Exploring Quito, Part 1

¡Hola todos!

I’ve had a great first couple days in Quito, and I’ve learned lots already. From the time I left you last, I’ve met a few people, seen some beautiful things, and learned a lot about Quito. I didn't have a picture of Samuel on my last post, so here he is. I miss having a golden retriever!  Also, a picture of my house from the outside.

Samuel

Mi casa

In Ecuador, meals are arranged a little bit differently than in the States. Instead of a small breakfast, a medium-sized lunch, and a large dinner, Quiteños eat a medium-sized breakfast and a huge lunch. They really don’t eat dinner, except for some bread and coffee in the evening.  It really didn’t take much getting used to, and I really like it this way. For lunch Thursday, We had a soup called Bolas de Verde (Green plantain dumpling soup).  The base was a type of broth (I’m not sure what of, but it was delicious), with some peas, corn, and carrots.   The dumplings, called “bolas” were made of ground pork on the inside, and a carrot/onion/green plantain (a type of small banana) on the outside.  We also had rice, chicken, avocado, and cucumbers with a sauce called aji, which is similar to salsa, but much smoother.  As I said before, lunch is the biggest meal of the day, and they eat like kings.

Aji, with tomatoes, cilantro, and aji (hot peppers)

Thursday night I met my host parents’ granddaughter Salomé. She is hilarious. She’s 11 years old and she is a ball of energy. Although it’s interesting figuring out what she’s saying half the time, we get along really well.  She was working on her English homework Thursday night, and was practicing a speech, in which she had to tell her whole class about herself in English. I was quite impressed. J

Friday morning I ate breakfast and then went to explore the neighborhood a bit by myself.  You can’t walk 5 steps without running into a random shop in Quito. I get a lot of funny looks, since I’m quite pale (those Wisconsin winters’ll get ya every time).  Quito is a huge city, both in population and in square mileage. Quito is about 125 sq. miles—as a reference, Madison is about 85, but the population density of Quito is 7 times that of Madison. People here drive like maniacs, but never seem to crash their cars (I could probably take a lesson, huh Ma?). There are very few lines on the road, they run red lights (all the time), cut each other off, honk lots (politely, not the Chicago lay-on-your-horn style), drive on sidewalks, and park illegally everywhere.  Kind of entertaining to watch, and even more fun to be in a car.  Anyway, I walked around, ducked my head into a few shops, walked around in one of the beautiful parks, and came back to my flat.

A part of Quito, at the base of the mountains

A small park closest to my flat

Another bigger park a few blocks away

The fruits and vegetables stand on the corner by my house

Friday evening, I went upstairs to Cecilia and Rodrigo's flat, had some coffee, and helped Salomé with her English homework. She waited to do her English homework so I could help her.  She's reading Gulliver in Lilliput; she loves the story, and loves English class. It was so fun helping her learn English! She's been studying English for about as long as I have Spanish, and it was entertaining for the both of us, I think.

Friday night was my favorite experience thus far.  My host parents took me to a street called La Ronda (pronounced “lah Rohn-dah”, for my non-Spanish-speaking friends).  La Ronda was once a magnificent cultural center during the colonial days, with beautiful architecture and lots of history. It eventually turned into a dangerous neighborhood, where prostitutes and druggies hung out. It was renovated in 2006 (and is still being renovated) to its formal glory into the attraction it is today.  It’s probably unfair to compare it to State Street, but for lack of better reference points, we’ll call it that.  It’s a really narrow street for pedestrians only, lined with shops, cafés, and restaurants that lots of Quiteños frequent on Friday and Saturday nights.  I can’t explain how amazing it was! There was live music everywhere, and you couldn’t stand in one spot without hearing the blends of different bands playing.  In Ecuador, the American dollar is used as currency, which is not only convenient, but economically favorable for yours truly.  A pair of earrings for a dollar, a bundle of cotton candy for 50 cents, or a hotdog and a Coke for a dollar, are all examples of some of the goods that lined the street.

A blurry view of La Ronda

Sign at the entrance

A mural at the top of the street

A building on La Ronda--they all look like this.

