Haven´t written in a bit and, like usual, a lot´s happened. First, the ride up the the Teleferiqo to the top of Mt. Pichincha was amaaaazing. The ride took about 15 minutes in a chairlift-like box, but felt much safer, and was filled was with amazing views as the city of Quito got smaller and smaller. Once at the top I was both short of breath and overwhelmed the views in all directions. It was so surreal to be that much higher than the clouds and the enormous city that was finally beginning to feel a little smaller. For the first time I truly realized how massive Quito is, but with the help of my bro, Fernando, I was able to spot our house. We continued to wander around the top of Pichincha for a bit and witness the sun set behind the mountains, it was quite a sight. Here´s a glimpse of what it was like to be up there:
The week proceeded in typical fashion except that I took my first two tests here in Quito. Although I very much like the subjects, teachers, and small class sizes here, the material has not been all that demanding and the exams resembled the tests I probably took in 4th grade, but I won´t complain.
Thursday night rolled along (kind of like in Madison, it´s the unofficial start of the weekend) we took back to la Mariscal and ended up singing Karaoke. It was my first time doing so in my life and video evidence (which, no, I will not be sharing) can prove it should probably be my last. We elected to spend the weekend in Quito after traveling the previous few, so on Saturday a few of us went back to the old town, or colonial Quito. We spent a nice few hours wandering the streets, old churches, and pleasing out taste buds with Bon Ice´s (a real yummy popsicle, freezy type thing). I was kind of hoping to witness some action as the result of all the political turmoil and tension that´s been going, but none was to be found.
Finally, it was time for the Superbowl and my chance to cheer against the team I love so much to cheer against and get back in touch with my american roots. A lot of people here don´t understand, or even care to try to understand, american football. To them, and you can´t really blame them, it´s just a bunch of huge ogres running into each other aimlessly. Regardless, a large number of bars in la mariscal were showing the game and we managed to find one where we could stretch out in some nice leather couches, relax, and watch the bears fall apart. Most people we talked to or just witnessed watching the game were either Bears fans for Patriots fans, who all hate Peyton Manning with a passion. This of course just made our enjoyment over the Colts´ victory that much better, and, of course, we made sure to throw in a good number of cheers to Brett Favre (whom I´m sooo glad will be returning to lead the Pack to the playoffs). After the game, excited and hungry, we hunt down a local shwarma (chicken in a pita cone, kind of) place and spent an hour so eating and chatting with a crazy Cuban-American. Not only did he have countless funny stories and witty remarks about various cultures or his various ex-wives, he told us a story that I would not believe at all had it not been for his passionate, detailed, and long-winded way of telling it. Supposedly, after arriving in Miami from Cuba he was already making a great living after only a year or two but that wasn´t enough for him. He (remember this is just his story) and four others engineered a plan (think the movie Officespace if you´ve seen it) where they would extract 2 cents to an account from every Mastercard transaction worldwide. Well apparently it worked too well and after a month they had accumulated 45 million dollars, were subsequently caught, and he was deported to Ecuador where he now serves Shwarma and hassles Americans (though he did pay for our company with a pitcher of, what else, Pilsener).
Fast forward a few days to Wednesday, yesterday, when I visited the small village of Guapulo. I finished school early and had been meaning to find some time alone to do some wandering and pondering (ha, nice ring to that) and had heard about this unique place. After about a half hour walk, which once navigating well gave me a lot more confidence about finding my way around unknown streets in Quito, I made it to the top of the giant hill that hosts Guapulo. At the top stands a statue that marks the spot of the first voyage of European, a Spanish colonialist Francisco de Orellana, into the Amazon. The trek down the hill is very scenic, you find yourself surrounded by a variety of colonial-style homes, cobblestone roads, other ramshack houses, colorful, unique plants and flowers, and breathtaking views of green mountainsides. At the bottom of the hill stands a really nice church built in the 17th century along with another statue of Orellana, also both marking the start of his epic journey. Despite the treacherous walk back up the still hillside, it was a very worthwhile venture and it felt really nice to get out on my own for a bit and explore part of this awesome country.
Which brings us to today. Tonight Fernando´s taking me to a reggae concert which should be a lot of fun. One of the few things I miss about being back in Madison was all the live music. Tomorrow after class we´re packing up and taking off to Cotopaxi National Park to camp out at the base of the giant volcano, amidst gorgeous landscapes, redwood-like enormous trees, and an array of wildlife. We also plan on climbing part way up Cotopaxi to where the glacier starts, there´s no way we would be able to make it much farther than that without climbing experience and a bit more acclimatization. Once again, it will be really nice to escape the crowded streets of Quito to explore more of the natural beauty Ecuador possesses.
Bout it, hope all of you back in Wisconsin are keeping warm, but it doesn´t sound easy from what I´ve been hearing about the weather. Not to make you tooo jealous, but it´s still been pretty constantly in the mid-70´s here and my peeling has finally receded into a bit of a tan, which my host mother assures me will make me like less of a gringo (it´s not really used as negative, offensive term here).
Take care and keep in touch!
Brett
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