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Published: October 3rd 2005
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Have been in Quito for 6 days already. Studying at a Spanish school has filled 4 hours a day so not a lot going on except some city hiking and socialising. Quito is a little dangerous, especially at night, and i was extra careful of pickpockets and getting home early in the evening. Gunshots can be heard every few days or more often. And certain streets seem really sketchy where i couldn't help but walk quickly and be especially alert for any trouble.
The hostal i've been staying at (Centro del Mundo) is known to be a good (loud for those who are light sleepers, not me though) place to meet other travellers and is a bit of a party place with it's rum and coke nights 3 times a week. Though on Friday night it was a holiday for Independence Day and i had drinks and went out later that evening. When the club was closing i was very drunk and didn't have anybody with me, rather unsafe at 3am, and staggered home 2 blocks away. Being very stupid at the time, i stopped on the corner and talked with the local drug dealers (not for drugs mind you,
just a friendly chitchat) and after talking with them in broken spanglish for about 10 minutes that was the last thing i remembered until waking up on the couch in the hostal's common room still feeling woozy and unsure how i got there. Upon checking my pockets i found my wallet missing which had contained $50-80, my credit card and my "lucky" round Australian 50c piece. Also i had a nasty graze on my left hand and some smaller grazes on my knee and head. I spent the next hour stopping my credit card and freaking out in a slightly drunken fashion. I guess i was attacked and robbed, but given my level of enibriation i could've just lost my wallet and fallen over! I'll probably never know for certain. Thankfully i'm fine, there wasn't a huge amount of loss, can live without the card and get a new one in Peru, and the lucky coin didn't seem to work anyway. And i also got my first good lessons in this somewhat dangerous continent: try not to go out alone, only take just enough cash, don't take out plastic cards, don't hang out on the street talking with dangerous strangers
Centro Del Mundo Party Night
This is one of the drunken louts (sorry Danielle :o) drinking some of the rum and coke provided by the hostal. late at night and most importantly don't get so drunk!
After all that i spent the whole Saturday in bed nursing my wounds and hangover and feeling very embarassed with a need to improve my levels of caution. Finally got out of bed Sunday and went into the city exploring again.
I met a Canadia named Matt
Global Vagabond and after i finished my Spanish study we booked a Galapagos boat tour which would begin on Sunday 21st for 5 days plus we would spend an extra 3 days going camping on one of the islands, Isla Isabela, near the second largest volcano caldera in the world at 10kms across. I was pretty excited by what we had lined up though it would be an expensive beginning to my travels here.
On Monday a few of the guys in the hostal organized a BBQ night and there were many people staying in the hostal this day so there was much craziness and fun. Afterwards we went out clubbing and overwhelmed the locals with our numbers. A new friend and i went to Quito's best museum for the next afternoon to see some of the histories, ceramics, tools, treasures and art of Ecuador's past. Sadly as happens a lot while travelling, my new friend who was great to have conversations with and hang out for many different activities was leaving for New York later that night.
Also yesterday, i finished my first 5 days of Spanish lessons, basic verb conjugation and sentence structures. I need more study but after some practical usage first, probably another 5 days in northern Peru somewhere. My young female Ecuadorian teacher would quite often seem frustrated with me after the first 2 days, not knowing why and not getting an honest answer from her i didn't understand from where this was coming since i seemed to be learning at a decent pace. Somebody said that maybe she expected me to ask her out and that was why she was frustrated/upset with me. I'm not so sure, i think teaching in itself can be quite frustrating (and rewarding too) anyway. But if i have to ask out pretty young teachers to enjoy my Spanish classes then i guess that's what i'll have to do. :o)
The next time i post should be during/after my Galapagos tour.
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hugh m
non-member comment
hey what's news?
Heya buddy, we're choking over here in the fumes of the corporate rat race, we need a breath of fresh travel air!