Orientation day one... with nakedness the night before! (Pictures from yesterday first)

What I said in the title was not a typo.

So I was sitting at my mac, you know, just minding my own business and checking my Facebook and answering e-mails without my shirt on -- I sometimes do that. And all of the sudden, I hear a light tap tap against the door, and my cute little host mom named Salomé walked in. I was a little embarrassed when I didn't have my shirt on, but that doesn't compare to what happened next.

She went on to say that she got a phone call from her neighbor who lives outside my window. This neighbor exclaimed, "Who is the naked man in your window?!" So she shut the blinks with a laugh and my cheeks were a bit blushed. I guess I didn't think about this considering I've been living in the 4th floor of the dorms at school for the past year and a half.

9 hours later, I got up bright and early. I was tranquilly taking a shower when all of the sudden I got another knock on my door. From the night before, I've learned that isn't good. Apparently, I was supposed to be at orientation at 8:00am and I was sitting dripping wet in the shower. Thanks to plenty of dysfunctional alarms in high school, I was able to get ready very fast and my friend's host mom gave us a ride to the university. We got there on time! Unfortunately, we two were the only ones from our Penn State/U of I group there. So, when they asked people to raise their hands when they announced schools, my gringo fingers where the only ones thrust into the air when they announced Illinois. It was cómico.

We then were introduced to the university and the Ecuadorian culture. Here are some fun facts that I learned:

1. Don't take pamphlets that people hand out. It's not because they want money in return... In reality, the MAJORITY of them have drugs on the paper that are absorbed in skin and then act as a date rape drug. It keeps you conscious but you have no idea what's going on - aka Blackout! They then get you to give them all of your money, write blank checks, and things like that.
2. Only take taxis that have a government marking on the door, letters on the wind shield, yellow license plate and taxi triangle on top of the car. I was surprised when I started noticing how many taxis didn't have these things! Let's try not to get kidnapped. 
3. When you're walking on the sidewalk, you should walk next to the street instead of next to a wall on the other side. This prevents from someone pushing you up against a wall and taking your things (they can't do that if they push you into the street). 
4. I learned a few more things, but those were the most interesting. 
5. Oh yeah, bus drivers don't stop for men -- they simply slow to a crawl and expect you to jump on/off the bus. They stop for women though. 

After orientation, something pretty crazy happened. I was walking down the street and I hear my name getting screamed out, "MICHAEL!" I look ahead to where it's being called, and who is it?! It's Stephanie McGinnis, my friend who introduced me to the salsa club in Champaign, and no, she's not on the trip with us! I guess those who have walked with me on the street on campus or in other counties in the past, this isn't a surprise. But, every time it happens in another country (and it has every time out of the country which is WEIRD). She is on another school trip helping out in a nearby town. A few of the students in my program live in that town and already met their group a few days before I got there. 

The leader of their group then said, "You want to come with us to Quito?" and I explained, "YEP!" so I jumped onto the moving bus (see #5 above). We went shopping in Quito for a bit, then it got chilly and rained so we went home. Chilly ha! Welcome the equator. But seriously. 

When I got home, I had a very classy 5 course meal that was delicious. Sean, there was a "cheese cake" that tasted like a mix of regular vanilla cake, flan, and cheese cake. I'll try to get the recipe, just remind me. I got a lot of practice with Spanish because Edwin's (home stay dad) parents were there and we talked for about 3 hours. I understood about 60% of it, and hopefully by the end of this semester that'll be closer to 90-100%!

That's just about it! Hope everyone is having fun back home. Have an adventure -- whether it ia real or in your mind. They're too fun to pass up!

¡Bien Venidos! 

Michael