Our first day of traveling was exhausting, but we finally connected in Atlanta!
We arrived in Mariscal Sucre International Airport at 10 p.m. on Sunday night and were greeted by Patricio, who drove us to the UBELONG volunteer house in Tumbaco, a town in the outskirts of Quito, Ecuador’s capital city. We were exhausted from a day of flying, but eager to begin our volunteer work here. We briefly met Giovanna, the UBELONG representative who runs the volunteer house with her family, who all live on the property as well. We were excited to greet Matt, one of our team’s site leads, who had previously stayed in Ecuador for a month to study Spanish through a local host family exchange program. Giovanna showed us to our rooms, and we got situated before going to bed. She said that because most students are currently on vacation, she has been in contact with local families who are interested in sending their kids to practice English with us. She said that kids would most likely arrive around 9 a.m. the following day.
Our first day, we woke up for our first meal in the common dining area at 8 a.m., where we enjoyed bread with cheese and hard boiled eggs. We also met Adriana, who prepares meals for volunteers. We also learned that there are a few other volunteers at the house here, some of whom are from the University of Michigan! Over breakfast, we discussed our plans for teaching English to the students, but after a few hours of anticipating their arrival, Giovanna’s dad Luis let us know that he didn’t think the students would arrive the first day. Instead, we got to know the dogs in the volunteer house – Tomás, Elvis, Cookie, and Chiquita.
After a lunch of broccoli soup, rice, and beef, we decided to venture into Quito for the afternoon to see the Basilica. We realized we would have to take an 1.5 hour bus with one changeover to reach our destination. Our first bus from Tumbaco to Rio Coca led us through winding mountain roads – we were surprised how fast the bus was going, especially around sharp turns near cliffs! When Matt decided to sit down, an older gentleman seized the opportunity to slide into the seat next to him and immediately begin providing a full overview of his entire family’s history, which Matt politely listened and nodded to for the following 45 minutes. After arriving in Rio Coca, we switched buses to the red line (Ecovía), which took us into the center of Quito. This bus was much more crowded, and stopped for only a few seconds at each stop without announcing the names of the stops, so we relied on Matt’s previous experience in the city to give us a general sense of where we were going and make sure we got off at the right stop using his city map. Once we arrived, we needed to make sure we got to the Basilica before 4 p.m., when it closes. First, we checked out the inside of the Basilica, which is breathtaking and has intricate stained glass.
Earlier this summer, the Pope came to Quito and thousands of people came to mass there. Then, we went to a separate entrance, where could climb up to the top of the tower of the Basilica. From the top facing south, we could see El Panecillo, a famous hill where a “Virgen de Quito” statue looks out over the city. Apparently, the virgin stands on top of a globe and is stepping on a snake, which is reminiscent of madonna, but is one of the only statues with madonna symbology that has wings.
Once we finished our time at the basilica, we walked back through the Parque la Alameda by Plaza Simon Bolivar, where there are green fields and a small pond with paddleboats. Unfortunately, right after getting on the first bus on the way back, Ben and Justin both realized immediately after one of the first stops that someone getting off had taken both of their cell phones out of their front pockets, even after we were aware of the potential for pick-pocketing in the city. Eventually, after redefining our previous perceptions of personal space, we made it back to our area of Tumbaco (after using specific landmarks we remembered to get off, since we had a hard time understanding the bus system and no stops were announced) and walked back to the volunteer home as the sun set. Before we ate dinner, we met with Giovanna, who gave us an overview of expectations for our volunteer experiences with UBELONG. She also gave us some tips for which excursions to do during our two weekends. During dinner, we took Giovanna’s suggestion to speak only in Spanish to create a more inclusive environment in their home – although our Spanish language experiences vary, we are all improving our Spanish through trying to immerse ourselves in the language as much as possible, especially since we expect that from the students we work with. Later, we played card games with some of the other volunteers before going to bed. Overall, it was a successful first day, even with a few hiccups, and we look forward to beginning our English teaching tomorrow!
EGL Family Abroad 