Ecuador (part 1?)

Just about a week ago, Mattie and I landed at Quito airport to return to her old stomping grounds. We were picked up at the airport by “Mamita” and Maria holding a sign welcoming Mattie and Sheyne and flowers–tears to be provided by all upon arrival. We’d just left Lake Stevens, WA, where we’d been staying for a little bit more than a month. Although I don’t think the reality of what we were about to embark upon dawned on me until we landed, Mattie’s contagious excitement and anticipation had been building for weeks. Something that no amount of Scrabble games at the lake could really distract her from. Arriving at the airport it was immediately clear, we were visiting family, even if I barely speak their language.

When we arrived at the house, Mattie packed as much catch up as she could before our long flight and lack of sleep caught up with her and she took a nap. I began getting to know the family with what language we did share, one that I’d been trained on in the months leading to our arrival, the card game Cuarenta. We had a great time although my luck seemed to earn me a reputation for always having the most annoying possible cards for Mamita. One week later and she still looks at me with (mock, I hope) worry every time she’s about to play a card.

Re-energized with a full night’s sleep we really got to the business of catching up/getting to know each other with a BBQ on the roof. What a feast it was, several kinds of sausages, steak, chicken, corn, rice, and fresh vegetables. Mamita is a phenomenal cook.

During the week we settled into a routine of working doing the day and hanging out at night. We also visited Quito to check out the view from the top of the spanish colonial era cathedral and a spectacular cafe on one of the walls of The Taco (Mattie’s way of describing the valley that Quito sits in). It was a bit spicy to discover that some neighborhoods had gotten a little bit more dangerous in the last 4 years, but we made it safely to the cafe and had a nice time drinking and playing games before Ubering home to Nayon.

After a long week made longer by the travel, by my unusually busy week at work, and by the fact that I’m taking this whole week (the following) off of work we headed back into Quito to stay at this stellar hostel, The Secret Garden, which boasts a rooftop restaurant and bar. Yesterday afternoon (Saturday) we arrived at its sister hostel, The Secret Garden Cotopaxi.

We’re staying in this adorable “hobbit” room. It’s burrowed into the hill with a big red door and stellar views of Cotopaxi (if you can see it, much of the time it is hidden in the clouds, which adds to its mystery and allure and lead to much excitement as we woke up in the morning and say it for the first time as the first thing, but I get ahead of myself).

First we were fed a huge delicious lunch, were shown to our rooms, fitted in big rubber boots, and ushered on a hike up a stream to a waterfall. Somehow each one of these things had a speech and a bunch of process to get through. A couple people swam with me in the shallow upper pool, and I got our guide to show me where I could jump in to the lower deeper pool.

That night we played scrabble and many card games punctuated with a delicious dinner. Once everyone was a little buzzed I gambled my way to a couple free beers with “my” magic trick. The one that Hunter taught me to do and for the first time I performed correctly with people to gamble with.

This morning we took off for the top of the mountain this hostel sits at the foot of, Pasochoa. Although being at the foot of the mountain is a bit misleading because the valley floor here is 10,000 feet. We got a lovely sunny start with good views of Cotopaxi and it started to cloud up. In what I am told is typical Ecua fashion the weather got more and more extreme. We turned around at the first crack of thunder only to be hailed upon and have the thunder get really close. Maybe 1 second between the lightning and thunder. It was the loudest either Mattie or I had ever heard. We made it down essentially uneventfully, but the the early part looked like hiking after a light snowfall.

Tomorrow will bring us to the Quilotoa loop of hostels that we’ll hike between over a few days. I can’t wait!

Sheyne