First Full Day in Quito

This is the view from my room! Last night we couldn’t see much, but the view was quite the surprise this morning. Muchas montagnas con pequenas casas de todas colores! Beautiful! It’s crazy how the city rolls up and down with the mountainous landscape.  

Cotopaxi Volcano erupted for the first time two weeks ago since 1942, so that was nerve-racking for my parents. If you look in the distance in the center of the photo you can see the volcano far away on the left, since it is about 56 km/30 mi away from us. We saw it spewing some ash, but luckily for us the ash is being blown in the direction of the ocean.

We took a quick walk to eat breakfast and I tried grenadia for the first time. It is very similar to passionfruit. Strangest thing… an orange fruit with a tough outer shell you cut through to get to a weird inside filled with slimy pods with seeds in them.  So much better than I expected! You know how cucumber seeds have a little pocket around them? Think that, but 3 or 4 times as thick, with a little seed that crunches like pumpkin seeds do. Surprisingly sweet, especially with the grey expectation. Mango-papaya-like sweetness in the shape of slippery pods with a crunch. Cool!

Maria, the Trent in Ecuador (TIE) coordinator, is so nice. Her English is very good. She has flat grey hair just past her shoulders and wears classy little square glasses.

Perhaps it was the 17 hours of traveling or the elevation that made us sleepy, but the group took it easy for the rest of the day. We went to a large supermarket to buy lunch/dinner. When at home, I often feel conflicted buying fruit from Chile, Mexico, or even California because that leaves an awful carbon footprint, not to mention the often low-paid laborers indirectly impacted by these purchases. Here, when I pick up an apple from Ecuador, I don’t feel that guilt. Plus, here you can literally buy bags of pure fruit pulp!  

The 12 other girls and I talked for hours just laughing and telling stories. The sun went down at about 6, but we kept talking until 9 (even though it legitimately felt like midnight).

Great first full day in Ecuador! 


-L

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