All's quiet on the Quito front here right now. It's 6:20 pm and Mom is napping and Dad is playing on his iPad (perhaps reading). Mom and Dad arrived last night, landing in Quito at 8 pm. At 9 pm (I was supposed to be at the airport at 8:30) Mom had found an Ecuadorian with an Ecuaphone and somewhat frantically dialed my number. "Jamie! Why are you so late?" came her concerned voice. My response: "I'm 15 minutes away. I'll tell you about it later." This was their first taste of the workings of South American life. The best laid schemes...
I was late in picking up mis padres because the driver I had called (recommended by a friend)--a sweet woman named Franny--picked me up a few minutes late. No big deal at that point. Then we proceeded to drive to a part of Quito foreign to me, pick up a saxophone player, and go deep into the valley suburb of Tumbaco to drop him off to play his gig for the night. My own anxiety was rising as each minute past 8:30 ticked by as I knew Mom's head would be weaving tales of why I hadn't arrived when I had promised.
In the end, we all made it back to my apartment by around 10. I continue to feel some kind of high here when I come to realize that I, the "expert", get to show off my world in Ecuador. After a solid night's sleep, our itinerary today has been as follows:
7 am: I hear Dad get up.
7:30 am: After laying in bed trying to catch a few more zzzz's, I arise to make some coffee and read while Dad busies himself on his iPad.
8:00 am: I begin making breakfast, llapingachos, a traditional Ecuadorian food, thanks to Mariana, my amazing housekeeper.
8:10 am: I can't help myself, I have to wake Mom from her slumber. Lo siento a mi mama, but sleep is for the frigid Minnesota winter when you return home.
8:30 am: We chow on the llapingachos served with Marian's homemade aji, and avocado.
9:00 am: A walk around La Carolina gives Mom and Dad a glimpse of my part of town. Note: It is nearly 90 degrees warmer in Quito than Minneapolis. En serio.
10:30 am: We're showered and walking back to the part of La Carolina where we get on a tour bus for a 3 hour ride around the city. My camera's battery goes dead as I am taking my first photos of the tour, as we are stopped at The Virgin of El Panecillo. Altogether, though, the tour is pretty cool, taking us to places I had yet to discover and giving us a bit more history than I have come to learn at this point.
2:45 pm: We are heading to Ana's restaurant Papas Fritas a lo Bestia for a late lunch. My stomach's eating itself by this point, but great chicken and french fries are just around the corner...well, really up a pretty steep hill. Mom and Dad are troopers as their lungs are getting acclimated to the altura. They haven't seen Ana since summer of 2006. Abrazos fuertes all around.
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| Mi prima can perfectly season a chicken breast and fry up some fantastic papas fritas! |
7:00 pm: Time to head to Vista Hermosa for an Ecuadorian dinner and an unbeatable view of the city.
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| Rain inclined us to dine inside, but still it was a lovely meal. |
Love from Ecuador,
Jame
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