Since Ecuador lies along the equator, the weather doesn’t change much throughout the year. Pretty much every day, it’s a little chilly in the morning and at night, maybe about 50ºF. Then, when the sun comes out in the afternoon, it can get pretty warm to about 75ºF. Because Ibarra is high up in the mountains, we are a lot closer to the sun and the sunlight is very harsh here! Standing in the sun can get very hot, and it’s even dangerous to be out in the sun too long because the risk of getting sunburnt is pretty much as bad as it gets here.
Ibarra is a small city, so mostly, I just see stray dogs running around. There are some friendly strays that I always see sitting around the restaurants near the university. Not all of the dogs are friendly though! A few days ago I was on a run when three pretty scary dogs started chasing me. I was a little scared, but I remembered one of my students told me that the dogs are all bark and no bite, so I turned around and made a loud sound, and they stopped.
