Friday, November 03, 2006
Cooped up in Quito
Hello all,
Edwin`s girlfriend turned out to be pretty sick, though I still don´t really know with what, so we didn´t end up taking the bus last night because he was at the hospital with her. There were several frustrating hours when I didn´t know what was going on and I just sat around eating Doritos and reading back issues of the American Journal of Botany sulkingly. My diet in Quito would make any twelve year old jealous....white bread and Oreos for breakfast with sugary juice and neon colored yogurt, and then Ritz crackers and peanut butter, intermixed with Doritos for a salt fix, throughout the day. It beats eating meat off the street and Í know how to get such foods quickly.
Don´t worry, though. Today I had the most lovely meal in oldtown Quito and I again owe it all to the Lonely Planet. This spotless and big cafe right down by the old theatre served me a heaping bowl of chili with BEEF (the introduction of a new animal into the diet was a much welcome change) and BEANS (ahh, how I´ve missed them). And then i finished it off with their very famous fruit salad...pineapple, papaya, apple, mellon, raspberry sauce and whipped cream. I´d kind of forgetten that food can be a good thing, but now I´m terribly full and happy and feeling healthy again. I wandered around the historic center that I had toured with Edwin by night. It was quite full of people, which was kind of irritating but it is another holiday here (Independence day for the city of Cuenca, which everyone celebrates too), so families were out in force.
A very cute little girl showed me her stuffed dog and we had a nice conversation about it, and then two little shoeshine boys ripped me off in front of the big cathedral. They convinced me to pay them a buck to take their picture, and then demanded a buck each when it was over. I opted for 1.50 (hey, I guess I got to sort of hold them to their word), but they looked so retched and are so cute, I didn´t feel too bad about getting jacked (it is all relative here....keep in mind that two bucks would buy me eight rides back and forth across town on the Trolle). I´m sure they bank on that. At least it isn´t like in Bolivia where they wear black ski masks to hide their faces. I had my shoes ¨shined¨in La Paz, and I still rub off some of the gross black stuff from time to time. A picture is much better.
Wandered in to many churches, but it seemed like Mass was constantly going on, so I felt awkward and hung in back briefly before leaving. The outsides sure are nice, but the insides in general aren´t too impressive. Certainly not Europe (snob that I am), but not the really wacky kind of Catholic churches like I´ve seen in southern Arizona, where people tear out their hair and tie it on to idols and light candles everywhere. Cody, they definitly need some re-frescoing. There were the weird dolls of Mary, baby Jesus and other patron saints in boxes that they parade around town at Easter time, but none were exceptionally creepy or pretty. I did see one church that used native animal statues in place of gargoyles, which was sort of nice I guess. I don´t really care that much about the art and architecture around here (which really is too bad and I really should be better), but that really isn´t why I´m here and I wanted to see such things, I´m sorry, but I´d haul it across the pond instead.
I did have a nice pineapple and papaya juice drink before I took the Trolle back home. Its this rather clever cable car that whips north and south through Quito in its own lanes...clean, fast and safe...and twenty five cents! I am so proud of myself for figuring out public transportation here...now cab rides seems so exhorbitant. Spent some time looking at the Chilean and Argentinian maps today, thinking ahead to the next leg of the trip. They seem like they will be a lot of fun, too. Argentina should be pretty easy, but doing all of what I want in Chile in just six days might be a bit hard. Most species there are around Santiago and Vina del Mar (a very posh beach), and I might be very tempted to be a tourist there instead. Then, there is just one species that I really want way up north on the beach side of the Atacama desert, perhaps the driest place on earth. I´ll hope my friendly Chilean contacts will be able to advise me on what to do. It is so hard to learn new countries when all the names of Ecuadorian places are bumping around in my head...sometimes they overlap with names in Argentina and Chile and I´m hopelessly confused. It is amazing to think all the new words I have fit in my head since becoming a graduate student. I´ll never get Alzheimers at this rate! Maybe memorizing botanical Latin or obscure towns will become all the rage with octagenerians...
But for now, Ecuador it is. I´m very happy I get a ¨break¨in the US at the lovely home of Lisa and Simon and Buck and Giti before going back. I want to go to Target and eat a big salad and take the longest, hottest shower ever and have my nails done and curl my hair and hug my husband and drink good wine and watch TV in English about things I care about and wander around without my passport strapped to my waist and play with Padfoot and call my family and friends cheaply and speak in English.
Off to Loja for real now!! It better be!!
