Monthly Archives: February 2016

Orientation Week

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I arrived in Quito safe and sound (but sleep deprived) on Sunday afternoon. Our program officially “started” Sunday evening with dinner and a brief orientation session at our hostel. I didn’t feel so great after two hours of sleep in 34 hours and an elevation gain of approximately 9,000 feet, so I went to bed at 7:30 pm (4:30 pm West coast time). After 11 hours of sleep that night, I was ready to explore Quito and go through orientation!

Our school is in a building called “El Experimento” in the northern section of Quito. Quito is a HUGE city, about 8 kilometers wide and 35 kilometers long. The school is lovely and so far we have had a couple orientation sessions, Spanish tests, and lots of snacks. The last several days we’ve had a long lunch break in order to explore the neighborhood and eat delicious food. Yesterday, a couple friends and I had a three-course meal at a panadería for only $3. It was delightful! We also walked several blocks to Parque Carolina, a huge park with tons of different activities. We only had time to walk around a little, but I’m looking forward to returning in the future to run, play ecua-volley, and explore the botanical gardens.

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Century plant near school

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Park near school

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View from la terraza at school

The highlight of the week was our day trip to the Jerusalem Andean Dry Forest today. The forest is about an hour from Quito depending on traffic and it felt like a secret oasis away from the city. We spent the morning wandering the paths of the forest learning about different plants and attempting to bird watch. We saw some super cool epiphytes and other plants that thrive in dry locations. After our nature walk, we spent some time by the pool. I had a really hard time realizing that it is February and I was swimming in an outdoor pool. That just doesn’t happen in the northwest. There were also some locals playing ecua-volley on a nearby court. We watched for a while and then got to try it out for ourselves. I have played volleyball since I was 8 and I am excited to try out ecua-volley. In ecua-volley there are only 3 players on each side and the emphasis is on keeping the rally going, not hitting the ball hard at your opponents.
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Epiphytic bromeliad

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Swimming in February!

The transition to life in Quito so far has been fairly smooth, except for two aspects. Quito is at 9,300 feet, which is the highest elevation that I have lived at and my body is taking a little while to adjust. The first two days I had a headache and got out of breath walking just a few blocks. The headaches have gotten much better, but breathing while exercising is still a challenge. I’m looking forward to being active and not getting out of breath by walking up several flights of stairs. Additionally, Quito is a BIG city. I’ve never lived in a big city before! There is always something going on, traffic is wild, and it’s quite noisy. I am trying to embrace this opportunity to experience a new lifestyle. I do like the energy of the city and I’m excited to get to know this place better.

¡Hasta luego!