i have arrived in quito, ecuador! i came in late last night. today was a day spent exploring the historical and new town of quito. the historical town is really charming and beautiful... with buildings of different colors and black iron balconies overlooking the cooblestone calles in an old spanish town. very picturesque.
the highlight of today was walking into the plaza grande and almost knocking over a joker on stilts. yes, a JOKER on STILTS... ummm, clowns are scary enough, put them on 10 foot poles and it´s a horror film on steroids... i thought it was a festival to celebrate quito day, but it turned out to be a protest to stop the mining in the surrounding hills. most of the indigenous people who live up there came down to protest in their colorful village garb. a protest with a bit of carnaval flare! the latin americans know how to keep things interesting.
i also climbed over 300 steps up to the bell tower of their famous basilica... and walked a crickety wooden plank (yes, plank!) across the roof of the basilica... um, what??. yes, nightmare NUMBER 2, climbing up skinny steps to get to the top was not so tough, but coming back down... my knees about gave out. i may have hyperventilated a couple of times in the middle of the climb back down. i could just picture myself falling off the ladder and knocking my head against the bell and throwing everyone in quito off their time.
then, luckily, i found myself in the middle of a food festival with tons of fried pigs hanging everywhere. very lucky. after wandering around and taking in all the savory smells, i decided on caldo de gallina and seco de chivo. no clue what part of the pig it was but oh sooooo gooooood. the street food here smells amazing. i almost got some ceviche that was only $1.25 where they were cracking the clams open on the spot, buuuut i chickened out. i need a couple more days of adjusting i think...
it´s pouring now. so i´m off to eat and study some spanish at the rooftop restaurant... mi espanol is muy terrible!!
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5 comments:
I love picturing you walking through a sea of hanging pork. Glad to hear the food has been good. I think you made a good call not eating the ceviche just yet.
What are your interactings with the people like? Do they assume you are Chinese instead of American? I'm so curious.
you are my hero!!!!!!!!!!! i'm loving you so much!!! can you feel it? i can't wait to follow your adventures. plus, i don't want any poo on me:)
xoxoxoxo
love you madly!
Hey Lam it's Dirty Diamond signed in as Edna. I am so thrilled to experience the journey with you via blog. I have never blogged. I look forward to hearing more....kisses darling.
yooo just tuned in! loving the premiere and looking forward to whats to follow. looks like its gona be a good series.
enjoy it out there. i wish my family could be on the cruise with your family. our nights at skywalker ranch just wasn't enough. miss you and hope to see you in ny when you get back from the adventures!
Sarah has said that she wants to go to Ecuador to find Yiyi! then I told her you were probably at the Galapagos by now and she said, "I like Galapagos! I want to go find Yiyi" Dude, I'm not making this shit up!
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