Quito the Old

The past week has been relatively uneventful, but I figured an update was in order anyway. Every weekday consists of either volunteer meetings or markets in the morning and Spanish class in the afternoon. Not bad at all, really. I´m becoming more accustomed to the markets, so I´m enjoying it more and more. The kids are a lot of fun, especially now that I can understand, more or less, what they´re saying. I´m also starting to see the long-term goals of the program, which is good. The Thursday market is my favourite, because it´s in a beautiful town called Sangolqui. The other markets are just outside Quito, so not as much fun to go to.
I spent the weekend in Quito, which was a lot of fun. Friday night all the volunteers went to a bar in the Mariscal where two of the volunteers have been working some weekends. We had a great time and I met a ton of interesting people, mostly Europeans and Australians who have recently moved to Ecuador. On Saturday, I explored the Quito´s Old City, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. I went to the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus, which is a Jesuit church that is entirely covered in real gold. It´s really amazing, it looks like every element of Baroque art and architecture exploded, in gold, all over the inside. It´s completely over-the-top, but very impressive. Next, I went to the statue of the Virgin Mary overlooking the city, which gives a great view of the city. Finally, I went to the Museo Nacional, which is sort of the natural history museum of Ecuador. It houses a fantastic collection of Indigenous artifacts and Colonial artwork. Quite an exhausting day, but it was really nice to get to know the city a bit.
Sunday was a pretty lazy day. I met up with Katie, another volunteer, to buy groceries in the morning, because she was cooking lunch for her family. It turned out to be a big event, with the family and friends and neighbours. A lot of fun and great Spanish practice for me. By the afternoon I was pretty spent because attempting to answer questions about Judaism, in Spanish, is completely exhausting.
Monday, Tuesday, and today have been markets and Spanish class, with a little Salsa lesson thrown in for good measure. That was a blast, I love Latin dance. Tomorrow I am going to Atacames, which is a beach town, for the weekend with the other volunteers. It´s a long weekend and Ecaudor is playing Uruguay in the World Cup qualifiers on Saturday, so it should be a lot of fun!

Lots of love,

Sarah