Dia Cinco en Ecuador

Finally, got a real good night's sleep. Between the noises inside and out, combined with the unfamiliar bed, sleep has been a reluctant guest. But last night either exhaustion or fewer noises or both combined to let me sleep through the night for the first time since arriving. I awoke to find Leslie sitting up in bed making preparations for her next session. She had been as quiet as a mouse and I was grateful. We hopped up and headed downstairs for the usual breakfast of croissants, scrambled eggs and cafe con leche. They don't have a very creative kitchen but it is gratis and it's good, so why complain?

The older Jorge picked us up. All seemed forgiven regarding Leslie's innocent slight yesterday. In fact part of our conversation, in Spanish, on the way to the capilla was about how fast paced life seems to be. Everyone is in so much of a hurry they don't take time for the truly important things in life such as family and having fun! Work, work, work isn't so important. Jorge's point is well taken.

We arrived at the convention center and Jorge walked us over to a courtyard where a celebration of some sort was about to begin. Tables of local foods were laid out and a band of guitars, drums, pan pipes and wooden flutes were about to begin playing. Eugenio suddenly appeared and motioned for us to come down the stairs and join him. Costumed locals strolled around and Eugenio handed us paper plates and we got into line where the food was being handed out. Three grupos de Ecuador were represented. The three represented the roots of the Ecuadorian people. First, the Indigenous group were the the people of the mountains. Somewhat akin to our Native Americans. The second group were the African-Ecuadorians who represent the African influence and finally the group that represents the melding of these groups. The food was all small samples of food indigenous to each group. I was able to sample my first Cuy (guinea pig) which tasted much like rabbit. There wasn't much meat on the bone. You had to work at it but it was okay. We also sampled a variety of empenandas and a delicious African dish that had rice, fish and shrimp in it. It was the best of the samples. Lastly, we were offered a cup of a fermented corn beverage. It was fine but I think a rather acquired taste. We were told about another beverage made of yucca which is chewed until a mouthful of the extracted liquid is literally spit into a pot. This process is repeated until enough "spit" has been gathered and then the liquid is fermented and drunk. A real acquired taste I would guess. It was a delightful hour or so but we needed to leave to set up for class.

We wondered how many would show up for class considering the fiesta taking place down the hallway and what a buen dia it had turned out to be. Today Leslie finally got a pianist for her class which was to take some of the stress off of her trying to teach in Spanish, allow her to move around the room and offer suggestions and advice AND play the piano. Impossible but she had done it for two days so far. The pianist turned out to be quite accomplished. Funny that all we have really seen of the city so far has been from the window of the car that has taken us to and from the class. Our mornings have been reserved for Leslie to make necessary adjustments, plan and rehearse in her mind (in Spanish) what she would do in class that day. The students are so far behind what she was lead to believe they were capable of and each day she must adjust her lesson to what they were able to accomplish the day before. It has just taken every waking minute for her to plan and execute each day's lesson. It's fine.

This weekend we will spend time roaming the museums and other attractions we have read about, some of which are within an easy walk of our hotel. Dinner this evening was at the same spot as last night--Orquidea Restaurant, but this time we took a walk to get there. Turned out to be only about 3-4 blocks away. Dinner started with a small plate with 3 small empanadas, each a different flavor and with different ingredients. Then the main which was spaghetti carbonara. Disappointing. Dessert was a very unimaginitive flan. We did have a delicious fruit juice with our meal. After dinner Jorge left the table and didn't return until we found him in the hotel above the restaurant. He had taken a tour and so we were all invited as well. The rooms were all differently designed and beautiful. Rates were $150 per night and well worth it! We thought of maybe staying their instead of the old town hotel we booked when we return from the Galapagos.

We walked back to hotel together in the dark which made me nervous since we had been warned not to walk in Quito after dark. But we did fine. It probably helped that there were four of us. Sleep, when we got to our room was difficult at best. The dog at the Casa de Musica next door barked nearly all night, plus the traffic noise was especially bad for some reason. We have had enough, so at breakfast the next morning we asked to be moved.