Luggage Arrives

By Ben R.Esbaum

Today was certainly an eventful day. We finally saw the end of our luggage fiasco and had an official tour of campus. The campus is pretty amazing and although it has been near the building for our classes all along, I finally saw the University's soccer field. It was interesting during the tour to see how much our tour guide cared about making sure all of us knew about their university and their culture. There were numerous times Zach, Danielle (as they pronounce it), and myself were separated from the group, but each time we managed to catch up, the tour guide fully explained the current building or place of interest without once acting upset that we had managed to fall back once again.

As a group, we ate at La Choza for lunch. It must have been pretty intimidating for any passerbys of our group, as the majority of our 22-person group, well 23 including Dr. Rogers, stood over the average Ecuadorian height. Lunch was great because it was the first time all of us had a chance to hang out as a group outside of class and the food was obviously amazing. After lunch, most of us went our separate ways or with small groups to go to the airport to retrieve our much-needed luggage.

I think as a group we are all starting to become more comfortable speaking with our families and the students at the University, at least that is the case for myself. It's nice to actually initiate some of the conversation with my family now, as opposed to waiting anxiously for the next question.

In a final note about my family, my family is great. I have a five-year-old host brother who is a complete trip. My host mother told me last night that during the afternoon, he only drinks tea. So by the time we all arrive home, he is very hyper and wants all of our attention. Living with a family is really the best way to become more accustomed to speaking Spanish, even though it is a bit frustrating not being able to say everything you want. But all in all I think I will really enjoy being around my host family. Plus, they even introduced me to the greatest excuse for tardiness, "La Hora Ecuatoriana."

†

†