A Walk to School

By Bradley Rehak- Guest Blogger studying in Quito, Ecuador
Having grown up and lived most of my life in Iowa, I'm used to going about my business without really thinking about the scenery in the background. In Iowa, the scenery that exists—the parks, hills and prairies—are all quite distant from the cities, at the very least in the cities that have been home to me. Quito, of all of the places I have lived outside of the States, is by far the most beautiful to walk around. I'll demonstrate by describing the simplest of things: my walk to school everyday.
I exit the small apartment building in which I live and turn left, walking along the edges of the Parque Metropolitana, which is the largest undisturbed forest/green space in Quito. The clouds usually hang low in the early morning, giving the clouds a rather misty look. I cross the street to another park that sits on a hill that makes up the eastern half of Quito. It's quite a steep drop-off that is occupied by a series of steps. Standing at the top I directly face Volcan Guagua Pinchincha, which is the largest of the numerous volcanoes and mountains that directly border Quito. I can see the western half of Quito's houses and buildings climbing partway up the sides of the volcano, eventually giving way to undisturbed forest and grassland on the mountainside and then a summit shrouded in clouds. At the bottom of the steps and the park I turn south.
Now facing the Panecillo, a hill that separates northern and southern Quito, I walk down a major street named after a national hero, Aloy Alfaro. On sunny days a statue of the virgin is visible at the top of the hill. It is an image taken from the Book of Revelation: a 50-meter tall Mary stands on top of a chained and defeated serpent. On a incredible visible day, Volcan Cotopaxi, the second highest mountain in the country and one of the highest active volcanoes in the world, hangs in the background.
I finally come to the most important street in Quito, Avenida 6 de Diciembre, and turn right to finish the short walk to the school watching the sun passing between the tall office buildings that line the street. I finally arrive having seen more natural beauty in 20 minutes than I do at home in a month.