Day 25

Have lost the will to accessorize. Have gained the ability to sleep through anything – crappy dubbed movies blaring loudly in Spanish, snoring male hostel roommates, Ecuadorian garbage trucks outside the window…

Because am on the equator (Quito – “middle Earth” – is nearly 10,000 ft above sea level), keep burning in odd places… today just one square inch on my right wrist… strange… 

In Ecuador…

-they eat guinea pig. you snatch the furry little guy of your choosing from the cage and hand him over. some guy half your size takes him out back and, a little while later, brings him back, guinea pig toe nails and all, on toast…

-cab fares are always negotiable

-you can get a full meal for between $1.50 and $2.00

-they use American dollars as their currency

-there are no seat-belts and no helmets for most dangerous activities… like horseback riding next to a 14,000 ft cliff

-everyone plays volleyball, but for some reason the net is higher than usual… even though the people are shorter…

-I am reeeeeeeally tall (yes!)

-the indigenous people were still shrinking the heads of their captured enemies in the ´90s

-the local men stare… but they leave you alone. 

The Daily Grind

We now live in hostels (Hostel Revolution in Quito – SO CLEAN, THEY MAKE YOUR BED). Have taken a liking to Quito… the people are friendly (cabby gave me a throat lozenge when I had a headache), it´s beautiful, the food is plentiful and pretty yummy, if occasionally scary (pets for meals, heads of various animals…), the mountain views are UNBELIEVABLE. The picture above (at top of the page) was taken at 14,000 ft, on top of a mountain overlooking the city, where we rode horses (PICTURES AT RIGHT) and found it hard to hike (thin air).

Have gotten sick *once* from dehydration (altitude again). Had to yack in the hostel toilet. No mommy to bring me ginger ale, but did have $1 pirated movies for comfort…

Make hostel friends daily… mostly English-speakers, but more often non-American than not.

Sample day (2 days ago)… got up, no need to worry about what to wear (no one cares, least of all me – fantastic!) and got plane tickets for Galápagos (leaving mañana!!!!!) from travel agency, took 25-cent bus to the equator and took pics (to follow shortly…) of us in both hemispheres at once. Ate brunch, took salsa lessons, went to dinner with hostel friends, went to a bar (this part actually doesn´t happen all that much…), sat on the roof and watched the fog roll in and out… buildings disappearing and re-appearing in a matter of seconds… INCREDIBLE view of the stars… can see constellations of both northern and southern hemispheres.

Normally we only eat twice during the day… usually there is a pair of underwear or socks to be washed in the sink…

The thing I like best about the trip so far is how different I feel / am… which is manifested in a million small ways… Have stopped biting my nails, wear tank tops, eat crap whenever I feel like it, wake up early… I´m me, but… with traits I never knew were mine… or with personality quirks that I had long ago buried. I keep suddenly remebering hobbies I wanted to take up or small moments I had forgotten about years ago.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! J and I ate in a restaurant with waiters dressed like monks… with jeans and sneakers peeking out of the bottom of their robes.

NO INTERNET ACCESS IN THE GALÁPAGOS… will catch y´all on the flip side.