La Pichincha

Hey everyone! Life has been pretty busy the past few days. My memory card broke and I lost a bunch of pictures and had to buy a new one but that is the extent of my bad luck. Yesterday we went to La Pichincha, which is a volcanoe that overlooks the city of Quito. It last erupted 9 years ago (don´t worry mom it isn´t scheduled to erupt for another ninty years.) We took a cable car to the near top which took way longer than it did to get to the top of Snowmass. I had sort of wondered off to be alone and look at the beautiful view in peace. I guess I was there for a long time because my group started climbing up the the mouth without me! I thought they went back down the mountain and left me, I resorted to my scattered spanish skills and asked the cable car operater something that would translate ´Where did all the Gringos go?´ He pointed up the mountain so I took off sprinting to catch up to them. BAD IDEA!!! Try combining a lung condition where you only get 60% of the oxygen as other people my age and add +15,000 feet (that´s three times as high as Denver.) Then my chinese roomate tried to give me a Coke to hydrate me. Once I made it to the top though it was worth it. Absolutely gorgeous. Quito is about 17 miles long and 3 miles wide and rest in a huge valley at one of the highest points in the Andes. Picture cannot describe the view. The loud, crowded city looked so peaceful.

¡Mi hermano! This is David, he is my brother! He speaks three languages, is in Medical School, an amazing chef, and he teaches salsa lessons. He said he would teach me, we are taking salsa lessons on friday with a bunch of my classmates. David and Paola (mi mama) ((not my real mother who I miss very much)) took some us out to ladies night at a discoteca, it was pretty fun. I met a bunch of people from Europe, in fact I met more people from Holland than America.

This is a picture of what David was making us for dinner. I forgot to get the finished product.

Xioa and I have been having a lot of fun exploring the city, trying new fruits from street venders, and braving the Quito taxi system. No taxi ever knows our street because it is small so we usually resort to ´¡Despacio DESPACIO aquí aquí!´ Slow slow, here here!

There are a lot of foods to try here. Right after this Xiao and I are going to this street vender who is selling what looks like pork (who knows) you get a tortilla and the porkish meat is hanging from the ceiling, you are supposed to cut the meat off and then add your toppings.

This is my tiny corner in our room. I´ll try to get you pictures of the apartment soon.

CHAO