Day One in Quito!

The Arrival: After a delay in Philadelphia, rushing to barely make my connection in Miami, and sitting for over an hour on the Miami runway, I finally landed in Quito around 10:15 p.m. Sunday evening. After successfully making my way through immigration, finding my bag on the carousal, and making my way through customs, I was happy to see a young woman holding a sign with my name. Upon meeting her she informed me that two other female volunteers just arrived on my same flight and that we all would be making the hour long drive to south Quito together! One of my biggest fears was landing in Quito and not finding my ride or being alone for an hour with a complete stranger, in a foreign country, but luckily neither of these fears became a reality. Myself and Moriah (a junior from Oklahoma) were informed that we were both staying in the Volunteer House, while Mindi (a graduate student) would be staying with a host family. First we dropped off Minid and then we arrived at our destination. Monica our house mother was so welcoming and within minutes we felt at home. Upon being escorted to our bedroom we were amazed! Our bedroom was located on the top floor, essentially the penthouse and from there we could see Quito far and wide (Pictures Below)! Our bathroom was outside, but the fact that it had a western toilet made me a happy camper. By one o’clock Moriah and I found ourselves comfortably falling asleep in our new home.

Day One: On the schedule for day one was breakfast, an free excursion to Old Town provided by IVHQ, a lunch break, orientation, and dinner. It may not sound like a lot, but this day was a long one! We woke up slightly before 8:00 a.m. and met the other volunteers downstairs for breakfast. We have a total of six volunteers in the house, Moriah, Myself, Lindsey (a sophomore from UNC), Sarah (a sophomore from UNC), Jenny (a junior from Michigan), and a young woman from the UK who’s name I cannot recall. From the first moment we sat down for breakfast we all bonded and it has been great to spend the day with these girls particularly Moriah, Lindsey, and Sarah who attended the excursion and orientation with me throughout the day. After breakfast we walked down to the volunteer office and met a bunch of other volunteers, some who had been here already for 10 weeks, and others who just arrived like we had. Luis was our tour guide for the morning excursion and with a quarter for the bus we were off. In Old Town we visited the a central park, Basilica del Voto Nacional, Plaza Santo Domingo, Plaza Grande or de la Republica, and the Compania Church. We spent a lot of time at the Basilica and just walking the narrow streets, which almost reminded you of Italy; it was a beautiful morning. You can see some photographs of the excursion below. Additionally, since we arrived in the dark the previous evening, that morning was the first time I could see the beautiful Andes Mountains surrounding Quito… they are breathtaking! After the excursion we traveled back via bus to the office and ate lunch which included pineapple, juice, bottled water, soup, chicken, rice, and coleslaw for only $3.50! With that meal we all felt refreshed!  We had been told it would rain all week and only be 70 degrees, but today the sun was beating down on us and it felt a lot hotter than 70 degrees with no rain in sight. Food felt amazing. After lunch we headed back to the office for an orientation about Ecuadorian culture, safety, transportation, house rules, transfers out to the airport, our specific programs, etc. I chose to participate in the “street children” program whereas many of the other girls chose to teach English in schools. My program works with children in the various open air markets in and surrounding Quito. These children from age 2 onward wake up at 4:00 a.m. and sometimes work until 5:00-6:00 p.m. with their parent(s) in the market place selling various products. These children essentially have no childhood, they hardly ever have the opportunity to receive an education, and they many times struggle with family issues such as alcoholism, abuse, a single mother, etc. Many times they are seen crying at the end of the day for not having sold their quota, knowing very well the meal that night might depend on their sales… the stress can be unbearable for anyone especially children age 2-16. Many times these children will marry other market workers by the age of 13-14 and become young parents, thus the cycle continues. Our program seeks to reduce the children’s workday and to allow them the opportunity to play with short-term goals of educating them in cognitive and motor skills and a long term goal of having them attending a public or private school within 6 months – 2 years. I think it will be an honor to serve these children. Tomorrow my day will consist of two sessions, one from 8:30-12:15 and the other from 1:00-4:00 in the Chillogallo Market with a 45 minute break for lunch. Wednesday I will be at that same market in the morning and Cupicho Market or Villa Flora during the afternoon. Thursday I will be at Sangolgui Market all day and Friday at Guamani. Specifically this week we will also be focusing on the upcoming holiday by giving each child a bag of candies, this is an Ecuadorian custom  and many times these children do not receive their bag of candies due to their economic situation. We will also be having a Santa Claus with us in the afternoons. It will truly be a blessing to bring Christmas to these children’s day.

After the orientation we visited the local mall and Christmas shopping was definitely in the air as crowds of people raced past us . We grabbed some snacks and ice cream in the mall and quickly headed home for an amazing home cooked meal, specifically the potatoes and the traditional peanut sauce they were covered in were to die for! With such long days ahead of us and the real work beginning tomorrow we all started getting ready for bed shortly after the meal. Later this week we plan to be a little more lively and are hoping to go out after our workdays. We also have planned a day trip to Otavalo on Saturday to visit the largest open air market in Ecuador. This should be a nice treat after a long week.

More to Come.

The Penthouse View at Night.

The Penthouse View.

Old Town – The Park

Compania Church

The streets of Old Town… are we in Italy?

At the top of one of the towers at the Basilica del Voto Nacional.

Quito, Ecuador – The Andes

Basilica del Voto Nacional – Moriah & I

Basilica del Voto Nacional

Our First Dinner at the Volunteer House!