I can’t believe I’ve been in Ecuador for a month now! Wow, I’ve had so many once in a life time experiences: hiking two mountains here near Quito, visiting three hospitals, participating in traditional medicine presentations, learning to dance salsa, taking a road trip to the Amazon region, sharing traditional Kichwa meals with a shaman family where I tried fried ants, and seeing the most beautiful view of the Amazon that tops my list of most beautiful views. All of this variety of landscape and activity has been exhilarating, but hasn’t left a lot of room for a “normal schedule”. Still, though each day is different and exciting, I have picked up some daily rhythms in Quito.
This semester I am living in a hotel, called Reina Isabel. Though I was initially disappointed about not having a host family, living this way has allowed me to explore the restaurants in the city and grow super close with my program classmates. Because I don’t have access to a washer and dryer, I use a lavandería that is right beside our hotel; we have made a great relationship there with the owner and her family.
To describe a normal day of classes, we eat breakfast in the hotel restaurant before walking to our classes that are hosted at Balance Works, an educational experience business, and the Fulbright Commission of Ecuador. It is about a 10-15 minute walk to each location. Walking in the morning I feel the fresh air and the bustle of people going to work and school. Typically we have two hours of intensive Spanish class each morning and from there we go to our theme classes of Traditional Medicine, Public Health, and Research Methods and Ethics. These themed classes have a different lecturer each week as we cover different topics.
One of the trademarks of the SIT experience is experiential learning. These experiences in the field have allowed me to think critically and use my Spanish language skills to talk with local experts on my topics of study. It is in these moments that I have gained many of my once in a lifetime experiences.
Though it can be draining to have a variable schedule each day and week, it is these moments that I will remember years down the road. It is these moments that I will cherish.
