I went for a jog last Saturday morning in the park that's about 30 seconds away from the apartment. The best part about that? The big cup of fresh squeezed orange juice that I bought for a dollar after I was done. There are a bunch of vendors throughout the park. Later on that day I went back to the park to play soccer with Mauricio, Jose Mateo, and Carlos – and, get this, I actually impressed Carlos with what little ability I have left, lol. He was like, hey you can play! (after I had stolen the ball from him).
Sunday we were a little late for Church, Carlos and Diana had been out pretty late dancing the night before... we had another Spanish priest.
For lunch I met up with Rachel in la Mariscal and then we went to an artisan market. You know what I realized? All of the artisan markets in South America are pretty much the same. Basically I've already seen or bought everything that I saw in Quito in Spain, Chile and Argentina, which makes the buying of souvenirs a bit more challenging...
Monday night – It was just me and the boys (Diana stayed overnight at the hospital with Sabrina, who is having surgery today). So we went out for dinner – out to the street that is. I'm not sure what part of Quito we were in, but the street was lined with food venders shouting out their offerings in an endless string of sounds: EMPANADASGUATITASHORCHATAMORCILLA. I thought there were a lot of people there, but Mauricio told me that on the weekends there are HOARDES of people, that you can't even get to the street with your car.
So, what did they give me to eat this time? First a very yummy drink that reminded me of rice pudding, even though it's actually made from corn. It's called Morocho, which I drank while eating a cheese empanada. I was quite full after that, but there were two men standing in front of one of the vendors, holding these foot-long tongs, offering samples to the passersby. Carlos tells me I have to go there and get a sample. Go! Go! Try it! - and gives me a nudge in their direction. I didn't really want to, but he was so persistent – so I take the sample off one of the tongs, and I bring it back, giving Carlos a look as if to say, are you REALLY going to make me eat this? Mauricio meanwhile is telling me it's just like gum, I have to put the whole thing in my mouth and chew it. So, I suck it up – literally – I pop it in my mouth and chew this nasty rubbery piece of something with black stuff oozing out of it – for about 2 seconds that is, before I promptly spit it out in disgust. THIS is when Carlos tells me that I just tried intestines. That's right. INTESTINES. Enough said.
On an unrelated note, I just came back from a dance class at the gym across the street - it was like zumba by
x 100. it was INTENSE. No kidding - I almost fainted, several times.
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