Baños: Bigger and Better

I returned to Baños this weekend for a second go. The first trip was good, but there was much more to do. I traveled with my new roommate, Anna, from Germany. There we met up with Krishma and the sisters I traveled with the previous weekend. To start off the weekend right, I decided to get robbed a second time. It happened on the trolley, even though I knew it might happen and was being extra vigilant to ensure it wouldn´t. The woman cut open my bag and stole my camera and scarf. To my knowledge, that is all she took. I had my money close to me, so she couldn´t get to it. Luckily, the camera was the cheap one I bought second-hand, knowing that it would probably get stolen at one point during my trip. I experienced the same feelings as last time - feeling taken advantage of, feeling chosen because I was white - I have truly felt racism. There were plenty of Ecuadorians with more valuable things than I, but because I have blonde hair, they feel it is okay to steal from me. I talked with my Ecuadorian friend, and he said that it is true, they really feel no remorse stealing from white people because they feel it is not fair the things we have, and think we all have millions of dollars. The woman who stole from me had a gold watch and gold bracelet and was very nicely dressed. I felt something touch my bag, but because I was holding on with one hand, I had only one hand free to hold my bag. She cut it open on the opposite side. If you are ever in Quito, don´t take the trolley. :) ..back to the weekend.. So we arrived in Baños around dinner time. We checked into a hostel, signed up for white-water rafting and went to dinner. That night was spent eating goodies and watching American TV. In the morning, we ate a hearty and delicious breakfast and headed off to rafting. After a quick and completely inadaquate lesson, we were in the water. I wouldn´t have been so nervous, except the entire lesson was about falling out and drowning and the boat flipping.... and then the guide put me in front! Yikes! The weakest girl who apparently can´t think quick enough to figure out that ¨right side paddle backwards¨ means ¨left side paddle frontwards¨... it was a little bit embarrassing but alot of bit amazing! We went on rapids level 3 out of 6 if I remember correctly.. which were scary enough for my first time out without feeling like we were going to die the entire time. I concentrated on keeping in stroke with the guy in front on the other side and on trying not to drown every time a wave came over the boat! We were on the river for about an hour and a half and it was so much fun, as well as a good workout. Lunch was included... oh no! but actually turned out to be similar to orphanage food, which means edible, but nowhere near exciting. We had a few hours to shower and relax before we headed out for a wonderful dinner and a ¨volcano tour¨. Nothing here with the name volcano has anything to do with it. What we did do was ride a bus to the top of the mountain, look at the view of the city lights at night, which was very pretty, and then watch flame throwers/jugglers. That was worth the three dollars in itself, because they were very good at what they did and were very entertaining. I did feel a guy try to rob me, but luckily I had nothing in the back pocket where he felt. He left as soon as he knew I had nothing. Dang that blonde hair for making me an instant target! The tour guide told us the volcano was back behind some building we could see in the distance, but it was hidden behind clouds.... hmmm... The next morning we got up early to go to the thermal baths... yummy and warm.. and then had another delicious breakfast. More shower time ensued (we have no water pressure at my host house, so you have to take advantage when you go to a hostel). The other girls left, so Anna and I were on our own. We walked out to the zoo, which was awesome! I was able to see a jaguar... he was so cute I wanted to take him home with me! He was taking a nap on his back, with all four paws up in the air, occasionally batting away a fly from his face. He had black spots, even on his belly, and he looked exactly like a ginormous kitty cat. We also saw quite a few monkeys, including a baby spider monkey that was adorable. He attempted to swing and climb, but he was just so little he kept on having to call to his mommy for help. There was also a giant pig/anteater that was the size of a small cow who had free reign of the zoo... just walking around wherever he felt like. We caught a cab back past the other side of the town to the bridge where we.... bungee jumped!!! Ahhhh!!!!! It was so scary, even though it wasn´t that high, and we did it together and it was a swing bungee (which is good because it doesn´t rip your body in half like the real one). It was only ten bucks, and we were harnessed up by a six year old!!!!!!! I am not even kidding. A six year old put on and adjusted the harnesses that would keep us alive - it was unreal. We had to climb over the railing to a ledge, and then the man said one, two, three, go! I was not ready, and said no, but down we went!!! I seriously can´t even remember the first swing because I was so scared and surprised we were already going. My stomach was leaping even in the tenth or eleventh swing... it was crazy fun!!! We held onto each other like there was no tomorrow, for sure, and let me tell you, my crotch will never be the same after the way that rope ripped into me.. but it held, and that is the main thing. We headed back into town, exhilirated, for lunch and then the bus ride back. I now have three more days left at the orphanage and I am going to miss my kids like nothing else. Everytime I think about leaving them, I start to cry. I wish I could bring some of them home with me... Thank you Merry, Gracie and Matt, and Robin for the packages - they all arrived safely and I will finish handing them out tomorrow and the next day. (And remind me to tell you how Ecuadorian post offices work sometime...) So far, the kids have absolutely loved their gifts, especially the boys, surprisingly! Some of the older boys, who I thought would be bored, have turned out to be spectacular artists. The kids have surpised me in every way imaginable. I have loved my time there and my time in Ecuador. Although I am ready to come home, I am glad to have had every experience, even the hard ones, as they have helped to shape me, and increase my trust in the Lord. Thank you for sharing my memories with me and I am dying to see you all! Bye from Ecuador...

