Al principio

So I am definitely sorry that it has taken me so long to get started on this.I have sat down before at many a computer and not been able to start the blog, but since it is a rainy and cold day in Baños and we have free internet, I can´t really pass up the opportunity....

Ryan and I got into to Quito in the afternoon of the 10th, and it was surprisingly sunny since weather.com had informed us that it was going to rain all week there. We got in and easily hopped into a taxi and went to the Secret Garden Hostel.The hostel was in the old part of town, the centro histórico, which is the area with most of the churches, plazas, federal buildings and or course El Panecillo.
The first day, Ryan and I settled into our cozy little room of the hostel and then took a walk around to get a bit more oriented.They have these communal dinners on the terrace roof at the hostel that Ryan and I joined in on that first, but I got a headache from the altitude and had to sleep. No worries though, I told Ryan to make some friends at dinner and of course, he made many.He said the food was good and that we had been invited to see the Basilica del Voto Nacional the following day.
The hostel made it incredibly easy to meet people; some from the US, a lot of Aussies, a lot of Brits, and some Germans and Dutch.Other than that first day, Ryan and I traveled in these giant Gringo packs with a bunch of kids traveling like ourselves.The Ecuadorians on the streets definitely stared, but I´m not sure what they thought was more bizarre - the giant gringo pack or the three blondes that were with us.Either way, people stare.Less in some parts than others, but in Quito I always felt like I was being watched.Never specifically harassed, but they know we are different.
We did mostly sightseeing/touristy stuff in Quito. We hiked up the gothis towers in the Basilica del Voto Nacional.It has amazing views of the vast city of Quito, but it was unbelievably scary to climb.There are mostly ladders that go to the top and there are these pieces of chicken wire behind the steps, but somehow the chicken wire never felt like it was any kind of security as you climb.Although, that is extremely common here.There are no railings and no real sense of security when it comes to doing something like that.It is your choice to hike up to the top, so therefore it is your responsibility to take care of yourself as you do it.There was an open ledge at the top of the tower and you can crawl through a tiny window and risk sitting on this ledge to view the city.Let me just say that I usually consider myself pretty gutsy when it comes to that kind of stuff and I refused to even go close to the window.But no one died or got robbed, so it was a good day for us tourists.
While we were in Quito we also spent some time at the Museo Guayasamín which houses his hude collection of extremely religious pre-Colombian art, which seemed to be many variations on the crucifix.The guide then took us through the vast difference between European art and Latin American art from the 16th Century up to 18th Century.She explained that the art in South America heavily relies on the re-interpretation of European ideals and how the is a combination of Europe and the mestizo.The Museum is also home to his own paintings - Oswaldo Guayasamín, who is world famous for his images that have been likened to that of Picasso.
A friend, Morgan and I went up to El Panecillo, which is this beautiful Angel standing on top of a serpent on top of globe.She is the Virgen de Quito and she is atop a beautiful hill to the South of the Old Town.We went up and were there to catch the end of the sunset.Quito is unbelievably vast.These rectangular shaped houses and small apartment buildings, all with box-like windows, color the Andes Mountains and the surrounding volcanoes.The streets seem to magically weave in and out with just enough room for a car in each direction - there is none to spare.But the views are amazing and for being a city of a little over 1 million, you would never know it because from the mountains, the city seems to go on endlessly.But unlike New York, Quito is built out and not up.
On our way down, our driver asked me my opinion of the political situation in America.He was curious who I was going to vote for and once I said Obama, he was shocked.He asked me about the racism in the States and if we had ever had a black President before.It was amazing to learn how much Ecuadorians follow American politics.But being here, it seems obvious.They use American currency and so their entire economy relies on the States.Ecuadorians themselves are in a crucial time in their lives.On September 28th, the people are to vote yes or no on weather they consitution should be re-written.It is obligatory to vote here - after the 28th, if you want to buy anything in a store or supermarket you have to show your ID and also a voucher that says you have voted.It seems that because it is obligated, many have strayed from the entire political system.But everyone I talked to in Quito, is hoping for change.They want the constitution to change to lessen the corruption that currently exists in the government and it seems like the current President has been better in helping the poor and indigenous.And theday is ever approaching, so hopefully Ryan and I will get to see some of a change in Ecuador while we are here.
Otherwise, Quito, was quite a big city, so Ryan and I were somewhat eager to leave.It is always harder to get a sense of culture in the bigger cities, people are colder and things are more expensive - like our hostel (for $8 a night).
So Saturday we left for the day with a gringo pack again and headed 2.5 hours away to Otavalo, known for its massive market on Saturdays.All the Otavaleños wear traditional dress and stand under a tent selling everything from bags, to gloves, to panama hats, to traditional cuisines, to all kinds of clothes.The market dates back to pre-Inca time and is the largest craft-market in all of South America.But I can only take so much shopping and standing around so we only stayed for a couple of hours.Luckily we left when we did since we had to race back to Quito to get our packs to get on a four hour bus to Baños.
It was an extremely long day by the time we arrived in Baños, but it was cheaper to sleep here a night than stay in Quito for anymore time.Plus I have a friend of my cousin´s here, Eyal, who lived in Quito for the past three months through an engineering internship and it was his last few days in Ecuador so we thought we would head down to meet him.He set Ryan, me, and two others - Morgan and Jay, in a hostel down the street from him.Eyal is here with about ten others, some from his program, some visiting from Philly, and some hes met along the way.We all partied Saturday night and wokr up bright and early Sunday to go Canyoning.
Canyoning - which is incredible, is basically cascading down waterfalls. There were 13 of us and there are three guides that take you up to a part in the jungle and they give you a wetsuit and some $2 tennis shoes and some kind of harness and helmut.There are five waterfalls, the first one is 8 meters so we can all practice and then they range and get all the way up to 45 meters.There is nothing comparable to this.I stopped in the middle going down the biggest one and looked around.Its just gorgeous.The water gushes down over you and you cant hear anything else.Im not sure how safe it was and the water was almost unbearbly freezing, since it was raining and the sun was not out, but it was definitely worth it.Its an incredible adrenaline rush and totally worth the $20 splurge. (Ryan and I could probably eat like 10 meals on that amount) After the canyoning some of us headed to the thermal baths, which is what Baños is famous for. They funnel the water from the volcanoes into these baths; they have different temperatures and at night its beautiful because you are right under these waterfalls, watching them come down while relaxing in the hot baths.I think it was probably good for my muscles after shivering all day, but it definitely wasn´t as hygienic as it would have been if it was in the States.

And today Ryan and I slept in finally and caught up on our sleep and relaxed.We are thinking about heading to Riobamba, then Guayaquil, then hole up for a couple weeks in the beach town of Montañita so we can rent surf boards and chill out for a bit before heading to our first farm.But of course, none of this is really planned out, I´m sure we´ll decide the day of and just head somewhere.
Otherwise, were doing well and staying healthy and I think Ryan is in heaven because he is finally not the shortest guy around.All the natives seem to be even shorter than the both of us. :)
I miss you all and think about you constantly. Adios para ahora.