Quito week 1

Ok so, yes, I realize I have been extremely slow in updating this last entry, but I've had some technical difficulties that have been absorbing a lot of my time and energy. But more about that later.......

So the last few days in Cusco were really nice, out with friends a lot before I had to leave, went to some really cool local places with really good music. And then I flew from Cusco to Lima to Quito on Tuesday morning, with a bit of a delay which meant for a bit of stress in the Lima airport trying to manage my connecting flight, but everything ended up working out. Got to Quito and since I hadn't been able to get reservations at my first choice hostel, tried another one on a whim that ended up being pretty cool, called the Secret Garden which was a lot like Loki the hostel I had just left. I might have stayed there longer to connect with other backpackers and meet some other people, but it costs $9 a day with the taxes here, as compared to $6 at the place I am now, which is a nicer place, but not as many people around and the staff are a little grumpy, but nevertheless I have managed to meet some fun travellers. I'm in a 4 person room but so far there has been one night with all beds full, a couple with one other person and the rest of the time I have had the place to myself, so that's kind of nice. Plus the owners have a strangely temperamental dog called Shakira, which I think is hilarious.

So anyway, arrived on Tuesday and did some exploring around the old town, although I still have yet to go all the way up the basilica for the panoramic city picture, cheesy but necessary. I was sitting on the steps at the plaza San Fransisco, when some shoe shine kids came to talk to me, apparently undeterred by the fact that I was wearing flip flops and as such, had no real need for their services. But anyway, we were chatting for a while, and when my phone rang they were all pumped and asked if I would let them play games on it for a while, which I did until the battery started dying. Weird how street kids in Ecuador possess innate knowledge of how to play pool on cell phones. Found a nearby toy store and bought some candy and a soccer ball as an early birthday present for Ricardo, the little boy that I sponsor, and headed to bed early so I could enjoy the day with him.

Through Compassion, I had arranged to hire a van to drive us around for the day. Besides the driver, there was a representative from the main office in Ecuador as well as Ricardo's tutor from the project in Esmeraldas and then Ricardo and his mother. They all picked me up at my hostel in the morning and then we made our way out of the city to the zoo, which was almost an hour away. For those of you who don't know, Ricardo lives in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, which is 6 hours away from Quito by bus, a tropical city right on the coast famous for its large afro-ecuadorian population. He's seven years old (eight in a couple of weeks) and neither he nor his mom had been to the capital before. And he was also really excited by the present, because apparently that's what he had asked for for his birthday and it was his first soccer ball ever. So that was kind of cool. At first especially, he was really quiet and shy, but I think he was mostly just overwhelmed by the whole situation, all the traffic and huge city, plus meeting me etc. I was able to talk with him and his mom a bit, but the dialect that they speak is quite difficult for me to understand, so I was glad that the rep from Compassion was there because he did a lot of translation when necessary, which was really helpful.

Anyway, at the zoo there was quite a bit to see there, although the cages were pretty small which was kind of depressing, but the staff seemed to really try hard and treat the animals well so that made me feel a bit better about the whole thing. Ricardo was enthralled with the monkeys and kept trying to get me to take his picture with them, but wouldn't turn around to look at the camera because he was so fascinated by them.

But after the zoo, we stopped at a nearby place for lunch, where when we were waiting for our food to come, I kept hearing bird noises and so I looked around until I saw a bird cage, but it was empty. Strange, but I didn't really think much of it until I saw two parrots scurrying around beneath people's feet at the next table. And then Ricardo started crawling around on the floor chasing them, which was pretty funny. I tried to get some pictures, but I'm not sure how well they turned out, but the whole thing was pretty comical.

And then we went to the teleferriqo, which is this fairly new cable car that goes up the mountain for a great view over the city, but by the time we got there it was really cloudy and rainy, so we wouldn't have been able to see anything. Instead, right at the same place there is a small amusement park and arcade, so we played some games and did a little rollercoaster, etc., which he seemed equally happy with. But by then it was about 5 and they still had to take the bus back home so we said our goodbyes and his mom and I had a little moment which was kind of neat.

And then Thursday I was pretty overtired so I didn't do a whole lot, although there is a park near my hostel kind of up on a hill where you can take some nice pictures over the city so I hung around there a little bit. Went out at night with some people that I met here and then Friday did some exploring in the new town, la Mariscal district or Gringolandia, depending on who you ask. Went to a museum, although a lot of their rooms were closed off because of some technical difficulties or something, so I might go back this week and see if they'll honour my ticket to see the rest. Had a really interesting $1 dinner consisting of some really good vegetables and rice, questionable boiled chicken and decidedly less than tasty tamale, but it was entertaining nonetheless. There was a whole family serving just our table, me and 4 english and australian guys and the grandma kept coming over and touching the boys' hair and telling them they were beautiful. Hilarious.

