After a resounding footie success against their language school – a 6-3 victory for the girls and an epic 9-4 for the boys here’s the latest from the Villa Maria Gap Team – thanks to this weeks blog squad Will, Julie, Claire and Jessica…
After a quiet start to the week, Tuesday was another early start as the group took the teleferiqo to the top of Pichincha, the mountain that overlooks Quito. Once there, the more hardy members of the group walked for several hours even higher to a peak with a magnificent view over the city below; while those suffering from the effects of the altitude (the peak we climbed reached 4,784 m above sea level) or severe laziness remained in the café. Tuesday evening saw the start (and subsequent re-start after fourty minutes) of the epic Lord Of The Rings marathon after a delicious pasta dinner cooked by the cooking team.
Wednesday started with Spanish lessons as usual, and the afternoon was the second group{s chance to visit the women’s prison in Quito. However this second group was unfortunately denied entry to the prison, allegedly due to the riots that had occurred the week before when Pedro was spotted by the inmates. Some members of the group decided to use this unexpected free time by visiting the fascinating museum of Ecuador, while others used it slightly less constructively by somehow managing to spend five hours in a salon without any visible benefits. That night was “Ladies Night” in the popular clubs of Quito, although there were no “Ladies” in sight after the first round of free drinks. It seems as though the females of the group were floored by the offer of free alcohol, some more literally than others.
Thursday saw the newfound linguistic skills of the group members tested to the limit as we began work on our Spanish Plays, masterpieces which will be performed on Tuesday. Then, after another quiet afternoon contemplating the events of the night before, the group headed into the old town to watch the sun set from the majestic statue of Mary. However due to the unfortunate circumstance of the sun setting before the group was even ready to leave the hostel, that part of the plan was postponed and the team headed straight to La Ronda, a beautiful cobbled street in the Old town lined with small establishments serving canelazo, a traditional South American drink made from a mixture of cane spirits and hot fruit juices. This was accompanied by a performance from several musicians, one of whom took an unfortunate fall after sitting on the chair that Laura and Bolex had kindly decided to break and then replace without informing the staff.
A 5am start was roundly welcomed by the group on Friday, especially when the bus which was meant to take us to the coast was delayed till 9. After an excruciatingly long journey by bus and motorboat we arrived in Mompiche, a picturesque village looking over a beautiful bay. After a delicious dinner of fresh local fish, the team retired to their rooms to prepare for a Saturday in the sun…
