clases!

Just a quick blog post before my telenovela starts. I've had 2 days of classes so far and so far, everything seems pretty under control. Yesterday I had yoga and advanced grammar. Yoga - surprisingly - I hated. It was in a classroom, with a dingy smelly carpet and no room to move, the professor, though smiling and super nice, told us this class wasn't for relaxing - there was an intensive gym portion where we would be sweating, a lot. Then he had us do a bunch of poses and it just felt wrong - hectic, uncomfortable (because we were all wearing jeans! no one expects to do stuff on the first day of a gym class!) and I decided, if I didn't love it then why keep it.

Instead I'm going to take a feminine literature class that my friend Powers is in. She said it sounds intensive, but I love literature and I'm not afraid of working. The grammar class seemed pretty good as well - I know how much I need the practice.

Today, my conversation class was cancelled and so was my ecology of the rain forest class. I did have Ecuadorian culture though, which is already really great. Its aim is to help us get accustomed to life here and explain why things are the way they are. Then I took a psychology of adolescence class and didn't like it much either... sounds silly but the topic of teenagers actually doesn't interest me much. From the lecture today, everything seemed obvious and kind of trite. Also I don't need the class for credit which is as good a reason as any. Between me & my readers, another international student and I were talking after and she was absolutely appalled that for our assignment for the next class, we had to write 2-3 pages about our experiences in adolescence. She would not stop going ON about it, like it was absolutely outrageous to demand such a thing, and in Spanish. I basically scoffed in her face. Is that horrible? I'm sorry, we are enrolled in a university IN FREAKING ECUADOR. She was like "this will take me at least an hour and a half..." (ay dios mío!) I'm not sure what she was expecting. Dear mom and dad, thank you for instilling in me an apparently great work ethic and a desire to learn and excel in academics, regardless of personal cost.

To change the topic completely and to make that last statement seem obsolete, I'd just like to say - my host family has a maid and oh...my...gosh. It was really disconcerting at first, but when I came back today, saw my sheets changed, my laundry basket emptied, clean laundry on my dresser, the trash taken out, my toiletries organized neatly, the hair cleaned off of my hairbrush! I gotta say... I'm converted. It's amazing. Also in the morning, my breakfast is waiting for me on the table. I feel like a queen.

Not much else to say. I'm getting used to the bus - not always pleasant but I've made it home just fine every day so I can't complain. Might be traveling this weekend with some friends! Not too far but I'm excited.

Ahh! Es el tiempo para Floricienta. Nos vemos :)

Cyn

PS. I just want to say that although my speaking abilities are still really lacking, my comprehension is GREAT. Anything I miss is just because I don't know the vocabulary. I find this so exciting! My Ecuadorian studies prof told us to become completely fluent we need to spend at least 7 hours every day doing something in Spanish. Estoy lista para este desafío.