It was very interesting to hang out at the gallery with my parents and about a 96% of adults. I’m an only child, my entire family is elsewhere, and since I was five I’ve been surrounded by adults, so I tend to feel very comfortable in that kind of environment. Of course I love hanging out with people my age but old(er) people are wildly interesting! I think I’m less scared of walking into a room full of adults than I am scared of walking into a room full of teenagers. Duh.

Anyways, I was texting Kauveh and he suddenly said that he was coming over. A good 30 minutes later Kauveh, Neira, Juan David and Camila were there. Makes sense, since Camilo is Ileana’s younger son and their fellow senior in my beloved Colegio Alberto Einstein. I talked to all of them for a bit and then they were leaving (I had already spent a good two hours in the gallery) so we all went to Camilo’s house (a few steps away… on one of the fanciest and more culture-oriented streets in Quito) and just chilled for a few hours on the balcony (my hands were freezing!).

I was amazed at how I was able to talk to all of them easily and how we all laughed at their senior year stories, my own high school stories, and the general criticism of the same teachers. It was great! We also listened to very North American music, including Lady Gaga, T Pain, Flo Rida, Kanye West, Katy Perry. It made me really happy and also kind of nostalgic. Altogether it was a really fun evening. I must say that with all of my complaining about things here, it’s great when people surprise you. Those are smart kids though, and listening to their senior year stories suddenly made want to go to the reunion party going on later this month (I was going to go anyways, but I was kind of dreading it… As I have explained before, it is very difficult coming back to a place where some people value partying over knowledge and life experience). But now I’m thinking that I was being too judgy and that I might be pleasantly surprised! Of course, I know I will find some people that will make me want to say, “who are you?” but I’m thinking now that the best technique is to just let it go and have some fun reminiscing with those people from the time where I didn’t know just how politically incorrect I was!

Our days would start at the beach and after lunch (which always entailed delicious seafood) we would head back to the apt. to hang out in their pool (tiny but just right for us). We would listen to (very loud) music and I took advantage of the afternoons to read a lot. Saturday afternoon Stephanie joined us! Our routine was pretty much the same. But I must mention the awkward points:

I love my friends a lot. But you already know how difficult it is for me to be back home. Let me expound a little more on that: coming back I’ve suddenly found myself in a place where society is so wound up and traditional it’s crazy. Family values are very important here and that is cool, yet… Allow me to put it in better terms: imagine living somewhere where sex was a bad thing. Talking about sex is a taboo for many people. Even amongst teenagers (who we all know want to talk about it A LOT) you find people thinking that it’s a bad or dirty thing.

Don’t get me started on homosexuality. I have literally gotten the response “Yuck” to the word homosexual. And then there are times when you find social biases in the people around you that they haven’t even noticed. Yes, you had some of those biases too, but you’ve started realizing them, and now recognizing them in others sort of hurts. It’s difficult to explain because you also have no idea of how to tell your friends without sounding judgmental or hurting their feelings.

All of this amounts to me being proudly askew with society here (and here I am saying “here” and thus creating another divide). However, now more than ever, and because I am very aware of my growth, I’m trying to be the same person in Quito as I am at Vassar. I’m not saying I’ll be exactly the same, but I feel like I’m not true to myself if I don’t speak up when someone says “Eww, lesbians.” That doesn’t seem like such a problem… but how do you speak up against the tiniest nuances in your close friend’s discourse, which to them are nothing but to you are a screaming proof of bias and intolerance? Weird place to be at. And so, nowadays I tend to create tension around me. I do not regret it, but I must admit it is difficult. However, I cannot betray my values.

So that was the weird part about my trip, when suddenly the atmosphere would get a little tense because Claudia just had to say what was on her mind. I did so kindly, but it created tension nonetheless.

A lot of swimming, a lot of tanning, a lot of talking and a lot of laughing as well. That was fun. The seafood was ah-mazing! Buuuut…smart as we are, Sunday night we made a poor decision. You see, initially we had planned to have some fun at the beach, drinking cocktails or whatever, and we had two bottles of Zhumir with us. Now Zhumir is one of the most foul, cheap drinks… but it’s Ecuadorian and whenever I saw it at Vassar (at Ecuadorian friends’ parties) I got super excited and of course had to have some. But that was always about half a shot. Now picture this: two bottles, three girls, 45 minutes. BAD IDEA. I don’t know why the hell we were stupid enough to think that was a good idea…but there it is, the Ecuadorian Alcoholism I was talking about! (Chug! Chug! Chug!) I paced myself but at the end of it all it still backfired. I mean we each ended up having about half a bottle. Ew. Soooo Monday, day we were supposed to go back, I spent it all regretting my decision. I didn’t have a headache, but my tummy was angry at me. Monday afternoon we packed our bags and headed to Atacames (the main town close to the beach where the bus we were taking left from). We left our bags at the bus station and went off to waste a good 4 hours at a restaurant. I ate more seafood and we had delicious shakes. Again, pure fruit. Plus, their famous coconut shakes… SO GOOD!

