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David Kaplan, CTU Prague,

ročník 4

About the country

Location of the place

Ecuador is a beautiful country in Latin America. The country is located right on the equator between Columbia and Chile.

City

Quito is a nice city in the mountains. The Andes are full volcanos and couple of it is right next to Quito.
The historical center is pretty safe and amazing. It was a first city parts sign for UNESCO so visiting is very worth it.

Surroundings (possible trips, ...)

There are many weekend trips around Quito: The MIddle of the word Museum, Hike to Rucu Pichincha, Baňos, Mindo and many more.

Employer

FYI Construction was a very good employer. We have always discussed everything about my work and also about my day to day life. LIttle trouble was that most of my colleagues did not speak English. Thanks to that I had a much bigger motivation to learn Spanish. Company work in the jungle and building roads and camps for workers etc.

Work description

My work was very straight forward. My task was about interior design. They had a project for a huge villa was working on 3D visualization of its living room and dining place. Since I am not very experienced in the design it took me a lot of time.
I also agreed with my manager that I will spend a couple of hours a day learning Spanish which was very nice and helpful for me since I could not talk at all.
The company also took me to the construction site in the jungle which was very eye-opening for me.

Salary (sufficient for local conditions?)

The salary could be a little higher. Especially since the accommodation will eat more than 50%. But in the end, it was alright. Overall the salary is enough for accommodation and food.

Language requirements

The language requirement was only good English. But In the company, most of the people speak only Spanish.

Accommodation (price, who provided it)

The accommodation was provided by IAESTE. I did not have to take care of it at all. It cost me around 250$ for a single room with a bathroom.

Social life

Meeting IAESTE members (pick-up at the airport, organized events...)

IAESTE members were awesome. Picked me up at the airport got all the necessary information, safety tips, travel tips. Anytime I need help they helped me.
Events were organized regularly. Sometimes it was a little too expensive, but always doable. Sometimes the group wanted to do something else, so IAESTE members were flexible according to us.

Meeting other foreign students

I was living with circa 15 students. Around half were Polish students. Other than that I have met many foreign students.

Sport and culture

We made a sort of regular program. Every week we did on an international evening (cooking Ecuadorian food).
Each Wednesday we went for Salsa class.
It is little hard to run in Quito, because of huge traffic and a lot of car fumes. It is better to just go for a mountain hike.

Food, local specialties

You have to try chips from green bananas. It is the best. Also, try cevitche (cold soup with seafood).
In general, food is based on rice and potatoes with beef, chicken or pork.
It is a good idea to try guineapig. It is an Ecuadorian specialty, but you have to bee a little brave.
The best food you can buy is in local markets. There is usually part of local vegetables and fruits and part with little food places with very good food.

Other information

Possibilites to communicate with the Czech Republic

In Quito there is decent phone service and buying data sim card is pretty cheap. I was buying 1,5GB of the internet for 5$.
In the other parts of Ecuador, it is sometimes worst with phone service, but we were always able to find internet access.

Recommendations for students who will go to the same place

Be ready for being in the high altitude, but you will get used to, just take your time.
Ecuador is pretty safe. Just be alert in big crowds, there is a possibility of pickpocketing.
Learn at least the basics of Spanish. It will help a lot.
If you can at least a little bit go to Galapagos. It is amazing.