Final Score

Scoring works this way: If you are the first to try a new food, you get 3 points. If, after the person has tried it, you also try it, you get 1 point. If everyone tries it at the same time (all order it at a restaurant, for example), EVERYONE gets 3 points. And the final scores are:

Brendan: 54
Chloe: 45
Sara: 40
Tom: 37
Quinn: 66

Quinn was probably helped out by the simple fact that he was around me 24 hours a day, and so lobbied for points every time he tried something new, while the students may not even have told me about some of their culinary adventures. Hey, it pays to have connections. The foods we tried on the trip:

Chaulafan
Milanesa
Jugo de mora
Sopa de pollo
Tallarin con camaron
Aji
Chocolate con queso
Uvillas
Jugo de tomate de arbol
Sopa de esparrago
Choclo andino
Jugo de guanavana
Pro Fit Manzana
Nectar de mora
Galleta de chocolate
Ceviche mixto marabita
Platano frito
Patacones
Jugo de pina
Humitas
Empanadas verdes
Chifles
Dulce de guayaba
Empanadas de pollo
Cafe con leche
Jugo de papaya
Pitajuaya
Pepino dulce
Chirimoya
Tuna
Ochotillo
Guanavana
"Fruta roja con pelo"
Dulce de leche
Tostado
Trucja campesina
Habas
Sopa de papas
Pollo apanado
Jugo de zanahoria
Bunuelitos

Misty Mountains and Malls

Tom cartwheeled down the stairs this morning, belting out "I Feel Pretty" in his rich baritone, and when he came to a stop at our breakfast table, he pulled out the iron bar supporting its parasol and bent it into the shape of a heart for us. Well, perhaps not quite that big an improvement, but he is definitely back. Sara was still droopy this morning, and stayed in and rested rather than join the rest of us on our Quest for Pichincha.

We took the Trole out to its maximum northern extension, and then got a taxi cab to take us to the Teleférico, the cable car that runs to the top of Pichincha. We payed $7 a head instead of $4, which allowed us to jump right to the front of the line and step aboard - and this was a line of easily a hundred people. All of whom would rather spend over an hour in line than spend $3 more. The relative importance of $3 was extremely well illustrated for us at that moment. The gondola ride itself is a spectacular experience; this was really the first thing we have doen where there have been considerable numbers of Gringos around us, apart from staying at the hotel. the views from the top are breathtaking, even if it wasnt a perfectly clear day and we couldnt see the snowcaps to the north and south. (I know they´re there, Ive seen them all before.) Took some pictures, had lunch at a VERY reasonable and well-run Ecuadorian restaurant, hiked (Brendan, Tom and I did, anyway) a ways up the very cold and damp - hailing, actually - mountaintop, before descending in a very swing-prone gondola, probably due the wind. There is no way to get out of the complex without walking through their gigantic video game parlor, where Quinn, predictably, asked to play a few. The students obliged, and actually played some themselves. Chloe didn´t actually play anyting, but rather fell in love with a new kind of candybar. We´ll have to find it at the supermarket before we go so she can bring some home.

Back to the hotel around 2:45 - though Chloe asked permission to stay behind in the Plaza Grande and read her book, which was granted. The rest of us rested until 4:00, when we all met up to head into the tourist section, which circumstances of the Day That Shall Not Be Named had prevented us from really exploring. But when we got there, the entire district was shuttered - 4:45 on a Saturday. It was puzzling to all of us. Tourists don´t care if it´s Saturday or Tuesday - they´re on vacation. But the Ecuadorian shopkeepers do, apparently, because all that was missing on Amazonas, the big strip, were tumbleweeds. We hit the ATM and then decided to head north to a mall where a Latin American movie was going to be showing - and where Quinn would also be able to see "Las tortugas ninja". We split up for mall exploration and meals (remember the Ecuadorian woman who told Sara on the plane ride down here that Ecuadorian malls were better than American ones? I think I would have to agree...), then met at 6:30 to discuss strategy. "Las tortugas ninja" starts at 7:25, and their movie is at 8:25, so I told them Quinn and I would be upstairs at the Internet cafe (where we are now) until our showtime, and that we would meet them at the door to the theater when their movie lets out at 10:00. It will be a late night, but thats appropriate for our last night in Quito.

