la negra mala

the other day we went to historic quito and came across a restaurant with the name "la negra mala" which roughly translates to "the bad black girl". things like that are completely politically correct here. one of the students in my group talked about how she met an afroecuadorian who couldnt get into a couple (very few, but still) of the clubs in quito because they dont let black people in. as much as we talk about racism in the united states its soooo much more prominent in other places.

how do i feel about it? it basically just makes me shake my head and pray for the people who think that these things are okay. one of the reasons why i wanted to come here was to be a cultural ambassador for my race, to prove to ecuadorians who may harness negative ideas about black people that were not so bad lol. many of us are pretty smart and are are actually pretty successful. by getting more involved in the community i hope to break some of these stereotypes. im quite excited to see what happens.

as for everything else, i think im adjusting quite well! i know exactly where all my classes are and my spanish has been good enough to discuss societal issues in the united states with my host mother, as well as hold pretty intelligent conversations with people in lumbisi. i feel very comfortable taking the bus to and from school and going shopping in lumbisi. great success!! thank you to all of you who have kept me in your prayers! i know that ive only been here a week but it seriously feels like a lifetime. so far im loving every second of it.

number of pictures that ive taken so far: 1. sorry guys lol. but luckly im facebook friends with alot of my group so ill just steal their pictures lol. hasta luego!