Ha sido un dia imposible...

Today was a freaking ridiculous day.

First of all, I don't have any clothes, so I'm pretty much wearing the same things every week. I have to go shopping, but I just can't find the time. And then for breakfast we had fruit and yogurt like we always have, but there was some kind of fruit in there that I did not like. It had a yucky texture, but I made myself eat it anyway. Blechk.

It took me a full hour to get to school, when it usually takes me half that time. Then I had to go right to Problemas Sociales en Ecuador, in which we learned the definitions of estado (state), capitalismo, and socialismo, which are exactly the same in Spanish as in English, and it was kind of a waste of time. But whatever.

Then I had Lengua y Literatura which was fine. We ended early because today was USFQ's 21st birthday! Yay! Happy birthday, school! Actually, it is everyone and their mothers' birthdays this week. So happy birthday to school, you, and your mother!

Happy 20+1st!

Feliz cumpleaños, USFQ!

For anyone out there complaining about how hard it is to get textbooks, you are wrong. Just straight-up wrong. There is no worse system in the entire world than the bookstore at la USFQ. You come in, abandon your bag right by the door, and fight for a numbered ticket. Once you have a ticket, you cna go look for your books. They are organized by subject, but the subjects themselves are not in any order. Plus, if you're looking for the book for Gramatica Avanzada (like I was), you have to check educación, socráticos, literatura, and lenguas. Plus, all the books are actually coursepacks, so they all look the same and are only distinguishable by thickness--not helpful.

So you get in line, look at your number (D21, maybe) and look at the sign which has the current number. Say it's on 66. You're like, damn, I have to wait like 60 numbers! So after 40 minutes or so, your number is called and you can approach the designated cashier. When you present her your number, she shakes her head, and says, no, you're number D21, and we're on the B. B?! BS!! So you wait through the rest of the Bs, then the Cs, and finally, after standing around literally for hours, your number gets called and you can check out. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can scavenge for crumpled-up numbers on the floor that were discarded by people who just gave up, but it's not likely. So from 1230PM to about 3PM, I sat around in the bookstore and suffered.

I took this picture of the mountains while I was waiting to buy books.

And then! It took forever to get to Río Coca (the terminal where I change buses) and I still had to go to get my passport back from the visa place. The stop by my house, Bellavista, is seven away from Río Coca, and the one where the visa place is, Orellana, is three or four from Bellavista. So I get off at Orellana, hike up a hill to the place, only to find that it has moved. Moved! To 6 de Deciembre and... something that starts with a G! The woman who told me this also offered me a taxi, which I gladly took (taxímetros are $1,50 to anywhere) to 6 de Deciembre and something with a G, which was so close to Río Coca that I could have walked from there in the first place, instead of paying $,25 for a bus and $1,50 for a taxi. In the visa place, I sat for a good long while (I was too distraught to look at the time) while they searched for my passport, and finally I got to go home on the bus from Colegio 24 de Mayo to Bellavista. I got off the bus, said hi to Enrique who works at the gas station, and bought a 2Litro bottle of water, which I drank in about five seconds. I think I got home at like 5PM.

And now I'm home and I have a gazillion homeworks. Ughhhh.