Quito

Quito has a fantastic climate. Located only 15 miles south of the Equator it has a lot of sunshine, but being high in the mountains, at aver 9,000 feet above sea level, it doesn’t get too hot and has a permanently spring like feel. We have been here for about six days, mainly looking for jobs. The plan was to move onto Cuenca or Loja next and distribute our CVs there. However, although we haven’t found work yet, there have been some positive signs. So at the moment, it is looking like Quito will end up being where we settle. One possibility for me is the Universidad de San Francisco de Quito. This is the top research university in the country, and is located in Cumbayá, a town just outside of Quito. Being at a lower altitude it gets somewhat warmer than Quito and has less rain. Although they have no English teaching vacancies at the moment, I may be able to teach a psychology course for them in the spring. This is dependent on enough students signing up to take a psychology course taught in English, and me obtaining a full work visa before then (my current 12-ix visa has only 4 months left on it).

In the meantime I need to continue looking for English teaching work, the procedure is quite simple, you just arrive somewhere and ask if they need teachers and leave a CV. It seemed ridiculous when I first heard this, but that really is how they do things here. As I've had no call backs from my initial trip out around the campuses, I probably need to try a few more. Though I'm getting out of the city for the weekend, to Baños.

View over Quito from Volcan Pichincha