I have been in Ecuador now for 4 days and this is the first time I have had the chance to post. I spent my first day in Quito but I was so exhausted from the trip here that I only explored for a little while. From what I saw it is a beautiful city and I am excited to spend some more time there at the end of my trip. Now I am in Salasaka where I am volunteering at the Escuela Katitawa. Yesterday I worked in the school for a while but because my Spanish is not as good as I would like I did not teach. Mostly Robert (he is the project leader) gave us a tour of the school and we worked a bit in the garden. Today I worked helping with the construction of the new dormitory for volunteers. We had to sift through cement to get the rocks out and then carry that up the stairs. For me the sifting was not great but it is what they needed. Everybody started helping when we were bringing it up the stairs. It was amazng because their were two older women from the community that insisted on helping even though it was hard work.
Pachamama, where we are staying now is absolutely amazing. At night people hang out outside or in the living area, usually playing the guitar. The people here are really nice, and they are from many different countries. There is only one other person from the US. Sometimes it is hard to communicate because my Spanish is rather basic and there are a few people who don't speak English. Hopefully by the time I leave here my Spanish will be good enough that I can talk with them more. The view from Pachamama is absolutely breathtaking, I walk out of my room up a few stairs and just have the most amazing view. Every picture I take of it does not do it justice. Literally everytime I walk outside and I see the view I just can't believe how beautiful it is.
Salasaka the town I am staying in is a nice town. The people here are really nice and I always feel safe. There is a very large indigenous population and so most of the men wear black ponchos and the women wear usually red ponchos. Everybody you pass says hola and buenos dias or buenas tardes, obviously depending on the time of day. There is not much here though, which is ok, just the most amazing view. This weekend I think I might go to Banos and hang out there, I will see if anybody else wants to go but apparently most people went last weekend so probably wont want to go this weekend. That is ok with me, I am going to go anyways because it looks amazing. There was another volunteer here that told me about a friend she has in Banos that has a cabin with an amazing view so I think I might do that.
Well I am going to head back to Pachamama now but I will try to post soon. Ciao!
