I’m in Ecuador! At this point, I love almost everything about Quito.
I love the cool mountain air, the hot sun during the day and the fact that I can look up while walking to school to see the Andes mountains standing proud and tall in front of me. The weather is, well, perfect- always a beautiful 70 degrees during the day with a fresh mountain breeze and it cools off just enough at night so I can snuggle under the gorgeous, hand-made wool blankets that cover my bed.
I love my Ecuadorian family (who I’ll live with for the next month). Mi mama Ecuatoriana is named Laura, and I live with her, her dog, Luna, and her esposo in their beautiful home. The house, four stories high, has wood floors and winding staircases, bright South American paintings on the walls and chandeliers. My room is on the fourth level and my bathroom has a marble sink and large, tiled shower. Outside, there is a courtyard with a fountain and two lines where I hang my laundry to dry in the hot, Ecuadorian sun.
I love the food: choclo (corn), humitas (little corn bread tamales), jugo fresco (fresh fruit juice), sopas (soup), salsa de ahî (a spicy salsa) and empanadas (fried bread with cheese in the middle). We eat all our meals together as a family: breakfast is at 8 am, lunch is at 1 (the largest meal of the day) and we have a small dinner (more like a snack) around 8. We always take a siesta after lunch, which I love. It reminds me of Spain.
I take Spanish classes every day from 8:30-12:30, and a few times a week we have a salsa dancing class or Ecuadorian cooking class after that. The night life is incredible- lots of salsa dancing and lots of Cuba Libres.
We’ve already been to an Ecuador fútbol game against El Salvador (we won 5-1), Mitad del Mundo (the equator… where you can stand in both the northern and southern hemispheres at the same time), and we’ve gone to a flamenco dancing performance where the band played Spanish guitar and los bombos (drums).
Anyway, it’s great here and I couldn’t be happier.
Chao for now, ¡y muchos besos!
Abbie
1 comment:
You guys and gals are doing it. Keep it up, it inspires others, including me, who has talked about traveling the world and changing it for years. You put shame in my heart :-) But I won't be far behind. I'm coming.
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