The mall has been a good experience for them, I think - we are again the ONLY gringos for a kilometer in any direction. And the place is just as snappy and bright and economically active as anywhere in the US. That´s Latin America for you - just read Márquez. The fifteenth century is three blocks away from the 21st.

Thank goodness for Cyberchase.com. $1.00 an hour for the use of the computer, and Quinn doesn´t mind waiting for me to write the blog at all.

UPDATE: Quinn and I got out of the movie to find our 4 intrepid students yawning on the bench in front of the movie theater - their movie had been sold out. Qué pena, because that would have been a great experience, but they seemed pleased anyway with the evening. (By the way: Las tortugas ninja get a big thumbs up from both of us.) Took taxis home, and Tom, who shared a ride with me and Quinn and listened in on my conversation with the drive about Correa, the vote, and Ecuador´s political history, said after we got out: "EVERYBODY here is so SMART!" And it is true, we have had a very, very well-informed sample of taxi drivers in Quito. Smart, savvy bunch of people.

Good night!

Black Friday

Well, maybe it´s not SO bad. But a few things went awry today - I´ll run them down for you to get them out of the way:

Tom woke up feeling pretty bad, and had to go to the doctor, an American-educated, English-speaking doctor in the tourist section of town. He has strep, and was prescribed antibiotics and told to stay in bed for 24 hours. He feels a lot better and is counting the hours down.

Sara is feeling a bit sick and spent the afternoon in bed, but self-medicated, and then felt good enough to come out for supper and the first half of a concert before calling it a day. She went to bed in a pretty good mood.

I either lost my wallet or had it pickpocketed, hard to tell which. I´ve canceled the credit card and the ATM card, but I´ll have to improvise the money situation somewhat.


Heavy sigh. Here´s the rest of our day:

We transfered hotels and they´re very happy to be back at the Hotel San Francisco. Because I was going to the doctor with Tom this morning, the students´scheduled visit to the University San Francisco de Quito in Cumbaya followed by lunch at my former student Melissa´s house in Tumbaco had to be put off, and Brendan and Chloe spent the late morning and early afternoon reading in the Plaza Grande, Quito´s most majestic sqwuare, right in front of the Presidential Palace as Tom and I were off at the doctor. They actually wound up meeting and conversing for a while with a student of USFQ, in a weird coincidence.

Around 2:00, the students who weren´t ill, Quinn, and I went to Cumbaya on public transportation and had the university tour after all. (Quinn and I actually bowed out partway through to play foosball in the student union area. Quinn won, 14-10.) The students were impressed with the place, which was only built in 1994. Our guide was very energetic and knew a lot about the institution.

Riding the trole back to the hotel, we were sitting kind of far from the door on a VERY crowded car, and I knew our stop was coming up soon, so I made my way toward the door and signaled the students to do the same. There were a couple of stops to go yet, but I figured it was better to be prepared. Of course, the students read my body language as "Get off at the next stop", which they did, unable to see me in the crowd. They were looking around expecting me to get off when we caught sight of each other through the closing doors. I signaled that I´d get off at the next stop, thinking they´d probably get on the next train and meet me there, but as we pulled away I saw them getting off the platform to walk to the next stop. Quinn and I met them halfway. Wow, this trole is really troublesome. Good for slapstick, though.

We were back at the hotel to check on Tom and Sara by 6:00, and both were feeling much better. All but Tom went to eat supper in the chicken restaurant downstairs in the hotel, and then walked three blocks form the hotel into the UNBELIEVABLY gorgeouos, recently restored neighborhood called La Ronda, Quito´s most famous colonial street, for a concert in which Jeff Eckels, husband of Melissa, played bass for some modern renditions of the pasillo, a traditional song format from Ecuador. We had an introduction to the Ecuadorian rules regarding concert-going, namely: Constant conversation is fine; standing up and walking across the view of everyone in the middle of a song is fine; picking up your back-row seat and carrying it to the front to magically turn it into a front row seat for youself and your family of three is fine; bringing a dog is fine. Surprisingly, there were no cell phones going off. It made for some very fun debriefing after the concert. The music was good, though, and the venue was gorgeous, so everyone had a good time.

