Such Great Heights

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Quito is 2,850 meters, or 9,350 feet, above sea level. (Fenway Park, for comparison’s sake, is 20 feet above sea level.) It’s taken me a little time to adjust to the altitude and not feel a bit winded walking around. The city is set at the foot of a volcano, and there are mountains everywhere you look. In some ways it reminds me of other Latin American cities I’ve been to -- graffitied colonial buildings, tiendas where Chicklets and ice cream are sold, narrow streets and congested avenues, lots of bus pollution. It’s divided into the old city, the more colonial-looking part and a UNESCO heritage site, and the new city, where pretty much all of the Spanish schools and tourist services are. I live in a part of the city called the Mariscal district, which is supposedly the hip and happening part, although I suspect that just means it’s where the gringos are. There’s an English pub, a German bookstore, a Swiss hotel and cafes with names like the Coffee Tree and The Magic Bean, which serves falafel and Caesar salads and plays ‘90s grunge. There I met a Swiss guy and girl who had just started taking Spanish classes at a Swiss-owned school, where I’ll start taking classes on Thursday. They invited me to tag along with them and a few of the other students to a cathedral near the old part of the city, famous, I guess, for its view from the tower (see photos).

The city gets pretty hot during the afternoon and cools off dramatically when the sun goes down. That seems to be the best time to walk around. The avenues are packed with rush-hour traffic while the streets get quiet and restaurants and little storefront-type places serving pizza and sandwiches and even shwarma open up. On a street near me with a fancy hotel and a very chic espresso bar is a Pizza Hut that looks like a five-star restaurant, complete with rooftop dining.
(Food will probably get its own special entry once I’ve been here a little longer. I haven’t seen guinea pig or bull testicles yet, but have become a fan of the fixed lunch, by which for $1.50 or $2 you get a three-course meal of whatever they happen to have that day.)

The presidential elections are coming up (first round on Oct. 15 and the second at the end of November), and you see posters and stickers and people holding flags with the name of their candidate everywhere you go. There are 13 candidates, and one of the two frontrunners is a friend of Hugo Chavez who apparently called Bush dimwitted and wants to go back to the old currency, the sucre, which was used before the US dollar was adopted to stabilize the economy. It could be interesting to see what happens. I don’t know much about Ecuadoran politics except there are many parties and it seems a few presidents have been overthrown in recent years.

More soon…

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Comments

[Tracy]

Hey, girl!
Hey, Ami! It's great to hear from you, and I love reading your blog. I laughed out loud at a few things because I got the visuals in my head, and I can hear you speaking through the computer screen. Looks like you're having an adventure over there. Have a great time, be safe, and enjoy! I've subscribed to your blog so I'll be keeping tabs on ya, girl. Love and miss you! Tracy

[Ali]

You made it
I just wanted to say hi and that I am happy you made it safely. I hope all is well. What a great idea to keep the blog. Keep in touch and have a great amazing trip!! L, Ali

[Niklas]

Cuy
Quito seems like an incredible place. Your blog is a joy to read and I'm looking forward to new entries. Is there a hotpot restaurant where you can boil your own cuy? I read that not only are they tasty but the animal can be passed over a sick person, and then split open and examined for clues to the illness.