I have officially spent my first full day in Ecuador and my first full day outside of the United States; I have never lived a day as fully as I have this one. In this day alone, I have done 19 years of sightseeing in 2 hours, experienced a culture and passion that I deemed impossible to exist, and ate the best churro of my life. To start the day, I woke up at the ripe time of 7am to eat my breakfast and to get ready for my group to tour Quito. First, we stopped at the Iglesia de San Francisco, where we were welcomed with the most jaw-dropping art and architecture I’ve ever seen in my life. After that luxury, we took a trip to the Museo Franciscano Fray Pedro Gocia where a member of the group, Rohan (a.k.a The Lion) began to construct a plan to hike up to the Virgin of the Panecillo. This has never been done by a member on this trip in previous years, as the incline that one needs to climb to reach the statue is too humbling and dangerous. The trio, which consisted of me, Rohan (The Lion), and Christian (a.k.a. The Dragon) was a great trek. The three of us hiked over 600 steps on the biggest incline I have ever trekked in my life. That steep incline, mixed with the high altitude of the city, certainly resulted in a challenge that ended up being extremely worth it. After the 32-minute grind that we endured and the countless dogs we passed, we made it to the top! We were met with a breathtaking view of Quito as well as glimmering mountains and a singular llama. After we soaked in the beautiful sights, we headed back down the hill, where we stumbled past more stray dogs and vibrant life. It took us around 10 minutes to get down the incline that we previously were huffing and puffing through. Since we achieved the once impossible, we decided to fuel up on food at the market next to our hotel. When inside, we were greeted with a variety of fascinating snacks and drinks that were all $3 or less. With a diverse selection, Rohan, our Lion, chose his snack of choice — Oreos. What an anti-climactic end to our previously intense journey.

After our once-in-a-lifetime experiences, the group got dinner, journaled, and sat up on the rooftop to welcome in our last night in Quito. It was splendid. I would do the entire sweaty, draining, difficult-to-breathe excursion all over again just to have the grand banter and view that this excursion offered.