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Hola!
I fear my last entry was made rather unexciting by the frustration of south american computers!! And so i have resolved to write another!
My week in Quito has been very interesting, partly because Quito is so different to anywhere in the Uk, but partly because it´s so similar!
In Quito there is a crazy bus system where you pay to go into the bus stop and then get on the bendy bus from there - but really it´s just like the tube on wheels - it has a special lane separated from the rest of the traffic! My family are just like any other, the little girl likes to play with her dolls´ house, and the little boy likes to try and squash the dolls´ house with his hulk toy or his cuddly dinosaur!
The old town is very beautiful, and has lots of history, and the locals are very proud of it, not unlike places in England. Although there are plenty of local style shops, there are also grand and shiny american style malls with "French Connection" and "Mango" - although somewhat bizzarely at much greater prices than in the UK!
However, there are some major differences, for instance, it seems that many of the children (los niños) are somehow incapable of putting on jogging bottoms the right way round! Most strange! Perhaps it is some new south american fashion which I am not aware of?! More seriously, there are many children at road junctions trying to sell stuff, and in the city "shoe shine boys" are everywhere. It´s quite sad as sometimes they are very young, and it´s very different to the life of the children of my host family - who don´t have much but are always having fun somewhere!
Also in Quito, as I believe is probably true of most of the world outside England, there really is no concept of queueing. This is most evident at the crazy bus stops, which have automatic doors on them. Everyone just pushes in and out at the same time - you have to be very forceful! Even at the last stop everyone just pushes to get out - it´s insane!! In bathrooms it is even more confusing. Sometimes there is a queue, but other times it is in fact just the illusion of a queue and in fact what is happening is that everyone has hedged their bets and stood outside the door which they think will open first!
Another difference is that Quito´s president is very prevalent in everyday life - on our first day of Spanish School we went on a city tour via the Presidential Palace in the old town. The president was there addressing his people from the balcony through a microphone with pretty much no protection! Apparently he does this every Monday! Can you imagine Gordon Brown standing on a balcony addressing people? (and no-one attempting to shoot him? Even though he´s there at the same time every week..) Even more unlikely - the people cheering to what he says!!! It seems strange that on my first day in Ecuador I saw the President with my own eyes, and yet I never have in my own country in 24 years!
However, the most noticable thing about Quito is the weather. Because it is so high up the temperature is entirely set by the existence of the sun. When the sun is out it is beautifully warm - hot by UK standards - maybe 25C - but you can feel your skin wanting to burn straight away and so sunblock is essential (apparently its because the suns rays are perpendicular due to being on the equator or something!) However, as soon as the sun isn´t out, it´s really quite chilly! Definitely a cardigan and perhaps even a nice thick scarf are required! They say that Quito has 4 seasons in one day, and maybe that might be true, but I think it´s more true that in the morning you have no idea what season that day will turn out to be! Every day seems to start out relatively sunny but chilly but then anything could happen!
Anyway, I am to leave Quito for quite a long time tomorrow, so it´s Hasta Luego to Quito and on to the galapagos!
Ciao!
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