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News
Jan 14 2024
Good morning (or whenever you are reading this)! After a few delays, interrupted sleep, and moments of uncertainty, the SST Spring 2024 group started orientation with a burst of energy, enthusiasm … and some silliness!
The airport arrival as delayed by THREE LOOOOONG hours, but they made it safely.
As the students were leaving home, Ecuador’s people suffered moments of tension, sadness, and fear. News outlets suggest that we should be extra cautious. Thankfully, we also know that the foci of violence is far from our sphere of action and our families and partners are judicious, trustworthy, and very protective of our students.
They are finally here!
The bus ride, or as the call it here “el bus,” from Quito’s fancy airport to our orientation spot (La Casa de Espiritualidad Nuestra Señora del Quinche, a.k.a. CDE, a.k.a., La Casa de los Espíritus) was quite comfortable.
By Thursday morning, it was hard to contain our energy, so we proceeded with orientation at the rooftop Templo de la Sabiduría, part of the Casa Goshen.
The group with Tillie on the rooftop of Casa Goshen – note the mountains in the background!
Same photo, different director! (Cristóbal)
Klever Guevara, our on-site coordinator extraordinaire, imparted his deep and sophisticated knowledge on Quito’s culture, families, and food, as well as other insights. He was pleased to collect student names, academic interests, and motivations to be here.
Klever in action in the rooftop classroom.
After our initial discussions at Casa Goshen, we hopped on a bus to the 300-acre retreat center El Refugio. No trust falls here! The tasks were more difficult than we expected!
We were supposed to flip a blanket over to the other side while standing on it… after 15 minutes of strategizing, we concluded that we hadn’t failed but rather enjoyed a different success.
The floor is lava! But the students have it handled.
At the end of the long first day of orientation, we decided that a treat was in order to reward our tired brains and bodies – hence helado de paila, homemade ice cream featuring some of Ecuador’s most delicious flavors!
The best way to end one’s day!
Orientation included a visit to the Basilica Metropolitana, a Latin American replica of Notre Dame de París, learning how to navigate the city, take buses, walk from home to school and back and find local eateries.
Inside Basílica Metropolitana, we found this beautiful window!
Outside, we found these students, they are not always there.
We also visited the monument to Virgen María, on top of Cerro del Pancillo, aka Dinner Roll Hill.
Walking downtown after learning how to get from host families houses. Students were promised ice cream, hence the smily faces.
After a long bus ride, we needed to get some food. You can tell this was not staged AT ALL, just students in their element.
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