The Rosens do Ecuador...Part I

After months of planning, weeks of waiting and hours on the phone plotting, the weekend that I had been anxiously waiting for had finally arrived...Rachel and Sam came to visit me!

For any of you out there who don't know, these two people are two of the most important people in my life and after months of spending lots of time with virtual strangers (great virtual strangers, but still strangers), I could hardly wait to be with people who actually know just how crazy I actually am and still love me anyway.

Now Rachel and Sam are of course, two of my most loyal blog readers. So on our last dinner together here in Ecuador, I was asking them how they were feeling about being the star subjects of my next blog entry.

• Sam (the chronic "low profiler"): "Please...keep it short and the details to a minimum."
• Rachel (the eternal lead role): "Ummm...I really think you need to make this entry two parts so you can fit in every detail. Feel free to share any and all embarrassing moments in full."

Well, unfortunately for Sam and fortunately for Rachel, this blog is full disclosure and you will be getting all the stories of our amazing time together in Ecuador.

And as Rachel wished, this will be a 2 part mini-series if you will. Just WAY too much to fit into one entry.

Ok...let's get started.

So last Wednesday, I boarded the bus to Quito to greet Rachel. Rachel was coming on Wednesday and Sam was joining us on Sunday in Otavalo (how many times is Sam going to use work as an excuse?? Seriously...)

I made it to the hotel about 3 hours before Rachel and let's just say...longest 3 hours ever.

Every time I heard a shuffle outside the door, a ring of the elevator or a slight breeze outside, I hopped up and raced to the peekhole on the hotel door. But finally, she arrived...and it was not a quiet reunion!

I think the bellhop that helped Rachel with her bags must have thought that I had just returned from war after 10 years of service with the amount of screaming and hugging that went on. It probably would have been awkward for a lot of people but we were not going to let a tall, Ecuadorian bellhop dampen our reunion.

Anyway, after about 10 minutes of excitement, we grabbed a quick bite (it was supposed to be a quick bite but somehow our bowl of soup turned into a 1.5 hour affair) and hit the hay.

Well...actually, before bed, I was able to completely indulge myself in digital, cable television. And after months of not catching a single piece of news, you would think that I would have opted for CNN. Nope...it was E!...watching The Girls Next Door. Nothing like a little Hugh Hefner to make you feel like you are back in the 21st century.

The next morning, Rachel and I were off to explore Quito on our own. After being slightly overwhelmed by the hotel's breakfast buffet (which wasn't even that elaborate...it was just the first time I've had a choice of what to eat for breakfast in 4 months) we hopped in a cab and headed to the TeleFérrico.

The TeleFérrico (no idea if tht is spelled right) is a cable car that takes you to about 4,100 meters altitude to get some AMAZING views of Quito. But when we arrived, it looked like we would probably be spending more time getting views of the back of the person in front of us in the ridiculously long line. Let's just say I hadn't seen a line this long since the Dumbo ride at Disney.

Luckily, I spotted the "Express Line" and thanks to my greatly improved Spanish, learned that for just $3, we could actually bypass this endless line. And let's just say, best $3 spent of the trip.

Other than a few fleeting moments of panic from Rachel, the ride up was amazing!
And at the top, what more could you want than a bizarre man singing to pre-recorded Ecuadorian music and a place to buy hot cheesy croissants?

After taking in the view and fully enjoying our $3 splurge, it was back down.

Now through the years, Rachel and I have had some amazing travel adventures together. We've seen the lowest point on earth (the Dead Sea), what some consider to be the center of the earth (The Temple of Heaven in Beijing), perhaps the hottest place on earth (Michigan Breast Cancer 3-day Walk) and arguably the magical place on earth (Masai Mara, Kenya).

But until last week, we had not been to the Center of the World. Yep...Mitad del Mundo (the center of the world) is located just outside of Quito and we actually go to strattle the equator!

On our way, we somehow got conned into visitng this science center with a guy who explained the science of the Equator and mixed in a bit of Ecuadorian propaganda. So after his very scientific lecture, we asked him where the museum was where you could do the fun equator experiments.

He made a terrible face and said, "You should know that it is all just tricks. They aren't real scientists like us. It is only a tourist trap."

We responded, "So, um, where is this place and how do you get there as quickly as possible??"

We finally got to the equator line and after Rachel tried to convince me that there was no way this was actually on the Equator (thanks for ruining the magic Rachel), I chose to live in my fantasy world and believe that due to the wonders of GPS, we were in fact in the center of the world.

We proceeded to be shown some amazing tricks, I mean experiments, that you can only do on the equator. We watched water spin down a drain to the left on the left of the line, to the right on the right of the line and directly down the middle on the equator.

We even got a chance to earn a certificate if we could balance an egg on the head of a nail...
Now it may have been a bit cheesy but I didn´t see Mr. Scientist handing out certificates with his propoganda. We need prizes. Plain and simple. Prizes.

