Quito is a city of many weathers;
in one day, Tuesday, we had sun so bright we burnt our noses and crowns then at
about 3 the skies clouded over and we had hailstones which gradually turned
into rain that flooded the roads. Quito is an extensive city of 2 million citizens with the
suburbs sprawling out to the north and south as Quito is in a valley. We can see the snow on
the mountain tops and when you stand out of the sun you know its about 20
degrees. However, there is no indication of a heating system in the houses - no
fires, radiators or storage units and chatting to other students it seems
normal for most families to head off to their own rooms, where they have a
small t.v., after dinner, which on average is about 7.30.
Schools run from 7 a.m. till 1.p.m. then
children head home for lunch, the main meal of the day and are met by parents
who also head home for the main meal of the day. Children are free in the
afternoons but parents head back to work finishing at about 6-7 p.m. if traffic
and bus loads are anything to go by. It
is normal for households to have a maid who lives in and there is definitely a
wealthy band here - my measure being the number of dog walkers that are
employed! Quitorians are very sociable
and in the park area there are many people, young and old, fit and not using the
facilities to play tennis, football and volleyball; there are also loads of
prople running/jogging all over the place and the families congregate to watch,
eat their picnic and let the little ones play and run around.
