I’ve said this in every blog post, but we’ve lived a million lifetimes in Ecuador. At the very least, we’ve lived three different lives: the city, the rainforest, and finally, the coast. Day 11 was the kickoff to our final leg of our Ecuadorian country tour. After the unexpected mudslide caused us to miss our…

The first few days of this trip, back in Quito, a lot of us here had laughed and joked about how it felt like we’d already lived lifetimes in Ecuador with how many academic and cultural experiences we’ve had jam-packed into a single day. Yet, we had no idea the millions of lifetimes we would…

The past two days have felt like a lifetime. Never ever before, have I ever, have had such a jam-packed 48 hours.  Day 3 of Quito started with a beautiful awakening. Despite the early mornings and long days, some of the other fellow Plus3 travelers and myself decided to wake up extra early to catch…

Rather than another tour of the many cultural and religious sites of Quito, Ecuador, we woke up bright and early once again. But this time, it was an hour and a half long bus ride to visit a rose farm and company called Casanto Miray. First, we visited the farms where they grow the roses,…

Saturday was a long day of travel. We departed from the heart of Pitt’s campus around 7am and after a bus ride, flight, layover, another flight, customs, and a final bus ride, we finally arrived at our first hotel of the two week trip around 10pm. Hotel San Francisco de Quito!  Waking up in Quito…

Hi! I’m Matthew, an avid chocolate consumer and occasional flower smeller. I am one of the 12 students traveling to Ecuador with Plus3. Throughout the course of the past spring semester, we have been learning about the country’s unique place in both the chocolate and flower global markets. This culminates with a two-week study abroad…