"Whatsup" - Brian

Because we were running a bit late and we didn't want Joakim to be late we took the taxi.  We figured we could accompany him to school again and we could do something else on the little trip.  So when Joakim asked us on the taxi what we were going to do, we thought of going to the consulate.  We went to ask what we had to do to leave the country.  The kind of rude lady let us know that we didn't need to do anything special as long as we had our passport.  From there we went to a nearby used book store and bought a few books.  We got an english-spanish dictionary for Adriana and I got two books full of anecdotes and other neat stuff.

We were excited to see Brian today!  He messaged us on Facebook yesterday that he was in town but was too tired to catch up with us.  We looked forward to catching up with him today.  When we came back home, Brian sent me a text, "whatsup."  After a few failed skype-call attempts, he called my cell and said he was by parque Carolina so we went ahead and invited him over while we finished getting ready and headed over to pick up Joakim from school.  We'd told him we'd go with him to the mall to get a cell phone and look at cameras.  So then I heard the buzz, picked up the phone and it was Brian!  I went downstairs and it was crazy to see him with longer hair.  Yonseili was at her house in the meantime and later came over to see Brian.  It was the three-musketeers feeling all over again, it was simply surreal.  We then headed to the school to pick up who Brian kept referring to as "Charles" for some reason... okay buddy.

Brian talked to us about all the places he went to and what he did.  He worked on a farm for two weeks I believe, surfed at Canoa and actually stayed at the place my host dad had recommended we'd stay at if we went called Coco Loco managed by a cool Mexican guy, and was spit at by a shaman.  Too funny.  We arrived to school and waited for Joakim to get out of class and then waited a bit longer because he was talking to his brother.  You see, it's hard for him to communicate since Denmark is six hours ahead of us. And  I thought we had it tough.  By the way, in case I haven't said it before, we call Joakim "Joaquin."

At the mall Yonseili helped Joakim with the cell phone at the Movistar stand.  In the meantime Brian and I were counting how many people we saw picking their noses... well it was more like Brian because I didn't catch many.  You see, it's not rare to see people here pick their nose.  There is one move that Yonseili and I call "the subtle" because the -usually- men use their thumb to pick their nose and the rest of their hand to try to hide it... it's quite funny.  There we saw William the professor from school and he chat with us for about two minutes and then moved on with his life.  We were all hungry so we grabbed a bite and then left the mall.  Yonseili went to school and the rest of us went to my house.  We chilled there untili Yonseili came home with cake and candles... for who you may be wondering?  Brian's birthday is December 10th so we decided we'd do something before he left back to the U.S. tomorrow.  We 'snuck' in the cake and while Joakim and Brian talked in the living room, Yonseili came out with the cake and lit candles while Adriana took pics and I recorded.  He made a wish or two, I don't really know, and then blew out the candles.  Of course we sang happy birthday!  All he could say is that he knew we were up to something.

We ate the cake and tried to convince Brian to go to La Ronda one last time but he wanted to go to bed early since his flight is at 6:30 in the am.  Nonetheless all four of us went out to the Sweet & Coffee place and just chilled there for a while until we grabbed a taxi and dropped off Brian.  It was so sad, but we are sure we will see him in New Mexico!

We then asked Joakim if he wanted to go to La Ronda to see the place and he was up for it.  When we got there, however, we were a bit disappointed because it was kinda dead.  We are sure it's because of the Fiestas de Quito that had everyone tired of the partying and probably also because it was a weeknight...we went up and down the one road and then got a taxi.  We asked the taxi driver to pass by the plaza grande and then by the Mariscal since Yonseili was invited to go to a goodbye thing at the Huaina's bar.  She and Joakim got down there and I headed home but not more than 4 minutes later, they were coming up the stairs and into my room because everything was closed.  Again, I think the Fiestas were plenty for everyone that they could skip this one Wednesday.  I must say that the ride back home with the taxi driver was good because he had the radio on a good station where they were playing music by John Morrison and John Lennon because John Morrison was born December 8th and John Lennon died that day.  The taxi driver and I talked but he was not creepy at all.  Good music and good conversation.  We chilled in my room for a while before the lights went out! Chao!

Highlight of the day: hanging out with Brian!

deniSe, Brian, Yonseili

By the way... seems like I'm getting sick because my throat is feeling funny...