Quito...making Denver feel ashamed

So I’m long overdue for a blog. Especially considering how much has changed in my life. So last I spoke to yall I was getting frisked by the FARC. In reality it wasn’t the FARC, it was really just the Bogota airport security. Nonetheless, they were armed with serious looking automatic rifles, so the rush was still there. Thankfully they didn’t find my box of Cuban cigars. Just kidding. It’s great because you can fly around here having no problems with Cuban cigars. Now returning to America with them should be different.

Anyway, so here are my plans in case you are interested. I have been working at a hostel for room and board this past week. It’s been great because I haven’t had to pay anything, and I have gotten to know the city. I found an excellent apartment that I should be moving into on Sunday. It’s right in the area of town I want to live, next to the Red Cross (which I’ll explain later), cheap, real nice, and the family that runs it is Ecuadorian, so I’ll be spending a lot of time with them. So now, if you want to come to Ecuador, I’ve got a place for you to stay! Anyway, my cousin Merrill is moving down here in a couple of weeks, so we are going to share the apartment. It’s for two.

As far as volunteering my plans have changed. I am going to volunteer with the Red Cross of Ecuador. I think I have learned sufficient Spanish to work with them. I had a 30-minute interview with them, and passed, so I guess I know enough Spanish. I have to go to training this Saturday and Sunday and next Saturday and Sunday. After that, I should be riding in ambulances all over Ecuador. Needless to say, I’m incredibly excited. I’ve been reading this medical book they gave me for the training. It’s like 200 pages. I know all the medicine in the book, but the problem is the Spanish. Trying to read a 200 page technical book in Spanish in less than a week in a half is difficult. But it’s perfect because it is teaching me medical Spanish and that is a major reason I came here. So with that said, Jeff I would be careful. I imagine the points are about to start raining when I’m riding ambulances all across Quito.

That’s enough for now. I don’t want to bore yall, so here are the blog points. By the responses and emails I’ve received, it seems these are everyone’s favorite part of the blog. Oh and next week I’m going to blog about my taxi ride in Venezuela. One of the greatest things that has ever happened to me, so be ready…

Blog Points:
1. I needed to buy a flash drive, so I went to a place in an affluent part of town called the “Center of Commerce”. All these stores were like six feet by six feet. My favorite store was displaying nothing random, only a brand new PlayStation 3, jewelry, cameras, and blenders.
2. I found another store, not in the Center of Commerce, which was real nice and real big. What did it sell? Nothing out of the ordinary either…only refrigerators, washing machines, and sweet ass motorcycles. I think I saw a coupon for a free oil change with the purchase of a Maytag dryer.
3. This guy Christian, who I’ve become friends with, works on the corner selling kabobs cooked on a grill. And believe me they are delicious and only 60 cents. So the other day a lot of people came at once, so he needed to speed up the cooking process to ensure their business. So what did he do? Only pulled out a Vidal-Sassoon hair dryer and started blow-drying them. They were delicious.
4. Lastly, I heard a great song on the radio the other day. I’m curious to know when was the last time you heard this band? Or better yet, when was the last time you thought of them? What band and song? Nothing but the classic Two Princes by The Electric Spin Doctors.