Down time...and postponed beach trip!
As it turned out, we're not going to the beach until NEXT week! August 10th is a holiday here (El primer grito de independencia- the first shout of independence), so Chino's dad wanted to take advantage of his day off. The holiday celebrates the beginning of the process towards emancipation from Spain, and it is particularly significant because Quito was the first city in South America to initiate the radical idea of gaining independence from Spain, who had been colonizing the area for hundreds of years.
The only problem is, a good friend of ours is getting married on the 11th, and we'll probably have to find our own way back to Quito since Chino's parents don't plan on coming back til the 12th. Most likely we'll take a plane (which is only a half hour trip), which would actually be quite nice, since the 4-5 hour car ride can be pretty brutal with the swervy and oftentimes bumpy roads through the mountains. Since I'm leaving the 13th (ahh so soon!), I really have to take advantage of this last week and a half here in Quito before we go to the beach. I can't believe I have so little time left here!
The past couple of days we have been taking it pretty easy. Tuesday night we went to a little bar in Cumbaya called The Turtle's Head for some beers with our old friends Pedro and Diego. Pedro and Chino were in the group of Ecuadorian students that studied abroad at U of I my freshman year of college, which is how I met him and all of his friends. I became close friends with their group of friends, and we hung out often that year. It was so much fun catching up with Pedro and reminiscing about all the ridiculous and fun times we had together at U of I- I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard! Diego is a friend of Pedro's who I met while I studied abroad here in Ecuador. Chino, Diego, and I all were in the same ceramics class that semester, so we got to know each other well, and Diego would go out clubbing with me and my "gringa" friends.
Remembering about the ceramics class was too funny because, although it was an introductory ceramics class, there was this one girl who was clearly advanced and would make super intricate sculptures of like dogs and horses, and the professor would always say how we should be producing that kind of work, when really we were all just struggling with making coil pots! Our professor, Howard, was a really awesome, though, and it was one of my favorite classes that semester. He is from the U.S. but has been living and teaching in Ecuador for something like 20+ years. He always wore denim head to toe- jeans, denim shirt, and denim bucket hat, and it cracked me up that even after all his years in Ecuador, he had relatively broken Spanish with a thick American accent. Coincidentally, Chino and I just ran into him at the supermarket here LAST WEEK! He recognized us first before we even saw him, but we weren't able to chat long since he was flying to the U.S. the next morning and was in a rush to make a last-minute shop. I'm hoping to be able to visit him (as well as my favorite Psychology professor, Gerald), at the university when he comes back from his trip.
Wednesday for lunch, Chino and I went for lunch with another old friend, Siegfried (who we call Chacha). He's a full-time magician and is one of the nicest guys I know. He studied mechanical engineering at the university here and graduated with his degree in that, but his real passion is magic. His specialty is card tricks, but he does a wide variety of tricks and loves showing people that magic can be for adults too, not just for kids (in fact, he doesn't do any kid shows). He's exceptionally good at what he does, and I'm always shocked and amazed at the tricks he pulls off.
After lunch we went to an ice cream/coffee place in Cumbaya called Corfu, which is located in a (fancy) strip mall call La Esquina (The Corner). I had been craving crepes since I arrived in Ecuador (there is an INCREDIBLE crepe restaurant at the univeristy, which was unfortunately closed for the summer!), and luckily, Corfu sold crepes! Chino and I hadn't gotten around to the bank yet and were both out of money (it's not super common that places take debit cards here), so Chacha so nicely treated us to dessert! We got a delicious crepe filled with nutella, strawberries, and bananas, which came with a scoop of chocolate ice cream and whipped cream, and Chacha and I both got coffee to accompany it. WOW. I could have one of those every day...
While enjoying our dessert, Chacha busted out his deck of cards and had me help him with a card trick! We had a little trouble since it was so windy out...but somehow he managed to shock me anyways. I never ever have any idea how he does it! Chino thinks he saw the secret to the trick, but he was sworn to secrecy, so I'll never know. Here's a pic of Chacha doing his thing:
We had so much fun hanging out/catching up with Chacha! Hopefully we'll get to hang out with him and his girlfriend sometime this weekend or next week :)
Today was another lazy day... I read a book, I napped, we walked Chino's dog Tobias for a bit...nothing too exciting. BUT! we did go to the mall in a nearby town called Tumbaco (only like 5 minutues away), where we bought tickets to see the new Batman movie tomorrow night, which, considering the recent events in Colorado, makes me a little uneasy.
On a different note, I've been telling Chino over and over again that we need to bring frozen yogurt to Ecuador and open a little store! I'm sure it'd be a big hit here...I mean, who doesn't love frozen yogurt!? I've notice the frozen yogurt business, particularly the self-serve places like Cocomero in Champaign or Cherry Berry in Springfield have really exploded. Well, to my disappointment (and excitement), there was a frozen yogurt place in the Tumbaco mall!! Looks like someone beat me to it!
Of course I had to get some... I mean, really, I love frozen yogurt. The place was called Pekky Berry and was of course NOT self-serve (Chino said that would never work here since people would find a way to steal), and I got a cup of the natural flavor topped with strawberries, kiwis, and raspberries. Chino warned me that it may not live up to my fro-yo expectations, but it was SO GOOD! Creamy and tart and fruity and delicious. I loved it.
So, that's all I've been up to these past few days, but I'd better start cramming everything I want to do in (namely Papallacta, the thermal pools, heated by the volcanic rock, and the Quito marketplace), before my time in Quito is up. Boo...
Hope all is well back home!! I miss you all.
