Quito, sweet Quito

Yonseili was ordered by her host mom to go to Ibarra, (Ecuador). Rachel, a new student from Virginia, and I went with her. Her host mom had told her late last night that there was plenty to do and that we will have a great time. I'm still trying to figure that one out...

We left early. Yonseili's host parents dropped us off at the bus terminal La Ofelia and turns out we were wrong about the terminal so we had to take a taxi to another terminal. That was probably sign that we shouldn't go. We bought the ticket and we had five minutes to get on the bus. We rushed to the bus that said ESPEJO on the side. Our seat numbers were 17, 18 and 19 I believe. I sat on the right side of the bus next to some lady who had window seat and Yonseili and Rachel sat together.

When we arrived we looked for a place to eat and then we ate, and then we went to the lake, and then we left. The food was ooookkkkaayyy for $2.50. I know, "you get what you pay for." BUT, meals at that price here can be damn good, let me tell you. As I was paying the man, he asked if I was Mexican because I looked and sounded Mexican. That's the second time in this trip that I get asked if I'm Mexican.

*Yonseili ate fritada. It looked like it could do some major damage to the arteries.

I took a picture of the park we passed by and where we asked people what places they recommended to go eat at. You know, for a Saturday a lot of places were closed. We wondered if it was due to the game that was happening. There were plenty of people in yellow jerseys. Apparently the Aucas (an older team of Ecuador that used to be really good and is trying to make a comeback) were playing. There was yellow EVERYWHERE so it was funny how the guy at the restaurant didn't know there was a game and how one of our taxi drivers didn't know who was playing. I gue-eesss.

The lake was nice, the place was clean, but there wasn't much to do. I really do feel like I just went and paid to get my back screwed up. Those bus seats are NOT comfortable. I'm sure that Yonseili's host mom was only trying to give her something cool to do and Yonseili was only trying to be a good host daughter by listening to her. So... at least I got out of Quito, right?

When we got back, I showered had a delicious dinner and Yonseili joined us. It was a hot dog and a half, and a side of pickles. Oh yeah! Also a slice of pizza!

Afterward Brian, Yonseili and I met with Christian at the school so we could go to Anne's house. Anne is from Denmark. She's done with the Academia but is still hanging out in Quito. There we literally just hung out. It was cool. We met her host brother and his friends. It s*cks to say, but the reality is that, I may have lung problems later in life as a result of this trip. Beside the pollution, second-hand smoke is also hard to avoid here.

Highlight of my day: Coming back to Quito. End of.