What A Wonderful World

I am still without internet. I mean, the computer in my house has internet, but sometimes I just want to use my laptop. Anyway, KK and I are in an internet cafe. The best thing about this cafe is they have cheap coffee and pastries and the internet is free! We’ve been here for a few hours just relaxing and catching up on things we missed on the internet. I have a little more than two weeks left here in Ecuador. It’s a bittersweet thing. I really love it here, but at the same time, I do want to return to the US.
Last Sunday, I took a walk because I was bored. I know my way around Quito, so I just kind of left my house just kind of walking. I ended up walking to the airport. It was really cool because every Sunday, the main street in Quito, Amazonas, is blocked off to cars, the only people on the street are bikers or walkers/joggers. It was really neat, I was walking in the road with everyone else and having a fun time! Amazonas takes me to the airport, so that’s where I rested. I had my camera, so I took pictures of what was around me. The whole time I was there, two planes took off and a small plane landed. I was hoping a big plane would land so I could take a video of how close it gets to the road and the buildings, but none came. It was a nice relaxing walk, and go figure, a few minutes after I left, a big plane was about to land. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.
This past week has been mellow. Class is class as usual, and last night we hung out and partied at KK’s house. Nothing too crazy though, just bought some drinks and sat on her patio and drank and talked. Today is also looking to be a mellow day, as we dont currently have plans for tonight. Tomorrow I plan on taking my weekly Sunday walk to the airport and possibly going to the artisan market to buy goodies.
Other than that, I really have nothing much to say. I uploaded my 5th picture album onto
Facebook, so you can find the link on the right side of the page.

So I am still without wireless. I think it is a problem with the wireless in Quito, because none of my friends get wireless either. Anyway, these past few days have been fun. Friday night we went to Rusty Burger, the best burger place ever. The owner is from California, and he remembers us from the last time we were there. We told him he should open Rusty Burger in Boston because we love it so much. We even took pictures with him. After Rusty Burger, we went to the liquor store near my house and had a mini fiesta in my house. After this, we went to Nobar and danced the night away. Yesterday, I went out with my family to lunch. It was my mom´s father´s birthday, so we went to this ceviche place. Ceviche, for those that don´t know, is a combination of my least favorite foods. So I got the steak. Then last night, all my friends and I went to this AMAZING Argentine steak house. Now, here´s how you know you´ve adapted to the lifestyle here. This steakhouse has filet mignon for about $8, and my steak was about $7. The bottle of Argentine wine we shared was $15. Now, at first glance I thought these prices were expensive. I mean, the previous times we went out to eat, we paid about $3 for lunch. To me, these prices were expensive. Craig quickly pointed out to me that a good filet mignon in the US would be about $30, and the bottle of wine that we got would easily be about $50. That made me happy, so I decided to order this amazing steak. MY GOD WAS IT GOOD. It was the best steak I´ve ever had for the price. The potatoes were amazing as well. The wine was also good, and what was interesting that unlike previous wines I have had, this does not have a strong taste at all, which according to Craig, is a sign of an excellent wine. He also taught me alot about wine in general, which is good because as soon as I turn 21 I am planning to go to wine tasting parties.
One thing interesting about this particular Argentine restaurant that led to an interesting conversation last night was the service. Now, the standard here in Ecuador is you get your appetizer, when you have finished that, the server takes it, and you wait a little bit for your entree. Once you´ve finished your entree, the server takes the plate, and once again, you wait a little before getting dessert. Now in the States, it is the complete opposite. You get your appetizer, sometimes you don´t even finish before they bring you your entree, and before you even finish they ask for dessert. Now, I personally like the way they do it here because you have time to let your food settle. Last night upon arriving, I wasn´t hungry. However, it was about a good hour between the time I arrived and the time I got my steak, so by then I was hungry. And that´s how it should be. Why are we so impatient in the States? We want our food. I know I was one of those people that would wonder where my food was if I was waiting more than 10 minutes. Yet last night, I found myself not even caring. Marie, who has been a server for many years, says people get mad if the service is slow in the States? Why, it´s better to allow your stomache to digest one thing at a time, that way you don´t feel like you´re going to burst after you leave a restaurant.
Speaking of my previous mention of prices and the US, I think I am going to get a rude awakening when I get back to the States. It´s hard to believe that here I think $4 for a cocktail is expensive, when in the States they are twice that. And nevermind gas, I read an article that said gas is at about $4. What a rip off, I think it´s time to start digging in ANWR. I also decided that during the summer if I need something at Hannford, I am going to walk (yes, walk). It´s probably a little more than a mile, and I´ve walked my fair share here in Quito that I could care less. Yep, what a rude awakening I will get when I get back.