Whale Weekend

Last weekend, I finally made the plunge and went solo on the night bus. I have been asking for weeks in hopes of finding someone to accompany me to Puerto Lopez without luck. I only had one weekend left before my friend who was there would leave, so after a desperate last-ditch search, I decided to ride the night bus by myself. I was extremely nervous, but my friends told me they had done the same, and felt it was safe. I taxied to the bus station around 10:30 pm. It was extremely cold as I waited outside, trying to decipher which bus was mine. I asked a friendly looking gentleman near me, and he told me that my bus hadn´t arrived yet. Fifteen minutes later, he told me something on the way to get to his bus. I understood him to say that my bus would be in the same spot as his after it left. Not five minutes later, he came back to retrieve me, saying that I was supposed to get on that bus. I was so tired, cold and confused, but so entirely grateful that he would come and find me. I think because that bus wasn´t full, they were taking people with a ticket for the next bus as well. I think... My faithful friends told me that it was comfy, dark and easy to sleep in the night buses... which was my exact experience except for the crying babies, the phone conversations that ensued throughout the entire night and the fact that they turned on all the lights and walked up and down the aisles yelling which city we were at about every hour. So about that sleep... ;) I arrived in the city of Guayaquil around 7:00 am and slept with one eye closed on a bench while I waited for my friends. Their bus arrived a couple of hours later, and we started the day. We headed off to the banks of the river, where, in place of the touristy things we were looking for, was a giant reading fair! We had to fill out a piece of paper with our name, occupation and the number of books we had read in the last year. There were hundreds of booths with book sales, activities for kids... and thank goodness, past it all, was what we came there for. It was basically a boardwalk with assorted things. Statues, a pirate ship that was apparently a training school... there were hundreds of men training on the ropes, ladders and masts - it was pretty crazy to watch! We also were able to go to the zoo where we saw a giant tortoise, fish and plenty of birds, along with quite a few butterflies. We ate lunch at a local restaurant and then headed to the local artisan´s market to shop. Our last stop was the 444 steps to the top of the hill to take in the view. Yes, four hundred and forty four steps, thank you very much. They hurt! The views were gorgeous, though, so it was worth the pain. When we went to the bus station to buy a ticket to Puerto Lopez, they told us that they had no more straight shot tickets, but that we could buy one to Hippy Happa, three hours away, and they would tell the bus there to wait for us. Which of course, meant we ended up in Hippy Happa with no bus waiting for us, still one hour away from Puerto Lopez. Freakishly, though, a man showed up saying, you need to go to Puerto Lopez, right? I can taxi you there for twenty dollars. We had few options left, so we decided to suck it up and pay the man. His taxi was not a yellow one we found out - a no-no here, but we started out. After a few minutes, I asked the girls if we were going the right way. They had been this way plenty of times, but none of them knew if we were going the right direction. It was dark, and as we continued on, things got even stranger. The cab driver kept calling people, but not talking, only hanging up when they picked up. Then we detoured through a small town and honked in front of a building and then kept going. By that time, I was sure we were goners, and was praying fervently that he and his friends would only rob us. After eternity came and went, we pulled into Puerto Lopez, safe and sound. I don´t know why he did those strange things, but I was just glad to get out of the car. I slept on my friend Krishma´s floor and boy, did it feel good compared to the bus! In the morning, we headed off to go whale watching. How it never crossed my mind that I would get motion