leaving santa cruz and a day in quito

ok
so after returning from the climb up to the highest point on santa cruz
we took turns taking showers at maria's house
and my bro and i and little miconia
ended up taking a long siesta
splayed out on various beds scattered around the house
while kona and anaconda watched the ring in spanish with mitania (the cousin)
a good number of hours later
we woke up
and had a supper of "chinese noodles" and toast
which was actually pretty tasty
(or maybe i was super hungry?)
when the time came to leave
we caught a pickup truck/taxi into town with maria
while victor road in on his harley
so that she could catch a ride back to bellavista
without spending more money
the next morning we were to leave town
so we made our rounds separately
to finish up some business
saying good bye to the friends we'd made
and hitting the internet cafe a couple of times
to do that email thang ;)
the next morning
we caught an early cab into town
that victor had arranged for us
at 4 bucks a head
it was cheap
and we picked up victor along the way
as we were leaving from santa cruz
we also picked up two others
who hopped in the back with all the packs
one italian guy
and an american by the name of linda
who happened to speak chinese
having been born in taiwan
and whose parents lived
in the same town there as my father had
(ping tung)
when he was growing up
small world or what?
had a really fun talk with her
while whiling away the hours at the airport
and then for the first leg of the plane ride too
life stories are always interesting to hear
and one never knows when one might meet
a long lost family friend or relative or something
so with promises to check up on family connections
at guayaquil, she disembarked
and was replaced by a local from that city
on his way to quito for a wedding
arriving in quito,
our ride to the villa nancy wasn't there
so we taxi'd into town
and got settled
walked to the schwarma place
and found it had changed in the 2 weeks we were gone
they had added some construction
so we couldn't sit out in the front
the schwarma's weren't quite as good
and the atmosphere inside
was decidely "youthful"
with lots of groups of kids smoking weird stuff
and drinking in dark corners
after that
we headed home
stopping to buy a half a dozen bags of plantain chips along the way
(that was for chris)
i must say
i was totally wiped
because as we were repacking stuff
(chris was going to bring my dive gear home)
i dozed off
an early taxi took him to the airport
that left at 4am
and with a hand down the stairs with the luggage
i said goodbye to my lil bro
and sent him off with a hug and a blessing of safe journey
i know he wished he could have stayed
and i see that the wanderlust has started to creep into his soul
we shall see if he listens to it
or chooses some other path to follow :)
that morning
at breakfast
i met a couple visiting from columbia
laura and alex
and started chatting with them about things to do in quito
i had planned to spend the day catching up on blogging
so i turned down their offer to join them and wander the city
(they were also likely to go to places i'd been to already)
but we agreed to meet for supper
i ended up walking towards old town
looking through the weekend market in the big park
while admiring some of the local paintings for sale on the street
and while making our way to old town
i got slightly lost
and it was a good thing
in my meandering trek
the thought of chinese food
had crept into the mind out of the ether
and lo and behold
right around lunch time
while walking down the wrong street
(tho i didn't know this at the time)
i passed a little chinese restaurant
i didn't even notice it
but i heard the sounds
of a mandarin chinese soap opera
the martial arts kind
(how can one miss the cheesy sound effects, eh!)
and turned back to look in
and see a man watching the television closely
i walked in and spoke to him in chinese
fairly confident that we spoke the same dialect
and we did :)
i asked him if he had good, REAL chinese food
he responded in dismay
that he had no ingredients to cook real chinese food
but that he had a friend with a restaurant that did
and proceeded to give me directions in chinese
however,
it seemed quite far away
and he was so helpful
in the end i decided to just eat there
and have something simple
looking at the menu
i asked him about wontons
and he said if i didn't mind waiting a few moments longer than normal
he'd go and make some
but it would take a bit of time
because he had to go and chop the stuff to make the filling
so wait i did...
to my great satisfaction!
to have freshly made wontons
and a plate of chow mein
also made fresh and not very greasy
life is good sometimes!
the owner/cook of this establishment
yang1 shu4lin2
told stories about working in the middle east
and then coming to ecuador to try to do business
how he'd been held up at gunpoint in quito
when ruffians came in and held a gun to his head
asking for all of his money
which only amounted to 8 dollars that day
(fate, eh?)
but gave him an impression
that the city wasn't the nicest place to be
(there were 4 other attempts
but he'd managed to lock the heavy wooden doors
before they came in)
we talked as i ate
and traded stories
he offered to make fresh jiaozi when i returned to quito
and of course
he was going to make everything from scratch... including the wrappers
his treat!
i guess being able to speak chinese in ecuador does have some pros =)
of course,
i just HAD to offer to do the actually wrapping with him
(because i love cooking and the camaraderie of doing so together)
and so we set a date and i went away with smiles
and pointed in the correct direction
fate is funny sometimes eh?

