Day 1.5 of Ecuador

^ Here is a picture of a part of my awesome bedroom!

Okay so I finished typing up my last entry at 3 in the morning, went to bed at 4 in the morning, then woke up today at 6am O_____O

I was completely exhausted! I rolled out of my bed and put on random clothes from my suitcase (yeah, didn't have time to unpack seeing that I've spent literally 5 hours here, most of it asleep in this house as of 6 in the morning) and walked over to my bathroom to get ready real fast. I was supposed to get here on the 17th but decided to cut it short by coming here a day later so I could spend more time with Steve in New York!

The tiredness is worth it!

Still can't believe I have my own bathroom connected to my huge bedroom here!
It has white walls and a high ceiling and sapphire blue accents, I love the interior decoration here in my host family's house.

Then I walked downstairs and my host mom Jenny was waiting for me with a HUGE breakfast! A glass cup filled with strawberry yogurt, a bowl filled with grapes and freshly sliced bananas, fresh bread, cheese, (yeah, Ecuadorians eat bread, cheese& rice for breakfast) and quinoa (their version of granola).

I got laughed at today when I put my fruit& granola into my cup of yogurt like a normal parfait because apparently, you're supposed to pour the yogurt on top of your fruit bowl in Ecuador?! In my head I was thinking, "How does that even work?? Yogurt is so thick and creamy it's not a pourable substance!"

But alas, Ecuadorian yogurt is actually really thin; it looks like half&half but it tastes like normal yogurt!
It was so bizarre making this yogurt fruit bowl soup thing but I like it better than typical American yogurt parfaits in a cup! :)

Also, Jenny brewed for me legitimate Colombian coffee and it is amazing.

Culture Shock #2: You are considered a weirdo if you ask for or attempt to pour milk or cream into your coffee. That's just not normal o_o...

Jenny then walked with me to the bus stop (Rio Cocas) and we took the bus up the mountain to campus! Marijo (my friend from MSU) saw me and said hi :)

And then we got off after about 20-30 minutes and Jenny introduced me to her neighbor's host son from Chicago, who's my age and also studying in the same university as me. His name is James and he stands out so much here, 6'6" with striking bright blue Collins Key eyes, pale skin and milk chocolate brown hair.
He walked along side me and tried to make conversation with me in Spanish but it was so grammatically incorrect that I just laughed xD

(translated into English)
Me: Hi, what's your name?
James: Hi I'm Jay, hey Annie!
Me: (thinking: wtf how does he know my name lol)

But hey, that's what Steve was like at first and now I can't picture life without him ;D

I feel like me and Jay are gonna be good friends; he can be my bodyguard as we go to classes together! I feel dwarfed standing next to him hahah xD

And then we came across my friend from Canton who's also studying for two semesters here! The three of us walked together to orientation where we sat through EIGHT HOURS OF PRESENTATIONS from the U.S Embassy, Dean of the School, etc... i slept through most of it though sadly due to the fact that I just got here xD

I did stay awake for this really cool presentation though! Culture sociology differences include...

America: Low Context, Ecuador: High Context
America: monochromatic time, Ecuador: polychromatic time
America: lives in the future, Ecuador: lives in past-present

^ i'll explain those another day because this entry is long enough as it is! I really just want to write down everything so i dont forget it later on! For my silent blog readers, feel free to skim my blog whenever I talk too much hahah xD

Lunch was provided by the university and we had really nice Ecuadorian seasoned pollo y arroz (marinated chicken& seasoned rice)

CAMPUS IS BEAUTIFUL THERE ARE KOI PONDS AND TROPICAL TREES EVERYWHERE AND FANCY BUILDINGS--- I'll go into detail more in another blog entry!

And then after 9 long hours we were dismissed from orientation, Jay saw me from afar and walked over and asked if I wanted to hangout with him tonight at his house but I declined, I could barely stay awake!

Jenny picked me up& we rode the bus down the mountain and she treated me, my host cousin and my Canton friend to empanadas! Food is so cheap here, my meal was two dollars total. An empanada con pollo is a fried bread thing with chicken inside and I really liked it! I also had this corn vanilla milkshake thing (sounds disgusting, i know but it was really good! Caitlin hated it though and my host mom laughed xD )

Afterwards I came home, talked to Steve for a bit& my friends& my brother, took a nap, then ate dinner with my host parents and Lucas, my host brother! Dinner was this really soft white fish with corn and potatoes and LOTS OF RICE and lemonade! Surprisingly American sounding but tasted very unique.

We talked for hours, and hours, I can feel myself getting used to speaking in Spanish already! About my hobbies, my family, Taiwan, differences in Asian& Ecuadorian food, (they then gave me a proud 2 hour lecture about Ecuador geography& biodiversity) xD

I feel really comfortable with them now :)