We just got 'spumed so hard.

Well, I spilled like a liter of water on my laptop a while ago and the left clicky key doesn't work. So I'm using a lot of keyboard shortcuts and stuff, but it's a pain in the ass. I have to go buy a mouse or something. Damn.

On Saturday, Annie and I went to go check out the karaoke bar that's in our neighborhood. We intended to just go see if it was open and then get ready and come back later, but we went in straightaway, even though we both looked absolutely terrible. It was a pretty small red room with tables and a projection screen, and there probably were about fifteen people there, including us. One of the bartenders brought us the song book and we picked out "Me Voy" by Julieta Venegas, "Don't Speak" by No Doubt, and "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie and Meatloaf. We drank some beers and then it was our turn to sing. "Me Voy" didn't go so well, but whatever, it's in Spanish. Then we sang "Don't Speak" and KILLED IT. We tied for first place (we scored a 99.5) and got a free beer out of it. Then! We sang "Total Eclipse" and GOT ONE HUNDRED PERCENT, which meant a solid perfect first place forever and more free beer. And respect from everyone there.

We sang more and drank more and had a grand old time. The bartenders kept bringing us free things (actually, just beer and chicharrones, which we politely refused). We sang pretty much every song that they had in English, and sang along, somewhat clumsily, to the Spanish songs that other people were singing. At about 3AM it was time to go, but as we were saying goodbye, the bartenders called us over and wrangled us into chatting (and drinking) with them for a good hour and a half more. One of the guys really likes Slipknot (and he's giving us a demo tape of his band next time we go), and they kept making us sing. In the end, the Slipknot-guy walked Annie and I home (the bar is literally five minutes away), and Annie and I celebrated our karaoke-triumph for days afterward.

On Sunday, Annie and I went to Quitumbe (a big bus terminal) to get tickets to Ambato, but we found out that we didn't even need to buy tickets in advance. So we went to La Marin, the stop between Quitumbe and our house, to hang out in the Centro Historico for the afternoon. So, in Ecuador, Carnaval is super exciting. There's a variety of ways to celebrate, but mostly you just throw things at people: water balloons, eggs, stinky and/or colored water... plus there's this spray-foam that you get people with, and it temporarily dyes their skin colors. So while we were in Centro Historico, we bought a ton of this spray foam (it's actually called espuma) just in case we got attacked by the locals.

We did.

Everyone from tiny little baby kids to grown ups working in stores would just sneak up on us and absolutely cover us with the stuff. And then while we were blinded by the espuma, little kids would run up and dump their water bottles on us. It was the BEST. I love Carnaval. It's my favorite holiday, for reals.

Espuma Carnavalera ... my weapon of choice.

Monday, we went to Ambato but it was a bummer. Not really even worth talking about.

Today is the first day of Lent and I've decided to do this one (yoga) kriya every day, and also be vegan (with the exception of alcohol, sorry). We might go to Baños this weekend which could be fun, but I just want to go to the beach. That's all I've ever wanted. Ever.

I really like the songs "Shit Luck" by Modest Mouse (because it's great for dancin'), "February" by Dar Williams (because it's sad and I hate February), and "Jaguar House" by Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas (because it's just awesome).

Okay, that's all. Still no pictures, but I'm very seriously considering going to buy a camera.

That's it.
Gina.

Tu nombre en mi cuadeeeernoooo

Welp. Right now I'm eating red peppers in the computer lab at La Uni because my art class got canceled. That was kind of a bummer, because I love that class, but at least now I have an hour and a half to do other homework... not.

As usual, it's hot as all balls today in Cumbayá, but it's humid for some reason, so that makes things worse. Bess, Lisa, and I are presenting a dialogue today for our conversation class, and it's about three girls who are all in love with one guy (who is fighting in Afghanistan) and Lisa is pregnant with his child, Bess is engaged to him, and I'm a drug additct. It's pretty much awesome.

I still don't have a camera, so here's some jellybean guys.

Yoga continues to kick my ass, which I love. I'm afraid to do respiración de fuego (AKA, fire breathing) today because I'm going to shoot boogers everwhere (jus' sayin').

I met some kids from our neighborhood the other day. There were like, six of them and they were hanging around our fence when I got home from school because they were thirsty and Annie's bedroom window was open, so they were trying to get her attention. I gave them some water, and we started talking. I told them about myself and about the USA. They asked if I had kids. They asked what snow was like, and you really should have seen their faces when I described it. It was adorable.