i visited the iglesia de la compania de la jesus
after walking through the gran plaza
(which was teeming with people)
a very gold church reputed as the most beautiful church in ecuador
(or at least quito)
and indeed
it was quite a beautiful church
the gold was impressive
(a supposed 7 tons of gold used in the gilding)
and the gregorian chant they played in the background
was a nice touch
but what caught my attention
was the intricate patterns on the columns and ceiling
-they decidedly did not look or feel christian
very strange
the more i looked at the patterns
and tried to trace them in my mind
the less sense they made
after commenting on this aloud
i was told that they looked moorish
and were similar to designs seen in morroco and turkey
later i found out that the church was built
during a time where moorish influence was crossing into the spanish culture
apparently around the 1600s
very cool
also noticed some neat architectural thingys
it appeared there were balconies facing outwards and away from the altar
balconies hidden behind intricate screens of gold
that you could barely see if you looked carefully at the patterns
and looked into the shadows between
i was told by the guide-giftshop people
that this was used in the past
by musicians
very cool to know =)
and i guess in a time before modern electronics
it would serve perfectly as "live human driven speakers"
or music boxes perched above the assembly
neat.

afterwards,
i headed off to the city museum
just to pass the time
and this museo de la ciudad
was supposed to have a bunch of historical stuff about quito in it
it was an old hospital at one time
converted into a museum now
however,
in the museum
i found that most of it contained galleries of modern art
and photographs taken throughout the last few decades
of people in europe and the US mostly
while i did enjoy looking through some of the displays
it was decidely NOT ecuadorian in any way, shape or form
they did have some historical content
but it was quite minimal
of course,
if i had an english guide
s/he could probably have stretched out the historical stuff
with many explanations and stories
or something
it was while visiting this museum
that i got some massive leg pains
in the joint and in the muscles
knee, quad and hip
and i thought that maybe
i was feeling some after effects
from running up and down the mountain in santa cruz with the kids
but it was quite strange
because i'd had a day to recover already
and didn't feel anything the day before
i guessed that it may have been because of the malarone
which i had started to take
just that day
who knows?
in any case,
i found myself taking many little rests
and marvelling at how weak i felt
one of those empathy-for-the-old moments, eh

while walking through the museum
i saw a cariacture map of the city
and noticed that i was really close to another square
so upon leaving
i set off in search of this square
i figured it was only a couple of blocks away
and thus i should be able to make it
(ignoring the pain and all for at least that long)
i found the square
and it turned out to be right in front of the monastery/church
san francisco
which is the oldest church in quito
(i think)
it definitely felt different than that big gold church
it was dark inside
filled with people praying
and the floors creaked and resounded
even with one's careful footsteps
there was scaffolding in many places
and i have to say
it felt dark and gloomy
with a presence that was very hard to describe
maybe it was the seriousness
the solemnity
of all the small little people in the dark

