Our country get-away

Life in Quito, a huge city, is what you would expect it to be: busy! Buses, taxis, pedestrians and vendors crowd the streets. When walking through the city, I feel kind of like I’m in a video game: dodge this little old man, don’t hit this tree, avoid the speeding taxis when crossing the street, gain 50 points for swerving through a group of school children walking hand-in-hand on the sidewalk. There’s pollution and honking cars and people everywhere- it’s so alive, but so exhausting!

So you can imagine my relief on Sunday afternoon when we took a bus into the countryside, about 20 minutes outside the city to the quiet, peaceful towns of Santa Isabel and San Francisco (where we will be living and working in a month). When I got off the bus in San Francisco, my entire body just relaxed. Seriously, I had this crazy physiological response to the new scenery; cows, chickens, clean mountain air and a still silence were a welcome change from the bustling city life of Quito.

Santa Isabel and San Francisco are as calm and serene as one could imagine. Small tiendas line the roads, and tiny, old, men and women sit outside shops in felt hats and sweaters watching people pass by. The Andes Mountains line the background, the air smells of burning wood, the people are direct descendants of the Incas, and everything seems to move a little slower.

For now, I’m happy to live in the middle of the city with all its great restaurants, bars, libraries, churches, bakeries and coffee shops galore… but I think I might have left my heart in the quiet, little towns of Santa Isabel and San Francisco.

¡estoy en Quito!

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