Could hardly wait to get home to post this.  I took a little trip into Quito today, to visit my host family's restaurant among other things and it was a very rewarding trip.  First of all, their bus station is so so so organizado !!!!!!!!!!!  I was so impressed.  People actually stood in lines and calmly filed into the buses.  Also, on my way to the restaurant, I saw something I had heard about.  The government shuts down a major thru way, Avenida de 10 de Augosto, for 50 blocks....50 cuadras...so that the gente ( thats all of us) can ride our bikes, walk our dogs or kids, run, walk whatever , sin autos for 50 cuadras !!!  Why doesn't every city do that ?????  I can hardly wait to get out there myself and I'm told there are places to rent bikes.   On my way back into Nayon, I discovered the many flower shops are open on Sunday and there are not so many people to get in the way of my photos so I was able to take some pictures which are attached.  I had a little lunch in the restaurant, which is very very nice and chatted with a sweet girl who wants to be an azafata when she grows up...that's flight attendant.  She is 11 and so so sweet..dimples and everything. So, here are some photos.

It was hard to take a photo from the bus but this is part of the highway that is closed for bikers etc.  I tried to get a dog, a baby and a bicycle.

Interior of the family restaurant

Another interior shot.....very very nice.

And there is that sweet little girl.

This is the lovely salad she served me with the potato soup and a plate of rice, frijoles and cueso fresa (fresh cheese)  I think that means not aged.  It is delicious, whatever it means.

The outside of the restaurant...very humilde ( humble) looking and so nice inside.  They serve typical Ecuadoran food altho she told be to come back next weekend and she would make me Mexican tortillias.

Each of the garden shots is of a different tienda ( shop) along the main road coming into Nayon. 

A few of the other aspirantes ( trainees) and one dog from his host home.  This is the corner of the main park in the town.  There was a baptism in the church in front of the park and apparently there was a party planned afterwards but I did not go...nor was I invited.

The Nayon city park

The catholic church fronting on the park.   We stuck our heads inside and it is beautiful, it was full and the baptism was underway.

A view of the bus station.....it looks deserted but I am told that on weekdays, it is lleno ( full)  But, today it was oh so tranquillo ( calm) and so clean...beautiful.  And we stood in orderly lines.  What a pleasure.

Well, I made it to Ecuador.  All is well and the group of other volunteers seems great and of course the PC staff here is wonderful.  They make us seem like they have been waiting for us for ages !!!!  Also, from what I can tell, we will all

Some of us waiting in line at immigration in Ecuador

The greeting by the PC staff at the airport in Ecuador.  It was very sweet of all of them to meet us and help us get to the training center our first day.  Notice all the folks with lots of luggage.

The training town, Nayon, is nicknamed the Garden city.  There are nurseries all over town and they are beautiful.  This is a nursery viewed from the roof of the PC training center.

Sort of a cloudy day from the roof of the PC training center. 

be assigned to urban sites in the Andes or on the Coast...not in the Amazon.  I want to take a guided tour to the Amazon before I leave here....they say the jungle is beautiful with hundreds of species of birds and lots of wild animals...  Here are some preliminary photos..  I'll try to get some pretty ones of the flowers on the street tomorrow. 

Two days before leaving for Ecuador

Hello friends,

Just had to post this photo.....2 days before leaving for Ecuador....equator....ecuador...get it ????  I don't know where I will be assigned yet but for the first three months, we will all be living near the Peace Corps training facility located in Nayon which I believe is an eastern suburb of Quito, the capital city.   I found it on Google Earth and it looks very charming.  I am scheduled to leave here on Tuesday morning for Miami for one night with arrival in Quito on Wednesday afternoon where I'll be met by the host family with whom I'll live for the training period, about 3 months.  After the training period, we will each be assigned to a community somewhere in Ecuador..could be in the Amazonian region, on their western Pacific coast or in a mountain community in the Andes.  It will be fun to see where I end up.

More later
Pat

Hello again,

This is a test to see if this is working...as I had planned.  I made some changes on the blog set up and some of you got new emails....blah, blah blah. 

Please "comment" on the blog if you get this.

Your timely response will result in your invitation to visit me in Quito :)

Thank you,
Patricia