sickness and should take my medicine.. well, I had many sick hours to ponder that question. Although every time we got close to the whales, I totally forgot all notions of feeling bad, because they were so amazing! They were so huge and so loud! We were, at multiple times, within twenty feet of them as they swam along our boat... it was breath taking. I felt like I was four as I involuntarily ooohhhed and ahhhhed every time we were near. It was so much different than seeing them on TV, although it was so similar to it. The videos on TV are not inaccurate in what they portray, but when you are that close, their enormity and grace is breathtaking. At one time, we were following a pod of about seven or eight of them, steering alongside them as they heading out farther into the ocean. One even jumped out of the water, and many of them took turns slapping the surface with their fins. If you ever have the chance, you should go whale watching yourself! We also enjoyed our extravagant lunch of a muffin and a plastic cup of coke (never trust an Ecuadorian when they say, ¨lunch provided¨. At the end of the boat ride, we scooted past an isle with hundreds, possibly thousands of blue-footed boobies. They were just hanging out on the sides of the cliffs, not doing too much, though it was a pretty chilly day, so I don´t blame them. We headed back to town, where we were off to horseback riding. There were four of us, with none or limited experience, so we were relieved to find out we had two guides. My horse was an OCD eater. He ate, even as he knew the guide would whip him to go (don´t worry, not a real whip, just the reins)... he would turn his head and rip off whatever bit of green he could get as we walked. It was quite hilarious, actually. I couldn´t stop laughing because he was so persistant, even though we walked for three hours and he ate the entire time, including a lunch break, where he ate for twenty minutes straight. They weren´t starved, though, because the other horses only ate occasionally, and when convenient. He was just funny. Our ride was up and down the mountains, through the rainforest. We were able to see many kinds of plants and trees, and, my favorite, monkeys! I don´t know which kind exactly, but two different kinds: one small, agile and brown, and one big, black and sedated. They were exciting to see! I headed back on another night bus... this one even worse than the one before. We left twenty minutes late.. and went two blocks and stopped. We were at the police station, and they made everyone get out and searched our baggage for another hour. Then we were on the road again, only to stop about ten minutes out. We stopped on some deserted road, they cut the engine, and then locked the door to the front. Within minutes, it was sweltering in the bus because most of the windows didn´t open and it was a warm night. Several people made their way to the front and pounded on the door. The bus driver and the assistant didn´t open the door, and didn´t even say why we had stopped. Everyone looked worried, and seeing as there are occasionally bus hijackings, I was desperately praying in my seat. Finally, we figured out that the bus had broke and they were attempting to fix it. After another hour, they fixed it and we finally made our way home. It was a long night... but I was glad to make it home in one piece with all of my things. Overall, it was a crazy fun weekend, filled with terror and awe!

Pictures from this Weekend

I don´t know if this will work, but here is a link to pictures I posted on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=95003&id=503057004&l=fb3aec44bd
This is where I traveled to this weekend. I was able to go to both Guayaquil and Puerto Lopez, and had a really good time. I am pretty tired, so if you don´t mind, I think I´ll update when I get back from this weekend´s trip. I am getting to go back to Baños this weekend, yay! so pray for my bungee jump... Also, Gracie and Merry, both of your packages got here safely, and I am going to break up the goodies over the next couple of days I go to the orphanage. They are going to love all the stuff!!!!!!!! Thanks so much, and I´ll tell them it is from you!

