middle of the earth chapter three

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is this starbucks i see before me? no. it's sweet & coffee. an exact duplicate, south american style, of the north american mega franchise. and they have free wifi, too! well, this is day two of my stay in quito and i have some 'splainin' to do since i have been quite here for a few days.

the airport in quito is brand new. planes only started landing here in february of this year. not a speck of dirt to be seen. very modern, very sleek, very impressive. the one con: it's an hour outside of the city so although the cabs are not expensive (my cab fare was a flat $25 and you're NOT expected to tip either) it is a long ride.

immigration was a breeze but there are swarms of people going through with six pieces of luggage the size of washing machines, and then a baby stroller the size of a zipcar. patience. patience is the best default emotion to resource whenever you travel.

they put my suitcase---i call it "the silver bullet" because it's silver aluminum---through a screener but the guy who is supposedly looking at the screen is off talking to some cute girl and never looks. they wave me through anyway.

ricardo, the man who's allowing me to crash for free on his couch, is more than comfortable with my arrival after ten o'clock at night. immediately he hands me a key and shows me the air mattress where i'll be sleeping.

except that the altitude really hits me and i begin developing a ripping headache and spend a sleepless night feeling like crying and going home. the next morning ricardo locates aspirin, and by ten a.m. i'm back on my feet and ready to go.

quito is nestled in a valley surrounded by volcanic mountains and decorated with low lying clouds always threatening to turn dark and rainy but i didn't feel a drop of rain all day. ricardo showed me the mariscal sucre section of quito which might be compared to times square because it's a pedestrian friendly space circled by restaurants and clothing stores. everyone who's cool and hip looks the same nowadays thanks to global fashionistas. so these quitians look like new yorkers look like parisians and on and on. the internet and cable television wield their influence.

i see one rainbow flag, tattered and dirty, flying from a second story window nearby. the rainbow connection. but when i step inside i find they aren't aren't open at this time. i promise myself that i'll come back tomorrow.

the city is full of taxi cabs and people on foot so i feel right at home. when my feet are tired i slip into an enormous, old, weathered catholic church sitting regally in the middle of the block. it's almost completely empty. there's a middle aged woman wiping a tear from her eye as she kneels and there is another couple---maybe man and wife---kneeling before another sculpture of christ on the cross.

as i leave, i am once again struck by the jarring impression of how sad and frightening he looks, blood trickling down, and how sexy he looks, almost naked and vulnerable.

i need to sign off and explore some more of this city!

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Photos

jarring emotions
sad---frightening---sexy