Another day, another ten cents (things are so cheap here)

Dear Chris Kwon,

A majority of the group went to teleferiqo this morning. I called up my friend Edan and asked if she wanted to do something different, since we both had already gone to the teleferiqo. (Nothing could beat the teleferiqo trip I took with Antonio- fast and free). Edan said of course and we decided to take a bus to the Centro Histórico. I have been really interested in going to the Parque El Ejido, which supposedly has a events on the weekend. We stopped at the park and wandered through the mini-market. Everything was pretty schlocky, but there weren't many tourists around. We headed over to the park across the street, called Arbolita. I don't know why it's called that, as there are no trees in the park. We sat underneath the huge ball (pictured at the left). We both wanted to go to a museum. I suggested we go to the museum with 4 different types of museums in 1. Neither one of us could remember the name of that museum though. Finally, I found the name written in my moleskin. It's called the Casa de la Cultura. We looked at Edan's map and found the museum. It was literally right in front of us. We walked through the park and entered the museum. There was a student price: $1. I whipped out my international student card that's good through this month only. The guy at the ticket booth told me that they were having some sort of promotion and student's admission is free.

Unfortunately, only two exhibits were open. It was a really nice museum, but sort of boring. There was a bunch of pottery and religious pictures. I enjoyed the 3 pieces of modern art. I'm glad I went but more glad I didn't have to pay.

Edan and I jumped back on the bus and headed to Centro Histórico. We were starving, so we found a hole in the wall place (literally, it was a hole in the wall down some empty alley). It was packed. We ordered Almuerzos (rice, meat, beans, and juice) for $2. When we were checking out, the owners commented on how pale we both were (and I'm totally sunburned).

We sat on the steps in the Plaza Grande for a bit. I really wanted ice cream, so we headed out to find some ice cream. We stumbled upon this place that had a ton of ice cream for very cheap. As it turned out, our teleferiqo friends were eating there too. We sat with them. I enjoyed my coconut and chocolate ice cream with softserve on top. (This isn't what I intended to order, but it was good).

As a group, we moved on. We went to Plaza Santo Domingo, where there was some sort of concert. I walked around, somewhat enjoying the music, and realized that this was some sort of lesbian fair thing. There were signs all over the place. I must say, it was very interesting to see a bunch of lesbian pride in a plaza bordered by a church. We moved on through some less busy streets. We ran across some kids playing soccer with a tiny soccer ball (size 1 for those of you who know soccer ball sizes) in an alley. I love Old Quito. We found our way back to the main area. A girl and I took the trolley home. I was sort of nervous, but I knew where I was and walked quickly.

My "neighbor" is home. She and I had shrimp and guacamole for dinner. We even had some mousse-type thing for dessert. I think they only serve dessert on Sundays. I know you all are interested in what I eat. That is why I have commented on the food. Everyone at school knows me for saying how I want to die after every meal. So much food.