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Published: March 3rd 2007
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My experience of Quito has been so incredibly diverse thus far. As you can see, more often than not I am out of the city for the weekend, travelling to the far and thrilling corners of Ecuador, but when I do stay in Quito, I always find something interesting to do and new things to see. A bit of history to whet your appetite: the city of Quito began to be established in the 1500’s, not long after Europeans began to immigrate to the Americas. It was an indigenous town before the Spanish arrived, but the colonists turned it into a city, a central spot in the mountains, ideal to defend because of the surrounding mountains, and central for trade with Colombia and Peru. There is quite a violent history of Quito, as it was the centre for a lot of near-slave workings, but also indigenous uprisings, and the eventual revolutions which brought freedom from Spanish colonial rule. For these reasons, there’s so much to see in the city with buildings that date back long before many other historical sites, in North America at least.
Wandering around in the streets is fascinating: the colonial architecture is beautiful and there
Simón Bolívar
This is where I get off the bus. So I always hear his name. Simón was the guy who wanted to unite South America after the Spanish left to create one big nation, Gran Colombia. Needless to say, it didn't work terribly well, but it was a good idea! are so many parts to the old town that can be discovered and explored on foot. The weekends that I do stay in Quito, I really like to just walk around for the day trying to find something new and exciting, which usually isn’t hard! It’s so great that it’s just sitting there on my doorstep, literally!!
On one such weekend outing, we went to the Virgin of Quito on the Panecillo hill, a familiar sight on the city’s skyline. It was built fairly recently, in the 1970s, and comes complete with a park surrounding it and an artisan market with all things Ecuadorian. Climbing up to the base of the sculpture where the Virgin stands has phenomenal views of the city - Quito is HUGE! You can really get an idea of its grandeur from standing on this hill, pretty breathtaking!
On another Quitanian weekend, I spent the Saturday attending a fundraising concert in one of the stadiums. They were raising money for a foundation, started by the police, that is trying to prevent traffic accidents in the streets. As people are
insane drivers here, it’s kind of necessary to address this problem. The concert itself was
really fun; I went with my landlord’s daughters, Eli (my Spanish teacher) and her sister Wilma, and some other kids who were living in their other properties. The music was all Ecuadorian, with some artists the girls had heard of. All very danceable and very fun, but the highlight was a group of drummers who preformed some high energy numbers, really fantastic. The energy at these places is just so alive; it’s hard not to get swept up in the excitement and thrill of it all!!
One final experience I will mention is a ballet that I attended at the National Theatre with the same group as the concert (not pictured). It was really neat! I mean, it's not the best ballet I’ve ever seen in a technical sense; they didn't look like they were incredibly rehearsed, but good dancers nonetheless. The really cool part of it is that for the first half, a program called Raizes (Roots), they had combined aspects of traditional Western ballet with Ecuadorian indigenous dances and music. It started out with drums beating on the stage, and guys coming through the audience with animal-horn trumpets. Some of the stuff that they did was unprecedented
Alemeda Park
Also near my bus stop and therefore near to my house. in my knowledge or experience of ballet and traditional forms of dance which really made it very cool. The second part of the program was a set of music and dances that were inspired by the protest art created by the refugees of Chile from when Pinochet was dictator there in the 70s. It was much more along the lines of what I think of when I think about South America: political outrage and protest. It was quite interesting too, and very touching. A really fascinating evening!
So, yes. Quito’s a pretty cool place to live, I’m really loving it!!
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Phil Romeril
non-member comment
Culture in Quito
Your postings are great. Keep it up. Quito and Ecuador sound like a rich life-opportunity environment. Carol and I are getting exicted thinking that your Mom and Day will be with you so soon. When they return to Linsday we will get to learn more about Quito and Ecuador. In fact, MMM are working on the new airport in Quito and the Environmental Management department that I work in may be undertaking a project there in 2007. I sure hope so.