My first day in Ecuador has been very good.  My host María lives here: http://goo.gl/maps/3m8C and her place has an excellent view of Quito.  I'll post some photos soon.  Since I've been here we have spoken in Spanish almost the entire time.  I don't know how she puts up with my wrong verb conjugations, mismatches in number and gender with my nouns and adjectives, and limited vocabulary, but she does.

This afternoon we traveled a mile across Quito to go where there was a marathon.  There were a lot of runners, street vendors, and spectators.  I bought a baseball cap (una gora) with the name of the local futbol team.  I figured this would completely camouflage me from the Ecuadorians.  After looking at the marathoners, we went to Parque de Carolina and watched the local Ecuadorians playing futbol, having picnics, playing Ecuavolley (a form of volleyball), y más.  We ate lunch en un restuarante de comida del mar.  Fue muy rica!

María has a second person boarding at her apartment, his name is Pablo.  He's studying law at a local university.  He's from Guayaquil and will return home in just a few days.  He invited me to go to a futbol game this coming Sunday, but I will not be in Quito.  My loss.