Back on Sept. 27 I fell and fractured my wrist. A week later we went to the doctor and confirmed it was broken, only a hairline fracture, and my wrist was casted. The cast will be coming off on Halloween.
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On our way back from having the cast put on we stopped for ice cream. The sling actually proved to be quite useful!
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Just about every week we receive new volunteers and most weeks there are also volunteers that are going home. This was the group of volunteers a couple of weeks ago before a number of them departed Quito to continue their adventures elsewhere.
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A couple of posts ago we mentioned riding the Trole buses and how crowded they are. This is a typical Trole bus ride.
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One weekend we went to the Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World). The equator. So naturally Tyler had to show how strong he is by holding up the World, even with a broken arm. Fun fact, the equator is actually 5 km or 3.1 miles wide.
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Looking down from the top of the Mitad del Mundo monument. The yellow line is the equator line so everything to the left is in the northern hemisphere and everything to the right in the southern.
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It must be true love... It spans from one hemisphere to the other!
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At the Mitad del Mundo the government of Ecuador has built an entire city that is city of Mitad del Mundo and there are museums, shops and artwork all over the place. Like this piece of artwork showing a hummingbird and a beautiful painting of a waterfall.
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This is a solar clock that works year round. The sun rise and sets around 6:30 am/pm everyday all year round. When we took this photo is was taken at 10:38 am.
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We had empanadas for the first time in Ecuador at Mitad del Mundo. They tasted amazing and they were only $1 each. These were filled with beef and chicken.
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There are many cultural dancers performing all around the city of Mitad del Mundo. It was pretty awesome to just walk down the path, round a corner and there were these dancers performing. It kinda felt like a Disneyland parade.
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This map shows the different regions of Ecuador as the country goes from the coast at sea level to over 15,000 feet. Quito is located in the Sub Paramo region around 9,000 feet.
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We're at the equator...we had to do something fun! The 'O' on the side of the monument stands for oeste, which is west in Spanish.
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Tyler modeling his awesome "Panama Hat" that he bought. The "Panama Hat" is actually Ecuadorian made, it received its name because former US president Teddy Roosevelt wore one while the Panama Canal was constructed, making the hat famous.
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A local ice cream here is not ice cream as we know it. This is helado de paila and it is made from pure fruit concentrate being mixed in a big metal bowl that is surrounded by ice. It tastes amazing!!!
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One night back at the volunteer house our house mom, Monica, taught us how to make empanadas with chocolate. Basically a chocolate calzone.
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Rolling out the just-made dough...
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Adding the chocolate and banana fillings...
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After the fillings have been added you close up the empanada and then fry it on the stove...
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And here are the finished empanadas...
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Yum Yum Yum!!!
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A few weeks after the wrist broke, I returned to the scene of the accident. You can see above me where there are some bricks missing from the top layer. I think that I've left a lasting impression!
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At our Friday market on a clear day we can see Cotopaxi off in the distance. It is a rare sight and so beautiful when it is in view!
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Cotopaxi is the world's highest active volcano with a summit elevation of 19,347 feet.
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A popular family-friendly destination in Quito is La Ronda. This street is in the historic district of the city and is evidenced by the centuries old Spaniard architecture seen in the buildings and the cobblestone streets.
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| This is canelazo. An Ecuadorian hot drink made from the narajilla fruit, which comes from a variety of nightshade plant that is only found in northwestern South America. It can be served with or without alcohol, but we've been told that it does not taste nearly as good with alcohol. |
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In La Ronda on a Friday or Saturday night the street is packed with people and you will find street performers and street vendors galore. Along with about 50 police officers roaming up and down the street to deter anyone who is considering to pickpocket you.
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One of the street performers we came across was this perfect Jack Sparrow look-alike. I had to pay him $1 to take a picture with him but it is totally worth it!
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We found a food vendor in La Ronda selling fresh grilled chorizo, a spiced meat, and it was amazing!
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In Quito you can take the cable car, TeleferiQo up the hill above the city... This was Mary's 2nd time on a cable car/gondola. It starts at 10,226 feet and ends at 12,943 feet.
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Gotta love the signs that are used around the world. This sign says "Warning, Impact Hazard"
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Dan, Mary, and myself in the cable car going up the TeleferiQo.
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We made it to the top of TeleferiQo. Left to right: Dan, Tyler, Mary, Marco, Alice, and Ivana (All volunteers - from New York via Spain, England via Bolivia, New Zealand, and Canada
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The magnificent view of the Quito valley from the top of the cable car. Simply stunning.
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Panoramic view from TeleferiQo. Breathtaking!
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At the top of the TeleferiQo there is a little chapel that was built around 2007. The volcano in the background is Pichincha, the province that is Quito is in is named after this volcano.