Tomorrow, we are going to go up in the teleferico (cable car) to the top of Pichincha, the mountain that overlooks Quito. Yes, it is a volcano; no, it isn´t active. And the possibility of clouds ruining the view is pretty high - but, after today, our luck is bound to turn.

Tom just came down! Feeling good! Things are looking up!

Mr Johnson

Taxis, taxis, taxis

Revelie was at 8:00 this morning, and we immediately piled into cabs for the bus station, where we took the first outbound bus to Quito. Made amazing time, got here around 11:00, and checked into our hotel, which I’d stayed in as a volunteer in the Peace Corps. Once we were ready to go to lunch, though, the students made it know they weren’t pleased with the cleanliness of the place, and so after lunch I dropped them off at the Museo del Banco Central, where we were given a guide, and Quinn and I rode out to our previous Quito hotel to see if we could arrange to stay there. We could, so tomorrow morning we’re changing hotels.

The afternoon was spent at the museum and then resting a bit at the current hotel. I had asked the students to look at 3 local newspapers for options for this evening’s entertainment, and the options were a concert at the Casa de Cultura Ecuatoriana, advertised in 2 different newspapers but completely un recognized by the staff at the CCE (same building as the Museo del Banco Central). Another option was a concert in Cumbaya, but it’s a bit of a trek for a concert that (A) might happen, (B) might be free or might cost $30, and (C) might be sold out already. No way to find out. Another option was a live performance of a play, but the play in question is 3 hours long, and that seemed a bit much. Another option was a piece of puppet theater about a famous dead Argentine tango singer and the search for an unrequited love across Buenos Aires.

Naturally, we went with the puppets. Piled into cabs to go over to the Humboldt Center, where the production took place in a tiny little basement theater. The students seemed intrigued – Tom said (in Spanish), “I wish I had been able to understand more.” I think all were sufficiently entertained and had their minds expanded even as they soaked in some Argentine Spanish and got thoroughly weirded out. All good and healthy. Cabs back to the hotel, and the evening ended.

I should also mention that we had cebiche for supper, and those of us who had it really, really liked it. I could eat that every day. Great Manabita place right up the street from us here. This tourist district is such a rabbit warren – I get turned around very easily. But we managed not to lose anyone.

Tomorrow: Tour of the USFQ, lunch in Tumbaco with my friend Melissa and her family, and the an evening concert of Ecuadorian pasillos with Melissa’s husband, Jeff, in the south of Quito, right near our old / new hotel.

G’night!

Otavalo On My Mind

Awoke in Otavalo and headed north on the train tracks (now defunct) toward Peguche, a little town that´s about 100% indigenous. Most of the way there we met up with an Ecuadorian couple, whom I flagged down to ask if they knew how to get to the waterfall we were looking for. They said they were looking for the same place, and that they wouldn´t mind giving us a ride. So we all piled into their Rav4 and trundled down the cobblestone road to where it turned off and then got out to explore the falls. They´re lovely, set in a eucalyptus grove (which is always just about empty of birds, since local insects and birds don´t eat the introduced eucalyptus), and after seeing them, we walked to Peguche itself. There we met a man who had a tiny little store in the bottom floor of his house, an Indian, who, after selling us some bananas and soft drinks, let slip that his family members were in the back working on their weavings. I asked if we could impose on him to let us in to see, and he said sure. Three were in the back, one slicing up a long strip of woven material for children´s sweaters, another winding yarn ont a spool, and a third upstairs weaving on the hand loom. He talked to us about how a lot of artisans now have automated weaving, and made a somewhat lame argument about how that´s still handicraft. BUt the equipment is a big investment, and it´s all old industrial stuff from defunct factories in Quito so it breaks down a lot and you have to order spare parts made because the machines are out of date...A very informative conversation. We thanked him and left.

Across the street, Chloe went into a store to use a bathroom, and while we waited for her we struck up a conversation with the store´s owner, an Indian who told us that with every generation, they speak Quichua less and less well, and he thinks it will eventually be lost. We compared that with my experience raising Quinn in Spanish...Again, a very interesting conversation, cut short by the arrival of our bus, which took us up through a couple of the mountain Indian towns before taking us back to Otavalo.

We had lunch, and I set the students free on the market for the afternoon, saying we´d meet back up at the hotel at 5:00.

