I'm here! I arrived last night in Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, after an enjoyable trip with my classmate Amy. One of Amy's bags didn't make it until this morning, but all in all I consider that to be all a successful trip. We were picked up at the airport by a driver for our program, and I strained to see the city as we sped through streets with lots of cars but few pedestrians. When we got to our home stay, it was very plain and small from the street, but this was an illusion since the moment we stepped inside it was large and beautiful. Our homestay "family" consists of a couple in their late fifties or so, Elsa and Jose. They call each other "Mami" and "Pepe." They are so welcoming, and we ate wonderful food while conversing (with much effort) in Spanish. Amy and I have our own adorable rooms with a shared bathroom - it really is so much more space than I expected - I think the hammocks and bugspray come when we are in the mountains...
The mountains! After a yummy breakfast and tea this morning (decaf! I'm going to have find myself some good South American coffee after this), we ventured out to walk around the city a bit and find an internet cafe. And the first thing we see when we turn the corner out of our neighborhood is mountains - tall and craggy ones, smaller and rolling ones, the lower portion studded with houses and the higher altitudes a deep evergreen color. It is beautiful. And against this backdrop, a colorful city, each building different than the next. The plants and trees are unfamiliar to me, and Amy was patient with me while I inspected leaves and blossoms, but I will have to come back out on my own soon to really take some time to look at them.
I had the immediate urge to take pictures of everything I am seeing, but have limited myself to a couple of irresistible shots of the mountains, as I want to take things in first. So I'm taking deep breaths of cool mountain air (it is winter here and high altitude, so the temperature is in the sixties today), mixed with the occasional smells of charcoal and roasting meat, and the less pleasant city smells of exhaust and garbage. There are dogs everywhere, and I can't tell whether they are strays or pets; many of them seem to be following people around or laying possessively in front of houses, but the people aren't paying too much attention to them. The dogs all seem friendly, well-fed, and not a bit skittish. I promise I won't bring one home this time :-)
So those are my first impressions of the city on a quiet Sunday. Our Spanish language classes begin tomorrow morning, so today we plan to head over to the "ciudad antigua," the oldest part of the city, to explore a bit and probably find a cafe to relax in and watch the World Cup.
I don't have a phone here, but I will have internet access most days, and will look forward to Skype conversations. For now, hasta luego!
Love
Jess
