Quito

Holy Smokes....

So yeah Quito, Wow.
I got in really late last night and for the first time in my life I took a Taxi alone. The folks at Quito customs are so much nicer than in the US, you still answer a lot of invasive questions about why your are in Ecuador on paper, and you are still concerned about what they will do to you when you come face to face with the person in the uniform.

"It's your first itme in Ecuador?" asks the young man with regetone comming from his computer as he smiles at me...........

"Yes."

Slept the first night in Quito Antiguo (old town). A beautiful place filled with TONS of churches. Apparently it was extremely difficult to convert the indigenous people of the Ecuadorian Andes...so the Spanish went absolutely bezerk building churches to convince in the power of god. Old Town Quito was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1997. Now I am writing this from a room with a view of the mountains, I am staying with a family for ~15USD a night including all meals. Working on my Espanol...The family is amazing and they are interested in my thesis. We danced to Shakira after dinner!

Quito is fantastic. They are in the middle of a long valley between two mountain ranges, a colorful buzzing strip between lush expanses of reen. Of course it is completely Catholic here. This is the virgin of Panacea, and the Basacilla.

Above right is the monument to Bolivar. I dont follow any religion (Atheist) but I respect the cultures that are influenced by religion.

One thing that surprised me for sure was seeing men and especially women and children dressed in traditional hats and ponchos selling chickle and candy on the streets...I guess in my romantic mind that didn't happen. It rained on my first day here. I know that it could alleviate water scarcity, but part of the hydrological side of this thesis is also to measure the dry season base flow...And I can see that becomming kind of subjective if it is always raining during the dry season!

Another thing I noticed that disturbed me was on the bus, as we drove passed Parque Almejeda at noon, I saw irrigation with misters! I am not a big fan of efficiency theory but that is almost like not irrigating at all...you are giving almost all the water directly to evaporation, especially at noon on a sunny Sunday. Here is news from a drinking water "crisis" in a neighboring province.

So for now if you cant tell...everything is great.

Definately a little light on the thesis work...It looks more like a holiday than work...But that is the plan, do language in the mornings and thesis contacts in the aternoon...
Really looking forward to going out dancing! More on that soon...