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October 31, 2003The Secret of My Success
DAY 11: I think that I'm learning Spanish a lot quicker than the other students in school. I don't know if it's because I took French in high school and the language is very similar, or because I come from Filipino heritage and Tagalog borrows many words from Spanish. All I do know is that most students I've spoken to are doing way more written exercises in class (and for homework), while I've moved on to more conversational work. As the days go by, my tangeants of conversation get longer and longer and get farther and farther away from the usual getting-to-know-you-traveler-chit-chat. My Spanish has risen to the level where I can -- very slowly mind you -- talk with my tutor Rosa about such topics as the underground women's liberation movement in Latin America and parapsychology. "Did you learn anything new today?" I asked Pamela, an English girl, at our coffee break. "I learned how to say, 'Soy una tarta,'" she said. "I am a cake." In Spanish, this is the equivalent of calling yourself a retard.
I wandered into the Centro Comercial Espiral, this shopping mall downtown that designed as a spiral. It was sort of like the Guggenheim Museum in New York, only with stores that sold clothes, bootleg DVDs of movies that are still out in theaters, and those coin-operated kiddie rides you'd see in front of a WalMart -- one of which took the form of an imitation Mickey Mouse bent over like he was in a gay porn, waiting for kids to "ride" him.
At dinner, I met a new housemate, an Aussie named John, who was one of last week's house guests back for an extra day. His passport had been stolen on a bus ride and he just need a place to crash while he tried to get his documents together. Blanca was more than happy to let him stay another night. So far this has been the fifth case of theft I've hear on public transportation since I've been here. But everyone that I've spoken to that got stuff ripped off always blames him/herself. "If I had just locked my bag, it wouldn't have happened" is usually the thing they say when slapping themselves in the face. A lot of it has to do that they are gringos too I think. Perhaps my looks will come in handy after all. At night, Ani and I went out drinking with our new one-night Aussie brother. We went out to some bar and met up with a new group of compadres: Ani's German friend Jurgen; Bettina, from Cologne, Germany; Tonya, from German-speaking Vienna; and a Russian girl who spoke German. If there's anything that Quito has more than Latinos, it's Germans. They are everywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if I opened up a refrigerator and found a German guy in there passing me out a beer. John and I just sort of sat there while the German words flew, but luckily everyone knew English and we got along together. I was thinking that perhaps after Spanish I should learn German, but then again, the only German you need to know to get by is "bier."
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go back and take of pic of the kiddie ride...i wanna see....have fun biking this weekend.... Posted by: markyt on October 31, 2003 07:14 PMHappy Halloween! The parade in the city isn't going to be the same without you! hey, are you even remotely excited about your trip yet? Posted by: Jenn on October 31, 2003 07:22 PMok so it wasnt just my imagination telling me that germans are EVERYWHERE in this world! your adventures are kicking ass....i cant wait to hear about your journey to iquitos! Posted by: Scott on October 31, 2003 09:18 PMAre you still going biking this weekend? If you do, snap some pics! Posted by: Td0t on October 31, 2003 10:47 PMHAPPY HALLOWEEN! how do you say that in spanish? just got in from the city.. went to the parade again. SOOOOOO FUN!!! of course, w/out you & maurice this year, it wasn't as NUTS! :) GUESS who i ran into while walking back to the path... kaity tong from channel 11! superstar. any big festivities over there for day of the dead?? i don't know much about that holiday. fill me in. i am cake. soy una tarta..haha! i like that. (i'm jealous) STAY TUNED KIDDIES... i'm backed up on writing as I had a helluva day and a helluva night yesterday (halloween)... all good stuff. i won't have time for updates until after i go volcano biking today! Posted by: Erik on November 1, 2003 08:20 AMBoo - Now I have to study since there's nothing to read. Can't wait to hear and see pics from your biking excursion. Have fun! Posted by: rozzie on November 1, 2003 10:55 AMGot my GlobalTrip travel mug!!!!! only thing is that there's some kinda gunk under the cap... yuck! Posted by: Jenn on November 1, 2003 04:10 PMtransvesite hookers of avenida Foch did u go to the other malls, el jardin, el bosque, CCI shopping, Equicentro shopping?????? Posted by: edwin on November 3, 2003 09:43 PMAwesome blog - I happened upon it from the bootsnall site and have been enjoying reading it! Have you used Let's Go travel guides at all? You've mentioned that the Lonely Planet guides have had stuff wrong... I'm wondering about the Let's Go Guides. I prefer them and am wondering if I'm smokin' crack or something. Thanks for the stories - tres fun! Posted by: Noelle on November 10, 2003 04:58 PMNOELLE: glad to like you hear enjoy the blog... now fwd it to your friends! Yes, i've used the Let's Go books before... they are just as good as LP... from my experience, don't treat either of them like a Bible... |