Rain or Shine

Well I've taken about 150 photos so far, and it's a pain to load each one of them on here but I will try to upload as many as I can handle.  The tour of the city last Friday went great, we visited mainly the historic part of Quito which is home to numerous old and european looking buildings.  It's kind of weird to write in English, I keep thinking in Spanish.  We returned today to visit the Museum of the City which held lots of old crafts and tools, and told the history of indigenous people and tuned into the post-colonial period.  This past weekend was tons of fun, filled with lots of dancing on my part.  From salsa to merengue to plain old American music, it was fun! 

This past Saturday we watched the Ecuador vs. Argentina game, although the winner was obvious, we cheered on with fellow Ecuadorians.  Score was 4-0, our lose.  We play Colombia on Sunday at a the Estadio Olimpico (Olympic Stadium) which is about 3 blocks from where I live.  I'm going to go.  Sunday I went to the Teleferico with a few friends, which brought us up to the top of Volcano Pichincha, it was freezing!  The view was amazing, and we got to see it at night coming back down, truly beautiful with a full moon above the city.  Turning around from the view of the city, was the view of the ongoing mountains.  It was so silent, in comparison the hustle and bustle of the city, it was peaceful and relaxing.  Definitely want to go back up there and spend a good few hours walking around, and taking photos, riding horses, whatever! 

Today I decided to go for a run and check out the gym that is close to my house.  There were some clouds in the sky but I didn't think too much of it.  Mind you it was been considerably warm and sunny since we first arrived here, two weeks ago.  It starts sprinkling a little, which it has done for a few seconds a couple days since I've been here.  I get to the gym, decide not to go because of the price, and continue on my run.  It begins raining, not that hard, so I'm fine.  But then it just keeps on raining, and raining, and finally I'm so drenched that I have to go home.  It got to a point where it was just hilarious, and all you can do is smile.  It reminded me of the time in Amsterdam when me and a few friends got caught in an enormous rain storm that broke our umbrellas, and actually kind of hurt as we ran back to our hostel.  So in comparison to that, this was fine.  It got sunny again within the hour, after the thunder and lighting had passed.  I had read about Quito's bi-polar weather, but it's way cooler when you experience it!

Okay, so here come some photos.

This is me at the view from the Virgen of Quito

The statue at the very top of the hill is the Virgen of Quito, where I'm standing in the previous photo.

Just to get an idea of the Andes mountains, picture these mountains surrounding all the city below

This is in old town Quito, Plaza of the Independence

I just like this photo, a true hole in the wall restaurant

Quito is known for it's wide range of culture, you can find completely different arquitecture blocks away from each other, and a wide variety of people, clothing, and language even.

La Ronda on the left, a quieter more artsy street where we found a cool hat store.  And a "typical" Ecuador street on the right, bustling with traffic and people.  Both are in Old Town though.

These are photos from the Museum of the City, with the program Director on the right.

 This case was devoted to Alexander Von Humboldt, who studied and lived in Ecuador for 5 years





And this is me about to board an antique carriage



Tomorrow I begin my internship teaching 3-5 year olds some basic English, super excited!  This Friday, we head to Otavalo, the closest ingidenous population to Quito, that is known for their production of textiles, I'm going to buy so much I already know.  But mostly for family and friends :)