Cool.

Malaria pills kick ass. Well, they definitely have their side effects, like making your skin more susceptible to the sun, but if you're not a total whitie, you're good to go. I've been taking these pills, called Doxycyline, for just about a month now and will have to stop taking them on Thursday. The reason I like them first of all is because by taking them I will not get malaria (although I don't think I would've gotten malaria had I not taken them), and second of all because I have been having very intense, realistic dreams since the first day I took one them back at the end of March. I don't know why this is a side effect, or even how it could be a side effect, but it has been interesting to wake up and remember the crazy dreams that I have each night. Last night someone gave me a new cell phone. Two weeks ago I was back in Boise eating lunch with my high school girl friends at IHOP, but it wasn't IHOP, but I knew we were in the IHOP restaurant. I often remember my dreams without malaria prevention medication, but I feel like the dreams are just out of control wacko with Doxycyline.

I cut my hair!!! Oh, it felt so incredibly wonderful to chop off the bottom half of my poof ball. I went to this dinky little place around the corner from my house on Av. América and had Señor Suave cut my hair for $5.00, and it actually looks pretty good! I was feeling a little untrustworthy of the peluquerías here, but I may just cut my hair again in June before I come back to Boise!

There was traffic on Sunday, which is just not normal. On Sunday, Ecuadorians had until 5pm to go out and vote for their president (and their mayors and all that junk). They had 8 candidates to choose from, four of which actually saw any action in the polls. Rafael Correa got reelected and will lead the country for four more years.

Ecuador has had a history of instability in their political system, just like many South American countries. But it interesting to see that despite the corruption in the past, the people continue to support it today. Another candidate that ran was Lucio Gutiérrez, who in 2005 got removed from office by the people for his corruption. I do not understand how it was even legal for Gutiérrez to run in the race, let alone how he ended with 28% of the population following him. Another candidate was Alvaro Noboa, a banana plantation billionaire who made this election his 4th attempt at presidency. Many Ecuadorians nulled their ballots, or simply voted for the candidate that was "menos mal". Others voted for whoever was in second place previous to election day.

I don't know what to think about Correa. My host family, and the host families where my friends live all despise the man and probably voted for Gutiérrez and Noboa just because they didn't want Correa to win. Correa won 52% of the vote, and obviously that is a percentage that supports mostly the lower class. I think that although Correa himself may be corrupt, he has shown to be a steady leader for the past 2 years and if the lower class supports him, which is the majority of the population, I will support him. Yey for the indigenous people who's rights have been ignored since the Conquistadores!

I love Portugués. It is a beautiful language and I am very happy to be learning it. Plus, it's not too much different from Spanish!!! Ahhh.

Lame blog, whatever. You will all read it anyway.

I met an Ecuadorian! Wouldn't you like to know more?

The Overall Irritated blog

So I am utterly furious with the obstacles I have had to go through to sign up for a class at PUCE. I feel like everyone gives me half of the information that I need in order to register for the class, and by the time I have to go talk to the International Relations office about registering, they are all sorts of pissy because "I've been here the whole year and should know by now how the system works". RIGHT. It's as simple as that, is it? I'll admit that I have been here and you'd think that I'd have caughten on by now, but it's just not like that. Every time I have to deal with International Relations they somehow make everything that goes wrong my fault and I'm sick of it! Maybe if their system wasn't as complicated as one of those Magic Eye pictures I wouldn't be such a pain in the ass. Thankfully this is the last time I will ever have to deal with this atrocious government of nonsense.
The beginning of this entry truly displays the exact definition of "blogger" in The Urban Dictionary. How embarrassing. Thank you, Mindy.

So today is a perfect sunny day in Quito and so far I have been the only one I've seen wearing shorts. Quiteños just don't wear shorts and it kills me. I'm already this gigantic white chick in Quito and now I stick out even more because I'm wearing an item of clothing that actually makes sense in this climate. Loosen up, Quito! Just because we're sitting at 10,000 feet above sea level doesn't mean that the sun doesn't shine! Damn do I need to get to the laidback lands of the beach before I lose it and walk out of the house with, oh no, shorts and a tanktop.

I spent the last week with my mom! She came to visit me from Idaho even though I know she was really nervous. We packed in every possible tourist spot that we could and went on an adventure into the Amazon on top of it. We got stuck in a crazy rainstorm that lasted hours and were forced to make protective gear out of giant green Amazon leaves. It was an unforgettable rainstorm, especially because everyone had had their faces painted with mud before the rain, and somehow my mother walked out of that storm without even a smear on her face. I just don't know how she did it. I had a fabulous time with my mom and am glad she came beause it was a good family fix that will hopefully last me until June.

Yesterday I wanted to kick one of my sevenish aunts right in the face. She has always been nice to me, but it's that kind of "nice" that belongs in quotation marks and is more of a cover up for "I hate you for no particular reason and would rather that you just escort yourself from our tea party". I think perhaps the main reason she doesn't like me is because I don't consider myself to be a religious person (because I have a lot of questions still unanswered so there!) and so my aunt thinks I'm this demon gringa sent from the sinful land of the USA, brought here to corrupt her daughter. Or maybe I'm just digging up reasons, but whatever! Yesterday my aunt was interrogating me, as she often does, but she does this in a way that covers up the interrogation. I don't know how she does it; it must just be years of practice. Anyway, she was questioning me about my family in the states and about my past and whatnot. She said some negative things about my family, which pissed me off. Then she made some assumptions about me. She knows that I like beer, which whatever, who cares, not a big deal. Then for some reason she asked me if I'd ever smoked. I told her yes, I've tried smoking...I said it casually because I knew it would push her buttons. Before I even had the chance to say that I didn't enjoy smoking, she says to me "Oh, well then you've most definitely tried cocaine before, you know, that stuff you sniff up your nose..." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT! What in the world does having had smoked have to do with cocaine? What made this worse was that she was saying this all in front of my host family, trying to catch me in my weak points or something, trying to prove that I wasn't the badass that they thought I was. At this point I just got up from the table and went to the bathroom to take some deep breaths so that I didn't pop her one in the shnozz. I don't know why this aunt doesn't like me, but I honestly don't care. I only have a few months left here, and I'm not gonna let her hatred towards me bring down my mood. It's more fun for me to be as sweet as a pie when I'm around her anyways, because I know it just makes her blood boil. Hey, it's not my fault she's wearing pants when it's 80 degrees out!