Today I visited El Panecillo with my host family to celebrate my host mom's 65th birthday. El Panecillo translates to "small piece of bread," because it resembles a small piece of bread sticking up from the ground. We took a taxi to the top of the hill, which has spectacular views and the Virgen del Panecillo, as seen in the picture above. Made of 7,000 pieces of aluminum in a mosaic pattern, she stands on top of a globe, has a crown of stars on top of her head, and a snake beneath her feet. This Virgin María of Quito is also the only winged Madonna in the world, and represents the "Woman of the Apocalypse" in the Book of Revelation. Here is a picture of all of us being silly and posing as the Virgen of the Panecillo. Overall it was a really cool trip and bonding experience with my host family! So far everything with my host family is going great and I'm happy with where I'm living. I finished my first week of classes at the University San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), and it also went really well. The only drawback so far has been living so far away from campus. It takes me two buses and over an hour to get to Cumbayá (where the campus is) everyday, which means I spend over 2 hours every day traveling by bus. Aside from that, I've met some really cool people and I'm excited to go on my very first trip to Quilotoa with a group of other exchange students!
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Ashley KoboldMy amazing experience studying abroad in Ecuador. ¡Qué chévere! Archives
December 2019
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