Monday, February 8, 2016

Ecuador day2: we is learnin' Spanish

We had our first day of Spanish school today. I'll take some pictures of the school and talk more about it I a later post. Suffice it to say I am typing really fast in English right now, because my brain works that way. But, we did learn a lot,even in our first day. After 5 hours of instruction, we were free to wander the city, so we found a restaurant and ordered what we thought was sautéed shrimp for Drew and pickled fish (cerviche), but got deep fried shrimp and pickled shrimp instead. Oh well, that's part of the adventure.  We wandered Old Town and took in a couple of the very ornate Spanish colonial churches.  
Iglesias (or Basilica) de la Merced. One of Quito's newest churches , completed in 1742!
  From youngest to oldest   
Iglesias San Francisco is Quito's oldest colonial edifice and the largest religious complex in South America. Construction was begun in 1534 on the site of an Incan royal house.
All that churching made us tired and hungry; time for a snack.
this cake is made from a very old recipe from 1082, supposedly.
The umbrellas of the cafe where we ate the cake on the Plaza San Francisco
An unusual activity that we have seen everyone doing because of Carnival, is involves chasing each other around with compressed air canisters that shoot flour.  
Kids and adults alike shoot each other with flour as a sign of affection. Last night on Calle la Ronda, we saw alone woman smash an egg in her friend's hair, which our teacher told us is also a sign of affection. Culture!
I love exploring shopping malls in other counties.
Drew thought he might be able to get us locals only discounts if he blended in more, so he bought these stellar shorts.
I will spare you a picture of me in my nightgown.  One more shopping stop   
A stop in the supermercado for a large bottle of water, some fruit, a beer, and some peanut butter and crackers.
Before retiring to our hostel to study and relax. 
Our hostel Rincon Familiar
 

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