So another week has passed, and life is going pretty well in Quito.  Most of my day is taken up with some new pursuits, and my accommodations are the best I’ve had in a while.  I’ve got myself set up in Quito’s Old Town in a place called Casa Bambu, and for 7$ I’ve got my own room with a shared bath and kitchen.  The rooftop patio has a amazing view over the city and goes great with a beer and a bit of homework in the evenings.  There are a few other long-term people staying here and we all get along pretty well.  Evenings have us dodging each other in the kitchen and sharing movies in the common room.  Nights and weekends are spent with beers and wine one the roof before heading out to bars and clubs in town. 

The Spanish lessons have been going surprisingly well. I’m studying at a school called Beraca in Quito’s New Town, about a 30min walk from my hostel.  The lessons are one on one, and for the 5$ an hour that I’m paying I feel their a great value.  I’m doing 4hrs in the morning and combined with the homework I have in the evenings it’s about all my brain can take.  During the lessons its feels like you can almost grasp fluency, conjugating verbs correctly and understanding what is being told to you.   Out on the street its a different matter though and you fall back to gestures and repeating the question in English louder and louder hoping that this will get the meaning through.  I’ve begun taking my teacher out to lunch as well because at $2.50 for a good meal, its a better deal for the hour than the lessons! 

The salsa lessons are a different story.  When I took a class with some friends in the states we showed up suitably drunk and the teachers were kind and attentive, giving us praise for every turn and for simply staying with the beat.  My instructors here however prefer the rod to the carrot.  Failing to keep the beat is rewarded with eye-rolling, and incorrect turns and passes are met with sighs and calls of “otra mas” (again).  Luckily I haven’t yet stepped on any toes, as I’m sure this would have me thrown from the studio immediately.  Start and end times are a bit flux too and although I’m paying for an hour it usually comes in at about 30 minutes, which is probably all that my normally bulletproof ego can take.  Still, there is progress being made, but I’m a good ways from contemplating trying this toe-tapping out anywhere except the safety of the studio. The skills are supposed to impress the girls, not give them another reason to mock me.

There is a bit of crime in Quito (mugging and purse snatching), and several people have stories, but so far I’ve been able to avoid it.  All in all life if going pretty well in here, although I’ll be ready to move on soon.  I’ve got classes for the rest of the week and then plan to head south further into the mountains with my newly acquired knowledge.  This will of course do me no good, because the indigenous people of those regions actually speak Quechuan.  I’m hoping they have no idea what salsa is too.

 If you didn´t notice pictures of Quito are up!

Categories: Ecuador, Photos, Travel