Yesterday was my first day of work. I think I’m going to focus my internship project on organic and/or fair trade certification of cacao, which at least two communities grow. I’m hoping to find out what is necessary for certification, what the costs are, whether there are local certifying groups, what markets they can export to, and whether the communities actually want to work towards this. I’ll probably do a fair amount of research here in Quito, and then take at least a trip or two out to the communities to make sure that it’s something that will be useful, sustainable in the long-term, and actually feasible. I spent a long time in the Yanapuma office yesterday, but I hope it won’t always be like that. There are several Belgians there, a kid from Holland, a new girl who arrived the same day I did from France, a Swiss girl and a Canadian (so far that I’ve met). Most people speak Spanish with a British accent (and English too for that matter). Right now I feel kind of lost, but I hope that as I feel more comfortable in there, I’ll make some more friends and figure out my way around the city a bit more.
Last night I went out to watch the big fútbol game- Liga vs. America (Ecuador vs. Mexico) with the two other students in my house. We went out just as the game started, which was clearly the wrong time because everywhere was completely full. We ended up at this posh, upscale place with expensive prices, but we eventually scored an inside table. Ecuadorians are crazy about their fútbol- if the ball got anywhere close to their goal the women would start shrieking like mad, and when they would kick to score a goal the entire place would start screaming until they realized that it didn’t go in. Unfortunately, neither team scored any goals the entire game, but due to some bizarre rules, Ecuador won anyway. The city went CRAZY- people dancing in the streets, people dancing on top of cars, huge groups of people waving flags, blocking traffic. It soon became clear that if you didn’t honk your horn for at least 10 minutes straight, you were considered unpatriotic and a supporter of the Mexican team. We did some yelling to make us look like locals, and then finally grabbed a taxi and made it home somewhat early.
Today I’m heading back to the office, but a bit later because that’s a long time to be in the office. Hopefully I will do some more city exploration this weekend- my two student housemates are both headed out on trips- one to the Galapagos and the other to Baños, so I’ve got some sola time- hopefully the francesa and I can explore together, though she doesn’t know this yet. Unfortunately, most of my plans for friendship are unknown to the other party. I'll work on this.
The weather is somewhat less than glorious. It's actually kind of like what I left in Washington- it's occasionally sunny, lots of chances of clouds, some wind. Plus pollution like there is no tomorrow, plus less oxygen = my eyes kind of burn occasionally. I'm unsure if the oxygen/altitude thing actually relates to that. con muchisimo amor-
M
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Interesting descriptions of the city and big game. How large is the Yanapuma office, and what is it like? Do most of the other office workers have your same status?
I remember the too-easily short of breath feeling in Quito, but too bad the pollution is so bad. It is cool that you have been to both the Galapagos and Baños!
Weather in Vancouver is the same - mostly blah, much cooler than the average for this time of year, still with scattered rain. Summer needs to arrive soon!
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