Days 18-24/ Week 3: Gripe and New Friends

Unfortunately, this week wasn't the best week for me because I had gripe, the Spanish flu. I had symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, a lot of congestion, a fever, an upset stomach, and a very strong head cold. I got checked out by a doctor and was told that gripe was caused by the change in climate. Right now in Guayaquil the day it is very hot, but at night it is cool and windy, which led to my sickness as well as the sickness of many others. This week at the internship, almost all of our patients had symptoms of gripe and had to be treated. For me, the sickness lasted a little over a week.

The Internship

This week at the internship, Keke and I did not do much because I was sick and we also had a different nurse. This nurse does not allow us to do as much as Juan, therefore all we did this week was take blood pressure, fold wrap and gauze, and make cotton balls. It was a very light week and we did not learn anything new.

School:

As of now, Keke and I are still in the Spanish and Ecuadorian Culture and Society  (EC&S) class. Since these classes are part of the KEI program, we are the only two in the class. We will start our biology classes next month. In EC&S, we learned about the different cultures and history of Ecuador. We also went to the music museum, the beer museum, and the Barcelona and Emelec Museum's. In Spanish, we did a presentation and took and exam, which we do every week.

Barcelona and Emelec are two rival soccer teams here in Guayaquil. They are both very popular and have a rich history.





Julio Jaramillo is a very popular artist that was born in Guayaquil. He is known as one of the best Ecuadorian singers and as a symbol of national music.

Other things we did:

This week we went to the mall and quickly learned about the import taxes Ecuador has because the prices for clothes were outrageously expensive. For example, we found a shirt that I bought for $5 in the US for $27.90 at Forever 21! I could not believe how much the clothes were because of the taxes. Because of this tax, I found out that most people shop online or have certain stores that are a little bit less expensive. However, the mall was quite large and had a lot of American stores. It also had some stores that were tailored to the Latin people and Guayaquil. There was also a super store (that reminded me a lot of target) and a very nice movie theater.



One weird thing that happened to me this week was that we made a new friend! One day while I was walking home from CEN, a lady started screaming "Venga Venga" at me, which was very odd. Against my better judgment, I actually approached the lady instead of running in the other direction. When I talked with her she asked me if I was a gringa, and once I said yes she got extremely excited and talked my head off. She talked very fast and was a very frenzied individual, but I answered her questions the best I could. She basically wanted me to meet her daughter, Alina, so that I could help her with her English because she had a test coming up in November. I said yes, and then I met her daughter and we planned to do something over the weekend. Again, against my better judgement, I agreed to meet her at the mall and then go to her house. I soon began to think this was a horrible idea and of all of the bad possibilities that could come from going to a strangers home in another country who ran you down on the street, but luckily, Keke went with me so I did not have to go alone. The lady's husband made us encebollado, a very typical and beloved dish here in Ecuador. Alina also introduced us to reggaeton and showed us how to salsa, although we are not very good at it. We then went to the mall and walked around and had a great time. I am very lucky to have a had a good experience considering the situation and way we met, but I would not advise anyone who plans on studying abroad or visiting another country to do the same thing I did, because now that I look back on it, it could have been a bad situation.

Encebollado is a fish soup and a typical dish in Ecuador. It is typically used for hangovers!

A random thing that happened was that Keke and I had a long talk with our Uber driver. He basically told us about the typical delicacies of Ecuador, but also mentioned American fast food to us. Apparently here in Ecuador, KFC is a delicacy! Other fast foods they have are McDonalds, Wendys, Dunkin Donuts, Cinnabon, and Subway.

This weekend was the first weekend KeKe and did not travel anywhere, so we relaxed for most of the weekend. On Saturday morning, my host family and I ran in a 2km race. The race was for my host sister's job and helped to promote health and wellness, like a lot of companies do here. I actually ended up placing third place (out of the women) and received a nice free breakfast buffet for two! My host family was very proud and excited for me.

Additionally, I attended a matinaa, which is a birthday party for young children. The party was for Keke's baby host sister and it was very long and consisted of a bunch of kids running around and dancing. We learned some more raggaeton songs, as well as some typical Hispanic children songs such as "chu chu wa," which got stuck in my head for the entire night. We also tried arroz con choclo, which is rice and corn that was served with pork; it was very delicious.

Happy Birthday Baby Alice!

Arroz con cholco (rice and corn) 

Other food:

I have been to many panaderías since I have been here and each one has sold a pineapple pastry that has ham and cheese. I am starting to think that is the thing here!

El Cafè de Tere is a very popular restaurant in Guayaquil and it is most known for its bolon. Bolon is a meal prepared with friend crushed plantain, cheese, and roasted pork called "chicharrón." Instead of ordering bolon, I ordered tigrillo mixto, which is green plantain, egg, cheese and chicharrón.