Week 2, Still in Quito!

I am writing to you from an amazing altitude of 9,350 feet. My heart has managed to keep the blood flowing and I wholeheartedly beleive that I have acclimized to the altidude. Quito truly is a picturesque city. It is nesstled in between various dormant and some active (it´s been like 300 years since an eruption) volcanoes. Flying into Quito was a truly heartpumping experience. Not only was the altitude reaking havock on me but the turbulance on the plane was incredible as we descended, the clouds and updrafts tossed and boggled the qaircrafts precious cargo like a two year old playing a game of Boggle on a Cedar Point ride. As our plane taxied to the airport the passenges gave a well deserved round of applause to the captain, the crew, and Jesus himself(still spelled the same but now pronounced hesus).
We walked of the plane and immediately stood out in a sea of dark haired Ecuadorians. Eic could have been mistaken for a local if not for his towering 6´2´´ frame while Ken with red hair and me with black (Morena) skin stood no chance.
The airport was surprising clean and effiient and seemed much like Denver un benownsed to us this temporary shelter did not parralel Quito´s true charicter but rather masked it.
The three of us made our way to the luggage carousel (with matching small backpacks). Grabbed our luggage which had arrived on time, unscathed, and unopened.
We took a ride straight to our hostel ¨CASA BAMBU¨. The airport of Quito is located in the middl of the city so we were bombarded with the harsh climate of any major metropolitan area. the three of us rode excitedly in the taxi with windows rolled down. We inhaled the abundant deisel smoke and watched as motorists weaved their way through traffic with careful wrecklessness. a smorgishboard of people, cars, police and vendors assaulted our senses with sweet pans of bread and buckets of putrid fish. The streets themselves are extremely confusing because of the mountainous region. In the 5 minute trip to the Hostal I confided in Ken that I was sure we were driving in circles. We arrived at our Hostal and were greeted by a magnicent view of the whole city as well as an exceptionally exotic and good looking women. Our confidence was put to rest as soon as we tried to inform her that we had a reservation.. in Spanish. Although it was evident that she understood some english she seemed to enjoy watching the three of us stumble over words and try to talk over each other to relay the simple message. After what must have been two hours, we received our Keys and began unpacking our bags and praying to Allah, Jesus, and the Pope that we had packed all the essentials, from ipods to the 8 cans of bugspray and of course our Passportes. Our first day in Quito had ended in some minor successes. First, none of us had been raped, robbed, or killed. second, we had been let into the country, and third we all maintained the enthusium and often accompanied naivity that blossoms in the opening moments of an adventure.

Week 2, Still in Quito!

Quito, Ecuador