St. Patrick's Day & a lovely week in Quito

I've had a wonderful week here in the city.  It started off more or less normally, then on Wednesday we had a teacher workday, so NO CLASS :)  I went to Julie's apartment for the day - we walked down to Mega Maxi (the Ecuadorian version of Wal-Mart), bought some Kraft macaroni and cheese, fresh bread, and ice cream.  I've been craving mac-n-cheese and also the fact of making my own food so I was pretty excited!  We indulged while watching Glee and after, Moulin Rouge.  Julie and I have been hanging out a lot lately - she goes to UNC and we are so similar, in tastes and humor and nostalgia about home...  so I had a great time.  I was invited by my boy to hang out at his house and watch movies - tempting offer but I told him maybe tomorrow.  I was also invited by my friends Lauren and Brein to take some salsa classes but I had an essay to write and exam to study for so I headed home for the night.

On Thursday, after a ridiculous partner exam in my conversation class and a typical boring Ecuadorian culture class, I had lunch with everybody and then headed with my friend Juliana to the market in downtown Quito (she needed to buy some ecua-pants - those awesome fast-drying cotton pants I wore when I went to the rainforest - she's going this weekend).  In Cumbaya, the valley where our school is, it was SUNNY and warm and beautiful.  Back up in Quito, as if on cue, at 3:30pm it started pouring down rain so we hopped puddles on the way to the market.  On our way back, I called everyone back on campus and heard they were all chilling in the same restaurant where we ate for lunch, having a beer for St. Patrick's day.  Although it would take me another 50 minutes on the bus, I decided to go back an join them.   Had a great time - met a few new awesome Ecuadorian friends and felt pretty cool indeed, drinking beer at 5:00pm - still daylight! - on St. Patty's day!

We hung out for a bit then decided to head back up to Quito.  I followed Lauren to her house, where I left my stuff, fixed my makeup, then met up with Joe and Julie at an Indian restaurant for dinner.  The Indian place was cute, but packed with people watching the Liga game - Quito's team was playing a huge rival.  Futbol here is so exciting!  Anyway, we won 5-0 so the restaurant was abuzz with energy and excitement.  Afterwards, we headed to Mulligan's, one of two Irish-themed pubs I know of here.  We bought a ridiculously overpriced green beer and listened to the live music, while Lauren tried to hunt down a green balloon-shaped hat for herself that everyone else seemed to be wearing.  From this point on, we bar-hopped a little and went to the Boot and then Chupito's, which only plays Ecuadorian music so we decided to settle on Bungalow, which plays American music, reggaeton, and salsa, and was giving out green Jell-O shots!  Ran into Powers and her friends, and also my friend Amanda and her crew, who actually went to the Liga game.  It was great, hanging out in this dance club and knowing half the people on the dance floor!  Danced with my boy for a bit, then had to run make sure one of my friends was feeling okay after drinking a littlee bit too much.  As we were sitting, getting ready to go, this Ecuadorian guy sits down, introduces himself as Christian we start talking.  He speaks a bit of French and is a biologist - really interesting guy!  He was actually genuinely nice and not creepy - he told me where I could buy a good guitar in Quito and then we talked about oil companies invasion of the rain forest and politics.  Found out he was actually 28 - which would be creepy but he admitted that he thought we looked around 25.  It was getting late so we said goodbye and headed home.

We grabbed a cab (Julie and I) and agreed on a price - $5 for the both of us.  She gets dropped off first and then when we stop at my house, the cab driver asks for $3 more, because apparently the $5 was only up to her place.  I got angry and firmly was like - no!  we agreed on that price!  But he was adamant, so pissed off I paid him and slammed the door.  It's the second time this week that happens!  Seems like every week brings different taxi drama.

Today, I stumbled out of bed and made it on time to my 11am weaving class.  It was nice, though, I was tired because I have a friend in the class from Ecuador and we always speak Spanish together.  She's so nice and funny and it's always a great to start the day.  My second class was canceled!  I curled up and read for a little bit on a couch in a lobby and waited about an hour for Julie to get out of class.  We had lunch together and then (listen to how amazingly nerdy we both are...) went to the library for like a half an hour just ogling the books and pouring over our favorites.  I checked out a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover and we went to the amazing frozen yogurt place across the street that we just discovered and talked for another couple of hours.  Such a nice afternoon!

Finally, we went home and I settled in with my book for a bit.  Tonight, after dinner I went with my host mom to pick up my host sis and enjoyed the ride around the city and talking about everything.  It's raining still, which is beautiful because I'm currently back in my bed.  I don't think I could handle this climate all the time... I like my rain very periodic, like in the South ;)  Also happy to stay in tonight because my digestive system is being mean to me again so I'm feeling the whole under-the-covers, night-in thing because my stomach hurts and that's no fun.  My host mom brought over a copy of The Tourist so I'll be watching that tonight too.

I tried to write this entry in a way that really captures what my daily life is like, with all of its little perks and downfalls.  I'm realizing this week what awesome friends (and more than friends?) I've made here and how it's helped me so much at having the great time I'm having.  I love that I have enough spare time to do things I really enjoy, like reading, but also that I'm really going out and making the most of nights on the town.  And I'm trying not to worry too much about taxi drivers or my aching stomach or the rain because these are all pretty normal at this point.  Anyway, this weekend we might be exploring the town again - looking for this bookstore the nice couple in Cuenca recommended and doing more touristy things.  And finishing my books, of course :)

That's it for me.  Have a nice weekend everybody!

Cynnnnnn