Hola de Ecuador!

Hola mis amigos! After 31 hours in airports and airplanes, I finally made it back to the western hemisphere! My body was stuck in Asia time for several days...it is the first time I think I've really experienced jet lag, despite all of my previous travels! Spent Friday buying clothes for cold weather. I suppose it would have been helpful to look up the weather in Ecuador this time of year before shipping all my warm stuff home. Oh well. Got some stuff organized for the next couple of weeks, napped. While shopping, I got hit by a bus. I was standing on a very narrow sidewalk with my back to the street, looking in a shop window. The next thing I know, I have been jolted sideways. The bus was coming to a stop, so it wasn't that bad but when I turned around to see what had hit me, I was quite startled to see a massive bus to say the least! The shop owner came out screaming at the driver. My back has been a little tight, but all in all, my first bus hit went okay.

I met an English bloke, Johnny. He and I traveled from Quito to Banos on Saturday. We explored the night life that evening. Sunday and Monday were pretty relaxed...the weather was rainy and cold and I was frankly just exhausted. Tuesday, Johnny and I hiked to a statue of the Virgin Mary mid-way up a mountain overlooking Banos, then he talked me into going to near the top ridge with views of the Tungurahua volcano that erupted in 2006 destroying a part of the outer ring of Banos. It was really cool to see the way the lava flowed down into the valley, destroying everything in its path. Nature is awesome! My body was in complete shock after all that exercise. Back in the city, we went to the local market for lunch where we dined with the locals on tripe soup and congealed cow's blood. I learned, after eating it, that tripe was cow's stomach. (For those of you who don't know me well, I don't eat a lot of red meat, so this specific dining experience was quite a culture shock!). We went to the thermal springs with the locals...it was very hot and very relaxing after a day of hiking and eating cow parts.

The next morning, despite our better judgment, Johnny and I rented bikes and cycled 17 km to Rio Verde. We were told that it was all downhill. Those people lied! I thought I was going to die, ended up walking a bit of the way. I had heartburn and already I could not feel my legs from the hike the previous day. We were pedaling into the wind, dodging pot holes and oncoming traffic. All in all, it was exhausting! The scenery, however, did make it worth the effort. Beautiful mountains, waterfalls and villages. The Ecuadorians plant their crops up the mountains which makes for a stunning patchwork of colors. After the biking, we went back to the market for lunch numero dos. This time we were in for a treat - an ocho piece band was in the market playing and people were salsa dancing! It was fantastic. A woman kept looking at me watching and smiling at all that was going on, so she waved me over to dance with her little group. I did a rueda with the woman, her husband and possibly their mother who was half my height, had two teeth and was dressed in traditional dress, bowler hat and all, not 25 feet away from dangling pig's feet, chickens, fruits and vegetables. You could not have wiped the smile off my face if you tried.

I am going through a bit of a culture shock after spending so much time in Asia. For one thing, there aren't any Asians around. Like Asia, the dogs still roam the streets. Unlike Asia, children juggle and twirl flaming batons at red lights to earn dinero. Like Asia, they don't speak much English. Unlike Asia, Ecuadorians are meat-eaters. In Asia, I saw a lot of gold temples, Buddha statues, Hindu Gods. I almost forgot what Jesus and Mary look like...but they are everywhere here! The wine here is excellent. People in Ecuador also like to make noise and dance anywhere, anytime! There is music playing constantly, whether from a truck with massive speakers driving around the city (the South American version of low riders, perhaps?!). While in Banos, I saw no less than 5 small parades where a band would march around the square and people would follow them carrying roses. There is such a live in the moment attitude here...I absolutely love it! Made my way back to Quito this afternoon where I am very excited to greet Mendy and John, two great friends from Winston-Salem, NC! They will be here in less than 2 hours and I cannot wait to see them! Ciao for now!