Joined the ¨Robbed¨Club Today

So I was robbed today. By two guys with a knife. Funny (or not) thing was, I had just avoided another attack. (Well, I think.) It happened in exactly the place I knew it would if ever I were to be robbed. There is a stretch of sidewalk that is raised up above the road that has a railing on one side and a wall on the other. Needless to say, there are no shops and no people to help you unless they are on the sidewalk with you. As I approached that stretch today (at 3:00ish in the afternoon, mind you), I saw two shady looking guys coming towards me, but obviously stalling as they continued to look over their shoulder. I stopped at a bus stop and waiting for them to pass. It took awhile since they were walking so slow, but when they did, one ¨grazed past me¨on purpose, taking a grab at my butt. There was nothing to do about it, so I waiting a little while longer, and continued on. Now this is where I should have made another preemptive move. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that there was a guy running along the road below me. For some reason, I didn´t put two and two together, and soon enough, he climbed up the embankment and was right in front of my. He immediately told me to give me my money, waving a knife in my face and thrusting it at my chest. I told him I didn´t have any, pushing him away, but by this time there was a second guy coming up from behind. I said, okay, okay, and tried to take my money out of my wallet, but he grabbed the wallet and they ran off. Right after I saw a couple walking my way, but it was too late. They took less than $10 because I know not to carry much, and if I do, I put it in two different places, for such occasions as this. I was more angry that he took my wallet from Otavalo, which is why I was trying to take the money out. But they were in a hurry because they only had those few seconds before people would see them. So long story short, I was robbed of less than $10, I wasn´t hurt, barely touched in fact, and I had a double scoop ice cream to calm me down. (Which hasn´t worked so far.) The bigger deal is the feeling of fear that I now have. I really don´t want to walk that stretch again, but I also don´t want to give in to petty thiefs. Plus, I like walking and I don´t want to have to pay for a cab. I will definately have to take a cab tomorrow because I am still nervous, and we´ll see after that. Please pray for my trust to be in the Lord and that He would fill me with His strength.

Otavalo: Version 2

Back on Wednesday of last week, I believe, Ellie and I went to the Mitad del Mundo for a ¨volcano hike¨. Let me tell you, that was the most interesting volcano hike I have ever done. We rode in a van with a family from Guatemala for about 20 minutes until we arrived at some interesting looking site with statues on it. We looked around and then they directed us inside a very dark cave museum. It had all sorts of creepy artifacts, the guide obviously spoke Spanish, so we didn´t know what was going on. We got up to the second level, where there were paintings, which made things a bit more interesting.. then we we told the artist was waiting for us. Apparently, the famous Ecuadorian artist who had painted the pieces we were looking at had a studio right there in the museum. And he also happened to be there, waiting for us to come in. The family was very excited, as it became exceedingly apparent that they were here for this moment. They went on and on about how great he was and how much their country loved him. Then the painter, who we now saw was a finger painter, painted right before our eyes a picture of the volcano Cotapaxi with wildflowers in the foreground, birds and a river flowing through the center. It took all of 5 minutes. Oh, and it looked perfect, as if it had taken hours. Crazy! Then, he gave it to the family to take back to Guatemala! What luck. I would have taken a small one... oh well, I guess we didn´t even know who the heck he was. And that essentially ended our volcano hike. Next time we will have to ask more questions about what we are actually doing... I think our favorite part was our van driver/tour guide who said only, ¨Siga, por favor¨which means something like continue, please. The entire time. All he said. Must have said it 30 times! By the end, we couldn´t stop bursting out in laughter every time he said it. I never want to hear anyone say that again!

