Shopping!

August 22, 2010

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. -T. S. Eliot

Today I went to mass and it was shorter than an hour. It was probably about 30 minutes long, 40 minutes max. Other than that there was nothing too different from mass back home. Actually, there was something too different. The church is closer to the airport than my house is and hearing a plane pass over concerned me. Every time I hear a plane pass by I get the urge to run outside and make sure that either a plane or a bomb isn’t coming down on us. When was mass was over we walked back home. Apparently every Sunday, Avenida de Amazonas (the street the church is on), closes for bicyclists. I don’t know why but it surprised me to see that here.

After mass, my host parents and a friend of theirs Marta, aka Martica, who is from Colombia, came along with Yonseili, Ashley and I to the Mercado de Artesanias. Juan Jose went to his paternal grandparents’ home, and that was a good thing because he would have gotten bored quickly while we were doing all the shopping. Before we went I had been told that in order to get good deals, it is necessary to negotiate with the vendors. It was hard for me to ask them to lower the price because most of the stuff is handmade and stuff that I don’t think I can find in “the states” easily. I asked a lady how much a scarf she was selling was for and she told me $12. Now, that was definitely high-priced for me because I knew I could find something as pretty or prettier for a lower price elsewhere, and I found out soon how much lower I could get it for. As we continued walking around the market I saw the same scarf but in a different color, and I asked how much it was for. It was for $4. I couldn’t believe how high the first vendor was going to sell it to me for.

After the market, we ate at Restaurante Rincon Ecuatoriano Chileno. I ordered chicken and the plate came with white rice, which was salty by the way, and french fries and a salad. It was all very good. What wasn’t so good is that we found out servers get paid $1/hr.

Instead of taking the bus home, we took a taxi. I was relieved because the bus this morning was packed.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Going to the Mercado de Artesanias was really neat. *We took a picture with our Aggie flag at the market. =) You can see that on Yonseili's blog: http://yonseilidaily.blogspot.com/

I am guiding you in the way of wisdom, and I am leading you on the right path. PROVERBS 4:11 NCV