In the meantime, I called Melissa, my friend in Tumbaco, who said she hasn´t been able to organize a family stay, but would still love to host us for lunch and show us Tumbaco, a rural / suburban town where she lives with her husband, who teaches music at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, which we´ll be visiting Friday. Jeff is giving a concert in Quito on Friday with a pasillo group, pasillos being traditional Ecuadorian songs, so we´re also planning on doing that. But since there will be no home stay, we set an agenda in a group meeting (all present except Quinn, who was watching Sponge Bob in Spanish in the next room) what our agenda for the trip would be.

Having asked the owner of the hotel what was going on in Otavalo this evening, I took the group to another mass just up the street, and they paid very strict attention to a lot of details, picking up on things like a painting depicting three people being thrown from a vehicle in a grisly accident on a curve in the mountains here and being saved by the Virgin Mary, complete with rays to catch them as they fell. The sermon was about evangelicals, and the priest said they have left their faith for another and abandonded Mary, which leaves them as orphans, the poor devils. He said they weren´t true Christians, etc., and the students had understood a very good percentage of it when we left. It dovetailed very nicely with the evangelicals we had seen going door to door on the outskirts of Otavalo earlier this afternoon, Bibles in hand. The struggle for the souls of Ecuador goes on.

So now we´re doing our usual wind-down in the Internet cafe (which, as Tom pointed out, is not a cafe - they don´t bother to serve any drinks), and tomorrow we´re off to Quito again. the students have requested that we stay in La Mariscal, the touristy district where we had supper with Juan and Maria Eugenia. I´ll see what I can do.

Off to Otavalo

The day started easily, with a cab drive through rainy Quito, which is a whole different experience when the cobblestones are wet, to the bus station and an immediate entrance into a north-bound bus,heading for Otavalo, and we would have made great time but for a fender bender that our bus got into. Someone tried to u turn in front of us and the bus clipped the back of her car. They had to stand on the sidewalk and haggle, with a policeman there, about who paid whom how much for a good half hour, in which time I fruitlessly argued for them to open tha door and let us stand on the sidewalk. Oh well. We were off again and arrived in otavalo around lunch time.

Had lunch in a mom and pop little restaurant with no menu, just a set lunch, and a very friendly family. We noticed on the way out that the intricate patterns in the stone and concrete floor were actually made up of rows and rows of cow bones. Hundreds of them, thousands. Pretty nifty. After a post lunch snooze, we headed to the big open air market, and the students seemed to really enjoy it. Che Guevara pendants, woven pants, sweaters, earrings...many purchases were made, and more are on the docket for tomorrow.

I followed the lead of the students for supper, which we just had at a tourist oriented place that served mostly Italian food. I broke down - theyve had plenty of Ecuadorian fare. Our list of new foods people have tried is now deep onto its second page...Been pointing out when people are speaking Quichua = Otavalo is an Indian town, very prosperous, with a long history of trade. Quinn noticed a larger number of bicycles here than in Quito, a combination of the prosperity of the population and the fact hat it is a much smaller town and it is safer to ride a bicycle here.

The evening will hold a stroll to look for any music there might be, and an early start tomorrow, since we probably are going to go on a somewhat lengthy hike to see the waterfall of Peguche. That, after another morning visit to the market - they were happy to find that it opens at 7:00 AM. This, from a group that whimpers like puppies when you set roll call for 8:00.

Tom has gone from eating nothing to engaging in eating contests with Chloe and Sara. And speaking of Tom, he just found online the name of the trio that knocked our socks off at the Teatro Nacional Sucre the other night. Hooray, which I would love to end with an exclamation point, but this keyboard is stumping me. Our hotel here is as nice as our last one, if not nicer, and spirits are high. Commerce will do that.

Until tomorrow

Mr Johnson

Tom is feeling better

Almost fogot to mention this, so far has the issue receded from my mind: Tom has figured out that it was simply a nagging case of motion sickness, and has had a lot of success with easy remedies. Feeling much better now, and looking forward to the rest of the trip! (I once had motion sickness for three days after a 24-hour ferry ride, followed by intermittent train travel. No fun.) Other than that apparently resolved issue, all are happy and healthy! Including Quinn, who ran - the boy RAN - up endless flights of stairs in mountainous Old Quito while the rest of us huffed and heaved in the altitude. To his credit, there was no taunting.