Quito, How we Love Thee

Ah, a restful day. Mostly.

Hannah was up and about and enjoying the day with us all today, which was great to see. Our first scheduled event was at 10:00 AM, when we met to determine who would be staying in the Old Town, be it to rest or to shop or to explore, and who would be accompanying most of the chaperones to the Santa Clara market. Turns out, all but a few wanted to come to the market, so 22 of our 27-member contingent headed out to do some culinary exploration.

We were in the market for an hour and a half, and nearly everybody had lunch there at the little stands and kiosks that offered pork, fried fish, mote, chicharron, morocho...And then there were all the fruits, which people were sampling freely. Everyone showed up at the doors again at the appointed time with a much deeper appreciation for how middle-class Quito gets its victuals, and what those victuals are.

Then we were to head north, to the mall, to see how upper-class Quito lives. But the trolley was so jammed with people that after waiting for twenty minutes, hoping for a less full unit, we gave up and walked to the stop on the other side of the street to head back to the hotel. We tried.

Everyone showed up again at 4:45, so that they could walk to Mass at the San Francisco church, the backbone of the San Francisco monastery. And honestly, I can´t say how it went, because I was off paying for our bus transportation during that hour. But they told me the place was jam-packed, that they had to sit way in the back, and that it was lovely. (Last time, we sat in the back and got scolded for not participating. Of course, the church then was practically empty.)

Thereafter we met up again at La Papita, the restaurant where we´ve befriended Guillermo, the owner. We had a very nice final supper together, and Guillermo made us all a dessert on the house. (He also prepared all the food. And while he did it with a full heart, we did pay him.)

The scuedule for the rest of our stay: The kids are freee to move about in groups of no fewer than three until 10:00, when they check in to the hotel for the night. They each have to find their passport person (the person to whom they turn over their passports when we´re traveling) to make sure we know they´re in. Tomorrow, they´re free to wander and explore and shop (again, in groups) within a defined area, and the first we must see of them is two o´clock, when everyone has to be in the hotel again. Because at 3:30, we head for the airport on the transport I spent part of the afternoon finalizing.

As they said on our mountain hike yesterday, ¨The summit is the bus.¨ Meaning, until we are done with the trip completely, we are not out of the woods, and I am hereby not counting my chickens. But it´s been great so far, and I look forward to another good day tomorrow.

Sweet dreams!