First Day In Quito!

We arrived at our hotel at 1:30 in the morning, and the exhaustion hit us hard. When we woke up this morning in Quito, we didn’t want to leave the comfort and warmth of our bed.  As we lugged our feet up to breakfast, we were quickly awakened by the smell of cooking bacon, exotic fruit, and fresh pancakes. As 10 o’clock rolled around, we stepped outside into the 70-degree weather and smelled the exhaust from the racing cars on the street. We boarded the buses and felt ourselves lurching forward and backward as we drove up the steep hills of Quito. First stop, the historical quarter of Quito. There were plenty of locals tapping you on the shoulder attempting to sell their scarves, candy, and books. We all felt awkward when no one wanted to buy their products. We walked through the pretty gardens of the monastery of San Francisco, Independence Plaza, and the Presidential Palace. 

We heard the parakeets shrill chirps, and the parrots squawk. We heard our tour guide shriek as the parrot bit her finger. 

From the gardens, we had a view of the huge, aluminum statue of the Virgin Mary. In Ecuador, artists portray the Virgin Mary with wings because they believe she can fly. Then we entered the Presidential Palace we saw the intricate mosaic on the back wall. The bright sun blinded us as we walked along a small street to the temple of La Compania de Jesus. The hand carved cedar wood pressed with 24 karat gold designs covered the whole church. 

We did not feel any earthquakes thanks to Saint Mariana de Jesus who sacrificed herself to end the frequent earthquakes hitting Quito.  We returned to the buses and felt the bumpy road as we drove into the volcano for lunch at The Crater. As we were driving, we could all feel our hunger growing. When we arrived at the volcano,  we stood near the edge and looked into the crater among the clouds. While we were walking to the restaurant, we saw a llama tied to a post. We took pictures with the llama, but it grew agitated and Gleith felt it’s spit. The teachers said they heard our screams, and we heard them laughing as we told them what happened. As we entered the restaurant, we could smell our pork, chicken, and sea bass cooking. 

We tasted the potato soup and salads, and we tried an unknown appetizer that tasted like a flat croissant stuffed with cheese and potato. While we were eating, we had a gorgeous view of the crater, although at times all we could see was a cloud surrounding us. We finished our meals and enjoyed passion fruit mousse and pineapple with ice cream. We jogged back to the buses, not before getting another selfie with the llama, because it began to sprinkle and we could feel the raindrops on our faces. 

Soon after we arrived at the Intiñan Solar Museum where the real equator is. 

We heard the guide explain the rituals of the old Ecuadorian people who shrunk heads as a form of respect and tradition. We loved feeling the differences of standing on the equator and pushing someone’s arms down, and doing the same action a few feet to the right or left. It required less force to push down your friend’s arms on the equator than off of it. We enjoyed watching the weavers work, and so many people loved the feeling of the alpaca fur so much that they bought jackets, stuffed animals, and hats. Then we headed over to the official equator monument that had a less accurate equator line but a beautiful view from the top of the monument.  We enjoyed the colorful houses and all the friendly dogs roaming around. After a long day of touring, we loaded onto the buses, where many of us fell asleep, and headed back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. 

-Gleith, Merritt, and Katherine S.