Quito, Spanglish, and Scavenger Hunt

Most of us were in Quito by 1/5/2010, though a few arrived late in the evening. I'm glad Tripp posted the pic from the hostel, because it really has a fantastic view We spent the beginning part of the day getting to know each other a little better, as well as a spanish lesson from Kat. Stay tuned for a video of some of our role-playing. Utterly ridiculous.

From there we split off into our Scavenger Hunt, which was awesome. Each team, most composed of 3 or so people, was given a list of items to find. These included both Mission Critical items, such as maps, food, and water, to more fun things in Quito

Here's some shots from the Hunt-

a creative interpretation of a local statue

The Instituto Geographico Militar - this place provided Dietrich and I with topo maps of nearby mountains

A picture of a cheesy tourist (luckily I had one on my team, so that was simple)

Fine ecuadorian chocolate...we had to buy something after I sampled everything in the store. Twice.

A cheesy tourist item...what does this shirt mean??

I'm not sure which team won the hunt...but we all had fun doing it. Most teams found their Mission Critical items with success though the medical team had some hang-ups procuring Diamox, the altitude medication. Instead they came back with 48 pills of Dramamine...maybe we should switch our climb to a whale watching trip?

Signing off for now - more to come after our awesome hike today. We're headed to 14,000 ft - higher than any of us have been so far. It will be a good test to see how we respond to the altitude. Then - Soccer Match tonight! Stay tuned.