Yesterday's Cuenca

Today is my last day in Cuenca unfortunately. I've fallen in love with this city and it's hard to think about leaving. Quito is like any other large city in the States. Otevalo, about an hour away from Quito, and Cuenca feel like a different country. Along side the people from the city you'll see plenty of the Indigenous people. It's small enough where I can walk around but there's still plenty for me to explore. I wish I could come back, and maybe next year, I will. Before I leave though, here's one last batch of observations...

1. The people are really friendly. Last week I was trying to find a laundry mat (they're everywhere) but I couldn't find one so I asked someone and she told me. I didn't understand so she just said "follow me!" and led me straight to one. What a nice lady.

2. The toliets cannot handle super jasons. Or even slightly irregular Jasons. It was bad enough I clogged the toilet. That was embarassing in its own right but try explaining that to your host mom in Spanish. That was the worst part of the ordeal...

3. I walked past a bank and the security guard was holding a shotgun. Not a glock or or a peashooter but a fuckin' shotgun. He was waiting for a few Pinkys or a Cacodemon to show up. What was more bizarre was another security guard in the mall had a shotgun too. Is Cuenca violent enough that it warrants this? Or is Cuenca really the Phobos Moon base?

4. I get this overwhelming feeling that they don't like the Japanese here. Every time I meet someone new the conversation usually goes like this:

Borracho: Hola me llamo borracho y tu?
Gringo: Hola me llamo gringo. Como esta?
Borracho: Bien! Todo bien! De donde eres? Japon? Chine?

It never fails. They will always if I'm Japanese first. I don't know why. I should ask someone. One of these days I'm gonna say I'm Korean or something so they can stop asking the question.

Side note:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwY5o2fsG7Y

Stop asking the question.

5. Cajas National Park is breathtaking. I'm uploading pictures now but they don't really do it justice. We went hiking for about 4 or 5 hours at 13,000 ft. It was probably the most physically exhausting thing I have ever done in my life. It's harder to breathe if you're not used to it. To make it easier, you eat sweets, to help with altitude sickness. It's just a quick burst of energy.

6. There is only one real CD store left in Cuenca. I don't know if I've mentioned it yet but there's a DVD store on every half block selling bootlegs. Same goes for CD stores. I know, I end up downloading a lot but these people put me to shame. I also feel slightly at home because of that. It's weird though. I can go through the DVD stores and I know which ones are good and which ones I shouldn't buy because the quality will suck.

7. I have never eaten so much ice cream in my life. There's a place, Tutto Freddo, that sells gelato for $0.95. Last night we were bored and somehow ended up at Tutto Freddo. After sitting down we all realized none of us wanted gelato. It's the only time that I've turned down getting food on this entire trip. I can't remember the last time I did that in the states either.

8. I don't think I've eaten this much white rice ever either. It's seriously at lunch and dinner. Everyday. Usually accompanied by potatoes and some sort of meat for me but others are eating a lot of soup and mote. Mote is a type of corn that they eat a lot.

9. The dogs run wild here. I've seen maybe three dogs on leashes. Everyone just lets their dog run free. It's kinda like dog heaven. I guess. They can run around and piss and shit where they like and nobody has to clean up after them. And guess what? They never run away. I see the same dogs guarding the same spots every day. The funniest part about all of this is that the dogs look both ways before they cross the street. I have no words for that. No words. They wait til all the cars have passed, check both ways and walk. They're fearless.

10. The pizza has more variety here. In the states usually we just eat Pepperoni or Mushrooms but the specialty pizza here are wonderful. Hawaiian, New York, Four seasons, etc. Also, all of the pizzas are cooked in a New York style, even if the place is called Chicago Pizza.

11. The only time I've actually ordered anything in Chinese was here in Ecuador. Last night we went to a Chinese restaurant. Some of you know how hard it is to go to a Chinese restaurant with me. I didn't know what anything was on the menu because it was all in Spanish so I decided to just see if they had a secret menu. They gave me looks when I walked in but they didn't ask if I spoke Chinese so I think they were surprised when I started speaking to them. It was the first and only time I've ever had to do that. Makes me want to study Chinese again. Almost. It's a complete mindfuck though when speaking Chinese and reverting to Spanish instead of English when you can't think of what to say.

12. I can no longer listen to Holiday in Cambodia anymore. It hits too close to home. It just breaks my heart listening to it. This is the opening of the song:

So you been to school
For a year or two
And you know you've seen it all
In daddy's car
Thinkin' you'll go far
Back east your type don't crawl

There's no better way to describe the group that I'm with here. It's not to be demeaning in anyway but after going through the countryside and seeing the poverty it hits a little too close to home and I just can't take it.

13. In a month's time, my Spanish has improved ten fold. It was quite a humbling experience when I first got here because I could barely talk to anyone. For a week or so, my host step dad was here and he's from Argentina. If you want a mind fuck, try understanding that. It's so radically different than the other countries. I was able to converse with him however. Yesterday I ate lunch with a few of my students. One was was Spain and another was from Cuba. Jesus Christ. That may have been the most intense use of my Spanish yet, just trying to understand what they were saying. Even though they said my Spanish wasn't very good (I could say that about their English too >.> ), I understood almost everything they said.

I leave tomorrow at 730 AM. :(. I don't know when the next time I will be on the Internet but hopefully I'll have some more pictures then.