I apologize for such the long gap between posts. The internet here has been having problems, so I haven´t really been able to spend all that much time online.
I had an absolutely amazing weekend! KK’s boyfriend is back in Quito, so we did most things this weekend with him. First on Friday night, the three of us went out to Diablos, a new club that has great drinks. The owner is Cuban, and after talking to him, Craig wanted a Cuban cigar, so we went looking for one. It was rainy and cold, so we only walked about a block before we stopped under heated lamps. We decided the bar with the heated lamps looked cool, so we went in. I ordered French fries, a martini, and an amazing Oreo cheesecake. It was so worth it, everything was amazing.
The next day, the four of us (KK, Craig, Marie, and I) packed our bags and headed for Banos, the city that has Tungurahua, the currently active volcano. It started out great as the tunnels in Quito were filled with water, so we had to wade the water in the taxi. We caught the bus, and we paid this dude who we thought (we as in everybody on the bus, not just us) was the guy who was collecting money on the bus. It turns out that dude wasn’t really working for the bus company, so everybody on the bus got robbed $4 by this dude. Then, we spend SIX hours the bus in what should have been a 4 hour bus ride. Why? Because Tinguraguhua decided it was going to throw a fit and cause a landslide, so the road going into Banos was blocked. No worries, we had fun standing and fooling around on the bus. By the time we got to Banos, it was almost 10 at night. We quickly found a hotel and paid $3 for a tour that took us to a mountain high over Banos. On the mountain, we could see the whole city of Banos. We could also see Tinguraguaha, the smoke, and faint orange glow of the lava coming from the cauldron of the volcano. It was well worth the $3.
The next morning, we did some shopping after breakfast. I bought a shirt, a leather coat, and some souvenirs for my family. Next, we headed over to the thermal baths. These are truly amazing. In case you don’t know, Banos in Spanish means baths, which is what this town is famous for. The water from the baths all come from the volcano, and the one that we were in was about 118 degrees F. It was so relaxing and filled with minerals. We stayed there for about an hour. After changing and all that, we decided to rent dune buggies. This was probably the best adventure ever. We rented the dune buggies for 3 hours, Marie driving with me as the passenger in one and Craig driving and KK as a passenger in the other, and we drove to a waterfall. At the waterfall, we took a tram over the river and the water fall to the other side and then back. It was really fun. We also had a picnic lunch right by the waterfall too. Afterwards, I drove the dune buggy back. It was so fun, even flooring the petal we were only going about 10 miles an hour. It was especially fun through the tunnels. The dune buggy adventure was probably the best part of Banos. Afterwards, we stopped for more food and taffy (which is also what Banos is known for) and then headed back to Quito. Nothing exciting happened on the way back, except that we saw a flattened tractor trailer bed. We got back into Quit around 9, and by the time I got home it was almost 10. But it was well worth it. I had an amazing time. I will put photos up in the next few days, either when I go to an internet cafe or if the internet starts behaving.
Tomorrow night we are celebrating Marie´s 25th birthday. We are going to Rusty Burger, this amazing burger joint, then we are going to buy some beers and drinks and go to my house and hang out for a bit before going out clubbing. It should be fun. We plan to live it up as much as we can, because we all have less than a month left here!

I added my fourth photo album on the Blogroll, be sure to check it out! It is mostly of my trip to Ibarra and Mindo, along with the car that fell off the cliff.

Happy April Fool’s Day!! I don’t know where the time’s gone, but I am about halfway done. I finished the first cycle of Spanish classes, so I have a fews days off. I start classes again on Thursday, and when this cycle ends on May 9th, I will be heading home.
This weekend, the university took us to Mindo, a city about two hours west of Quito. There were tons of bugs, and I have about 30 bug bites. I don’t care; it wasn’t a malaria zone and there are no bugs in Quito since it is too high an altitude. Anyway, it was the rainforest, so it was so much warmer than Quito. We went rafting in the river, which was really fun. At first we were a little scared, because they were really strong rapids. However, we went rafting in groups and had two guides, both of which stood up in the water the whole time. I had a blast, and felt so refreshed afterwards. Later, we took a walk to a butterfly place. I have never seen so many butterflies! They had all kinds of butterflies, not just monarchs. They even had ones that look like they have eyes on their wings.
The next day, KK, Allison and I decided we didn’t want to go hiking, especially after we found out it was 2 hours to the top. So we decided to stay at the hotel and sunbathe. We relaxed, laid out in the sun, and went in the pool. We got back Sunday night at about 6.
We haven’t really done anything eventful since then. Yesterday Marie and Braulio came over my house and we watched tv and went online. The rest of the week looks to be that way, as classes start Thursday. Tomorrow night is ladies night at Bungalow6, which means that ladies get in free and there are free cocktails 8-10. We are thinking about going, especially after hearing it wouldn’t really cost us that much to do so.