IVE GOT ECUADOR IN MY HOUSE!

upon my recent return to Canadá ;) i landed in Halifax with a bank. As we know from the previous poost, i was welcomed into the country with open arms at the airport, and then got on the Halifax airporter to get back to my actual destination...and with my attention span that destination was my bed (or more appropriately, the couch which would act as my bed for the next week).

i arrive at my friends house with my large backpack, which I puzzlingly bought as a size long in anticipation of getting taller at a time in my life which i had already finished the vertical enhancement of my pubert years; the closest thing i had to a winter coat, which was a cute little black number which i convinced myself to be thick enough to be confuseable with fleece; my small backpack with all my oddly shaped items that i couldnt pack for chance of breaking or being deformed; and my wood product. at 12:30am on Gottingen Street in North End of Halifax, i felt oddly at home--but without a home.

i was back in a country with language and culture that i more or less understand...emphasis on the less (i had foreign parents), and realized that i would go through a little period of less than more

while i am still getting used to this whole canada thing, i can still vocalize some of the peculiarities in my behaviour:

1. apparently i really like fried eggs. when i dont have them i want them and when i have them i want them with more oil and they can never be scrambled! never poached, never boiled, never in a cake, and buddha forbid if you didnt put salt on the egg.

2. i am still having problems with english expressions. "The night is young" has become "The night is virgin"; and "That tea is very strong" became "That tea is very thick." I often say these things knowing very well i sound silly, but find myself completely lost when trying to fix my speech.

3. coffee! enough said. i drink coffee now....consistently. i used to drink it on occasion. but now it is all the time. and it must be instant, because while i am used to the act of drinking that warm, delicious, feel-good pick-me-up...i am still not used to the caffeine that REAL coffee actually has. once i arrived in halifax i rushed into Just Us! Coffee Roasters to buy some of their Fair Trade instant columbian coffee. i was sedated just looking at the jar. my eyes also bugged out of my head when i saw their 2 for 1 deal. 2 FOR 1? What were they doing to themselves? There surely is no way they can make a profit off this! i took a jar in each hand and went to the counter with anticipation to heat some milk at home and put in a spoonful of instant coffee and half a dash of stevia to yield a tantalizing instant-latte. "Instant coffee?" the barista asked. "Oh absolutely," i said as i re-iterated my lattee fantasy. He told me that no one really buys this coffee in the winter, it is more of a summer product since most people buy it for going camping. Right....

4. Latin music. Reggaeton, Julieta Venegas, Manu Chao, Mano Negra, and Juanes. All of it. All the time. And salsa when i am bored. I just need to move those hips.

5. introductions confuse the rice-and-beans out of me! do i give a kiss on the cheek like they would in Ecuador? or do i shake their hand? wave? hug? i dont even know you...which shouldnt bother me since just a few weeks ago i was KISSING people i had never met. i clearly still havent figured this one out...

6. i am still adjusting to north american keyboards.

7. Number 6 is bullshit. i have not adjusted to north american keyboards, but rather i have learned how to quickly change every keyboard i use to the spanish function. Thus i am making every effort not to adjust back to what would obviously be easier for me in the long wrong. i have chosen to take the road less traveled and have decided that i can not live without açcénts, ñ, and upsidedown punc¿?tuation.

8. sentences cannot end in prepositions in spanish. they just sounds stupid...nor can they in inglish. it sounds a little silly in enlish as well and i think that before i left for ecuador i avoided ending sentences with prepositions; however, i think that when it comes to ending sentences with prepositions--i speak even more betterly now.

i am currently living with someone who is familiar with ecuador and i she has seen me evolve over the past few weeks and has finally concluded that she "HAS ECUADOR IN HER HOUSE!!"

there are many more Ecuador-isms of which i have still not let go*, and of which i may never let go, but i invite you to join me on my quest to readjust back to canadá

note: these ecuador-isms are not listed in order of predominance in my life.
*please notice correct preposition placement