So luck of all lucks I had another shot at Otavalo this weekend. If you search back in your Ecuadorian memories, you will remember Otavalo was my first and most terrible trip ever. So, being completely unable to convince anyone to go to the beach with me.. and then being able to talk my new roomie into the idea but then finding out there was no bus tickets left, we headed off to Otavalo. Wanting to be completely prepared for the motion sickness, I took 2 of the Ecuadorian equivilent of Dramamine. BAD IDEA. Apparently throughout the whole bus ride, my roomie thought I was going to awake any moment from my drugged state and throw up on her. Which I didn´t, thankfully. I really didn´t get sick, but even before we left the house to go to the bus station, I was drugged beyond belief. I could barely stand up, couldn´t think hard enough to put together complete sentences, and basically wanted to die. The good news is it did wear off by the time we got to Otavalo. We arrived after dark, so it was a pretty quiet night. We found a hostel, chunked our backpacks, and headed off in search of dinner. Turned out we found a really great little spot because the food was excellent. I had banana and chocolate crepes with a banana shake. Don´t judge. It was rediculously bad for me, but oh SO delicious! Especially the shake, made fresh in-house. Because the town wasn´t so crowded, and cold beyond belief (I had on jeans, tennis shoes, three shirts and a jacket and was freezing), we opted to go back to the hostel. Luckily, we had a fairly nice hostel with a TV, so we watched corny movies (in English!). The next morning we went to go meet the rest of our friends who were arriving for the market. They never came, so we moseyed (actual word - looked it up on dictionary.com) on over to the market. It was just as overwhelming as I had remembered, only this time I knew where things were, had an idea of what kinds of things were there, and what kind of prices to expect. And I was dead set on not losing my escort. We had an excellent time haggling away and buying some beautiful things. Lunch was another perfect meal of pasta, toast and a pisco sour. The restaurant had large doors opened up on either end, so the breeze floated through, and we even had a live entertainer come in at one point. More shopping ensued, along with a tour though the food market - crazy - no health inspectors should ever see it - and a walk around the town. We decided to head back, and this time I took only one pill. Much better, let me tell you. Sunday was just another quiet day in Quito, going to the park, getting some internet and phone time in, and a nice dinner and drink in the Mariscal area. Not a bad weekend for sure. Now if can just find someone to go with me to the coast next weekend. (My new roommie will already be gone!)

Also, to give you a heads up, I am getting a tad bit homesick for the first time, so I am itching to see all of you as soon as possible. Barring the idea that you can come see me here, this is my itinerary for when I get home:
August 1 - fly into Houston around noon
August 2 - attend Grace in College Station, go home to Round Rock with parents
August 2 - 7ish - time in Round Rock
weekends of 8 and 15 - Dallas with my besty!
10th on - College Station
weekend of 22 - might have to come back to Round Rock because I don´t know how the heck my stuff is making it to College Station

Let me know when you are free so I can see you!! Love you all!

Also note: I took down all the pictures of the kids because there was a man at work today who works for the organization that sponsors the orphanage. He said it is illegal to publicly post pictures of the kids because they try to protect them from anyone who is not allowed to know where they are. His wife had a professional camera, and was taking pictures of the kids and of me, so I am hoping I can get the pictures from her. He said it is fine to show them to everyone when I get back, but not to post them up on the Web. So, sorry, I know you all want to see them!

The Orphanage

I know I usually post about the weekends because they are different than the day-to-day, but here is some more information about the work in the orphanage.

The orphans interact somewhat differently than other children. One girl chews on everything, including crayons, dirt or trash. Many of them are overly violent. They reach their hands under the gate into the sewer and eat things they can find, including remnants of fruit. This is in spite of the fact that they are well fed; if anything, overfed. They also eat some of the plants in the yard and tell me it is ¨gum¨. They moms constantly yell at the kids to ¨eat faster!¨, though they are served more food than a person should eat, even a growing child. One mom, because the two year old boy wasn´t eating fast enough, took his bowl and shoved his mouth full to the brim of rice. I was terrified he was going to choke. Today, the same mom, angry that the one year old was crying in the shower, left her, shivering in extreme cold, covered in suds and bawling for over 20 minutes to teach her to stop crying. A couple of days ago, I faced quite a predicament when I went out with about 5 kids to the blacktop. It was early in the morning, so we were the only ones outside, and the kids started to build something. Soon I figured out it was a fire, a nice one at that, but thinking they wouldn´t have anything to light it with, didn´t stop them. Soon thereafter, one of the eight year old boys pulled out a match. My heart dropped. If I went to get help, they would be left alone, if I tried to grab the matches, they would only be more inclined to light it. I was able to get one match away from him, and stop them enough times that they gave up and went back to the front yard. I ran inside with the match, and showed it to the mom, telling her they were trying to make a fire. She looked slightly mad, but told me simply to ask them where they got them from. Ha. The kids who, when I stopped them from making the fire, started to pelt me with rocks and sticks, will for some reason tell me where they got something they weren´t supposed to have? Logical... (I didn´t bother asking). I´ve had quite a few incidents where, after enforcing rules, I end up being tormented in some way or other... the other day after pulling the bigger kids off the smaller ones, one of the older girls (who up to that point was my ¨big baby¨ who sat in my lap) pelted me in the back with a ball several times before I ended up going inside to tell her mom. The next day when I saw her she said nothing and we were fine again. It makes for long days when these kinds of things happen multiple times in a day. The last volunteer has her final day on Friday, and then I will be the lone volunteer once again. I want to ask if I can leave earlier than 4:00 to get in some more rest, but I feel like a quitter. I´m going to wait and see how next week goes...

