First days in Quito

I've arrived in Quito, currently experiencing some of the effects from the change in altitude - headache, dizzyness, pale[(r) than usual...]

My family so far is really nice and accomodating. I have a mom, Elena, and a sister who is going to turn 25 in a few days, Diana. The house is good for a country where 46% of the people are living in poverty. I have my own room and bathroom, as well as internet which is very convenient! The view is nice too, but the area is decent. The mountains surround the house and you can see colorful houses up the side. It's kind of chilly in the morning, but the university is in the valley so its sunny, warm, and beautiful - as you can see in the photo. We toured the university on Friday and there seems like there will be a lot to do when we don't have class, like watching one of the school's theater performances on Thursdays. I have three classes mondays and wednesdays but only one on tues, thurs, and friday but a lot of people use the free time to work. We also have free access to the cafeteria which all the culinary students prepare. I walk to the bus stop to go to school with another girl from the group or her "mom" drives us --its about a 25 minute walk, but we're trying to see if one of the other program's stops is closer. We arrive at school at 8 and stay until 4 whether or not you have classes because we take specific buses back to our home areas.

The food so far is good - fruit, yogurt, and "pan con queso" for breakfast - which is kind of like larger Melba toast crackers and cream cheese. I had guava juice for the first time with lunch on Friday, and most of the other flavors were similar to things I've tasted before. I've had fish, lentils, quinoa, and a lot of bananas because they're grown here and cheap. There's a type of platano that when it turns from green to brown you heat it up and its really sweet. My family loves sweats so my "mom" has baked every day. Friday was some banana cake and today was chocolate. I'm really excited to learn how to cook all of this in a few weeks!

Saturday was the city tour. We went to the middle of the world, latitude 0 - it was very cool to see all the tricks to "prove" we were on the exact line. For example you weigh 1kg less & water doesn't circle down the drain but goes directly parallel. We also visited the center of the city, which looks a lot like the narrow streets of Spain - which makes sense since Ecuador was a Spanish colony. Every part of Ecuador has its own characteristics and charm - really diverse. Friday night I went with my neighbor (who is in the program) and her "brother" and we drove around the city for 2 hours to see everything. Quito is huge. I can't even explain it. When we went to the Pancillo today (a huge statue of the Virgin Mary on top of a very high mountain), everything you saw was part of Quito...it was amazing. We also went to Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus in the center of the city on the Avenue of Crosses, an extinct volcano in the mountains, and a few other parts of the city. Of course we couldn't cover it all, but I got most of that tour last night and I'll definitely get more while I'm here.

Saturday night we went out all together to Avenida Poncha which is also called "Gringolandia" - a gringo is a foreigner and usual sticks out. We went to a few of the clubs and restauraunts there and got to know the group a little better. Sunday we have a free day before we start classes on Monday - this basically means we're going to sleep because these past two days have been exciting, but very long.

I'll write more once classes start - and I'm trying to post photo albums online and on facebook. I have a ton more to say and a lot more to show so check back soon.

Hasta Luego,
Alyxie