City Tour
5.5.2017


My favorite part of the city tour was just being able to see so much of the city. Before coming to Quito I had no idea what the city would be like. I have been to many big cities before like New York City, Paris and San Francisco but still had no idea what it would be like since I had never visited South America. I loved seeing the different architecture within the different parts of the city. In a way the city was nothing like I had imaged but in a way it looked like how it should. 
     
 During the city tour I learned multiple things, one of the topics I learned a great deal about was the artist Miguel de Santiago and his work he did for the St Augustine Monastery. Diego showed us Miguel's work that is all throughout the monastery and told us about Miguel's life and his time spent in the monastery. Miguel ran into trouble when he cut off his wife's ear and so he sought refuge in the St Augustine Monastery for many years. In return for letting him stay he painted many masters that are still hung in the monastery to this day. Another story Diego told the class about Miguel was that it was said that he used one of his apprentice to model after Christ during the crucifixion. He did this by actually nailing the man to a cross and letting him bleed out which eventually led him to die. 

One fact that Diego said during the city tour that surprised me a lot when it is probably something that I should already know is the size of Quito. The city is twenty-four miles long and only one to two miles wide and is home to around 2.5 million people (and many dogs). Although I knew that Quito was the second largest city in Ecuador I had no idea that it was this large and the city was this long. Another fact I found surprising was that there are around 56 churches just in the old part of Quito. Although the region is large that still seems like a lot of churches. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meng - Blog 16

1. In Paige's Blog(#14), she mentioned that she used some nonverbal communication to communicate with teachers when they were cooking. It is an effective way of intercultural communication. I totally agree that sometimes, if you don't know how to express yourself, body language helps a lot, and it even works better than language. 2. In Blog12, Tyessa said that she feel not close with her host family, and usually, they don't communicate with each other too much, which makes she felt upset because she wants to get closer to them. In my points of view, it can be seen as an ineffective communication. I think in the process of communicating with people, sometimes you should learn to be proactive. Break the silence first, and take the initiative to communicate with others. If you are especially enthusiastic about other people, they will feel it. 3. An example of effective communication came from  Linsey. She talked about how the communication way changed ...
Read more
      I will admit that the thing I am looking forward to the most when I get back home is some good, processed, junk food. It seems strange, because I like the food in Ecuador, and am almost always willing to be adventurous and try new foods. But that sense of adventure is exactly the problem. I rarely feel as though I can just gulp down anything placed in front of me, secure in the knowledge of exactly what it is and what it will taste like. The classic foods from home will allow me to eat with that security intact, and that security is what I really miss.      I think the thing I will miss the most about Ecuador is the sense of adventure that I could feel every time I left the house, whether it was just to class at the academia or to some other attraction. I loved the feeling that I was going to see new sights, experience new things, and accomplish something impressive every day. The quote that struck me today, as we were le...
Read more

Blog post #15

1) what are you most excited about returning to in the US? What I am most looking forward to about heading home is the opportunity to share my experiences with others. I want to share the funny stories of my host family with my friends and family here in the U.S. so that they too can be exposed to some Ecuadorian culture. I am very much looking forward to returning home because I will use my experience of Ecuador to further think about what it is I want to do with my life. Not having a clear path for my profession is a challenge for me, but through using my travel experience to discover what my passions and interest are, I am always one step closer to knowing what it is I want to do with my life.   2) what will you miss the most about Ecuador? What I think I am going to miss most is the walk to school Carolina and I shared in the mornings and afternoons. In the two mile hike to school I saw mothers sending their kids off to the bus, adults off to work and busses ...
Read more