Priorities, priorities
The semester wrapped up well, with a 96 in lecture and a 98 in lab for Organic Chemistry. This was aided by the fact that my teacher is a sweet, extra-credit giving fool, but I would have gotten an A even without the boost he gave everyone.
On a less pleasant front, CA showed its ugly side right before I left. I was pulled over by an ill-tempered cop for not wearing my shoulder belt, which is busted. He circled my car looking for things to cite me for, and found the lack of a front license plate, which I guess is mandatory here. So far this is merely irksome (although especially to me, because being a NM I´m used to a far laxer highway patrol). Then he asked for my license. He saw it was from NM, and got even ruder than he´d been up to that point: did I live here (no, visiting my father)? was I working here (yes, as no one has offered to support me as of yet)? He cited me for driving unlicensed, because apparently the NM one wasn´t good enough. Now my father pointed out that as I´m a student I have the right to be here and still be a NM resident, but before that dose of reason I spent the hour long car ride home bawling as I considered having to move to Abq right away, transfer quarter credit into semesters, etc.. I can´t give up NM residency as that´s where my top non-Cuba med school choice is. I´ve never been rude to a cop before, but I came VERY close to leaning over and shouting at him, ¨I DON´T WANT TO BE A RESIDENT OF YOUR CRAPPY STATE!¨ I don´t understand why CA would care so much. Basically I´m paying state taxes, but am not eligible for state benefits or tuition (short of my father working for the state). They´re getting a free ride off me.
I´m in Ecuador now. So far I´ve shown my little sister´s boyfriend about the more touristy areas, seen the local basilica, and traveled with the whole family to the nearby hot springs. We then spent a night freezing our asses off at a local hotel. This is still not a country that´s big on heat.
Quito has become far more cosmopolitan, with extended trolley lines, and applesauce for sale at the stores. There are still brownouts, and I arrived at the tail end of a 30 day propane shortage (occasioning the question - hot shower or hot food?), but overall Quito is a far richer (and, unfortunately, more polluted) place. We shall see how things look elsewhere.
Prices have gone up, but are certainly still lower here than in the states for most things. Those of you facing serious dental work take note - a ticket down is between $600 & $1000, but a teeth cleaning is $22 ($36 with extra plaque removal & x-rays), and a full braces package (braces, dental visits every two weeks, x-rays & two retainers) is under $1K. I need braces, as it turns out, but don´t have the time.
I revisited my old bar. Carlos, the YMCA dancing, tequila-drinking, Ricky Martin dedicating, pants-removing DJ is still there, but he didn´t notice me, and I didn´t bring myself to his attention. I met one of those potential loves of my life, a hydroelectric dam engineer from the Netherlands named Victor, but ditched him to hang out with a truely crazy Brit who wanted to talk about building carbon pyramids to the atmosphere to launch spaceships. Sad, but I was looking after Matt (still Monica´s squeeze), and figured it was better to let love slip away than have my sister never speak to me again after I lost her boyfriend on his first out of country excursion.
Anyway, now I´m killing time waiting for the bus to Mindo. When I return Monica & Matt should be back from the jungle, and we´ll all go to the beach, then Baños for New Years. I´m so excited for the latter! No more parties filled with people struggling to stay up until midnight or searching drunkenly & desperately for a soulmate. Instead I will ring in the new year surrounded by teenagers in drag, burning political effigies, rice pudding, dragon carts, fireworks and rickety roller coasters.
Sometimes I really love my life.
On a less pleasant front, CA showed its ugly side right before I left. I was pulled over by an ill-tempered cop for not wearing my shoulder belt, which is busted. He circled my car looking for things to cite me for, and found the lack of a front license plate, which I guess is mandatory here. So far this is merely irksome (although especially to me, because being a NM I´m used to a far laxer highway patrol). Then he asked for my license. He saw it was from NM, and got even ruder than he´d been up to that point: did I live here (no, visiting my father)? was I working here (yes, as no one has offered to support me as of yet)? He cited me for driving unlicensed, because apparently the NM one wasn´t good enough. Now my father pointed out that as I´m a student I have the right to be here and still be a NM resident, but before that dose of reason I spent the hour long car ride home bawling as I considered having to move to Abq right away, transfer quarter credit into semesters, etc.. I can´t give up NM residency as that´s where my top non-Cuba med school choice is. I´ve never been rude to a cop before, but I came VERY close to leaning over and shouting at him, ¨I DON´T WANT TO BE A RESIDENT OF YOUR CRAPPY STATE!¨ I don´t understand why CA would care so much. Basically I´m paying state taxes, but am not eligible for state benefits or tuition (short of my father working for the state). They´re getting a free ride off me.
I´m in Ecuador now. So far I´ve shown my little sister´s boyfriend about the more touristy areas, seen the local basilica, and traveled with the whole family to the nearby hot springs. We then spent a night freezing our asses off at a local hotel. This is still not a country that´s big on heat.
Quito has become far more cosmopolitan, with extended trolley lines, and applesauce for sale at the stores. There are still brownouts, and I arrived at the tail end of a 30 day propane shortage (occasioning the question - hot shower or hot food?), but overall Quito is a far richer (and, unfortunately, more polluted) place. We shall see how things look elsewhere.
Prices have gone up, but are certainly still lower here than in the states for most things. Those of you facing serious dental work take note - a ticket down is between $600 & $1000, but a teeth cleaning is $22 ($36 with extra plaque removal & x-rays), and a full braces package (braces, dental visits every two weeks, x-rays & two retainers) is under $1K. I need braces, as it turns out, but don´t have the time.
I revisited my old bar. Carlos, the YMCA dancing, tequila-drinking, Ricky Martin dedicating, pants-removing DJ is still there, but he didn´t notice me, and I didn´t bring myself to his attention. I met one of those potential loves of my life, a hydroelectric dam engineer from the Netherlands named Victor, but ditched him to hang out with a truely crazy Brit who wanted to talk about building carbon pyramids to the atmosphere to launch spaceships. Sad, but I was looking after Matt (still Monica´s squeeze), and figured it was better to let love slip away than have my sister never speak to me again after I lost her boyfriend on his first out of country excursion.
Anyway, now I´m killing time waiting for the bus to Mindo. When I return Monica & Matt should be back from the jungle, and we´ll all go to the beach, then Baños for New Years. I´m so excited for the latter! No more parties filled with people struggling to stay up until midnight or searching drunkenly & desperately for a soulmate. Instead I will ring in the new year surrounded by teenagers in drag, burning political effigies, rice pudding, dragon carts, fireworks and rickety roller coasters.
Sometimes I really love my life.