Back at the bus station it was almost 11 PM, the time when we departed. We thought it would be a great idea to travel by night and we would magically be home in the morning, ready to seize the day! BS. Bus ride at night? No. No. No. My dad picked me up at the station at 6 AM (he wakes up at 5:30 anyways) and we went back home for some breakfast. Ah… that felt a lot better. Then I spent the day in bed. I can’t really sleep by day but I was too tired to do anything else, so there you go. Hey… at least I tanned. And learned a few valuable lessons.

There’s not much left to say about the missing week but I will take advantage of this space to talk a bit about why we whine so much. Tradition is a very big deal here and you will always find families that uphold very traditional (I would say archaic) values. Some topics such as sex, homosexuality and abortion are taboo. My mom, being a high school teacher, and being the person that she is, tries to fight against this and raises controversy in her classes. The reactions are not necessarily positive, but she manages to cause change. Allow me to mention a particular time when she showed a very famous Cuban film that talked about homosexuality in the post-Revolution era, and a student’s parents went to the school to complain about such “immorality.” Might I say that one of their children is gay, but they have no idea.

Oooh. Another thing. Have you heard the phrase “the customer’s always right”? Yeah that doesn’t necessarily exist around here. Some people don’t care at all about the fact that you are the customer and will sometimes act very smug or annoyed at you.

I will close my ranting with another anecdote. The day I got home from Vassar my parents and I were taking the elevator up to the 8^th floor in my building when I saw a mother’s day-related note on my building’s bulleting board from the building… authorities or whatever. It said, “The greatest honor that a woman could ever have is to be a mother. This is why mothers…etc” I wanted to smash the glass. Trust me, I am aware of how many negative things I am saying, but ask anyone about how frustrating it can be. I’m just being honest. More positive things to come soon.

Let me clarify something: Quito is divided socially into North and South. The North is where all the middle, upper-middle class (and all the way up to really rich) people live. The best schools are in this area, the most luxurious malls, etc. It’s a microcosm. Have I mentioned how you run into someone anywhere you go? I’m not kidding, you’ll see. Then there’s the South. This is where people with less money live, and there’s a big social and spatial divide.

The center of the city is El Centro Histórico. Literally: The Historical Center. It’s like our downtown. The Government building is there and some of the most beautiful churches you’ve seen along with cool museums, restaurants and colonial structures. I have some pictures from December 2008.

Inside Yard at the City Museum

Problem: it used to be a dangerous place to be at if you wore Abercrombie (like half the kids in my school). However, they have restored the area and created new places to visit. Plus, there are cops everywhere just keeping an eye on things. Sadly, you don’t really see that many people from the North because they still have that same fear of getting mugged. I’ll talk about this on a later post.

Moving along with my day. My dad and I had lunch at this place where my dear father ordered ostrich because it was on the Menu. He wasn’t too impressed by it. We had a glass of red wine each and fuck the altitude (or my lack of practice) cause after only one glass of red, things started getting a little hazy. We headed straight to Juan Valdez and had some coffee (we would have done so either way). I felt relieved when my dad and I got back into the bounce of things and started talking about interesting things. I do love talking to my parents (I particularly have a long history of having great, honest talks with my dad). But it seems like I had been going through the teenage phase that never quite hit me during puberty where you react to your parents in either a very volatile or indifferent manner. I think the mix is fading away (slowly).

After our little adventure we headed back to “The Garden” (El Jardín), a very nice mall. I do realize that I go to the malls here to kill time. Oh just you wait till you hear (read) me rant about how bored I am. On the way back I should have closed my eyes because I’m not used to the traffic yet. You think NYC traffic is bad? People here are INSANE!! And they know it. People speeding on curves and trying to pass you, others just “throwing their cars at you” (local term, not mine), and others crossing the street in any (dangerous) way possible. I wish I could illustrate it better; it’s just scary. Fun when you get used to it… so far only scary. This post is getting pretty long so I’ll wrap it up by saying that I made some kickass hummus and that my parents loved it. I’m pleased.

