One Year Later
I have been in Ecuador for one week and it feels like I have been here for a year, minus the language skills that come with living somewhere for an extended period of time. I am beginning to settle in: I found my school, I can get around my neighborhood without getting lost, I am eating ten times a day so all-in-all life is good. For those of you out there learning a second language or third or sixth I commend you. It is unbelievably exhausting, I am exhausted every second of the day. Trying to forcibly pull out every last meaning from a fast paced sentence is not only difficult its mortifying. The anxieties associated with learning a new language are nothing I should be stressing too hard because we all experience them but still…. I slept for twelve hours today, I physically could not get out of bed. The school days here feel long and rigorous. Starting at 8:30am we have two hours of grammar lessons a thirty minute break and then two more hours of oral lessons. By 1pm my brain is dead and I feel like I know less Spanish than when I arrived. In addition to the four hours of lessons a day, 2 to 4 hours of my afternoon are devoted to homework and by the time I get home I am so out of Spanish ability that I have to go lay down before dinner so that I can find the energy to say at least something to my sweet host family at dinner. People keep telling me that it does get easier, it has only been one week after all, but the full immersion is definitely intense. Tangent aside, this post was actually supposed to feature some of my favorite food spots in Quito because the first thing I do when I move somewhere new is blow all my money on food so I might as well share some of the knowledge. If you ever find yourself in Quito check these places out they are truly amazing.
Benchtime Bakery and Café — https://www.mibenchtime.com/?lang=en
Satuco — https://www.facebook.com/satucoec
De La Llama — https://www.facebook.com/delallama/
Vafeldagen — http://www.vafeldagen.com
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