after exiting the church
i finally gave in
and decided to take a taxi
for the last 3 or 4km back
my legs simply didn't want to agree with
that mind over body thing
and i was tired besides
it was also about half past 5 and the sun was setting
in quito this means the muggers and nasties start coming out
and it would not be so safe
(kind of reminds me of old transylvanian vampire-werewolf culture)
so i made it back in very good time
safely in a cab
and i thought i would check out an internet cafe
to maybe do some blogging
or just check email
as it was only 2 blocks away
so off i went
only to find that the place had bloody moved
to gringolandia
(also the land of muggers)
about a good 6 blocks away
and being the smart chap that i am
off i strode to find this new location
upon arriving
i discovered that
the discount from the SAE was no longer in effect
so all that trekking was for naught
i emailed for a good half an hour
before i noticed it getting dim outside
and decided to call it quits
and head back to villa nancy
i made it back without being molested, chased or mugged
and met my columbian friends
laura and alex
in the main common room
sat down and started chatting
they had a drink
and we conversed in english and spanish
with some german thrown in when rachel joined us
(the swiss-german proprietress of the hostal)
we chatted till we got super hungry
and with hunger to remind us of the time
off we went
in search of some genuine ecuadorian food
only to discover
the restaurant pulling down the metal shutters
just as we were arriving
and it was only like 7 or 8 pm
very sad
but there we were
the bunch of us smack dab in the center of gringolandia
where restaurants abound
and hoodlums wait in the shadows
very greyhawkish
anyways
we settled on an ecuadorian fusion restaurant
and had some tasty food
ordered from a tall, dark, well dressed waiter
that laura figured was gay
(not that there is ANYTHING wrong with that)
but i could not really tell
the night was filled with funny translations
as alex was still really working on his english
and decided to learn some chinese from me instead
as he taught me some columbian spanish slang
laura spoke very good english
and acted as a translator throughout the night
earlier,
had a weird moment of ... synchronicity?
when we were ordering our drinks and meal
one by one
laura ordered the EXACT same thing that i did
like psychic something or other stuffs happening
but the fish we ordered was all sold out
and on round two
we did not cross orders
so the night did not get too freaky
=)
i discovered it was her birthday that night
and so we had to have a cake
with a candle of course
and found that columbians bite the candle after blowing it out
to make sure the wish comes true
neat =)
we stayed till the restaurant was empty
and did not even realize it
it was one of those evenings where time disappears
some time during the night
it had started to rain like mad
and by the time we were to leave
(ie. the waiter dudes kept standing by the door
and walking in and out)
it was still raining

we decided to chance it
and walk the 10 blocks back to the villa
we made it with no problems
more good conversation
and the one big gang of people we saw on the street
had a bunch of police officers talking and arguing with them
so it felt safe
tho we kept walking without stopping to see what was happening
we made it back to the hostal
and took a whole bunch of silly photos
(the best kind eh!)
and promised to meet for breakfast
now one thing i should mention
alex was deemed to look chinese by the resident cute kid
(daughter of rachel)
and when he smiles, i must admit
he does look a bit asiatic in demeanor
so we took some hermano photos
which i will post if i remember how
=)
it was a fun night
and i forgot a lot of the slang i learned
but i did remember a few
wapucha!
and
bakano parse
(no idea if the spelling is correct)
it was a long day
but definitely fun filled to the max

the next day
after a nice breakfast at the villa with laura and alex
i left quito
but first i had to go to the south american explorers club
to get money
(which had been running low since galapagos and the return)
i then took a taxi to the yachana lodge office in quito
where i met douglas mcmeekin
who pretty much made everything happen
very cool
i had met him over the internet
after getting his email from susie garner in puerto ayora
who had volunteered at the lodge for a year or so
and said that douglas was the driving force behind fundesin
(enviro-eco group)
and behind all the cool projects going on at this eco lodge
at that point,
i had almost given up hope of getting to the lodge
which was highly recommended by the goldies
but it seemed fate decreed that we would make it there
follow all that?
hehehhee
and that is the short of it
with an escort to the bus terminal
(douglas had said people were robbed there...
employees of his - in broad daylight)
i was on my way to coca
and the amazon jungle
it was to be an 11 hour bus ride
through the andes and onto the other side
where i would spend the night
before taking a boat the next day to the lodge
i will save the telling of
for the amazon blog
=)