“Hola. Lo siento. Mi español is muy malo.” (Hi. Sorry. My spanish is very bad.) That has been my most utilized phrase in Ecuador thus far…other than the obvious, “¿Dónde está el baño?”  It seems to really prepare the listener for what is to follow, which is always a good effort of something resembling the Spanish language.  I’m suffering from a severe case of bilingual envy.  Thank goodness for our fabulous tour guide, José.  He’s a cool 30 something who lived in the US for a bit and grew up in Quito with a constant stream of English speaking exchange students staying with his family.  He has taken us everywhere…starting with a tour of the old part of the city and the more modern side. It’s crazy how you will see a modern building, then a gothic church then an old colonial style building.  I love the eclectic vibe.  Quito is such a fun mix.  Not always safe here…the policía on every corner and all the guards carrying guns, speaks to that.  However, we haven’t had any issues despite the fact that the silly Gringos wanted some exercise (no gyms around the old town) so we walked up a very long, steep set of stairs in the Panecillo area.  Afterwards both our tour book and José said that was a bad idea…even in broad daylight. Yes Mom Mom, we will do better due diligence next time! 🙂

Gothic Church – Basílica del Voto Nacional

Iglesia de La Compania de Jesus – So much gold!

Here are some Quito tidbits…more useless knowledge that Greg wants me to be sure to include:

– Ecuador has been using the US Dollar as their currency since 2000.  That certainly has spared me from having to use my not so efficient math skills.

– A volcano is considered ‘active’ even if it hasn’t erupted for over 200 years. As long as it rumbles occasionally or spits out some ashes, it’s ALIVE!  So applied to me, I’m considered ‘active’ because I never shut up.

– There are stores in Quito that just sell eggs!  Now that’s a site for the easter bunny! 🙂

Egg Store

– The funicular ride is a great way to get a view of the city and mountains.  It took us up about 13,400 feet.  Living at sea level is a piece of cake.  Most people feel the altitude at about 8,500 feet…cotton mouth, shortness of breath and headaches are the most common side effects.  We did take a bit of a walk at the top of Quito and were winded, but not too bad.

View from Funicular

– Chicken soup with chicken claws/feet in it is yummy but disturbing to look at.

Chicken Feet in Chicken Soup

– In the ladies baños the toilet paper is usually one main roll outside of the stalls.  It took me a few times of unzipping to realize I didn’t have paper in the stall with me!  Old habits die hard.  Which leads me to the second item…always carry tissues!

– Ecuador’s Independence Day from Spain was yesterday…August the 10th.  They celebrated in Quito with bands, fire works and street performers.  Blues music in Spanish is so funny to hear, but I loved it!  However, most of the music was traditional Ecuadorian.  There were policía everywhere, but the crowds were very tame.

– There are many stray dogs, but not the kind you’d expect….lots of poodles!  Pretty  fancy for a stray dog!

–  The word ecuador is Spanish for equator (I’m still trying to show off my minimal Spanish).  On our second day in Quito José took us to a museum that marks the location of the equator, known locally as la mitad del mundo (the middle of the world).  We did little science projects showing the effect of being on the Ecuador…like trying to walk a straight line with your eyes closed.  Sound familiar to any of you?  I felt like I was in a fun high school science class.

The Equator!

– We were also able to see an actual shrunken head, compliments of the Jivaroan tribe that lives in the Amazon.  Good to know that the head shrinking ritual is only allowed to be performed on an animals now. Yikes in either case.

Shrunken Heads – Human on the right and a sloth on the left

– The Pululahua Volcano (means water cloud) is on the equator and when it rains, if the rain drop falls to the south side it will end up in the Atlantic…north side ends up in the Pacific.  Now that’s cool!

PARTY IN THE USA…or not!!

Now for the American 80’s music….on Friday, José took us to the very cool, modern Mindalae Museum for dinner and a show of folklore dancing.  He invited us to meet out his beautiful wife (Saskya) and some of his fun friends (Paola, Oscar, Irene, Santiago, Pancho and Liz) afterwards. We met up with them at a super cool lounge called Narajanilla Mecánica (clockwork orange) that was an old house with funky furniture and artwork everywhere.  Everyone was so gracious to let us hang out with them!  They even spoke English so our monolingual ears could understand them (yes, my bilingual envy popping up again).

After teaching our new friends our “tonight…WE RIDE” toast and getting a little toasty, we went to a bar called Flashback.  I found a new “Irene” (pronounced IRRRENYEA) to dance with (don’t worry Cha-Cha, I can never replace you!)  Irene is one of José’s buddies that loves to dance and loves 80’s music (who doesn’t), hence the bar Flashback.

Irene and Linda at 80’s bar

The awesome band played fabulous 80’s song after 80’s song…from Boy George to Madonna! We never expected a little piece of home to be joining us in full force like that.  What a blast!   We danced, chatted it up and had rum table service.  I wish I could say the same for how we felt the next day.  Gregorio took to napping in the back of the van on the way to the natural Hot Springs called Papallacta.  Thank goodness that our agenda items that day only consisted of soaking in the hot water pools and getting massages!  José, Greg and I were all hurting.

Now about to arrive to the Cotopaxi National Park to start our first climb…the Cotopaxi Volcano.  Will report later.

To check out our pics click here: Photos

Big hugs!

Linda