We have moved into our new house and despite a few bumps along the way, we’re doing great. The house is enormous, and until we finally moved in the living room and dining room furniture it was looking and feeling pretty empty and cold. We’ve since had many successful dinners come from our kitchen and many successful evenings from our living room and dining room tables so its starting to feel like home.
The search for an apartment was a bit stressful. We are down here in Ecuador in a program called LanguageCorps, which puts us through TESOL training and finds us teaching jobs down here. We had jobs lined up since before even stepping on the plane (credit to our coordinator Andy) but had to find a place to live after the training course. There are 6 of us in the current LC group. One person was only planning to be down here for 6 months, so the rest of us get along pretty well and decided to try to live together. There are an enormous amount of 3 bedroom apartments in Quito but very few 4 bedrooms and up. We needed 4 (Liz and I sharing one). On top of that, its tough to find places that are furnished. We settled on a house in the Universidad Catolica district. Unfortunately it was entirely unfurnished and we’ve had to furnish it from top to bottom not including the fridge and stove/oven. As a result the up front costs have been very high, but I think it will even out in the end.
The number one selling point was the location. We’re about 5 blocks from the school where we’ll be working. About 10 blocks from the busiest bar district (a distance short enough to walk home in a group and long enough to be living in a safe neighborhood). We’re also one block from a great 25 cent public transportation line called the Eco Via. Within a 3 block radius there are several laundromats, hardware stores, cafes and restaurants. We actually live right next door to a great little cafe called Caffetal with extremely welcoming owners. A big supermarket is also about 6 blocks away.
The house has 5 bedrooms upstairs (so we’re still hoping to find another roommate to bring down costs) and has a huge living room/dining room area downstairs with a operational chimney. The kitchen is also spacious and functional. It was a pain to clean in the first place (we moved into a very…. dirty… house…) but its in great shape now. We share an outer gate with a couple other apartments and the back door to the cafe. We have roof access. I went outside on the roof yesterday and got a wicked sunburn in a half an hour. The sun is strong here.
One more week of settling in until we have our big Wasipichay (Quichua for housewarming party) this friday. There are some ceremonial aspects of the event involving coals and particular plants and some sweeping out of evil spirits, but then there will be a huge party. We don’t know too many other people (mainly other English teachers and some masters students), but we hope they bring everyone they know because its a big house to fill. After next weekend we start working and our schedules will become a lot more regular.
Today Liz and I walked only 4 blocks to Parque Elijido, which has a huge outdoor crafts and art market every Sunday. It was pretty incredible that it will be happening weekly. I can’t wait to return with more money.
I will continue to take pictures and upload them, as my house has been wired for internet. Things are starting to feel official down here. There is a local internet account in my name, we’re getting a subscription to the local paper delivered to our house, and we have our official Ecuadorian resident photo ID’s. Take care, everyone, and I hope people find the time/money to visit.
