La Basílica Cathedral

Hello, everyone!

So having lived and worked in Quito, Ecuador for a month and not having visited anything yet, I finally made it out to el Centro Historico part of town-- a very old part of the city that is often visited by tourists.

My guide and compañera was the sweet Veronica:

 Mi Profesora de Español y Amiga

We walked to la Basílica, a very old church that took over 120 years to build, (and still remains unfinished today).  It looms 115 meters above the city landscape and is an enormous sight to see. 

After walking around wide-eyed for a bit inside the enormous sanctuary, we paid the dos dólares to climb to the roof.  (It was originally only one dollar, but the kid collecting the money caught on that I was a tourist when he heard me speaking in English. You can expect everything to be twice as much for touristas in Quito).  



It was a long way to the top, but very much worth the incredible views!  

After walking around a bit, we found a passageway between the base of the towers that led to the bell tower.  I gripped the wobbly rope bridge and iron metal stair railings, wondering if we didn't instead stumble across a no-access construction zone...

What a neat experience!  It was great to see historical Quito from the top of one of its oldest churches. 

Thank you Veronica for the tour!

 

Despedida

Hello all!

I am so behind on blogging about all the incredible stuff that God has been doing here in Ecuador!

This is my last weekend in Quito.  In a few days I leave for Las Tolas, a mountain village in the Andes, to serve in a community and eco-conservation project.  It's going to be very different than the busy city of Quito, but I'm looking forward to the change of scenery.

Yesterday was my last day at the clinic.  I had grown quite close to the doctors and nurses in the ER, so it was sad to say goodbye. 

My posse after we did our Christmas gift exchange.

Last night the doctors invited me out to celebrate my Despedida, (Farewell party). They took me dancing, which was a perfect way to spend my last weekend in Quito. Ecuatorians know how to move!  I learned some salsa and merengue... Que divertido!  I was a little worried at first about what "going out" would look like, but I found that Ecuadorian dance clubs are different than in the U.S.  Dancing with friends is a typical thing to do on a Friday night, (as often as young people in the U.S. would go to the movies or bowling), and we spent the whole night dancing in our own little circle, (with me trying to move my hips the right way...)  Feeling truly Ecuadorian, I even tried the national beer: Pilsener. (I'm by no means a conseuir, but it wasn't bad :) But I had a wonderful time.  I love how dancing is such an integral part of the culture, and I wish it were the same back home!

 

 

Thank you my Ecuatorian friends for your helpfulness, friendliness, and patience with my Espanol during my month and a half in Quito.  I will miss you all!

 

 

 

 

ER Memories:

 



 

 

Operation Enduring Freedom I

 

Ecuadorian Culture in 15 Points or Less

1. Ecuadorians are very affectionate people. Don't freak if total strangers kiss you on the cheek. :)

2. Unlike Norte Americanos, they are very comfotable with breaks in coversation. Silence is okay.

3. 2pm means more like 2:30pm, and breakfast time might more or less be brunch time. Unless you're a foreigner. Then you are expected to be on-time. (Bummer, I just can't win).

4. If you're celebrating, you're dancing.  Birthday party? Dancing.  Anniversary? Dancing. Christmas? DANCE PARTY the WHOLE month of December! :)

5. Don't be fooled by latudinal expectations... Yes, the equator runs directly through Quito, but with it's elevation of 9000+ feet, it actually gets quite cold at night. But for the most part, the weather is always perfect: an eternal spring.

6. Don't be fooled by your presumptious understanding of the weather from your first 6 weeks in Quito. A few hours east of the Andes Mountains and you're in the Amazon jungle... HOT.

7. Don't pack like a martyr. People of Quito are quite fashionable. You'll end up missing your heeled boots and curling iron.

8. Surprisingly, clothes and everyday items are more expensive than in the U.S.  Quite a bit more actually, which will really make you miss those boots and curling iron...

9. Crime is a severe problem in Ecuador. The U.S. travel.gov website recommends that you don't travel alone, look like a tourist, or be a woman.  ...  Well.

11. If an Ecuadorian is eating food, he/she will almost always share it with you. It is not unusual to see a group of Ecuadorians at a bar passing around one glass of beer. My friend from Holland decided to test how far the sharing thing goes among Ecuadorians, and offered one a lick of her lolli-pop.

You guessed it...

12. You're full-time job as a traveler in Quito is to not get robbed or hit by a taxi.

13. A volcano errupting less than two hours away is apparantly not something to worry about.

14. Ecuadorians are much more patient with your barely speaking Spanish than North Americans are with your barely speaking English.

15. Ecuador is an incredibly amazing place, with SO much to do and very friendly people to meet. :)