So I have been in Ecuador for a little over a week now (sorry I didn't write sooner it has been kind of a whirlwind of a week with so much going on and me being absolutely exhausted by the end of the day) and already I feel like I am comfortable calling Quito home for awhile. Although I have been here for a relatively short time I have had the opportunity especially the first few days before classes to get out and see the city.

The first night there were a few other people from my program already here so we decided to go out for what we thought was going to be a live concert and a cheap beer and some food. Little did we know since all of us still struggle with the language at times, that what we figured would cost each of us around $5 a piece ended up being a $90 affair for the six of us. Apparently when this place has shows, like the night we went there is a $5 cover a piece that is added to your check. HaHa Oops!

Thursday ended up being a total tourist day, after sleeping until like noon to recover from the more than 24 hours that it took to get here. A group of us decided to go to the old town which is very European seeing as how it was colonized by the Spanish in the 1500s. That area still has the very narrow streets and the tall buildings with the old European architecture and churches every block or so. Funnily enough the first sight that I saw in Quito was La Compania a church built by the Jesuits during the 16 and 1700s. This was one of the most beautiful churches I have ever been inside, all of the walls are covered in a 23 kt gold inlay with intricate patterns throughout the entirety of the church. I can't even begin to describe how beautiful it was with the way the light came in and hit some of the walls. Very close to La Compania is the presidential palace this was one of the more odd tours that I have been on. First off they seemed like they were very strict about security with everyone that came in being required to leave some sort of ID at the front with the guards that was checked a couple of times as you made your way in. Well one of my friends didn't have an ID with her and I happened to have two so we decided to try and see if she could use one of mine and it worked. Although we had the exact same name on both pieces of ID in a group of about 15 and were only like 2 people apart in line we both were able to get in and go on the tour, pretty great security for all the precautions they took haha. As for the tour it was primarily a walk around the upper level of the palace on the outdoor walkway area where they showed us many of the gifts that the president has received from other nations that were displayed in about 10 different hutches, not the most thrilling tour I have been on and after about 3 I think a lot of us were pretty bored. That was the extent of the tour, glad it was free.

Later in the day I met up with a friend who lives in Quito that studied abroad at my highschool senior year. She took me up to the Teleferico which is a gondola type thing that goes part way up the volcano which Quito sits at the base of. The view was amazing and provided me with a good orientation of the city, I am still absolutely amazed at how long Quito is! It is really pretty narrow but stretches on for miles and miles, farther than what can be seen from the top of the gondola. Hopefully soon I can go back up and climb the volcano, though I am still thinking Im going to wait a week or two until I am adjusted to the altitude since just at the top of the teleferico it was 13000 feet.

I moved in with my family on Friday and I am very fortunate in that situation. The family I am living with is absolutely amazing! Myriam, the mom, is so kind and patient with me and my broken Spanish. Many nights we have sat and talked for two hours or so while I eat dinner (they eat extremely large almuerzos (lunch) so usually she just has a cup of tea or some soup) and even though my language abilities are still very broken and proabably rather painful for a native speaker to listen to how I butcher the language I feel like we have started to have some really good talks and even gotten into subjects like politics both here in Ecuador and the US. The daughter that lives here, Carolina, is also really great though I haven't had as much of an opportunity to get to know her yet.

The school aspect has been really interesting and challenging so far this week. One of the main challenges is that nearly all of the lectures (which are about 2 hours long each) have been in Spanish. In order for me to understand it takes so much concentration that by the end of the day after 6 hours of class I have been absolutely exhausted. Although they take a lot of concentration I do feel that my skills for understanding the language of improved immensely over the last week and what we have been discussing, a lot of information on the political and economic situation in Ecuador and also Indigenous views on health are so interesting and exactly what I was hoping for when I decided to come on this course.

So far my experience in Quito has been very different from what I imagined it would be, especially after having traveled to an area around Guayaqyil in the south of the country over the summer. My experience over the summer was one of a lot of disparity between rich and poor and a lot of poverty everywhere that we went. So far Quito has been nothing like that. The area I live in is very middle class, my family has wireless internet in the house, running water and hot water, and even a washing machine. Most of the area of Quito that I have seen has been much of the same as well. Although there have been instances of poverty that can be seen, especially the children selling cigarettes and chicle it is not nearly as prevelent as I expeceted. I am curious to get out of Quito and see other regions especially some of the indigenous communities in the Andes, since many of the people who are working in the informal sector selling food and shining shoes do seem to be of an indigenous ancestry, and see how the realities in these regions compare to those of Quito.

Sorry this got kinda long, that's what I get for putting it off for so many days and I still don't feel like I covered everything I have experienced and want to share though I will save those for another time (like food yum!). I will be traveling this weekend and most of next week both on my own with friends and with the program so it probably will be a while before I can get on again but I miss you all lots and hope that everything is going well back home!