Home is where the heart is

Hey Everyone,

It´s been a big couple of days for me. For one thing, I went up to Mitad del Mundo and sat on the equator, which was surreal (I still haven´t wrapped my head around it!), and for another I´m FINALLY in Cuenca, which is where I will be spending the majority of my next 8 months.

Quito was awesome, there was so much to do, but I wasn´t too keen on the hostel I was in, and didn´t meet anyone except for older tourists who latched onto me because their spanish was worse than mine. I spent the last five days touring around Quito by myself, which on the one hand is nice because I can do what I want to do, but on the other, if I got lost or something happened, I was worried no one would notice. Traveling alone definitely forced me to overcome some of my inhibitions, especially my shyness. But I was getting lonesome, so I am VERY happy that I am in Cuenca now.

I met a lot of the other teachers I will be teaching with at CEDEI, and all of them are so friendly and enthusiastic travelers. I´m in heaven!! There is quite a lot of people older than me, and a few who are younger, but most seem around my age. The hostel I´m in is a dream. For $13/night it´s super expensive (it´s so cheap here!), but it´s quiet and has gardens and HOT showers, so I´ll pay that willingly until Saturday...when I move into my new home with a lovely Brit named Hannah!! I´m so very excited about the apartment. It´s got 4 big bedrooms and a smaller bedroom, and an amazing view!!!! On one side of the house is the view of the river and a park, and on the other side is a view of the city, and you can see about four or five cathedrals from the balcony. The lady who owns the apartment is wonderful, I can tell she´s gonna be a surrogate mother while I´m here. She and her husband own a tienda (small shop) across the street from the house, and they are both very genuine and enthusiastic. I love them already.

Other than that, I visited CEDEI for the first time today, and it seems really nice, and is very well respected in Cuenca as a school. Tomorrow is orientation, and Saturday is a house party at one of the senior teacher´s house. I am very excited and think everything is fitting into place!! There are provincial elections here on Monday, so over the weekend it is illegal to buy alcohol, and everyday there have been parades and such for the electors. It´s quite interesting.

Hope everyone is well.

Always,

Emily