The funniest part was when they asked me if I had any pets. But the Spanish word for "pet" is mascota, which I always ALWAYS think is "mascot." So I started describing Sparty. He's a strong man who wears green, and ... "Wait. A MAN?!" Oh god, Gringa lameass has a man for a pet. I corrected myself and explained that a "mascot" is something that represents your school and that I had two cats. Ugh.

Oh, and I got my tragus pierced! ...


That's all.

Love,
Gina.

Razors

Bess is out at a going-away-party, Annie is working on a presentation about morality, and I finished my homework early! Hurray! Practicing drawing ribbons? Check. Twenty articles about USA/Latin American relations? Check. All three seasons of Arrested Development in three days? Check and check.

I did end up dropping my lit class because, come on, who wants to work this semester? I still have five classes (even though only three of them count for anything), and I'm really enjoying all of them. Drawing is amazing, yoga is amazing, conversation is fun and hilarious, and my two politics classes are also going well.

We haven't even been doing anything besides homework and dance parties and grocery shopping. I went out a few times last week, but nothing (well, almost nothing) of consequence happened. It was a ton of fun though.

I can't figure out why my family is especially concerned about my wellbeing this semester. I've been living here for six months already and they all of a sudden decided to be extra extra worried about me this semester. I don't know if it's something they heard about Ecuador (or worse, about me), but either way.... I appreciate the worry, but I don't know what brought this on all of a sudden.

Seeing as my camera got stolen, I don't have and pictures of anything to post which is a big bummer, because the landscape has been looking abnormally beautiful lately. So here's a picture of a moose that I found on the internet:

Love y'all.

What else? That's it. Okay.

Gina.

They're making awful plans, you'll get cancer in your hands!

I'm sitting on the stairs of the Beaver Dam right now; it's one of two places (the other being Annie's room) in which we can successfully bootleg internet from our neighbors. The connection is super shaky and we can't all use it at once, but that's better than nothing!

My classes are good. Actually, one class in particular--El Boom Latinoamericano--is absolutely horrendous, but I think it'll end up being easier to take it here than at MSU. So I'm sticking with it. Both politics classes are good, although the profe for Política Ecuatoriana is difficult to understand. Conversación is gonna be good, I think. The profe is cwazy and I like her a lot. Today in drawing we drew straight lines (we move onto curly lines on Thursday...) and that was fun. That class is probably my best bet for making friends at La Uni. We put our line drawings on the floor towards the end of class and evaluated each one of them as a group, and mine was unanimously the best. Hurray!

I also had yoga today, which was actually... really amazing. We're doing Kundalini yoga, which, our profe says, is more about meditation and self-awareness than actual poses. We did some mantras and some singing, and my homework is to breathe. Cool, right? I couldn't relax my face, which I thought was odd. I guess I have some pent-up things that are going to come tumbling out sooner or later... or at least that's what the profe said. We'll see.

We've been having nightly dance sessions in the Beaver Dam. It's just as cleansing as yoga, I think, but more fun, haha.

I can't stop listening to the Mountain Goats cover of "Terror Song." There's a dead dog in a trash pile on the way to the bus stop. There's been interesting developments in ... everything, which, if you're lucky, I'll spit out in here as soon as I chew on it some more.

Lovesss.

Gina.

Back to the Beaver Dam!

Hooray, I'm in Ecuador!! Yayyy!!

My flight back to Quito was like two hours late and I didn't end up getting back to the Beaver Dam till almost 3AM. Annie and I took Zack and Megan (two new MSU kids) to La Mariscal instead of going to the Gringo Party at Mulligan's, and we had a really good time.

When I got to Detroit, I was so so so excited. I felt so much joy and like, a surge of love towards Michigan and the general Midwest when the plane landed. And then when we landed in Quito, I just felt straight relief. I don't know what those two distinct emotions mean about the two distinct places for which I felt them, but I'm probably going to dwell on it for forever until I figure it out.

What else? Today is the first day of school. Right now, I'm taking advantage of the break I have between classes to write this. Here's what my schedule looks like:

MW
POL301 Temas de America Latina 11-12PM (and also Friday)
POL310 Política Ecuatoriana 1-230PM
LIT225 El Boom Latinoamericano 230-4PM

TTh
ART100 Dibujo Básico 1130-1PM
EPE321 Conversación Avanzada 1-230PM
DEP181 Hatha Yoga 430-6PM

Exciting, right? Two classes count for Spanish, one counts for Madison, and drawing and yoga are just for funsies. I think it's gonna be a good semester.

The weather is wonderful. It's been sunny and in the 70s and still not raining (so the apagones continue...).