Monday: El Mitad del Mundo
Monday was my first day of "work." Rather than engineering work, we had a day of orientation. There are 6 interns here this summer - three who work in the hospital and three of us who work with Clean Water Projects. After learning about what was expected of us this summer we went to the center of the world. Just outside of Quito there is a monument to the Equator. Although it isn't incredibly tall, the monument offers a spectacular view of the mountains - completely surrounded us. It was beautiful ... the pictures below do not do it justice! Inside the monument was a museum dedicated to the different indiginous people groups of Ecuador. We finished our day with a visit to an heladaria - ice cream shop. I had maracuya (papaya) ice cream and it was delicious. The fresh fruit here is incredible -- it is always available and juice freshly made from ripe, local fruit is unbeatable!
Our group at the EquatorTuesday and Wednesday were my first days in the water projects office. Later in the summer we will be doing surveys (topographic surveys, not questionnaires) at several sites around the country. Having had no experience surveying, I faced a large learning curve. We checked out the equipment and learned the basics. Tuesday night we (the 6 interns) all went to a "20-somethings" Bible study in the city. There were only 2 or 3 other people who spoke English as their first language, so it was a time to practice Spanish. Wednesday evening we learned about a ministry called Pan de Vida. They minister to the poor in the city by "not just talking about love, but showing love." Among several other ministries they serve 3 meals throughout the week. We helped prepare a meal and met several of the people who volunteer on a weekly basis.
Thursday and Friday: Sights in Quito
The last two days of our work week, we took a break from traditional engineering work. This coming Monday several of us from clean water projects are joining a team of student veternarians in a town called El Corazon for the week. We had to plan and prepare meals for the group of 30. To do so we visited several markets in Quito. Some were supermarkets, but one was similar to a farmers market. This was my first experience with bartering -- thankfully, this time, I was only an observer in the process. Friday consisted of preparing some of the food that we had bought. I chopped onions, peppers, chilis, and garlic -- and had the smelly evidence on my hands all day to prove it. Making chili for 30 is a big job! At lunch, another intern and I, Steve, walked into a full resturant. As we were about to go elsewhere, two women invited us to sit with them. So we shared our lunch hour with two Ecuadorian women. Although communicating in broken Spanish wasn't easy it was very interesting talking to them. Later that night I went to a play (all in Spanish) in the hopes that the more I am exposed to the language, the more I will learn. We finished the night by visiting a live radio broadcast at HCJB. A local Christian band was performing and we had the privilege to be in the studio, cheering them on, as they performed live!
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