We visited the town of Papallacta with Frank, Mariana, their kids, and another of Mariana's students, Joanna. Papallacta is famous for its hot springs and has two resorts to enjoy the warm waters. The first is in town and has two large pools, and the second is just outside of town with a large collection of pools of different sizes and temperatures. We visited the second resort with Joanna while the rest of the family went fishing. The second resort is much nicer and much more popular. It is also right next to a river, so you can experience the temperature [View Full Entry]

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We asked Frank and Mariana about nice Museums in Quito. Besides the two Guayasamin museums, they suggested the Museau de la Ciudad (Museum of the City), or the Museau de Banco Central (Museum of Ecuador's Central Bank). The Museau de la Ciudad is about the history of Quito. It is set in a building that operated as a hospital from the 1500's to the 1970's. The museum has different rooms representing different periods of Quito's history and you walk through - going from pre-history to the present. It was a nice museum and we would recommend it. The day we were [View Full Entry]

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For the first three months we were in Ecuador, we volunteered for the South American Explorers club (SAE). Kerensa helped them update their Ecuador Volunteering Opportunities database while Tony mostly helped with day-to-day operations and helping other club members. The main benefits were that they helped pay for our Spanish lessons while in Quito, as well as sponsored us for our Volunteer Visas. We also met a lot of great people from all over the world. The club has a dog, Yanna, who helped us through Sadie withdrawls. We would take Yanna to the ATM whenever we went because NO ONE [View Full Entry]

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We got to Quito on September 28th. When we arrived we stayed at the Loro Verde (Green Parrot) Hostal for four days while we searched for a family to live with in Quito. After meeting the staff and getting some help from the South American Explorers Club (SAE), we contacted Mariana Gonzalez, a Spanish teacher, to live with in their home in Los Chillos (South of Quito). We took spanish classes and helped teach english while living in the school building next to their home. After one month of living with Mariana, Frank (her husband) and their children Maria Jose and [View Full Entry]

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