A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy

Last night was our first adventure to the social scene of Quito, as we figured we might as well get all of our orienting done with as soon as possible. After much worrying and fuss from our host mothers (paranoid sweet ladies that they are), we managed to convince them that we could navigate the city safely, though I was the only one who speaks any Spanish. Starting off conning our taxi driver into thinking that I’d lived in Quito for 6 months and had NEVER paid less than $3 for the trip, I had a feeling we were in for adventure.

After being dropped in the middle of the street and almost hit by a passing ambulance, we found most of the rest of our group and went to hit up Gringolandia (literally, “land of foreigners”), one of the biggest party areas in Quito. Surprisingly, it was far less sketch than expected. 

At one point, we realized that we were strolling along Calle José Calama, named for one of the strictest and most morally repressive bishops in the history of Quito. It turns out that the Quitanians, as a token of their regard, decided to name one of the wildest streets in the city after him!

I think this city and I are going to get along just fine.