Life in Quito

I had an amazing experience with IES Abroad Quito-Direct Enrollment. The on-site staff is incredibly caring, fun to be around, and has lots of advice to give. Although I did not ask them for much help and didn't have to resolve any problems at school, I felt comfortable knowing that they were available and able to help in case something came up. Having a "home-base" in Quito (the program building) definitely contributed to how much I enjoyed my experience. Although the direct enrollment program was quite small, the area studies program was there at the same time, and I could always count on someone being in the building if I wanted to hang out. We always met up at the building, studied together in the computer room, or once we even made empanadas with the entire program and the on-site staff there. I loved having a non-public place to go to in Quito other than my homestay, to get a change of scenery for studying, etc. Although I enjoyed only half of my classes at the local university (next time I would ask more students about the professors), I think the opportunity to direct enroll added another cultural level to my experience. Students at the university come from a much wealthier economic background than other Ecuadorians we usually encountered in the city. It was also interesting to observe the classroom atmosphere, how professors teach in varied styles, to see how the emphasis on certain assignments is different, and to see the students' perspective on school compared to its importance at my home university. A high level of Spanish is very helpful in classes with exclusively Ecuadorians. These classes are challenging but also helped me improve immensely, as the topics were new (such as the Ethnohistory of Ecuador) and there was also never an excuse to speak English. Living in a homestay, taking part in the Service Learning component of the program, and attending the local university, gave me a varied perspective on social and economic classes in Quito and helped me better contextualize the Ecuador's diversity, which we learned about in my Service Learning class. I also loved the field trips IES took us on and appreciated the freedom we had to travel on the weekends with friends.
I especially enjoyed the last two months in Quito!! I had made amazing friends from the program that I knew incredibly well at that point, but had also gotten to know Ecuadorians well enough to spend time with them after school, which was great for practicing Spanish! I loved exploring Quito, and would definitely recommend this program to anyone! I didn't want to leave!!