Soy de la Liga

I had a fun weekend!  On Saturday the BCA group split up and competed in a riddle-filled scavenger hunt centered in historical Quito.  Quito has a lot of beautiful colonial architecture and consequently was the first city declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The scavenger hunt also led us to the large indoor Santa Clara Market, which was overflowing with fruits and flowers.  It smelled wonderful.  Fruit is VERY inexpensive here; we bought 15 oritos (sweet baby bananas) for only $1!  The goal of the hunt was for us to learn more about the city and to feel comfortable talking to people on the street for directions.  It was successful on both accounts!

Today I went to a fútbol (soccer) game with some friends.  The game was between la Liga de Quito and Indipendiente del Valle.  Of course, we were supporting the home team, la Liga!  My Ecua-papá informed me that to live in his house I MUST support la Liga, y entonces soy de la Liga! [and so I am of la Liga]  Fútbol fans really are much more intense than most sports fans in the US; they were chanting and playing drums and cheering the entire game.  La Liga won, 1-0!

My family spent the afternoon at Sandy’s (my Ecua-mom’s) mother’s house, which just happens to be where my good friend Alyssa is living this semester!  We moved the coffee table out of the way, and spent the afternoon dancing salsa and meringue around the living room with Sandy, Alex, Sandy’s twin sisters, and Sandy’s mom, “Mama Ellie.”  After dinner we all shared embarrassing stories and jokes.  I don’t think a moment passed when I wasn’t laughing!  I'm happy to be living with such a wonderful family.

¡Mi Quito Lindo!

Hola todos!  It’s hard for me to believe, but it has only been about a week since I arrived in Quito, Ecuador for my semester abroad!  While I am here, just south of the equator, I am going to live with a family and study at la Universidad San Francisco de Quito.  I’m here through a program called BCA; altogether there are 35 international students from around the US in the BCA-Quito program this semester.

The flights down were fairly painless and, although I lost my jacket on my first flight and my iPod decided to erase all its contents, I arrived on the ground in Quito just fine.  We stayed in a hotel for the first few nights before moving in with our families.  Quiteño legend says that if you don’t wear your socks to bed on your first night in the city you will get sick, so you will be glad to know that I did wear socks to bed!  While it is chilly at night (in the 50s), the weather during the day is close to perfect.  Most days it is sunny and in the low 70s.  Because Quito is at 9,000ft, the sunlight is strong and the sky is a wonderful clear blue.

El Panecillo

On our first full day, Daniel, the BCA director, took us on a partial tour of the city.  As it is situated between mountains, Quito is a very long and narrow city, and it is huge!  In 2010, Quito had a population of 2.4 million, up from 1.6 million in 2000.  Our bus drove us down the Western highway that overlooks the city and then went up to the top of el Panecillo (a large hill in the middle of Quito capped by a gigantic statue of the apocalyptic Virgin).  During the bus ride I could only stare open mouthed out of the window at the endless buildings crawling up the hillsides at the city's edges.  Many of the buildings are brightly colored, so it was like driving through an endless mosaic of epic proportions.  Once we reached the top, the view from el Panecillo was extremely beautiful!  The city stretches on and on seemingly without end, and there are mountains all around. 

La Iglesia San Francisco

We also walked around historic Quito, including la Plaza Central and the presidential palace.  My favorite building was the Church and Monasterio of San Francisco.  Built between 1550 and 1650, it has amazingly high and ornately decorated vaulted ceilings.  Countless carvings covered with gilt spread across the columns and walls.  The sight was so spectacular that it quite literally took my breath away!  I have never seen anything so ornate and impressive.

Me with Alex and Taina

After three nights in the hotel, I met my “Ecua-family”!  BCA did a wonderful job placing me, I’m very happy!  My parents, Sandy and Alex, are both doctors responsible for the health of various types of workers; Alex mainly works with oil drillers.  I have a little sister, Taina, who is 5 years old, and a baby brother, Julian, who is only two months old, chubby, and very cute.  Our apartment is in a nice neighborhood in north Quito very close to the US embassy.

There is much more I could say, but for now I will leave you wondering how the university is, what the food is like and what it is like to take a bus in a Latin American city...