The Andes, food, and traffic.

This is the view from my front door. The Andes are the mountains in the background, and the building front and center with all the mirrors on it is the "Casa Cultural" or the Cultural Center. There are things like a theater, a movie theater, restaurants, art exhibits, etc. in it.

I guess the thing that has made the most impact on me these first few days is the poverty. There are children (yes, like 6 years old) who are selling things in the street so they can have something to eat that night. It breaks my heart, but I've been told numerous times to not buy anything from them because it is unsafe and maybe even unhealthy. But it's fine because all we do is eat. I eat breakfast at home (some sort of egg or potato called "yuca"), then we have snacks in the office, I return home for a lunch (a soup and some sort of meat or vegetable sauté) and a siesta, then we go back to the school office and have more snacks, where upon return home we eat a brief snack consisting of bread and cheese around 6 o'clock, and finally a pretty big dinner around 9 or 9:30. So. Much. Food.

Also, the buses that I have to take to school don't have bus stops. You literally jump on and then jump off whenever you can. It's crazy! I'm terrified that I will get hit by a car, but hopefully that won't happen. And the cars are equally as crazy. No one stops for pedestrians, there are no designated lanes on the streets so it's a free-for-all, and everyone is very aggressive. It's really scary.