*I don´t travel, I just get drunk in exotic places.

A new country, and as I move physically closer to zero degrees latitude, my attitude moves ever closer to completely carefree, in asymptotic fashion.* Now in Quito, a short bus ride away from the Center of the Earth, I´ve got a sunday to put down some reflections and recap the move north from Mancora into Ecuador.

Our last night in Mancora, we splurged for a 3 dollar meal. I went with a Tamale * for a starter and heartily enjoyed a plate of lasagna and a lemonade. I triumphed in an epic game of chess, dealing Ryan´s ego a nasty blow (he has since evened the score). After looking for a proper chess set for some time, Ryan purchased one for about 7 dollars in Mancora, as we were in need of something to occupy our time. The small set pits the Spanish Conquistadors against the Incas, though this set is somewhat deficient in that one Spanish pawn (represented by a soldier) was slyly substituted by an additional Inca knight (represented by a llama). We decide pregame whether we want to be savages or subjugators. Generally this fight is a lot more even than the historical one.

We said goodbye to Betty at La Casa de Betty and dumped all our drugs and guns before heading for the bus to cross the border. The bus we were to catch at 8am, however, had been moving at a snail´s pace through rain the previous night, coming north from Lima, so it didn´t arrive to pick us up until around 11. No surprise. Around 8pm we arrived on the outskirts of Guayalquil, Ecuador´s largest city, population about 2 million.

We were excited about going out in a big city on saturday night, as it were, and I had even washed my hair that morning. We headed out ready to rock, and soon found that nobody else in that city shared that sentiment. In fact, it seemed that there actually was nobody else in that city. Apparently, most of the city dwellers take to the coast for the festivities of carnaval, coinciding with lent and those other more famous celebrations in Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans. After popping in and out of several vacant bars in what was purportedly a very busy district downtown, the Cerro Santa Ana, we hopped a cab to the Kennedy Mall, expecting something like a Mall of discotecas. (well, actually, we got a ride from a random middle aged woman as we were trying to call a cab. Ryan thought it would be more interesting. I went along, and we both regretted that decision, as she was unable to maintain anything resembling a constant speed, sporadically stomping the gas pedal as if vying for the title of "best representation of stereotypical woman driver") Sure enough, the Kennedy Mall actually consisted of one vacant bar sandwhiched between two discotecas, both charging substantial covers. We chose the more expensive, the one we couldn´t see inside of, called Diesel, and forked over 10 dollars for entrance and 6 free drinks.

I wanted to leave Diesel as soon as we got in there. While tastefully decorated in typical flashy club fashion, it was mostly empty and sewage smells wafted periodically through the "lounge" area. Two girls who turned out to be 17 years old approached us as we were beginning to drink our 6 drinks as quickly as possible, and we thought we might as well pass the time humoring them. It was next to impossible to speak to anyone in that place, especially near to the Karaoke section, where tone-deaf Ecuadorians did their best to ruin my eardrums. Apparently Ryan had a good time talking to (about totally ridiculous topics) his teenage buddy, very into him, but the girl who I think was acting as her friend´s wingman (er-person. -woman. girl.) had nothing at all interesting to say, and whatever she did say was screamed three centimeters from my in a pitch that I´m hard pressed to repeat. I was miserable. We drank fast, got out, and decided to get out of Guayalquil as soon as possible. The next day we checked out Guayalqul´s showpiece millenium development, Malecón 2000, which transformed a formerly dangerous area into a riverside park with a nice walkway, museums, and shops. Ryan bought me an ice cream, and I thanked him and called him "honey". He still likes his girlfriend more than me, though. I´m pretty sure. He probably buys her ice cream all the time. Anyway, the Malecón (sounding unsettlingly simlar to Maricón, the spanish equivalent of "fag") was ok, a decent way to pass the afternoon, but we left early, passed the evening at the hostal watching "Dead Man Walking" and "Anny Hall" at the hostal, and were happy to catch a bus up to Quito, leaving around midnight.


Interlude:

Now for a section entitled "Mundane Observations in Personal Hygiene", (hereafter MOPH):

I have traditionally been an avid flosser. I´m perhaps the most avid flosser I know. But after running out of floss, I thought I could take a break, as I´m on vacation. After a couple weeks, I learned something new: puffy gums are no fun. And so now I have a new reason to floss. Before, I really did it not so much because I thought I should, but because I derived daily pleasure from the exciting discovery of bits of the day´s meals lodged in between my teeth.(Spinach... Unidentified Meat chunk.. Popcorn Kernel... : Jackpot!) I felt like i was doing myself a favor by getting that stuff out of there. Now I´m motivated by the preventative power of flossing. I just dont like puffy gums.

