have we mentioned we love this hostel?!

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i know we said we wouldn´t post again until sunday, but we´ll have plenty to talk about then, so we figured we´d go ahead and update a bit more about our time in quito this past day. we haven´t even left the hostel.. we got back close to dark (which is about 6pm at the equator) so we just settled in and went to dinner. last night was ecuadorian night, so they made ecuadorian food (which, i must admit, we´ve had plent of) but it was really nice. but we were shocked when a local band came up, that apparently comes every weds, to play traditional andean music. they were in jeans (as opposed to the full costume garb), so it wasn´t cheesy or anything.. and they were having just as much fun playing as we were watching. It was only a 2 man band, but each were playing two instruments at a time.. each had a guitar and a wooden flute, or set of flutes and played them at the same time! it was incredible, i can´t imagine being able to play two instruments at once, each with very different melodies. on top of that, they were singing when they weren´playing the flute!

obviously we can´t rave about the view from the roof of this place enough.. but it over looks the old part of quito and at night all of the old spanish colonial churches are illuminated and it made a fantastic background to listen to the music while sipping tea (or perhaps beer). quito is known for being a bit dangerous at night plus we´re not huge partiers, so we have little incentive to go out after dark anyways. but this place has all that we would want in a night out on the town anyways- great view, great atmosphere, good food and drinks- so we are so happy to be back at this hostel. its certainly the nicest hostel either of us have stayed in, and much nicer than even a lot of hotels.. but probably one of the cheapest.

through rumors we heard that quito sees all four seasons in one day.. but the two days we spent when we first got here were cloudly and rainy, yesterday was no exception when we flew in. but today we woke up to clear blue skies! so its true that quito does see the sun! in the distance to the south, we can see a snow capped mountain peeking over the mountains directly surrounding quito.. and we think its cotopaxi where we are heading to at 11. so we enjoyed a great breakfast on the roof and snapped a few photos with our trusty disposable camera.. with a really nice camera that had good zoom capabilities, you could spend hours up here taking shots of mountains, spires of colonial churches, everything. it would be incredible to do that. but then of course, you have to risk taking your nice camera into quito. but hopefully these shots will be good enough.

thats it for now though.. adios!

ryan and mindy

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Comments

[momma sue]

a weiner dog and a dalmation......
ryan must be in canine heaven....did you forget that the girls turned 7 on June 30th....it's ok...you can give them your birthday wishes when you get home....and don't forget, Jacques turns 33 today (7/2)....so jealous of your travels...sounds like you have really gotten into the country in a way that you can't unless you stay for 5 weeks...wonder what your re-entry will be like...can't wait to see your pics.....see you early Fri am.......