an hour, we figured we'd try. The four who were supposed to get on the flight went up to the desk, and found out that they couldn't be checked in (which we kind of expected at that point, because of the time). We were stuck in the same position as we had been a few hours before.

As we were trying to figure out what we would do next, we finally got through to Suzie (she had been at the gym, and saw all the missed calls as soon as she got out), and updated her on our issue. She said it was fine if we could split up, as long as we made it there that night as planned, and nobody was by themselves. We heard back from one of Angie's coworkers, who said that Angie was surprised that they couldn't make the AmAir flight, and that she had several people working on our case. We went down to have Subway, and when everyone was finished, Angie called us back with Tyler Wiebe from the University. They told us that we wouldn't be able to catch another flight that day, so we would have to stay at the Radisson on Dixon Rd., and we would be able to fly through Atlanta the next day, with a 9 hour layover. Maya and Meghan had to pay for their rooms, but we were assured that we would be reimbursed for the cost of the rooms and our food, because it was the agency's fault that this all happened. We resigned ourselves to the fact that we wouldn't make it to Quito as planned, and called a shuttle to the hotel.

When we got to the hotel, nearly everyone napped right away. It was a long day, and it was starting to take its toll on us, despite the fact that we had remained composed and mostly cheerful during the whole thing. After a little while, David checked with us - Suzie had reached him and told him everything. Our flights for the next day had changed yet again, and we were now scheduled to leave Toronto at 7:45 am, to Houston, then a 6:30 pm flight to Quito. Having everything figured out (and remaining wary, assuming everything would change again), we decided to go for dinner at the Kelsey's nearby. It was interesting at the very least - our server was ridiculously awkward and we were nearly convinced that we were going to be on Undercover Boss. Eventually, we went to bed and prepared to wake up at 4:30 am for our flight. 

Day Two

We woke up at 4:30 and took the 5:05 shuttle as planned. We thought everything was going smoothly, until we realized that only three of us had received two boarding passes, and as a result, the other three would have to pick up our bags and re-check-in. Also, one of the rows that we were scheduled to sit in was overbooked or something so a few of us got bumped up to Economy Plus seating for free - basically, more leg room. Nice, but definitely not worth paying for. When we arrived in Houston, Alanna, Madi and I went to get our bags, and coming back in, Security stopped Alanna and searched her stuff thoroughly, poor girl. The last thing we wanted was more stress. They eventually let her through and we all joined for lunch, and hung out for the hours that we had until our next flight. Other than being delayed by almost an hour, Our next flight went as planned, and we arrived in Quito at around 11:00 pm or 12:00 am. We met up with David and Francisco at the airport, and got dropped of at the homes of our host families. I unpacked, and we went to bed.