¡que linda!

today was my first day at aclas. it consisted of an introduction orientation by Fernando the owner of the school. he told us about quito and how to be safe etc. then we had a test to place us into groups by spanish level. oh man. it was SO hard. kind of destroyed my confidence but only for alittle bit. most of the kids said it was really hard too. ibis (my mother) picked me up at 1pm and we started to walk back. we met up with her amiga (whose name i cant remember) and we had lunch. lunch is so hard for me because it consists of three courses- usually soup, meat and rice, and then some kind of desert. i dont even eat that much for dinner usually! plus i want to please them and they´re always asking me to eat more! after that ibis had to go do errands so i went to her friends house that is just a block away. she speaks english really well so it´s easier to get through converstations. i am still having a really hard time understanding all of the spanish around me. in fact, i dont. but it´s ok i know i will learn so much in thenext few weeks.

funniest thing. ibis´ friend rents part of her casa to an american from colorado. his name is vern and i met him today. quite a strange guy. he´s a vietnam vet who met an ecuadorian woman online and came here to marry her. she was goingto move back to the us but decided shedidn´t want to. so he´s been living in quito for 5 years separated from his wife... and he doesnt know a bit of spanish. so i spoke englishwith him for a while and then this other guy named gilles from nova scotia came over and tried to convince me (also in english) that 9-11 was a conspiracy... as was the lunar landing. crazy guy. he retired and said that he didn´t trust the US and decided to move to ecuador. he´s old too and said hed go to a movie with me sometime. i may take him up on it... he barely knows spanish either.

anywho, classes really start wed and tomorrow we get a tour of thecity. im feeling better every day. i love you all andmissyou so much!!

besos!
madeline