One week in!

So I've been in Quito for a week now and I feel like I'm starting to understand the city a lot better. The street names, restaurants, and neighborhoods are becoming somewhat familiar. Ashleigh and I have had some adventures this past week! Including my having to use an epi-pen when Ashleigh had an allergic reaction to peanuts that were mysteriously hidden in her soup! Apparently a lot of Ecuadorian dishes have "mani"" (peanuts) ground up in creamy liquids. We are going to be much more careful from now on.

Yesterday Ashleigh and I went up the mountains in Quito on this gandala. It was gorgeous! You could see for miles and miles. Then we did some hiking around the top of the mountains. We were 4000 meters above sea level (Quito itself is 3000 meters above sea level) and we could definitely feel the altitude effects. We would climb just a little way and have to stop to catch our breath. But it was such a beautiful and tranquil place. Such a change from the hustle and bustle of Quito. I can't even begin to describe the sites, and pictures don't capture it, but take my word for it. It was gorgeous!

We have both purchased some "lovely" Ecuadorian sweaters from a local market! We officially fit in now =) It's been so cold here that we just needed some more warm clothes. And the shower situation is still really cold! I'm starting to get used to it though. I feel like every shower I've had is a little bit better. I'm absolutely loving the food that Francia (our host mom) is serving us. She is a fabulous cook! Every night we have a different variety of soup, some fresh vegetables, and then a great main dish of some sort. She is from Chile and cooks a lot of traditiona chilean dishes.

Katie Steingraeber arrived late last night, so now there are three of us! We went to "mitad del mundo" today which literally means "middle of the world". It is city outside of Quito where you can actually straddle the equator. It's a pretty tacky tourist spot; sort of reminded me of a wierd sort of Disney world! But there were a lot of cute cafes and restaurants. Then we went on a tour of a nearby active volcano and crater. The indigenous people actually live inside this crater surrounding the volcano. It was beautiful! But it's amazing to witness the way they live. There is really no transportation in or out of it, except for this winding path that climbs the walls of the crater. I can't imagine walking up it!

We have the orientation to our program tomorrow. I'm so excited to get working in the clinics. We took about 15 hours of Spanish lessons this past week and will continue with about 30 more for the next for weeks. I definitely feel like my Spanish is improving, but I still speak very brokenly! I'm anxious to meet the other students in our program tomorrow.

That's all for now. We are off to buy some bananas and show Katie the Quito equivalent of Central Park- El Parque Carolina. It's a great park with a lot of joggers and tons of soccer games being played. (I love that soccer is such a huge deal down here!)

Chao Chao!!

We arrived!

Ashleigh and I arrived safely! We left Chicago and 3:00 am yesterday morning (which seems like days ago!) and arrived in Quito at 1:30 pm yesterday afternoon. We were taken to our new residence for the next 6 weeks and met out host mom. Her name is Francia. She is really sweet! She is an older woman and her kids are all grown up. She doesn't speak much English, which I suppose is good because it is forcing me to use my terrible Spanish! Hopefully I learn quickly.

Today I had to take the worst shower of my life! The water was freezing cold!! I couldn´t breathe. I´m really hoping there was just something wrong with the so called ¨hot¨ water this morning, but I have a bad feeling that I might have to get used to some shocking morning wake ups in the shower.

Ashleigh and I spent this morning touring the Old City. It´s beautiful! I think I like it better than the New City. There are a lot of old churches and cathedrals. We climbed the towers of the basilica and could see the entire city. But I think we got ripped off because some guy told us we had to buy tickets to climb the towers, but then no one collected the tickets.... well live and learn I guess. We are having fun so far. It´s so wierd being in a place where I stick out like a sore thumb- I´m white, tall, and obviously do not know where I am going. Tomorrow we start our language classes and will meet our program director. I´m excited to meet the other students next week.

That´s all for now!

Hello everyone!

This is more of my practice blog =) I haven't done anything exciting yet, but I leave tomorrow night and I'm very excited! Let's hope that I packed well. I am actually able to fit all of my clothes in one suitcase! For those of you who know how terribly I pack- this is an impressive feat for 2 months of packing!

Just to fill everyone in on what I will be doing: I am traveling to Ecuador with Child Family Health International. For the first 5 weeks in Quito I will be taking Spanish classes, living with a host family, and rotating through a couple of different medical clinics throughout Quito. After my program is done, I am going to travel a little more in Ecuador and then go to Peru to climb Machu Picchu and go into the Amazon.

Thanks for all of your words of encouragement and prayer. I will try to update my blog as much as possible to keep you posted on my travels. I'm sure that Ashleigh, Katie, and I will have many adventures.