I´ve been learning Spanish for a few weeks out in Quito, the first week in town and the second out in the country staying with a family.

In Quito Darwin Suntaxi was my teacher, he’s the guy in the picture with me. He was a great person and super teacher. We did stray off the curriculum a few times with some well chosen phrases that might come in useful in more social situations.

The village I stayed in was interesting and again I had a great teacher in Marlene. In the afternoons we visited some local towns and attractions including South America’s largest retail park!!! Paid for by the US and largely stocked with US goods at prices most Ecuadorians couldn’t afford, in fact in some cases more expensive than London. I also spent a moring in a local school where the children were excatly the same as those in London but the resources were dreadful.

Marlene also took me twice to local cementaries, not sure why. At one the tombs were more like houses.......see the picture.