More Quito

Sonia and I visited an orphanage last week and found 43 children who are being extremely well taken care of by their "tias" (aunts in Spanish). We happened to be there at lunch time and were invited to help feed some very sweet infants.

Saturday we hopped on a bus to Otavalo, a major market city about 1 1-2 hours north of Quito. We mistakenly found the market that only the local people shop at and missed the touristy one. This turned out to be one of the best experiences we have had so far. We saw what the locals eat (pork and fish with heads still on) and what the locals sell (imported clothes). We found a restaurant and ordered a half chicken dinner to split with a couple of soft drinks (total $5.50). When the order came we were given two bowls of chicken soup. When we told the waiter we ordered the pollo dinner, she said this was included. The soup turned out to be loaded with chicken feet! We have a picture of me pretending to eat the feet. The broth, however, was absolutely delicious. Then we were served two plates heaping with rice, salad, french fries and another plate with what appeared to be a whole chicken cut in half. When we told the staff there must be a mistake, that all we ordered was one order, not two, they said this was one order. Needless to say, we, the only gringas in the place, were gorda (fat) when we left. As we were leaving, we were serenaded by two minstrels playing a pan flute and ukulele. Too much!

The ride home from Otavalo was an adventure on its own - that´s another story, complete with R rated movies, vendors selling ice cream on the trip, and a transfer that took hours up and down the mountains of Quito. So, it looks like we are slowly becoming acculturated and absolutely loving it.

Today we were back at school and the kids all shared their vacation stories. The work load at school is quite a bit again this week, but I will be handing back the classes to my cooperating teacher slowly, beginning next week.

Hope your life is exciting, too, as you greet spring back in the states!

Quito, Ecuador

I´m sorry I haven´t written sooner, as promised, but computer time here is scarce. When I´m at school all I do are lesson plans and when I´m at the internet cafes I don´t have a lot of time.

I am in love with the Latino culture! I only wish I had more experience with the Spanish language. I have been trying to immerse myself as much as possible, e.g. going to an all Spanish speaking church, renting an apartment in a Spanish neighborhood, etc. The people are very warm and friendly. They have opened up their homes to me and Sonia and they have gone over and beyond to show us Ecuador.

The city of Quito is very large (close to 2 million) and there are some very lovely parts. The weather is constant in the upper 60´s and usually rains every day some time. We climbed close to the top of one of the mountains of Pichincha (an active volcano) and had a majestic view of the city one morning with a group of people. The altitude (over 9,000 ft.) gets us out of breath, but we continue to walk, walk, walk everywhere. I would recommend this place for people who want to gain stamina and lose weight!

The students are very respectful (I have second graders). They love the way I put drama into my teaching and they, in turn, are also very dramatic. So are the parents. I have never had so many people kiss me in my life as the day we had conferences. I loved it. On my birthday the students had a surprise party for me and served me every kind of fruit imaginable. Wow.

On our time off of school for Easter week we went to a town called Mindo where they have a world famous butterfly farm. We also went on a fabulous walk to see some gorgeous waterfalls (cascadas). The best part, however, was the zip-line tour over the canopy. Whew! We were harnessed onto a cable that stretched over the tops of trees and took us across vistas that were breathtaking. All for $10 U.S. For the second half of our vacation, we flew to the coast to a town called Manta. From there we took a 40-minute taxi ride and headed to a coastal town where we boarded a ferry that took us across a channel. We hopped in another taxi and 15 minutes later were in the resort town of Canoa where we stayed at a charming hostel,rested for three days, and stuffed ourselves with seafood.

Well, I have lots of pictures, too, that I would love to show to anyone who is interested. My intent, of course, is to make you just a little bit jealous. Hopefully you, too, can spend time in this wonderful part of the world someday!

Su Amiga,
Robyn