Solita

after some words of wisdom i got a few whiles ago, sometimes you just gotta make things happen all on your own.

After deciding to sit out on one hella expensive weekend of white water rafting in the jungle (believe me it was tempting- but i have other exciting things, like COLOMBIA, coming up very shorty to watch my pennies) I was left in Quito solita. I used the time to catch up on some of that good ol homework that i was barely doing for about a month and watch some movies i had bought a while ago- Blood Diamond was intensssse by the way and i cried- surprise, surprise.

Friday night after a series of strange events i ended up going out with a friend from history class and a few of her friends- who didn't want to dance, i said thats fine, you can finish the Pecera (fishbowl) and i'll go. Second 'solita' of the weekend was me bust'n moves on the dance floor with out the company of normal gang of gringos around me. Not that i was 'solita' for long- aha but it was fun.

I also woke up Saturday morning and decided to take a day trip- alone. in ecuador. I called cab, made my way to the bus station, and with an empty backpack strapped to my back searched for the words OTAVALO on the wall of destinations. Then i heard " A OTAVALO, A OTAVALO, VENGA, VENGA"- followed the yells and bought my ticket.

The 3 hour bus ride went quickly, as i slept the whole way with my chuchaki (hangover)...and soon enough i was standing in the middle of the bus plaza solita in Otavalo and it felt pretty cool. I found my way to the legendary market that fills streets and streets aaand MORE streets and spent the afternoon doing just what i didn't want to do this weekend- spend money. It needed to be done at some point so i felt no guilt and had a ton of fun buying, gifts, gifts and more gifts for my family and friends back home. I think it went something like every 4th thing i bought i got something for me. I couldn't help it. Everything is soo cheap and when will you ever have the chance to buy handmade ecuadorian handycrafts?!

As i was buying the last thing on my mental list of people to buy for, i had a twenty and the man of course had no change. No one has change, so what do you do when you are buying something for only $3? You have to buy something relatively expensive first so you can get some change. The clock was clicking... i needed to be out by 330 so i wouldn't be taking buses at night... and without wanting to get lost again in the maze of stands i quickly looked left and right to see whaat would be a few bucks and sweet at the same time. A hammock. sold.

I had been wanting one for awhile but i would always say- someother time. So i finally did it. Its pink, red, yellow, and orange with suns and strips. I have NO idea what i'm going to do with it when i get back home, but if i could get that baby swinging back on gilman street when i get back that would be stellar.

Back to the 'last gift man' - got it with no problems, got some helpful directions from him on how to get out of the market and back to the busses, and found my self a seat on the ' A QUITO' bus. An old man sat next to me and we chatted it up for a while before we both knocked out to "the Mummy' that was playing on the bus.

Woke up, jumped off at my stop, hailed a cab, and was safely in my house by sunset. Easy as pie. Though it was only a short day trip to a place i had already been before (my first weekend here), it felt really liberating to go somewhere by myself... ive never done that before!

This weekend was also a weekend of Colada Morada. An amazing sweet drink thing that you semi eat with a spoon, semi drink. Its made with different spices and has tons of different berries that are cooked down into a sweet spiced deep red hot drink. Its a holiday drink here and my ecua mom says i'll see TONS of it when i got the festivals of Cuenca next weeked (10 hours away. oh god.).

If any family is reading, it reminded me a lot like a berried Wassil...mmm.....