Hasta luego!
xoxo
The only problem is, a good friend of ours is getting married on the 11th, and we'll probably have to find our own way back to Quito since Chino's parents don't plan on coming back til the 12th. Most likely we'll take a plane (which is only a half hour trip), which would actually be quite nice, since the 4-5 hour car ride can be pretty brutal with the swervy and oftentimes bumpy roads through the mountains. Since I'm leaving the 13th (ahh so soon!), I really have to take advantage of this last week and a half here in Quito before we go to the beach. I can't believe I have so little time left here!
The past couple of days we have been taking it pretty easy. Tuesday night we went to a little bar in Cumbaya called The Turtle's Head for some beers with our old friends Pedro and Diego. Pedro and Chino were in the group of Ecuadorian students that studied abroad at U of I my freshman year of college, which is how I met him and all of his friends. I became close friends with their group of friends, and we hung out often that year. It was so much fun catching up with Pedro and reminiscing about all the ridiculous and fun times we had together at U of I- I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard! Diego is a friend of Pedro's who I met while I studied abroad here in Ecuador. Chino, Diego, and I all were in the same ceramics class that semester, so we got to know each other well, and Diego would go out clubbing with me and my "gringa" friends.
Remembering about the ceramics class was too funny because, although it was an introductory ceramics class, there was this one girl who was clearly advanced and would make super intricate sculptures of like dogs and horses, and the professor would always say how we should be producing that kind of work, when really we were all just struggling with making coil pots! Our professor, Howard, was a really awesome, though, and it was one of my favorite classes that semester. He is from the U.S. but has been living and teaching in Ecuador for something like 20+ years. He always wore denim head to toe- jeans, denim shirt, and denim bucket hat, and it cracked me up that even after all his years in Ecuador, he had relatively broken Spanish with a thick American accent. Coincidentally, Chino and I just ran into him at the supermarket here LAST WEEK! He recognized us first before we even saw him, but we weren't able to chat long since he was flying to the U.S. the next morning and was in a rush to make a last-minute shop. I'm hoping to be able to visit him (as well as my favorite Psychology professor, Gerald), at the university when he comes back from his trip.
Wednesday for lunch, Chino and I went for lunch with another old friend, Siegfried (who we call Chacha). He's a full-time magician and is one of the nicest guys I know. He studied mechanical engineering at the university here and graduated with his degree in that, but his real passion is magic. His specialty is card tricks, but he does a wide variety of tricks and loves showing people that magic can be for adults too, not just for kids (in fact, he doesn't do any kid shows). He's exceptionally good at what he does, and I'm always shocked and amazed at the tricks he pulls off.
We went to a restaurant called Los Ceviches de la Rumiñahui, where I got Ceviche Marinero, Chino got Pescado Asado (roasted fish), which came with a fried plantain, rice and a salad, and Chacha got Shrimp Ceviche. Ceviche (also spelled cebiche), as I mentioned in my post Lunch with Vale , is a dish of raw fish and shrimp in lime juice with onions, and my ceviche marinero came with a variety of seafood...I'm not even sure what was in it! It actually looks kind of scary because of the squid and/or octopus that was in it...but really it was De-lish. I always look forward to having ceviche when I come to Ecuador- it is a MUST if you ever visit. Ceviche is always served with canguil (popcorn), tostado (un-popped toasted corn kernals), and chifles (plantain chips) here. Yum yum yum.
Here's a couple pics from our lunch:
 | |||
| My ceviche marinero (sailor's ceviche). Looks kinda alive...haha. |
 | ||
| Chacha and I! It was such a windy day that day! So please excuse my messy hair... |
While enjoying our dessert, Chacha busted out his deck of cards and had me help him with a card trick! We had a little trouble since it was so windy out...but somehow he managed to shock me anyways. I never ever have any idea how he does it! Chino thinks he saw the secret to the trick, but he was sworn to secrecy, so I'll never know. Here's a pic of Chacha doing his thing:
We had so much fun hanging out/catching up with Chacha! Hopefully we'll get to hang out with him and his girlfriend sometime this weekend or next week :)
Today was another lazy day... I read a book, I napped, we walked Chino's dog Tobias for a bit...nothing too exciting. BUT! we did go to the mall in a nearby town called Tumbaco (only like 5 minutues away), where we bought tickets to see the new Batman movie tomorrow night, which, considering the recent events in Colorado, makes me a little uneasy.
On a different note, I've been telling Chino over and over again that we need to bring frozen yogurt to Ecuador and open a little store! I'm sure it'd be a big hit here...I mean, who doesn't love frozen yogurt!? I've notice the frozen yogurt business, particularly the self-serve places like Cocomero in Champaign or Cherry Berry in Springfield have really exploded. Well, to my disappointment (and excitement), there was a frozen yogurt place in the Tumbaco mall!! Looks like someone beat me to it!
Of course I had to get some... I mean, really, I love frozen yogurt. The place was called Pekky Berry and was of course NOT self-serve (Chino said that would never work here since people would find a way to steal), and I got a cup of the natural flavor topped with strawberries, kiwis, and raspberries. Chino warned me that it may not live up to my fro-yo expectations, but it was SO GOOD! Creamy and tart and fruity and delicious. I loved it.
 |
| My half-eaten fro-yo. YUM! |
 |
| Me at Pekky Berry! What a surprise! |
Hope all is well back home!! I miss you all.
Hasta luego!
xoxo
Hi Honey. I'm reading your post on my iPad while on my break at work. My wifi connection isn't very good here so the pictures didn't download, but that's ok because I'll see them when I get home. Well even though you have some "down time", it still sounds like you are having fun. God bless you and enjoy your time in Ecuador!
ReplyDeleteLove, Dad
The pictures finally downloaded. The food (and you) look great. Dad
ReplyDeleteThanks, dad! I'm glad the pictures finally loaded. Love you too :)
Delete