While Obama is speaking at UNC...

While Obama is currently speaking at UNC (and I am very disappointed I'm not there to watch!) I will catch up any blog readers out there with the recent happenings here in Ecuador...

We're beginning to slide down the hill that we call the end of the semester. I have about 2 and a half weeks left of classes and as soon as I turn in two final papers, I will have finished the semester. How I got so lucky as to not have any final exams, I have no idea but I am very very grateful.

A few weeks ago I went to my first soccer game in Ecuador and it was certainly different than any soccer game I'd ever attended. The teams were Barcelona (a team from Guayaquil) and Deportivo Quito. Contrary to what you might think, I as well as the majority of fans, were rooting for the Guayaquil team even though a team from Quito was playing! Not that I was very partial, I just rooted for the team that our Ecuadorian friend was rooting for - El Amarillo (the yellow team). The game was exciting, but watching the Barcelona fans was even more exciting - they set off fireworks, stood the whole game, sang/chanted the entire time, and occasionally got pretty rowdy (don't worry, there were about 200 police sent in at the beginning of the game to keep the peace). While in the end Barcelona lost, it was still a great game and an incredible experience (although I did not enjoy that almost every single fan was smoking).

The past two weekends, I've done something that I had originally not intended doing...revisiting places. I revisited Mindo (the cloud forest) and Canoa (the beach). Both were fairly spontaneous trips and I really enjoyed both. Since they were two of my favorite places that I'd visited, I did not feel guilty about going back because well, I can't believe this but I've pretty much seen the majority of the places I've wanted to visit. It was especially exciting to receive a warm welcome by the hostal that we stayed in the first visit in Mindo - we were surprised that the hostal owners had such great memories to remember us. In Mindo, enjoyed a long hike to several waterfalls, eating lots of chocolate & brownies at the Chocolateria, relaxing and visiting the Mariposario (butterfly farm).

 Last week, my Anthropology class went to a Drag Show - also something I was not expecting to do in my time here in Ecuador. Homosexuality is one of the many themes we study in my Andean Anthropology class and therefore, a  large portion of my class went to a very small cafe called Cafe Dionisios for a show. It was very interesting, especially because the main Drag Queen is the author of several articles we have read for the class. After the show, we learned a lot about the Drag culture in Ecuador and about homosexuality in general. Did you know that until the late 1990s, being homosexual was considered a crime in Ecuador? Much has changed since then here but it is still a very taboo subject, especially given the very conservative culture.

Also, did you know that it is essentially mandatory to vote in Ecuador if you are over the age of 18? Between ages 16-18, it is permitted to vote but starting at age 18, all voters receive a special ticket that states that they voted and they must keep that ticket during the entire presidential term and may be asked on several occasions to present the ticket to make important transactions such as in the bank, buying land, going to the Galapagos Islands...it's almost as important as their identification card which they must also carry at all times. I learned about this during the student government elections at my university, which were also mandatory for permanent students - punishable by a fine if a student did not vote!

Sitting in Anthropology class yesterday (an appropriate place for this thought), I could not help thinking about the diversity of Ecuador's people. Hopefully by reading my blog you've already come to learn about Ecuador's geographical diversity but it's cultural diversity is just as great. I had a wonderful conversation yesterday with an Afroecuadorian student about her thoughts on the Afroecuadorian population and culture, heard about an Indigenous community in the Amazon from a classmate who had just returned from visiting family there and learned a lot about the Indigenous movement in class....all to surmount to me wondering, how are there so so so many different people with completely different cultures, united under one country? I asked a classmate and his suggestion was the natural richness of the country - whether it's the beach, the mountains, or the rainforest, almost every Ecuadorian citizen has some deep appreciation for at least one aspect of the natural beauty of the country. Regardless, I have really enjoyed learning about different cultures and I'm realizing that it would take a lifetime to learn about and understand every single cultural group in Ecuador.

I am extremely excited to announce that three students from my university here are going to study at UNC next semester/year! Last week, I was introduced to one of the girls and hopefully today I will meet her two friends that are going as well. I can't wait to share Chapel Hill/NC with them and while I have to remember that they will be there to practice their English, I'm hoping to squeeze in some Spanish practice with them every once in a while.

I hope this finds you doing well and enjoying spring weather (it has been very cold and rainy in Quito the past few weeks!).