Quito facts and figures

I wanted to address some questions that I have been getting from people regarding the city of Quito. First and foremost, I have internet in my home so clearly I am not living in a hut in the middle of the amazon. In fact, I live in a very nice gated community in new town (one of the nicest areas of the city). Yes, quito does have its problems. According to Wikipedia (no this is not a formal paper so I am choosing to accept this site as fact) between 35 and 45% of the population is living below the poverty line with 12.8% living on less than $2 per day. It is apparent that wealth distribution is uneaven in this community. I live in an area with malls that look like those in the United States and the city is home to many beautiful churches and some impressive hospital facilities. However, if you walk a few blocks in any direction you see rundown buildings and people selling fruit on the street. My housemate bought 20 bananas for $1 and riding public transportation costs .25.
A second problem in this country is teen pregnancy. if you are a woman under the age of 18 there is a 30% chance that you have a child. One in four women in this country is pregnant. It seems that the failing economy coupled with the rapidly increasing population is seriously damaging the quality of life of people in this country.

This is what I have learned so far here about the state of things in Ecuador. Hopefully when I am done with spanish classes I will have more time to travel around the city a bit and learn more.

Also: took salsa classes last night with eight of my friends. It was an hour of some of the most intense cardio I have ever done. The steps were fast and pretty complicated for a beginner class but it was a lot of fun and we are planning on going again next week. I knew I had a big booty for a reason!