La Capilla del Hombre

One of the most famous artists to ever come from Ecuador was named Oswaldo Guayasamín Along with a semi-personal connection with the program (a host family's grandfather was BEST friends with Señor Guayasamín), he has been instrumental in the representation of Ecuadorian and even Latin American culture. His house and personally designed museum are now huge tourist attractions and we ventured to see the amazing art and history as part of our Quito Bucket Lists. Here are a few pictures:

Me and Luis

Katie smiling at the illegal photo-taking I am doing (photos are NOT allowed inside the museum... oops)

Me and this REALLY cool sculpture. 

Guayasamín is buried under this tree, called "el árbol de vida"

But yeah, it was easily one of the best museums I've ever been to, and I learned more in one day there than I did all semester. Oops.

Casa de la Cultura... FINALLY.

I've lived across the street from the Casa de la Cultura for 4 months now, and today a friend and I decided to venture inside for the first time. There are two museums, the Museo Nacional and the Museo de Arte Contemporanea. I must say that both were equally cool, but I liked the Contemporary Art more. Here are a few pictures:

This area is called the "Children's Garden" but it's really just a bunch of cool statues.

Inside the Contemporary Art Museum. 

So, mark the Casa de la Cultura off of my Quito Bucket List! Only 9 more days to get everything else off that list. Wish me luck!

Quito's Pretty Awesome.

http://www.qpqweb.com/patrimonio/

10 Quito Things That Make Me Happy:

1. The building guard saying "cómo está niña?" every time I walk by

2. Not getting lost on the bus system

3. Knowing when cab drivers are trying to rip me off and arguing with them in fluent spanish

4. The random afternoon thunderstorms

5. The first Frozen Yogurt place to open up in Ecuador: Chic-Berry

6. Being able to recognize and wave to people on the street who are not in the program (like the bakery guy who just had a baby with his wife, or the indigenous woman selling strawberries, or kids who go to the escuelita).

7. Having cars stop in the middle of rush hour to let me cross the street (probably only because I'm a gringa but I'm not complaining)

8. The mix of western and indigenous cultures

9. Everyone saying that the weather is changing, when in reality it's dropped from 67 degrees to 63...

10. Christmas trees in the windows starting November 1st. 

El Centro Historico

Quito is a big city, but the original part of the city is called "El Centro Historico" and it has hundreds (yes, hundreds) of churches in the area, so it's very pretty and very old, colonial, has cool architecture, etc. Well, today I went to the Plaza Grande and toured a few museums and churches, because there's a huge festival going on and museum and art gallery tours are free. Live drum lines, music, dances, general fun-ness. It was very cool, and only a 5 minute bus ride south of my house!

This is the view of one of the churches/museums and the winged statue of Quito in the background. It's a landmark around town, and very pretty at night.

This is the big gothic church at the top of the hill that you can see from basically anywhere in the city. It is HUGE and really pretty.

The Plaza Grande, well part of it. It's a very pretty plaza that is the center of the Centro Historico.

Well, that's all I have for now. Have a good weekend!