I spent Friday night on a
farm where my friend volunteers. It is in a town called Yaruqui about an hour
and a half bus ride from Quito. I took the bus by myself and was unsure of
where the stop was, so I asked the money collector on the bus to tell me when
we were at Yaruqui. On his way back from collecting money at the back of the
bus he tapped me on the shoulder and told me that we were arriving in Yaruqui.
So I got off at the next stop and asked him where I could find a taxi. He
pointed to a hand written sign with some cars parked next to it. Although I was
more than a little skeptical, I went over and talked to one of the drivers. I
mentioned the area that the farm was in and the family’s name, but she had no
idea what I was talking about. Then I asked what I should not have assumed in the
first place: “Are we in Yaruqui?” Turns out the bus driver meant we had just
passed Yaruqui. So I paid another 25 cents to take the bus 5 minutes back to
Yaruqui where I found a line of more legitimate taxis.
Some of the cows
Porter the pig
That night we cooked some
pasta and munched on Oreos while we sat out in the grass and watched the fog
roll in over the valley and the twinkling of fireflies. It was so nice to be
out of the polluted Quito air and away from the constant barking of dogs and
car alarms. Sitting out there in the field felt like I had more space to
think.
Coffee and dogs in the morning
Wrangling a baby cow
Night tour
On Saturday night our
program took a night tour of Quito, one of the activities in the city that is
considered a “must-do” by many people. We met on the steps of the Cathedral in
the Plaza Grande (if you remember from an earlier post, this is where the
statue of the lion is) and encountered our guide inside. Our guide was in
character as Ana Luisa Muñoz, a local
woman who inspired the song “La Negra Mala.” She led us through the Cathedral
and up to the roof by way of a winding staircase hidden in the wall. We had a
spectacular view of the historical center at dusk.
View of the Panecilla
View of the Plaza Grande - the office of the President, Rafael Correa, is in the building on the left
Our next stop was the
Convent of Agustín where a catholic brotherhood lived and that houses the room
where the Declaration of Independence was signed. The Convent is filled with
paintings done by Miguel de Santiago. The legend is that when working on a
painting of the crucifixion of Christ, he murdered his model in order to obtain
a more realistic facial expression of agony. The legend continues that after
this incident he fled to the convent of Agustín, where he was allowed to hide out
in return for doing all the paintings for the building.
The fountain inside the convent
After the tour we got hot chocolate at one of the oldest cafes in Quito. I was very excited about this because I am on the hunt for the best hot chocolate in the world!
South Quito
On Sunday morning we went to
South Quito to learn about the most marginalized and most rapidly growing area
of the city. We visited with members of a local community center and visited
their community garden. Many of them had never had a genuine conversation with
someone from the United States, and we found that in most cases we had more in
common than we expected.
A view of South Quito
Walking through the community garden
We drove past some cows,
pigs, and rabbits kept in backyards - remnants of the country life that many
people left behind in order to move to Quito. This area has been expanding so
rapidly that the city hasn’t been able to build infrastructure at the same
pace. In parts of South Quito there aren’t sewer systems or zoning laws, and
some houses just recently got electricity.
Downtown Quito is in the distance, but you can't see it because of the thick smog.
A rare view of Cotopaxi! Normally it is hidden behind clouds.
No comments:
Post a Comment