hola all!!
i have a moment so i decided to update a bit. life is still good here. i´m over my stomach issues which is nice.
last wedsnesday nadine, petra and i went with our teachers to al mitad del mundo - the middle of the world ie. the equator. now, al mitad del mundo is where they originally thought the equator was before things like gps. it was cool to go to anyway. afterwards we went to the real equator and that was a lot more interesting. they did some experiments on the equator and on either side. although i know that water goes down the drain in different directions depending on the side of the equator it was interesting to see the water go straight down (on the equator) and then clockwise and counterclockwise. we also did an experiment where you walk with your eyes closed, arms out on the equator... and let me tell you... that was tough. it really was. it sounds silly but you really do feel the forces. if it was a sobriety test i would have failed.
i can´t remember what i did on thursday or friday. there was a big class from ohio here last week so i ended up not going to salsa lessons. there was no room to move. dislike. but i think i will go this week since there are only about 20 students total here.
saturday we all went to otavalo which is a big open market that sells stuff like bags and scarves and jackets and pj pants, etc. it´s a known thing that you barter there. which i am not that great at, but i tried anyway. i managed to talk the woman down from $3 to $1.50 for a scarf. that was my big purchase of the day. haha. i suppose i could have bought some more stuff but bartering is exhausting and i just didn´t feel like it. it is really weird to be bartering down from something that is already a crazy deal in the states. i mean, my roommate, tom was offered a nice jacket for $22. it would have easily been $40 in the states... easily. i think he got it down to $12 but overall didn´t want it anyway. it´s a weird concept to barter here. i am just not use to it cause we never do it in the states. we were pathetic on saturday night and stayed in. boo! we were up at 6 for the tip to otavalo. we all needed to sleep.
sunday we went to mariscal for breakfast to a cute place but we had such bad service. the waiter was very cute though so all was good. he was from colombia. and we all fancied him but i think that he fancied nadine the best. plus she has the best spanish out of the 3 of us so that was of no surprise. we also learned that he is a bouncer at a bar called no bar. so we may go there either thursday or friday. not sure. but anyway, the breakfast itself was good.. but the wait just sucked. and i said ¨he is lucky that he is cute¨. haha. but it is true.
i didn´t mind the wait SO much because we were outside in a nice little patio area. and we got to talking. nadine actually quit her job in december and decided to take a 4 month trip for herself. petra took a 4 month leave of absence from her job to take a 4 month trip. so i feel like we´re all kinda in the same boat. i guess at nadine´s work, there was another company that bought hers out and she decided that it wasn´t for her so she decided to quit and travel. i seriously think they really matched us up pretty well. and not only this... but we all have had a desire to open a bed and breakfast somewhere. imagine that if we did. how awesome. it could work. haha. but it really is nice to meet people who are in the same boat as you, ya know? it´s refreshing. i feel like i found my people. i love travelers. love them to death. i may end up meeting up in costa rica with nadine in april if i don´t come back sooner. i figure, why not?? plus it´s a new place for me to go.
we also had a walk around old town which was nice. much more culture than anything that i´ve seen here in quito. most places were closed on sunday though so we didn´t see it as lively as we could, but i am sure that i will go back there at some point. we all fancied a beer so we headed back to mariscal. now... last week i learned that they stop serving alcohol after 4pm. how annoying. we went to one bar in mariscal, and they didn´t serve alcohol at all on sunday. we went to the next bar and they only served wine and beer and only if you order food. so we went to the next bar and they served us alcohol without having to purchase anything else. i don´t care what the rules are but just make them uniform. ya know??
i stayed in mariscal to watch the horrible game. horrible. what a disappointing loss. i went to one bar that was about to shut down, then went to the next bar after the first one shut... i had to order something to eat. i managed to bump into damon from last week who i decided is a bit creepy. i mean, he´s not horrible, but when people say things like darling and sweetheart i just don´t like it. that bar shut during the 4th quarter. horrible, right? but we found out that there was another bar that was open... so we went there. we ended up being able to order a beer which was nice, but we had to drink it away from the windows where were sitting. it was nice to have a beer but horrible to watch that game. it really was disappointing. but at least now i don´t have to go thru the hassle of finding a bar that will stay open for the superbowl. i like john harbaugh but i think i´m pulling for the 49ers.
yesterday and today not much has really happened, but i now have classes in the morning which is nice because then i have the afternoons to do what i want. the girls and i are going to head to cotopaxi for an overnight. cotopaxi is the main volcano here near quito that you see in most pictures. it´s really cool to see from afar so i´m excited to see it closer.
petra and i just had lunch at a place down the street. it was SO CHEAP. i think we´re going to go there every day. they have a menu of the day which is always a soup, the main meal, a juice (which is so good down here - no additives), and dessert for only $2.50. and it´s good food. today was a potato and cabbage soup, papaya juice, filet mignon with fries and rice, and then a banana in chocolate (which i didn´t eat cause i hate bananas but petra said it was good).
anyway... someone needs this computer so i am gonna go... hope you enjoy my updates!!
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