Cuenca

Arrived around 9 am on Thursday morning, before our host family had even woken up and it was like Dorothy and I had seen each other last week. (Except for the extremely excited hugging and jumping around, that is.) I met Mona and Chio (Host Mom and Daughter) at desayuno (breakfast) and fell in love with them immediately. Chio speaks very good English and Mona speaks a little, but they are both very encouraging of my somewhat broken Spanish. After breakfast, Dorothy, Chio and I went to el parque principal (?) to walk around and to meet TOM!

Ok, so let me explain the excitement. Tom is my sister's best friend here. He is from England and has traveled a lot but is teaching at the same place (Wall Street Institute) as Dorothy, so, very important. It was a funny kind of meeting because Tom and I have been skype chatting (and even video chatting) for a couple months now, so we kind of already know each other. So, we kind of just dove right into conversation since we are used to it by now. After playing a little frisbee, and attempting to teach Dorothy and Chio different ways of throwing it, we returned to la casa for almuerzo (lunch).

Now, almuerzo is the most important and biggest meal of the day in Ecuador (and most Spanish-speaking countries) and is served around 2 p.m. My first almuerzo was ceviche con camarones, pollo con championes y arroz, y fresas. Ceviche is a very popular dish and is like a shrimp cocktail soup with popcorn. Weird, I know, but absolutely incredible.

Actually, all the food here is amazing. There has not been one thing that I haven't liked. We eat a lot of bread and fruit, which are my favorite things, so, you know, I'm happy. Desayuno usually consists of bread (lots of different kinds like wheat, pastries, sweet bread, etc.), queso (cheese), mermelada (jelly), miel (honey, and Dorothy's favorite) and fresh squeezed juice sin sucre (without sugar). I also drink coffe every morning, but it is very different than what I'm used to. It is an instant mix that you stir into hot milk. It is very rich and very good.
Almuerzo is always a big meal with two or three courses and includes meat, vegetables, and sometimes bread. If we're lucky, Mona makes postre (dessert) which is absolutely amazing. It's kind of her job, so, you know.

On Thursday, after lunch, I took a nap (for 4 hours!) while Dorothy went to work. At 8:30, Dorothy called and told us to call Mickey (a cousin) and get him to drive me to work. I had to leave in the middle of dinner (which consists of bread, cheese, yogurt, etc. or whatever we eat if we go out) and didn't realize Mona expected Dorothy and I to return to finish dinner. We got in trouble the next morning because Mona was worried I didn't eat enough. : / Oh well, it happens, I guess. After Mickey and I picked Dorothy up from work, Mickey drove us around town a little to show me downtown and then proceeded to get lost on the way to Tom's flat. I enjoyed it, and thought it was kind of funny, but I think Dorothy was a little frustrated. We finally arrived at Plaza de San Francisco and made our way up to the penthouse (glorified) for the beginning of the evening. That is where I met our primary party group:

Tom - British, one of the roommates
Dom(inick) - German, one of the roommates
Sam - German, Dom's friend here for three weeks
Duvan - Colombian, I think one of the roommates
Nathan and Tilley - Traveling Brits, met Dom and Sam in the Galapagos and were staying just a few nights on their way to Peru

Dorothy made dinner (huevos y pan), we listened to music, got to know each other a bit, drank a bit (yes, Mom, I did drink some, but don't worry, it wasn't anything to be concerned about, Dorothy is taking good care of me) and danced. Then, Mickey returned for the promised club outing and we all proceeded to pile into his Hyundai SUV and go to Dos Dos.

Of course, I, nor anyone else really, was properly dressed to the scale that Dos Dos recommended. It was expensive and everyone there, excepting us, was kind of high class Cuenca and didn't look like they were having a lot of fun. They danced without looking at the each other, without smiling, and without gumption. But we all had a lot of fun. We danced with each other, and I got to dance with Mickey too, and then Tom and I proceeded to have a pretty deep, intellectual conversation whilst salsa-ing. It was a lot of fun.

Sleeping in relatively the next day, we had breakfast and then ran up to hang out with Tom a little. His mum was coming the next day, so he was making keys and other important things. There was a lot going on at the church and plaza near Tom's apartment because it was the celebration of the Virgen del Carmelo (Virgin del Carmen) and there was a parade, mass in the square, and other festivities all day. We walked through it, snacking on hot street pastries and talking about what the flower market looks like on any other day.

Yes, there is a flower market in the square next to Tom's apartment Every Day. I am in heaven. Also, Chio was telling me how when her husband first started dating her, he sent her 100 roses every week! (Roses are not nearly as expensive here, like a dollar for a dozen, but still, that's ridiculous!)

When Dorothy had to go to work later in the day, I went with Mona and Maria (other daughter) to el central to walk around a little bit. Maria went into the church with all the festivities because her full name is Maria del Carmen and she wanted to pray. Then we walked around and they told me about the town, about the statue in el parque del central that it Mona's ancestor, about the buildings and the streets and the churches. Mona bought us some kind of flaky iced pastry (Mom and Tim, these were your favorites, apparently) and we walked down Las Escalinatas and past the Broken Bridge, the two most famous sites of Cuenca.

After meeting Maria's husband, Andres, and her son, Jose Luis, we returned home for me to shower quickly and take a taxi to Dorothy's work to meet her students. When Tom and Dorothy were finished, we all went to Tutto Freddo for pizza and Coca-Cola light and to get all of us in better spirits. And, of course, since it was Friday, we went out again, but after trying 5 different bars, Dorothy and I just wanted to go dancing, so we left. We walked to Gabbia, another dance club, and as girls and foreigners, got in for free and proceeded to have a much better night than just drinking with our party. I learned to Meringue from Juan Diego Aguila, one of Dorothy's friends who I danced with most of the night, and just had a really, really nice time.

We are going to Aguila's country house this coming Saturday with a big group of people as is relatively usual on Saturdays. Instead of going out, young people go to la quinta and just chill and eat good food.

Ok, I think this post is plenty long enough for now, I will catch up on the rest tomorrow.

Buenas Noches!