On a more positive note, there are lots of good memories, too. Most of the kids know my name now, which is exciting, because they never learned the other girls´ names. They also have the tendancy to yell it in the morning when I come in, which helps to brighten my mood after an hour and half bus ride. There are four year old twin boys, who, before I even arrived, I was warned about because of their tendency to misbehave, but now they are especially attached to me and love it when I play soccer with them. They also tend to listen to me better then the other kids, and even yell for me because they know I will settle the matter fairly if there is a dispute. (And there is always a dispute!) Their names are Ricardo and Rinato, and sadly I still have to wait until someone says their name because I can´t tell them apart. (Darn that twin idea!) I am surpised, but even the older boys.. maybe nine or ten, love to play with me, one in particular tries endlessly to be stronger than me and knock me down, but thank goodness I am still stronger than him. Another loves to have tickle fights. At first, I was a little taken aback, but I´ve come to see they are not being inappropriate, they are simply starved for physical affection. With nine kids per mom, the younger ones are usually the only kids to get attention, the older ones are simply expected to help out and be useful. We made dirt soup today, and I was the chief taster, telling them what ingredients they need to add. I added some more photos courtesy of Gillian because I still can´t figure my camera out. So for those techies out there: I bought an older camera online so I wouldn´t be sad if I lost it. The batteries died soonafter, and since then I have tried two different kinds of batteries and neither work. (Energizer being one of them.) The brand that did work is random and I haven´t seen them here. So far my plan is: steal pictures. Ideas?

Quito Weekend

Last week, after bumping into a friend from Baños, the friend (Sara) and I decided to stay in Quito for the weekend and see some of the sights here. It would make for a very relaxing weekend to say the least.

On Friday night, some of the girls wanted to go out. I decided to see what it was like, just for one night. I was nervous to say the least, seeing as I have been clubbing never and been to a bar maybe once. We met up in a part of town called Mariscal, popular for its nightlife. There ended up being 6 girls and one boy, ages 20 to 24. We let the two party girls pick the place and to my relief we were soon sitting in the booth of a classy restaurant/bar. It was similar to a Chili´s or TGIFridays in the US. A couple of hours passed as we got to know each other and swapped Ecuadorian stories. The girls had picked the place because it had 79 cent beers, and as I don´t care for beer, was the only to order something else. My strawberry margarita was a tad bit more expensive, but tasty. I thought I was doing pretty well for my first night out when they asked where we were going next. Next, I thought? To bed... So needless to say, minutes later there we were at a real club where the boys pay cover and the music is as loud as the noisy traffic outside. We went upstairs to a lounge area where we had the place to ourselves. Everyone ordered more drinks.. except for me, already woosie enough from my margarita. It took five seconds to realize all the pictures on the wall were provocative and every other thing playing on the tv screens were videos of naked girls. Yikes! No one else mentioned it, the party girls love this place, so I concentrated on diverting my attention to the converstation. We shared more stories, analyzed our host family situations and tried to ready the two new people who had just arrived the day before. Everything was going pretty well again, until they said let´s go downstairs and dance! Oh boy, that got the heart a-pumping... I have never danced in a club before, and you probably know of my dancing skills in general... but it wasn´t as terrible as I thought. We danced with our little group and scared off any boys who tried to join us. I´m pretty sure my dancing was as awkward as I felt, but overall it wasn´t terrible. The music was all American, so for the most part I had heard the songs before. I´m glad I had the courage to see if it was as I had imagined. It is now a battle of conscience to decide whether it is right/good for me to go clubbing again, or go to that particular club if the girls want me to go back. I don´t find booty dancing a good choice, and I certainly wouldn´t want to have some strange guy come and dance like that with me... so although it might be hard to go against the common practice of all of the other people here... it seems like it would be the better moral choice to stay away.

