Almuerzos, John Mason, and more!

Monday morning Marco (our Padre) escorted us to our first day of orientation. We took the bus (La Luz route) to 6 de Deciembre, the main street that runs north and south through Quito. From there, we hopped on the Echovia which took us all the way down to where we needed to meet the rest of the group at Hotel 6 de Deciembre. All in all it is about a 45 minute commute. Needless to say, the bus system is very interesting (more on adventures of Keith, Tara, and myself later). Our day consisted of a short meeting, getting our new cell phones, and eating our first almuerzo!!! (see picture on right). Keith, Nicole, and I ate plates of awesomeness but it would later come back to bite us in the behind, we had started out with the best almuerzo, setting our standards way too high…We had our first Spanish class and a meeting and then met Marco for the trip home. I’ve never been on a more crowded bus in my entire life! Tara, Keith, Marco, and I were literally squished in like sardines. I couldn’t move a muscle. It was exhausting and hilarious at the same time.

After not sleeping all night (thanks to some barking dogs) I got up early. We were taking our first solo trip downtown to meet the group! We made it with great success! We were also very excited because we were going on a tour of Quito that morning. We saw some awesome parts of towns, some churches, and the best part, the statue La Virgin del Panecillo (See picture on left).
The view of Quito was amazing from the hill the statue was on (see picture on right).
After some meetings some of us went out for cervezas, which were really cheap and really good. Keith, Tara, and I then had our first taxi adventure going home; nothing out of the ordinary though…

Wednesday was packed full of lesson planning, meetings, activities, and another delicious almuerzo!! At night we had a guest presenter named John Mason. He is basically the guy you call when you are hi-jacked, kidnapped, robbed, etc. Think Russell Crowe in Proof of Life, or Liam Neesen in Taken. It was awesome, scary, and informative. No real crazy stories yet; Keith got peed on by a little kid the other day, but other than that, it’s been relatively civil. I’m sure that will change fairly quickly.

If you don’t have Skype, download it, and leave it open while your computer is on. I’ll call when I have time and we can chat if you want to know more about my trip! Or email me at Benjamenlewis@gmail.com