Week 2

 I have been spending most of my weekdays hanging out in my apartment, goofing off on the internet, and doing some school work. This was not my intention for my time here, and I am looking for quick, small adventures to fill my evenings in order to avoid more of the same. I have learned that there is a 20 km nature trail behind the school and intend to explore it soon. I am in another country, and I know I need to spend more time exploring it. This is a bit difficult, because it is not recommended to roam around Quito alone at night (as I've told you, nightfall is at about 6:30). I am starting to make friends with the student teachers from other schools and hopefully I will have more people to call and make plans with. My roommates and fellow KSU students are wonderful, but everyone has work to do, so the more people I have to adventure with, the higher the likelihood that adventures will happen.

I did get to go on a great little trip this past weekend with some new hires from Colegio Menor and a few of my classmates. We went out into the country, to a market in Otavalo and to a little town called Zuleta. We spent Saturday night at a lodge in Zuleta (about a 20 minute drive from the Colombian border) and it was wonderful. I had not spent much time out exploring nature in the past few months, and it was just what the doctor ordered. Here are some breathtaking views from the bus ride:

We stopped at a market in Otavalo, where I did not bring my camera, because the place was packed ant the camera would just be begging to be pick-pocketed. I did manage to get a few awesome gifts for friends and family (pancho for Justin, artwork for myself and my friends the Morgans and a chess set for my dad that is conquistadors vs Incas):

On our way to Zuleta, we stopped to watch a little parade of locals dressed in traditional clothing and singing songs. It was a really nice and unexpected part of the trip.

When we did make it to the lodge, we realized just how lucky we were to be at a school that would think to share a place like this with us. It is owned by the brother of one of the PE teachers.

Sunday morning, we went for a hike to see the Condor preserve. The preserve was on the property of a huge hacienda. It had actually sold some of the property to create the town of Zuleta itself. Check out the sights of this walk:

There were even earthen pyramids left from the Incas. They are protected, it is forbidden to climb them or disrupt them in any way.

It was like walking through a post card. There was even a trout farm (we had some of the fresh trout for lunch- I actually liked it! I tend to dislike fish, but if it's fresh enough, it avoids being too fishy). The pool in the first photo is jam packed with fish, the second photo is a close up to give you the idea.

We even passed some llamas!

 Lastly, we got to see the Condors. They are extremely endangered and the preserve is keeping them in genetically selected breeding pairs. The birds pictured are rescues, their offspring are released back into the wild.

 That is it for this week. Tomorrow is orientation, and I get to meet my students! The first day of school is Monday, so next week's blog should be full of new and interesting stories.