The First Few Days

While in Quito I am teaching English at William Caxton College; it is a private school for students from kindergarten through twelfth grade with subjects taught in both English and Spanish.  Including myself there are 6 foreign teachers that are all starting a one-year contract at the school.  In our first week our so in Quito we did not have any commitments at the school so we spent much of our time wandering around getting to know our neighborhood, the city and each other.

Things that we have learned:

1.   The transit system is fast, convenient, inexpensive and efficiently run. One trip on the bus cost $0.25 and buses have their own lane so they often move through the city faster than regular traffic.  The buses are insanely crowded (you are packed in there like sardines pressed right against all the people around you) but everyone is dealing with the same issue so people are as polite and civil as possible.

2.     Ecuadorians love their KFC- you can hardly walk a block with out seeing a KFC (Daddy I know that you would love this)

3.     Restaurants that look like a hole in the wall from the outside often have the best food for the least amount of cash.  Additionally if you order the menu of the day you will get soup, rice, a choice of meats (usually chicken) lentils or beans and a juice for between $1.75-$2.25.

4.     If you return/ recycle your beer bottles you safe $1 on a $1.75 beer, therefore making beer very inexpensive.

5.     If provided with the option, buy your produce at a corner store as opposed to the super market as it much fresher and less expensive.

6.     Quito is the land of malls, there are malls everywhere and they are always packed with people no matter evening, day-time, weekend, weekday (it is a such a trip how similar all malls all over the world are- and I’m not sure if I find that comforting or disturbing)

7.     Always pack toilet paper in your purse as most washrooms (even those in nice establishments) do not have toilet paper in them.

8.      The habit of kissing everyone on the check ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ is really lovely and something I very much enjoy (but can be a tad frustrating when you are trying to leave in a hurry to catch a bus)

A child in a giant blow up hamster-esque ball in a small swimming pool in a mall in Ecuador

One of the many KFCs in Quito.

*note: all of our adventures/ explorations have been made much easier thanks to the fact that 3 of the 6 foreign teachers in our group speak fluent Spanish!

The Journey

The Journey:

I arrived in Quito (approx 2 weeks ago) safe and sound but not without a few bumps in the road.

My parents and my brothers Blair and Cam gave up their precious sleep to wake up at 4:00am to accompany me to the airport and see my off my grand adventure.  Their final hugs and kisses were a huge boost to my courage.

They say that bad things happen in threes and my journey here was true to that rule:

1.     I read the departure time on my ticket wrong came uncomfortably close to missing my plane out of Winnipeg.

2.     I arrived in Quito but my luggage did not.

3.     I exited the airport to find that there was no one there to pick me up and I did not have the contact info of anyone in Ecuador (uh-oh)

But luckily with some patience, problem solving and help from some lovely strangers all of these issues were resolved, eventually my luggage and myself made it to my new home in Quito.

My Mama a little teary eyed seeing me off in the Wpg airport.

Bye Daddy I love you.