We had a fantastic first day filled with delicious food, laughter, and  adventure through the city. We started off with a group orientation at Parque Itchimbia where we worked on team building and discussed our philosophy as travelers coming into a foreign country for service work. We are so excited for the trip we have ahead of us! After our orientation we walked to an incredible restaurant that overlooks the beautiful city. Many of the students expressed this meal as being a highlight of the day!

After filling our bellies we headed over to the teleférico (gondola), which took us up nearly 13,000 feet above Quito! We descended back to the city, where we met up with a guide from Quito Eterno, and we explored the historic center of the city and learned a bit about its rich history. Tomorrow we head up to Iltaqui where we will meet the community that will host us for our community service project over the next two weeks.

Also, we wanted to let folks know that our group has decided to do a collective Tech Fast for three days beginning July 3. This means we will all be intentionally disconnecting from communication with home, social media, etc. We will still be taking photos of our activities but want to be more connected to the people around us and our new surroundings as we integrate into the village. This will be a great opportunity for us to bond as a group and experience our environment fully!

Til next time,
Fedora & Daniel