Things I have been adapting to in Ecuador

• milk in a bag
• the neighborhood dog that barks for a solid hour at sunup and sundown, every single day, like this: bark BARK, bark BARK, bark BARK, bark BARK, bark BARK, bark BARK...
• crossing busy streets Frogger-style due to scarce pedestrian crosswalks
• washing fruits and vegetables in vinegar solution before eating them. (This has not been helpful for my already abysmal track record of not consuming enough fruits and vegetables)
• Alan not being around, then being around for a week, and now not being around again
• Aji (tangy hot sauce) on everything
• Hulu, Songza, and Pandora being blocked
• feeling house-bound after dark unless I'm going somewhere with someone
• empanadas available in the supermarket!
• daily hummingbird sitings
• cool mornings, warm afternoons
• soccer games on Sundays
• haggling with taxi drivers
• volcano and earthquake drills at school
• not drinking water from the tap
• wearing a watch instead of taking out my cell phone to check the time
• carrying $20 or less and no cards with me unless I am on my way to go shopping
• speaking Spanish! I have overcome my period of awkward mutism
• Two types of beer: Pilsener and Club.
• Fruits I have yet to indentify
• catching the schoolbus in the morning to get to work
• no recycling of glass
• no ice of unknown origins (unless you are willing to risk a bout of Ecua-belly)
• the peculiar squeaky/honking sound that advertises the presence gas vendors as they drive around in their trucks in case you need a new canister for your stove
• vehicles piled high with family members, including children who are definitely not strapped in and definitely are not riding in a car seat
• people doing things like smoking out of the window of a public bus