How Many Malls Are In Guayaquil?

Dear Chris Kwon,

After a wonderful evening sleeping in a hostel with a leaking roof that is close to a discoteca that blared music until 5 in the morning, I was ready to leave Party City, aka Montanitas. We bussed it to Guayaquil and were immediately overwhelmed by all the people at the bus station. Alex bought minutes for her phone and we called Tito. He told us he'd be at the station in 5minutes. A short time later (actually close to 5 minutes) we met up with the whole clan from the Galapagos. We all crammed into the family car (a very nice car).

We introduced Erica and Annie and explained that Annie needed to go to the bank to get money. The family was extremely helpful and took us straight to the specific bank. We walked on the Malecon (the boardwalk) after the bank. Tito showed us the important parts. We walked up Las Penas, which is a neighborhood with a bunch of stairs. The top has a pirate-themed museum and a gorgeous view of the city from a lighthouse. We walked back down the 400-something steps, completely drenched in sweat, and met up with Ricardo and Lynda (Brother and Mom). We discussed our evening's plans with Lynda and Tito. We were going to go to Cuenca tonight and stay somewhere there. At first, Tito's dad suggested we stay at his family home in Cuenca. We eventually decided that we would stay the evening in Guayaquil (a few hours is NOT enough to get to know this city, according to our hosts) and head to Cuenca in the morning.

Lynda is the manager of a bunch of ice cream stores in malls all over Guayaquil. We stopped at two different malls and two different ice cream places. At the first, she made sure we got her discount. At the second, she gave us free slurpee-like drinks. YUM

We rode back to their house and jumped in their pool (their backyard is a patio with a pool- so nice). I love this family. The dad, Francisco, blares disco and salsa music. It was quite the experience. We got out and Linda had bought us Burger King, so we chowed down on that. It was like summer! Francisco took us out for an evening tour of the city. It's WAY different than what I expected. This city, like the rest of this country, is really diverse. It sort of reminds me of LA, because it is spread out and there are some really nice parts and some not so nice parts. I enjoyed the tour. I like Guayaquil. I love this family. And that is how I feel about my day. Cuenca tomorrow?