Orientation, Tour of Quito

Author: Calder
Location: Posada del Maple, Quito
It is rather hard to sum up the day's events in a single statement. We saw countless sights. In a sense, though, the greatest thing we got to see was the formation of our own community. Immediately after breadfast, we moved to a large hill (with an excellent view of Quito) and went through the most intense session of Orientation many of us have probably ever undergone. It culminated in an extremely arduous, but satisfying, game of "Human Knot" - the details of which are far too peculiar to be described here - but the game, which we probably could have stopped an hour early with the same results, brought out a startling and unanimous steadfast-mentality present in the group that, for a group of people who barely knew each other, is awe-inspiring. The driving force of our eleven-man platoon is, as that activity evidenced, raw-and-unadulterated determination.

After an interesting and culture-filled lunch of chicken, rice, pork, and goat-meat, we toured the city - a tour that probably climaxed at the watchtower of Quito's central basilica, an enormous building that marks the landscape but does not outmatch the city's other ancient works of architecture. After that tour, we made a brief stop at an internet cafe before returning to the hostel.

I know many of us are, to some extent, homesick; I think of my girlfriend, Danielle, constantly. That being said, I think today's incredible series of events has enabled all of us to bite down the worst of our homesickness, and look to our many future days here with smiles and high spirits.
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage