Dave and I have found a comfortable routine here in Quito during our weeks of Spanish classes and (practically) homestay. We were SO lucky to find the place where we stayed! Nieves, the owner of the beautiful house was the most gracious, laid back, and welcoming host. We spent many evenings cooking together and hearing stories of her past in Colombia, Ecuador, the US, travels abroad, and return to Ecuador. She loved to partake in our beer and wine also! Dave had a bit more difficulty understanding her when she started speaking a bit quicker! It was a great way to reinforce our Spanish skills and experience more of the culture while staying in one spot for a longer period of time. Not only did we have plenty of time to visit with Nieves, but we were able to go over to my old host family´s house twice so that Dave could meet them and to catch up on the last five years. Martha, Catalina, and Ricardo have not changed a bit! Their family is all doing well and we had such a good time laughing over past times and recalling different stories and memories from when I lived with them. For example...how they never understood why I liked to go camping or walk uphill voluntarily with a big backpack in the high altitude...
Dave and I enjoyed our time in Spanish school and I feel much more prepared to begin working in January with the little rascals. My head has been flustered with language overload, but I have plenty to work on for the rest of our trip. It was great to have not only language lessons, but a big part of the lesson is to engage in conversation about different cultural topics and lifestyles. Dave and I both had some great chats with our teachers and got a bit of a reality check about Ecuadorian life. Our days in Quito have consisted of school 8:30-12:30, lunch, walk around the city/nap, dinner, reading, sleep. We were able to visit most of the big beautiful parks around the city and I acted as Dave´s guide, more or less, for Quito. It´s been fun to share this big part of my life with him. Love the price of the fixed lunch plates...$2.50.
We had one interesting incident on the mountain two weekends ago when we were attempting a summit on Volcán Ruca Pichincha. Outside of Quito, there is a goldola system called the TeleferiQo which takes you up to the top of the Andean valley. From the top of the gondola, the views of the city are amazing and it´s possible to hike for about 3-ish hours to reach the summit. Oh wow, the weather that day was quite interesting. We seemed to have a mix of everything...rain, sun, snow, downpour, hail, fog. We were really enjoying the hike on the way up, crossing huge ridges and hiking alongside vast valleys. The flora up at the high altitude in a volcanic area is stark but impressive...huge folding columnar basalt and patches of shifty pumice with cactus-like flowering brush. Last time I was up there, I remember being with my friend Jesse, unable to completely summit because of the slippery rocks and cloudy conditions. This time was not unlike the last, and Dave and I decided not to traverse the slippery vertical rocks (about a 5.6/7 climb really) and headed back down. During the ascent, the trail follows a SUPER exposed ridgeline before becoming a bit more sheltered toward the top. As we headed back out, we noticed that we were reentering this exposed ridgeline. The skies were dark all around us, a sort of "impending doom" feeling. There was awesome lightning all around and it was relatively close. 
At this point, I was enjoying the natural wonder of this lightning storm and had not fully entered a panic state. It didn´t take too long before the lightning flashes and thunder booms were less than a milli second apart. And remember where we are, on an exposed barren ridgeline. Wow...was I excited to be in that particular spot at that point in time....NO! One lighting strike and thunder boom...I was on the ground. It felt like a sonic boom. The next one really had my hair rising on end and I literally fell flat to the ground and started a full body panic attack, crying and all. Fun...not really. From there, Dave and I literally ran down the mountain to try and find lower ground. Ps-I don´t run down mountains, but I did. We were running down this ridgeline at about 12,500 ft with PURO hail everywhere. After finding another group of hikers who knew an alternate route down instead of the main trail, we followed them. The next ultra awesome part was when we had to pass under the huge power lines and electric towers. Haha, after all, Dave and I arrived at the gondola soaking wet (we had rain jackets but forgot rain pants). Phew! We both decided that we had a great time, after the fast and even though it was super scary...it was a kick in the pants! Nevertheless, we are here safe and sound...and ready for the next volcano!
Now here we are, looking forward to the next new thing, leaving only good memories behind of Quito, especially of Nieves and my host family, and looking foward to exploring the mountains and rivers further south. Illinizas, Baños, Tena, Riobamba, Altares...here we come!
Hasta Pronto,
Elisabeth y David
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