Blog Post #5: La Academia y Pichincha

My greatest challenge in Ecuador so far has really not even been related to the culture or language differences in Ecuador as much as it has been related to spending money. Not only have I been particularly bad at regulating my money usage, but because the prices in Ecuador are much, much lower than those in the United States, I can get more bang for my buck. I believe this tricks my brain into thinking that spending money isn’t such a big deal in rapid succession, when, in reality, it’s just as dangerous.  The lower prices are incredibly tempting. Maybe I shouldn’t carry so much money on me, but then I have a fear of running into an emergency and not having enough. I’m meeting the challenge by trying to slow my spending habits. We’ve only been here in Ecuador for a few days (although it feels like forever) and I’ve already spent much of my money. I like to believe, however, that my money is going toward my experiences rather than excessive and unnecessary things. I’ve spent money on a night out with friends, on climbing up the Basillica, and on trying traditional Ecuadorian food. I bought gifts for my family and picked out mementos and souvenirs for myself to remember the time I spent in Ecuador. Those things considered, I think my money spending is justified but still should be watched more closely.

My favorite part of my first Spanish class today likely was the game we played in the last minutes of class after we had gone through our material for the day and had been assigned our homework. Our game was a vocabulary game in which we would start with a word – any word – and then the next person (we went around the table) had to think of another word, in Spanish, that began with the same letter that the previous word ended with. For example, the first person may say “palabra” and the next might say “almuerzo” and the next “Otavalo.” Many times, we came to a roadblock because people would be charged with thinking of a word that starts with “a” or “o” or “r,” so eventually we struggled to think of new words to say. It made for many laughs and even some class bonding, making it one of my favorite moments of my first Spanish class today.


Our trip to Teleferico was incredibly memorable today. It’s difficult to pick one specific moment that I will remember most about our hike up Pichincha. The first is probably, although not a happy memory, feeling terrible about accidentally scaring the birds on the mountain the first time we saw them because everyone was really upset. The second, a happy one, is probably the time we spent at the outlook on Pichincha as the clouds cleared for a brief while and we could see the landscape of Quito in front of us, a view we couldn’t see on our way up the mountain. We all just took a moment to enjoy the beauty and to laugh and spend time talking to each other, and it was a wonderful moment. Not to mention that the pictures of us at that spot, in particular, turned out beautifully. 

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