On the way to La Ronda, Rodrigo, my host dad and I, talked about lots of hot topics, all of which I found interesting, if not very difficult (given my limited Spanish-speaking ability) to discuss. We talked about Barack Obama (he straight-up asked me if I liked him or not---that was refreshingly blunt compared to in the States), politicians (both in Ecuador and in the States), September 11^th, Muslims, the KKK, religion, and much more.  Quite a variety of topics!  In Ecuador, he said, they have currently 10 political parties represented in Parliament, with dozens more that exist and try to win votes.  The parties are really small, rather decentralized, and a bit unstable.  Unlike the United States, people don’t actually work in government as a career. In other words, many of the political departments are headed by people that have experience in that department’s responsibilities, not people that have taken up administration as a job.  That wasn’t worded very well, but, for example: instead of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports being led by an educated businessman, it is lead by a former soccer player. Rodrigo doesn’t like this, because he thinks that these people aren’t well-versed in politics.  However, I said it might be an interesting change of pace to have a politician or government official that actually has experience in his department, and maybe he or she would be able to better relate to the people. We agreed that a balance of the two would be ideal.  He had lots to say (quite accurate, in many aspects) about our government, as you might imagine, and had a very different view of terrorism and religious diversity than most of us do in the U.S.  Ask me about it if you’re curious. Alas, I digress. 

My host brother Santiago’s girlfriend, Adriana, works at one of the restaurants on the street called La Capitolina.  Cecilia, Rodrigo, and I stopped there for an hour and a half or so to have some drinks and snacks. I ordered a coffee and a tamal.  The tamal (or, as we say in the States, tamale) is meat, olives, and pimentos, wrapped in a mildly sweet fried corn “tortilla” (I put this in quotes because it was thicker and less sturdy than the tortilla that you are all probably familiar with), wrapped in “una hoja de achera”, or an achera leaf.  We also had a drink called canelazo (pronounced “cahn-el-ah-soh”), which was a hot alcoholic drink made of sugar cane alcohol, boiled water, cinnamon, and a hint of naranjilla (pronounced “nahr-ahn-hee-ya”, or “little orange). Naranjilla is used in a lot of juices and recipes—it’s like an orange, with a lighter, less citrus-y taste.  Everything was so delicious and saboroso, or flavorful.  There was, of course, a couple of guitarristas playing some authentic music from the coast of Ecuador, Quito, Mexico, and from indigenous cultures.  Rodrigo and Cecilia sang to all of them; there was one song that was so sad, and in Spanish they called it una canción cortavenas. I’ll let y’all figure that one out.

Random view from inside La Capitolina

Coffee and a tamal

The menu at La Capitolina

My canelazo

We left around 11:45 p.m., and Rodrigo and Cecilia drove me around to see a bunch of the different historical monuments and churches.  We saw “La Virgen de Quito,” a statue of Mary Magdalene overlooking the city to the north, although it was mostly covered in clouds.  We saw so many churches, my favorites being La Iglesia Santo Domingo, a church very close to La Ronda, and La Basilica, a beautifully architectured church downtown that is still under construction, and has been for over 100 years.  Also downtown, I saw La Universidad Central de Ecuador, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Ecuador, where Rodrigo got his degree in architecture.

La iglesia Santo Domingo

The convent attached to la iglesia Santo Domingo

La Basilica (not my picture, obviously--it was really rainy and mine didn't really turn out)

We got home around 12:30, and I went to bed exhausted. Fabulous day, I’d say.  For today, a shoutout to Andrew, Brianna, and Dad.  Andrew, we have to talk about politics in Ecuador. As always, you'd think it's so interesting.  Bri, you would love La Ronda! (That goes for you too, Andrew).  It not only has the prices you prefer, but an environment I think you'd enjoy. And to Dad, in Ecuador, they don't mind when you sing at the top your lungs to songs you only kind of know. You could consult Rodrigo on that one, if you could speak Spanish. :)


P.S. Sorry the videos are so short! My internet wouldn't let me load the big ones.