After approximately ten days of towel-usage and non-washage, I put my (singular, which I bought here) towel in my laundry because... you know, that's gross. That was Monday morning and now it is Wednesday morning, and I have no towel to speak of. This translates into two showers where I get out and wait to dry like a wet chicken. I need to ask the maid where it is (there is a live-out maid who cleans in the house). I assume it's just still drying, but I walked outside to that area and it wasn't on the line... I'm so confused. I think there is a dryer used for some things, because I've gotten shirts back in a number of hours... the solution is really that I need to buy a second towel.
So I have now officially had each class twice! Que emocionante. I like them all except I would rather endure, well, almost anything than Economia Internacional. I am completely lost. It is the highest level of ECON at the school, and I've only had intro to econ, in which I did not do smashingly. But it's not even the concepts I don't understand- it's the words coming out of the professor's mouth. I think I need to talk to him. I love Model UN, although regime theory is a tad dull. I have those two classes Mondays, which means I have them today.
Yesterday I had El Cuento Hispanoamericano, where we had to read a 2-page story that I struggled with. I've never had that much trouble with Spanish so I figured I would be fine after a half-hour or hour, but I wasn't. I need to give myself a lot more time for reading. I also had the Beloit-required Historias Locales, Tendencias Globales where we drew maps of Ecuador and the US and talked about social, cultural and economic norms. Then I went to Evolucion Humana, a class I just added, where I also didn't pick up much of what the professor had to say- although I think this was because I hadn't eaten in 18 hours and was so hungry I couldn't concentrate! Another "don't."
I had lunch with some international students, although we did our best to speak Spanish. The creperia was giving out free wine with lunch to celebrate the USFQ's 20th birthday! Amazing. Then I went to the god-awful bookstore to try to pick up some of my texts for class.
Beloit... we don't know how good we have it. First of all, the bookstore doesn't take credit cards. NO CARDS. I know I am in a 'developing country,' but seriously, this campus looks like Beverly Hills. The girls dress up nicer for class than I do when I go out at night. It's insane. Yet the bookstore doesn't take credit cards. Which means I have to be charged to take cash out of the ATM again, sweet.
So I find my 'books-' they don't really use books here but there are readers which are bound copes for $9 to $15 each- and go to wait in the very long and very, very, very slow line. Apparently the bookstore also doesn't believe in cash registers. I don't know if the system was down or they always do receipts by hand, but I cannot describe how slow the process was.
I was waiting in line with another girl, and when it got to be her turn, the guy at the cash register told us he was closed. I could not believe it; we'd been waiting for half an hour and the other lines were equally long- he wanted us to just go to the back of a new line! We couldn't do anything so we moved. Then, get this- he takes an ecuatoriana who was behind me. I was infuriated. I went up to him and was like, "por que ella puede pagar?" and he wouldn't even look at me. What an asshole. He took her and then someone who looked like he might have been a professor. And Ali and I got to wait in an even longer line.
I have to go back to the bookstore today... Can't wait.
But really, things are great. Last night I saw Emma, my friend from New York- she has been here all summer but is going home today- and her friend Angel from Banos. We had dinner at a place called the Magic Bean and shared a few beers and argued about American politics before I said goodbye to her until December.
I am still determined to go somewhere this weekend, but a lot of people want to stay here for a party Friday night and the soccer game Saturday. I think I will go somewhere even if it means going alone! Although I hope I can find people to travel with.
Hasta Luego,
Kim
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