I just can't Quito you

As some of you know (and others are about to find out), I am in South America this summer, traveling for three months. I started last Friday in Quito, Ecuador, and will return from Rio De Janeiro in the beginning of August. Right now, I am sitting in Riobamba, Ecuador, in an internet cafe (sans food), following the Gametracker of Game 2 of the Pistons-Celtics series.

I weighed the merits of maintaining a blog versus sending out mass e-mails, and I decided that, given the unpredictability of my internet access, a mass e-mail would be the best way for me to keep in touch and keep people in the loop of what I am doing this summer. I´m also excited to hear what you are up to.

And since I am already a week behind in these journals, I might as well get started. We´ll just hit on some of the highlights because I would be in this cafe all night if I were to write about everything I have done so far.

Ecuador military competition

My first morning in Ecuador, I went to a military competition at a military academy. The youngest son of the family I was staying with was competing, and it seemed like a much more exciting thing to do than lounge around the house. At 6:30 a.m., we left their house and drove through the hills/mountains of Quito. One of the coolest things about Quito is that it is a sprawling city build in the middle of the mountains. So there are houses built up the slopes, and the city doesn´t seem to end.

We walked into the stadium at the military academy as they were playing the national anthem (or some other similarly patriotic song). The academy was divided up into four teams to compete in a variety of events. The most interesting thing about the entire event was how much enthusiasm the non-competing teammates displayed. They brought massive drums and sang and danced throughout the event. This is definitely not something you would see in America. This is probably an extension of the soccer-fan culture that permeates South America.

My host family´s son´s team ended up winning the competition, and he was chosen to be part of his team´s relay squad.

(O.K. So, that wasn´t the most exciting story to start my South America journals with, but I figured I would go chronologically and thought that this experience merited a place in the journal)

Buses in Ecuador

Most of my bus-riding experience comes from the time I spent in Israel a few summers ago. One person is employed by the bus company to drive the bus, act as the cashier, and answer passengers´questions about directions. In Ecuador, it´s quite different.

There are two employees on the bus: a driver and an official. The driver´s job is simply to drive the bus. In my week here, I have not personally interacted with one bus driver. The other guy does everything else. He walks up and down the aisle, collecting fares, standing at the door to yell the buses destination to people on the side of the road, and answering other general question about the bus and directions. But, by far, the most exciting task of the official is to interact with other cars on the road. If he, or the driver, has something to say or whistle at another driver on the road, he is not shy about sharing his feelings (I haven´t seen a driver talk to any other drivers on the road). Also, if there is a bad traffic jam, and the bus is trying to get better position on the road, the official will get off the bus and stand in front of the other car on the road (setting a pick, if you will) so the bus can get by.

There are a few other interesting tips about Ecuador buses.
1. They don´t really stop. If you are getting on or off the bus, you have to be prepared to do so onto a moving vehicle.
2. The bus door never really closes. The official will stand at the door, taking in the fresh air, yelling at pedestrians (or, in the official´s mind, potential passengers), or sharing his feelings with other drivers.

Old Town

I guess it´s in the name, but one of the oldest neighborhoods in Quito is known as Old Town. There are plenty of churches, museums, municipal buildings, tourists, and people trying to hawk products for you to buy. In fact, it was recently featured in the New York Times´ travel section. Ari, my roommate who is traveling with me for the first three weeks of my summer adventure, and I ventured to Old Town Saturday afternoon.

After walking around the main square for a bit, we found the Numismatic Museum, which tells the history of the Ecuadorean currency. Now, normally I´m not fascinated by foreign currency museums, but the thing about this museums is that, for an American, it is a domestic currency museum. A few years ago, the country dropped its currency of the Sucre and decided to adopt the American dollar as the national currency. They still maintain their own currency less than a dollar but everything else is American. A few years back, the U.S: Department of the Treasury released a Sacajawea coin dollar that didn´t really thrive in the U.S. It seems as if the U.S. just sent all of those coins to Ecuador because they love the dollar coin here. (Also, they don´t accept the $2 bill, one of which I still had in pocket that had been change from Dominick´s).

A new personal record

At the top of Quito sits the Pichincha Volcano (one of the two volcanoes that sits atop the capital). Within the last few years, they installed a gondola that will take you up the Pichincha Volcano (4,100 meters above sea level). The view from the top is spectacular. We were lucky enough to be there on a clear day when you don´t have clouds or smog that blocks your view of the city down below. In future posts, I will try to include pictures so you can get a better sense of where I am and what I am doing. This would be one of those times.

At the bottom of the gondola, I saw a hotdog stand that was selling a hot dog and pop for $1.50. This is a better deal than the Hillel Hotdog Cart on North University. I really like to pride myself on serving the cheapest meal in Ann Arbor (hotdog for $1 and a pop for another dollar). I was in a bit of a state of shock when I saw this and spent the majority of the gondola ride trying to reason how this stand could sell its meal for a lower price than the Hillel Hotdog Cart, when we are looking to break even instead of making huge profits. Then I came up with a few explanations:

1. I serve kosher hotdogs in Ann Arbor, which are of a higher quality than whatever meat was sold at the base of the gondola.

2. A dollar goes much further in Ecuador than in the U.S. I did have to travel to the Equator to find this deal. The Ecuadorean equivalent of the Hillel Hotdog would be about .50.

Well, it´s getting late. I noticed the Pistons went to work on the Celtics tonight and head back to the Palace tied up at a game apiece. That´s good stuff.

I will continue to fine tune my mass e-mail, travelogue skills. And this is just two day´s worth of adventures. To give you a flavor for what is to come in future e-mails: think active volcanoes, 11 people in the bed of a truck, homeopathic medicine, and saving a bus (Superman-style) from crashing down a ravine.