Heading home

Well my three weeks has passed pretty fast... not as fast as the time i
spend sitting at a desk, but i can hardly believe it is over. In some ways i
feel like i have been away forever. Though my trip has been great i an
mellow and happy about coming home.
I was planning on going to a museum today before heading to the airport, but
i am feeling lazy about it right now... the idea of busing down town in the
loud CAR-EXAUST filled heat is not on the top of my list right now.
Yesterday i few to quayaquil from Quito, as i decided to spend a few extra
days there, doing some hikes and taking over night trips.

On thursday a group of 8 of us from the hostal hired a mini school bus to go
to the equator. there is a big french monument but they put it inth wrong
place... which is pretty funny! Beside it is a smaller museum that is in
the correct place and has some nifty demonstrations of the quirks found at
the equator. such as water going strait down the drain one the actual line,
and clock wise and counter clock wise at either side. I remember learning
that water went the other way down the drain on the other side of the world
when i was small, and always trying to convince the water to swirl in the
other direction when the tub drained...

Friday i Climbed Pichincha, an sleeping but active volcano with a group from
the hostal. It was amazing. petrifying at times due to my fear of hights but
well worth the nerves and the tiredness of 4800 meters... the air is
definately thinner up there!!! that pertty much ate up friday and i was
happily sleeping shortly after i finished my super and a glass of wine.

I attended the �mamma Negra�festival in Latacunga on saturday, a huge
catholic-pagan fusion. Parades with people carrying crucified roasted pigs
and other animals on there back with alcohol food and cigarettes hanging
pendulously from them... miniature ones for the little boys.
I was supposed to go with sheila the dutch woman that i met in Puerto lopez
and kirsten from australia that i met in Montanita, but they were too hung
over to go, so i went with Christian, a german guy from my hostal that i had
met on a number of my day excursions. I was actually kind of glad that the
girls didn�t go because i am pretty sure they would have wanted to tie one
on, and I think that would have been unwise.. and one sober blonde girl
baby-sitting two drunk blonde girls in small town boozing festival would
have been impossible. i think i would have had to abandon them to their
fates... Sunday morning there were more drunken pig carrying parades that
ended in a catholic mass... Go figure.

Sunday afternoon i got back to the hostal on the bus from Latacunga. I rode
back with a brit couple i met at the hostal, and provided gringa (white
girl) entertainment to a couple of little kids who stared at me between the
bus seats for most of the 2 hour ride until about 5 minuts from their stop
when the older boy (8?) got up the nerve to talk to me. We had a short, and
basic conversation in spanish that i think put him a few rungs up the ladder
with his friends for shear bravery... funny.

When i got back to the hostal it started raining and everyone was coming
�home� with stories that made you think there was a full moon, so i stayed
in and chatted with people and had some dinner before an early night. The
Type-A swede that lost her passport returned to the hostal sunday, and
being a sucker i invited her to join me to the natural history museum in the
morning... Now who is a big old kook!

MOnday morning we met up at breakfast to head out and thankfully another
girl, a brit named jenny decided to join us... The museum was abitof a joke,
but they had original fossils on display, and a decent though not astounding
insect collection. The fossils were not casts and they were not behind
glass, and i think i pissed off the swede by telling her she shouldn�t be
touching them with her hands... she replyed that the place was second rate
anyway so she didn�t see why it mattered... nice!

when we finished at the museum there was a botanical garden next door that i
wante to go to but the other girls decided that the 2 dollar cover was to
much money after spending the same on the museum... AT first i was going to
offer to pay there way but realised that a few minute of solitude were
really what i wanted from her complaining, so i said i would meet them
outside the gates when i was finished. The Gardens were amazing, there were
2 orchid houses and many quiet paths to walk along. a cute little juice bar
supplied me with black berry juice which i enjoyed sitting by the pond. it
was great.

I was there for over an hour i think. Then i met back up with happy jenny
and type-A-Swede, and we went for lunch. went to this place that had amazing
icecream! but before that i enjoyed some more ceviche, and a guayabana
juice... good stuff!

The swede still m,anaged to complain that she had no appetite, and proceded
to not have enough money to pay for her lunch anyway.

sorry. now i am the one complaining...

okay one more... we hopped a cab back to the hostal, as jenny had a spanish
class, and Type-A-Swede wanted to stop at one particular internet cafe, as "
it is the cheapest and best" however she did not know where it was and could
not explain it to the cabby... then she was mad that the cab just ignored
her request for a stop mid way and took us back to the hostal... i was glad,
as i think here detiour would have doubled the cost of the cab, and was
really rather petulant...

When i got back to the hostal i confirmed my flights, and looked arround for
someone to join me to go up to the panacillo, a hill with a huge mary statue
on it with a snake tied to her leg... yup!
Ended up going with Sam a guy from belfast that has been riding his motor
bike arround the world for the past 11 months... he road through india,
pakistan, iran, ausralia, the US and europe. he is on his way south and will
then have his bike shipped to africa and ride north towards home. Cool guy.
rather crazy, but pretty cool. The view from the statue was pretty great
and the vandalism inside the statue was hillarious!!! for example: "Jorge +
Maria forever! give me a son!" crazy!

when we got back i hopped in a cab to the airport and was in Quayaquil
within an hour of leaving my hostal! short flight, great last minute
tickets, so much easier than 2 days on the bus!!!

Any who that is my past few days. i will fill you in on the rest live!

And when i have a better connection i will start putting up pictures...

Love yahs

Erin