Bueno. As I write what is likely to be an extremely long blog post due to my carencia de recent computer activity, I feel the need to confess that I am still in Quito. Yes, despite the fact that I was to be in Costa Rica about now. But, first things first, and I have quite a few good things to recount before we get to today's unfortunate circumstances.
So the Thursday before last (wow, yeah, I have been lazy)after taking un examen mortífero (killer exam), nearly all the members of our group made our various ways to downtown Quito to eat at a nice seafood restaurant owned by Cameron and Drew's host family. Before that, though, Rachel and Claire and I decided to go to Mass at an old church in the historical center, near the presidential palace, la Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús. The outside is pretty legit, but pretty much every square inch of the inside is covered with gold. Not kidding, look for yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Society_of_Jesus . It was a bit awkward, since I was the only Protestant in the vicinity, but completely worth it. After that, we went to the restaurant, where Cameron's host brother Matteo had had a whole room set up for the, oh, 27 or so of us. The portions were enormous and the platter I shared with Rachel and Grace Anne had mussels, clams, small shrimp, jumbo shrimp, calimari, and lobster. Yeah, needless to say we were both flabbergasted and stuffed.
Fairly early the next morning we met once more at the University, only this time to go south to the medium-sized city of Riobamba, which is a little bit colder and higher than Quito, and is super-close to the Volcano Chimborazo (in Ecuador you can pretty much assume there's a volcano lurking somewhere around you). When we got to Riobamba we checked in to our hotel the Galpón. This hotel looked very similar to the one in The Shining, if you can imagine, but it was a lot of fun to be there and around everyone for almost a week, after having lived separately for so long beforehand in Quito. That afternoon after checking in we took a tour of an old convent, which was positively lleno with creepy sculptures of Mary with glass eyes and super-gory Jesuses (one complete with a hole in his side where you could see his heart beating when the wind blew).
Saturday was our day to climb Chimborazo (or actually a small part of it). Our bus was somehow able to climb a good ways up a mountain before we got to the refugio (sort of like a base camp). From there, after a little coca tea (the same stuff they use to make cocaine, but also still put in Coca-Cola) we braved the cold, the wind, and the stinging dust to climb even higher up the Volcano until we reached the ice that covers the entire top of the mountain. Did I mention that the summit of this mountain is more than 20,000 feet above sea level, taller than any mountain in North America or Europe, and about 4 times higher than Denver, the "mile-high city?" Oh, or that, owing to the bulge of the earth at the equator, is the point farthest from the center of the earth (more than Everest)? Yeah, pretty dang chévere (friggin awesome). On top of this, on the side of a huge boulder near the bottom of the glacier someone had spraypainted "Union City." Just can't escape your hometown, ha.
The rest of that weekend consisted of visiting the last ice man (who treks to the volcano twice a week, cuts of huge blocks of ice, loads them on his mules and sells it at the market in town), seeing the mummy of a Spanish priest who had been entombed in his own church after an earthquake, and eating some tasty donuty sort of things called cholas (also a semi-derogatory name for Indian women) in a town called Guano (also a semi-derogatory name for bat poop). After these adventures, it was back to the grind, only this time with our classes taking place in the cultural center in Riobamba, and with new professors. Yet, time passed rather quickly in Fríobamba (frío=cold) and by this past Thursday night we were back in Quito before we knew it, and not missing the food at the Galpón one bit.
Friday was our farewell dinner, with the university feeding us at a very nice restaurant on campus, affiliated with their culinary program (bread, sesame seed-covered shrimp with salad, soup, filet mignon with potatoes, and for dessert some sort of cookie topped with blackberry ice cream, whipped cream, and real blackberries and strawberries). Saturday was the day most people left, except for those of us going to Costa Rica and a few leaving late, so we decided to go to the art market in a park in Quito, where stalls and stalls of vendors were selling their wares. I ended up buying a few souvenirs for my friends and fam and also a couple of nice watercolors for my room this year. It started raining, though, and we took refuge in the big cathedral right next the presidential palace, I couldn't take any pictures, but it was amazing (and with significantly fewer gory Jesuses [or Jesii?]). I went home fairly early and took a nap before my family (host mom and grandparents) took me out for a final tour of the city by night.
Which brings me to today, finally. I woke up fairly early to pack, and my host mom and grandma cooked my a huge, delicious lunch, including vegetables, potatoes, roast turkey, and cow's foot soup (which was interesting, I will say.) They drove me to the airport and we said our goodbyes, promising to keep in touch, and that they should visit mississippi if they ever had such a mad desire. It was pretty emotional, though, and I will miss all of them; I couldn't have asked for a nicer bunch.
I'll try not to go too much into what happened in the airport after that, but here goes a short summary: 1) airline tells us our yellow fever vaccination records aren't "international" and so can't get on the flight 2)we go to the ministry of health to fix it, but can't because it's closed 3)return to airport, and are told to go to their office in some mall 4)go to the mall, and finally kind of sort of get the situation taken care of with the woman there 5) go to a hotel for the night. Meanwhile, of course, we missed our flight and all of the trouble is over having to get the immunization fixed and find another flight for tomorrow. Meanwhile, Cameron, who had the appropriate vaccination form since he got his in America, is in Costa Rica alone while the other three of us bumble around here trying to get everything fixed. In the morning we've got to go get the vaccinations fixed, Ojalá (God-willing) and then back to the mall to get our tickets and finally to the airport and to Costa Rica. Wish me luck, I know we'll need it. I'll try to post again soon but I'm guessing I'll be too busy if/when we finally get to Costa Rica. Until then though! Ecuador, you've been swell! Hasta la vista (until we see each other again)!
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