Day 3: Gringolandia

I woke up this morning with three thoughts: 1) I hate that rooster 2) Boy am I cold 3) Dang, I'm really hungry too! That was at 5:30...I put earplugs in, pulled the covers up over my head, and went back to sleep for a bit. After showering I wandered down to a nice breakfast at the cafe attached to the hotel. I had some time to kill before meeting up with some of the students in my program, so naturally I fell asleep. With my nap the day before, all the sleep last night, and the nap this morning I think I slept for 15 hours!

A cute restaurant in La Mariscal

Around 11am I headed over to Mariscal Sucre to meet up with people in Gringolania (aka where all the foreign tourists go). While the crime rate is said to be higher there at night, it is a very young and lively section of town. Since I got to Papayanet early I went to a bookstore across the street and read about Ecuador for about an hour. The man who owns it is from New Mexico and he was very pleasant to chat with. When it came time to meet up with the others I went back to Papayanet. There I met Forrest from Oregon, Lianne from Singapore, and Shawna from Calgary. Forrest took us to a place nearby to get lunch - a huge plate of food, soup, and a drink for $2.50! Then the four of us wandered around a bit. We found a park, walked through a little market, saw the worlds smallest dog (about the size of an orange), and then it started to rain.

Forrest and Shawna M. hiding under a tree in the rain

Shawna wasn't feeling great and since I was in just a T-shirt I was freezing, so we decided to walk back to our places. What I thought would be a 30 minute walk turned out to be 1 hour of cold rain and wind. I warmed up in the hotel before heading out to meet up with the others (including Stian and Louis this time) for dinner. Luckily it had stopped raining and I had my sweatshirt and jacket with me. We met back at Papayanet because of it's central location in Mariscal Sucre, and ordered warm drinks because we were so cold. Then it was off to dinner.

Our table at the end of dinner - the dark bowl on the left is what Forrest couldn't finish

Forrest met Jab (who also goes by Javier) at his hostal, and Jab wanted to take us to an Indian restaurant. The food was delicious - Forrest and Stian ordered the two hottest dishes on the menu and were sweating and shaking the whole time. I don't think they have any taste buds left, and neither could finish their dish. I got a chicken dish with a mild sauce with some spices, mango, and papaya. It was DELICIOUS. Our whole table had a great time talking - we were a very diverse group, 7 of us in total. Lianne from Singapore, Stian and Louis from Norway, Forrest from Oregon, Jab from Australia, Gee from France, and myself. After dinner we went back to the hostal where Gee, Jab, and Forrest were staying for the night and chilled for a couple hours. I think I heard at least 5 different languages being spoken - it's a very different atmosphere than I am used to, but very chill and open and friendly.

Pahuma Cloud Forest is one of the places Lianne and I want to go - there were signs all over the hostal we visited recommending different places to go and things to do

Now I am back at Hotel Walther tucked into my bed ready for a good night of sleep, but I had to write down everything before I forgot! I will probably sleep for a couple hours and then be awoken when my roommates for the night, Sonia and Caroline arrive. Goodnight from the southern hemisphere!