oh right, i actually AM in school here

I had this realization today as I spent from 10am to 4pm in class. Yuck.

Today was actually a little better than it probably will be because it was the typical first-day-of-class, syllabus-handing-out day, and we got to leave some of our classes early. I may make it sound likes it's bad, but honestly, I'm sure that the work here will be a tad easier than in Chapel Hill.

My first class: Tejido (Weaving):
I'm not actually enrolled in this yet, but I hopefully will be by Thursday. Ashley and I are the only foreigners in the class, which is nice and it will hopefully give us a chance to meet some locals. What we'll do in the class kind of reminds me of something we did in like sixth grade as an enrichment, but here, it's on a bigger scale.

Next, Introducción a la Cultura Ecuatoriana (Intro to Ecuadorian Culture):
This one is meant for Americans to take, so it's full of fellow study abroad students. We'll basically be learning different things about the culture here and then practicing them with our host families. Our teacher seems pretty cool, and even though it might be a little boring, it seems like it will be pretty easy.

Then, Lengua y Literatura (Language & Literature):
Another class designed for foreigners, so it's about 8 of us Americans and a girl from Germany. The professor seems really cool -- he's from Cuba, like my host dad, so I have a little practice already understanding his accent. It's going to be a lot of reading and responding, but should be kind of cool.

Finally, Arte Colonial Latinoamericano (Colonial Latin American Art):
This class is a mix of Americans and Ecuadorians, but mainly Americans. It's about the art during the colonial time period in Mexico and the Andes region, mainly in Peru. The teacher seems really nice, and it doesn't seem like too much work. I didn't absolutely love my last art history class at UNC, but we'll see how this one goes...

Today, I was exhausted by the time I got home, so I took a little nap before dinner. Dinner tonight was breaded pork, mashed potatoes, rice (always), and "salad," which here is considered anything with green in it -- tonight it was lettuce, avocado, onion, and tomato. My mom, Lorena, worked a bunch of restaurants in the United States, so she loves American food. So, while I do get my share of Ecuadorian food, I also get a good bit of American-ish food and Cuban food. Lots of rice, but also lots of plantains (yum).

Tonight I also got to play with Leandro for actually the first time. I think it took a little time for him to adjust to having me here, but tonight we played with the little UNC soccer ball I brought him and made a game out of passing it while counting to 100.

Tomorrow is a day of no class for me, and it's salsa night... ¡Que chévere!