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Ecuador Day 1: Old Town Quito, Empanadas, and More! (MC and Will Take Over)

We are so excited to share about our week in Ecuador!!!! 

Welcome to Day 1 of our adventures in Ecuador with Marley Cate and Will:



We headed to the Raleigh Airport at 2 AM on Thursday and were met with a very warm welcome upon arrival in Ecuador by John, Chivita, and Estefi.





On Friday morning we got to take in some of the beautiful scenery at El Refugio (where we stayed for the week) before heading out to explore Old Town Quito. 




First stop: The Basilica del Voto Nacional!

This is the largest neo-gothic Basilica in the Americas and was blessed by Pope John Paul II on January 30, 1985.
The Basilica remains "unfinished" and local legend says the world will end when it is...

We were amazed by the architecture...





...the beautiful views...



 


...and the many steps!




We left from there to see more of Old Town Quito, which we learned is one of the best-preserved Spanish colonial towns in the world! 





We made a stop at Plaza Grande, where we learned about the current president, and enjoyed a pretty traditional lunch where we got to try an array of fresh juices, plantains, lentils, and more! Having fresh juice all week long was a special treat for us! (Passionfruit and soursop juice were some of our favorites!)


We got to take the Metro towards our next stop at Youth World!
The Metro recently opened so it was a pretty big deal that we got to ride it. 
It was so clean!



...but first a quick stop for ice cream!

 MC gives the orange and roasted strawberry/watermelon mint combo a 10/10.
Will was a big fan of the café and chocolate!




We had very informative sessions from Cameron Vivanco at Youth World. We were able to learn about each of the organizations under Youth World, including E=H, which we served with this week. 

She also gave us some tools to not let the fruit resulting from our time in Ecuador die off, as well as encouragement that we could still be seeing fruit resulting from the trip decades from now!







Learning how to make homemade empanadas from Jorge Luis' mom was a highlight of the day for many of us! 

Jacob G. gets the award for best looking empanada!


We can't wait to share more pictures with you throughout the week! 
More pictures from Day 1:














































That's it for today! 
- MC and Will


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