Brittney's Travels in Ecuador

Below is Brittney's account of the beginning of her Internship Ecuador program. She started in Quito for 2 weeks before heading to the coast to work in a medical clinic.

I landed in Quito Friday night and a driver picked me up at the airport. He didn't speak any English and I didn't speak any Spanish so needless to say it was quite the ride to my house in Quito!

I didn't start my Spanish lessons until today which made for an awkward weekend lol. Luckily a girl from Sweden lives in the house also and speaks English. She was my translator basically all of Saturday. I did a lot of studying on my own over the weekend. I completed 3 lessons in my book on my own and used Freetranslation.com to develop some sort of vocabulary. I had my first Spanish lesson today. I am have a private teacher for 4 hours a day. She corrected the work I did and luckily there weren't many mistakes. The lesson went very well and my Spanish is coming along nicely. The woman who owns the house, Ana Lucia, said at supper tonight that by the end of 2 weeks I will be speaking excellent Spanish although I'm not sure I believe her!

This weekend I am going to Otavalo which is where the authentic Ecuadorian market is, I'm very excited to go there! I am also going paragliding in the mountains with a few girls, I guess Vanessa's uncle owns it so it won't be very expensive. Don't worry mom I asked and we're going with a guide :). The Saturday before I leave I plan on booking a tour of the volcano Cotopaxi. I can book an English tour guide and climb to the top of the snow covered mountains and see the volcano. Then I can take a mountain bike or horses down.

I am scheduled to leave Quito in a little under two weeks, next Saturday. I will take the night bus to Puerta Lopez and a taxi or something to Santa Elena where I will be doing my volunteer placement. I may have to stay here for 3 weeks if I don't know enough Spanish but I am studying a lot so I can go to the hospital as soon as possible. The house I am staying in is wonderful and I love Ana Lucia. There are a lot of other students who live in this house as well, Susanna from Sweden and about 6 others who stay here during the week to go to university, they are from other parts of Ecuador. I have my own bathroom here and I think I'm the only one who has that luxury!