An Introduction to Quito

Mid-April to Mid-May

I know I promised this a month ago, but it’s been difficult to find the time to catch up on my blog posts while Selina and I have been on the road.  Instead of an exhaustive overview of my month in Quito, I’ll hit on some of the highlights of my time there.

I arrived in Quito in mid-April after spending a month in Manta (on the coast). Although I love the Ecuadorian coast and my host family and friends there, I was a bit tired of the inescapable heat and humidity, and I was ready for the cooler temperatures of the Andes.  Fortunately, I got to know through my host family through my friend Adriana (Adri), who visited us in Manta several times during my stay there.  Although she has lived in Spain for the past 10 years and is working on gaining her citizenship, she grew up in Manta and then Quito, where her mom still lives.  When she invited me to stay with them for a month, I decided it was an opportunity I couldn’t afford to pass up.

After some consideration, I decided to forgo my original plan of volunteering on the coast and instead focus on perfecting my Spanish. So I enrolled in a Spanish program at Simon Bolivar Spanish School, one of the most-highly regarded in Ecuador, and caught a flight to Quito with Adri a few days later.

Flying from Manta to Quito, I grew increasingly excited as we flew so close to several snow-capped volcanoes that felt like I could touch them. Several minutes later, we were flying over the pine plantations, fields and greenhouses that lie to the south of Quito, which were soon followed by the rural houses and isolated suburban developments of the southern outskirts. As we flew over the city, we saw the vast urban sprawl of the poorer southern communities, the Virgin of Quito atop the Panecillo, the historic colonial center, and finally the Mariscal Sucre.  When we touched down and I was literally bouncing in my seat with excitement. Breathing in the refreshingly crisp mountain air as I stepped off the plane, I saw the giant Volcan Pichincha looming over the city and I knew that Quito would be one of favorite cities of my trip.

Living in Quito

I loved living in Quito and could see myself someday going back there to live and work. The city has a temperate climate startlingly similar to San Francisco (very appealing to me), is green year-round, and situated in a long narrow valley with mountain ranges on either side. These geographical constraints make open spaces very accessible–it’s possible to drive from the giant Parque Metropolitano on the western side of the city to the foot of Pichincha on the eastern side in only 10 minutes, and a system of parks and dedicated bike lanes connect the far-flung northern and southern areas.  Although these bike lanes are still new and few people use them yet, I appreciated the efforts of the city government to create a humane environment for its citizens. There is a lot of momentum (and support) for a subway to be built in the city, and given the government’s accomplishments thus far, I believe that it will eventually happen.

During the month I lived with Adri and her mom in their beautiful flat in the northern part of Quito, I fell into a fairly regular routine. My days started with a 20 minute bus ride to my Spanish school on the Ecovia, one of Quito’s four parallel Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines that connect the northern and southern ends of the city. Although the buses were always packed, they were faster than traffic, frequent (2-3 minutes between busses), and cost only 25¢ per ride. Even though I was usually wedged between standing passengers, I truly enjoyed every ride—returning the other passengers’ stares (at the tall gringo) never got old! Depending on the time of the day, I might see dapper business professionals (people dress much nicer than they do in the US), uniformed school children returning home at to eat lunch with their families, or groups of teenagers and 20-somethings headed out for a night on the town. I liked that the public transit system in Quito was so robust and widely used—another similarity to San Francisco—and I derived satisfaction in the fact that people of all socio-economic levels literally rubbed elbows during their commute.

Spanish Classes in Quito

Another unexpected highlight of Quito was taking classes for four hours each day at Simon Bolivar Spanish School.  Although I had taken one-on-one classes for a month at a tiny language school in Manta (only 8 students), the teachers were inexperienced, impatient, and inconsistent.  I also had to switch teachers every week, which significantly disrupted the continuity of my learning the language.  Although I could get by after a month on the coast, I still spoke like a gringo and my vocabulary was not where I wanted it to be.

In contrast my two teachers at Simon Bolivar were experienced professionals and absolutely fantastic. I was fortunate to have Sandra, the director of the Quito program during my first week at the school, who completely overhauled my pronunciation and taught me for the first time how all of the different verb tenses relate to one another.  After solidifying the foundation of my language, I worked with Cristobal for 4 weeks.  A very knowledgeable, friendly, and laid-back man, Cristobal and I spent our class time going over all of the different verb tenses but also spent hours talking about Ecuadorian politics, history, and current events (all in Spanish of course!).  When I left the school, I felt completely equipped to participate in Ecuadorian society: I could express myself fully to native speakers without feeling the frustration of not being able to communicate with them.  In contrast to my first days in Ecuador this is a hugely satisfying accomplishment.

My Host Family

After my classes each day, I would take the Ecovia to Adri’s grandmother’s house where the whole extended family would congregate for lunch.  Adri’s grandmother, Hilda, Susan, and Adri would come home every day from their respective jobs at 1 o’clock for a three course meal prepared by the house cook Soila, an elderly woman who also lives at the house and has been working for Hilda for over 30 years. As in Manta, the meals always started with a soup (Locro, Cream of Spinach, White Carrot, Viche, etc.), followed by a meat course that usually consisted of pan-fried pork, chicken, or beef accompanied with rice and salad.  Ever-present was the homemade aji, or hot sauce, which I put on everything.  Almost all of Hilda’s produce is grown organically on their family farm, which is 30 minutes outside of the city, so there was always an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Hilda and her family are very worldly people, and our lunchtime conversations almost always centered on current events and politics—two of my great loves.  From Hilda’s numerous travel experiences throughout almost all of Europe, the United States, Asia, and Africa to Adri’s mom’s job at the US Embassy, to Adri’s own experience in Spain, I couldn’t have wished for more interesting company.

Nightlife and Friends

In the evenings I usually met up with some of my friends from the Spanish school in the Mariscal Sucre.  Also known as the “New Town”, it is the center of business and nightlife in Quito. Plaza Foch, a modern European-style plaza, is the epicenter of Quito’s bar and club scene with crowds of people filling the countless restaurants, bars and discos that surround it.  We would usually start our nights at a hole in the wall that served on of my favorite drinks, the canelazo (made with aguardiente (cane liquor), passion fruit juice, and cinnamon and served hot), and sometimes move on to another bar or disco. Although the Mariscal isn’t the most authentic Ecuadorian place—it is known locally as “gringolandia”—I grew to appreciate its broad selection of amenities catering to homesick backpackers. Whenever I needed a break from Ecuadorian fare, Middle Eastern, Mexican, and Indian options could all be found in the Mariscal.

On the weekends when I didn’t have class, I went on several trips outside of Quito.  My overnight trip to a thermal Andean hot springs (Papallacta) with friends, and a trip to Baños, on of the adventure sports hubs of Ecuador, were highlights.  When I didn’t have weekend plans, I went with my host family to their farm 30 minutes outside of Quito to spend a leisurely afternoon on their terrace over the river while enjoying the company of family, a large home-cooked meal, and the organic produce from their fields.

In a nutshell, my life in Quito was filled with opportunities to practice my Spanish, explore, and have some fun. There is no way for me to recount all of my idiosyncratic experiences, but I hope this gives you a sense of what I was up for the month!

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