The Equator field trip

Today was pretty exciting. We had our first field trip! We went to the historical center of Quito, to the ecuator, and to a gorgeous, guilded, baroque church. We traveled to see Mary, who sits on top of one of the hills and looks over Quito. I saw shrunken heads, boas, and some gorgeous flowers, some of which I had never seen before and didn´t necesarily look like flowers. This evening 22 out of the 25 of us met up at the school and went out to one of the districts with a lot of bard and discos. Cocktails are around 4 dollars, and a taxi which dropped three of us off at different spots cost a total of three dollars. A few of the students stayed out later, but I was happier just having the experience and then leaving before it got too late. Tomorrow is the official first day of classes, and I am definitely looking forward to that. In the mean time, I have been speaking a lot of spanish. It is really dificult to see this level of poverty. Many of the houses are falling down or have collapsed roofs. The streets are full of children selling things, and people sell things, wash windows, or breath fire in the middle of traffic to make money. We are not supposed to take any type of paper, pamphlets, or coupons from anyone on the street because they can be laced with drugs which take away your will power, but leave your ability to lead a thief to your house and offer them your money. Two students have already been pick pocketeted. It isn´t an issue when you are safe and aware of your surroundings, though. Here are the photos of the day, featuring Ismael and DiDi, who are also in my group. Friday we go on our first big trip, to a huge marketplace. In the meantime, everything is still pretty darn wonderful. Especially the food!