Quito: First Week Adventures!

 Adventures in Quito & Mindo - Rachel & Ashley

Family/ Daily Life

Rachel: We’re all staying with different host families, which allows us to more fully experience the culture and learn about typical daily routines. I am staying with a mom and her two daughters, one who has just graduated high school and the other who is older and works full time. It is typical here for people to continue living with their parents for longer, compared to the US where people often move out in their 20s. Here, lunch is the biggest, most important meal, while dinner is often something small. Chicken seems to be very common here, as well as rice. Here, the water that comes out of the tap is not safe to drink, so my host has a jug of filtered water and also boils water each day to refill a pitcher. This also means it’s important to be careful with raw fruits and vegetables, since they may not have been washed using filtered water. I have really enjoyed staying with my host family so far, and it’s interesting to see the similarities and differences in daily routines.

Ashley: En este país, los tamales se llaman humitas. In this country, tamales are called humitas. Since my week here in Quito, I’ve been learning the terms Ecuadorians use with my host family. They have welcomed me into their home with open arms and have made me feel like their daughter. My host family consists of Juan, Susana, their 20 year old son, and two Terriers named Chiquito (tiny) and Bruno, the latter who stares at me at the dinner table, hoping I drop something. I have also met one of their two daughters, Joanna, who is an architect and works at a store that sells all kinds of home items. The day I arrived, July 2, I visited their home in Checa, a parroquia (parish) of Quito. Oh, how I loved it! It is full of garden life, flowers surrounding the edge of the lawn, rows of frambuesas (raspberries), lime & lemon trees, aji (chili peppers) plants, a lush green grass, and an arch made of leaves leading to another part of their lawn. Quito has a collectivistic culture, so family is such an essential part of children’s development here. All three meals of the day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are eaten together as a family, except when someone has to head off to work or school. The evenings consist of family time as well, lounging around, talking about the news or about the Turkish novellas we are watching.

A picture of humitas, which are made with choclo, a type of corn!

Transportation

Rachel: To get around, Quito has various options, including buses, taxis, personal cars, motorcycles, and bikes. To get to school, we generally take the bus. It only costs 35 cents. It’s usually very crowded, with most people standing. However, it is very fast, since there are separate bus lanes on the busier streets. This makes it very time and money efficient, as long as you don’t mind being a little squished. One thing that I find interesting is that the buses have a separate person collecting the fare, different from the driver. This makes it a lot more efficient, since the driver just has to stop long enough to let people on and off, while the other person can take more time to collect the fare and give change. On the way back from school, we sometimes take a taxi. Taxis have a base fare of around 50 cents, and then start counting based on time not distance, so if there’s a lot of traffic, it’s good to catch the taxi on a main street to avoid paying for as much time spent sitting in traffic trying to get from a side street to the main street.

Ashley: Public transportation is widely used here in Quito, with many, many buses leading to different destinations. My host mom doesn’t drive, so for the first couple of weekdays we took the bus! Imagine my surprise when I heard that the price was .35! And as Rachel says, someone else collects the bus fare, leaving the bus driver free to pull away as soon as the people are on the bus. This often means that you need to hold on tight with one hand to the rails while you get your change so you don’t fly off! And then you have to push your way through, backpack in front so you’re not a victim of pickpocketing, all while holding on for your dear life. It is a bumpy ride, (as is life), but in the end it gets you where you need to be! A lot of citizens here use public transportation, as it is quite efficient. It seems that young ones are taught how to use it, as I would see a lot of teenagers and mothers with their children on the bus. And as Rachel mentions, her, Doris, and I usually take a taxi back, and we rotate on who pays, which varies between 2 and 3 dollars. 

Quito

Rachel: On Tuesday we went on a tour of Quito, visiting various different churches, monuments, and other sites. Before going on this tour, I had not realized just how big Quito is. It has a population of over 2 million. I really enjoyed visiting the Basílica del Voto Nacional, which has beautiful architecture. We saw people working on stained glass pieces and even got to climb up some very steep and narrow steps to a tower. By chance, we also got to see the preparation for the changing of the guard at the government buildings, which was pretty cool. They had guards on horses, and guards lined up along the path. Generally, it was really interesting visiting all the historical sites and learning about the culture.

