Alright so the weekend after we went to the Amazon, we had this whole plan that we were going to go to Cotopaxi. Cotopaxi is the closest volcano to Quito and people go there to like legit climb (with tents and caribeners and all that) and also you can go to just hike up a little bit of it too. It's kind of hard to get there but we found a train that did! It's super cold at Cotopaxi and the train was set to leave at some unearthly hour of the morning so I gathered together my guantes (gloves), bufanda (scarf), and gorra (hat) and headed off to Emory's house for a sleepover on Friday night. At her house I got to take the most glorious shower. Seriously, it was amazing. There are some things that you never realize are blessings until you have to go without them for a long while. I am SO over luke-warm showers. So over it. That is one thing I will not miss at all when I go home.
Anyways, we got up bright and early and took the trole bus to the train station. Where we learned that all the tickets were sold out for the train to Cotopaxi. So instead we bought tickets for a train to Boliche, a site that the people at the train station told us was beautiful and had a forest to walk through and such. We hopped on with our fancy tickets and learned it was more like a tour than just a mode of transportation. We had a tour guide who explained all the stuff we were passing and it was super interesting and chévere. The most legitimate mode of transportation we've taken in Ecuador. Haha.
The 2-hour train ride there and back was beautiful as was the park.
I would write about the school weeks but really, they're just the same as always. Just like at MSU. I go to class, be bored, take notes, be stressed, eat lunch with friends on campus/around campus, avoid homework with watching TV shows, hang out with Joaquin, be stressed, actually do homework, and look forward to the weekends. :)
So the next weekend we went out on Thursday to Red Hot Chili Pepper's (a restaurant with great margaritas and piña coladas) and on Friday we flew to Cuenca! I love the idea of jetting off for a weekend and I'd never done it, so this was quite the experience. You can get to Cuenca by bus, but it's around 10 hours so if you're just going for the weekend it's best to fly. So we decided to splurge because we really wanted to see the 3rd largest city in Ecuador and one of the originals, hence crazy cool architecture and lots of history/culture. It was spectacular. We were in Quito and then 45 minutes later we were in Cuenca. Rebecca and I took a later flight than the others because they didn't have Friday classes so we literally took a taxi from the airport to the restaurant at which they were waiting for some amazing Italian food. That night we went to this cool restaurant/bar nearby called Wunderbar and then headed back to the hostel for a good night of sleep!
That Saturday (2 de abril) we hopped on a bus to go to Ingapirca, a site with ancient Incan ruins where we took a tour and got to see the ruins. Very cool. Check out the pics on facebook.
That afternoon we headed back to Cuenca, got some ice cream, absorbed la vida Cuencana, marvelled over the plazas and the streets and the houses, got some chocolate-covered strawberries, and then took a double-decker bus tour of the city! This was really really cool.
We had a tour guide, we were on the roof, and we got to see Cuenca as the sun was going down and the city lights were coming up. Pretty much spectacular. Cuenca is beautiful, cultural, and much calmer than a lot of other Ecuadorian cities. It is the most "livable" city in Ecuador in my opinion, and it actually is known to have a lot of retired Americans as residents! I don't really know how to explain why it felt so livable, but it did. Many of my friends said they could see themselves living there later in life. We met up with one of Emory's Cuencan friends and hung out with him and his friends for awhile, went to a few bars and such, and then it was time for beddy-bye again.
On Sunday we went out to an art museum and then just sort of hung around Cuenca. We walked the streets, wandered by the river, took some pictures, and generally enjoyed Cuenca. That afternoon it started to rain so we watched Black Swan back in our hostel before jetting back to Quito!
Last weekend (7-10 de abril) the highlight was the CHIVA! A Chiva is like an open-air bus type thing where in the bed of it there is open space and there are handles on the ceiling. The driver drives around the city (Centro Historico and things of this nature) while there is music blasted and canelazo (a hot alcoholic ecuadorian drink) flowing freely. You dance and sing and blow your whistles and get drunk as the Chiva drives around the city. It's pretty much the most fantastic thing ever. Here's a picture of it without any people on it so that you can kind of get an idea of what it is.
The next few days of the weekend were mostly just chill days. Watched some movies at friends' houses, did some more gift shopping in the Mariscal market, and did some homework of course!Then more school. Ugh. Haha. Although I did take a quiz that I got 20/20 on in a class I really need to do well in so that was very exciting!
This past weekend was another weekend in Quito since on Thursday we leave for Semana Santa!
On Thursday I went to a Barbeque at Matt's house in honor of the fact that his mom was in town! We had some delicious food, some great conversation, and some energetic dancing.
Friday we had dinner at Crepes & Waffles (a delicious restaurant that is unlike anything in the United States. it was started by some Columbians and unfortunately they only have locations in Spanish-speaking countries) and then we went to La Ronda. La Ronda is an area with more café and restaurant type bars and such. It is more chill than Plaza Foch/The Mariscal and canelazo is the drink of choice. It was a chilly night, but we had great conversation and basically great everything. I had been wanting to go there for awhile so I'm glad we finally did!
On Saturday Christina and I went to La Capilla del Hombre, a kind of art museum that was the idea of Oswaldo Guayasamín--a famous Ecuadorian painter.
We had to go for a class so we were a little bit skeptical but the art and the construction of the building were very cool. And afterwords we found a street vendor with mango slices (MY FAVORITE. Seriously. 50 cents and you get an entire mango pre-sliced in a little plastic bag. What could be better?). It started hailing (weird, right?) and thunderstorming and such so Christina and I had the brilliant-beyond-brilliant idea of gathering some people to go see a movie. We headed to Plaza de Las Americas, picked out a movie, bought our tickets (you have to pick your seats before you get into the theatre here), had some decadent coffee, and then went to the movie! We picked Rio, in 3D. So many new things in just this one experience! First movie in a foreign theatre, it was in Spanish (I mean I've watched movies in Spanish before but not in the theatre), and my first 3D movie! It was incredible and especially cool because it is set in Brazil where Christina is going next month to visit a friend! Incredible. Afterwords Beth and I headed to Emory's to eat some cake and watch some more movies. And yesterday I chilled and did homework, just like Sundays in the United States. Haha. Although I am especially disappointed that I'm missing Easter Season at home. I'm realizing how much I feel connected to Eastern Ave. due to how much I miss it and think about it. I also have realized how much I love Easter. It's things like this that you don't know you miss until you go without them for a long while. Interesting, no?
Anyways, I'm getting very excited to finally be done with school. I have one class tomorrow and then I'm off until May! That week after Semana Santa is going to be completely awful because it is a week of exams and presentations and quizzes and projects and homework and finals right after a week and a half off from school, but then after the following Monday (May 9) I will be completely done with school and my parents will be here! YAY!
Semana Santa translates as Holy Week but it is our Spring Break! From Thursday to Tuesday we will be in the Galapagos and then from Tuesday to Saturday in various Ecuadorian coastal towns and on the beach. I cannot wait. It is going to be such a good way to kind of end our time here in Ecuador. It's all coming to a close! Craziness. I feel like when I get home I will feel like this was all a dream and that it didn't really happen. Because it almost feels like I was at home yesterday and like I've been here for like a year all at the same time.
I love you all! Sorry I had to catch up on everything!
-EM
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