First week in Quito

I knew Ecuador was going to be an adventure from the moment we landed…literally. As the plane bounced along the runway at an alarming speed, I looked over at the man sitting next to me and saw that even he, a man who has lived his entire life in Quito, was gripping the seat with white knuckles and looking at me with a similar expression of fear/surprise.

“¡Fuerte!” he said.

When I told this story to the resident director of my program, he laughed and said that each time you land here in Quito, you are risking your life a little bit and that all the people who have been through the experience of landing in Quito are praying as the plane descends. Then he paused and added that actually, it is probably good to risk your life a little bit every day and that actually some would argue that you aren’t really living if you don’t. Well, I feel that my time in Quito so far has been very full of life. For example:

• Taking the bus to school: The buses sometimes don’t stop all the way at the stations and the riders have to run and do a little hop in order to get on. The road to the university is winding, and it is well known that the bus drivers are “loco”. But if you look out the window as the bus whips around the turns, you can see three beautiful volcanoes in the distance. I have yet to manage a picture.

• New food: here is an example of what you can get if you spend a lot ($5) on lunch: 

and juice too!

A little background on Quito

Before the Incas, there were many indigenous cultures here, some of whose ruins still exist. The Incas invaded in 1480 (approx.) and incorporated the indigenous traditions and languages into their own culture. The capital of the Incan empire was moved to Quito by the emperor Huayna Capac. A bloody civil war ensued between his sons, one Incan and the other half-indigenous, to whom he had given control of Quito and Cuzco. The Spanish, led by Francisco Pizzaro, invaded a few years after the end of the civil war and conquered Quito in 1534. Control of Quito was eventually given to Sebastian de Benalcazar, and he renamed the city San Francisco de Quito. The sites I have encountered in Quito are from the colonial period and independence:

The Church of San Francisco 

According to legend, the construction of the church was behind schedule, so an indigenous man named Cantuña offered to finish building it. In order to finish it on time, he made a pact with the Devil – his soul in exchange for the completion of the church. The devil finished building the church, but Cantuña noticed that there was a stone missing, and his soul was saved. When people visit this church they often look for the missing stone.

Fight for Independence

La Plaza Grande

This is the plaza where the people first called for independence from Spain during a protest on August 10, 1809. The lion on this statue represents the Spanish being driven from the city.

Pichincha

Simon Bolivar, a Venezuelan, led the fight for independence against Spain. Another Venezuelan, Antonio Jose de Sucre led the battle that won the fight for independence on the slopes of Pichincha on May 24, 1822. The currency used in Ecuador was called the Sucre until 2000 when the country switched to the US dollar. The view above is from El Panecillo where a sculpture of the Virgen of Quito stands. Below: The view of Pinchincha from Parque de la Madre. 

Pichincha is 15,695 ft. As a comparison: Mt. Rainier is 14, 411 ft.

I have also learned some cool facts about Quito and Ecuador that aren’t about the history of the place: The peak of Quito’s tallest volcano, Chimborazo, is the point on Earth closest to the Sun. People here say that there aren’t four seasons each year in Quito, there are four seasons each day. I found this to be true on the first day when I got slightly burned in the morning and then greatly regretted not bringing a coat and umbrella in the afternoon. And finally, Quito means “mitad del mundo,” which is where the name of this blog comes from!