The Ecuador Saga comes to a close

Saludos a todos! Moira and I are currently in Cusco, Peru after leaving Quito this morning. I am absolutely elated to be back here, if only for a week. I was pleased at how well I remembered all of the streets today when we were wandering around the city. I can't wait to go back to the orphanage and the Spanish school and see my friends from last year! It's going to be great.

Our airport experience today was a little bit hectic, given that we booked our Lima-Cusco flight approximately one hour before take-off. Teníamos mucha prisa in order to get to our gate on time, but luckily everything went off without a hitch (except for how expensive the flight was, but we don't need to talk about that here). We also decided to fly to Lima on the 17th from Arequipa instead of Cusco and save ourselves yet another ten hour bus ride, so that's nice. Plus, it will give us an extra day in Arequipa to have tea with Moira's friend Alonso's grandmother. Should be great.

Well, Moira and I have been discussing the past few days making a Best of Ecuador list, in order to commemorate our time there. Here goes!

Best moment of triumph: Climbing Cotopaxi in inappropriate gear, then celebrating with a Clif bar and lots of Oreos. Although, capturing the escaped monkey is also up there.
Best way to eat a banana: For me, a tie between steamed maqueños in the peel, maduros con queso, or the classic banana chip.
Best trago: Canelazo, a mixture of cane liquor, jugo de naranjilla, and cinnamon, served warm. really, really excellent.
Best jungle cat: The ocelot. Period.
Best children's t-shirt slogan: Found in tienda Rose: "Pacific Ocean, the largest body of water on Earth," on a little boy's shirt accompanied by a picture of a giant sailboat.
Best sweet treat: The best chocolate brownie covered in ice cream, chocolate syrup, bananas, and strawberries at Kallari Coffee in Quito (this place also had the best coffee).
Best bar: La Casa de Cerveza in Quito, for playing Bon Jovi, Blind Melon, and Maná all in one night, and Guapulo in Quito, for having an adorable resident cat and the best canelazo in Ecuador.
Best fruit not commercially available in the USA: The granadilla, which on the inside looks like a sac of alien larvae or eyeballs or something, but is extremely delicious. Don't let appearances fool you.
Best instance of rural/urban overlap: Downtown Cuenca, where we saw a man walking a herd of goats selling goat milk directly from the goat.

Maybe I will add more as I think of things, but that's all for now! I have to go on a quest to find lúcuma ice cream, because it is the best ice cream in the universe and I've got a craving.

Love to all!