Ah, Quito!

I spent my first weekend in Quito exploring the Saturday markets in Otavalo and Cotacochi with a wonderful tour guide named Angel and two German couples. We then drove another two and one-half hours to the Mitad Del Mundo, otherwise known as the Equator. I went to both the historic equator monument (the one most Ecuadorians recognize and visit) and the more touristy, GPS-proven equator, located about 1/4 mile away. I passed the egg-balancing test and walked the line with my eyes closed. I saw authentic shrunken heads from the Amazon to top it off! It was pouring rain, but I managed to get a few photos anyway.

When I arrived in Quito, I initially only planned to spend one week at the Spanish school, but I ended up signing up for an extra 2 weeks of classes after only two days at the school!  My experience at Academia Latino America was amazing and I definitely recommend the Spanish program there.  My Spanish improved immensely (although I wonder if I will be able to keep it up...).  I must have talked a little too much on my first day at the school though, because the school placed me in a class with only one other student that had taken years of Spanish and who was also fluent in French.  For the first week, it was just the two of us and I struggled a lot to keep up.  In the second week, a girl from Switzerland appeared and joined us.  She was practically fluent...I was drowning to keep up but was loving every minute of it.  Finally, my last week, I was alone with one professor.  My last week was definitely slower paced, but I thoroughly enjoyed my one-on-one chats with the professor. It was intense, but in the end, I "passed" with an Intermedio Medio "degree."  I don´t feel I can use all of the grammar that I learned, but I hope to be able to practice a bit more before I return to the U.S.

Apparently April is the rainiest month in Quito and this proved to be accurate during my visit for sure.  The storms raced in almost every afternoon and slammed into the two volcanos looming over the city.  This produced huge storms with really violent thunder and lightening.  I think I may have a little hearing loss as a result of these afternoon storms!  The weather in general in Quito was colder and wetter than I expected.  I kept telling people that it was like August or September in Alaska.  It was probably a little warmer (it is on the equator after all)...But the strangest thing for me was that despite the rainy cold, the plants were 100% tropical - orchids and palm trees, the works...

Despite the rain, I managed to see a lot of the sights of Quito.  I took the city tour and got an overview of the city highlights.  I visited the Iglesio de la Compania de Jesus, the Iglesio de San Francisco and the Teleferico, all in the rain...

I had two free weekends between classes.  One weekend I spent visiting Cotopaxi with some of the other students.  We had blazing sun, then rain, then snow, then hail, and ended up back in the sun again by the end of the tour.  Just like summer in Alaska or Colorado!  The next weekend I took a road trip with two girls from Switzerland (Jasmin and Eveline) and one girl from Germany (Tanja).  We took a harrowing taxi ride to Papallacta to soak in the hot springs in a beautiful valley. 

The girls (the youngest was 18 and the oldest 27) and I also managed to get out on the town a few nights as well.  We were all very paranoid about being out in Quito after dark (and from the stories I´ve heard recently from other travelers, validly so...).  To avoid traveling alone, we would call one taxi and have the driver drive all over the city picking everyone up and then do the same in reverse at the end of the night.  It took a lot of Facebook messaging and was generally a real pain, but we had some fun times once we were out and about.

I loved Quito despite the danger and managed not to get robbed while I was there...I know it sounds strange, but I would still recommend a visit. 

Next up, Galapagos!

Ciao,
Kelly