Friday, August 3rd
Today was a nice relaxing day. We went to Sinamune and did finger painting and play-doh (yes it was as messy as you’re imagining). We had a nice lunch of choclo and some great conversation with the psychology major girls. Then we went to our coffee shop, Serendipity, to work on lesson plans for next week. Jun, the owner is always so welcoming and gracious to us. If you are ever in Quito, go to Serendipity! And that’s about it for today.
Saturday, August 4th
Today Paige and I had planned to take the teleferico up Pichincha and hike to the top, but our plans were thwarted by rain. So instead I slept in and then met up with Paige to run some errands. Cosette’s birthday is Tuesday, so we are planning a surprise party for Monday night. Also, at the mall today, we ran into one of our psychology major friends! Literally, what are the odds?! It’s like being in the US and running into your friend in the mall! Except even less likely because Quito is a massive and there were two other huge malls in walking distance of the 4-story mall we were at.
Sunday, August 5th
This morning I went to mass at La Basilica del Voto Nacional. It was a beautiful mass and a beautiful basilica. Afterwards, I paid $2 to climb to the tower at the very top of the church, which boasts one of the best views of Quito. It was stunning! The way up was pretty precarious, as the stairs were more like straight-up ladders, but it was exhilarating. I feel like it would never fly in the US, but there nobody minded if the wire between the steps protecting you from a massive fall was missing. After that, I explored the old town walking around, so I could get my bearings and figure out which buses I would need to take to get to my new job on Monday. Here are some photos of the basilica and the climb!
Okay, I can’t get the rest of the photos to upload, but I’ll try again later. Or check out my Facebook because I will post them in the album there as well!