Day 27: Tuesday 18 May – The first interview

In the morning I get up again at 6.45am and undergo the normal routine before leaving at 8.30. I look at the time and see it isn’t time to get up yet, so I turn myself around until the alarm goes off. I exercise a bit; take a cold shower (sometimes I shave); put on some water for tea; prepare some breakfast (either cereals, bread or leftovers from the previous day); and after eating, I brush my teeth and wait for Ingrid to get ready. This gives me time to read some Paulo Coelho in Spanish. Depending whether we are late or early, we take a bus or a taxi to work. Today we take a bus, which is so small I have to bend my knees to stand. Luckily, it isn’t far.
I start the morning with checking my mail and Facebook as usual. After that, Miguel walks by to tell me if I need anything, I should tell him. So I tell him I’d like to take a look at the possibilities to study the company and I’d like an interview. The interview took about all morning and I had to cut it off because I couldn’t take much more information to process.
During lunch the guys explained to me a number of fruits that were available, but which I hadn’t encountered yet in the Supermaxi. Afterwards, I took the whole afternoon to write down the information I got from Miguel.
When I felt like it was time to go, I went up to see Ingrid, who was working as always and told me we were leaving soon. About an hour later I went up again and she told me they had ordered pizza at the office and afterwards we would go. This is how it goes a lot of time in Ecuador. Plans change, people arrive later than planned; punctuality is almost non-existent around here. I’m trying to accept it, but I won’t be able to do it myself.
I pass another 45 minutes calling with Mary, after which Nicolás mother shows up to pick us up and drop Ingrid and me at the house. I drop off my bag at the house and walk a few hundred meters to a small shop to buy a carrot, an onion and some beans. Together with some rice I make a decent meal. When I finish my plate, it is already 10pm. I spend the rest of the night watching 2 episodes of ‘How I met your mother’, the most awesome (no: legen-wait for it-dary) tv-show ever. I downloaded them today at the office (don’t tell). And bed-time…