February 11, 2010

Week 5

On Tuesday we had our presentations. Well, sort of. CIMAS, despite the fact that there were eight presentations to be given (more or less 15 minutes a piece, plus five for questions) scheduled a lecture in the morning. So at 11, we finally began to present. Which means that we went WAY over into our lunch time (so what else is new) and had a whopping 35 minutes to go get lunch.

Our presentation was pretty rag-tag in my opinion, but I happened to be watching when the professor graded it and he gave us a 95%. So I'm certainly not complaining. We haven't recieved that score officially, and who knows. I wouldn't put it past CIMAS or Dr. Suarez to knock off a few points just because. But assuming that is our real score, I am happy, and I can only hope that our paper is returned with just as favorable results.

On Tuesday night while at dinner with my family, I mentioned that I had heard that the Cranberries (a British band popular in the 90's [famous song: Linger]) were coming to Quito the following night for on their reunion tour. My sister then told me that her and her boyfriend were actually going, and to my excitement she told me that if I had the money to pay for aticket ($25), I too could go. And so I was super excited because on Wednesday night, I was going to the Cranberries concert.

This week was also the week that we have to cook "traditional Ecuadorian food" for lunch for CIMAS. The actual lunch was Thursday, but my mom said we needed to go to the market in the morning before school on Wednesday. So I got up and we went to the market to buy the ingredients for Ceviche (a cold, tomato-based soup) with shrimp. After that, I went to CIMAS, and it was a pretty normal day. One thing that did happen though (and this is so typically CIMAS): Our Spanish professor has us for two hours each afternoon. On Wednesday, I guess she didn't plan very well and ran out of activities for us. So she announced we could leave a half an hour early because we were finished, but that the next time we have class, we will be staying for an extra half hour to make up the time. Ummm, no lady, we won't be. For one, that's not how it works, ESPECIALLY if YOU are the one who doesn't plan enough activities, and two, I have a driver that leaves at 4:00, and I am not going to pay for a taxi home (because you can't take a bus to my house from CIMAS) just because you didn't do your job. So we "compromised" and will be starting class five minutes earliler next week to compensate. Whatever...

Afterr school I went home and took a nap because I was tired from my early market morning. At 6:30, my sister and I and her boyfriend left for the concert. It was really cool. It took place in the Plaza del Toros, so basically it's a big, round, open air stadiu. It also happens to be about a block from the airport, and since there is no such thing as closed airspaces here, the planes fly over so close that you can basically count the bolts in the wings. It's like on the 205 bridge, except closer. Much closer.

The concert itself was really fun. I only know two songs (but in this I was the minority: everyone, even people who don't speak English, sang every word to every song) but still I really enjoyed it. It was a really nice night and the concert was really good. Afterwards, we walked to the car (my sister's boyfriend's cousin's car). He was supposed to take us home (it was already midnight, and I had to get up early to actually cook the ceviche in the morning), but decided that he was hungry and that we needed to go to Burger King. They all ate, and finally after 2:00AM, I got home. I set my alarm for 4:00 because I needed to shower because I smelled like an ashtray from the concert, and then my mom and I were going to cook. But of course, being as tired as I was, I slept through my alarm. When I did wake up a little after 6, all I had time to do was wash my face and brush my teeth because I knew we had to start cooking or it wouldn't be finished by the time my driver came.

All in all it worked out, we made the ceviche and I got to school. Today was really easy, we only had a seminar and then ate the lunch that everyone brought. It was good, and I am proud to report that the ceviche was completely gone by the end.

After school I was exhausted, so I took a nap. When I got up, I went to check my email, but for whatever reason my computer wouldn't let me log in. So I used safe mode and ran a repair, and after that it worked. After that, I cleaned my whole apartement (kitchenette, bathroom and other both bedrooms) and had dinner. Now I am going to go start a new book in celebration of the five day weekend that starts tomorrow for Carnaval! This weekend I have no set plans except to see Marlo and her family at some point, so we'll see what happens!!

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