Simon Bolivar School - Quito, Ecuador - 2002

The School

Simon Bolivar is said to be the best Spanish language school in Quito. You wouldn't get any arguments from me about that! I thought everything was excellent - the location, the facilities, the administration, the staff, and the teachers. The quality of instruction was top-rate and the extra-curricular activites were so good that students from other schools were asking to join us on our excursions.

The school was in a great location just a short walk from a huge park and one of the biggest shopping areas in the city. There were homestay families all around the school, although I opted to stay in a hotel this time. It was only 2 blocks from the school and was only $9 U.S. per night with the school discount.

Here are a pictures of my teacher Wilson, and the classrooms in the courtyard behind the main building. I've taken Spanish lessons from teachers in Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, and now Ecuador. Wilson is the best teacher I've had in all of these places. If I ever get back to Ecuador, he is definitely the one I want again. Other students have said the same thing apparently. He was certainly an excellent teacher and he was also great fun. I enjoyed his company very much.

(Wilson: No pude decidir cual es lo mejor fotografia de ti, asi presionas aqui y aqui por los otros.)

School Excursion to Cochasqui

Cochasqui is an archaeological park about an hour or so out of Quito. There are many pyramids buried under mounds of earth there. These pyramids all had ramps leading up to them and flattened tops as is illustrated in the following scale model.

We had on-site lectures about how the ancients used the pyramids in their astronomical observations. We also enjoyed the many herds of llamas that ran loose in the grounds.

School Excursion to Papallacta

One of the optional weekend trips was to the natural hot springs near Papallacta in the highlands about two hours from Quito. It was rainy and cold but all that was soon forgotten after we jumped into the lovely hot springs. They were all different temperatures, so we moved around checking out different ones until it was time to go for our fresh trout lunch. This was a great opportunity to mingle with the students who are from all parts of the world.

School Excursion to Mindo

I had hoped to go on an excursion with Wilson to the Amazonian jungle for the last week of my stay in Ecuador. It's one of the options offered by the school. Unfortunately there was a huge national demonstration and the highway east was completely blocked. When we went back to the school to regroup, the director suggested "Mindo" which is a cloud forest reserve area two hours northwest of Quito. We went off to do our lesson, leaving her to make the arrangements. Click on the big button here for pictures of the great trip I had there.

Mindo Cloud Forest Preserve