Back in Quito

After sleeping almost the whole flight home from the islands and so happy that I was feeling better we arrived back at the Quito airport. We arranged to "couch surf" the next 2 nights in Quito. For those who aren't familiar with this, it is an online social networking site, similar to facebook... (which I still do not have, but am really tempted to start after meeting so many amazing people from all over the world on this trip) where you can get to know travelers all over the world and stay at their homes when in their country. It's free for us and it's a great cultural exchange for the person lending their "couch." We chose to stay with a guy named Vinny here in Quito, who had great reviews and has done a ton of traveling. He actually is from Nigeria but has lived here for quite awhile, along with other countries in SA. We called him once arriving at the airport and took a cab to his place. We were greeted by him and a large group of his friends. Right away they were very welcoming! We made ourselves at home and later went out down town to get some hot drinks. Later that night the guys made us some typical soup, and taught us some dance moves before watching Borat and going to sleep.

Monday June 28th
This was probably my first good nights sleep that I have had on my trip thus far! Despite the fact that I had horrifying nightmares, which I am blaming on my Malaria pills, I slept great! We woke up in the morning to Nigerian and Ecuadorian music blaring through the house, had some breakfast and started our day sightseeing in Quito. Vinny and his friend were so kind to accompany us everywhere we wanted to go. We first went up the teleferico, which was nothing like the one we rode in Bogota, totally different type of cable car and a much different view once at the top. It was freezing, but beautiful! The city looked like it went on forever! We spent some time taking in the view before heading back down.

We then jumped in a cab and went to our next stop on our list of things to see in Quito. This attraction is "La Mitad del Mundo" or the center of the world. It is literally on the equator, allowing us to stand with one foot on each side! Of course I had to take pictures and be a total tourist.... luckily the boys had good attitudes about it and even though they have seen this plenty of times, they allowed us to have our fun! While at La Mitad del Mundo, Laura insisted on trying a typical Ecuadorian food, Cuy, which translates to guinea pig! I actually did try this a few years ago when I was in Peru and wasn't a huge fan, but told her I would share the 'experience' with her. We ordered our Cuy and shortly after, we had the full body of a rather large guinea pig laying on a plate on our table, head and all. We starred at it for awhile, not knowing how to go about eating it and then just dug right in. It was surprisingly fatty but tasted alright. I was happy that Laura could go home that night feeling fulfilled at her mission of eating Cuy in Ecuador.

We took a long bus ride back home to Vinny's place and made some travel plans before meeting some friends for dinner. My friend Julia who also teaches Spanish at Seven Hills where I teach is spending the whole summer here in Ecuador with her boyfriend Mike. She is volunteering/teaching, while Mike is taking Spanish classes. We met up with them in 'El Centro Historico' or the old, historical part of town. It is a beautiful area with cobblestone streets, historic buildings, plazas, cathedrals and the presidential palace. We had wonderful food/drinks and caught up on each others adventures! I was so happy to see Julia and spend time with her before leaving Quito, as her and I were each others major support systems this last school year!

After dinner we went back to Vinny's place, hung out with the guys and got another good night of sleep. This puts me at today, Tuesday June 29th. We're still in Quito and are planning to head to the bus station soon where we will either be taking a 2 hour bus ride to the town of Banos or a 12 hour bus ride across Ecuador's countryside, to the historic city of Cuenca. We have not decided which route we will be taking but that puts part of the fun in traveling! We'll play it by ear and see what happens once we show up at the terminal! That's all for now; adios from Quito! :)