Blogs from Historical Center, Quito, North, Ecuador, South America - page 11

Work, food, Quito! That basically has been my week. I´ve started working at the Clinica Santa Barbara. So far I´ve seen a few operations, watched work done in the biochemistry lab, worked with the nurses (taking blood pressure, weighing/measuring patients, etc.), worked in the nursery, and shadowed a pediatrician. All very cool stuff. Everyone who works there is incredibly friendly and working there is a great opportunity for me to speak Spanish and for many of the doctors to practice their English. We´ll see what this coming week brings! Monday night, Royal and I went to La Foch and sat next to Amelia Vega, Miss Dominican Republic and Miss Universe 2003. Yea, no big deal. Tuesday, Royal, Julia and I started private salsa lessons at Mariana´s house with David, a friend of Miguel´s. We´ll be taking ... read more

¨They don´t believe I seatbelts, here. ¨I´ll never forget those first words as I stepped out of the Mariscal Sucre Airport amidst the bustling hub of people and taxis and failed to find any indication of a seatbelt. Moments later the small car (somehow still driven on the streets since the 80s) with a steering wheel the size similar to that of a small boat swerved through what was barely the ¨yellow zone¨ of traffic lights. After bouncing around a maze of streets and hills, we arrived at Nancy Figueroa´s house, my home for the next month. Mariana, the program director for ELI in Ecuador, Nancy, Royal, another student volunteer staying at Nancy´s house and I sat down around the kitchen table in the traditional ritual of introductions and chatting as I drank a sweet yogurt ... read more

Buenas noches.. My third day in Quito is almost coming to it´s end - I am back in Ecuador and love it :-) Although it´s really cold here too (it´s winter) but at least during the day it was mostly sunny and you didn´t need to wear a jacket. As I only arrived on Saturday I didn't have too much time for things to do but as I met those lovely Colombians (two guys from Bogotá) in the plane I already had some company for the evening ;-) I was too late at the place (Plaza Foch, the main meeting point with loads of bars and restaurants here in the center of Mariscal, the new part of the city!) so I met some other people and had a drink with them. But later I had a ... read more

It was a very easy flight to Quito, under 2 hours long, and with quick check in and immigration when we arrived. We were booked into Hotel Cathedral in the Old town - it was in an old colonial building, with a large internal courtyard, and was only a couple of blocks from Plaza Grande, the central plaza which was very picturesque. We spent the afternoon exploring the surrounding areas - it was cool and wet unfortunately. That evening (the Thursday before Good Friday, we had difficulty finding somewhere to eat as everything was closed and the city as quiet as a morgue. We ate at a 5* hotel on the edge of the plaza - good food but not cheap! Next day we joined the crowds of people in front of Monasterio San Francisco - ... read more

We arrived Wednesday evening at 9:50 local time. Hotel is very nice full of Ecudorian character. Breakfast was a traditional Ecudorian of scrambled eggs, bread, jam and coffee / tea. After breakfast we took the trole (tram bus) into the historic centre of Quito. Visited some churches including Basilica (climbed lots of towers to see the views of Quito) then walked via government buildings to Plaza De San Fransisco, the main square. Tried lots of juices and milk shakes in a local cafe such as mora (blackberry), passion fruit and naranjilla. these seemed to go down well. In the afternoon we met up with Alberto who is the head of a local school which has been supported by the College. We took the local bus and spent the afternoon with the staff and pupils (4 to ... read more