Quick Update...and Top 5 Quito Oddities

Everything is going pretty well here. We´ve got some new volunteers, which is definitely refreshing and keeps the work and my social life a bit more dynamic. A lot of questions I had about the organization were answered this week when Monica, one of the "jefas," called a big meeting and talked to all of us about UBECI´s mission, responsibilities, and a lot of work that is done by staff behind the scenes. I and a lot of the other vols feel much better about what we are doing.

My friend Lisa--also on a gap year--and I talked to Monica about what more we could do to help the organization. So...pretty soon, the two of us will be taking on a new, long-term project: writing the first ever extensive underground guide to being an UBECI volunteer. Monica is aware that a lot of what UBECI does is unclear to the volunteers--that was definitely my biggest issue in my first few weeks. But hopefully in this guide we´ll be able to go in depth about UBECI´s programs as well as what to ACTUALLY expect when you get to Quito in terms of food, money, people, safety, etc. Writing the guide is something we´re both super excited about doing, and I think it will actually help the organization a lot if volunteers are better informed before they arrive. We´ll see!

I realized that I haven´t been talking much about Quito itself in these updates. So, I´ve decided to give you all a little taste of what I´m experiencing by compiling a list of the Top 5 strangest things that can be seen in Quito--things that one would never see in Northern Virginia. Be warned: some of these may make you sad. Or want to throw up...?

5- Whole pigs.
Everywhere. There are cooked, whole pigs on every street corner in many places. Some of them aren´t even cooked, but are hanging on a hook ready to be shaved. Pretty crazy to see on a regular basis. Sometimes I say hi to them because you can still see their faces.

4- People crying...a lot.
Three times so far, I have seen women walking down the street with other women bawling and pouring their heart out. Super dramatically. Also, there is very frequently live music in restaurants, and twice there have been lyrics about love that have left people in tears. I actually kind of like the music thing...but it´s just like, what??

3- School getting out at 8 pm.
The system here is super different than in the US. Kids go to school either in the morning or the afternoon for 3 or 4 hours. It´s just so ridiculous to see young kids in their school uniforms coming home, like, in the middle of the night. And by the middle of the night, I mean when I am just getting ready to go out in the evening. But still...it´s not like there are extracurriculars or anything, really, so there´s no reason they´d stay after school is over. I just can´t imagine starting school at 3 or 4 in the afternoon, which is what I have deduced that some kids do.

2- Children working...
Obviously. But I had to include it because it is definitely a super major difference between Arlington and Ecuador. Kids come onto the busses with apples, oranges, caramels, chocolate, ice cream, whatever, and look at you with their sad puppy dog eyes, and it sucks. A friend of mine says she saw a little girl hop of the bus in the afternoon, throw her backpack on the ground, then immediately pick up a bunch of mandarines and run back onto the next bus. Ahhhhh I hate it so much.

1- People relieving themselves in the street.
I can´t tell you how many times I have seen people peeing on the grass or by a tree. I have also see two people do #2 in public. On the sidewalk. This is something about Quito that I definitely won´t miss. I almost didn´t even include this one but it just had to be number 1...because who does that?! In the words of my friend, Katie: "I don´t think I have ever wanted to cry and vomit at the same time."

So it´s not exactly beautiful all the time. But it´s definitely exciting! Don´t get me wrong, a lot of what I see and do is pretty normal for me...just not everything. Who wants to come to Quito?!