Quito bonito
"How are you liking Quito?" an old lady asked me at a small corner shop where I stopped to buy a notebook for my classes. With my three months of spanish, I tell her I think the city is beautiful, muy bonito, and that I like it very much. "Quito bonito," she laughs, and warmly hands my notebook.
Quito, the capital of Ecuador, elevation 9300 ft, is nestled in an Andean Valley. A step south of the ecuator, the sun , el sol, always rises at 6am and sets at 6pm. El sol es muy fuerte, very strong. And at 9300 ft, when the sun sets, its gets to be very cold.
I´ve been in Quito several days now, and all twelve members of our group have gathered at a colorful bed and breakfast, preparing for our trip north and our stay with our host families in Otavalo. We have been hearing from various speakers daily about the history, politics, and the practice of medicine here in Ecuador.
I feel as though I spend my days gathering puzzle pieces, trying to make them fit into a coherent story of the life in these parts. So far I have more holes than pieces, connecting the genuine warmth from the people, the political corruption, the "democratic" turnover of eight presidents in ten years, the strength of the social conscience, the music in the streets, the number of active volcanos, the political standoff with the US over oil extraction and trade treaty negotiations.
On Sunday, we walked around the old town. Beautiful buildings in an area that is newly reclaimed from its recently unsafe status. It seems the popular thing to do to gather in the park on Sundays and take part in the social scene there. I´ll tell you about it when I get another minute.
Quito, the capital of Ecuador, elevation 9300 ft, is nestled in an Andean Valley. A step south of the ecuator, the sun , el sol, always rises at 6am and sets at 6pm. El sol es muy fuerte, very strong. And at 9300 ft, when the sun sets, its gets to be very cold.
I´ve been in Quito several days now, and all twelve members of our group have gathered at a colorful bed and breakfast, preparing for our trip north and our stay with our host families in Otavalo. We have been hearing from various speakers daily about the history, politics, and the practice of medicine here in Ecuador.
I feel as though I spend my days gathering puzzle pieces, trying to make them fit into a coherent story of the life in these parts. So far I have more holes than pieces, connecting the genuine warmth from the people, the political corruption, the "democratic" turnover of eight presidents in ten years, the strength of the social conscience, the music in the streets, the number of active volcanos, the political standoff with the US over oil extraction and trade treaty negotiations.
On Sunday, we walked around the old town. Beautiful buildings in an area that is newly reclaimed from its recently unsafe status. It seems the popular thing to do to gather in the park on Sundays and take part in the social scene there. I´ll tell you about it when I get another minute.
posted by Alexandra @ 4:40 PM
1 Comments:
At 2:56 PM,
Alexandra said…
The air in Quito is not too bad. I wouldn´t call it the freshest Andean air, as the city is in a valley that traps exhaust, but the higher you get up in the surrounding hills the better.
As a point of contrast, I´ve just arrived in Otavalo, and here, while its a much smaller city, I find myself looking for the smaller streets to avoid the stream of exhaust coming out of the buses. Being so small though, its not hard to walk up a hill and into fresh air.
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