Half way there
Already 2 weeks into the sabbatical, there are so many things going on that if I don’t write them down now I may never be able to consolidate them again.
Let’s start with adaptation
Honestly I haven’t been feeling my best since arriving here. Apart from the initial jet lag, I have been feeling quite light headed with mild headaches and trouble sleeping. Google says that it may be Acute Mountain Sickness. Let’s see if my body will adapt better to 60% oxygen and being at 2850m above sea level. But no worries, keeping hydrated and soldiering on.
Apart from this Quito is an amazing city with great options for food and lovely people.
The work and the team at @AEI_ec
We are a team of 12 that has been split into 4 teams of 3. My sub team is working with the Alliance for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (AEI) which is a private non-profit organization made up of representatives from the private, public and academic sectors.
After a bit of back and forth, and a lot of listening, we were able to finalize the scope of work in the first week and made some good progress on the final deliverable. Our greatest take away was to discover what a dynamic, talented and inspiring organization they are.
We even started one of our meetings by dancing!
Yesterday was also a very important milestone as we all had a night out and I sang in a Karaoke bar for the first time in my life! Here is to trying new things!
But it’s not all work!
We were lucky to have a long weekend last week due to the independence day of Guayaquil! This gave us an opportunity to drive down to the more tropical region around Tena and the Napo river. We stayed in a jungle lodge, found out how chocolate is made, visited a pineapple plantation, had a hike through the jungle, went tubing down the river and did some canyoning descending down a waterfall! So lots new experiences out of our comfort zones!
The best part was that it was the perfect opportunity to bond with the entire team very early in the team!
Here are some photos from the trip!
Tomorrow we are off on a day trip to Otavalo and surrounding areas to see the famous crafts market and the crater lakes.
Stay tuned!
