| Day 101 We shopped for Spanish schools and mountain guides. Lady would be taking classes next week and I hoped to try some climbing. Our time in Quito has been very relaxed. We take long lunches, longer walks, read in the park, try to do something cultural, etc. Tonight, we went to the ballet (a bit underdressed in our hiking shoes). It was a great modern dance. Hotel $8, Food $20, Trans. $1, Random - tickets $4, laundry $1, Total $34 |
| Day 102 We set out early for the Otavalo market, about two hours north of Quito. The Saturday market is the biggest in Ecuador and has three distinct areas including handmade goods, produce and livestock. We went primarily to see the weavings. We weren�t buying though which was mistakenly interpreted as negotiating by the vendors. The way they kept dropping prices we started to believe we were pretty good at it though. Our comic relief of the day came when we stumbled over a one-legged man lying in the street with an IV and two attendants. It is really a funny story but we haven�t figured out a way to tell it so that anyone else will think so. Hotel $8, Food $10, Trans.$5, Random - internet $2, Total $25 |
| Day 103 We did lots of walking today and ended up at Parque Ejido. Parks on Sundays have a festival feel with picnics, children running about, and local artists offering their best. Our favorites were the works of a would be poet and actual photographer. He manipulated photos in an arresting way. We enjoyed his excitement as he told us about the complex stories and meanings behind each. Hotel $8, Food $5, Random - phone $2, Total $15 |
| Day 104 Lady: Silly, I know, but I was a bit nervous about going to school. Fortunately, I had nothing to worry about. My teacher, Maria, is kind and very funny, especially when she sould act out the meaning of Spanish vocabulary words. The funniest was perro. She demonstrated by saying "Aaa, Aaa". I was puzzled so she said in Los Estados Unidos "Woof, Woof". I am still not quite sure why a dog bark is different in another country, but I will never forget that perro means dog in espa�ol. To aid in my education about Latin American culture, my school provided me with private Salsa dancing lessons. For an hour my instructor, Lothar, tried to teach me the four basic steps. I was often reprimanded for my constant giggling, but the sight of us dancing in the mirror was too funny. Lothar is not as tall as my shoulders, has waist-length hair, and three gold hoops in each ear. Still, he was a great teacher and this proved to be the more rewarding lesson of the day Hotel $8, Food $12, Trans $1, Random - school $30, laundry $1, school ID $3, Total $55 |
| Day 105 Lady: After a quick goodbye to Matt in the middle of downtown, I headed to school. Maria continued my lessons with the addition of verbs. After class, I enjoyeed the school�s free internt before going to Salsa. After this class, I was sweaty and tired but walking tall because Lothar declared I was an excellent dancer. Matt: I met what was to be our climbing party this morning, I immediately liked Dennis, a freelance photographer from Baltimore, and Jan, a foreign policy student form Germany. All of us were relatively inexperienced in alpine climbing although Jan was well acclimitized after hikes and climbs over the past month. We were joined by two local guides, Freddy and Alejandro, and a driver. We talked nonstop on the drive north to Cayambe. About an hour short of the refuge, the truck started to have difficulty with the steep road. We had to get out and push which we had to repeat frequently. Also, the weather progressively worsened as we went on, starting with rain, to sleet, and finally with a good, wind snowstorm. I was wet and then very cold in just a t-shirt. We were the only climbers at the refuge which allowed us to be more comfortable. Not warm though as the refuge is at almost 15,000 feet and unheated. We did our best to rest. The summit was another 4,000 feet higher and we would start the long climb around midnight. |
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