This is a picture of the Basílica del Voto Nacional, a church that is around 100 years old. Catholicism is the most widely practiced religion here in Quito.

Ashley: Going around Quito felt surreal, as we saw the valleys and all the houses and buildings that are in its U shape. We visited three main historical churches of Quito, learning the significance of the buildings that show the history of conquest and the fight for freedom of oppression. The second church we visited was La Compania de Jesus, built in 1605 whose carvings had about 110 pounds of gold. An art detail I liked was the fact that the Europeans taught an art technique to the locals, who added their own touch by creating the pillars with their native birds eating the grapes that were introduced and brought by the Europeans. There were two famous paintings in this church that depicted heaven and hell. The one showing hell demonstrates the punishments people would receive for their sins, including adultery, gossiping, being drunk, among others. The other side illustrated that everyone is judged by God, no matter who you were in your life. Which meant that royalty and beggars were judged alike. The last place we visited before lunch was La Virgen  del Panesillo, the Virgin of Panesillo. Her statue is made of aluminum and tin, and is the highest expression of religion. The Virgin is on top of the world, standing triumphantly over a snake, which signifies their belief that religion will triumph over the bad, bien sobre mal, good over bad.

All of us in front of a big stained glass window in the Basílica del Voto Nacional. This church has beautiful architecture, with many stained glass windows and tall arches.

Mindo

Rachel: This weekend we took a trip to Mindo. It was super fun and nice to see a different environment. While Quito is a highly populated city, Mindo is very small and surrounded by nature. On Saturday, we went ziplining and tubing, and then went to the Mariposario. There, we learned about the different stages in the life cycle of a butterfly, and got to see what butterfly eggs look like. Later, we walked around town, looking at the different shops and restaurants. On Sunday, we went on a hike to some waterfalls, and then went on a chocolate tour. We learned about the process of making chocolate, and how there are different varieties of cacao plants. The two that they have are called Arriba and CCN-51. These plants have different cycle lengths for growing/ harvesting. Arriba takes more time to grow, but produces higher quality chocolate. One thing that really stood out about Mindo was that there were always dogs wandering around the streets, going into shops and restaurants, even following us to and from our various activities. Some dogs are pets, but a lot are strays. Pickup trucks are a common way to get around, with people sitting/ standing in the bed. Unlike Quito, Mindo does have mosquitos, although they do not carry diseases. It was really interesting to see how Quito and Mindo compare. They are completely different environments, with Quito being a big city and Mindo being a small town with nature all around. Because of its tourist attractions and how small it is, we interacted with more tourists in Mindo than we have in Quito.

Ashley: We had such a fun weekend in Mindo! My host family recommended I go to visit the Mariposario, which did not disappoint. Sadly, no butterfly wanted to eat the banana on my finger. But we ventured outside, seeing the different plants and the koi ponds. Friday throughout Sunday we tried different restaurants, tasting the Ecuadorian and American food they offered. Friday evening I had cariucho de carne, a plate that had white rice, avocado, potatoes, and beef. For breakfast on Saturday morning, I ordered a sandwich de pollo. En este país, they call tortas sandwiches. The weather here fluctuated like Quito, but it varied between sunny and rainy. Saturday night was calm, and a little group of us traveled to the road to look up at the sky, which was wide and bright with stars!! My dad confirmed that we were seeing the Milky Way! We enjoyed this rare and nice sight that city lights prevent us from viewing. This trip provided a lot of bonding time for the nine of us, as we played Jenga, multiple card games, and talked about our family lives and experiences. It’s been wonderful getting to know these people, and I look forward to growing alongside them.

That's Rachel and I with our first week in Quito. Ciao ciao! 

Ashley and Rachel :)! Thanks for reading