I went with my friend Monica to the botanical garden here in Quito fort the Christmas light festival. It was beautiful and will need to go back to the botanical garden after the holidays.
Christmas lights at the botanical gardens
Category: Ecuador
Chivas
Chivas are converted buses that include pay lights and music sound systems with a DJ. As the boss moves through the city for a couple hours, the riders dance and party. And yes, there is alcohol involved.
I have stories about the Chiva, but I’m not going to write about those.
My school did have a Chiva for visiting a location where they will build their new school. After champagne and a dinner, the night ended with 7 Chivas taking all the teachers around that section of the city.
Day of the Dead
“Dia de los Difuntos in Ecuador”
In Ecuador, Dia de los Difuntos, or the Day of the Dead, has indigenous roots and Catholic traditions and it’s celebrated on all souls day, November 2nd.
Preparations for Dia de los Difuntos involve crafting colorful altars with photographs, favorite foods, and cherished belongings. The bread, “guaguas de pan” (bread babies) and the drink “colada morada” (purple porridge made with purple corn flour and fruits that is served warm) are symbolic culinary gifts to the departed but are mostly shared as a sense of community.
My school had a 3 day weekend but there were plenty of festivities including observing American Halloween.
It was a pretty fun time learning about the traditions in a new country.
Extended stay in Guayaquil
The flight back home to Quito from Cuenca had a short layover in Guayaquil. Unfortunately, there was a small mechanical problem with the plane and everyone on board missed their connecting flight. It meant a 24 hour stay until the next flight we could get. At least the airline covered all costs and meals at the Marriott until the time of the flight.
Guayaquil is not a very safe city. After setting up lesson plans for my classes and using some of the hotel facilities, I thought I should go sightsee if just for a couple hours. I settled on three places I would want to see and set out in an Uber.
The first was Parque Seminario. It is the oldest park in the city and it’s also known as iguana park for all the iguanas that take up residence there. I was glad to see security in the area.
I next went to Uber to La Peña to climb the 445 stairs in this colorful area. At the top is a lighthouse and a beautiful view of the city.
From here, my last stop was actually a short walk from the bottom of the stairs. The Malecón was built for tourism and is along the water. It was a great stroll and I was happy to see that there was security along the way.
All in all a great time to tour despite my worry of safety. I did meet from the plane a great couple. He grew up in Altoona, not far from where I grew up, and now works in Philly. Such a small world.
I was happy to finally get home though it was midnight.
More Cuenca
After a day off meeting Pam, a friend of Susan’s and another couple we met, I am really glad that I talked with others about their experience here. Their insights and suggestions is what I was looking for.
I really love this place. It feels like a small town but has so many arts and other activities. It is very walkable and safe. It is definitely a contender for retirement.
We took a city bus tour on the last morning to get a different view of some of the areas. Turi was beautiful with a church on the hill and a view of the whole city.
Other views of the city during the celebration.
In El Calderon park. Many activities and a mini parade.
Since day of the dead is over with and there is no Thanksgiving, I should be allowed to put up Christmas decorations as seen by these stores. Agreed?
I know many more are thinking that it is crazy to live somewhere else in the world but I am really liking it here. It is the time after moving here when the newness wears off and you are wondering what you are doing here, but I don’t feel that way. I really love this place and can see splitting my time between Ecuador and the US.
Touring outside of Cuenca
Casa museo de la macana
On the way to visit various towns outside of Cuenca, we stopped at a museum and exhibition of spinning and weaving. The spinning of the yarn uses a drop spindle similar to what I’ve used and seen. They also color the yarns similarly as other places of the world.
The weaving however is much different. They sit on the floor and the work is done with the arms instead of using peddles to tighten the weft threads.
A video of the weaving process here:https://youtu.be/-ZNyT2xPaFQ?si=CI4IjH9d3JiF24i_
Gualeseo
Another cute little town but seemed to sell many shoes as witnessed by the number of people in each of the stores. Since my size is hard to find here I didn’t go into the stores.
Chorteleg
Chorteleg is a cute little town. It is known for its silver and gold industry especially filigree designs. Of course I bought some jewelry.
On the way back to Cuenca we stopped at San Fransisco square.
balconies of the pink building.
After arriving back in Cuenca we listened to some singers and danced a bit in the square. Quite the fun day.
Around Quito
These are some of the other things I have been doing since arriving in Quito. School of always busy when starting in a new place: new programs to learn, procedures to follow, etc.
Several of the new teachers would go to a few music venues. This one was reggae type music with rap influence.
In my neighborhood is a great gelato place made with local fruits. Very delicious.
Another music event I attended was an afrobeats concert held at an old theater near the historical center. The headliner act is famous in Chile and the whole evening was fantastic. It was difficult to stay in our seats, everyone was dancing.
They were amazing.
I’ve had a few medical appointments about my knee. Walking home after one of them I spotted this place that had Bolivian empanadas
Colada morada is a warm drink made with a large quantity of ingredients including various fruits and purple corn flour. It is thick and actually quite tasty. It is seen here around various holidays including Day of the Dead. Along with a cheese empanada, it was delicious.
