Homestay Update: mostly about Rosa and food

I have been so comfortable at my hoger in Quito. It is mostly Rosa and me, as Araceli is very busy with work and school. I absolutely love my mama Rosa. In fact all my friends who have met her absolutely love her. It is because she excuberates love and care. Rosa has offered to acompany me anywhere I want to go in Quito, which is the best, to with an Ecuadoreana. The city is pretty damn dangerous by the way, with respect to robberies. At orientation, our directors drilled into us that we would get robbed at least once, and to get over it. So far so good for me. Rosa stays home most of the time, making my bed every morning after I leave, doing my laundry and dishes. It will be tough getting used to doing my dishes and laundry when I return, as both Rosa and Ana, my mama in Spain, do the household chores, and refuse to let me help most of the time. That's definitely a culture difference. Men and visitors don't do dishes and laundry.
Rosa eats so healthily! A third of my diet is a diversity of fruit, including mango, maracuja, passion fruit, tomate de arbol, and many others that we don't have in the US. Lunch everywhere is the big main meal of the day, just like Spain, with a soup, then main dish, then fruit for dessert. The main dish is usually meat with rice and veggies. But at Rosa's house, we eat less meat, WOO! Actually mi hermana Araceli is a vegetarian. Today I had yummy cooked spinach and potato in a creamy sauce along with my rice. Dinner and breakfast are a snack. In fact many friends' families don't eat dinner.
In tea, Ecuadorians use panella instead of sugar, which is like sugar, as it's made from sugar cane, but less sweet and with more flavor of its own than sugar. I've had a nasty cough, and Rosa is always making me te de cedron con panella, this leaf she picks on her daily morning walks. It is so yummy and works the best to tame my cough. And I love how Spaniards and South Americans buy their bread fresh, everyday at panaderias, or bread shops. Why do we buy bagged bread in the US? Fresh bread is always tastier, even for sandwiches. Que tonteria. How silly.
Araceli is a yogi :) She's helping me find a yoga/pilates studio. AND she's a great salsa dancer. She takes me to the hottest salsateca in Quito, where the salseras of Quito do their thing Thursday nights. She's hooking me up with salsa lessons too. It's pretty damn sweet.
Also, I must note that I saw Avatar in 3D twice at this state of the art theater 5 minutes from my house for $6.
Something else that's great at home is Inga! She is the German student who lived with the Andrades last semester, and still comes to visit! She now lives on the coast doing research, not sure in what, but remains a good friend of Rosa. Inga is very fun, and we plan to go out together soon. Ok, got to work my my analysis paper. I've decided to write about whether natural medicine is heading in the right direction in Ecuador. I will post it after it's been peer reviewed!