Love,
Rachel
Edwin`s girlfriend turned out to be pretty sick, though I still don´t really know with what, so we didn´t end up taking the bus last night because he was at the hospital with her. There were several frustrating hours when I didn´t know what was going on and I just sat around eating Doritos and reading back issues of the American Journal of Botany sulkingly. My diet in Quito would make any twelve year old jealous....white bread and Oreos for breakfast with sugary juice and neon colored yogurt, and then Ritz crackers and peanut butter, intermixed with Doritos for a salt fix, throughout the day. It beats eating meat off the street and Í know how to get such foods quickly.
Don´t worry, though. Today I had the most lovely meal in oldtown Quito and I again owe it all to the Lonely Planet. This spotless and big cafe right down by the old theatre served me a heaping bowl of chili with BEEF (the introduction of a new animal into the diet was a much welcome change) and BEANS (ahh, how I´ve missed them). And then i finished it off with their very famous fruit salad...pineapple, papaya, apple, mellon, raspberry sauce and whipped cream. I´d kind of forgetten that food can be a good thing, but now I´m terribly full and happy and feeling healthy again. I wandered around the historic center that I had toured with Edwin by night. It was quite full of people, which was kind of irritating but it is another holiday here (Independence day for the city of Cuenca, which everyone celebrates too), so families were out in force.
A very cute little girl showed me her stuffed dog and we had a nice conversation about it, and then two little shoeshine boys ripped me off in front of the big cathedral. They convinced me to pay them a buck to take their picture, and then demanded a buck each when it was over. I opted for 1.50 (hey, I guess I got to sort of hold them to their word), but they looked so retched and are so cute, I didn´t feel too bad about getting jacked (it is all relative here....keep in mind that two bucks would buy me eight rides back and forth across town on the Trolle). I´m sure they bank on that. At least it isn´t like in Bolivia where they wear black ski masks to hide their faces. I had my shoes ¨shined¨in La Paz, and I still rub off some of the gross black stuff from time to time. A picture is much better.
Wandered in to many churches, but it seemed like Mass was constantly going on, so I felt awkward and hung in back briefly before leaving. The outsides sure are nice, but the insides in general aren´t too impressive. Certainly not Europe (snob that I am), but not the really wacky kind of Catholic churches like I´ve seen in southern Arizona, where people tear out their hair and tie it on to idols and light candles everywhere. Cody, they definitly need some re-frescoing. There were the weird dolls of Mary, baby Jesus and other patron saints in boxes that they parade around town at Easter time, but none were exceptionally creepy or pretty. I did see one church that used native animal statues in place of gargoyles, which was sort of nice I guess. I don´t really care that much about the art and architecture around here (which really is too bad and I really should be better), but that really isn´t why I´m here and I wanted to see such things, I´m sorry, but I´d haul it across the pond instead.
I did have a nice pineapple and papaya juice drink before I took the Trolle back home. Its this rather clever cable car that whips north and south through Quito in its own lanes...clean, fast and safe...and twenty five cents! I am so proud of myself for figuring out public transportation here...now cab rides seems so exhorbitant. Spent some time looking at the Chilean and Argentinian maps today, thinking ahead to the next leg of the trip. They seem like they will be a lot of fun, too. Argentina should be pretty easy, but doing all of what I want in Chile in just six days might be a bit hard. Most species there are around Santiago and Vina del Mar (a very posh beach), and I might be very tempted to be a tourist there instead. Then, there is just one species that I really want way up north on the beach side of the Atacama desert, perhaps the driest place on earth. I´ll hope my friendly Chilean contacts will be able to advise me on what to do. It is so hard to learn new countries when all the names of Ecuadorian places are bumping around in my head...sometimes they overlap with names in Argentina and Chile and I´m hopelessly confused. It is amazing to think all the new words I have fit in my head since becoming a graduate student. I´ll never get Alzheimers at this rate! Maybe memorizing botanical Latin or obscure towns will become all the rage with octagenerians...
But for now, Ecuador it is. I´m very happy I get a ¨break¨in the US at the lovely home of Lisa and Simon and Buck and Giti before going back. I want to go to Target and eat a big salad and take the longest, hottest shower ever and have my nails done and curl my hair and hug my husband and drink good wine and watch TV in English about things I care about and wander around without my passport strapped to my waist and play with Padfoot and call my family and friends cheaply and speak in English.
Off to Loja for real now!! It better be!!
Love,
Rachel
# posted by Rachel Jabaily @ 5:14 PM 