So after we were complete experts on the gravitational properties of the equator, we headed to Old Quito. Thanks to my travel guide (which I honestly have no idea how I have traveled before without) we managed to see all of the cool churches, pretty plazas and even local cuisines in the area.

The place was like pages of my high school Spanish book coming to life. And even after being scolded by the church police, we managed to get a couple good pictures of the place...
We headed back to the hotel and got ready for a traditional Ecuadorian dinner. I ordered some kind of meat (surprising I know) and Rachel basically ordered the equivalent of Denny's Grand Slam breakfast. Steak, eggs, avocados, potatoes, rice, salad, veggies...it really was ridiculous. But according to her, ridiculously delicious.

After dinner, we innocently asked the host if there was a place nearby to grab a drink. He said there was a place in the parking lot. What? Was my Spanish failing me? A dance club in a parking lot?

Let's just say our expectations were not exactly high. But behind the doors of this unassuming bar was probably one of the most unexpected scenes on the trip.

So we stroll in wearing basically t-shirts, jeans and our hiking shoes and get seated ON the dance floor (yes ON...not near to, but ON). Suddenly, we are surrounded by latin women in stilletto heels, hip shaking latin men and in front of us is the amazing live entertainment of a 5 piece band!

Let's just say that the combination of tunes ranging from Whitney Houston to Selena, a couple cocktails, watching some amazing dancing and some delicious popcorn, Rachel and I were more than "feelin' the love" by the end of the night. It was incredible.

But, we had to cut the fun a little short because we had a VERY exciting, pre-planned tour early the next morning. So off to the hotel for us to get ready for this VERY exciting all-day tour.

So Friday morning rolls around and it is time for our VERY exciting tour. Just to set the stage, this is word for word what this tour was described as:

• Drive South of Quito to Sangolqui and continue via Pintag to Antisana. The reserve has an extensión of 120,000 hectares and comprises several eco-systems that go from the high mountain habitats to the rainforest. Some of the hightlights of this natural reserve that you will see along the way are the Antisanilla lava flow, which left behind spectacular rocky waves, which are worth seeing. The Isco rocky walls are still home to the Andean condor and the vegetation in the bottom attracts hummingbirds. As you drive towards the Micacocha lake, you will be able to observe Andean gulls, cara-caras, ducks and other bird species. The Micacocha lake is the biggest in the reserve and is located right at the bottom of the Antisana peak. A picnic lunch will be offered for you to enjoy the reserve a little longer before returning to Quito.

Sounds cool, right? Ok...now this is truly what how the day should have been described:

• Board a van at 9:00 am. Be greeted by an overly friendly guide named Lucy who knows nothing about the area you are about to enter into. Drive 3 hours seeing nothing more than a few grassy hills and some fog. See one bird. Arrive at a small pondish-lake thing. Get told that no tourists ever come here and that really, the only reason this lake is important is because IF Quito ran out of water, this is where they would get water from. Ask to go to the bathroom, no bathroom. Squat in a bush. Get fed some weird fried plantains. Drive 2 more hours to stop for an ice cream bar out of a cooler in a convenience store. See one more bird. See a statue of a bird. Drive another hour. Get to a BIZARRE house where you will proceed to have THE most awkward lunch with people you do not know in a house filled with flies. Get told by these people that you really should have come to ride the horses. Get shown the horses that we do not have time to ride. Get back in the van. An hour and a half later, get dropped off.

So needless to say, the day was not exactly as it had been billed. But we did manage to shift from annoyance to pure hysterics by the end and the ironic part? I'm sure that in 5 years, this day will be the only part we will still laugh about and actually remember!

Now this FABULOUS tour was led by a pretty classy travel agency. So I'm pretty sure that most of their clientele do not request to be dropped off at the bus stop to be taken from Quito to Otavalo. In fact, Lucy looked terrified at the fact that the two of us gringos were going to board the local bus line.

But these gringos didn´t want to spend $80 on a cab when the bus was $2. And we are always up for a little adventure...

So we were basically dropped roadside to catch the bus to Otavalo. Now we climbed on the bus and there were no seats left. Hmm...2.5 hours standing on a bus. Not excited about this.

Luckily, the bus driver quickly ushered us into the front of the bus where Rachel and I snuggled up right next to the driver. Rachel was basically strattling the gear shift the entire time and I was about a foot from falling out the door but we were in it for the long haul now...there was no backing out.

So, for the next two hours, our bus driver proceeded to hawk some serious loogies (aka: spit very grossly) out the window and make inappropriate sexual jokes towards us. And when he wasn't spitting or asking us about our love lives, he was making remarkably realistic cat noises. Good times. Very good times.

Ok...well this is where I have to leave you all with a cliffhanger ending. (either that or you are all going to fall asleep anyway because this is too long!)

Will we get off the bus alive? Will we have more VERY exciting tour days? Will we find Sam in Ecuador?

Next entry...the adventure continues in Otavalo...I promise, there is some good stuff...I mean, you take three Minnesotans and put them in a 3rd world country and you are bound for good times.

TO BE CONTINUED!

xoxo,

Debra