Yo recuerdo!

I can't find the upside down ! on this keyboard. I'm not sure it exists...
BUT! I did remember the other thing I wanted to say last night (and now have a few other things to add!)
So in seminar yesterday (we have a seminar every Tuesday on Ecuadorian culture and history), we were talking about the diversity of Ecuador. This included bio-diversity, as well as cultural and racial diversity. We began to talk about how the census is not accurate, because people don't want to say they are "Indian" (native peoples) because it is veiwed negatively, and how people often put they are white when they are mestizos. In terms of socio-econimic class, whites are at the top, then mestizos, the native peoples, then blacks. We were talking about why people are arranged such, and would want to be seen as something other than what they are, and I brought up light skin privaledge, and how it even occurs in the states (those of you Swatties know the conversations I'm referring to). I definitely got some funny looks from the other kids in my class, and people trying to say that that's not necessarily the case in the states (especially California), and I suddenly realized what a different place I'm coming from as opposed to all these other students. Like Joanna said in her comment on my previous post, Swat terms to make me feel at home "hegemony and heteronormativity". And it's true! Not to mention I approached the seminar the way I do at Swat, while the rest of the students were kind of quiet and didn't quite seem to know what to do or say. It was interesting.
Ah, almuerzo! (lunch!) Lunch here often consists of a soup, then a main dish with rice and a salad of some sort. Yesterday, I came into the kitchen to see an incredibly green soup staring back at me. After asking my host father what kind it was, he told me spinach! (Which of course, made me happy, it's probably my favorite green!) There was also a bowl of popcorn on the table, which I put into my soup, following my host father's example. (Popcorn seems to be used as parts of a meal, and not only as a snack in and of itself!) It was actually quite good, though strange seeming at first. Oh, and all cereals are called "cornflakes" whether or not they are actually cornflakes, haha.
Onto a note I know Roger will greatly appreciate! Apparently, Ecuador contains nearly 17% of the world's bird species!! Incredible! I'm planning a trip (hopefully with someone else into bird watching) to go to Mindo, a city 3 or 4 hours west from Quito. This place is renown for it's birdwatching (there are over 400 recorded species!) That, plus the Amazon rainforest later this semester, is gonna be SO incredible. I need to get to LibriMundi and buy an Ecuadorian bird book soon!
On a final note, I signed up for a dance class being held at the language institute where I'm taking classes. It's tomorrow afternoon from 5-7pm, which means I'll need to take a taxi home, and will hopefully take a bus there. My host father is showing me how to take the bus from our house tomorrow morning so I can get to school on my own.
And I'm starting to try to hang out with my group of students more, it's going well, as well as talk to other students at the academia. I think dance class will be great for meeting more people. (I was convinced to sign up by a girl I met yesterday who is here from Finland). =)

PS- I apologize if my sentences and English don't make much sense at times in these entries. Learning another language does that to you, haha!