Examenes, Gringolandia, y Centro Histórico

Dear Chris Kwon,

On Thursday, I woke up at 6:30, because I had to be at my service learning place at 8. I forgot to tell Susy, so I thought I could just sneak out. I left at around 7. At my house, there is a front door, immediately followed by a gate, then the garden and another gate. I could NOT get out of the first gate. I have the key, but the lock is really messed up. After five minutes of failure, I went back inside, thinking I could escape from a different door. Fortunately, Antonio was inside.He helped me. Now, I'm terrified that I will be out late one night and not be able to get in because of the stupid gate.

On Friday, I took my midterms. After two written tests and one oral presentation about Semana Santa, I was free. Pretty much everyone at school decided to go to Cuban food in Gringolandia. I'm pretty sure every big Latin American city has a Gringolandia. It's a place all the white people congregate. We piled into three different cabs and made our way to Gringolandia. One cab let off everyone at the restaurant. The rest of us were let off in the middle of Gringolandia. We searched for the restaurant for an hour. The Cuban place was on the outskirts of Gringolandia, thus very hard to find. We finally made it there and enjoyed Cuban sandwiches and live music. (Please don't tell my host mother I went there, because she hates Cubans).

After Cuban food, we walked around and were invited into some dance bars. The nightlife in Gringolandia is probably the best in town for us gringos. We went to two different dance clubs and danced the night away. We ran into some PLU kids there too. It was really fun, even though I have no dance talent whatsoever. I called it quits at around 1:45 and made it home by 2:00. My host parents remembered my struggle with the gate and left it unlocked.

This morning (okay, it was 11:30) I met up with some school friends and we played some

frisbee in the park. I was exhausted and sweaty afterwards. It was around 80 degrees here today. SO HOT! We headed over to the school (very close to the park) and met up with some other folks. We caught some cabs and headed to Centro Historico AKA Old Quito. Old Quito is so precious. It's where all the plazas, museums, and churches are. I assume there is a huge European influence, because the streets are very narrow. It's fun watching buses navigate the narrow streets.

We began at the Plaza Grande, where we had gone on our first city tour. We walked around. People got some ice cream, I got a sandwich. We stumbled upon the Basílica de Voto Nacional. We wandered around the chapel for a bit and saw some people on a balcony. I wanted to get on the balcony. I figured out that we had to go outside. We walked around outside and admired the gardens and the outside of the church.

I saw some people on top of the church and decided I wanted to go there instead. We found a place to buy tickets and we made our way up into the church. We took the SLOWEST elevator in the world up three floors. When we got off, we were in a gift shop. We wandered around the level and found a really sketchy bridge thing that led to a ladder. We safely crossed the bridge and made our way up a very steep, unstable ladder. (Later, we all decided that Ecuador is not a "suing" culture, but more of a "do at your own risk" type culture). At the top of the ladder, we found ourselves outside with an amazing view of the city. Some people took two more ladders of the same sketch-level and stood at the top of the tower. It was a beautiful day and the views were spectacular.

One of our groupmates, Matt, was on the other side of the church at the same level as us. He somehow managed to get in the clock tower. I scampered down the ladder and over the bridge (to Grandmother's house, I went). I climbed up a lovely spiral staircase and ended up in the belfry. On an unrelated note, there are two giant clocks on the church and neither one of them are accurate. I found Matt and we rang the bell. I can't imagine anywhere in the States where any of this would be possible, but it was fun.

The rest of the group joined us and we went to eat lunch in the church cafe (which was two floors below the belfry and no where near the chapel). The food was amazing and super cheap. No one paid more than $3 for their meal. Again, I don't know of anywhere in the States where this would be possible. Joey and I decided not to take the slow elevator downstairs, so we took the stairs. On floor two, we ran into a gate, so we were forced to exit a different way. Our exit turned out to be the balcony overlooking the chapel. There was a wedding going on in the chapel. Joey and I found an organ on the balcony and considered playing it for the wedding. We decided it was a bad idea, found a different staircase, and left the church. After almost 3 hours of playing at Basílica, we left to explore more of Centro Histórico.

We wandered around and nothing too exciting happened. We ran across a weekly talent show. I guess everyone is invited to participate, because someone asked one of us if she wanted to sing a song. She declined. Some people bought some Canela (the unofficial beverage of Ecuador). Canela is essentially hot apple cider with some kind of alcohol in it. Some people wanted to take the bus home, but I had no idea how to take the bus and it was dark, so I opted for a cab. A cab ride here is usually less than $5 for anywhere in the city.

I came home, worried my family might have been expecting me. Only Tía and Abuelita were home. Abuelita's nurse-or whoever she-is made me some dinner. It was exactly what I wanted: Salad (with avocado), egg (exactly like I make it- omelet style without any fillings), and these amazing potato-cheese-latke type things called tortilla de papas.

All in all, it has been a good weekend so far. Somehow I got sunburned today, even though I used sunscreen! Tomorrow, I would like to explore more of the city. I was telling my group today that I don't feel like I live here yet. I know nothing about Quito. There is not much information about Quito anywhere- internet or guidebooks. It's a mysterious city that you can only know by experiencing. Quito, te amo.