Our bodies like routine. Maya is happy to wake up to her alarm and follow her morning rituals; getting dressed in her school uniform, eating her breakfast, getting her bookbag in order, writing down her agenda for the day, catching her bus. The apartment was a disaster after Eric and his colleague Rudiger had spent a day and a half building equipment for the research trip, but I was able to ignore it and get to our salsa class at 10 AM. I have to take advantage of the moments that Eric is available to organize a class, because although I love to go anytime, it does not make sense for me to get better while Eric keeps repeating the basics. Salsa is easy for the woman, much much tougher for the man who has to lead and organize the dance. Eric continues to suffer with each hour of salsa, but he is learning more and more and I believe we are ready for an evening out at the salsateque (?spelling?). I asked Jipson for names and locations and schedules for the local dance clubs, and as soon as Eric is in town and available (and we have a babysitter!), we will bravely expose ourselves to potential guffaws and ridicule and dance the night away.
It was a day for a Megamaxi run. It is entertaining to do the grocery shopping, partly because the store is so massive with so many choices, but the varieties are still so new and different, and the vegetable and fruit aisles remain exotic and intriguing to me.
I met with Amparo for a couple of hours of conversation. I have noticed that my Spanish has deteriorated since I stopped the four hours daily and I am forgetting so much. I need more hours more regularly, but I am not sure how to make that happen. I find it amazing how active and full my days are, how little time there is to sleep or rest, how my life has not slowed down at all here in Ecuador. Wherever you are there you are; you bring yourself with you wherever you are and whatever your oddities or idiosyncrasies are, they do not disappear in a new environment. I filled every moment of my life in Baltimore, and I do that in Quito too. I do not rest any more here than I did in my life at home, and I worked forty hour weeks there!
Back to rushing to get Maya from Isabel's to orchestra, dashing about during orchestra practice to buy soccer shoes and shorts for her game tomorrow and getting back to orchestra in time to arrive at her violin lesson, and then home so I could take a spinning class before dinner and preparing Maya for bed. Back to my normal life in Quito.
No comments:
Post a Comment