First day of class! Got up early in the morning, but it’s not so bad because we don’t stay out at night and I’m still not sleeping well anyways. We were all a little late together. Coming into the school, being shown around and assigned to teachers was a bit hectic. My teacher thought I was going to be a German girl, which wouldn’t have been a bad random guess. Most of the students, as well as the girl working there and showing us around, are German.
The short entrance exam quickly showed how little I know, but also helped the teacher skip a few basics. We went over the numbers, starting at 13, then spent the time on difference between ser and estar. This had been confusing me, but I didn’t have to mention it because it’s fundamental and the gap in my knowledge of the basics easily showed, along with vocabulary.
After class someone helped me get a SIM card. Although it wasn’t included in my payment for the school as I expected, this was not for naught because for some reason it involved running around to three different stores.
After lunch I went to the Cathedral in the Plaza Grande. This was quite different from the Gothic cathedrals. I particularly liked the decorative wooden ceilings, some of which are similar to those in the presidential palace next door.
At dinner I met the youngest of the hostess’s three daughters. We all talked for a while after dinner, in English, with both the German girls and the Ecuadorian occasionally getting stumped and looking to me for help. It was odd being, in a way, a translator between two languages I do not speak. We talked about many topics from feminism to Ecuadorian politics to the animals of the Galapagos. Mentioning the John Oliver sketch about the president provoked much excitement.
Costs
Cost today: $58.28
Cumulative cost: $368.24
How come you’re not sleeping well? How many students are there and what are their (rough) ages?
I didn’t sleep well for the first week I believe because of the altitude. Quito is at 2850m (9350ft) and that’s a sudden change when flying in from Boston so it takes some time to adjust to the thin air.
There are about 15 students. There is a lot of turnover every week. There have been a couple people that are about 50 and a few people my age but most are doing some sort of gap after college or even high school.