My first week in Quito, Ecuador

My first week has been extremely busy. I arrived on Saturday at around midnight. My home stay parents picked my roommate Ryan and I up and took us directly to their casa. Mis padres se llaman Ramon y Lejia. They are very nice and have three children all older than me as well as five grandchildren. They also have two beautiful beagles named Panchita and I can't remember the other ones name right now, but she is the daughter of Panchita.

Sunday was my first full day and it started off with a shower and desayuno, upon which we had orientation, including a test to determine my spanish speaking skills, to give us a little bit of info on what we would be doing for the remainder of the program. After the meeting we went to lunch at the TropiBurger, a not-so-fast fast food restauraunt. For the evening we took the metrobus out to La Mitad del Mundo, where there is a statue that was erected by Europeans at what was believed to be the center of the earth or equator over a hundred years ago(they were pretty accurate only missing by 500-600 ft). The ride was a little over an hour and once we arrived I was amazed by the beautiful mountains and the clear skies in the countryside. Surrounding the statue is a little commerical area where there are shops with handicrafts, restaurants, and live music.

Just outside the fenced off area where the above building is, is the other Mitad del Mundo that is setup and run by indigenous people and is called Inti Nam. Located there is what is considered the ¨real¨or more accurate location of the equator, which they calculated using GPS. They have some cultural things there such as a preserved shrunken head that they said is about 150 years old (see below for procedure and pics). The neat thing about Inti Nam is they show you a bunch of little things that try to prove to you that you are at the equator, somewhat scientifically. For example they show you how the water spins opposite ways on opposite sides of the equator; however, we all came to believe it was a scam as I overheard that the tour guide saying in Spanish that it is all really just a symbol.

The next two days I spent taking 16 hours of spanish classes and therefore didn't do or see much. Lunch during these days was eaten at local cafes where a whole meal cost between $2.50 and $3. Some guys from my program and I met up with my friend Michael and some of the guys from his program at the Reina Victoria Pub. We had a few drinks, I tried the Pisco Sour which is has sour mix, some alcohol, and whipped egg (although I do not think they actually put alcohol in it). After that we went to Hotel Quito where some of Michael´s buds were staying and hit up the blackjack tables. I bought in $20 and ended up walking out $10 up.

The next day was my last day of class and I only had it for 4 hours. After lunch, a group of us went on a tour around Quito, to the Panecilla, a Basilica, and the top of a mountain where there was a military museum that noone cared to see. I sat up front with the driver because there wasn't enough room in the back, which turned out to be great becasue I was able to talk to him about the city and all sorts of stuff as we drove around. Also I think he took a liking to me, because he made sure to point out things and give me my own little tour by car. His name was Wilson, named after President Woodrow Wilson, and he was a incredibly friendly guy.