Waiting!

Wow, another post??

I´m here in Quito enjoying nearly boiling hot, skin-beating showers and delicious American-style bagels. 

The day was not totally perfect like that.

Yesterday was the breaking point.  I paid my host half a month´s rent ($35) because I was fairly sure I would move soon.  She at first smiled and said thanks and then...counted.  She asked where the other half was, and I explained why it was so.  She argued I had to pay for the previous month, and suddenly things got pretty ugly.  So ugly that I had to call my program manager to have her explain that I pay for the month in advance - always had.  So my host agreed but hasn´t talked to me at all since.

I went upstairs and immediately began packing.  That was it.  I´m DEFINITELY moving to Pucará!

This morning woke up super early to drag my heaviest bag (the one loaded with Peace Corps books and climbing magazines...of course...) and my travel bag downstairs to catch the 7 a.m. bus, but the 7 a.m. bus didn´t come.  Another one about 7:30 got me to Riobamba.  Took a taxi to the terminal (who was using a meter!  shocking.  Fares are always $1 wherever you go, so he raced to get me there when the meter struck $1 on the dot) and got a bus to Quito. 

That´s where we leave the ´good day´ part to return to later.

Going from south Quito to north Quito is not fun.  It usually requires using trolebuses which are often packed.  Thankfully, mine were not so bad.  Except I got on the wrong one, pretty much three times.  Ecuador PCVs out there, don´t laugh.  I´m terrible at cities.  Two mess ups were easy.  One not so much.  That was the one when I realized I needed to be on the blue line, not the green line.  So I thought I could get off at one closely-located stop and walk to the other line.  Hah!  Apparently I still have much learning to do about Ecuador.  I did, however, find that stop and get on the right bus, sweaty, tired, annoyed.

And back to ´good day´!

I dumped my ton of books at the hostal and walked to the Peace Corps office.  Had a great talk with my program manager about changing sites and all the details, got some paperwork signed, saw the doctors about the previously mentioned disease, and left feeling pretty good.  And it was 5 p.m. which means... BAGELS!  Mister Bagel, that wonderful RPCV-owned joint near Parque Carolina.  I was told it would close at 6 so I took a taxi that overcharged me and didn´t even go the whole way.  Horray!  But I got my bagels.  Lots of delicious bagels.  And walked back.

So... until next week!  It´s a busy next few days...