Back to plot.

Quito is a great city. Set in a valley in the highlands as are most big Andean cities, there are hills all around and a big temperature difference between night and day. At night, the lights sort of climb up the black hills. I like being in a big urban bowl. At first, there were very few people here, either, as they too were on the coast for carnaval, but they´ve returned and the city has a great feel to it. I´m not quite sure what we did to pass the time for most of the past week, but we did things, I´m fairly sure. and the week passed, I´m certain of this. I do feel like I know the city fairly well at this point, having walked around both significant parts of the city on multiple occasions.

The Old Town, colonial Quito, is a great spot, with pretty squares and lovably un-square old buildings and narrow streets. There are several churches, the presidential palace, and some great museums. I managed to buy myself a new guitar over there for about 40 bucks, as the one I´d bought in Huaraz turned out to be impossible to tune, with a warped neck and improperly spaced frets. I´m going to have to smash it, give it the dishonorable burial it deserves, and I guess that will have to happen tonight, as I head for the hills tomorrow. Though i´d hoped to be good and drunk in order to have a proper rock star moment. hmmm..

The New Town is where most of the hipper restaurants and bars are in Quito, and we´ve spent some time in some of those bars. One of my favorites is the Reina Victoria Pub, where I read the paper over a couple of happy hour pilsners and talked to the bartender, Shaun, a Brit who is good buddies with an old friend of mine from Harbor Springs, Chris Woodside. I´m fairly sure that Shaun is just as bad off for knowing Woodside as I am. heh. Chris had recommended the bar to me, as one of his old haunts (he has a cheap plastic beer mug hanging behind the bar), and I was happy to check it out. I also got a tip from a couple of the british patrons about thursday´s soccer match between Holland and Ecuador, both world cup qualifiers. Ryan and I, after searching for far too long (given our self-professed superb and manly sense of direction), found El Pobre Diable ("The Poor Devil") bar, right next to the Dutch embassy. Dutchies and Ecuadorians gathered there to watch the game on the big screen, and watching Holland triumph 1-0 was a good time. Next, we headed over to the Reina Victoria to watch the U.S. play Poland and play some chess. The U.S. tied, but I suffered a brutal defeat - mainly due to my happy hour beer consumption, I assert, which at 4 drinks was 4 drinks more than that of my esteemed yet sober opponent.

I have had a couple of great runs in the city, one in a park in a hilly area overlooking Old Town. A great trail, but being attacked by 8 mangy dogs was a terrifying experience. I don´t think I have rabies. I´m pretty sure. I jump whenever I hear dogs barking on a run. I´ve been conditioned. This continues to happen. Another run took place in a great park in central Quito, La Carolina. Legs feel good, but every breath means a little diesel fumage in my lungs. Not so pleasant.

We´ll be leaving Quito tomorrow for a small town called Malingua Pamba, where Ryan and I are volunteering at a school for most of the next month. We´re looking forward to contributing as we can - the education in rural ecuador is very poor - and having some time to relax and stay in one place for a while. The community of a couple of hundred indigenous people is pretty far from civilization, in a beautiful part of the andean highlands, and I´m excited about being away from the hustle and bustle, reading and writing and running on some mountain trails. I don´t expect there is a discoteca in Malingua Pamba, but I suppose I´ll be able to deal with it. I expect it´ll be healthy and inspiring, being in a place like that, hanging out with small children and breathing the clean air. As it is I´m daily making reflections and thinking big thoughts, and I hope to find some more time and some clarity out there... bring back a healthy spirit as a souvenir.


*Title from the insightful mind of my traveling companion, Ryan Servais. 3/1/06

*Note first use of geometric term in this blog. For those who have not taken geometry in some time, an asymptote is a line whose distance to a given curve tends to zero. That is, I´m about as close to the carefee curve as I can get without being entirely apathetic. Oh, and I did have to look up asymptote. I´m not actually that smart.

*Vocab lesson: A Tamale is a snack often sold by street vendors, mostly made up of corn meal, but normally including other vegetable or meat items. Everything is wrapped up in a corn husk and steamed, then usually served with raw onion soaked in lime juice.

*also, logistically, should anyone need to contact me, i will have a cellphone in Malingua Pamba and until I leave Ecuador (there is no landline in the community). The country code is 00593, I think, and then you dial my cell number, 96979602.