Hola from Quito!

Hola Amigos!

So I decided to write this travel blog--or at least start writing it. We'll see how far it goes, and we'll see if anybody is interested in reading it. But for now, I am writing in my friend Allison's apartment in eastern Quito in an area called Guapalo. I think it is the beginning of the suburbs of eastern Quito. Not far away from down town though--maybe a 45 minute walk, and a 5-10 minute taxi drive (probably closer to five the way people drive here). Allison's apartment is on a big hill, and from her windows looking over the corrugated rooftop of the neighbors to the bottom is a massive valley. The shape of it reminds me a little of the back bowls at Vail. Farther east is the Amazon and the Andes. Right now it's pretty fogged up so the mountains aren't visible. The rain forest isn't either--because of the Andes. The sun rises on the east side of the house--where all the windows are, the valley, corrugated roofed neighbors, etc--so mornings are pretty spectacular, and even being dead tired from the trip I couldn't sleep past 9.

This morning and afternoon I spent walking around Quito. It's a big, bustling city--I would say that it's like New York City but people don't walk with that kind of conviction. Drivers however do. Crossing streets in Quito is similar to frogger--in many US cities cars yield to pedestrians; in Quito pedestrians risk their lives if they don't yield to cars. Really though; it's fine, just have to pay attention when you're crossing the streets. Lots of people drive motorcycles and sometimes they have their own lane, which looks very much like a pedestrian path...just have to watch out. Anyway, I cruised around Old Quito, which like it sounds is the old part of Quito. It's full of old colonial looking buildings, many of them churches. At one point I stopped for a sit in Plaza Central--apparently it's the site of a bunch of political upheavels (I guess one president was hacked to death with machetes and then they took him into the colonial church across the way). Lunches in Quito are really great--it's a couple of courses, usually a soup and a main dish with some tostados--which are fried and smushed plantains. Definitely try those out. Plus they throw in a super good fruit smoothie. I assume I can eat all this stuff without getting sick. I guess we'll find out. I will put some pictures up tomorrow. I hope this made some sense--I hate proofreading.

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