And then Saturday, one of those guys and I got up early to catch the bus to this famous market in Otavalo, a town about 2 hours away from Quito. They have a large artisan market everyday, but on Saturdays they have 3 or 4 different rings and all the streets in the centre are pretty much filled with vendors. The sheer size of the place was unbelievable, with everykind of jewellery, alpaca product, bag, food, animal etc you can think of. There were even quite a few people selling bags of these large white and brown spotted beetles that I'm a little unsure of what they were for, but was hesitant to ask. Later in the day we saw someone frying some and then eating them. Barf. Unfortunately though, it was at this point that I realized that my bank card wouldn't work in the atm, and neither would any of my credit cards. So I didn't get to buy as much as I would have liked, since I only had about 30 dollars with me.

Got back to Quito that day and then on Sunday we went to the equator monument at Mitad del Mundo (the centre of the world), which is about 45 minutes away from my hostel by bus, outside the city. The place is horribly cheesy and had this whole compound of eerily disney-esque shops and restaurants surrounding it, but we took our pictures regardless. But actually, the huge monument is located at the place where the guy originally placed the line about a hundred years ago, and it's close but not completely accurate. So once you go back outside the compound, you can go a few hundred metres up the road and there's this dirt laneway you follow to a completely different little museum setup at the actual gps of 0'0'0, so then we got a really interesting guided tour there and a second picture in front of the sign.

Went out for some delicious Cantonese for dinner and then watched a really bizarre movie, but all in all a good weekend.

Oh and then this morning, spent a good portion of my emergency cash on a phone call to the Royal Bank only to first be disconnected and then told that according to them my account and card are perfectly fine. Extremely frustrating. But then I just started walking up and down the streets trying my card in every atm until eventually I found one that worked, so hopefully as long as I keep using that same one while I'm here it will be alright. Still, I think I'm going to have to keep a bit more money in my lock box at the hostel than I did in Peru if the atms are going to that unreliable. But for the moment, problem solved so that's good, I don't have to start busking on the street or anything to pay for my food.

Otherwise, Quito is nice, so far I still miss Cusco because of the friends I made there, plus the fact that Quito just gives me the sense of a big city, and not much else. There definitely is poverty, but there is also a lot of skyscrapers and mercedes and mcdonalds on every corner, which isn't really my style. So currently I'm on the computer at the South American Explorers office, and this afternoon I hope to look over their volunteer listings and see if there's anything available for short term opportunties. If there's something promising, I wouldn't mind sticking around until next week because Dec 1-6 is the city's main independence celebration, with bullfights and futbol games and lots of parties. Otherwise, I might leave in the next couple days and head on down to the central highlands and possibly arrange a jungle tour from there or to isla de la plata (poor man's galapagos). There's a bunch of people at my hostel who have just gotten back from the real Galapagos, and I've been tempted to just splurge and do it, it's such a once in a lifetime thing and I'm in Ecuador, possibly for the only time, but I think the cost (at least 1300-1500 total for a reliable tour, the flights and park entry) is just more than I can afford, especially this early in my travels. So unfortunately I don't think that Galapagos is in the cards, sorry Andrew :(

But either way, I have until December 12ish to spend in Ecuador and then I have made plans to meet up with a dutch girl, Irene, who I met through my spanish school in Cusco. We're looking to meet in Mancora, a chill little surf town on the northern coast of Peru and then stay there until Boxing day, learning how to surf, relaxing on the beach etc., which should be really fun. Also at that time there is a big surf competition so the town should be pretty busy with tourists and competitors etc. And then after Christmas, we're looking to head down the west coast of Peru, stop at a few towns and then spend a couple days in Lima, then onto Pisco (the town that was hit hardest by the earthquake this past summer) then the desert, Arequipa, and then Lake titicaca on our way into Bolivia, likely around mid January. I'm thinking that probably around then we will split up, because I have more intention of getting to Rio for Carnaval than she does, and I think she has some other things in mind for what she wants to do. But either way, it might be nice to have someone around to travel with for a while.

Ok, well I think that's it for now, I'm off to delve into these volunteer listings which are massive, but hope you are all well and thanks for reading these obscenely long entries!!

xo sarah