First post in Ecuador!

HOLA! So it's my third day in Quito, Ecuador but so much has already happened! It would be impossible to include everything here but I'll just give you the highlights :) So I live in this really cute apartment with my host mom, Sonia, and her 20-year old son, Juan (or Juanito, hermanito, etc.). It is small but super precious with antique furniture. I have my own room & bathroom -- definitely a great thing! Here are some pics:

               

The view outside of my bedroom window is AMAZING! I'll let these pictures speak for themselves (and yes, that is a volcano, right outside of my window):

        

So yeah, I still can't get over how amazing the view is from my own bedroom. It's also cool too that the view outside of the kitchen is SO different -- Quito looks like a big city, kind of like New York, with all of the cars whizzing by, the lights, and the buildings. It's amazing how beautiful Quito is -- who knew? And it's also equally amazing how different it looks depending on which parts of the city you're in. There are three parts (el norte, el sur, y el centro) and each part has a distinct character, but it's beautiful everywhere! The wildlife & the natural beauty just blow my mind. 

Okay so I don't even know what to talk about next, because there is so much! I guess I'll start with the basics. My program is through Duke University, and it's called Duke in the Andes (Duke en América Andina). This semester there are 9 people in the program, including me: 8 girls & 1 guy. We have an awesome director named Juan who is fantastic and there are 2 staff members who work with him who are also amazing (Wilma and Jimena). Duke has an office right in Quito, which is where we have been having our orientation. We will be taking 4 classes at 2 universities -- la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana is the undergraduate college where we will be taking 3 of our classes. It's about a 30-40 minute bus ride from my house. Speaking of buses, it only costs $0.25 to ride the bus for as long as you want -- I know, CRAZY! Everything is so cheap here, gotta love it :) But yeah, so I'm trying to learn how to navigate myself around -- it shouldn't be too hard, but it's a little intimidating at first. There are a lot of taxis so if I get lost on the bus, I can always take a taxi. They are cheap too -- the average ride is about $2-3! I'm definitely not in NYC anymore haha! We will also be taking 1 class at FLACSO (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales), which is for graduate students -- that class will probably be really intense but it's supposed to be a good experience. The program also has a community service component, where each student is required to do 15 hours of service per week at whatever organization. I'm excited to figure out what my assignment will be! 

I have so many more things to say but I think that this post is long enough. I also want to go to sleep -- speaking & thinking in Spanish for the most of the day can be quite exhausting. ¡Buenas noches!