travel_ng

Today marks the ending of my first week of classes in Ecuador. Each week I have classes at three different schools. Every morning, for four hours a day, I go to Spanish academia to improve my Spanish. Classes are small, with my class having a total of three students! I am also taking a core seminar course led by my college that will discuss social and political issues of Ecuador. Lastly, I am most excited to take my panadería, or bakery class, at USFQ. The class seems super fun, and we even have uniforms with tall chef hats, coats, pants, and aprons! In addition to classes, my study abroad program also has a community service component, which I should start in the upcoming weeks, and a independent study project. The independent study project will be a long research paper (in Spanish!) and I am planning on studying transportation and air quality in Quito!

To celebrate the end of this week, my Spanish academia professor took my class to a market which had a myriad of vendors selling fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish. Since being in Ecuador, I have tasted so many new fruits! After going to the market, we went to get ice cream. I had a “guanabana” fruit flavored sorbet. My professor told me this was a special tropical fruit in Quito, and it was actually pretty good. I’m not sure how to describe it…maybe a little citrusy like pineapple, but also sweet and refreshing? I googled the fruit when coming home and apparently it’s also called soursop. I included a picture too!

This past weekend we visited the historic area of Quito. This area was probably what I most expected to see on my trip, since sites were all the top images on a Google Images search of Quito. The baroque architecture reminds me of Italy. It was the perfect day to visit the area. However, elevation really does make you more susceptible to sunburns. I got burnt for the first time in a very long time because I never put sunscreen on my arms, expecting to tan as usual. I also had a traditional dish called fritada. On the right there are big fluffy corn kernels called mote. They expand when steamed and become larger in size.

¡Hola! Thanks for stopping by! I will be documenting my study abroad experience this semester on this blog in addition to Instagram (@emngtravel_ng).

I have been in Quito, Ecuador a little over two days now. Yesterday I met my lovely host family who will welcome me into their house for the next four months. Upon arriving, I noticed Quito’s environment is very different from LA’s environment. First, of course, the elevation in reportedly 9,260 feet above sea level (unreliably referencing the altitude tool via Snapchat). Though jet lag is not an issue, altitude sickness surely is. The altitude sickness becomes distinctly noticeable when walking up stairs, but even when you’re standing still, in bed sleeping. On my first night, I felt like I was spinning in my sleep! Being in a city like Quito also means pollution, which also adds to another difficulty in breathing with smog. Thinking back to pollution conditions when traveling with my family in Asia, where natives often wore masks to shield their nose and mouth, the smog here seems far worse. Though transportation is cheap, at 25 US cents, half of the population drives in the congested streets.

Despite a few conditions that I will have to acclimate to, Quito is beautiful and picturesque. Next week, I will start classes to strengthen my Spanish proficiency and take a bread making class at the university with Ecuadorian students. In the upcoming months I will also be traveling to the Galápagos Islands and other destinations! 🙂