Day in Quito


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South America » Ecuador » North » Quito
September 23rd 2009
Published: September 24th 2009
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Quito

Hos tel: Posada del Maple

This morning Zack and I went to visit the Old Town. After being ripped off by a taxi driver (terrible, but a lesson learned) we walked around and ate lunch at a small shop. We mostly people watched! We were amused by all the 5-8 year old little boys running around trying to polish everyone´s shoes! Zack was asked twice if he wanted his shoes polished, but he was wearing sneakers, ha ha. Anyway, the architecture and buildings in that area are beautiful. The views walking around are fascinating because you will look up a crowded street and see a huge mountain! We hadn´t adjusted to the altitude quite yet, so we were a little slow and tired. I think we´re adjusted now though, but we´ll take some more time to see Quito when we come back in three weeks.

We later went to the orientation meeting for our volunteer work. We are leaving tomorrow for the reserve, La Hesperia. It involves a 2-3 hour bus ride and a 45 min hike! My pack is so heavy I don´t know if I´ll make it!

This afternoon we went out to buy the rest of what we need for our trip...rubber work boots and mosquito nets for our beds. Then we went out to eat at a restaurant that serves traditional Ecuadorian food. We both ordered meat with llapingachos, an Ecuadorian staple made of a potato pancake thing with cheese inside. The food was delicious!

Humorous moment from today: a guy walking around the street selling brooms & mops!

This is zack typing now. this keyboard is in spanish, so you can use letters like Ñ and Ç. these are even more exciting when you don´t know what they mean¿!¡ This man selling brooms and mops should meet the guy from the Virgin Islands with the toilet plunger. He had me sold, but i wasn´t quick enough to catch him. good thing, it would be tricky to carry a six foot brush around.

in other news, the city is a wild place, a million things all happening at once with great haste. many of them are similar to selling brooms. like carrying around a giant coat rack or a sink, or shoveling bricks into a big bucket on a poorly seccured pulley. the traffic is merceless, turn signals are replaced by the use of the horn, motor cycles find no shame in using the center line, the sidewalk or the opposite lane (stop lights are also optional if your vehicle has two wheels, or is on two wheels), and policemen blow whistles at intermitent intervals to encourage everyone to drive faster in a traffic jam. one police man, policia, was tooting his whistle in Plaza Grande, a center city square, at absolutely nothing. Emily´s spanish has proved itself. She has been my beautiful translator.

We are heading out to the reserve tomorrow, so we´ll see about internet and updates then. we have been told it exists, but as our pilot on our 9.5 hour flight from philli to atlanta puts it, the internet service may be like ¨trying to push a wet noodle uphill.´

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24th September 2009

Hello
Don't be in a hurry on that 45 minute hike..take your time while you are adjusting to that thin air, or make two trips with half a load...or sell some stuff to that broom picador...Thanks for your blog. Beware of all those bums trying to take advantage of you..keep small amounts of cash in one pocket and hide the larger amounts in another..never show the large amounts. Good luck on the bus ride and hike.
25th September 2009

La Hesperia
I hope your journey to La Hesperia went well. I'm looking forward to a description of the bus ride!
25th September 2009

I'm sorry I missed you guys in B-town recently! I look forward to creepily stalking your adventures and living vicariously through you!! Have a blast!!

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