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From the top of TeleferiQo you can hike up to the Pichincha volcano, however the air is really thin and most people have issues with the altitude. We hiked a little ways up the path before turning around.
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| Another amazing view looking down on to Quito.
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After hiking a little ways up the path you come across a little pasture with a number of horses. You can take a 45 minute horse tour around the hills.
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There was a little tent near the horses where the couple was grilling chicken, so naturally we had to try it and it was amazing! Not sure if it really tasted amazing or if the altitude was getting to us but either way it satisfied our stomachs.
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While in line waiting for the cable car back down the mountain Mary saw someone with a giant cotton candy so obviously we had to buy one for ourselves!
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Habitat III, a UN conference on urban development and housing that occurs once every 20 years occurred last week in Quito. This giant picture shows different skin tones around the world with labels indicating what color the person is on the color panel. Skin color is just a color.
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Aside from the conference part of Habitat III there was an exhibition where organizations from around the world set up booths to show what they are doing to help support sustainable urban development and housing. This exhibit is from an organization in Europe supporting inter city bicycle sharing.
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This Exhibit is from China.
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| This company is from Ecuador and using bamboo to create sustainable buildings. Bamboo is a grass and will grow up to 60 feet in about 6 months and then over the next 5 years the bamboo stalk becomes reinforced and is then ready to be cut down and used to build buildings. When a bamboo stalk is cut down 6 more stalks will naturally grow in its place because it is a grass and the roots continue to spread.
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This exhibit is from Indonesia.
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This vertical wall is actually a garden with water at the base. Some of the plants growing on this wall are: chamomile, oregano, mint, and cilantro.
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A new form of a tandem bike and I got Mary on it!!! This double bike is from a city in Ecuador called Ambato. She felt really safe since she didn't have to worry around steering.
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After riding the bicycle Mary got to choose a flower from the wall.
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And Tyler got to try a virtual reality headset at the Korean booth.
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This was a demonstration house that was built in the park where the Habitat conference was taking place and shows how sustainable housing can be obtained in Ecuador. Small and simple with all of the necessities.
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We stumbled across this Italian pizza restaurant on our way home from the doctor's last week and well in love with it...
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For those of you who are unaware, Tyler's favorite food group is pizza! Since we arrived in Ecuador nearly 7 weeks ago we have tried a number of different pizza restaurants and Ecuadorians simply do not understand how to make great pizza. They have lots of other great foods that we have tried but pizza just was not happening. He has been on the hunt for truly amazing pizza for weeks now and we finally found it!...
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Don Matteo is an Italian who was living in Germany when he moved to Ecuador 5 months ago and he opened this pizza restaurant on August 5, 2016. He makes the best pizza that we have had in a long long time, at least for Tyler and possibly the best pizza that Mary has ever had! It is true Italian pizza in Ecuador. A must have for anyone coming to Ecuador!
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Finally, this past weekend we went to Otavalo, the largest market in Ecuador. It was a 2-hour bus ride north of Quito and on the way there the landscape reminded us of home as this looks very similar to Utah, the high desert.
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| Near the end of the bus ride to Otavalo this is the landscape that we were driving through and this reminded Tyler of being in New Zealand 12 years ago with his family on their year-long around the world bicycle adventure. Amazing that in a 2-hour bus ride the landscape can change so drastically. |
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The Otavalo market is the place to go for artesanal crafts. The Otavaleños are part of the indigenous people and are considered to be the most successful indigenous people in south america as they can found all over the world selling their hand-made crafts and clothing which are made from alpaca wool.
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The Market in Otavalo runs 7 days a week, however, the Saturday market is the big day. Most of the city streets are shut down so that the vendors can set up their tents. The market goes for block after block after block and appears to have no end.
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The textile section of the market is in a plaza called "Plaza de los Ponchos" or "Plaza of the Ponchos", which is very accurate and one could easily become lost among the astounding number of clothing, blanket, and poncho stands.
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We stayed at a hostel in Otavalo called the Flying Donkey, which had a rooftop terrace, this is looking out in to Otavalo from the terrace.
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Well this is one was to recycle an old toilet... This was also found on the hostel terrace.
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Here is another sign that was too good to not share... This was found on our bathroom door in the hostel. As a reminder, in Ecuador we can not through toilet paper in the toilet because the sewer system can not handle it so it has to be through in the trash can next to the toilet. Not a pleasant smell in public bathrooms.
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| A block away from our hostel was this beautiful park and church. It is the Simon Bolivar park which was named after Simon Bolivar who was the liberator of Ecuador. The statue of the head is of a great Incan warrior, Rumiñawi who led the resistance against the Spanish after the death of the Incan emperor Atahualpa in the early 1600s.
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