La primera semana

Hola a todos!

Well, Moira and I are rounding out our first week in Quito. On Sunday, Toni and Rolf took us to la Mitad del Mundo to see the Equator. I think my level of enthusiasm for this event was much higher than it needed to be, but I got to be in both hemispheres! At the same time! I thought it was pretty exciting.

Yesterday we went to speak with a travel agent Toni knows since Moira and I have so many excursions planned for the upcoming weeks and need to figure out bus departure times etc. We found out that the train to Cotapaxi only leaves on Saturdays, the same day as the mercado artesenal in Otavalo. Luckily, there is another, slightly smaller version of the mercado tomorrow, so we're waking up at the crack of down and taking the bus to spend the day in Otavalo. I'm glad that everything worked out and that we get to go to both places. Cotapaxi should be great (it's a national park/forest) with lots of hiking. I'm really looking forward to getting out and doing something physical, because I have been pretty floja since our arrival.

Speaking of being floja, Moira and I finally went out last night for the first time. For the first few days, we kept promising one another that we would go to a discoteca or two, but we kept ending up falling asleep early. Sunday night, we were a punto de salir, but none of the taxi agencies picked up their phones, so we watched Romeo y Julieta, Baz Luhrmann edition, instead.

Last night, however, we were successful. We ducked into a little place for empanadas and pan de yuca (sidenote--I have eaten more dairy in the past week than in the previous four years and I think it might be taking its toll. I look forward to welcoming a mostly vegan diet back into my life upon my return to the States) before heading to La Plaza Foch.

There, we spent the night talking with two guys from Brussels, a woman from Calgary, and two guys from Quito. One of the Ecuadorian guys is going to be in Atacames next week when we're there, so we got his email to keep in touch (playing it safe, of course). An older customer in the cafe gave us some advice as well of how to disfrutarnos in Atacames, but I think that we'll be able to figure that out in a town known for it's beautiful wide beaches and its perpetually-open discotecas. Yeah, we'll be fine. I'm especially looking forward to spending my birthday there.

Take care all--I'll try to convince Moira to make a post at some point so you can know what's happening on her end.

Chau,
Adrien