Huerto del CEDEI...Mmm...strange feeling when the week has seemed to take this long. Dimensions of time -- a month, a year, ...20 years -- seems to have been compressed into just this one week. Today was good -- did the usual: wake up at six, shower, breakfast (oritos [very small bananas] pan [bread], té de fruta [fruit tea] and then off on my 20-25 minute walk to school. I felt a little discouraged today with some of the challenges of adjusting to life here. Grammar class is going to be difficult and so is my Andean literature class. The grammar class is going to be more technical computation than anything -- it's really comparable to a math class. Formulas of sentence structure, verb tenses, and temporal limits all play into play. In the end, it is really formulaic. Literature class is the opposite. Lots of critical thinking and analysis, the class is not really clear cut.
Tonight, my family and I are going to eat with the Mayor of Cuenca, Marcelo Cabrera. One of my host sisters (Verónica) works in the mayor's office and that is why we're all going out to eat with him. If the feeling is right, I think I might try and find out if I could get special access to any important events (so that I could record some of the sounds) -- I am thinking soccer matches or festivals, rallies, etc. The election for mayor and president are coming up on April 26, so it's going to be a really busy month for Mayor Cabrera.
