¡Hola! From Beautiful Cumbayá

¡Buenas tardes mi familia y amigos!

I have been in Ecuador (a country that has been repeatedly described as the size of Colorado) for 6 days. It is absolutely beautiful here! It is warm and colorful and already I have seen just a hint of the diversity this country has to offer. Ecuador is diverse in climates, people (there are still several untouched tribes in Ecuador), the flora, and the fauna. There are four main regions: the Galápagos Islands, the coast (la costa), the highlands (la sierra), and the jungle. Quito, the capital, is located in the sierra region. Technically I am not staying in Quito, but Cumbayá, even though the university where I am a full time international student is called Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ).

The first night I arrived here I met my host mother and she served me locro, which is a potato soup that was quite good. Immediately the next day was the orientation for my program. The Galapagos Academic Institute of Arts and Sciences (GAIAS) is thus far the most amazing experience I have had in my life. I think part of what is making this a great adventure is that this is my first time really traveling alone and I am immersed in a culture and country that is so different from my own. (We were told that going to Europe is like going to a different country while coming to Ecuador is like coming to a different planet.) At the GAIAS orientation I finally met all of my program-mates and the program coordinators thoroughly scared us about the city, which is not nearly as bad as they said. We were also told several times that we will get sick and we probably will not know what made us sick.

The second day we went to part of the international student orientation for USFQ. There are a lot of international students for a small campus. USFQ is only 22 years old, but there are already 24,000 undergraduate students attending the university. Today I met some of the other students studying abroad from the states because us international, English speakers tend to be drawn to each other. I now understand why all of the international students know each other and hang out with each other at UVM. Here is a shot of part of the USFQ campus. I really like the colors of all the buildings in tropical places.

 On Saturday we had a tour of Old Quito and went to la mitad del mundo (the equator) as a program. Quito is often described as a long city because it sits along a valley. We saw such wonderful sites as the Virgin of Quito (the statue on the hill in the first picture), la Iglesia de la Compañia de Quito (the church of the Society of Jesus of Quito), and la Basilica del Voto Nacional (the basilica among the city in the second picture). We ate in a restaurant in Old Quito and I tried taxo gelato. Taxo is a relative of passion fruit.

While we were in Old Quito, we went into one of the apartments to see the typical architecture. In the apartment there was a candle shop that made beautiful candles and the place of a man that described himself as a piano surgeon. In a tiny room there were three pianos that were all over 100 years old that he was fixing. He was very happy to see us and played us a beautiful traditional Ecuadorian song that was accompanied by his son on violin. He was such a happy old man that took a group picture with us so he could put it on his wall. He also gave us a free CD of his piano playing. I hope I find something to do with my life that I enjoy as much as this man clearly enjoys his job.

At la mitad del mundo we were guided around a museum that reminded me of the Native American museums I went to on field trips in elementary school. It was very interesting to learn about the different cultures. Part of old Ecuadorian beliefs is that the guinea pig can sense energies. Therefore, if a guinea pig is silent when people enter a place then the people have good energy. If the guinea pigs start making a noise that sounds like “cuy, cuy,” then there is bad energy. Guinea pig is eaten in Ecuador on very important occasions.

The top of these two pictures shows two totems from various South American countries. The bottom is a burial site. When a person died in this tribe, he or she was placed in a pot (right corner) in the fetal position because this tribe believed in reincarnation. If the chief died then his family members were given a drink from a certain cactus that rendered them unconscious for several hours and they too were buried in pots with the chief. The structure was then closed to further resemble a womb, leaving the family members still trapped with the chief. Along with family members, objects to hunt and cook with were also placed in the grave.

Sunday I went to my host-mother’s friend’s house for lunch. This house was on a very large farm that was absolutely magnificent. I am sorry to say that I did not bring my camera on this trip. It is about 40 minutes north of Quito and is surrounded by mountains. Being at the lunch was a bit intimidating because I could not really speak to anyone. I was able to walk around and made friends with a few dogs and sat out in the sun, but it is very difficult when everyone is speaking rapidly in a language I do not yet understand. (I am determined to learn Spanish by the end of this trip!) I could understand bits of conversation because I found a Spanish grammar book in my host mother’s library, but mostly I just enjoyed the food and whatever kind of tea I was served.

I hope everyone is doing well at home. I can't wait to share all of my future adventures with you!