Keepin' It Real

Hey Everyone!

Just a heads up that I made it to my new residence this weekend! The place is great! I feel so central to everything. I've already started taking private Spanish lessons and I plan on joining a local yoga studio. It literally takes me 2 minutes to walk to work and I love it! I have food, pharmacies, hospitals, transportation, information, theatres and many other resources within walking distance. I couldn't be happier! My two housemates are incredible and they do a lot of traveling which means I will have the apartment to myself a lot. They both work in tourism. Patricio is a tour guide by trade and has actually been taking some time off recently. Tomorrow he leaves for Guatemala and he will be there for 3 weeks! I told him to bring me back something cool :) Katrien, my other housemate, is from Belgium and has been living in Ecuador for about 18 months. She manages three hotels in the area, one of which my parents stayed at this past December. This is how I met her and this is also how I came to live here. During one of our meetings to plan my parents' trip, she mentioned that her apartment had an open room and that I should move in. One month later, I took her up on her offer and...here I am!

Last Sunday, the day after I moved in, Patricio and I went on the CicloPaseo. This is a huge biking/walking event that takes place every Sunday in Quito. They close off one of the biggest roads that runs North/South through Quito. It was the first time I'd ridden a bike since I moved down here and I won't lie, I was sucking wind. First, we biked all the way south, through the Old Town, to the neighborhood of Quitumbe (this is the southern-most part of Quito and is close to a major bus station). Then we turned around and biked to Patricio's dad's house. His father is a carpenter and all the furniture in his house as well as most of the furniture in my apartment now was made by him. It's pretty amazing! After that short break, we headed back, past my apartment, all the way to north end of the route. This is by the airport and my old house. At this point I was exhausted, but we still had to turn around and make it back. So...three and half hours after beginning this ride, we made it back home where I laid on the couch and didn't move for about an hour.



This is me, post sting ray, in the "clinic." (not pictured: flies)















This is the black eye I received the very next day. Handsome.