My legs hurt this weekend...

Oh wow do I have lots to talk about! So Friday we didn't end up going to La Mitad del Mundo. This was because our friend from Ecuador (Andrés, who is the son of our coordinator, Maria) told us that it's pretty expensive to get into the monument/park if we don't have our Censo cards. They are cards that show we're students in Ecuador, and I think we'll be getting them this week, so we should be able to go to La Mitad del Mundo soon. Also, I'm not sure how accurate Andrés was, because when I asked my host mom she said that it shouldn't cost much at all, but by then we had already cancelled (postponed) the trip.

(Map by altitude & approx. distance, also, Quito is west of the other cities)

So instead of going there, our whole group went to play soccer in Lumbisí, where about 5 people from our program (there are 15 or so in all) live with host families. There were already some kids playing, so we joined them! They were pretty good, and since all of us aren't as used to the altitude, we were exhausted. I played defense mostly, and I blocked the ball 3 times with one leg, so I have a few bruises there :) heh.

Yesterday we went to the Centro Historico in Quito, which was beautiful! I have so many pictures, and I'm attempting to upload them on facebook right now, but my internet is being a little slow. First we walked around to a few churches, and then we went on a tour of the presidential palace (the White House of Quito, which is also white) in front of a big plaza. After that we went on a tour in a SUPERbaroque church. Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures while inside, but trust me it was very very gold, detailed, and huge. After this we went to lunch in a nice restaurant, and had soup, pork, chicken, and veggies.

Some Pics:

After lunch, we were going to take taxis up to Parque Itchimbia, but since we were a big group we couldn't get enough, so we ended up walking. The walk was INSANE. Yes, it was beautiful, because every time we got highter and higher on the hill you could see more and more of the city. But I think we probably walked up a million stairs and a bunch of other roads on steep hills. On the way we passed the Teatro Nacional Sucre and the Iglesia de San Blas (like the Mana song!). When we got to the top at the park, it was amazing! There was also an art exhibit at the park.

So, for now I think I'll leave it at that, but I also went to Lumbisi at night.... so I'll talk about that soon! I have to get ready to go to church with my host family :)