Bienvenidos a Cayambe!

Well, I've been in Cayambe for a few weeks now, so I think I have a fairly good idea of what it's like by now. To be honest, I didn't fall in love with it instantly, like I did with the Dominican Republic. I actually expected it to be a fair bit like the DR, but it really isn't. But the more time I spend here, the more I love it. I especially love the view of the mountains! We are really missing out by not having them in Southwestern Ontario (no, the Hammer doesn't count). Cayambe has mountains on every side. The view is even better from my school (don't worry, I promise to take lots of pictures). One thing that I noticed right from the beginning was how busy it is! Though it's smaller than Guelph (I'm told 70 000 people), you'd never be able to tell from the crowds that are always filling the streets, especially around the park and downtown area. They are really friendly too, always honking or saying 'hola!' or 'buenas tardes' (good afternoon) as they go past. I really love how colourful the buildings are, as well. They are often painted orange, yellow, blue, pink, or any other colour you can think of. Even my house is sunflower yellow and forrest green. There are also a lot of paintings and murals on walls, either advertising products, like milk and dog food, or just showing the name of a school or business with illustrations. There is also a lot of grafitti (one of my new favourite things, if you didn't already know), which I like. I will take lots of pictures. I set out in search of a digital photo printer, but I haven't found one yet, and failing that I wanted to send some postcards, but I can't find those either. There are lots of shops all over the place, including MANY convenience stores, fruit stands, restaurants, panderias (bakeries - the Spanish word for bread is pan), and even some superstore type places like Wal-mart or Zellers (though not quite as big and with not quite the same variety). My family buys bread (which are actually buns) to eat every afternoon, which I really like. I might try to do that more often when I get back to Canada. Often I am told to "vamos a comprar pan" (go to buy bread) with my little sisters. Though there are tons of bakeries, they always go to this one specific place about 15 minutes away, though I don't really know why. My friend Brittany and I have taken to coming to the park and buying chocolate bread to eat. It sounds kind of gross, but it is actually really good. It's a sweet bread that kind of looks like a cinnamon bun, but it's actually chocolate. One place even puts icing on top. Yum. It's hard to resist for $0.20. One other thing I am not used to about Cayambe is that there are lots of wild dogs, which is weird. I don't mean wolves or coyotes, just domestic dogs that don't seem to have homes or owners. They aren't vicious or dangerous, but they are everywhere. I will pass 10 or more on my way to school alone. Big, small, long-haired, short-haired, any kind you can think of, I've seen. It actually kind of makes me want a dog, strangely (so I home mom and dad still plan on getting one soon). They are even at my school way outside town in the mountain! Some of them try to get into the classrooms, and occasionally they are successful. There was a cute little one hiding under the desks behind the legs of a few students. One day there were 5 in the school yard at one time. It was strange. But then again, it isn't unusual to have animals there. One day there was a horse in front of the door, another time there was a donkey grazing near the playground. I am getting very used to livestock. I pass lambs, goats, chickens, cows, donkeys, pigs and horses regularly. As for vegetation, there isn't as much as I thought there would be. Many people have gardens around their houses (mine has cactuses and cala lillies!), but there isn't much on public property, except for a few parks, one of which I visit often and is in the center of the down town area. It is pretty impressive. I has a bunch of palm trees which I love, and also tiger lilies that are taller than me, and benches so that you can relax and enjoy it all. One thing I don't enjoy is the milk man. I know, it sounds like a pretty benign thing to dislike, but starting early in the morning, men with huge speakers on their big pickup trucks drive around calling "Leche, leche, le-leche" with their mega horns. You can't hear clearly and it kind of sounds like when kids used to say "girl" into their fists to make a weird sound. It's unnbelievably obnoxious and loud. I will not miss buying milk quietly from a store when I get home. Although I do appreciate the milk, now that my family lets me have it cold in my cereal instead of hot. I'd love to tell you more but my fingers hurt and I want to go get a chocolate bun and sit in the park with Brittany (I wasn't kidding lol).

Much love to all of you! Keep the comments coming!
Hasta luego (until later)!!
-Amita (my host dad calls me that)