On Saturday, I had the chance to sleep in past 6:00, which was luxurious, and time to shower and look presentable, also a luxury. Sara and I met up for lunch around noon. We went to a wonderful place called Magic Bean. Both of our meals were delicious! I had beef lasagne with a side salad and seasoned carrots. Everything was so good and well worth paying a little more for. Then we taxied into Old Town. Immediately, we both were in love with the old architecture, the flowers upon every balcony and simply put, a cleaner and nicer part of town. We explored churches, museums, one building we thought might be part of a college and many side streets and plazas. There were gorgeous pink flowering trees, pigeons fluttering about in the open plaza areas, and the tail-end of a wedding where a mariachi band, complete with huge red hats, serenaded the new bride and groom. We even got to ride in a horse-drawn carriage around the city! As it got a bit later, we headed up the hill to the Virgen statue (the 1st picture). It stands on the top of the tallest hill in Old Town, complete with observation decks to see a 360 degree view of the city. It is amazing how big this city is! Estimates put it at more than 2 million... who knows for sure, as construction continues up the mountainsides. We headed back down into Old Town for dinner, which ended up being some sort of ¨crepes¨(tortillas with meat on top) in a restaurant with ¨mood lighting¨(really dark). It wasn´t terrible, just amusing. We also had the pleasure of watching Tom Cruise in Top Gun. Too bad my Spanish isn´t better... there were no English subtitles. To finish off our day, we taxied over to the cinema where we saw The Women (In English! They had Spanish subtitles). I was surprised to actually enjoy the movie. I´m not one for a chick flick, but this one gave you something to chew on - how you would choose between a job and a friend, whether you would fight for your marriage if you were cheated on, what good parenting looks like... Although the core message was wrong (only look after yourself), there was more substance than I had expected.

Sunday was another day of bliss. We had another late start and lunch out. Then, the highlight of our day, the Botanical Gardens. We stayed forever because it was so beautiful, quiet and everything else Quito isn´t. There was a pond full of giant orange (koi?) fish, with a patio area for sitting and a fountain for background noise. Butterflies, bees and birds were everywhere, especially flocking to the giant pink and red roses. I´ll get you the pictures as soon as Sara puts them up. Next we walked the giant Carolina park. There were so many people... thousands.. and everyone was having so much fun. There were pony rides, a small carnival, soccer, basketball, frisbee, kites, dogs, bikes, a skate park, vendors with fresh pineapple, mango, bananas, lunch, snacks, fresh juices, candies, handmade gifts and jewelry, and so much more... it seemed like the whole city had come to my park! I showed Sara my mall, and we drank a coffee and window-shopped. Literally window-shopped because the stores there are so expensive!! Next was the teleferico. The telefericos are small enclosed buckets that take you up to the top of the mountain (I put up a picture). The ride was slow, thank goodness, and not too scary, though it was extremely high up. At the top, the air is thin and cold, so I had trouble breathing after even little spurts of walking. We explored a tiny but beautiful mountain church and attempted to take pictures in between patches of clouds passing through. It was so cold!!! At the bottom of the teleferico there was a small carnival, and I just couldn´t pass up the opportunity to ride the swings... all by myself! The locals all stared, but it was fun! And that ended our wondeful weekend here in Quito.