The First Week

Hi everyone!
Sorry I haven’t been able to update my blog very frequently. I have been so busy! Here are a few pictures for you! I hope all of you were able to see the pictures in the facebook album. Let me know if it didn’t work. I tried to post pictures with this post, but I am in an internet cafe and I can´t figure out how to use Publisher in spanish.

Last weekend I traveled with my group to San Miguel de los Bancos, a small town about 2.5 hours north of Quito. The trip was organized by CIMAS to help us get to know each other. We stayed at a beautiful resort in the Andes Mountains called El Encanto. We were right in the middle of the rainforest!

When we arrived, we ate breakfast and then started out on our hike through the rainforest. Along the way, our guide stopped to tell us interesting facts about the rainforest and show us unique plants and trees. There is a river at the bottom of the mountain and we went swimming in a waterfall that led to it. It was beautiful, and a lot of fun, too!

On Saturday we came back to Quito and that night I went to a discoteca with my sister Ale and her friends. They were all very nice and we had a great time! We were out late, though; I didn’t get home until 5:30 in the morning!
Tomorrow I am going on a day tour of Quito with my group. I am looking forward to seeing more of the city. In the afternoon I am going to a reggaetone concert with Ale and her friends. The concert is about 3 hours away and we’re staying the night there and coming back on Saturday. I’m very excited!

Let me fill you in about my days here. I have class at CIMAS from 9am-4pm Monday-Thursday. These are very long days, especially when our professors arrive late to lecture, because that sets back our entire day. Unfortunately arriving late is the Ecuadorian way of doing things, and it is a little difficult to adjust to. In my classes I am learning about the history of Ecuador, and how it has affected the economic and political situation that exists today. Right now, Ecuador is in the process of “revolutionizing” they way things work here, to strengthen the economy and its political practices.

Rafael Correa has been their president since January of 2007, and after two years of trying to change things, he still has a very high approval rating. Becoming a self-sustaining nation is a priority for Correa, so he has implemented very high taxes on all imported items. This is sometimes difficult to deal with because in a lot of cases, there is no Ecuadorian-made alternative. It is only part of a process that will undoubtedly take quite some time to run its course, but Correa has good intentions and is committed to achieving his goal of making Ecuador a strong, independent nation.

I miss you all!
-Lindsey