Quito...again.

Since I'm down with a stomach bug, I thought I'd take advantage of the opportunity to send you all more pics and stories. :)  As for the bug, I made it 8 weeks with no events (besides the altitude in Quito) but this one got me good! Thankfully, I have an amazing host family who have all been taking care of me. My mom, her mom, and the nanny have been delivering homemade chicken broth and horchata (rice and carrot puree) to my bedside, and my little brother and sister have been watching movies with me. I'm very lucky! Now back to stories and photos...

So the visa saga continues, if you can believe it. At this point it has become absurd, not just an inconvenience. Last Friday when I went (with my appointment slip, mind you) I was told that only 180 turns are given out each day and they had already reached that number, even though it was only 9:30 am. They guy then proceeded to say "you'll have to come back Monday and try again, but I suggest you don't come back til Wednesday, cause they probably don't have your paper work done yet since they are behind".  Ha. At least someone was finally just being honest and providing useful information.  I explained to him that I'm coming from 5 hours away, and he informed me that I could write an authorization to have someone else represent me. For once I actually trusted what someone there was telling me since he was being honest and seemed to know what he was talking about.  SO as suggested, the woman who has been helping me through all this, Maria Eugenia, showed up on Wednesday only to wait and be told, that, in fact, the paperwork STILL wasn't processed, and was told to come back in a week- but that even then they can't guarantee that it will be ready.  Absurd.  So the wait continues, but at least I'm not making trip after trip back and forth.

On a positive note, my travel buddy Tamara and I took advantage of the long weekend and went to a really cool town that has a huge indigenous market. Maria Eugenia and her husband were our guides so we got to stop and see extra things we would have missed had we gone on our own. We ate delicious biscotti in a town called Cayambe that had the bakeries on every corner.  We spent most of the day in the market that was FULL of colors and amazing people watching. I get better at the bargaining as the day went on, so I came home with some fun stuff.  I am sure I will go back to that market, especially just before I come home so I can stock up on goodies to share with you all.

The most eventful part of this trip was the return. Apparently, the evening that we decide to drive this route is the same night most of Quito is doing a pilgrimage from town up to a monastery at the top of the mountain. The pilgrimage was to start at 5pm...just as we were heading back to town. This meant we were directed on a detour clear around to the other side of Quito.  Luckily there was a caravan of cars because the directions given by the police officer were "go to the town of Perucho, and turn left".  Well we went to Perucho.....and once there a car ahead of us asked someone on the street where we needed to go, and apparently our left turn was the dirt road to the left just before getting into town. How in the world were we supposed to know that!? It was a sight to see all the cars doing three point turns in a tiny street, but at least everyone was waving to each other and laughing. What else could we do at this point.

Well we made it to the dirt road... and it was exactly that. A single lane, bumpy, dark dirt road. We must have been on that road for 2 hours. I felt bad for people who were traveling in the back of pick-up trucks, which is very common around here. They had to have sore rear ends by the end of that journey! And probably asthma too!  Along this part of the trip the four of us did our best to joke and laugh throughout the journey. We listened to a CD we had bought in town from the group of locals who came to entertain us during lunch. Our running joke was that they came to us because they secretly knew what kind of journey we had ahead of us and that we would need the entertainment.  Since the road was dark and all you saw were a row of lights from the cars, we also joked that we were actually being lead by aliens to "the other side". Perhaps it was all much funnier and more entertaining in the moment, but it worked. What should have been a 2 hour smooth ride home, turned into a windy, dusty, dark, 5 hour trek.  But that makes for a much better story, right?  Needless to say, we came home exhausted but content from a full adventure.

Also in this weekend, I got to do some salsa dancing at a real salsa club. Maria Eugenia commissioned her nephew to take us, which I could tell wasn't his favorite idea, but he obliged. The club was decent sized, new, nice dance floor and had just enough dancers to keep me  happy all night! I finally got to do some spinning!! I am sure I had a grin from ear to ear all night and I definitely hope to get back there on my next trip to Quito, whenever that may be. The promoter guy was also telling me about the Peru Salsa Festival happening in February.... might just have to check that out! Anyone want to join me?!

So you're probably wondering, why all the stories, but no photos? Well, apparently I have used up my capacity of photos, so now I have to use my Web Albums to show you the pictures... use this link below and you'll find the pictures there! :) Also, I added a link to the right called PHOTOS! that will take you to the same place.

Web Albums

Here's hoping the stomach bug is done doing it's damage and I can get back to my kiddos soon!

Miss you all and hope you had a great Thanksgiving!