Settling in Banos and Back to School (well, kinda...)

After a 3.5 hour bus ride from Quito on Saturday, Keta and I finally arrived in the town of Banos. Banos is a medium sized town nestled in a valley surrounded by many beautiful mountains and hills. It is probably most well known for Volcan Tungurahua, the very much active volcano located just outside of town. After it began erupting in October 1999 (giving it a red-alert status), the president ordered the people out of the town of Banos. However, with no major eruption by January, the people forced themselves back in. The volcano is presently at a yellow-alert status and the town of Banos is back to normal, but always aware of the still active volcano sitting just outside its streets.

Following our arrival into town, Keta and I headed out to look at the various options for Spanish school, as well as figure out where we would be sleeping for the following weeks. We decided that we would look into the option of getting an apartment for our time here, rather than living out of a hostel or homestay. After an afternoon of speaking with schools and looking at different living options, we signed up for classes with the Banos Spanish Center and secured ourselves an awesome apartment for the month.

We are extremely excited about coming across this amazing apartment. It has a fully functional kitchen (including stove and refrigerator) as well as family room, bedroom and bathroom. It is located just off the main street in a small gated complex. The family that is renting it to us is wonderful and has been extremely helpful with everything. Another great thing about it is the American botanist that lives just upstairs. He has been living in Ecuador for 10 years, and knows everything about the flowers, birds, hikes, etc. in the area. He lent us a bunch of books (most of which he wrote or is mentioned in) about the local flora and fauna as well as hiking options. He has even offered for us to join him on some of his projects and trips. Probably the best thing about this apartment though is that is only 50 bucks a month for each of us! That alone will save us each over 100 dollars.

In an effort to celebrate our new place, Keta and I headed out to check out the very happening nightlife in Banos. We ran into a Mexican girl who we had met in Tena who told us about this nice bar with live music which we decided to go to. Both Keta and I had been very interested in learning to salsa dance, and after about 30 min. we were asked to dance by two very proficient salsa dancers. We spent most of the evening learning some steps and meeting some nice people, including the local artist, Alex who plays guitar there in the evenings.

Sunday was spent moving into our new apartment and buying a few needed things, including two plates and some food. We were both extremely excited to be able to unpack our bags, and for the next month be able to live out of drawers rather than suitcases. In the evening we headed to our new favorite café and restaurant, Casa Hood, located one block from our apartment. They have a free movie playing every evening and we decided to check it out and drink some good coffee. After the movie we met up with some friends we had met the night before, and walked to a waterfall cascading down into town. We were able to hike up a bit and got an amazing view of the city by moonlight.

This morning we attended our first day of school. We decided to start off easy, with only a two hour class. My professor, Teresa, is great, and I feel better about my Spanish skills already. Keta expressed that her class was great as well, but a little exhausting. Due to her not knowing much Spanish at all, a one on one intensive class can be very tiring. I have signed up for three hours tomorrow, so we will just have to see how that goes. I have got to head home now and start my homework. I have to write a paper in Spanish about my first few days in Banos.

Before leaving Tena, I went back to the Marquis resturant. As promised, I got a picture of their very cute pet sloth, seen below.