Day 1

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Location: Quito, Ecuador

Well, I'm here and in one piece. The flight was fine, apart from a slight problem at customs with two of the people in my group, and then two others luggage was left in Madrid, (which luckily returned the next day). On Sunday, I had a lazy morning, played cards with Louisa, Matt and Jack (the three Gappers who are sharing my house with me while we're in Quito), then we went upstairs to play with the children, Martina (6) and Camilla (8). When Galo and Sofia (the parents) got back from church (a very catholic family judging from all the crosses on the wall) we had breakfast, and then went for a drive around Quito and also to the centre of the earth! Which was very touristy. I love Ecuadorian architecture, they have such an amazing variety, mostly being bungalow sort of things, then you get these almost cottage sort of houses, made out of stone fairly similar to that of the Cotsworld, its all mixed in together, I love it! Quito on the whole is a really interesting city, fairly similar to London in the North. You'll see from some of the pictures I put up. But as you go further South, it gets poorer, more 'Southern American' a really interesting town. Both the Ecuadorian homes and people are so amazing. We arrived in Quito in the middle of a fiesta, basically everyone chucking eggs, water, flour, and foam at everyone else! I think we got targeted quite a bit as a lot of people were saying ‘extranjeros' (foreigners), but it was all done in good fun, was really cool. When we got back home, we had a Chinese, tasted completely different to the ‘English' Chinese, much saltier. And that pretty much ended my first day in Ecuador!

The other really impressive thing about Ecuador is the public transport. They have all these coaches going everywhere and anywhere, where people will quite literally jump on the bus while its moving, and the conductors will lean out the door, honking and yelling at passers by trying to encourage them to use their coach. The equivalent of buses is also highly impressive, it costs 25c (15 if your under 17) to go anywhere in Quito. They have these huge bus-stops, covered by huge sheets of plastic, and at every one, theirs a kiosk with a person so you pay before getting on, the buses are at the stops for a remarkably short time. Also in the streets, people will wonder around the middle of them, even on really busy roads, selling different things. Sunglasses, Monopoly boards, anything! Quito is just such a lively city! Everything is so alive! Well, anyhow, I'm going to finish this now, as it will probably take ma while to figure out how to put up my photos. If anyone wants a postcard, send me an email with your address on it!

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Photos

left to right, Jack, Lou and Matt
on the way up to the Angel

me... getting wet
On the way to the waterfall

'la mitad del mundo'
Really awesome statue at the centre of the earth