Changes, Changes and more Changes

We are so blessed to be here in Quito.  We were all (well, not really ALL of us- but the adult "all" of us) were ready for something new.  However, Quito is a different world for ALL of us.  One change that is evident the moment you try to walk anywhere is the altitude.  In Shell we were at about 3400 feet in elevation and now we are in the heart of Quito at 9350 feet- a considerable difference, especially when walking uphill- which I think most of the city is.  Joe just told me that Quito is the highest official capital city in the world-  but I'm not sure we trust his sources...

The elevation also makes other things a little different-  baking for example.  I tried making cookies last week, and lets just say they didn't turn out very well.  They were so bad that I couldn't even take pictures of them.... yep, they were that bad.  Joe tried his hand at biscuits Saturday and with a little doctoring (and i didn't even plan that pun!) for the altitude they turned out very well.


And didn't last very long.....

The other thing that is definitely different is the weather.  We have been here 7 days now and it hasn't rained once.... not even a little.  We are used to daily rain... and we kind of miss it. I don't miss the extreme humidity, but I do miss the sound of rain in the morning.   Also, we are COLD.... cold.  Normal temperatures in Shell aren't hot, but compared with Quito they seem steamy.