I have also never been to a professional soccer game. The stadium is close to school so what better way than to stay after school, grab dinner with friends, and take in a game.
At school, part of the IB program is to complete a G4 project. We took the students to the museum on the equator. It is actually along the equator as determined by GPS (I have been at the other location of where they thought it was by using maps).
We have also hosted a BBQ at our place. So great to see people out of school.
More adventures to come….
Papallacta
For a relaxing long weekend, I went with my friend Susan to papallacta. The town is located in the Ecuadorian Andes about 40 miles outside of Quito.
We left after school but since both of us work in different schools we left through the center of the city. Unfortunately there was a very bad accident that backed up traffic for over six hours. Even though there was a way to finally get off and go through to the other side of town, Quito has a policy that there is one day in the week each person cannot drive through the city from 4 to 9 pm. It is called pico y placa. Our driver could not go back to the city as the number on his plate does not allow him to drive during those hours on Friday. Eventually we were able to move far enough along to get off on a different exit. We eventually made it there much later than anticipated. *They actually did suspend this policy but we were not able to turn around after a certain time.
The hotel we stayed at was Mamallacta Paramor and is located 200 m from the thermal hot springs at Termas. This area has lots of hot springs due to volcanic activity but that place is the best and most expensive. We were able to get a day pass and also book a hot stone massage for much cheaper than staying at the expensive place. It is worth it. I loved my stay there and will definitely go back.
The food was delicious and the people so helpful.
The hotel is very artistic with some amazing touches throughout. It is beautiful.
They even have an opening in the upper floors for the birds who come in can leave. This one forgot how it entered.
I made a new friend Lenny, the burro. He was not as friendly at first but after I fed him clover he accepted hugs and pets on the neck and face. He actually brayed at me rather loudly when I left but did not give him clover. Of course I stopped and did as he asked.
Besides the hot springs we took several hikes through the forests and along the roads. Beautiful and relaxing!
The area is surrounded by farmland. Besides cows there were plenty of sheep and of course llamas.
We decided to come back a day early and given the traffic into papallacta it was probably a good idea. Many people finally made it to the hot springs. We visited friends who are moving back to the states. It was a lovely way to end the vacation. Their view from their balcony in Guapulo (South Quito) is amazing.
Quilotoa
What a great group of people I work with. There is often a suggestion for a trip that someone starts and quickly a group is put together. This weekend was a trip to Quilotoa. We rented a can to pick us up from school and after around 3 hours we arrived at the black sheep inn.
The drive there was amazing with all of the vistas.
Black sheep inn is an eco hostel that serves vegetarian food only and focused on nature and preserving and conserving resources. They have a great facility and full meals and snacks all day long. Add in massages, helping with transport to hikes, games and things to do.
Worth the extra 40 dollars a night.
They have one very friendly cat, named Choco who loved to hang out around my house.
On Saturday, trucks picked us up to go to Quilotoa. The ride had some other great views of mountains. These two peaks are husband and wife, esposo y esposa called Ilinazas.
Quilotoa is a water-filled caldera and is one of the must do hikes in Ecuador. The caldera was formed 800 years ago when the cone of the volcano collapsed during a massive eruption. Over the centuries, the caldera filled with water, and now you can hike along the rim of the beautiful crater lake.
The surrounding area is also home to several indigenous communities that have lived in the region for centuries, mainly the Kichwa. They have a rich culture and history and still practice traditional farming. I love how they maintain a deep connection to the land and the natural resources. Of course they have built structures to support and encourage tourism.
The hike is pretty difficult. It is 1000 meters above Quito so the air is thinner. It is also a pretty difficult hike with the ascents and descents. I decided to do one kilometer and then turn back. The full hike of the rim is 5 hours. I chose instead to hike down to the bottom of the crater and back up.
At the start of the hike we were all together.
The path up was very steep and loose gravel of course. We were not in any hurry as our friends were taking a long hike. So we stopped often to take long breaks.
Finally we made it to the top.
Sunrise the next morning.
The town of Chugchilan is where the inn is at. I walked around the last morning to look at buildings and people.
A great weekend with amazing people. When Carrie and I left the group, everyone hugged and we were wished a safe journey back. People are very friendly and caring
Colegio Americano de Quito
One week was to just get the visas, get settled in an apartment, get a cell plan, bank account, etc. Finally it was time for the new teachers to be at school for a week.
We have an amazing lab assistant who is so knowledgeable, organized, and we have access to a lot of things which I was so happy about.
After another week with all faculty, students returned. I forget how much energy is required into getting to know a new system and culture in a school. In the second week we had an assembly. Students were asked to wear uniforms even though they do not have to on a daily basis. They started the assembly with both the Ecuador and USA national anthems and ended with the colegio song.
I was impressed that the focus of the assembly was on academics and the arts. Awards were given and a shout out to sports were mentioned at the end.
A student band played. They were very good.
Despite differences in how schools are run and a little disorganization especially where new platforms being used this year that there is little experience in, it has been a good start to the year. The students are kind and motivated in my class. There are always a few students who test you and they are in the lower grades, or 10th grade for me. There is a lot of support for any discipline issues which I’m grateful for.