Winding Down in Quito

¡Hola!

My time in Quito is almost finished. This Friday I´m off to the Galapagos Islands. I wish I could spend a little more time here, getting to know the city and the country.

Last weekend was spent in Quito. On Saturday, Margot, one of the volunteers, and I visited the Museo de Banco Central. It was an interesting mix of prehistoric art and more conventional paintings and sculpture.

After the museum, we perused the artist market in Ejido Park. I bought a necklace, and then spent some time talking to Ignacio. Ignacio and his father are jewelers, and have a stand in the park. I bought a ring from his father a few weeks ago. Ignacio is university student studying journalism. He´s quite an interesting guy. And he was able to suffer my mediocre spanish.

Sunday I went to the mall. Yes, I travelled all this way, and I end up at the mall. I was curious to see what a high-end mall in Quito would be like. Malls are malls anywhere in the world. Lots of shops, lots of people. The prices were similar to prices back home, however, here in Quito, these are expensive prices. Yet, people were shopping.

I don´t know if I mentionned that the average salary is $150 per month. And housing starts at $50 per month. Food is inexpensive, as is transportation.

Before heading to the mall on Sunday, I visited another park called Carolina Park. It is huge and full of people doing anything you can imagine. And it was a beautiful sunny day on Sunday. I love visiting city parks and watching families and people doing whatever it is that they do.

Well, I need to get to the supermarket before it closes, so I´ll end here.

cheers,
Stacey