My host Carlos is fantastic, and fantastically funny. Saturday, my second day at his house, he, Luis, and I went out on the town for some typical Ecuadorian experiences. We first went to the mall and bought me a new phone. Carlos tried to talk Luis into buying a pingpong table, and we ate Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch. They kept telling me, "This is a very Ecuadorian thing to do. You like Ecuador... or is it to American?"
Lunch was followed by another cultural experience- bowling. Where we learned that the secret to bowling well is dancing, preferably to the sickeningly American music that they play all over the mall.
Yesterday Carlos took me to the Teleferigo- which is a sort of ride to the top of one of the mountains on the outskirts of the city. At the top there are a few shops and trails. We hiked up one of the trails, to a point that was more than 4100 meters, over 13000 feet, high. We sat at this point for a long time talking about our families, our experiences, travels, etc. Still me in Spanish and him in English.
The great thing about Couchsurfing is that it really gets to be entering somebody's life and seeing how they live. I actually probably would not have gone to a KFC here if I had not been with Carlos. Also, there are such small things that you are exposed to that are different than they are at home. For example, before taking a shower you must turn on the waterheater and let it heat up for about half an hour before you will have hot water, and Carlos' monthly electricity bill is about $6.85- including utilities and taxes.
Last night I had a dream that I was talking to Mrs. Kreig, my high school English teacher, and responded to something she said with "Chevere", which means cool. Then, in my dream, I turned to her and said, "I am dreaming right now. I am not actually here, because I am in Ecuador. I will be here for another two months." Then she and I had a conversation about dreams in which you know you are dreaming and how that works.
Crazy.