This is why I love them (Summer 08)

I met my two young Padawans (the two seniors in HS who I helped train for Model UN), also known as my two husbands (I’m a bit of a ho?): Kauveh (some of you met him) and Neira (his name is Alejandro but we refer to him by his last name). But ahh…wait! Gaby Ayala (for some of you Gabby Ayala) was there too!! We raved about Vassar and our slightly outrageous Ecuadorian parties back there. Ahh… man I miss that world! We all talked for a while and had a great time. Then we went to “La Plaza.” Another place you’ll hear about A LOT.

Over there we pulled a classic Kauveh/Claudia evening: sushi and a movie. We (minus Neira) saw Duplicity and I was blown away. It’s not to say that the movie is a masterpiece, but I quite simply admire a movie that can fool me… badly. Plus I love cons and hope to create my own Ocean’s 11 team one day. No, really… I will! Call me Danny.

While the four of us were still on the first stage of the evening (coffee), I brought up the fact that being in Quito makes me instantly anxious. I told them how I had trouble falling asleep and such, and then Gaby said that she couldn’t understand how I was going to spend the entire summer here (“I’m working for 6 weeks” was my response). She agreed with me and we started theorizing/complaining. Basically we said that there’s not much to do, that you immediately feel tired and unmotivated (could be the altitude) and Kauveh pointed out that everything was done at a much slower pace here. Should I mention the fact that a few years ago the President started a “Punctuality Campaign”? Everyone was always late and we tried to change that; meh… So yeah, basically: I’m not the only one who’s jumping off the walls. It’s no surprise that Stephanie’s already signed up for Yoga, Painting lessons and Dance classes.

I promise that apart from all of this criticism I will mention the good things. I’m still in the WHY AM I NOT AT VASSAR DOING SOMETHING phase. Much love.

Andy and I being ridiculous, Summer 08

Stephanie and I making dumb faces on New Year's

Then again, there are things that never change. I updated them on some things and they did the same. All of us proud of our growth this year and the things we have experienced. Just give us a couple of sessions of Guitar Hero plus gummy worms and we’ll be right back. And this time we’re seriously hoping to go somewhere together (we always talk about it but never do it for some reason….)

Tomorrow I’m meeting up with my two young padawans. (Ha ha ha) They’re both best friends, seniors in HS and I was one of the people who taught them what Model UN was all about back in the day. Basically, I love them. I also plan to get all my shit together and figure out when I’m taking driving lessons and which dance classes I’m going to take. Both my friends and I want to keep ourselves busy this summer. I miss my VC life-style and I’m trying to transpose NYC to UIO. The plan? Taking classes to keep myself busy and having coffee at any interesting coffee place I can find (Juan Valdez is at the top of the list). Will post pictures soon!!

Said hi to my parents and they drove me home where I was going to eat (cause I was mad hungry) but couldn’t shut up about the zillion things I wanted to say, so it took me a while before I actually sat at the table. I slept a lot, talked to a friend and met my dad for lunch at Crepe’s & Waffles (amazing chain of crepe places that I always rave about). On the way to the mall where one of them is located, the taxi driver (the only one who actually had change for a 20. I asked in advance….from experience) started telling me the story of his life. The radio was on so I couldn’t hear him very well, but apparently he divorced his wife, remarried 2 years ago and is mad at his 14 year old son for wanting to live with his mom after living with him for most of the time. He seemed upset and hurt but I couldn’t share his approach of alienating his son to “teach him a lesson”. I gave my opinion by saying that he was still very important because a father figure is irreplaceable. I also said to give his son some time. He agreed with me and told me that he usually waits 4 to 5 months. Take from it what you will. Then we made it to the Mall. The ride was a total of $1.60! First shock of returning: cab prices. They provoke a mixture of relief and worry in me. But they are what they are.

Now here’s the thing. I completely forgot about the altitude and thought that I could cheat it and be totally fine. Wrong. After 6 months of being away I shouldn’t have been surprised when I had very little appetite, was sort of nauseous and had a constant headache (still with me right now).

My house looks exactly the same. My cat (Kitti) recognized me immediately. The city is also the same. But it’s weird. I’ve known for a while that I’m not used to this place anymore. I can bounce back into the flow of things, but that doesn’t mean it’s my place of choice. However, I’m determined to maintain a positive outlook on things and see it more as SC Claudia’s adventures, Quito version.  Ha ha.