Here I sit at the airport in Quito, entirely soaked to the core. Except "in Quito" is loosely used because the airport is actually a 1.5 hour drive from Quito. This is significant.
But back to the soaked part. Clothes don't dry here! And it pours! We've been trying to do laundry in sinks throughout this trip. Which works really well until you get to the part where the clothes need to dry. Because they don't.
Today was an unfortunate combination of all three of my outfits being out of commission. One pair is still under flea quarantine. A second is not drying from last night's laundry session. And the third was caught on my person in a late afternoon rainstorm. They were relatively clean and supposed to last thru tomorrow.
Basically I had a really fun choice to make in the airport bathroom when I opted for the damp clean clothes. Now I'm wet and freezing but at least I'm not super stinky too.
PS we're sleeping here tonight because of a lack of accommodations nearby and an early-morning flight.
But on to the fun stuff!
Alisha erupted on a volcano. Just before we biked down it. This came shortly after she was bragging about how she had felt great the whole trip while I'd been fighting minor bowel issues since landing. Too much info?
While we're on the subject, toilet paper. I've had to get creative more than once when I ended up in a bathroom without my emergency stash. Everything from brochures stuffed in my passport to pieces of paper with debatably important information scribbled thereon.
Nothing is safe when I'm in a bathroom with no toilet paper.
Between fun gastrointestinal issues and white-water rafting and jungle trekking and rapelling a waterfall and hiking down a volcano and biking down another, we've done a really good job of beating ourselves up on this trip. And my injured toe! And baby jaguar attack! But mostly my calves are wound tighter than violins and I'm hobbling. It's an accomplished hobble.
Oh! Also, bumpy bus rides with a full bladder. Painful. But the best way to get around. The buses in Ecuador are awesomely cheap. About a dollar an hour! If only they had rest stops...
Now a quick shout-out to the vegetables here. And I don't rave about veggies much. But the jungle trek served these steamed carrots that were absolutely out of this world. And broccoli! I would eat veggies all the time if I lived here. With a local to cook for me. I mean, the veggies have impressed me many times on this trip.
Not related, never ask me how to pronounce Otavalo and expect an accurate answer.
What more can I say? It's Alisha's birthday! She's officially beginning to fill in the book on her next 30 years. Day one goes something like this:
Woke up to a rooster and some man in the hostel hallway. Told Teagan to hurry it up in the bathroom. Showered. Went to a market and bought all the things. Wait, stepped over far too many piles of poop on the street, watched Teagan eat a crepe, and then bought all the things. Twice. One trip to the market wasn't enough. Tried to pack all the things. Had to carry all the things on a bus ride and two taxi rides. Danced on the equator! Passport stamp at the equator! Got caught in a rainstorm with all the things and drenched inside and out. Sat for two hours in wet clothes in the back of another taxi. Changed in an airport bathroom. Ate a cheap hamburger. Watched Teagan and Greg bicker over a quarter. Blue icecream and gummy bears! Played card games and no one won. Slept in an airport in Ecuador!
She's doing pretty good. Tomorrow maybe we'll add "woke up in an airport" and "got lost in Mexico City". Ok, hopefully not the last one.
But happy birthday my not-best-friend. To at least 2 more 30 years!
This post isn't flowing very well but I'm also in an airport and keep losing focus.
UPDATE: It's 5 in the morning. A security guard just woke up all the airport sleepers to let us know. Still confused. Also related, Michael Jackson was blasted all night. Really blasted.
Have a great day :-)
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