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Published: August 6th 2007
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Ecuadorian Night
Ecuadorian food and Ecuadorian music. :) Well, I have been very busy of late. Yesterday, I finished my Spanish lessons (20 hours in five days). Santi (my instructor) did a great job and I think I learned a lot. During the week, we had a couple of hours of lessons at the mall, visited a fruit market, had lunch, and capped the week off by cooking an Ecuadorian meal at his apartment (Santi is a great cook... and is also building a hostal in Mindo made of bamboo - very cool and I look forward to visiting it one day). I still have a long way to go with Spanish, but it is much easier talking to the taxi drivers, ordering food, and so forth. And I am recognizing a lot more words.
I also spent time at Casa Gabriel and hanging out with the boys and went to a lunch meeting at YouthWorld. Interesting experiences and lots to ponder. It has been great getting to know the boys and spend time with the Douces.
So, over the past five days, I've been going back and forth across town (The Secret Garden is in Old Town and Casa Gabriel is in New Town). I've also
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At the Vivarium. walked around a bit... one day I walked all the way between the two (part Spanish lesson walk to the fruit market and then the rest of the way to Casa Gabriel).
I should say that Old Town is much more interesting with its beautiful colonial architecture, the myriad of colors the buildings are painted, cobblestone streets, museums, churches, and wide-open plazas. New town is much more modern with its malls, cinemas, commerce, and so forth. It is a relief, though, to escape to a modern mall every now and then and just walk around... maybe grab a bite of fast food to eat.
At any rate, last Saturday I spent mostly with the Casa Gabriel children and Michael (the intern). We walked from Casa Gabriel to Parque la Carolina and went to the Vivarium (http://www.vivarium.org.ec/). We also walked to a little mall and then to McDonald's. After getting back to Casa Gabriel I headed back to the hostal.
Of course, each night at the hostal is unique... unique in the experience and unique in the people I meet. This week I met a girl just out of high school (taking a "gap year", which is common
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Norte de Quito. in England) that climbed Cotopaxi over a few days and had been traveling for a few months; another girl traveling with her had volunteered for three months in Bolivia (teaching English). A lot of people I meet are taking 3+ months to travel around South America and sometimes the world. It is a really enriching and mind opening experience to really talk to and listen to everyone's stories.
Today, believe it or not, was my first day to really tour Old Town. I met a girl named Caroline (from England) and we walked around a good part of Old Town. It is always more fun to have someone to tour around with, share the experience, and talk to.
One of the places we visited was the Basilica. I see the Basilica every day from the terrace, but had yet to visit it. So, I finally went inside it and also up to the top of (both sides) --- which is a great experience... they clearly didn't think of the tourist attraction when building it... to get to the top of the spire or one of the clock-towers... think makeshift bridges in the "attic" above the main worship area,
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Daniel, Andres, and Alexis steep "stairs" (more like ladders), a very long and narrow spiral staircase, and just a kind of dangerous journey that would never pass spec in the States.
We then headed towards a lot of the older churches... though most were closed (afternoon on Sunday). We walked through the Grand Plaza, visited the Centro Cultural Metropolitano (highly recommended - http://www.centrocultural-quito.com), and in general took in the Old Town atmosphere... and then we got caught in a heavy downpour of rain. 😊 It is still pouring as I write this. Thankfully, halfway back (after many blocks of closely following building ledges), we were able to catch a taxi back to the Secret Garden.
At the Centro Cultural Metropolitano, one of the best things there was the works of Jesús Cobo... don't know much about him, but him makes some really cool sculptures out of steel and rock (often volcanic rock). Also, this may sound silly, but it has wood floors like I haven't seen before... some kind of really good wood (hopefully, not old-growth jungle trees, but they probably are).
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